“Over the Limit” directed by Marta Prus, is the big winner of the 58th Krakow Film Festival taking the Silver Horn for the best feature film in the International Documentary Film Competition and the Silver Hobby-Horse for the director of the best documentary film in the National Competition. The film about the remarkable Russian gymnast Margarita Mamun and the emotional costs of professional sports, received also the award for the best producer of Polish short and documentary films funded by the Polish Audiovisual Producers Chamber of Commerce (KIPA) and the Best Cinematography Award under the patronage of The Polish Society of Cinematographers.
The winner of the International Documentary Film Competition is Talal Derki’s film “Of Fathers and Sons”. The 2014 winner of the Silver Horn once again confronted Krakow audience with the sheer terror of the Syrian war. Four years after the horrifying, successful and widely discussed “Return to Homs” – the opening film of the 54th KFF – the director visited a family of a radicalized ISIS member and followed the process of forming of jihadist fighters. In “Of Fathers and Sons” the camera focuses on little boys who are being prepared the join the ranks of ISIS by their beloved fathers, for whom family is especially important. The film received this year an award for best documentary at Sundance. Jury led by Péter Forgács (Hungary) handed out the prestigious Golden Horn award for “the director’s courageous penetration into the world of extremism”. The film was also awarded by the International Federation of Film Critics Jury (FIPRESCI).
The Silver Horn for the director of the best medium-length documentary went to Pablo Aparo and Martin Benchimol for their film “The Dread” (Argentina).
The winner of the oldest festival competition – International Short Film Competition – is Armelle Mercat for her film “Keep Your Hair On, Oliver” (France).
The jury, whose chairman was Iranian director and screenwriter Merhard Oskouei, gave the French director the Golden Dragon award emphasizing that the story presented in the film was only possible to tell through animation.
Silver Dragons are the awards given to the best short films representing all three competition genres. The Silver Dragon for the best documentary film went to Michał Hytroś for his film “The Sisters” (Poland). The film received also the special mention in the National Competition. The best animated film is “Obon” (dir. André Hörmann, Samo (Anna Bergmann)). Silver Dragon for the best short fiction went to Emmanuelle Fleytoux for her film “Release the Dogs” (France/Belgium). The Krakow Film Festival also gave this film the nomination for the European Film Award in the short film category (PRIX EFA KRAKOW 2018 for the best European film).
The best music documentary and the winner of the Golden Heynal award, chosen by the Jury led by Marcin Borchardt (Polska), is an American-Japanese documentary Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda” (dir. Stephen Nomura Schible). In this moving documentary a story about the roots of music turns into a film meditation, which talks about the human fight with inhibitions. The protagonist, an Academy Award winner for his original score for the film “The Last Emperor”, this time shows his other faces: as a music experimenter, an activist fighting against environmental degradation and a man struggling with serious illness. The film received also the Student Jury award.
The Golden Hobby-Horse in the National Competition went to “Unconditional Love” by Rafał Łysak (Poland). The Jury led by Tadeusz Sobolewski appreciated the film “for a story about an intimate reality of people from different generations, which escapes a stereotypical judgment. If we watch the world so closely it can actually be tolerant as love is unconditional”.
The best Polish animation is “III” by Marta Pajek (Poland). It is the second Silver Hobby-Horse in the artist’s career. After two years Pajek came back to the idea of an impossible figure, which this time in a sensual and full of eroticism way portrays relations between men and women.
The award for the best Polish short fiction was handed out “for an accurate, comedic attempt to encapsulate the madness of the contemporary world” to Maciej Kawalski for his film “Atlas” (Poland).
The special mention went to the last year’s winner Damian Kocur for his film “1410”.
The audience award went to the Polish director Marta Prus for her film “Over the limit”.
For the fourth time the Krakow Film Festival, being among Europe’s most important film festivals, recommends feature documentary films for the European Film Award. This year the official recommendation was given to “White Mama” (Zosya Rodkevich, Evgeniya Ostanina).
The 59th Krakow Film Festival will take place May 26th to June 2nd, 2019.
Film Festivals
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Marta Prus’ OVER THE LIMIT is Big Winner at 58th Krakow Film Festival
“Over the Limit” directed by Marta Prus, is the big winner of the 58th Krakow Film Festival taking the Silver Horn for the best feature film in the International Documentary Film Competition and the Silver Hobby-Horse for the director of the best documentary film in the National Competition. The film about the remarkable Russian gymnast Margarita Mamun and the emotional costs of professional sports, received also the award for the best producer of Polish short and documentary films funded by the Polish Audiovisual Producers Chamber of Commerce (KIPA) and the Best Cinematography Award under the patronage of The Polish Society of Cinematographers.
The winner of the International Documentary Film Competition is Talal Derki’s film “Of Fathers and Sons”. The 2014 winner of the Silver Horn once again confronted Krakow audience with the sheer terror of the Syrian war. Four years after the horrifying, successful and widely discussed “Return to Homs” – the opening film of the 54th KFF – the director visited a family of a radicalized ISIS member and followed the process of forming of jihadist fighters. In “Of Fathers and Sons” the camera focuses on little boys who are being prepared the join the ranks of ISIS by their beloved fathers, for whom family is especially important. The film received this year an award for best documentary at Sundance. Jury led by Péter Forgács (Hungary) handed out the prestigious Golden Horn award for “the director’s courageous penetration into the world of extremism”. The film was also awarded by the International Federation of Film Critics Jury (FIPRESCI).
The Silver Horn for the director of the best medium-length documentary went to Pablo Aparo and Martin Benchimol for their film “The Dread” (Argentina).
The winner of the oldest festival competition – International Short Film Competition – is Armelle Mercat for her film “Keep Your Hair On, Oliver” (France).
The jury, whose chairman was Iranian director and screenwriter Merhard Oskouei, gave the French director the Golden Dragon award emphasizing that the story presented in the film was only possible to tell through animation.
Silver Dragons are the awards given to the best short films representing all three competition genres. The Silver Dragon for the best documentary film went to Michał Hytroś for his film “The Sisters” (Poland). The film received also the special mention in the National Competition. The best animated film is “Obon” (dir. André Hörmann, Samo (Anna Bergmann)). Silver Dragon for the best short fiction went to Emmanuelle Fleytoux for her film “Release the Dogs” (France/Belgium). The Krakow Film Festival also gave this film the nomination for the European Film Award in the short film category (PRIX EFA KRAKOW 2018 for the best European film).
The best music documentary and the winner of the Golden Heynal award, chosen by the Jury led by Marcin Borchardt (Polska), is an American-Japanese documentary Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda” (dir. Stephen Nomura Schible). In this moving documentary a story about the roots of music turns into a film meditation, which talks about the human fight with inhibitions. The protagonist, an Academy Award winner for his original score for the film “The Last Emperor”, this time shows his other faces: as a music experimenter, an activist fighting against environmental degradation and a man struggling with serious illness. The film received also the Student Jury award.
The Golden Hobby-Horse in the National Competition went to “Unconditional Love” by Rafał Łysak (Poland). The Jury led by Tadeusz Sobolewski appreciated the film “for a story about an intimate reality of people from different generations, which escapes a stereotypical judgment. If we watch the world so closely it can actually be tolerant as love is unconditional”.
The best Polish animation is “III” by Marta Pajek (Poland). It is the second Silver Hobby-Horse in the artist’s career. After two years Pajek came back to the idea of an impossible figure, which this time in a sensual and full of eroticism way portrays relations between men and women.
The award for the best Polish short fiction was handed out “for an accurate, comedic attempt to encapsulate the madness of the contemporary world” to Maciej Kawalski for his film “Atlas” (Poland).
The special mention went to the last year’s winner Damian Kocur for his film “1410”.
The audience award went to the Polish director Marta Prus for her film “Over the limit”.
For the fourth time the Krakow Film Festival, being among Europe’s most important film festivals, recommends feature documentary films for the European Film Award. This year the official recommendation was given to “White Mama” (Zosya Rodkevich, Evgeniya Ostanina).
The 59th Krakow Film Festival will take place May 26th to June 2nd, 2019.
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World Premiere of BIG LEGEND to Open the 2018 Portland Horror Film Festival [Trailer]
The World Premiere of Justin Lee’s heart-pounding sasquatch movie Big Legend, will open the Portland Horror Film Festival on June 13th.
Kevin Makely stars as an ex-soldier who ventures into the Pacific Northwest to uncover the truth behind his fiance’s disappearance and finds more than bargained for after teaming up with a local hunter. The powerhouse cast includes Todd A. Robinson, Summer Spiro, with horror-icons Amanda Wyss (A Nightmare on Elm Street), Adrienne Barbeau (The Fog), and Lance Henriksen (Aliens).
Director Justin Lee, actors Kevin Makely, Todd A. Robinson, and Amanda Wyss, Executive Producer Shawn Nightingale, and Producer Drew Garrettson will be in attendance for the World Premiere.
Filmed on location in the Pacific Northwest, Big Legend is a Papa Octopus Production headed by Kevin Makely, Shawn Nightingale and Justin Lee.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeAuKeB70mM
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EIGHT GRADE and HALF THE PICTURE Win at Sundance London
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EIGHTH GRADE[/caption]
Sundance Film Festival: London ’18 wrapped after four days, with the Audience Favourite award going to Eighth Grade directed by Bo Burnham; and director Amy Adrion was awarded a special Picturehouse #WhatNext Prize.
Thirteen-year-old Kayla endures the tidal wave of contemporary suburban adolescence as she makes her way through the last week of middle school — the end of her thus far disastrous eighth grade year — before she begins high school.
Eighth Grade had its International premiere at Sundance Film Festival: London following its World Premiere at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, U.S.A. Festivalgoers voted in the thousands for their favourite films across the four-day event at Picturehouse Central for this Audience Favourite Award.
The special Picturehouse #WhatNext prize was awarded to Amy Adrion for the way her documentary Half the Picture represents key female voices and helps amplify the conversation around the treatment of female directors in Hollywood. With seven out of the twelve films presented in the main programme directed by women, the 2018 Sundance London festival celebrated female talent and asked #WhatNext for a fairer film future.
Half the Picture had its European premiere at Sundance Film Festival: London following its World Premiere at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, U.S.A. At a pivotal moment for gender equality in Hollywood, successful women directors tell the stories of their art, lives and careers. Having endured a long history of systemic discrimination, women filmmakers may be getting the first glimpse of a future that values their voices equally.
Over 30 filmmakers and actors attended the festival to introduce their films and participate in audience Q&As, including Toni Collette and Ari Aster for the Time Out Gala film Hereditary; Ethan Hawke for First Reformed; Idris Elba and cast members from his directorial debut Yardie; and Crystal Moselle and the cast of Skate Kitchen.
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16 German Films to World Premiere in New German Cinema Section of Filmfest München
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Mackie Messer – Brechts Dreigroschenfilm[/caption]
16 German film productions are celebrating their world premiere in the New German Cinema section of the Filmfest München – Munich International Film Festival. Starting things off is Joachim A. Lang’s “Mackie Messer – Brechts Dreigroschenfilm“, the opening film of the 36th Filmfest München, whose message is Brecht’s aphorism “In the contradiction lies the hope.”
Against the backdrop of historical circumstances, Oliver Haffner’s feature film “Wackersdorf – Be Alert, Courageous and Solidaric” raises a sensitive question about political activism: as personal as it is suspenseful, the film depicts opposition to the construction of a nuclear reprocessing plant in 1980s Bavaria.
“Safari – Match Me If You Can” by Munich director Rudi Gaul is about love in the digital age. A new dating app, Safari, makes the Bavarian capital a vehicle for self-promotion. Arthur Schnitzler’s stage play “La Ronde” is catapulted into the present day, with hilarious consequences.
Robert Bohrer and Emma Rose have submitted a most unusual “Love Movie”. An apathetic thirtysomething falls in love with a war photographer, and together they experience all the highs and lows of a relationship.
Jakob Lass, whose “Love Steaks” earned the Förderpreis Neues Deutsches Kino in four categories in 2013, is back in Munich. In his latest film, “Right Here Right Now”, we live through the last night of a Hamburg club and everything that a good farewell party entails. Partying is also a theme in Henning Gronkowski’s “Yung”. The film portrays Berlin teenagers on their (often wrong) way through the city and through life. Naturally this includes hedonism, sexuality, and drugs.
Several of the films in this year’s New German Cinema section broach the issue of relations between the sexes. Linus de Paoli’s thriller “A Young Man with High Potential” is the shocking story of a highly intelligent but prudish student of computer science who turns to chemical substances when rejected by the object of his affection. By contrast, in Leonel Dietsche’s “The New End”, only the men survive in a post-apocalyptic world in which might makes right.
Philipp Eichholtz’s comedy “Everything Always All the Time” is a bit more playful and lighthearted. In, Kim would like to be a man. That isn’t such an easy thing when others must first get used to this kind of new identity.
In Eva Trobisch’s drama, the protagonist tells herself things will be “All Good”. Since being raped, she does everything she can to keep up appearances — in order not to lose her job. Ann-Kristin Reyels’ “We Were Just Playing” is another film in which a character has a dark secret. Miro and Jona come from different worlds and want to be friends nonetheless.
Damian John Harper’s “In the Middle of the River” is about a traumatic incident: a young man returns to his home town to kill his grandfather. At the moment of truth, his plan is thwarted and the two men are forced to spend the rest of the day with each other. Family situations with a potential for conflict are also at the root of Michael Klier’s chamber play “Family Idiots”, about a mentally disabled girl whose family must decide whether to send her to an institution. It’s a moral question that threatens to pit the family members against each other. Katinka Narjes’ film “Sirens” is also about family ties: the bond between two sisters is indestructible, yet they must learn to let go.
Two documentaries are part of the New German Cinema section in 2018. In “The Brasch Family”, Annekatrin Hendel tells the story of three generations of a German family full of history, conflicts, and twists. In the meantime, Lola Randl, a previous guest at Filmfest München, offers a subjective and personal exercise in self-experimentation with “The Bees and the Birds”, moving to the countryside and exploring alternative ways of living both in front of and behind the camera.
As usual, the best achievements by new directors in the New German Cinema section will be awarded the Förderpreis Neues Deutsches Kino. The FIPRESCI Award will also be given for the fourth time to the best film in the section.
All the films in the New German Cinema section:
“A Young Man with High Potential”
by Linus de Paoli, Germany 2018
starring Adam Ild Rohweder, Amanda Plummer, Paulina Galazka, Vanja Bajdarova, Pit Bukowski Schattenkante, Hahn Film
“Alles ist gut” (“All Good”)
by Eva Trobisch, Germany 2018
starring Aenne Schwarz, Andreas Döhler, Hans Löw, Tilo Nest, Lina Wendel
TRIMAFILM GmbH, Starhaus Filmproduktion, BR
“Ende Neu” (“The New End”)
by Leonel Dietsche, Germany 2018
starring Sylvester Groth, Georg Friedrich, Milena Tscharntke, Samuel Schneider, Mick Morris Mehnert
Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, SWR, Paxfilm
“Familie Brasch” (“The Brasch Family”)
by Annekatrin Hendel, Germany 2018
starring Marion Brasch, Katharina Thalbach, Christoph Hein, Bettina Wegner, Florian Havemann
IT WORKS! Medien GmbH, von Vietinghoff Filmproduktion, RBB, SWR, MDR
“Idioten der Familie” (“Family Idiots”)
by Michel Klier, Germany 2018
starring Lilith Stangenberg, Jördis Triebel, Hanno Koffler, Florian Stetter, Kai Scheve
Michael Klier-Film, almost famous UG, RBB, Arte
“In the Middle of the River”
by Damian John Harper, Germany/USA 2018
starring Eric Hunter, Max Thayer, Nikki Lowe, Matthew T. Metzler, Ava Del Cielo
Weydemann Bros., ZDF – Das kleine Fernsehspiel, Arte
“Kim hat einen Penis” (“Everything Always All the Time”)
by Philipp Eichholtz, Germany 2018
starring Martina Schöne-Radunski, Christian Ehrich, Stella Hilb, Matthias Lier, Lana Cooper
Von Oma gefördert
“Liebesfilm” (“Love Movie”)
by Robert Bohrer, Emma Rosa Simon, Germany 2018
starring Eric Klotzsch, Lana Cooper, Hartmut Becker, Sabine Vitua, Gerdy Zint
BASIS BERLIN Filmproduktion, Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin (DFFB), ZDF – Das kleine Fernsehspiel
“Mackie Messer – Brechts Dreigroschenfilm”
by Joachim A. Lang, Germany 2018 starring Lars Eidinger, Tobias Moretti, Hannah Herzsprung, Joachim Król, Claudia Michelsen
Zeitsprung Pictures GmbH, SWR, Arte, Velvet Films
“Nixen” (“Sirens”)
by Katinka Narjes, Germany 2018
starring Odine Johne, Lucy Wirth, Emelie Harbrecht, Roland Bonjour
Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin (DFFB)
“Safari – Match Me If You Can”
by Rudi Gaul, Germany 2018
starring Justus von Dohnányi, Sunnyi Melles, Elisa Schlott, Juliane Köhler, Max Mauff
Rat Pack Filmproduktion GmbH, Tele München GmbH, Martin Richter Filmproduktion
“So was von da” (“Right Here Right Now”)
by Jakob Lass, Germany 2018
starring Niklas Bruhn, Tinka Fürst, David Schütter, Mathias Bloech, Bela B. Felsenheimer
C-Films Deutschland GmbH, DCM Pictures GmbH, Tatami Films GmbH
“Von Bienen und Blumen” (“The Bees and the Birds”)
by Lola Randl, Germany 2018
starring Lola Randl
DETAiLFILM GmbH, Tohuwabohu GmbH
“Wackersdorf” (“Wackersdorf – Be Alert, Courageous and Solidaric”)
by Oliver Haffner, Germany 2018
starring Johannes Zeiler, Anna Maria Sturm, Peter Jordan, Fabian Hinrichs, Sigi Zimmerschied
if… Productions, BR, Arte
“Wir haben nur gespielt” (“We Were Just Playing”)
by Ann-Kristin Reyels, Germany 2018
starring Finn-Henry Reyels, Roman Bkhavnani, Silke Bodenbender, Godehard Giese
kurhaus production Film & Medien GmbH, ZDF – Das kleine Fernsehspiel
“Yung”
by Henning Gronkowski, Germany 2018
starring Janaina Liesenfeld, Emily Lau, Joy Grant, Abbie Dutton
G.G. Production GmbH, deutschfilm GmbH
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Rooftop Films to US Premiere EXIT MUSIC Cameron Mullenneaux’s Docu-Portrait of Ethan Rice Dying with Cystic Fibrosis
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Ethan Rice, Subject of Exit Music[/caption]
On Saturday, June 16, Rooftop Films will present the U.S. Premiere of Exit Music, Cameron Mullenneaux’s intimate and emotional docu-portrait of Ethan Rice, a 28 year old with Cystic Fibrosis, during the final months of his life. Filmmaker Cameron Mullenneaux will be in attendance and will participate in a special conversation along with Green-Wood Cemetery’s Death Educator Amy Cunningham after the film.’
The event will take place at Green-Wood Cemetery, in Brooklyn and will feature a live musical performance by Samuel R Saffery.
Exit Music
Born with cystic fibrosis, 28-year-old Ethan Rice has been preparing to die his entire life. His father Ed, a Vietnam veteran with PTSD, immersed him in a world of imagination and documented it on camera, a hobby that provided relief from the fear of his son’s prognosis and his own painful past. Equal parts comedy and darkness, Exit Music is the last year, last breath, and final creative act of Ethan as he awaits the inevitable. Interweaving home movies with Ethan’s original music and animation, his story is an unflinching meditation on mortality and invites the viewer to experience Ethan’s transition from reality to memory. In a culture that often looks away from death, this film demystifies the dying process, a universal cornerstone of the human experience.
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THE SILENCE OF OTHERS To Have NY Premiere At Human Rights Watch Film Festival
The award-winning documentary The Silence of Others is a beautiful, cinematic, and poetic film about the people who are fighting for justice and a reckoning in Spain on crimes committed by the Franco regime during its brutal 40 year rule. It won the two prizes – Audience Award (Panorama) and Peace Prize at the Berlinale – 2018 Berlin International Film Festival. The Silence of Others will have its NY premiere at the 2018 Human Rights Watch Film Festival in New York City this month
The Silence of Others reveals the epic struggle of victims of Spain’s 40-year dictatorship under General Franco, who continue to seek justice to this day. Filmed over six years, the film follows victims and survivors as they organize the groundbreaking “Argentine Lawsuit” and fight a state-imposed amnesia of crimes against humanity, in a country still divided four decades into democracy.
Synopsis: The Silence of Others offers a cinematic portrait of the first attempt in history to prosecute crimes of Franco’s 40-year dictatorship in Spain (1939-1975), whose perpetrators have enjoyed impunity for decades due to a 1977 amnesty law. It brings to light a painful past that Spain is reluctant to face, even today, decades after the dictator’s death.
Filmed with intimate access over six years, the story unfolds on two continents: in Spain, where survivors and human rights lawyers are building a case that Spanish courts refuse to admit, and in Argentina, where a judge has taken it on using the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows foreign courts to investigate crimes against humanity if the country where they occurred refuses to do so.
The implications of the case are global, as Spain’s transition from dictatorship to democracy continues to be hailed as a model to this day. The case also marks an astonishing reversal, for it was Spain that pioneered universal jurisdiction to bring down former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, and yet now it is an Argentine judge who must bring Spain’s own past to light.
The Silence of Others tells the story of this groundbreaking international lawsuit through the voices of five survivors who have broken Spain’s “pact of silence” and become plaintiffs in the case, including victims of torture, parents of stolen children, and family members who are fighting to recover loved ones’ bodies from mass graves across Spain. Guiding this monumental effort are Carlos Slepoy, the human rights lawyer who co-led the case against Pinochet, and Ana Messuti, a philosopher of law.
The case is making history: what started as a small, grassroots effort has yielded the first-ever arrest warrants for perpetrators, including torturers, cabinet ministers, and doctors implicated in cases of stolen children. It has brought the nearly forgotten case to the front page of The New York Times and has stirred a flurry of international attention.
Through this dramatic, contemporary story, The Silence of Others speaks to universal questions of how societies transition from dictatorship to democracy and how individuals confront silence and fight for justice. What happens when a country is forced to reckon with its past after so many years of silence? Can justice be done after so long?
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1200"]
Almudena Carracedo and Robert Bahar[/caption]
Directors’ Statement: In 2010, the story of Spain’s “stolen children” began to come out. The story of these crimes, with roots in the early days of Franco’s rule, led us to explore the marginalization and silencing of victims of many Franco-era crimes, ranging from extrajudicial killings at the end of the Spanish Civil War to torture that took place as recently as 1975.
As we began to learn more, we were baffled by basic questions: how could it be that Spain, unlike other countries emerging from repressive regimes, had had no Nuremberg Trials, no Truth and Reconciliation Commission, no national reckoning? Why, instead, was a “pact of forgetting” forged in Spain? And what were the consequences of that pact, 40 years into democracy, for the still-living victims of Franco’s dictatorship?
When we began filming the process of the “Argentine lawsuit” in 2012, which challenged this status quo, few thought that it would amount to much. But as we filmed those early meetings, we could see that the lawsuit was stirring up something vital, transforming victims and survivors into organizers and plaintiffs and bringing out dozens, and then hundreds, of testimonies from all over Spain.
As the number of testimonies snowballed, the case was building into a persuasive argument about crimes against humanity that demanded international justice. We thus discovered that The Silence of Others was going to be a story about possibilities, about trying to breach a wall, and that, rather than focusing on what had happened in the past, it would be all about what would happen in the future. We also saw that the film would embody great passion and urgency because, for many of the plaintiffs, this case would offer the last opportunity in their lifetimes to be heard.
Even so, as we set out filming those early meetings, we could scarcely have imagined that we would follow this story for six years and film over 450 hours of footage.
Screenings at HRWFF-NY
Tuesday, June 19, 2018 at 6:30 PM
Film Society of Lincoln Center
Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center
Wednesday, June 20, 2018 at 9:00 PM
IFC Center
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Key West Film Festival Debuts First Stock Island Film Festival, Opens with DAMSEL Starring Robert Pattinson
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Mia Wasikowska, Robert Pattinson in Damsel.[/caption]
Next weekend, the Key West Film Festival will debut the new Stock Island Film Festival (STIFF for short). Celebrating the Keys’ long and notorious reputation as a haven for smuggling and drug-running, fishing and fighting, falling in love, and other nefarious activities, STIFF’s opening night feature film and shorts programs will bring you similarly-themed renegade films from around the world.
STIFF will dock legally at The Perry Hotel Key West (7001 Shrimp Road) and COAST (6404 Front Street) for an exciting and energetic three nights, Thursday June 7th through Saturday June 9th.
Florida’s very own bad boy doc-maker Billy Corben (Square Grouper, Cocaine Cowboys, Dawg Fight, ESPN’s 30 for 30 The U) will show a sneak peak of his latest project, A Sunny Place for Shady People. Hometown filmmaker and KWFF Director Quincy Perkins (Love in Youth) will also be there for the closing night awards party.
Opening Night, Thursday June 7th, will kick off with the new Zellner Brothers feature film Damsel (Sundance/Berlin 2018), starring Robert Pattinson, including a Q&A with the brother director team! Friday June 8th and Saturday June 9th will feature four shorts programs by international and local filmmakers.
Join Billy, Quincy, filmmakers, and film fans closing night poolside when awards will be handed out for Best Comedy and Documentary, the Audience Award (called the Square Grouper), the Perry Student Award, The Silver Stiffy for best local film and Golden Stiffy for best all-round potential, and the Corben Contraband selected by the co-host himself.
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Aaron Schimberg’s Oddball Comedy CHAINED FOR LIFE to World Premiere at BAMcinemaFest
The oddball comedy Chained for Life directed by Aaron Schimberg and starring Jess Weixler, Adam Pearson and Stephen Plunkett will World Premiere on Sunday, June 24th at BAMcinemaFest.
Building on the promise of his hallucinogenic debut Go Down Death, Brooklyn filmmaker Aaron Schimberg delivers another brilliantly oddball, acerbically funny foray into gonzo surrealism. In a deft tragicomic performance, Jess Weixler (Teeth) plays Mabel, a movie star “slumming it” in an outré art-horror film being shot in a semi-abandoned hospital. Cast opposite her is Rosenthal ( Under the Skin’s Adam Pearson), a gentle-natured young man with a severe facial deformity. As their relationship evolves both on and offscreen, Schimberg raises provocative questions about cinematic notions of beauty, representation, and exploitation. Tod Browning crossed with Robert Altman crossed with David Lynch only begins to describe something this startlingly original and deeply felt.
World Premiere: Sunday, June 24th at 6:30pm (Peter Jay Sharp Building BAM Rose Cinemas)
Aaron Schimberg:
Aaron Schimberg is a filmmaker living in New York. He is an alumnus of the 2017 New York Film Festival Artist Academy. His debut feature GO DOWN DEATH was called “an astonishing out-of-nowhere film” by Filmmaker Magazine and “a stunning midnight movie in the tradition of Jodorowsky and The Saragossa Manuscript” by The Dissolve. It was selected for inclusion in the IFP Narrative Lab. Aaron is a programmer at Brooklyn’s Spectacle Theater where he has curated dozens of programs including a series of North Korean films and a Tatsumi Kumashiro retrospective. He is the co-founder of Grand Motel Films, which, in 2016, rediscovered and restored the lost 1966 film WHO’S CRAZY?, featuring an original soundtrack by Ornette Coleman.
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53rd Karlovy Vary IFF Announces Line-Up
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I Do Not Care If We Go Down In History As Barbarians[/caption]
Ten world and two international premieres will compete at this year’s 53rd Karlovy Vary IFF including the latest by leading Romanian filmmaker Radu Jude “I Do Not Care If We Go Down In History As Barbarians”, an original exploration of the subject of nationality and a nation coming to terms with the traumatic moments of its own past. Respected Argentinian director Ana Katz presents a mixture of subtle melancholy with light humor in her family drama Sueño Florianópolis, and we find a no less complex look at the question of male-female relationships in The Fireflies Are Gone, the story of a rebellious yet charismatic teenager directed by Canadian filmmaker Sébastien Pilote.
A harrowing performance by actor Caleb Landry Jones dominates Peter Brunner’s dark Austro-American drama To the Night. Two other filmmakers previously recognized at KVIFF present equally original though noticeably more poetic new films: the Russian director of the popular Zoology, Ivan Tverdovsky, presents Jumpman, while Israeli director Joseph Madmony is presenting his third premiere at KVIFF, the subtly moving drama Redemption, co-directed by cinematographer Boaz Y. Yakov.
Domestic cinema will be represented by Olmo Omerzu’s road movie about the force of boyhood friendship Winter Flies and by debut filmmaker Adam Sedlák’s claustrophobic minimalist study of the slow decline of body and mind, Domestique. Other debuts are from the Dominican Republic and Spain (Natalia Cabral and Oriol Estrada’s nuanced story of an adolescent girl, Miriam Lies), Poland (Paweł Maślona’s dark comedy Panic Attack) and Turkey (Ömür Atay’s moving drama Brothers). The selection, which spans a wide range of styles and genres, is rounded out by talented Slovenian director Sonja Prosenc’s poetic tale of female coming-of-age History of Love.
OFFICIAL SELECTION – COMPETITION
“Îmi este indiferent dacă în istorie vom intra ca barbari” / “I Do Not Care If We Go Down In History As Barbarians” / „Je mi jedno, že se zapíšeme do dějin jako barbaři“ Director: Radu Jude Romania, Czech Republic, France, Bulgaria, Germany, 2018, 140 min, World premiere A young artist is planning to reconstruct a historical event from 1941, during which the Romanian Army carried out ethnic cleansing on the Eastern Front. One of contemporary Europe’s most distinctive creators has come out with an ingeniously conceived film that – although the topic unfolds slowly and in detail – hits the viewer with a singular emotional punch. Atak paniki / Panic Attack / Panický záchvat Director: Paweł Maślona Poland, 2017, 100 min, International premiere In his blackly humorous debut, talented director Paweł Maślona has submitted a consummate answer to the question whether or not a panic attack can be translated into film language. Dramatic moments in the lives of several unfortunates living in contemporary Warsaw are here presented with refreshing playfulness and a singular knack for mixing the tragic and the comic. La disparition des lucioles / The Fireflies Are Gone / Mizející světlušky Director: Sébastien Pilote Canada, 2018, 96 min, World premiere The sleepy town where Léo lives doesn’t offer her much chance of self-fulfillment. Extricating herself from her mother’s influence and her constricting environment isn’t easy for the frustrated young woman, yet happiness might be close at hand. A stylistically precise, pop-impressionistic film about a girl’s quest to find out who she really is, featuring the captivating Karelle Tremblay in the lead role. Domestik / Domestique / Domestik Director: Adam Sedlák Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, 2018, 116 min, World premiere Top cyclist Roman has had enough of serving as a domestique, a bicycle racer who sacrifices for the team. And since strenuous training and a strict regimen don’t lead to the type of performance he longs for, he sets up an oxygen tent at home. His obsession with having a sports career, however, renders him oblivious to his wife Šarlota’s desire to have a baby. A claustrophobic drama on the utter breakdown of a marriage almost suffocated by a machine that oxygenates the blood. Geula / Redemption / Geula Director: Joseph Madmony, Boaz Yehonatan Yaakov Israel, 2018, 100 min, World premiere Being able to care for a gravely ill daughter is of the utmost importance to a loving father. The treatment which is to give the child a new chance at life is something the poorly paid widower simply can’t afford. The idea to start performing again with a rock band from his early days, however, sees the devout man confronting not only those around him but – above all – himself as well. Kardeşler / Brothers / Bratři Director: Ömür Atay Turkey, Germany, Bulgaria, 2017, 103 min, World premiere Seventeen-year-old Yusuf comes home after spending four years at a detention center. His return to the family circle freshly recalls the act that his loved ones, bound by rigid tradition, forced Yusuf to commit. Directed with an assured hand, this intimate debut concerns guilt and punishment and how difficult it is to choose between blood ties and tradition on the one hand, and what is morally right on the other. Miriam miente / Miriam Lies / Miriam lže Director: Oriol Estrada, Natalia Cabral Dominican Republic, Spain, 2018, 90 min, World premiere Shy girl Miriam is waiting to celebrate her 15th birthday and she wants to invite her guy. So far they’ve only chatted online, and the anticipated blind date only complicates things. A gentle picture about the uncertainties of growing up, girls’ competitiveness, and the demands of others, which can be confusing when you’re young. Podbrosy / Jumpman / Skokan Director: Ivan I. Tverdovskiy Russia, 2018, 86 min, International premiere Young Oksana put Denis in a baby box when he was an infant. Sixteen years later she steals him away from a children’s home, intent on making amends for her neglect. Denis, however, has no idea of the heavy price to be paid for his mother’s favour: the fragile boy has one unusual quality which Oksana has no qualms about exploiting. Sueño Florianópolis / Sueño Florianópolis / Cesta do Florianópolisu Director: Ana Katz Argentina, Brazil, France, 2018, 103 min, World premiere Lucrecia, Pedro, and their teenage kids Julian and Florencia set out from Buenos Aires one sweltering day in a rattletrap Renault to vacation in the Brazilian summer resort of Florianópolis. Renowned Argentinian director Ana Katz draws upon gentle humor and light melancholy to relate a tale of first love, past lovers, fateful encounters, and fleeting joys. To the Night / To the Night / Do noci Director: Peter Brunner Austria, USA, 2018, 102 min, World premiere As a child Norman survived a fire that took the rest of his family. As an adult he is still struggling with the resulting trauma, and he finds it difficult to start a new life with his girlfriend and little boy. An oppressive atmosphere, subtle hints, and spectacular images playing upon the subconscious – these are the primary attributes of this brutally intimate study of a wounded individual. Captivating Caleb Landry Jones excels in the main role. Všechno bude / Winter Flies / Všechno bude Director: Olmo Omerzu Czech Republic, Slovenia, Poland, Slovak Republic, 2018, 85 min, World premiere Mischievously self-assured Mára and somewhat eccentric Heduš set out into the frozen wastes in search of adventure – by car, naturally. After all, Mára’s turning fifteen soon. A road movie about the flies that occasionally buzz around even in winter, and a story – before it ends at the police station – that tells of the elusive bond of boyhood friendship and the irrepressible desire to experience something, even if you don’t exactly know what. Zgodovina ljubezni / History of Love / Příběh lásky Director: Sonja Prosenc Slovenia, Italy, Norway, 2018, 105 min, World premiere Seventeen-year-old Iva is in the process of coming to terms with the death of her mother. Influenced by this deep personal loss and by the discovery that she didn’t know everything about her mom, the girl slowly immerses herself into a strange, almost dreamlike world. Sonja Prosenc’s movie is dominated by a distinctive poetic that attacks the viewer’s senses, as well as by a narratively loose style and an ability to construct a story with the aid of the subtlest of suggestions.
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Documentary Filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa Receives Dragon of Dragons Award at Krakow Film Festival
Every year the third day of the Krakow Film Festival ends with the ceremony devoted to the most important festival award – Dragon of Dragons – awarded for an exceptional contribution to the development of the world cinema. This year the Krakow Film Foundation Program Council honored outstanding documentary filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa as the 21st winner of this prestigious prize, and also the youngest one in the history of the award.
“I can say that Krakow Film Festival is my festival. I came here with my first film and since then each of my documentary films has been shown here. So in this sense Krakow is my city” – said Sergei Loznitsa.
The head of the Program Council, film critic and scholar Prof. Tadeusz Lubelski said that “despite the variety of genres Loznitsa’s films are very coherent. First of all, in the stylistic sense: they are easily recognized by the distinctive minimalism, infinitely extended shots (as if he was waiting to extract from reality a hidden truth), carefully counted rhythm and precisely created soundtrack. It produces a certain archaic effect as if the director was going back to one of the previous eras in the history of cinema to reformulate its language, with a complete absence of the author’s commentary neither as voiceover nor non-diegetic music”.
The official Dragon of Dragons ceremony took place on May 29th, 2018 during the 58th Krakow Film Festival. As part of the retrospective included in the festival program, the festival screened films made by the director and among them his latest documentary “Victory Day” (“Den’ Pobedy”), which will have in Krakow its Polish premiere. The traditional winner’s master class will take place on May 30th in Małopolski Ogród Sztuki.
The ceremony ended with the screening of three films personally introduced by the director: “The Letter”, “The Train Stop” and “The Old Jewish Cemetery”.
Sergei Loznitsa was born on September 5th, 1964 in Baranovchi in today’s Belarus which was at the time a part of the Soviet Union. He was growing up and studying in Kiev where he graduated from Kyiv Polytechnic Institute as an engineer and mathematician. For a few years he was doing research in the Institute of Cybernetics and worked as a Japanese translator. In 1997 he graduated with honours in film production and directing from Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography in Moscow. He lives in Berlin.
During his 20-year-old career Loznitsa made a lot of films that turned out to be an international success. His three feature films “My Joy” (2010), “In the Fog” (FIPRESCI Award) (2012), “A Gentle Creature” (2017) and one documentary “Maidan” had their world premieres at the Cannes Film Festival and this year he received the best director award in the Un Certain Regard competition for his feature film “Donbass”. His other feature documentary “The Event” premiered in Venice in 2015. His films won numerous awards at film festivals around the world.
Loznitsa’a documentary debut “Today We Are Going to Build a House” was awarded at KFF the Bronze Dragon award. In the following years he received in Krakow the main festival awards three times: in 2006 the Golden Dragon for “Blockade”, in 2008 the Golden Horn for “Revue” and in 2013 once again the Golden Dragon for “The Letter”. Last year, as a part of the Focus on Germany section, the festival presented his film “Austerlitz”. In 2007 he was a member of the International Short Film Competition jury with Andrzej Żuławski as the head of the jury.
The Dragon of Dragons award, awarded this year for the 21st time, is the highest accolade of the Krakow Film Foundation Program Council, the organizer of the Krakow Film Festival, and is a proof of recognition of the contribution to the development of the documentary and animated world cinema. A lot of outstanding filmmakers were among its winners including Werner Herzog, Kazimierz Karabasz, Bohdan Kosiński, Bogdan Dziworski, Allan King, Albert Maysles, Jonas Mekas, Helena Trestíková, Stephen and Timothy Quay, Raoul Servais, Jerzy Kucia, Paul Driessen and Priit Pärn who is also a festival guest this year taking part in the Focus on Estonia section.
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8th Art of Brooklyn Film Festival Celebrates Diverse Female Voices In Film, Opens with ‘Just Another Girl on the IRT’
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Just Another Girl on the IRT[/caption]
The Art of Brooklyn Film Festival returns for its 8th annual edition with a slate of almost 60 films in all genres, including 9 features and 47 shorts; and a special 25th Anniversary screening of Leslie Harris’ ‘Just Another Girl on the IRT’ for young women and girls of color. The award-winning, artist-run festival screens at St. Francis College in Brooklyn Heights, Pratt Institute in Clinton Hill, PS/IS 30 in Bay Ridge and the main lawn of Sunset Park and will run June 2-10.
As the only festival in the world exclusively devoted to the Brooklyn indie film and media scene, AoBFF is unique in that it exists in the same community as both its filmmakers and our audiences. In addition to screening the top films to come out of this scene, the festival uses its platform to focus on the issues important to its communities. This year, which has been full of horror and triumph for women in film and media (and beyond) has shaped the 2018 AoBFF to an unprecedented degree.
#TimesUp Legal Defense Fund Co founder Robbie Kaplan delivers 2018 Art of Brooklyn Keynote.
AoBFF has long been committed to exposing gender inequity in filmmaking, but that’s only half the story. It’s never been more clear that the underrepresentation of women in film and media creates an atmosphere that makes sexual violence against them possible. The festival is proud to announce that Robbie Kaplan, the co-founder of the #TimesUp Legal Defense Fund, will attend this year to deliver the Keynote Speech.25th Anniversary Screening of Leslie Harris’ Just Another Girl on the I.R.T
AoBFF was founded to celebrate Brooklyn Film and media, and presents the best new films to emerge from this scene every season… but also honors its history. The 2018 Art of Brooklyn Film Festival will open with a special 25th Anniversary Screening of Just Another Girl on the IRT. Presented with the Brooklyn Community Fund, who have bought out the theater for a group of young women of color, including aspiring filmmakers. Director Leslie Harris will be on hand to discuss the film and her career as a pioneering black woman director.The Mob Within the Heart: A Conversation with Karen Palmer, creator of RIOT, an interactive film experience
Art of Brooklyn is also committed to presenting cutting edge films and filmmakers. So Canarsie, Brooklyn by-way-of-London-based artist (and recent TED Fellow) Karen Palmer will appear this year to discuss her work RIOT. Inspired by the unrest that followed the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, Karen Palmer’s work RIOT (prototype) is an emotionally responsive, live-action film, which uses A.I. and Machine Learning through facial recognition to navigate the viewer though a dangerous riot. While you watch the film, it watches you, reading your facial expressions and ordering the narrative based on the emotions it infers from them. Karen Palmer’s RIOT prototype has been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art Peru, The Future of Storytelling Festival NY and The Festival of the Mind Sheffield. The project has been featured in global publications including The Guardian, NBC and The New York Times. The final RIOT project will be exhibited at the V&A Museum.Trauma is a Time Machine, a #MeToo film
This World Premiere feature drama follows a young woman named Helen who runs away from an abusive home and spends her life holding onto the secrets and pain of her past until she must face them when she is raped by her boyfriend. The film follows Helen on her journey as she tries to distract herself with denial, anger, before trying to understand what happened to her by taking on of her perpetrator. Angelica Zollo, the writer/director/producer lives in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn.Award-winning filmmaker Victoria Negri (Gold Star) is Guest Festival Director for #AoBFF18
Every year, AoBFF surrenders the curation of the festival to a different filmmaker every year, by design. It ensures the festival doesn’t always represent the same POV and is a big reason why AoBFF is one of the most exciting festivals in New York City. This year award-winning filmmaker Victoria Negri, whose film Gold Star featured Oscar-nominated Robert Vaughn in his final performance, has taken the reins. Her curation will set the tone for Brooklyn’s flagship indie film event for this season.
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Allison Volk’s Dark Rom-Com DEANY BEAN IS DEAD to World Premiere At Dances With Films [Trailer]
Writer/Producer/Actress Allison Volk’s new dark romantic-comedy feature film, Deany Bean is Dead will make its World Premiere at the 2018 Dances With Films festival at the famed TCL Chinese Theaters in Hollywood on June 16th.
DEANY BEAN IN DEAD follows Deany (Volk), a 30-something hopelessly hung-up on her ex-boyfriend who accidentally ends up at his house during his engagement party. Out to sabotage everything and win him back, Deany’s plan is hampered by the fact that she has the dead body of her abusive boss hidden in her car out front. Just as her strategy starts to work, the evening unravels and forces Deany to confront her own self-worth.
The 84-minute film evolved from Volk working on a series of short film projects with Mikael Kreuzriegler, a Director/Cinematographer, current Chair of Loyola Marymount University’s School of Film and Television and previous Dances With Films festival winner. Armed with an idea, Volk penned the script for Kreuzriegler to direct; and together they produced the picture along with Associate Producer Christiana Santos (Executive Director of Distribution at Orion Pictures at MGM). To help bring the characters to life alongside Volk, the team cast several rising actors, including Sarah Siadat (Veep, Grimm), Paul Tigue (20th Century Women) and Paulina Bugembe (Scandal).
Since starting the creative project nearly 2 years ago, Volk is excited to now share the film with audiences at Dances With Films and beyond. Volk adds, “It is such a thrill to watch a project evolve from script to screen; every individual contribution is important and makes the project better. We’re really honored to be part of Dances with Film and looking forward to celebrating the success with everyone involved.”
Originally from Boulder, Colorado, Volk has been building a solid reputation in Hollywood as an award-winning writer, film producer and actress. Most recently, Volk won ‘Best Screenplay’ at the 2018 Utah Film Awards for her dark action comedy feature script, Tiger Woman. She wrote, produced and starred in her First feature film, Innocent Sleep, earning ‘Best Lead Actress’ at the 2017 Utah Film Awards for this modern-day adaptation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. In addition, Volk has written and produced two award-winning shorts and written several plays which have enjoyed production in Los Angeles and New York, one of which took the Denise Regan Wisenmeyer Award. She co-founded The City Shakespeare Company in Santa Monica, serving as co-artistic director for three years. She proudly made her feature ?lm debut as ‘Jane’ in Disney’s 2013 western-action film, The Lone Ranger.
Currently, Volk is in pre-production on the short fantasy/drama film, What Katie Did, which is slated to shoot in Colorado this August.
https://vimeo.com/247749747