Update: More than 300 Jewish creatives — including eight-time Oscar-winning composer Alan Menken, “SNL” star Sarah Sherman, actor and documentarian Alex Winter and “Seinfeld” writer Larry Charles — have added their names to the list of signatories of an open letter in support of Jonathan Glazer’s Oscars speech.
The number of signees now sits at 492, having more than tripled since Variety first published the April 5 letter, which criticized the attacks on Glazer for being a “dangerous distraction” from the mounting death toll in Gaza while also contributing to the “suppression of free speech and dissent.”
New additions also include Oscar-winning “Anatomy of a Fall” co-writer Arthur Harari, veteran U.K. producer and Oscar winner Jeremy Thomas, “Girls” co-showrunner and co-writer Jenni Konner and “The Hunger Games” writer and director and four-time Oscar nominee Gary Ross. Many members of the Israeli film community have also signed the open letter, including Oren Moverman, Nadav Lapid,...
The number of signees now sits at 492, having more than tripled since Variety first published the April 5 letter, which criticized the attacks on Glazer for being a “dangerous distraction” from the mounting death toll in Gaza while also contributing to the “suppression of free speech and dissent.”
New additions also include Oscar-winning “Anatomy of a Fall” co-writer Arthur Harari, veteran U.K. producer and Oscar winner Jeremy Thomas, “Girls” co-showrunner and co-writer Jenni Konner and “The Hunger Games” writer and director and four-time Oscar nominee Gary Ross. Many members of the Israeli film community have also signed the open letter, including Oren Moverman, Nadav Lapid,...
- 4/10/2024
- by Ellise Shafer and Alex Ritman
- Variety Film + TV
No reasonably intelligent person imagines an artist’s statement about the horrors in Gaza would, in fact, end those horrors, but there are always limits to what one can take and hopes for what one could do. It might even be said that, as observers of the world and human behavior, filmmakers are especially inclined to recoil. When I interviewed Pedro Costa last month he spoke, unprompted, of a situation that’s only grown worse: “It’s very clear that we cannot stand images anymore. I can’t. I can’t. The images of the world for me [Exhales] I can’t. I turn my eyes, and I’m sure you do the same. It’s unbearable.” When I spoke with Anthony Dod Mantle a couple of weeks later it, again, emerged––vis-a-vis The Zone of Interest, whose own cinematographer alluded to it the next day. It’s difficult being a person in the world,...
- 12/29/2023
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
More than 200 international filmmakers have rallied in support of ousted Berlinale artistic director Carlo Chatrian, pledging their names to an open letter imploring the cultural organization to keep the artist director in place. Among the first signatories were Martin Scorsese, Paul Schrader, Joanna Hogg, “Corsage” director Marie Kreutzer, Andrew Ross Perry, and Olivier Assayas. Over the course of the day on Wednesday, another 130 directors joined them, the list swelling to include M. Night Shyamalan, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Tilda Swinton, and Claire Denis. 260 filmmakers have now signed the open letter.
“We, a diverse group of filmmakers from all over the world, who have deep respect for Berlin International Film Festival as a place for great cinema of all kinds, protest the harmful, unprofessional, and immoral behavior of state minister Claudia Roth in forcing the esteemed Artistic Director Carlo Chatrian to step down despite promises to prolong his contract,” says the letter.
Chatrian...
“We, a diverse group of filmmakers from all over the world, who have deep respect for Berlin International Film Festival as a place for great cinema of all kinds, protest the harmful, unprofessional, and immoral behavior of state minister Claudia Roth in forcing the esteemed Artistic Director Carlo Chatrian to step down despite promises to prolong his contract,” says the letter.
Chatrian...
- 9/6/2023
- by Ben Croll
- The Wrap
Martin Scorsese, Radu Jude, Joanna Hogg, Claire Denis, Bertrand Bonello, M. Night Shyamalan, Kristen Stewart, Hamaguchi Ryusuke and Margarethe von Trotta are among the international filmmakers and talents who have signed an open letter in support of Carlo Chatrian whose mandate as artistic director of the Berlinale will come to an end next year. The number of signatories has now exceeded 400 names and keeps growing.
As we reported last week, Chatrian had been expected to stay on beyond 2024, and was surprised to learn that the German body which oversees the festival, Kulturveranstaltungen des Bundes in Berlin (Kbb), announced that it would no extend his contract. The org had previously said it would abandon the model of having an executive director and an artistic director and return instead to having a single director, following the next edition. The festival’s executive director Mariëtte Rissenbeek will also be leaving her post after the next edition.
As we reported last week, Chatrian had been expected to stay on beyond 2024, and was surprised to learn that the German body which oversees the festival, Kulturveranstaltungen des Bundes in Berlin (Kbb), announced that it would no extend his contract. The org had previously said it would abandon the model of having an executive director and an artistic director and return instead to having a single director, following the next edition. The festival’s executive director Mariëtte Rissenbeek will also be leaving her post after the next edition.
- 9/6/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy and Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
More than 250 of Israel’s top filmmakers have signed an open letter, saying they will not seek funding from, nor cooperate with the recently–established Shomron (Samaria/West Bank) Film Fund, following the fund’s inaugural film festival in the occupied West Bank.
The filmmakers call on the Israeli Academy of Film and Television not to partake in “whitewashing the Occupation” ahead of the Ophir Awards — Israel’s Academy Awards — later this month. Read the full text of the letter below.
Among the signatories are multiple Academy Award winners and nominees. They have signed a public letter in which they state that they will not receive grants and will not participate in “lectura” (selection of films for development and production) or in professional events held by the Shomron (Samaria) Film Fund. The goal of the Shomron (Samaria) Film Fund, write the filmmakers, is “to invite Israeli filmmakers to actively participate...
The filmmakers call on the Israeli Academy of Film and Television not to partake in “whitewashing the Occupation” ahead of the Ophir Awards — Israel’s Academy Awards — later this month. Read the full text of the letter below.
Among the signatories are multiple Academy Award winners and nominees. They have signed a public letter in which they state that they will not receive grants and will not participate in “lectura” (selection of films for development and production) or in professional events held by the Shomron (Samaria) Film Fund. The goal of the Shomron (Samaria) Film Fund, write the filmmakers, is “to invite Israeli filmmakers to actively participate...
- 9/3/2022
- by Caroline Frost
- Deadline Film + TV
Top industry awards at the 53rd edition of the international documentary film festival Visions du Réel have gone to “La Bonga,” “Anatomy of the Night,” “The Other Profile,” “Noor” and “Becoming Roosi.”
A total of 27 projects were invited to participate in three key forums – VdR-Pitching, VdR-Work in Progress and VdR-Rough Cut Lab – that ran as part of the festival’s industry activities in Nyon from April 10-14.
Seventeen awards were handed out to 16 docs-in-the-making, two of which won a double award: “La Bonga,” by Sebastián Pinzón Silva and Canela Reyes, took the Visions Sud Est and Raggioverde Subtitling trophies, and “Mailin” by Maria Silvia Esteve won both the TËNK Post-Production and Party Film Sales awards.
Considered to be the festival’s top industry prize, the Vision Sud Est award comes with a 10,000 Chf cash prize handed out to the best project from the Southern or Eastern Europe, and is the...
A total of 27 projects were invited to participate in three key forums – VdR-Pitching, VdR-Work in Progress and VdR-Rough Cut Lab – that ran as part of the festival’s industry activities in Nyon from April 10-14.
Seventeen awards were handed out to 16 docs-in-the-making, two of which won a double award: “La Bonga,” by Sebastián Pinzón Silva and Canela Reyes, took the Visions Sud Est and Raggioverde Subtitling trophies, and “Mailin” by Maria Silvia Esteve won both the TËNK Post-Production and Party Film Sales awards.
Considered to be the festival’s top industry prize, the Vision Sud Est award comes with a 10,000 Chf cash prize handed out to the best project from the Southern or Eastern Europe, and is the...
- 4/13/2022
- by Lise Pedersen
- Variety Film + TV
New director of Sarajevo Film Festival and an award-winning filmmaker among selection.
Switzerland’s Visions du Réel documentary film festival has unveiled the juries that will oversee the competition strands of its 2022 edition, set to run April 7-17.
The International Feature Film Competition jury will comprise Bosnia’s Jovan Marjanović, who was recently named the new director of Sarajevo Film Festival; Mexican-Ethiopian filmmaker Jessica Beshir, who won the grand prix at last year’s VdR with her debut feature, Faya Dayi; and Beatrice Fiorentino, general delegate of the Venice Film Festival’s Critics’ Week.
They will judge a selection of 16 films,...
Switzerland’s Visions du Réel documentary film festival has unveiled the juries that will oversee the competition strands of its 2022 edition, set to run April 7-17.
The International Feature Film Competition jury will comprise Bosnia’s Jovan Marjanović, who was recently named the new director of Sarajevo Film Festival; Mexican-Ethiopian filmmaker Jessica Beshir, who won the grand prix at last year’s VdR with her debut feature, Faya Dayi; and Beatrice Fiorentino, general delegate of the Venice Film Festival’s Critics’ Week.
They will judge a selection of 16 films,...
- 3/22/2022
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Since 2004, Israeli documentary filmmaker Avi Mograbi has sat on the board of Breaking the Silence, a whistleblower organization that collects and publishes testimonies about life in the Occupied Territories, all while exploring similar subjects via oft-irreverent films. And as Mograbi’s still ongoing festival tour with his latest film, “The First 54 Years – An Abbreviated Manual for Military Occupation” – which began in Berlin and took him from Nyon to New York and now Turin – goes to show, Mograbi has no doubt hewed a more welcoming path following one pursuit than the other.
“Breaking the Silence is probably the most hated organization in Israel,” Mograbi said this week at a Torino Film Festival masterclass. “The organization has suffered a lot of attacks that started from the Prime Minister on down. Right-wing groups infiltrated our organization; people wore body cams to capture our supposedly illegal and traitorous activities. The Israeli parliament already legislated...
“Breaking the Silence is probably the most hated organization in Israel,” Mograbi said this week at a Torino Film Festival masterclass. “The organization has suffered a lot of attacks that started from the Prime Minister on down. Right-wing groups infiltrated our organization; people wore body cams to capture our supposedly illegal and traitorous activities. The Israeli parliament already legislated...
- 12/4/2021
- by Ben Croll
- Variety Film + TV
Above: US release poster for Flee. Illustrations by Mikkel Sommer and Kenneth Ladekjaer; art direction by Martin Hultman.Since 2010, on the last Friday of every September, I have gathered all the posters for the films in the main slate of the New York Film Festival. Last year, six months into the pandemic, I didn’t do it. There was a New York Film Festival, and there was a main slate, but with most of the films only screening online, it just didn’t seem like the real thing and my heart wasn’t in it. This year the NYFF is back and entirely Irl and, although we’re still not out of the pandemic woods, I feel that the wonderful new poster for Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s Flee is emblematic of the moment: people, lots of them,, coming together. Aside from the Flee poster, the highlights of this year would...
- 9/24/2021
- MUBI
The Main Slate selections for the 59th New York Film Festival, presented by Film at Lincoln Center from September 24-October 10, have been announced. Featuring a mix of festival favorites and newcomers, the lineup includes new work by Pedro Almodóvar, Jane Campion, Jonas Carpignano, Joel Coen, Julia Ducournau, Bruno Dumont, Michelangelo Frammartino, Rebecca Hall, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, Mia Hansen-Løve, Todd Haynes, Joanna Hogg, Hong Sangsoo, Tatiana Huezo, Radu Jude, Alexandre Koberidze, Kira Kovalenko, Nadav Lapid, Pietro Marcello, Avi Mograbi, Radu Muntean, Francesco Munzi, Gaspar Noé, Panah Panahi, Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Alice Rohrwacher, Céline Sciamma, Joachim Trier, Anisia Uzeyman, Paul Verhoeven, Apichatpong Weerasethaukul, Saul Williams, and Ramon and Silvan Zürcher.
“Taken together, the movies in this year’s Main Slate are a reminder of cinema’s world-making possibilities,” said Dennis Lim, NYFF Director of Programming and chair of the Main Slate selection committee. “They open up new ways of seeing and feeling and thinking,...
“Taken together, the movies in this year’s Main Slate are a reminder of cinema’s world-making possibilities,” said Dennis Lim, NYFF Director of Programming and chair of the Main Slate selection committee. “They open up new ways of seeing and feeling and thinking,...
- 8/10/2021
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
The New York Film Festival organizers have set the main slate for this fall’s largely in-person 59th edition, as well as enhanced pandemic measures including a Covid-19 vaccine requirement.
The 32 films in the Main Slate were produced in 31 different countries, reflecting New York’s decades-long reputation as a curator of global cinema. In recent years, it has also has shown it can enhance the imprimatur of an awards-season hopeful.
Consistent with New York City’s vaccine mandate, which takes effect September 13, the festival said proof of vaccination will be required for all staff, audiences, and filmmakers at fest venues. The event will also adhere to health and safety policies in coordination with Lincoln Center and state and city medical experts.
Among the films in the main slate (see the full list below) are Cannes prize winners Cannes prizewinners Titane, Ahed’s Knee, Memoria and The Worst Person in the World.
The 32 films in the Main Slate were produced in 31 different countries, reflecting New York’s decades-long reputation as a curator of global cinema. In recent years, it has also has shown it can enhance the imprimatur of an awards-season hopeful.
Consistent with New York City’s vaccine mandate, which takes effect September 13, the festival said proof of vaccination will be required for all staff, audiences, and filmmakers at fest venues. The event will also adhere to health and safety policies in coordination with Lincoln Center and state and city medical experts.
Among the films in the main slate (see the full list below) are Cannes prize winners Cannes prizewinners Titane, Ahed’s Knee, Memoria and The Worst Person in the World.
- 8/10/2021
- by Dade Hayes
- Deadline Film + TV
The New York Film Festival has revealed the full lineup for its 59th edition, including Julia Ducournau’s “Titane,” Paul Verhoeven’s “Benedetta,” Todd Haynes’ “The Velvet Underground” and more.
“Titane” won the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Other Cannes prizewinners featured on this year’s slate include Nadav Lapid’s “Ahed’s Knee,” Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s “Memoria” and Joachim Trier’s “The Worst Person in the World.” Directors Alexandre Koberidze, Kira Kovalenko, Rebecca Hall, Panah Panahi, Jonas Poher Rasmussen and Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyma have films in the festival for the first time.
“Taken together, the movies in this year’s Main Slate are a reminder of cinema’s world-making possibilities,” said Dennis Lim, NYFF director of programming and chair of the main slate selection committee. “They open up new ways of seeing and feeling and thinking, and whether or not they refer to our uncertain present,...
“Titane” won the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Other Cannes prizewinners featured on this year’s slate include Nadav Lapid’s “Ahed’s Knee,” Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s “Memoria” and Joachim Trier’s “The Worst Person in the World.” Directors Alexandre Koberidze, Kira Kovalenko, Rebecca Hall, Panah Panahi, Jonas Poher Rasmussen and Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyma have films in the festival for the first time.
“Taken together, the movies in this year’s Main Slate are a reminder of cinema’s world-making possibilities,” said Dennis Lim, NYFF director of programming and chair of the main slate selection committee. “They open up new ways of seeing and feeling and thinking, and whether or not they refer to our uncertain present,...
- 8/10/2021
- by Ellise Shafer
- Variety Film + TV
The New York Film Festival has rounded out its lineup with a main slate of 32 films, adding buzzy festival titles such as Paul Verhoeven’s “Benedetta,” Palme D’Or winner “Titane” and Rebecca Hall’s Sundance darling “Passing.”
“Benedetta” is one of the new titles making its North American premiere at NYFF, as well as two films by South Korea’s Hong Sangsoo including “Introduction” and “In Front Of Your Face.” Sangsoo is making his 16th and 17th appearance at the festival with his two films. Other North American premieres include Joanna Hogg’s “The Souvenir Part II,” “What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?” from director Alexandre Koberidze.
They join the previously announced world premiere of “The Tragedy of Macbeth” as the opening night film, Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog” as the centerpiece and the North American premiere of “Parallel Mothers” from Pedro Almodóvar...
“Benedetta” is one of the new titles making its North American premiere at NYFF, as well as two films by South Korea’s Hong Sangsoo including “Introduction” and “In Front Of Your Face.” Sangsoo is making his 16th and 17th appearance at the festival with his two films. Other North American premieres include Joanna Hogg’s “The Souvenir Part II,” “What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?” from director Alexandre Koberidze.
They join the previously announced world premiere of “The Tragedy of Macbeth” as the opening night film, Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog” as the centerpiece and the North American premiere of “Parallel Mothers” from Pedro Almodóvar...
- 8/10/2021
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
No virtual screenings at this year’s event.
Julia Ducournau’s Palme d’Or winner Titane, Paul Verhoeven’s Benedetta and Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s Sundance hit Flee are among selections on New York Film Festival’s (NYFF) main slate.
The line-up, announced on Tuesday (August 10), includes Radu Jude’s Berlin Golden bear winner Bad Luck Banging Or Loony Porn, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s Cannes selection Drive My Car that topped Screen’s jury grid during the festival, and Rebecca Hall’s directing debut and Sundance entry Passing.
The 59th New York Film Festival (NYFF) runs September 24-October 10 as a primarily...
Julia Ducournau’s Palme d’Or winner Titane, Paul Verhoeven’s Benedetta and Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s Sundance hit Flee are among selections on New York Film Festival’s (NYFF) main slate.
The line-up, announced on Tuesday (August 10), includes Radu Jude’s Berlin Golden bear winner Bad Luck Banging Or Loony Porn, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s Cannes selection Drive My Car that topped Screen’s jury grid during the festival, and Rebecca Hall’s directing debut and Sundance entry Passing.
The 59th New York Film Festival (NYFF) runs September 24-October 10 as a primarily...
- 8/10/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Prizes will be presented at the festival’s Summer Special event.
Dasha Nekrasova’s The Scary Of Sixty-First and Alice Diop’s We have won the best first feature and documentary awards respectively at the Berlin International Film Festival, which launches its Summer Special event tomorrow (July 9).
Although the 71st edition of the festival took place in March – as an online, industry-only event – the winners of these two prize categories have been held back until the eve of the public summer event, which will host outdoor screenings from July 9-20.
US horror The Scary Of Sixty-First initially screened in the...
Dasha Nekrasova’s The Scary Of Sixty-First and Alice Diop’s We have won the best first feature and documentary awards respectively at the Berlin International Film Festival, which launches its Summer Special event tomorrow (July 9).
Although the 71st edition of the festival took place in March – as an online, industry-only event – the winners of these two prize categories have been held back until the eve of the public summer event, which will host outdoor screenings from July 9-20.
US horror The Scary Of Sixty-First initially screened in the...
- 6/8/2021
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
The Sheffield DocFest has unveiled its line-up for its 2021 programme that includes the World Premiere of the first instalment of Academy Award winner Steve McQueen’s new series for the BBC, ‘Uprising’.
For the first time, Sheffield DocFest goes nationwide with five premiere screenings showing in up to 16 partner cinemas in cities around the UK, and online, followed by pre-recorded Q&As. It also includes the previously announced Retrospective: Films belong to those who need them – fragments from the history of Black British Cinema.
The celebration of Black British screen culture – curated by guest curators including David Olusoga. Films of all lengths will all be presented as part of the retrospective including titles such as ‘Burning An Illusion’ by Menelik Shabazz, ‘It Ain’t Half Racist’, ‘Mum’ by Stuart Hall, ‘Looking for Langston’ by Isaac Julien, ‘Second Coming’ by Debbie Tucker Green, ‘The Black Safari’ by Colin Luke, ‘Baby Mother...
For the first time, Sheffield DocFest goes nationwide with five premiere screenings showing in up to 16 partner cinemas in cities around the UK, and online, followed by pre-recorded Q&As. It also includes the previously announced Retrospective: Films belong to those who need them – fragments from the history of Black British Cinema.
The celebration of Black British screen culture – curated by guest curators including David Olusoga. Films of all lengths will all be presented as part of the retrospective including titles such as ‘Burning An Illusion’ by Menelik Shabazz, ‘It Ain’t Half Racist’, ‘Mum’ by Stuart Hall, ‘Looking for Langston’ by Isaac Julien, ‘Second Coming’ by Debbie Tucker Green, ‘The Black Safari’ by Colin Luke, ‘Baby Mother...
- 5/17/2021
- by Zehra Phelan
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Documentary festival aims to host physical as well as online events.
Swiss documentary festival Visions du Réel (VdR) has revealed the line-up of competition titles for its 2021 edition, which it aims to host as a hybrid event from April 15-25.
A total of 142 films from 58 countries have been selected, including 82 world premieres.
Scroll down for competition titles
The 13-strong international feature film competition includes the world premiere of Tomasz Wolski’s documentary 1970, which uses stop motion animation and archive footage to recount what happened when striking workers in communist Poland demonstrated against price increases. Poland’s Wolski won the jury...
Swiss documentary festival Visions du Réel (VdR) has revealed the line-up of competition titles for its 2021 edition, which it aims to host as a hybrid event from April 15-25.
A total of 142 films from 58 countries have been selected, including 82 world premieres.
Scroll down for competition titles
The 13-strong international feature film competition includes the world premiere of Tomasz Wolski’s documentary 1970, which uses stop motion animation and archive footage to recount what happened when striking workers in communist Poland demonstrated against price increases. Poland’s Wolski won the jury...
- 3/25/2021
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSAbove: David Fincher and Gary Oldman on the set of Mank (2020). David Fincher's Mank leads this year's nominations for the Academy Awards. A complete list of all nominations can be found here.Legendary actor Yaphet Kotto, best known for his charismatic presence in films like Alien, Blue Collar, and Live and Let Die has died.Spike Lee will be leading the 2021 Cannes Film Festival Jury, promising to return after the cancellation of last year's festival: "Book my flight now, my wife and I are coming!" After a months-long hiatus, Film Comment has announced its return, marked by a new weekly letter and two new episodes of the Film Comment podcast. Recommended VIEWINGAbove: Mark Rappaport's The Stendhal Syndrome or My Dinner with Turhan Bey. Today's the last day to watch two new essay films...
- 3/17/2021
- MUBI
Above: What Do You See When You Look at the Sky?Awards: Golden Bear for Radu Jude's Bad Luck Banging or Loony PornTOP Picksdaniel KASMAN1. What Do You See When You Look at the Sky?2. Petite maman3. Limbo4. Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn5. The Girl and the Spider6. Azor7. Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy8. Mr. Bachmann and His Class9. Fabian - Going to the Dogs10. Just a MovementELA BITTENCOURT1. Fury is a Feeling Too2. Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn3. What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?4. We5. Tzarevna Scaling6. The Girl and the Spider7. Taste8. Ski9. Manual for an Occupation: The First 54 Years10. Tie: Mr. Bachmann and His Class | As I WantCOVERAGEDANIEL KASMANFrom Where They Stood (Christopher Cognet, France)Fabian - Going to the Dogs (Dominik Graf, Germany)The Girl and the Spider (Ramon and Silvan Zürcher, Germany)What Do We See When We Look at the Sky? (Alexandre Koberidze,...
- 3/17/2021
- MUBI
Since the 1980s, the Israeli director Avi Mograbi has been making films about Israel’s occupation of Palestine. His latest documentary, The First 54 Years – An Abbreviated Manual for A Military Occupation (2021), his most incisive film to date, alternates between three types of telling. The first consists of the footage gathered by the organization Breaking the Silence, in which former Israeli soldiers detail the many forms of land and home ex-appropriation, intimidation, torture and killing of Palestinian civilians. In addition, Mograbi himself speaks extensively on camera, in direct address, as “your guide for this abbreviated manual for military occupation,” with Israel as a “paradigmatic case.” Mograbi gets help from another narrator in voiceover who, from time to time, injects a historical timeline: the start of the occupation, in 1967, the growth of settlements, the First and Second Intifada, Oslo Accords, the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, to present day. These threads are...
- 3/16/2021
- MUBI
Explaining the Israeli Occupation of Palestine invariably involves a history lesson in bad-faith treaties coupled with emotionally charged testimony from maltreated Palestinians and, sometimes, self-righteous swagger from settlers. While acting as a necessary record of crimes against humanity, these tend to neglect the rationale behind the Occupation, and how the daily actions of soldiers reinforce government goals. Leading Israeli documentarian Avi Mograbi, whose films have long forced audiences to confront the psychological toll on both societies, must have looked around and thought, “I can explain this better.” The result, “The First 54 Years – An Abbreviated Manual for Military Occupation” is a step-by-step primer, using soldiers’ testimony gathered under the Breaking the Silence project, designed to walk us through the Israeli government’s undeclared strategy for permanently appropriating the land.
Mograbi doesn’t go into why annexing the land is considered so important — that could be the subject of another documentary — and he uses only Israeli voices,...
Mograbi doesn’t go into why annexing the land is considered so important — that could be the subject of another documentary — and he uses only Israeli voices,...
- 3/11/2021
- by Jay Weissberg
- Variety Film + TV
Especially eye-catching within the line-up is Avi Mograbi’s The First 54 Years, screening in the Forum section, and new titles from Ely Dagher and Brieuc Carnaille. Riding the wave of excellent results achieved by Filippo Meneghetti’s Two of Us (the French candidate for the 2021 Best International Film Oscar), Aurel’s Josep and Charlène Favier’s Slalom (both awarded Cannes’ 2020 Official Selection label), French international sales agent The Party Film Sales (directed by Sarah Chazelle and Etienne Ollagnier and managed by Clémence Lavigne and Samuel Blanc) will cut a confident figure at the 71st Berlinale’s European Film Market. Stealing focus in their line-up is the documentary The First 54 Years – An Abbreviated Manual for Military Occupation by Israel’s Avi Mograbi, which will enjoy its world premiere in the Forum section, a Berliner line-up which the director is more than familiar with, having already presented Comment j'ai...
With a handful of titles in various sections, including Hadas Ben Aroya in Panorama and Avi Mograbi in Forum, Israeli filmmakers are present at both the Berlinale and the EFM. The presence of films from Israel is very noticeable this year in both the selection of the 71st Berlinale and the accompanying European Film Market. One movie is selected in Panorama, there is one minority co-production in Forum, a total of 12 titles are featured as Market Screenings, with two premieres among them, and one project has been chosen for the Berlinale Co-Production Market. All Eyes Off Me, the sophomore outing by Hadas Ben Aroya (People That Are Not Me), will have its premiere in Panorama. Narrated in three loosely connected chapters, the film follows the stories of a young and confident generation. Danny (Hadar Katz) is pregnant by Max (Leib Lev Levin), but she doesn’t tell...
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Berlinale has developed a new festival format for its 71st edition.
In 2021, the Competition, Berlinale Special & Berlinale Series, Encounters, Berlinale Shorts, Panorama, Forum & Forum Expanded, Generation and Perspektive Deutsches Kino have been reduced in size due to the pandemic.
The majority of the Film Selection will be available for viewing online by industry representatives and accredited members of the press during the Industry Event from March 1–5, 2021.
During the Summer Special from June 9–20, 2021, Berlinale audiences will be able to see the majority of the films selected by all the sections in numerous cinema screenings in the presence of the filmmakers.
Limbo by by Cheang Soi
Let’s have a look at the Asian Films in the different sections of the Festival:
Competition:
Ghasideyeh gave sefid (Ballad of a White Cow)
Iran / France
by Behtash Sanaeeha, Maryam Moghaddam *World premiere
Guzen to sozo (Wheel of Fortune...
In 2021, the Competition, Berlinale Special & Berlinale Series, Encounters, Berlinale Shorts, Panorama, Forum & Forum Expanded, Generation and Perspektive Deutsches Kino have been reduced in size due to the pandemic.
The majority of the Film Selection will be available for viewing online by industry representatives and accredited members of the press during the Industry Event from March 1–5, 2021.
During the Summer Special from June 9–20, 2021, Berlinale audiences will be able to see the majority of the films selected by all the sections in numerous cinema screenings in the presence of the filmmakers.
Limbo by by Cheang Soi
Let’s have a look at the Asian Films in the different sections of the Festival:
Competition:
Ghasideyeh gave sefid (Ballad of a White Cow)
Iran / France
by Behtash Sanaeeha, Maryam Moghaddam *World premiere
Guzen to sozo (Wheel of Fortune...
- 2/11/2021
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
The Berlin International Film Festival has announced the line-ups for its Forum, Forum Expanded and Shorts sections. The 17-film selection of the Berlinale Forum focuses on works that deal with uncertainties in the world outside by embracing unpredictability in their plots and structures, and by mixing fiction and documentary forms. It gives preference to the fragile over the proven, with more space dedicated to filmmakers at the start of their careers than their more established colleagues. The European (co-)productions include Uldus Bakhtiozina's Tzarevna Scaling (Russia), Moumouni Sanou's Night Nursery (Burkina Faso/France/Germany) and Alvaro Gurrea's Ancient Soul (Spain). More established filmmakers also form part of the selection, such as Israeli documentarian Avi Mograbi's The First 54 Years – An Abbreviated Manual for Military Occupation (France/ Finland/Israel/Germany), Chris Wright and Stefan Kolbe's Anamnesis (Germany), and Susana Nobre's Jack's Ride (Portugal). The Forum Expanded is experimenting...
Day 2 of this week’s Berlinale announcements see the selections for its Forum, Forum Expanded and Shorts programs revealed.
The Forum program contains 17 movies, primarily from filmmakers at the beginning of their careers, though with some establish directors included such as Israeli documentarian Avi Mograbi and Berlin directors Chris Wright and Stefan Kolbe. In total, 14 are world premieres.
The Forum Expanded selection consists of shorts, medium-length films and features, and will screen 17 films as well as art installations. In the Shorts program, a total of 20 titles will compete for the Berlinale prizes this year. Scroll down for the full line-ups.
Yesterday, the festival unveiled its Generation and Retrospective programs.
As previously reported, buyers will get the chance to view these movies during the virtual EFM, which runs March 1-5. Juries will also be appointed to decide on the festival’s awards during this period. Audiences will hopefully have a chance...
The Forum program contains 17 movies, primarily from filmmakers at the beginning of their careers, though with some establish directors included such as Israeli documentarian Avi Mograbi and Berlin directors Chris Wright and Stefan Kolbe. In total, 14 are world premieres.
The Forum Expanded selection consists of shorts, medium-length films and features, and will screen 17 films as well as art installations. In the Shorts program, a total of 20 titles will compete for the Berlinale prizes this year. Scroll down for the full line-ups.
Yesterday, the festival unveiled its Generation and Retrospective programs.
As previously reported, buyers will get the chance to view these movies during the virtual EFM, which runs March 1-5. Juries will also be appointed to decide on the festival’s awards during this period. Audiences will hopefully have a chance...
- 2/9/2021
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
The selection is half the size of last year’s line-up.
The Berlin International Film Festival has revealed the 17 features selected for this year’s Forum line-up, which will first be seen at the industry-focused, online-only event from March 1-5.
The strand aims to highlight challenging and thought-provoking filmmaking that brings together film with visual art, theatre and literature.
The 17-title selection, which includes 14 world premieres, is just half of last year’s line-up of 35 titles, as the festival slims down for its first virtual edition.
Physical screenings of the selection are planned to take place during the Berlinale’s first Summer Special event,...
The Berlin International Film Festival has revealed the 17 features selected for this year’s Forum line-up, which will first be seen at the industry-focused, online-only event from March 1-5.
The strand aims to highlight challenging and thought-provoking filmmaking that brings together film with visual art, theatre and literature.
The 17-title selection, which includes 14 world premieres, is just half of last year’s line-up of 35 titles, as the festival slims down for its first virtual edition.
Physical screenings of the selection are planned to take place during the Berlinale’s first Summer Special event,...
- 2/9/2021
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Funding sees a 50% boost on previous round to support projects “in times of crisis”.
The Berlinale’s World Cinema Fund (Wcf) has awarded a combined €592,000 to 12 projects in its latest funding round.
The level of funding allocated is up nearly 50% on the previous round in July. Organisers said it intended to “support independent cinema even more strongly in times of crisis”.
Projects receiving support hail from Brazil, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominican Republic, Guinea, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Kyrgyzstan, Mozambique, Senegal and Turkey.
Selected directors that previously participated in Berlinale Talents include Melisa Önel (Aniden), Nelson Makengo (Rising Up At Night), Edwin,...
The Berlinale’s World Cinema Fund (Wcf) has awarded a combined €592,000 to 12 projects in its latest funding round.
The level of funding allocated is up nearly 50% on the previous round in July. Organisers said it intended to “support independent cinema even more strongly in times of crisis”.
Projects receiving support hail from Brazil, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominican Republic, Guinea, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Kyrgyzstan, Mozambique, Senegal and Turkey.
Selected directors that previously participated in Berlinale Talents include Melisa Önel (Aniden), Nelson Makengo (Rising Up At Night), Edwin,...
- 12/11/2020
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Parallel sections issue joint statement on the decision to abandon 2020 editions due to Covid-19.
Cannes parallel sections Critics’ Week, Directors’ Fortnight and Acid announced on Wednesday (April 15) that they were cancelling their 2020 editions due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The respected sidebars had originally been due to take place alongside the Cannes Film Festival during its cancelled dates of May 12-23, and had then been holding out to run during a potential end-June, start-July slot, which has now also been abandoned after the French government extended a ban on large gatherings to mid-July.
”Following the French president’s April 13 announcement banning...
Cannes parallel sections Critics’ Week, Directors’ Fortnight and Acid announced on Wednesday (April 15) that they were cancelling their 2020 editions due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The respected sidebars had originally been due to take place alongside the Cannes Film Festival during its cancelled dates of May 12-23, and had then been holding out to run during a potential end-June, start-July slot, which has now also been abandoned after the French government extended a ban on large gatherings to mid-July.
”Following the French president’s April 13 announcement banning...
- 4/15/2020
- by 1100380¦Melanie Goodfellow¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
Initiative to showcase nine features, with seven from first time directors.
Nine features by rising filmmakers are being showcased by France’s Association for the Diffusion of Independent Cinema (Acid) at the Cannes Film Festival next month (May 14-25).
The initiative aims to give greater visibility to up-and-coming independent filmmakers. Seven of the nine are first- time features (apart from Blind Spot and As Happy As Possible), five are fiction films and four are documentaries. All are world premieres except Ena Sendijarevic’s Take Me Somewhere Nice, which debuted in Rotterdam.
They are:
Blind Spot (Fr) Dirs: Pierre Trividic, Patrick-Mario...
Nine features by rising filmmakers are being showcased by France’s Association for the Diffusion of Independent Cinema (Acid) at the Cannes Film Festival next month (May 14-25).
The initiative aims to give greater visibility to up-and-coming independent filmmakers. Seven of the nine are first- time features (apart from Blind Spot and As Happy As Possible), five are fiction films and four are documentaries. All are world premieres except Ena Sendijarevic’s Take Me Somewhere Nice, which debuted in Rotterdam.
They are:
Blind Spot (Fr) Dirs: Pierre Trividic, Patrick-Mario...
- 4/23/2019
- by Orlando Parfitt
- ScreenDaily
This year’s selection features eight world premieres and a Portugal focus.
France’s Association for the Diffusion of Independent Cinema (Acid) has unveiled the line-up for its 26th Cannes Film Festival showcase, running May 9-18.
The initiative is aimed at giving greater visibility to up and coming, independnet filmmakers and will screen nine works. All our world premieres except Jim Cummings’ Thunder Road which is an international premiere.
They are:
L’amour Debout (France) by Michaël Dacheux Bad Bad Winter (Kazakhstan) by Olga Korotko Cassandro The Exotico! (France) by Marie Losier Dans La Terrible Jungle/ In The Mighty Jungle...
France’s Association for the Diffusion of Independent Cinema (Acid) has unveiled the line-up for its 26th Cannes Film Festival showcase, running May 9-18.
The initiative is aimed at giving greater visibility to up and coming, independnet filmmakers and will screen nine works. All our world premieres except Jim Cummings’ Thunder Road which is an international premiere.
They are:
L’amour Debout (France) by Michaël Dacheux Bad Bad Winter (Kazakhstan) by Olga Korotko Cassandro The Exotico! (France) by Marie Losier Dans La Terrible Jungle/ In The Mighty Jungle...
- 4/17/2018
- by Orlando Parfitt
- ScreenDaily
This year’s showcase features ten world premieres and a Serbian strand.
France’s Association for the Diffusion of Independent Cinema (Acid) has unveiled the line-up for its 25rd Cannes Film Festival showcase, running May 18-27.
The initiative aimed at giving greater visibility to up and coming, indie filmmakers will once again screen nine works (bold indicates world premieres).
They are:
L’ASSEMBLÉE by Mariana Otero (documentary)Avant La Fin De L’ÉTÉ by Maryam Goormaghtigh (documentary)Belinda by Marie Dumora (documentary) [pictured]Le Ciel ÉTOILÉ Au-dessus De Ma TÊTE by Ilan KlipperCOBY by Christian Sonderegger (documentary)Kiss And Cry by Lila Pinell and Chloé MahieuLAST Laugh by Zhang TaoSCAFFOLDING by Matan YairSANS Adieu by Christophe Agou (documentary)
There will also be a special screening and two films in partnership with the film Belgrade Festival of Auteur Film. These are:
Pour Le Reconfort by Vincent Macaigne (special screening)Requiem For Ms J. by Bojan VuleticHUMIDITY...
France’s Association for the Diffusion of Independent Cinema (Acid) has unveiled the line-up for its 25rd Cannes Film Festival showcase, running May 18-27.
The initiative aimed at giving greater visibility to up and coming, indie filmmakers will once again screen nine works (bold indicates world premieres).
They are:
L’ASSEMBLÉE by Mariana Otero (documentary)Avant La Fin De L’ÉTÉ by Maryam Goormaghtigh (documentary)Belinda by Marie Dumora (documentary) [pictured]Le Ciel ÉTOILÉ Au-dessus De Ma TÊTE by Ilan KlipperCOBY by Christian Sonderegger (documentary)Kiss And Cry by Lila Pinell and Chloé MahieuLAST Laugh by Zhang TaoSCAFFOLDING by Matan YairSANS Adieu by Christophe Agou (documentary)
There will also be a special screening and two films in partnership with the film Belgrade Festival of Auteur Film. These are:
Pour Le Reconfort by Vincent Macaigne (special screening)Requiem For Ms J. by Bojan VuleticHUMIDITY...
- 4/21/2017
- by orlando.parfitt@screendaily.com (Orlando Parfitt)
- ScreenDaily
Avi Mograbi's Between Fences (2016) is showing on Mubi from March 17 - April 16, 2017 as a Special Discovery.Between FencesIn a bare room, two seated men pretend to offer a deal to a third. They will give the man 2,000 shekels and a passport if he agrees to leave Israel and go to back to Africa. “Your brothers don’t get it,” the boss says. “They’re stupid, but you look smart.” The man listening to the deal, a Sudanese refugee, insists that he must stay in Israel for his own safety. The two men, who are revealed through context to be border patrol agents, up the ante to 3,000 shekels. But the catch is, if the man stays in Israel he will go to Saharonim, a prison-like detention center for an unspecified period of time—“1, 2, 3 years in jail.” As the negotiation wears on, the border agents threaten him with one year, then two,...
- 3/17/2017
- MUBI
Mubi is hosting the exclusive global online premiere of Avi Mograbi's Between Fences (2016). It is showing from March 17 - April 16, 2017 as a Special Discovery.In September 2012, 21 Eritrean refugees were trapped between the fences of the Egyptian-Israeli border. They managed to cross the Egyptian line, but while in no-man’s-land Israeli soldiers caught them, preventing them from entering Israel. For eight unbearably hot days they were trapped between the fences, and while the soldiers did provide them with water—in fact one of the refugees was also hydrated by infusion—they did not let them in.One of the soldiers alerted the press, and that’s how the story broke. The human rights Ngo “We Are Refugees” petitioned the High Court of Justice (Hcj) demanding that the state allow the refugees to enter and grant them asylum. The attorneys for the state were vehemently opposed. At the first court hearing,...
- 3/17/2017
- MUBI
Leading curated streaming platform Mubi has announced today the launch of its brand new “Discoveries” series, featuring new films each month that have been hand-picked straight from the international film festival circuit, streaming exclusively on Mubi. The new series is intended to spotlight the work of acclaimed and established directors as well as some of the most talented emerging filmmakers from around the world.
Of the new series, Mubi’s Director of Content Daniel Kasman commented, “Countless wonderful and inspiring films made all over the world are seen only at select film festivals, unfairly left undistributed and inaccessible to most audiences. So it is with great pleasure that we’re launching Mubi’s Discoveries series, a programming initiative through which we will introduce these essential, previously unavailable but extraordinary works of international cinema to the largest possible audience.”
The first film in the Discoveries series will be Damien Manivel’s “Le Parc,...
Of the new series, Mubi’s Director of Content Daniel Kasman commented, “Countless wonderful and inspiring films made all over the world are seen only at select film festivals, unfairly left undistributed and inaccessible to most audiences. So it is with great pleasure that we’re launching Mubi’s Discoveries series, a programming initiative through which we will introduce these essential, previously unavailable but extraordinary works of international cinema to the largest possible audience.”
The first film in the Discoveries series will be Damien Manivel’s “Le Parc,...
- 1/9/2017
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
The Masked MonkeysThe cutting edge of cinema culture at this moment is not what’s premiering in competition at Cannes or picking up the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance. Rather, it is at the quietly flourishing but deeply influential genre of film festival focusing on new and adventurous work in documentary filmmaking. More than any red carpet extravaganza, this type of festival is consistently challenging audiences to expand their understanding of how the art of cinema explores reality and how reality complicates moviemaking. Whether big, like Copenhagen’s Cph:dox, or smaller, like Missouri’s True/False Film Fest, these events go further than the traditional and staid vision of festivals devoted to documentary film, whose emphasis is above all on the camera as a bland tool to invisibly tell a nonfiction story, and instead present more closely curated programs that showcase the infinite nuance and complexity—not to mention shades...
- 11/29/2016
- MUBI
As the main topic of this year’s festival, Docaviv will feature a select group of thought-provoking films about a world that is changing with the collapse of physical and social boundaries, growing economic disparities, the waves of refugees and immigrants, civil wars, international terrorism, and the ultimate undoing of social solidarity.
Within the framework of this theme the program does not only include documentaries about terror and refugees, but also about a fragmented society which is losing its solidarity. Both in Israel and elsewhere the gap between the haves and the have-nots is widening, and so are the frustrations and the unrest. Israeli and international titles correlating to these themes can be found throughout the entire festival program:
“Death in the terminal” - Directors Tali Shemesh (“The Cemetery Club”) and Assaf Surd
A tense, minute-by-minute, Rashomon-style account of a tragic day. On October 18, 2015, a terrorist armed with a gun and a knife entered Beersheba’s bus terminal. Within 18 minutes Omri Levy, a soldier was killed and Abtum Zarhum, Eritrean immigrant asylum seeker, was lynched after being mistaken for a terrorist.
“The Settlers” - Premiered in Sundance, Director Shimon Dotan.
A far-reaching, comprehensive look at the Jewish settlement enterprise in the West Bank. It examines the origins of the settlement movement and the religious and ideological visions that propelled it, while providing an intimate look at the people at the center of the greatest geopolitical challenge now facing Israel and the international community. (Isa Contact: Cinephil)
“Town on a Wire” - premiered at Cph: Dox Dir: Uri Rosenwaks
While Tel Aviv is thriving, just ten minutes away lies the town of Lod, right in the backyard of Israel’s bustling urban center. Unlike its affluent neighbor, Lod is a city that suffers from the blight of racism, crime, and sheer desperation. Can it be saved? Is there some way to bring hope to Lod’s Arab and Jewish residents?
“Foucoammare”/ “Fire at Sea” - by Gianfranco Rosi - winner of Golden Bear, Berlinale 2016 -every day the inhabitants of the Italian Island Lampedusa are confronted with the flight of refugees to Europe . These people long for peace and freedom and often only their dead bodies are pulled out of the water. (Contact Isa: Doc & Film Int’l. U.S.: Kino Lorber)
“Between fences” – by Avi Mograbi -. In an Israeli detention center asylum-seekers from Eritrea and Sudan can’t be sent back to their own countries, but have no prospects in Israel either thanks to the country’s policies. Chen Alon and Avi Mograbi, initiate a theatre workshop to give these people the opportunity to address their own experiences of forced migration and discrimination and to confront an Israeli society that views them as dangerous infiltrators.
“A Syrian Love Story” – by Sean McAllister -You can’t be Che Guevara and a mother Amer tells Raghda, but maybe she can't do it any other way. After years of struggle, life without her homeland and the revolution has no meaning for her. It is hard to determine what is more demanding in this bold film: the revolution, or the search for inner peace. (Contact Isa: Cat & Docs)
“Homo Sapiens” – by Nikolaus Geyrhalter - what does humanity leave behind when its gone? It sometimes seems as if the mark that humans leave on this planet will last forever. The truth is that the iron, bricks, cement, and steel – the human traces everywhere abandoned and forgotten – are erased by the forces of nature. This unusually beautiful film may lack people and words, but that leaves even more room for thought.(Contact Isa: Autlook)
“Land of the Enlightened” – Premiered at Sundance Ff 2016. Shot over seven years on evocative 16mm footage, first-time director Pieter-Jan De Pue paints a whimsical yet haunting look at the condition of Afghanistan left for the next generation. As American soldiers prepare to leave, we follow De Pue deep into this hidden land where young boys form wild gangs to control trade routes, sell explosives from mines left over from war, making the new rules of war based on the harsh landscape left to them. (Contact Isa: Films Boutique)
“Flickering Truth” - Premiered at Toronto Ff 2015. Director Pietra Brettkelly (The Art Star and the Sudanese Twins) directs this harrowing, compelling film about the power of cinema to preserve our history and in so doing potentially change our futures. (Contact Isa: Film Sales Company)
“Requiem for the American Dream” - Directed by Peter D. Hutchison, Kelly Nyks, Jared P. Scott. In ten chilling but lucid chapters, Noam Chomsky, one of the great intellectuals of our time, analyzes the “system,” which allows wealthy capitalists to seize the reins of government and turn those without wealth into a passive herd, willing to forego power, solidarity, and democracy itself. (U.S.: Gravitas. Contact Isa: Films Transit)
The festival will open with a first film by Israeli director Roman Shumunov
“Babylon Dreamers” Directed by Roman Somonob. An intimate report about a troupe of immigrants from the former Soviet Union, from one of Ashdod’s poorest neighborhoods; they struggle to survive facing harsh conditions - poverty, mental illness, and broken families. They channel their anger and cling to their dream of attending and winning the International Breakdance Championship.
Israeli Competition
Some 70 Israeli films produced over the last year were submitted out of which 13 films have been selected for the Israeli Competition. They will be competing for the largest cash prize for documentary filmmaking in Israel 70,000 Nis (Us$ 15,000). Other awards in the competition include the Mayor’s Prize for the Most Promising Filmmaker, the Prize for Editing, the Prize for Cinematography, the Prize for Research, and the Prize for Original Score.
"The Wonderful Kingdom of Papa Alaev," directors Tal Barda, Noam Pinchas -Tajikistan’s answer to the Jackson Family. A modern-day Shakespearean tale about a famous Tajik musical family, controlled by their charismatic patriarch-grandfather - Papa Alaev.
"A Tale of Two Balloons" by Zohar Wagner - The tale of a women who thought a pair of perfect breasts would help her find true love. But when that love came along, those perfect breasts had to go.
"Aida's Secrets," director Alon Schwarz - At 68, Izak learns he has a brother he never knew about. As part of the discoveries about the family, the film uncovers the story of the Displaced Persons camps- the vibrant and often wild social life that flourished immediately after WW2.
"Child Mother" by Yael Kipper and Ronen Zaretzky - The story of elderly women born in Morocco and Yemen, who were married off when they were still little girls. Only now, as they enter the final chapter of their lives, do they openly face their past and the ways it still affects them and their families.
"The Last Shaman" directed by Raz Degan - Inspired by an article he read, James decides to travel to the Amazon rainforests, in search of a shaman whom he thinks can save him from a clinical depression that haunts him.
"The Patriarch's Room" by Danae Elon -The bizarre imprisonment of the former head of the Greek Orthodox Church in a tiny monastic cell in Jerusalem’s Old City leads to a fascinating journey in search of the truth, penetrating the remote world of the priesthood. The complex and unfamiliar picture that emerges is revealed here, on camera, for the very first time.
"Poetics of the Brain" by Nurith Aviv –weaving associative links between her personal biographical stories and neuroscientists’ accounts of their work. They discuss topics such as memory, bilingualism, reading, mirror neurons, smell, traces of experience.
"Shalom Italia," by Tamar Tal Anati (winner of Docaviv for Life in Stills) -Three Italian Jewish brothers set off on a journey through Tuscany, in search of a cave where they hid as children to escape the Nazis. Their quest, full of humor, food and Tuscan landscapes, straddles the boundary between history and myth, both of which really, truly happened.
"Week 23" by Ohad Milstein - Rahel, the daughter of a Swiss bishop, is coping with a difficult pregnancy in Israel. One of the identical twins she is carrying has died in utero, and now poses an almost certain threat to its sibling. The doctors are unequivocal about it. They tell Rahel that she should abort the surviving fetus and end her pregnancy.
"The Settlers" by Shimon Dotan; Town On A Wire directed by Uri Rosenwaksand Eyal Blachson; Death in the Terminal by Tali Shemesh and Asaf Sudry, and Babylon Dreamers by Roman Shumunov.
The Members of the selection committee included Sinai Abt, artistic director of the Docaviv Film Festival; director Reuven Brodsky, winner of Docaviv in 2012 for his film Home Movie and of Honorable Mention at Docaviv in 2015 and film editor Ayelet Ofarim.
Twelve films have been selected for the International Competition, which will open with the The Happy Film by Stefan Seigmeister. Also competing are Jerzy Sladkowski’s Don Juan, winner of the Idfa Award; Author: The J.T. LeRoy Story about the imaginary cult figure who became the darling of New York society and nightlife, picked up by Amazon at Sundance as its first doc title. Another festival favorite is A Flickering Truth and Sean McAllister's daring award winning documentary A Syrian Love Story.
The Depth of Field Competition will open with LoveTrue by director Alma Har’el, who will be a juror for the Israeli Film Competition. This is the Competition’s third year, held in conjunction with the Film Critics’ Forum that will award films for an outstanding and daring artistic vision. Other films that will be screened as part of the competition include Sundance winners Kate Plays Christine by Robert Greene, and Pieter-Jan De Pue’s hybrid documentary The Land of the Enlightened; other titles that will be shown are Hotel Dallas by wife and husband artist duo Livia Ungur and Sherng-Lee Huang, The Hong Kong Trilogy by noted cinematographer Christopher Doyle , and the musical- turned into documentary London Road by Rufus Norris and Alecky Blythe.
The Masters Section, a new category in the festival, highlighting new films by world renowned directors will be opened by Fire at Sea by director Gianfranco Rosi, winner of the Golden Bear at this year’s Berlinale. Avi Mograbi’s Between Fences will be accompanied by a play by the Holot Legislative Theater, with a cast of actors that includes Israelis and African asylum seekers.
Other films in this section include amongst others Junun, Paul Thomas Anderson’s portrayal of a musical project involving Shye Ben-Tzur and Jonny Greenwood, Homo Sapiens by director Nikolaus Geyrhalter, Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine by director Alex Gibney, To the Desert by director Judd Neeman, Unlocking the Cage by directors D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, De Palma by co-director Noah Baumbach and He Named Me Malala by David Guggenheim.
The Panorama selection of films will include amongst others the moving Strike a Pose, by Ester Gould and Reijer Zwaan about the dancers who accompanied Madonna on her “Blond Ambition” tour, Roger Ross Williams ‘Life, Animated depicting the remarkable story of an autistic boy, who learned how to communicate with his surroundings through Disney films, Those Who Jump about an African refugee who films attempts by other refugees to jump the barbed wire border fence in North Africa and Louis Theroux: My Scientology Film.
This year’s Arts Section will include Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble by Academy Award winner Morgan Neville; I Don’t Belong Anywhere: The Cinema of Chantal Akerman, which was produced shortly before her tragic death, Listen to Me, Marlon, which tells the story of Marlon Brando through the audio recordings he made throughout his life, Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict, the salacious story of art collector Peggy Guggenheim, Koudelka Shooting Holy Land, Gilad Baram’s film about famous Czech photographer Josef Koudelka’s travels along the Separation Fence, and more.
Seven films produced by the top film schools in Israel were selected to compete in the annual Student Film Competition. The prize for the competition was donated by the Gottesman family in memory of Ruti Gottesman, a leading supporter of Docaviv and of documentary.
The Members of the selection committee included Karin Ryvind Segal, programming director for Docaviv, Hila Avraham, curator and expert on film and audiovisual media preservation and screenwriter Danny Rosenberg, whose work includes the films My Father’s House , Susia and the television series Johnny and the Knights of the Galilee.
Special Guests attending the Festival:
Award winning Director Ondi Timoner, will be attending the Israeli premiere of her film Russell Brand: A Second Coming. Her Sundance-winning film Dig! will be among the music documentaries screened at the Tel Aviv Port. In conjunction with the Film Department of Beit Berl College, Timoner will also be conducting a special master class for students, professionals, and amateurs.
This year’s festival will include a special tribute to acclaimed director Nikolaus Geyrhalter who will be attending the festival with his recent Homo Sapiens. This year’s festival will also include two previous films of his, Our Daily Bread and Abendland,.
International jury members attending the festival include:
Adriek van Nieuwenhuyzen, Director of the Idfa industry office; Gary Kam, producer of Planet of Snail; film director Alma Har’el (Bombay Beach; LoveTrue) ; Nilotpal, Director of Docedge Kolkata, Sascha Lara Bleuler, Director of the Human Rights Film Festival in Zurich, and film director Tatiana Brandrup.
The Israeli jurors include:
Director Dror Moreh, director and producer Barak Heymann, director Robby Elmaliah, producer Elinor Kowarsky, photographer David Adika, and film editor Tal Rabiner.
Around town. A record number of twelve screening venues spread out across Tel Aviv will offer free screenings. These are: Habima Square, the Beit Danny Community Center, the Hatikvah neighborhood, the Arab-Jewish Community Center in Jaffa, the rooftop of Tel Aviv City Hall, WeWork, Levinsky Park, Bar Kayma, Beit Romano, the Nalaga’at Center, Picnic Little Italy-Sarona Tel Aviv, and Artport.
Outdoors. The Tel Aviv Port will continue to host the festival this year, with outdoor screenings of music films with guest deejays from KZRadio. Films to be screened at the port include Janis: Little Girl Blue, The Reflektor Tapes about the band Arcade Fire, P.T Andersoan’s Junun about the musical collaboration between Shye Ben Tzur, Jonny Greenwood, Nigel Godrich, and a dozen Indian musicians.
Festival Firsts. DocaviVR: a collaboration between Docaviv and Steamer, Israel’s first Interactive and Virtual Reality Film Festival, presents original documentary projects from Israel and around the world, created especially for viewing with Vr gear. The event will take place at Beit Romano. A cinema will pop up in one of Tel Aviv’s trendy hubs, with 25 stations equipped with Vr gear.
The Docommunity conference aims to promote dcomentary across the country by bringing together cultural coordinators and artistic directors from across the country to introduce them to the latest documentary films from Israel and around the world.
The Platform for Alternative Documentation at Artport art space: A performative piece that brings together film artists, social activists, and researchers studying the various aesthetic, social, and philosophical aspects of documentation. Curated by Laliv Melamed and Gilad Reich.
Young audiences. For the first time, films from The Next Doc will be screened, a special initiative of Docaviv, the Second Channel, and the New Fund for Film and Television, which led to the production of three films created especially for a teenage audience.
Docaviv will also be hosting the final event of Docu Young, at which films by students in residential schools, who participated in film workshops , will be screened.
The Docyouth Competition will feature the best documentary films produced by students in high school film programs throughout the country. For the first time, voting for this year’s competition will be held online and open to high school students across the country.
Among the Screenings of docs for kids are Victor Kosakovsky’s “Varicella”, and “Landfilharmonic”.
Over the course of the festival, 110 films will be screened.
Within the framework of this theme the program does not only include documentaries about terror and refugees, but also about a fragmented society which is losing its solidarity. Both in Israel and elsewhere the gap between the haves and the have-nots is widening, and so are the frustrations and the unrest. Israeli and international titles correlating to these themes can be found throughout the entire festival program:
“Death in the terminal” - Directors Tali Shemesh (“The Cemetery Club”) and Assaf Surd
A tense, minute-by-minute, Rashomon-style account of a tragic day. On October 18, 2015, a terrorist armed with a gun and a knife entered Beersheba’s bus terminal. Within 18 minutes Omri Levy, a soldier was killed and Abtum Zarhum, Eritrean immigrant asylum seeker, was lynched after being mistaken for a terrorist.
“The Settlers” - Premiered in Sundance, Director Shimon Dotan.
A far-reaching, comprehensive look at the Jewish settlement enterprise in the West Bank. It examines the origins of the settlement movement and the religious and ideological visions that propelled it, while providing an intimate look at the people at the center of the greatest geopolitical challenge now facing Israel and the international community. (Isa Contact: Cinephil)
“Town on a Wire” - premiered at Cph: Dox Dir: Uri Rosenwaks
While Tel Aviv is thriving, just ten minutes away lies the town of Lod, right in the backyard of Israel’s bustling urban center. Unlike its affluent neighbor, Lod is a city that suffers from the blight of racism, crime, and sheer desperation. Can it be saved? Is there some way to bring hope to Lod’s Arab and Jewish residents?
“Foucoammare”/ “Fire at Sea” - by Gianfranco Rosi - winner of Golden Bear, Berlinale 2016 -every day the inhabitants of the Italian Island Lampedusa are confronted with the flight of refugees to Europe . These people long for peace and freedom and often only their dead bodies are pulled out of the water. (Contact Isa: Doc & Film Int’l. U.S.: Kino Lorber)
“Between fences” – by Avi Mograbi -. In an Israeli detention center asylum-seekers from Eritrea and Sudan can’t be sent back to their own countries, but have no prospects in Israel either thanks to the country’s policies. Chen Alon and Avi Mograbi, initiate a theatre workshop to give these people the opportunity to address their own experiences of forced migration and discrimination and to confront an Israeli society that views them as dangerous infiltrators.
“A Syrian Love Story” – by Sean McAllister -You can’t be Che Guevara and a mother Amer tells Raghda, but maybe she can't do it any other way. After years of struggle, life without her homeland and the revolution has no meaning for her. It is hard to determine what is more demanding in this bold film: the revolution, or the search for inner peace. (Contact Isa: Cat & Docs)
“Homo Sapiens” – by Nikolaus Geyrhalter - what does humanity leave behind when its gone? It sometimes seems as if the mark that humans leave on this planet will last forever. The truth is that the iron, bricks, cement, and steel – the human traces everywhere abandoned and forgotten – are erased by the forces of nature. This unusually beautiful film may lack people and words, but that leaves even more room for thought.(Contact Isa: Autlook)
“Land of the Enlightened” – Premiered at Sundance Ff 2016. Shot over seven years on evocative 16mm footage, first-time director Pieter-Jan De Pue paints a whimsical yet haunting look at the condition of Afghanistan left for the next generation. As American soldiers prepare to leave, we follow De Pue deep into this hidden land where young boys form wild gangs to control trade routes, sell explosives from mines left over from war, making the new rules of war based on the harsh landscape left to them. (Contact Isa: Films Boutique)
“Flickering Truth” - Premiered at Toronto Ff 2015. Director Pietra Brettkelly (The Art Star and the Sudanese Twins) directs this harrowing, compelling film about the power of cinema to preserve our history and in so doing potentially change our futures. (Contact Isa: Film Sales Company)
“Requiem for the American Dream” - Directed by Peter D. Hutchison, Kelly Nyks, Jared P. Scott. In ten chilling but lucid chapters, Noam Chomsky, one of the great intellectuals of our time, analyzes the “system,” which allows wealthy capitalists to seize the reins of government and turn those without wealth into a passive herd, willing to forego power, solidarity, and democracy itself. (U.S.: Gravitas. Contact Isa: Films Transit)
The festival will open with a first film by Israeli director Roman Shumunov
“Babylon Dreamers” Directed by Roman Somonob. An intimate report about a troupe of immigrants from the former Soviet Union, from one of Ashdod’s poorest neighborhoods; they struggle to survive facing harsh conditions - poverty, mental illness, and broken families. They channel their anger and cling to their dream of attending and winning the International Breakdance Championship.
Israeli Competition
Some 70 Israeli films produced over the last year were submitted out of which 13 films have been selected for the Israeli Competition. They will be competing for the largest cash prize for documentary filmmaking in Israel 70,000 Nis (Us$ 15,000). Other awards in the competition include the Mayor’s Prize for the Most Promising Filmmaker, the Prize for Editing, the Prize for Cinematography, the Prize for Research, and the Prize for Original Score.
"The Wonderful Kingdom of Papa Alaev," directors Tal Barda, Noam Pinchas -Tajikistan’s answer to the Jackson Family. A modern-day Shakespearean tale about a famous Tajik musical family, controlled by their charismatic patriarch-grandfather - Papa Alaev.
"A Tale of Two Balloons" by Zohar Wagner - The tale of a women who thought a pair of perfect breasts would help her find true love. But when that love came along, those perfect breasts had to go.
"Aida's Secrets," director Alon Schwarz - At 68, Izak learns he has a brother he never knew about. As part of the discoveries about the family, the film uncovers the story of the Displaced Persons camps- the vibrant and often wild social life that flourished immediately after WW2.
"Child Mother" by Yael Kipper and Ronen Zaretzky - The story of elderly women born in Morocco and Yemen, who were married off when they were still little girls. Only now, as they enter the final chapter of their lives, do they openly face their past and the ways it still affects them and their families.
"The Last Shaman" directed by Raz Degan - Inspired by an article he read, James decides to travel to the Amazon rainforests, in search of a shaman whom he thinks can save him from a clinical depression that haunts him.
"The Patriarch's Room" by Danae Elon -The bizarre imprisonment of the former head of the Greek Orthodox Church in a tiny monastic cell in Jerusalem’s Old City leads to a fascinating journey in search of the truth, penetrating the remote world of the priesthood. The complex and unfamiliar picture that emerges is revealed here, on camera, for the very first time.
"Poetics of the Brain" by Nurith Aviv –weaving associative links between her personal biographical stories and neuroscientists’ accounts of their work. They discuss topics such as memory, bilingualism, reading, mirror neurons, smell, traces of experience.
"Shalom Italia," by Tamar Tal Anati (winner of Docaviv for Life in Stills) -Three Italian Jewish brothers set off on a journey through Tuscany, in search of a cave where they hid as children to escape the Nazis. Their quest, full of humor, food and Tuscan landscapes, straddles the boundary between history and myth, both of which really, truly happened.
"Week 23" by Ohad Milstein - Rahel, the daughter of a Swiss bishop, is coping with a difficult pregnancy in Israel. One of the identical twins she is carrying has died in utero, and now poses an almost certain threat to its sibling. The doctors are unequivocal about it. They tell Rahel that she should abort the surviving fetus and end her pregnancy.
"The Settlers" by Shimon Dotan; Town On A Wire directed by Uri Rosenwaksand Eyal Blachson; Death in the Terminal by Tali Shemesh and Asaf Sudry, and Babylon Dreamers by Roman Shumunov.
The Members of the selection committee included Sinai Abt, artistic director of the Docaviv Film Festival; director Reuven Brodsky, winner of Docaviv in 2012 for his film Home Movie and of Honorable Mention at Docaviv in 2015 and film editor Ayelet Ofarim.
Twelve films have been selected for the International Competition, which will open with the The Happy Film by Stefan Seigmeister. Also competing are Jerzy Sladkowski’s Don Juan, winner of the Idfa Award; Author: The J.T. LeRoy Story about the imaginary cult figure who became the darling of New York society and nightlife, picked up by Amazon at Sundance as its first doc title. Another festival favorite is A Flickering Truth and Sean McAllister's daring award winning documentary A Syrian Love Story.
The Depth of Field Competition will open with LoveTrue by director Alma Har’el, who will be a juror for the Israeli Film Competition. This is the Competition’s third year, held in conjunction with the Film Critics’ Forum that will award films for an outstanding and daring artistic vision. Other films that will be screened as part of the competition include Sundance winners Kate Plays Christine by Robert Greene, and Pieter-Jan De Pue’s hybrid documentary The Land of the Enlightened; other titles that will be shown are Hotel Dallas by wife and husband artist duo Livia Ungur and Sherng-Lee Huang, The Hong Kong Trilogy by noted cinematographer Christopher Doyle , and the musical- turned into documentary London Road by Rufus Norris and Alecky Blythe.
The Masters Section, a new category in the festival, highlighting new films by world renowned directors will be opened by Fire at Sea by director Gianfranco Rosi, winner of the Golden Bear at this year’s Berlinale. Avi Mograbi’s Between Fences will be accompanied by a play by the Holot Legislative Theater, with a cast of actors that includes Israelis and African asylum seekers.
Other films in this section include amongst others Junun, Paul Thomas Anderson’s portrayal of a musical project involving Shye Ben-Tzur and Jonny Greenwood, Homo Sapiens by director Nikolaus Geyrhalter, Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine by director Alex Gibney, To the Desert by director Judd Neeman, Unlocking the Cage by directors D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, De Palma by co-director Noah Baumbach and He Named Me Malala by David Guggenheim.
The Panorama selection of films will include amongst others the moving Strike a Pose, by Ester Gould and Reijer Zwaan about the dancers who accompanied Madonna on her “Blond Ambition” tour, Roger Ross Williams ‘Life, Animated depicting the remarkable story of an autistic boy, who learned how to communicate with his surroundings through Disney films, Those Who Jump about an African refugee who films attempts by other refugees to jump the barbed wire border fence in North Africa and Louis Theroux: My Scientology Film.
This year’s Arts Section will include Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble by Academy Award winner Morgan Neville; I Don’t Belong Anywhere: The Cinema of Chantal Akerman, which was produced shortly before her tragic death, Listen to Me, Marlon, which tells the story of Marlon Brando through the audio recordings he made throughout his life, Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict, the salacious story of art collector Peggy Guggenheim, Koudelka Shooting Holy Land, Gilad Baram’s film about famous Czech photographer Josef Koudelka’s travels along the Separation Fence, and more.
Seven films produced by the top film schools in Israel were selected to compete in the annual Student Film Competition. The prize for the competition was donated by the Gottesman family in memory of Ruti Gottesman, a leading supporter of Docaviv and of documentary.
The Members of the selection committee included Karin Ryvind Segal, programming director for Docaviv, Hila Avraham, curator and expert on film and audiovisual media preservation and screenwriter Danny Rosenberg, whose work includes the films My Father’s House , Susia and the television series Johnny and the Knights of the Galilee.
Special Guests attending the Festival:
Award winning Director Ondi Timoner, will be attending the Israeli premiere of her film Russell Brand: A Second Coming. Her Sundance-winning film Dig! will be among the music documentaries screened at the Tel Aviv Port. In conjunction with the Film Department of Beit Berl College, Timoner will also be conducting a special master class for students, professionals, and amateurs.
This year’s festival will include a special tribute to acclaimed director Nikolaus Geyrhalter who will be attending the festival with his recent Homo Sapiens. This year’s festival will also include two previous films of his, Our Daily Bread and Abendland,.
International jury members attending the festival include:
Adriek van Nieuwenhuyzen, Director of the Idfa industry office; Gary Kam, producer of Planet of Snail; film director Alma Har’el (Bombay Beach; LoveTrue) ; Nilotpal, Director of Docedge Kolkata, Sascha Lara Bleuler, Director of the Human Rights Film Festival in Zurich, and film director Tatiana Brandrup.
The Israeli jurors include:
Director Dror Moreh, director and producer Barak Heymann, director Robby Elmaliah, producer Elinor Kowarsky, photographer David Adika, and film editor Tal Rabiner.
Around town. A record number of twelve screening venues spread out across Tel Aviv will offer free screenings. These are: Habima Square, the Beit Danny Community Center, the Hatikvah neighborhood, the Arab-Jewish Community Center in Jaffa, the rooftop of Tel Aviv City Hall, WeWork, Levinsky Park, Bar Kayma, Beit Romano, the Nalaga’at Center, Picnic Little Italy-Sarona Tel Aviv, and Artport.
Outdoors. The Tel Aviv Port will continue to host the festival this year, with outdoor screenings of music films with guest deejays from KZRadio. Films to be screened at the port include Janis: Little Girl Blue, The Reflektor Tapes about the band Arcade Fire, P.T Andersoan’s Junun about the musical collaboration between Shye Ben Tzur, Jonny Greenwood, Nigel Godrich, and a dozen Indian musicians.
Festival Firsts. DocaviVR: a collaboration between Docaviv and Steamer, Israel’s first Interactive and Virtual Reality Film Festival, presents original documentary projects from Israel and around the world, created especially for viewing with Vr gear. The event will take place at Beit Romano. A cinema will pop up in one of Tel Aviv’s trendy hubs, with 25 stations equipped with Vr gear.
The Docommunity conference aims to promote dcomentary across the country by bringing together cultural coordinators and artistic directors from across the country to introduce them to the latest documentary films from Israel and around the world.
The Platform for Alternative Documentation at Artport art space: A performative piece that brings together film artists, social activists, and researchers studying the various aesthetic, social, and philosophical aspects of documentation. Curated by Laliv Melamed and Gilad Reich.
Young audiences. For the first time, films from The Next Doc will be screened, a special initiative of Docaviv, the Second Channel, and the New Fund for Film and Television, which led to the production of three films created especially for a teenage audience.
Docaviv will also be hosting the final event of Docu Young, at which films by students in residential schools, who participated in film workshops , will be screened.
The Docyouth Competition will feature the best documentary films produced by students in high school film programs throughout the country. For the first time, voting for this year’s competition will be held online and open to high school students across the country.
Among the Screenings of docs for kids are Victor Kosakovsky’s “Varicella”, and “Landfilharmonic”.
Over the course of the festival, 110 films will be screened.
- 5/11/2016
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
World premiere of Damien Manivel’s second feature, Le Parc, among the selection.
France’s Association for the Diffusion of Independent Cinema (Acid) has unveiled the line-up for its 23rd Cannes showcase, running May 12-21.
The initiative aimed at giving greater visibility to up and coming, indie filmmakers will screen nine works, including three first features and seven world premieres. Six of the features are yet to secure a distributor.
The showcase includes fiction and documentary features selected by filmmakers and members of Acid, many of whose films were programmed at Cannes by Acid in 2015.
Features include Le Parc by Damien Manivel, who previously won a Special Mention at the 2014 Locarno Film Festival for his debut feature A Young Poet, and Isola by Fabianny Deschamps, whose debut New Territories featured at Acid Cannes 2014,
Seven directors are making their debut this year - Ludovic and Zoran Boukherma, Marielle Gautier, Hugo P. Thomas, Wissam Charaf, [link...
France’s Association for the Diffusion of Independent Cinema (Acid) has unveiled the line-up for its 23rd Cannes showcase, running May 12-21.
The initiative aimed at giving greater visibility to up and coming, indie filmmakers will screen nine works, including three first features and seven world premieres. Six of the features are yet to secure a distributor.
The showcase includes fiction and documentary features selected by filmmakers and members of Acid, many of whose films were programmed at Cannes by Acid in 2015.
Features include Le Parc by Damien Manivel, who previously won a Special Mention at the 2014 Locarno Film Festival for his debut feature A Young Poet, and Isola by Fabianny Deschamps, whose debut New Territories featured at Acid Cannes 2014,
Seven directors are making their debut this year - Ludovic and Zoran Boukherma, Marielle Gautier, Hugo P. Thomas, Wissam Charaf, [link...
- 4/19/2016
- ScreenDaily
This year we are seeing many films from Mena, that is an acronym for the Middle East and North Africa. More commonly called “Arab” cinema, (though the term is inaccurate because several countries in the region are not actually “Arab”) the films of this region are winning many awards and garnering much interest worldwide.
More than 10 Arab films participated in the Berlinale’s Forum and Forum Expanded programs this year, in addition to the ones which participated in the Official Competition (“Inhebek Hedi”/ “Hedi” from Tunisia and “A Dragon Arrives!” by Mani Haghighi from Iran). This makes an especially remarkable year for Arab cinema’s presence in Berlin.
The Forum focus on Arab cinema, represented with films from Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria and Saudi Arabia highlights mostly young directors whose works explore both the past and present of their homelands.
The films included: “A Magical Substance Flows into Me” by artist Jumana Manna (Palestine), “Akher ayam el madina”/ “In the Last Days of the City” (Egypt) by Tamer El Said (international sales by Still Moving), documentary “Makhdoumin”/ “A Maid for Each” (Lebanon) by Maher Abi Samra (Isa: Docs & Film), “Barakah yoqabil Barakah”/ “Barakah Meets Barakah” (Saudi Arabia) by Mahmoud Sabbagh and Manazil (Isa: Mpm), “Bela abwab”/ “Houses without Doors” by Syrian-Armenian director Avo Kaprealian. Of course the 46th Berlinale Forum also screens films from European, Latin American and Asian directors.
The Tunisian film in Competition “Inhebek Hedi”/ “Hedi” by Mohamed Ben Attia, won the Best First Feature Award and its leading man, Majd Mastoura, received the prestigious Silver Bear for Best Actor for his role as Hedi. Attia’s debut feature film is a thoughtful love story about identity and independence in Tunisian society. It is being sold internationally by Luxbox.
Palestinian director Mahdi Fleifel won the Silver Bear Jury Prize for Short Film for “ A Man Returned”, a 30-minute portrayal of a young refugee struggling to make a life for himself in Lebanon’s Ain El-Helweh camp, being sold internationally by 3.14 Collectif. He previously made an award-winning documentary about his own experience as a refugee. The short film was also selected as the Berlin Short Film Nominee for the European Film Awards.
The Ecumenical Jury awarded the Forum Prize to Saudi filmmaker Mahmoud Sabbagh for his well-received romantic comedy “Barakah Yoqabil Barakah”/ “Barakah Meets Barakah”, a social commentary on the lives of young people in Saudi Arabia. It shared the prize with Danish production “Les Sauteurs”/ “Those Who Jump” – a film that also highlights the plight of Europe-bound refugees.
Egyptian filmmaker Tamer El-Said’s feature film “Akher Ayam El-Madina”/ “In the Last Days of the City” won the Caligari Film Prize. The film looks at a young filmmaker’s struggle to complete a film about Cairo. It was the only Egyptian film to participate in the 2016 Berlinale Forum.
Lebanese filmmaker Maher Abi Samra’s documentary “Makhdoumin”/ “A Maid for Each”, a look at the legal system that controls the lives of Lebanon’s foreign domestic workers, won the Peace Film Prize.
“Zinzana”/ “Rattle the Cage” director, Majid al Ansari, from the Arab Emirates, was honored with Variety’s Mid-East Filmmaker of the Year Award at the Berlinale. The film is the first genre movie of its kind produced in the UAE. It was financed and produced by Abu Dhabi’s ImageNation. It is repped for Us by Cinetic and international sales are by Im Global.
Projects “Mawlana”, based on Ibrahim Issa’s best-selling novel and shortlisted for the Arabic Booker Prize and director’s Mohamed Yassein’s “Wedding Song” based on Naguib Mahfouz’s novel, the Nobel Prize Winner for Literature were being promoted at the Arab Cinema Center at the Market. Reflecting a decadent Egypt from the 1970s, “Wedding Song” is one of the largest TV productions in the Arab World in 2016.
“Theeb”, a Jordanian Epic about Bedouins, is the Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. It played in Venice. International sales agent Fortissimo has licensed it to Film Movement for U.S., ABC for Benelux, New Wave for U.K., As Fidalgo for Norway, Jiff for Australia, trigon-film for Switzerland. Mad Solutions is handling the Middle East. “Ave Maria” a 14-minute Palestine satirical short is the Academy Award nomination for Best Short Fiction and is being sold internationally by Ouat Media. “ The Idol” (Palestine) played Tiff 2015 and other top fests and has sold widely throughout the world through Canada-based international sales agent Seville. Not since Elia Suleiman won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival for “Divine Intervention” has a Palestinian film director made as much of an impact as “The Idol” director Hany Abu-Assad whose “Paradise Now” and “Omar” both went to the Academy Awards.
Kudos for much of the success of Arab cinema go to Mad Solutions, the Cairo, Abu Dhabi and New York based marketing and distribution company for its marketing and social media strategies as well as its release of “Theeb”, “Zinzana” and “Ave Maria”. It also helped create the Arab Cinema Center which was launched last year at the Berlinale and Efm.
In all, 20 Mena films played in the Festival and Market this year.
And what of that other small country in the region called Israel (and/ or Palestine) which is not included in the term Mena? While Israeli films that showed in Berlin received international praise, they will never show in any of the Arab countries and are sometimes boycotted by international film festivals who succumb to censorship tactics.
Most of the larger Israeli features go to Cannes, Venice and Toronto; “Afterthought” went to Cannes, “Mountain” to Venice, “Barash” to San Sebastian”, “Wedding Doll” to London and “A.K.A. Nadia” to Talinn Black Nights Film Festival. In Berlin many are screened as German Premieres.
What Israeli films have won acclaim lately? Is it possible that our hero, Katriel Schory, head of the Israel Film Fund, whose stand for true art has earned him Israeli government censure at home (A prophet is never honored in his own land) and fame abroad with new countries striving to create national cinema, is being eclipsed by the growth of “Arab” cinema?
“Sandstorm” directed by Elite Zexer (international sales by Beta) made its way to Panorama from its world premiere in Sundance where it won the Best Actress Award for Palestinian actress Lamis Ammar’s portrayal of a young Bedouin woman forced to choose between modern freedom or traditional societal strictures within an arranged marriage.
Panorama also screened “Junction 48” (international sales by The Match Factory) which received international praise and audience acclaim. The Israeli-Palestinian hip-hop movie by Israeli-American filmmaker, Udi Aloni, was supported by the Israel-based Rabinovich Foundation. The story is about Kareem who lives in a mixed Jewish-Arab crime-ridden ghetto outside Tel Aviv. He deals drugs and lives dangerously until he discovers hip-hop and decides to express his life as a Palestinian youth along with young singer Manar. Palestinian and Israeli musicians drive this music movie and for Aloni, just seeing the film made, and then shown at the Berlin Film Festival proves its success.
“Suddenly a group of people just choose to make a film and the film is extremely professional. It’s very important that this bi-national energy can create high quality stuff, the high quality is almost the symbol of the resistance. We should not even have to tell the story about the issue. The fact that we could create it is amazing,” Aloni told Euronews.
Thirty-seven-year-old Arab-Israeli rapper Tamer Nafar plays the lead role, and has known the 56-year-old Aloni for some time. “We have been on the same demonstrations, in the parties since 2000, so we live in each other’s world. He has been to my concerts many times, he directed a video clip, I was in his movies as a producer a few times. It’s not about an old generation and new generation, it’s just about creating the right generation,” he said. “He has that gift of being a good story teller and director but he gives us the stage, no, he doesn’t give us a stage, we are building a stage together… he has his own perspective but we are all on the same level,” said actress Samar Qupty. The struggle for equal rights for Palestinians or Arab Israelis inside Israel is at its crux.
Panorama Documents screened “Who’s Gonna Love Me Now?” directed by Tomer Haymann and Barak Heymann co-directed by Alexander Bodin Saphir and being sold by Austria’s Autlook. Forum showed “ Inertia” by Idan Haguel being sold by Oration Films’ Timothy O’Brian of the U.S., and “Between Fences” by Avi Mograbi, being sold by Docs & Film’s Daniela Elstner of France. Culinary Cinema showed “Café Nagler” by Mor Kaplansky and Yariv Barel is being sold internationally by Go2Films.
Teddy 30 (the retrospective of Teddy Award winners over the past 30 years) honored Dan Wolman’s 1979 film “Hide and Seek”/ “Machboim”. Berlinale Shorts screened Rotem Murat’s “Winds Junction” from Sapir College which also holds international rights; Generation 14 Plus screened “Mushkie” by Aleeza Chanowitz from the Jerusalem San Spiegel Film School, being sold by Cinephil. Seven other films were sold in the market by various sales agents.
One of the very special events I attended at the Berlinale this year was the Shabbat Dinner, held the first Friday in the Festival and hosted by Nicola Galliner, Founder and Force of the Berlin Jewish Film Festival. There was a table full of Jews: the new Director of the Jerusalem Film Festival, Noa Regev, PhD; Jay Rosenblatt, Program Director of San Francisco’sJewish Film Institute and its former Director, Peter Stein, now the Senior Programmer of Frameline, San Francisco’s Lgbtq Film Festival; Judy Ironside, the Founder and President of UK Jewish Film and of the sixth edition of the Geneva and Zurich Jewish Film Festivals, the new young director of the Boston Jewish Film Festival, Ariana Cohen-Halberstam who recently moved from the New York Jcc to Boston, the prolific Israeli director, filmmaker Dan Wolman whose new film will soon be out and whose 1979 film “Hide and Seek”/ “Machboim” was part of the Teddy 30th Anniversary Retrospective held by the Berlinale Panorama.
Talk was about films, about politics including gender politics, about our concerns, (we Jews are better worriers than warriors) and just plain gossip.
Now if my readers will excuse my interjecting myself into this article:
It is my opinion that the region of the world called the Middle East, and the three major monotheistic religions of the world whose origin is there had better learn to do more than merely co-exist peacefully if we are to see peaceful and fruitful consequences which will set the world back upon its proper axis.
Art breaks down borders; it is subversive rather than observant of the exigencies of ever changing governments. It creates new perspectives and breaks down old ways of seeing. What I call “Cinema” is Art. Other movies may simply entertain and not aspire to more or they may propagate dogmas, but Art serves no master; it is not tethered; it is freedom of expression which should be honored with freedom to travel.
More than 10 Arab films participated in the Berlinale’s Forum and Forum Expanded programs this year, in addition to the ones which participated in the Official Competition (“Inhebek Hedi”/ “Hedi” from Tunisia and “A Dragon Arrives!” by Mani Haghighi from Iran). This makes an especially remarkable year for Arab cinema’s presence in Berlin.
The Forum focus on Arab cinema, represented with films from Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria and Saudi Arabia highlights mostly young directors whose works explore both the past and present of their homelands.
The films included: “A Magical Substance Flows into Me” by artist Jumana Manna (Palestine), “Akher ayam el madina”/ “In the Last Days of the City” (Egypt) by Tamer El Said (international sales by Still Moving), documentary “Makhdoumin”/ “A Maid for Each” (Lebanon) by Maher Abi Samra (Isa: Docs & Film), “Barakah yoqabil Barakah”/ “Barakah Meets Barakah” (Saudi Arabia) by Mahmoud Sabbagh and Manazil (Isa: Mpm), “Bela abwab”/ “Houses without Doors” by Syrian-Armenian director Avo Kaprealian. Of course the 46th Berlinale Forum also screens films from European, Latin American and Asian directors.
The Tunisian film in Competition “Inhebek Hedi”/ “Hedi” by Mohamed Ben Attia, won the Best First Feature Award and its leading man, Majd Mastoura, received the prestigious Silver Bear for Best Actor for his role as Hedi. Attia’s debut feature film is a thoughtful love story about identity and independence in Tunisian society. It is being sold internationally by Luxbox.
Palestinian director Mahdi Fleifel won the Silver Bear Jury Prize for Short Film for “ A Man Returned”, a 30-minute portrayal of a young refugee struggling to make a life for himself in Lebanon’s Ain El-Helweh camp, being sold internationally by 3.14 Collectif. He previously made an award-winning documentary about his own experience as a refugee. The short film was also selected as the Berlin Short Film Nominee for the European Film Awards.
The Ecumenical Jury awarded the Forum Prize to Saudi filmmaker Mahmoud Sabbagh for his well-received romantic comedy “Barakah Yoqabil Barakah”/ “Barakah Meets Barakah”, a social commentary on the lives of young people in Saudi Arabia. It shared the prize with Danish production “Les Sauteurs”/ “Those Who Jump” – a film that also highlights the plight of Europe-bound refugees.
Egyptian filmmaker Tamer El-Said’s feature film “Akher Ayam El-Madina”/ “In the Last Days of the City” won the Caligari Film Prize. The film looks at a young filmmaker’s struggle to complete a film about Cairo. It was the only Egyptian film to participate in the 2016 Berlinale Forum.
Lebanese filmmaker Maher Abi Samra’s documentary “Makhdoumin”/ “A Maid for Each”, a look at the legal system that controls the lives of Lebanon’s foreign domestic workers, won the Peace Film Prize.
“Zinzana”/ “Rattle the Cage” director, Majid al Ansari, from the Arab Emirates, was honored with Variety’s Mid-East Filmmaker of the Year Award at the Berlinale. The film is the first genre movie of its kind produced in the UAE. It was financed and produced by Abu Dhabi’s ImageNation. It is repped for Us by Cinetic and international sales are by Im Global.
Projects “Mawlana”, based on Ibrahim Issa’s best-selling novel and shortlisted for the Arabic Booker Prize and director’s Mohamed Yassein’s “Wedding Song” based on Naguib Mahfouz’s novel, the Nobel Prize Winner for Literature were being promoted at the Arab Cinema Center at the Market. Reflecting a decadent Egypt from the 1970s, “Wedding Song” is one of the largest TV productions in the Arab World in 2016.
“Theeb”, a Jordanian Epic about Bedouins, is the Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. It played in Venice. International sales agent Fortissimo has licensed it to Film Movement for U.S., ABC for Benelux, New Wave for U.K., As Fidalgo for Norway, Jiff for Australia, trigon-film for Switzerland. Mad Solutions is handling the Middle East. “Ave Maria” a 14-minute Palestine satirical short is the Academy Award nomination for Best Short Fiction and is being sold internationally by Ouat Media. “ The Idol” (Palestine) played Tiff 2015 and other top fests and has sold widely throughout the world through Canada-based international sales agent Seville. Not since Elia Suleiman won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival for “Divine Intervention” has a Palestinian film director made as much of an impact as “The Idol” director Hany Abu-Assad whose “Paradise Now” and “Omar” both went to the Academy Awards.
Kudos for much of the success of Arab cinema go to Mad Solutions, the Cairo, Abu Dhabi and New York based marketing and distribution company for its marketing and social media strategies as well as its release of “Theeb”, “Zinzana” and “Ave Maria”. It also helped create the Arab Cinema Center which was launched last year at the Berlinale and Efm.
In all, 20 Mena films played in the Festival and Market this year.
And what of that other small country in the region called Israel (and/ or Palestine) which is not included in the term Mena? While Israeli films that showed in Berlin received international praise, they will never show in any of the Arab countries and are sometimes boycotted by international film festivals who succumb to censorship tactics.
Most of the larger Israeli features go to Cannes, Venice and Toronto; “Afterthought” went to Cannes, “Mountain” to Venice, “Barash” to San Sebastian”, “Wedding Doll” to London and “A.K.A. Nadia” to Talinn Black Nights Film Festival. In Berlin many are screened as German Premieres.
What Israeli films have won acclaim lately? Is it possible that our hero, Katriel Schory, head of the Israel Film Fund, whose stand for true art has earned him Israeli government censure at home (A prophet is never honored in his own land) and fame abroad with new countries striving to create national cinema, is being eclipsed by the growth of “Arab” cinema?
“Sandstorm” directed by Elite Zexer (international sales by Beta) made its way to Panorama from its world premiere in Sundance where it won the Best Actress Award for Palestinian actress Lamis Ammar’s portrayal of a young Bedouin woman forced to choose between modern freedom or traditional societal strictures within an arranged marriage.
Panorama also screened “Junction 48” (international sales by The Match Factory) which received international praise and audience acclaim. The Israeli-Palestinian hip-hop movie by Israeli-American filmmaker, Udi Aloni, was supported by the Israel-based Rabinovich Foundation. The story is about Kareem who lives in a mixed Jewish-Arab crime-ridden ghetto outside Tel Aviv. He deals drugs and lives dangerously until he discovers hip-hop and decides to express his life as a Palestinian youth along with young singer Manar. Palestinian and Israeli musicians drive this music movie and for Aloni, just seeing the film made, and then shown at the Berlin Film Festival proves its success.
“Suddenly a group of people just choose to make a film and the film is extremely professional. It’s very important that this bi-national energy can create high quality stuff, the high quality is almost the symbol of the resistance. We should not even have to tell the story about the issue. The fact that we could create it is amazing,” Aloni told Euronews.
Thirty-seven-year-old Arab-Israeli rapper Tamer Nafar plays the lead role, and has known the 56-year-old Aloni for some time. “We have been on the same demonstrations, in the parties since 2000, so we live in each other’s world. He has been to my concerts many times, he directed a video clip, I was in his movies as a producer a few times. It’s not about an old generation and new generation, it’s just about creating the right generation,” he said. “He has that gift of being a good story teller and director but he gives us the stage, no, he doesn’t give us a stage, we are building a stage together… he has his own perspective but we are all on the same level,” said actress Samar Qupty. The struggle for equal rights for Palestinians or Arab Israelis inside Israel is at its crux.
Panorama Documents screened “Who’s Gonna Love Me Now?” directed by Tomer Haymann and Barak Heymann co-directed by Alexander Bodin Saphir and being sold by Austria’s Autlook. Forum showed “ Inertia” by Idan Haguel being sold by Oration Films’ Timothy O’Brian of the U.S., and “Between Fences” by Avi Mograbi, being sold by Docs & Film’s Daniela Elstner of France. Culinary Cinema showed “Café Nagler” by Mor Kaplansky and Yariv Barel is being sold internationally by Go2Films.
Teddy 30 (the retrospective of Teddy Award winners over the past 30 years) honored Dan Wolman’s 1979 film “Hide and Seek”/ “Machboim”. Berlinale Shorts screened Rotem Murat’s “Winds Junction” from Sapir College which also holds international rights; Generation 14 Plus screened “Mushkie” by Aleeza Chanowitz from the Jerusalem San Spiegel Film School, being sold by Cinephil. Seven other films were sold in the market by various sales agents.
One of the very special events I attended at the Berlinale this year was the Shabbat Dinner, held the first Friday in the Festival and hosted by Nicola Galliner, Founder and Force of the Berlin Jewish Film Festival. There was a table full of Jews: the new Director of the Jerusalem Film Festival, Noa Regev, PhD; Jay Rosenblatt, Program Director of San Francisco’sJewish Film Institute and its former Director, Peter Stein, now the Senior Programmer of Frameline, San Francisco’s Lgbtq Film Festival; Judy Ironside, the Founder and President of UK Jewish Film and of the sixth edition of the Geneva and Zurich Jewish Film Festivals, the new young director of the Boston Jewish Film Festival, Ariana Cohen-Halberstam who recently moved from the New York Jcc to Boston, the prolific Israeli director, filmmaker Dan Wolman whose new film will soon be out and whose 1979 film “Hide and Seek”/ “Machboim” was part of the Teddy 30th Anniversary Retrospective held by the Berlinale Panorama.
Talk was about films, about politics including gender politics, about our concerns, (we Jews are better worriers than warriors) and just plain gossip.
Now if my readers will excuse my interjecting myself into this article:
It is my opinion that the region of the world called the Middle East, and the three major monotheistic religions of the world whose origin is there had better learn to do more than merely co-exist peacefully if we are to see peaceful and fruitful consequences which will set the world back upon its proper axis.
Art breaks down borders; it is subversive rather than observant of the exigencies of ever changing governments. It creates new perspectives and breaks down old ways of seeing. What I call “Cinema” is Art. Other movies may simply entertain and not aspire to more or they may propagate dogmas, but Art serves no master; it is not tethered; it is freedom of expression which should be honored with freedom to travel.
- 3/6/2016
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Exclusive: Doc & Film has sold the documentary to Benelux and Switzerland.
Paris-based Doc & Film has announced a raft of pre-sales on Italian film-maker Gianfranco Rosi’s Fire At Sea ahead of its premiere in competition at Berlin today (Feb 13).
The feature-length documentary – capturing life on the Italian island of Lampedusa – has sold to Benelux (Cinéart) and Switzerland (Xenix).
Italy’s Istituto Luce – one of two Italian partners on the film alongside Rai Cinema – will distribute in Italy.
Météore Films – a new Paris-based distribution company created by former Films du Les Films du Losange programming manager Mathieu Berthon last year – has acquired rights for France.
The company also acquired Avi Mograbi’s Between Fences – about African asylum seekers being held in a detention centre in the Negev desert in Israel – which screens in the Forum.
Other Efm titles on Doc & Film’s slate include A Made For Each (Forum) and Jamais Contente (Generation).
Paris-based Doc & Film has announced a raft of pre-sales on Italian film-maker Gianfranco Rosi’s Fire At Sea ahead of its premiere in competition at Berlin today (Feb 13).
The feature-length documentary – capturing life on the Italian island of Lampedusa – has sold to Benelux (Cinéart) and Switzerland (Xenix).
Italy’s Istituto Luce – one of two Italian partners on the film alongside Rai Cinema – will distribute in Italy.
Météore Films – a new Paris-based distribution company created by former Films du Les Films du Losange programming manager Mathieu Berthon last year – has acquired rights for France.
The company also acquired Avi Mograbi’s Between Fences – about African asylum seekers being held in a detention centre in the Negev desert in Israel – which screens in the Forum.
Other Efm titles on Doc & Film’s slate include A Made For Each (Forum) and Jamais Contente (Generation).
- 2/13/2016
- ScreenDaily
Programme includes 34 world premieres.
The line-up for the 46th Berlinale Forum has been announced and will feature a total of 44 films in its main programme, of which 34 are world premieres and nine international premieres.
One focus of this year’s programme is the Arab region, with films shot by mainly young directors from an area that stretches between Egypt and Saudi Arabia, exploring both the past and present of their homelands.
In A Magical Substance Flows into Me, artist Jumana Manna sets out in search of the musical diversity of the Palestinian region.
Tamer El Said’s feature In the Last Days of the City (Akher ayam el madina) sends his alter-ego Khalid through the director’s home city of Cairo, which is in a state of uproar.
Maher Abi Samra’s documentary A Maid for Each (Makhdoumin) grapples with the employment of maids from the Global South in middle-class Lebanese households, a practice...
The line-up for the 46th Berlinale Forum has been announced and will feature a total of 44 films in its main programme, of which 34 are world premieres and nine international premieres.
One focus of this year’s programme is the Arab region, with films shot by mainly young directors from an area that stretches between Egypt and Saudi Arabia, exploring both the past and present of their homelands.
In A Magical Substance Flows into Me, artist Jumana Manna sets out in search of the musical diversity of the Palestinian region.
Tamer El Said’s feature In the Last Days of the City (Akher ayam el madina) sends his alter-ego Khalid through the director’s home city of Cairo, which is in a state of uproar.
Maher Abi Samra’s documentary A Maid for Each (Makhdoumin) grapples with the employment of maids from the Global South in middle-class Lebanese households, a practice...
- 1/19/2016
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
The 46th Berlinale Forum will be screening 44 films from February 11 through 21. Among the highlights will be Eugène Green's Le Fils de Joseph with Mathieu Amalric, a new documentaries from Wang Bing and Nikolaus Geyrhalter, Ted Fendt's Short Stay, the only film screening on 35mm, Robert Greene’s Kate Plays Christine with Kate Lyn Sheil, plus new work by Avi Mograbi, Bence Fliegauf, Jumana Manna, Tamer El Said, Philip Scheffner, Daichi Sugimoto, Rachel Lang, Mahmoud Sabbagh, Volker Koepp, Ahu Öztürk, Andrea Bussmann and Nicolás Pereda. » - David Hudson...
- 1/19/2016
- Keyframe
The 46th Berlinale Forum will be screening 44 films from February 11 through 21. Among the highlights will be Eugène Green's Le Fils de Joseph with Mathieu Amalric, a new documentaries from Wang Bing and Nikolaus Geyrhalter, Ted Fendt's Short Stay, the only film screening on 35mm, Robert Greene’s Kate Plays Christine with Kate Lyn Sheil, plus new work by Avi Mograbi, Bence Fliegauf, Jumana Manna, Tamer El Said, Philip Scheffner, Daichi Sugimoto, Rachel Lang, Mahmoud Sabbagh, Volker Koepp, Ahu Öztürk, Andrea Bussmann and Nicolás Pereda. » - David Hudson...
- 1/19/2016
- Fandor: Keyframe
A total of 25 films selected for competitive programme.
The Berlinale (Feb 11-21) has unveiled the 25 short films from 21 countries that will compete for the Golden and Silver Bear, a nomination for the European Film Awards and, for the second consecutive year, the Audi Short Film Award worth € 20,000.
The short film jury is comprised of the curator and director of the Sharjah Biennial in the UAE, Sheikha Hoor Al-Qasimi; Greek curator and writer Katerina Gregos; and Israeli filmmaker Avi Mograbi.
Among others, the competition will include films from Gabriel Abrantes, Pimpaka Towira, Réka Bucsi, Christoph Girardet and Matthias Müller, and Siegfried A. Fruhauf.
Ben Russell, who won plaudits at festivals around the world with A Spell To Ward Off The Darkness, will present He Who Eats Children, described as “a speculative portrait of a Dutchman living in the Surinamese jungle fixing canoe motors, accused of eating the locals’ children”.
Also among the line-up is a new documentary by [link...
The Berlinale (Feb 11-21) has unveiled the 25 short films from 21 countries that will compete for the Golden and Silver Bear, a nomination for the European Film Awards and, for the second consecutive year, the Audi Short Film Award worth € 20,000.
The short film jury is comprised of the curator and director of the Sharjah Biennial in the UAE, Sheikha Hoor Al-Qasimi; Greek curator and writer Katerina Gregos; and Israeli filmmaker Avi Mograbi.
Among others, the competition will include films from Gabriel Abrantes, Pimpaka Towira, Réka Bucsi, Christoph Girardet and Matthias Müller, and Siegfried A. Fruhauf.
Ben Russell, who won plaudits at festivals around the world with A Spell To Ward Off The Darkness, will present He Who Eats Children, described as “a speculative portrait of a Dutchman living in the Surinamese jungle fixing canoe motors, accused of eating the locals’ children”.
Also among the line-up is a new documentary by [link...
- 1/12/2016
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Patrick Wang’s The Grief of Others set for international premiere in the selection.
France’s Association for the Diffusion of Independent Cinema (Acid) has unveiled the line-up for its 22nd Cannes showcase, running May 14-23.
The initiative aimed at giving greater visibility to up and coming, indie filmmakers will screen nine works – five of them first features and six of them without a distributor.
They include Us filmmaker Patrick Wang’s The Grief of Others, which premiered at SXSW earlier this year.
An adaptation of Leah Hager Cohen’s novel about a family who come to terms with the recent loss of a baby through the arrival of a pregnant, teenager stepdaughter in their care, it is Wang’s second film after the much-praised In the Family.
Paris-based Ed Distribution has just acquired the film for France.
Launched in 1993, Acid’s Cannes showcase has put the spotlight on more than 200 works on the Croisette including early works...
France’s Association for the Diffusion of Independent Cinema (Acid) has unveiled the line-up for its 22nd Cannes showcase, running May 14-23.
The initiative aimed at giving greater visibility to up and coming, indie filmmakers will screen nine works – five of them first features and six of them without a distributor.
They include Us filmmaker Patrick Wang’s The Grief of Others, which premiered at SXSW earlier this year.
An adaptation of Leah Hager Cohen’s novel about a family who come to terms with the recent loss of a baby through the arrival of a pregnant, teenager stepdaughter in their care, it is Wang’s second film after the much-praised In the Family.
Paris-based Ed Distribution has just acquired the film for France.
Launched in 1993, Acid’s Cannes showcase has put the spotlight on more than 200 works on the Croisette including early works...
- 4/23/2015
- ScreenDaily
Festival to open with European premiere of The Auction House: A Tale of Two Brothers.
Open City Docs Fest holds its fourth edition in London next week from June 18-22.
Kicking off with the European premiere of Edward Owles’ The Auction House: A Tale of Two Brothers on June 17, the festival will also screen the likes of David Graham Scott’s Iboga Nights, Gianfranco Rosi’s Sacro Gra, Marc Silver’s Who is Dayani Cristal? and Hilla Medalia & Shosh Shlam’s Web Junkie.
It will close with the UK premiere of Pavel Loparev & Askold Kurov’s Children 404, followed by an awards ceremony.
This year’s awards are for Best UK Film and Emerging International Filmmaker, as well as a Grand Jury prize awarded by Pawel Pawlikowski (chair), Jeanie Finlay, Dr. Grit Lemke, Diana Tabokov and Chris Wilson.
Events at the festival include a talk with award-winning filmmaker Penny Woolcock, a masterclass held by Avi Mograbi and a...
Open City Docs Fest holds its fourth edition in London next week from June 18-22.
Kicking off with the European premiere of Edward Owles’ The Auction House: A Tale of Two Brothers on June 17, the festival will also screen the likes of David Graham Scott’s Iboga Nights, Gianfranco Rosi’s Sacro Gra, Marc Silver’s Who is Dayani Cristal? and Hilla Medalia & Shosh Shlam’s Web Junkie.
It will close with the UK premiere of Pavel Loparev & Askold Kurov’s Children 404, followed by an awards ceremony.
This year’s awards are for Best UK Film and Emerging International Filmmaker, as well as a Grand Jury prize awarded by Pawel Pawlikowski (chair), Jeanie Finlay, Dr. Grit Lemke, Diana Tabokov and Chris Wilson.
Events at the festival include a talk with award-winning filmmaker Penny Woolcock, a masterclass held by Avi Mograbi and a...
- 6/10/2014
- by ian.sandwell@screendaily.com (Ian Sandwell)
- ScreenDaily
Seven awards granted to film venues in London.
Seven traditional and non-traditional film venues are to receive £3,000 ($5,000) each in order for them to broaden their programming as part of the BFI’s Film Audience Network.
Allocated by Film London, the Film Hub London’s Boost Awards will bring film-makers from countries including Canada, Israel, Belgium, the Netherlands and France to speak about their work at screening events in London.
Funding includes an expansion of A Nos Amours’ Chantal Akerman season, re-scoring of silent films in South London, Cutting East presenting Egyptian music documentary and a director Q&A, Open City Docs Fest’s retrospective of Israeli documentarian Avi Mograbi, the screening of a Canadian sci-fi film in a World War II bunker in Dalston and the screening of Dutch comedy Matterhorn with director Q&As around London, presented by Loco.
Boost Award 2014 Awardees
A Nos Amours – Chantal Akerman: Expanded
Partnering with the Ica and JW3
Screening...
Seven traditional and non-traditional film venues are to receive £3,000 ($5,000) each in order for them to broaden their programming as part of the BFI’s Film Audience Network.
Allocated by Film London, the Film Hub London’s Boost Awards will bring film-makers from countries including Canada, Israel, Belgium, the Netherlands and France to speak about their work at screening events in London.
Funding includes an expansion of A Nos Amours’ Chantal Akerman season, re-scoring of silent films in South London, Cutting East presenting Egyptian music documentary and a director Q&A, Open City Docs Fest’s retrospective of Israeli documentarian Avi Mograbi, the screening of a Canadian sci-fi film in a World War II bunker in Dalston and the screening of Dutch comedy Matterhorn with director Q&As around London, presented by Loco.
Boost Award 2014 Awardees
A Nos Amours – Chantal Akerman: Expanded
Partnering with the Ica and JW3
Screening...
- 4/16/2014
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Rome -- Documentary filmmaker Avi Mograbi once again explores the repercussions of Israel’s short but embroiled history in Once I Entered a Garden (Nichnasti pa’am lagam), a moving demonstration of how decades of conflict have affected the lives of both Jewish and Arab residents alike, revealing them to have much more in common than their claims to the same plot of land. At once an intimate portrait of the director’s long-time Palestinian comrade and teacher, poetic account of a love affair torn apart by war, and self-reflexive film-in-the-making, this Rome CinemaXXI entry should tour the festival
read more...
read more...
- 11/15/2012
- by Jordan Mintzer
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
From today's announcement: "37 works by artists, filmmakers, theorists and musicians from 20 different countries comprise this year’s compact and focused Forum Expanded program, taking in exhibitions, film programs, discussions and performances that place an emphasis on aesthetic explorations of the global and individual dimensions of current crises. The program explores the extent to which the radical and avant-garde ideas of the past are still relevant today and seeks to redefine the role of contemporary cinema."
Some of the highlights:
Luke Fowler's film All Divided Selves "explores the work of psychiatrist and guru of the anti-psychiatry movement Rd Laing." Image above. Two programs by Harun Farocki and Constanze Ruhm/Angela Melitopoulos look to explore how cinema functions as a historical space for the present and provide insight into the large-scale Living Archive – Archive Work as a Contemporary Artistic and Curatorial Practice project." Avi Mograbi "returns to Berlin as a musician and...
Some of the highlights:
Luke Fowler's film All Divided Selves "explores the work of psychiatrist and guru of the anti-psychiatry movement Rd Laing." Image above. Two programs by Harun Farocki and Constanze Ruhm/Angela Melitopoulos look to explore how cinema functions as a historical space for the present and provide insight into the large-scale Living Archive – Archive Work as a Contemporary Artistic and Curatorial Practice project." Avi Mograbi "returns to Berlin as a musician and...
- 12/21/2011
- MUBI
I don't know about you, but I get a little squirrelly at the term "boutique label." Don't you? Sounds kind of, not to put too fine a point on it, a little foofy, a little frivolous. And yet it is applied—more often than not by dilletantes of the mainstream media, enemies of the cinephile and the freedom-loving Tea Partier both—to outfits such as The Criterion Collection, Kino-Lorber, Eureka!/Masters of Cinema, DVD producers/manufacturers that do work which can hardly be called inconsequential. And yet. The term "boutique," if perceived a certain way, can be kind of accurate, even relative to the somewhat drier and necessarily more neutral term "specialty." "Specialty" implies a narrowing of focus, while "boutique" suggests a more personal approach.
The personal approach can be seen to apply if one looks at the catalog of the U.K.-run label Second Run. The label's interests are neither as eclectic,...
The personal approach can be seen to apply if one looks at the catalog of the U.K.-run label Second Run. The label's interests are neither as eclectic,...
- 11/16/2010
- MUBI
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