The 54th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival ran June 28th to July 6th, and today the festival’s juries presented awards for the best films at the closing ceremony. The Father (Bashtata) directed by Kristina Grozeva, Petar Valchanov won the $25,000 top prize, the Grand Prix – Crystal Globe.
The 37th international Munich International Film Festival (Filmfest München) drew to a close with the presentation of awards, and “Bacurau” by Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles was honored with the ARRI/Osram Award in the CineMasters competition, while Melina León’s “Song without a Name” received the CineVision Award for best international film by a new director. On Friday, the Brazilian-German co-production “The Invisible Life of Eurídice Gusmão” received the newly created CineCoPro Award.
The August Virgin (La virgen de agosto) directed by Jonás Trueba won the prestigious FIPRESCI prize, awarded by The International Federation of Film Critics, at the 2019 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. The jury commented, “The award goes to a modest, unpretentious film skillfully opening a number of issues and tackling a range of emotions while maintaining an inspiringly positive worldview.”
The South Africa-meets-Bollywood Bhai’s Cafe, directed by Maynard Kraak, and described as a “poignant little gem of a film about family, love and urban gentrification” will officially close this year’s 40th Durban International Film Festival on Saturday July 27.
The Grand Prize award at the 17th annual New Zealand Mountain Film and Book Festival went to directors Alastair Lee and past festival speaker Leo Houlding for their film Spectre Expedition – To the End of the Earth. The winners of the Grand Prize award receive $1,000USD; the film was also awarded the Best Adventure Sports and Lifestyles Film.
Munich International Film Festival (Filmfest München) honored talented young filmmakers with the coveted German Cinema New Talent Award, with the award for best director going to Jan-Ole Gerster for his film “Lara” and Martin Lischke (“Leif in Concert“) received the award for best producer. Two awards went to people who worked on “I Was, I Am, I Will Be“: Nils Mohl and Ilker Çatak were honored for best screenplay, while the award for best actor went to Oğulcan Arman Uslu.
The Invisible Life of Eurídice Gusmão, directed by Karim Aïnouz won the first-ever €100,000 CineCoPro Award at the Munich International Film Festival (Filmfest München).
Popcorn Frights Film Festival rolled out the second wave of 73 horror genre films, including 10 world premieres, from 16 countries, for its fifth year taking place from August 8 to 16.
A total of 33 projects were screened at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF) Eastern Promises 2019, the festival’s Industry section, with the exciting mission of being a bridge between talented filmmakers from the East and their potential Western partners, festivals and audiences. The juries announced the winners at the ceremony that closed the festival’s industry program in Little Versailles in Karlovy Vary.
NY/LA-based arthouse genre sales company Yellow Veil Pictures has acquired world sales rights for neo-noir Blood On Her Name, the debut feature from Matthew Pope.
On July 11, GLIDE’s Legacy Committee of young professionals will host its third GLIDE Social Justice Film Festival. The festival is an evening of thought-provoking documentary shorts, filmed and produced by local artists, that demonstrate the resilience and grace of the human spirit and reflect GLIDE’s 50-year legacy of serving, uplifting and advocating for the most marginalized among us. The film festival will take place at PianoFight in San Francisco’s Tenderloin. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.
The ten films which make up the Official Selection of the 2019 edition of the LUX Prize Competition was unveiled at the 54th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.