The Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF) announced the official selection of films in competition for the upcoming 2018 festival taking place in various venues in and around Stone Town Zanzibar from July 7th – 15th, 2018.
Film Festivals
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Romantic Hip-Hop Comedy THE MOST BEAUTIFUL GIRL IN THE WORLD Starring Luna Wedler to World Premiere at Munich FilmFest
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Luna Wedler[/caption]
Aron Lehmann’s romantic hip-hop comedy “The Most Beautiful Girl in the World”, featuring rising star Luna Wedler, newcomers Aaron Hilmer and Damian Hardung, and preeminent German actresses Anke Engelke and Heike Makatsch will world premiere at the Munich International Film Festival.
Watching streaming movies on a laptop alone is an everyday experience for any teenager. Cinema can offer so much more: a shared live experience. At the film festival, this even includes meeting stars as well as other fans. Once again, Munich International Film Festival is offering big-screen entertainment to young people between the ages of 14 and 24. The festival started in 2016 with the successful fantasy gem trilogy “Ruby Red”, “Sapphire Blue”, and “Emerald Green”. Last year, with the world premiere of Ute Wieland’s “Tigermilch” and an exclusive sneak peek at “Windstorm and the Wild Horses”, directed by Katja von Garnier, the focus was on brave girls. In 2018, the festival is pleased to continue this tradition by presenting, in cooperation with Tobis Film, the youth event “The Most Beautiful Girl in the World”. With his new film, director Aron Lehmann puts in his third appearance at Munich International Film Festival. His first feature-length film, “Kohlhaas oder die Verhältnismäßigkeit der Mittel”, opened the New German Cinema series in 2012, while “The Last Pig” was shown as part of that series in 2016.
New pupil Roxy, played by Luna Wedler, is turning all the boys’ heads. The quick-witted 17-year-old has just flunked out of her old school and is not at all interested in going on a trip with her new classmates. On the bus to Berlin, however, she soon befriends sensitive outsider Cyril (Aaron Hilmer), who quickly falls for her even though he doesn’t believe he has much of a chance with her. Roxy is interested in pretty boy Rick (Damian Hardung), who — unlike Cyril — isn’t very eloquent. And pick-up artist Benno (Jonas Ems) is also in the picture. This sounds tricky, and it is: In a daring matchmaking attempt, Cyril aims to protect Roxy from the player Benno, even if it means helping Rick to score with Roxy. He writes cool song lyrics and romantic text messages, and Roxy really goes for it. At first. But who will, in the end, win the heart of the most beautiful girl in the world?
In the comedy “The Most Beautiful Girl in the World”, European rising star Luna Wedler (“Blue My Mind”) as Roxy impresses not only newcomers Aaron Hilmer (“Sex, Pity and Loneliness”) and Damian Hardung, known from the VOX series “Red Bracelets” and the remake of “The Name of the Rose”. Director and screenplay co-author Aron Lehmann uses fresh hip-hop beats and clever turns of phrase to help narrate this turbulent and intricate romantic adventure story. This modern version of “Cyrano de Bergerac”, the famous play by Edmond Rostand from 1897 also features Anke Engelke as Cyril’s mother, Heike Makatsch and Johannes Allmayer (“Jesus Loves Me”) as teachers, and YouTube stars Jonas Ems and Julia Beautx as classmates.
The world premier of “The Most Beautiful Girl in the World” will be on Friday, June 29 at 4.30 pm at the Mathäser cinema. The national film release will be on September 6, 2018 (distribution: Tobis Film).
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‘The Best of All Worlds’ ‘Jamaica Man’ Among Award Winners of 9th NYC Independent Film Festival
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The Best of All Worlds (Die Beste aller Welten) by Adrian Goiginger[/caption]
Congratulations to the winners, nominees, and all the participants of the 2018 NYC Independent Film Festival. Winners include The Girl in The Woods by Sebastian Sdaigui taking the awards for Best Director and Best Short Film; Jamaica Man winning the awards for Best Cinematography plus Best Documentary Feature; and Adrien Goiginger’s The Best of All Worlds, winning the award for Best Narrative Feature.
The Girl In The Woods is a short film which explores crime, honor and violence in a post truth, hyper real world. It follows two social outcasts, Beatrix and Charlie, who find solace in one another while facing quirky characters they meet on the way from brothel girls to art dealers. In the quest to save the orphanage where they not only met but had the only sense of home, they find the money to pay off the orphanages debt by stealing from a Snuff director, Mr Sunshine. Triggering a showdown between between bad and not as bad. This short combines crime, comedy and a splash of blood.
Jamaica Man is a subjective documentary profile of British expat Nigel Pemberton. A biographical picaresque, inspired narratively by Spalding Gray and visually by Slim Aarons, the film is a highly stylized and unconventional portrait of a raconteur nearing the end of his life.
The Best of All Worlds (Die Beste Aller Welten) is a kid’s true story of his life in the unusual world of his heroin addict mother and their love of each other.
Award Winners of 9th NYC Independent Film Festival
The Girl in The Woods Best Director Sebastian Sdaigui, The Girl in the Woods Jamaica Man Best Cinematography Laura Hudock, Jamaica Man Best Narrative Feature The Best of All Worlds, Adrien Goiginger Best Short Documentary My Indiana Muse, Ric Serena, Jen Serena Best Documentary Feature Jamaica Man, Michael Weatherly Best Short Film The Girl in the Woods, Sebastian Sdaigui Best Super Short Film Strawberries, Donggyun Han Best Animation In a Heartbeat, Esteban Bravo, Beth David Best Music Video Closer, Luke Slattery Best Art/Experimental Film EGO, Kaya, David-Simon Dayan Best Short Sketch Comedy There’s Something About My Sister, Rebecca Shaw Best Web Series Saaba, Brandon Kramer TV Pilots Greenport, Shannon Goldman Best Actor Obi Abili, Forgotten Man Best Actress Marama Corlett, Afterword Best Short Script Finalist Graphic Best Short Script “Magic Trick”, Gerald Teaster, Kelley Cantrel Rone Best VR Video Rone, Lester Francois
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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.
59th Krakow Film Festival AWARDS
DRAGON OF DRAGONS AWARD
for the contribution into development of the world documentary film: SERGEI LOZNITSA RECOMMENDATION TO THE EUROPEAN FILM AWARD: WHITE MAMA, dir. Zosyia Rodkevich and Evgeniya Ostanina (Russia)INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION
THE GOLDEN HORN for the director of the best film – Talal Derki for the film Of Fathers and Sons (Germany, Lebanon, Qatar, Syrian Arab Republic). For the director’s courageous penetration into this world of extremism that digs under the surface of a world we talk about but never have access to. With extraordinary cinematic language, it shows the tragedy of being raised in a situation where hate, violence and killing are the norm. We witness it as it is being transferred from generation to generation, from father to son. THE SILVER HORN for the director of the best medium-length documentary film – Pablo Aparo i Martin Benchimol for the film The Dread (Argentina). This delicately composed film portrays the remote village of El Dorado where local healers appear to have far more authority than normal doctors. Their hard-working daily life is saturated with mystical happenings and hopes. THE SILVER HORN for the director of the best feature-length documentary film – Marta Prus for the film Over the Limit (Finland, Germany, Poland). For a self-assured and consistent first feature that shows – with a calm observational eye – the complex relationships between three highly-strung characters all of whom are at the edge of their limits. With notable sensitivity, this films approaches these personal dilemmas and the extreme high price of winning. SPECIAL MENTION – Anastasiya Miroshnichenko for the film Debut (Belarus) By creating engaging visuals this first feature gives a sensitive insight into the convicts’ daily routines, the pains, the dreams and the hopes. The FIPRESCI (International Federation of Film Critics) Jury awarded the International Film Critics Prize to Talal Derki for the film Of Fathers and Sons (Germany, Lebanon, Qatar, Syrian Arab Republic), for the powerful, complex and nuanced depiction of the poisonous legacy of patriarchy and for the director’s remarkably courageous approach to filmmaking.INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM COMPETITION
GOLDEN DRAGON for the director of the best film – Armelle Mercat, for the film Keep Your Hair On, Oliver (France). With a childlike drawing the film paints an adult love and its shame. Like a poem, using only few words, it tells the story of subtle and complex emotions which would take a whole novel to express. It could only be made as an animation. SILVER DRAGON for the director of the best documentary film – Michał Hytroś, for the film The Sisters (Poland) A young filmmaker looks at an old world, and in the process shows a keen eye for the little things of everyday life. The film is very funny, but never at the expense of its fundamental seriousness about the fact that we may well be watching an endangered species. It invites us to visit a world that most of us will never experience, in the process revealing a common humanity. SILVER DRAGON for the directors of the best animated film – André Hörmann, Samo (Anna Bergman), for the film Obon (Germany). With the images as beautiful as traditional woodcuts, in a very contemporary way, an old woman recollects her youth and the difficult relationship with her father, for whose love she had to wait for a very long time. SPECIAL MENTION for Fundamental by ShihChieh Chiu (Taiwan) SILVER DRAGON for the director of the best short fiction film – Emmanuelle Fleytoux, for the film Release the Dogs (France/Belgium) At times we have to let go of things, in order to build something new. In this surprising and touching film, characters visibly change, and we never know where each passionate and sometimes violent encounter is going to lead. The suspense is maintained to the very end when the female power and with it the literal and metaphorical dogs are finally released. SPECIAL MENTION for Users by Jakub Piątek (Poland) PRIX EFA KRAKOW 2018 for the Best European Film (nomination to the European Film Award in the short film category) – Emmanuelle Fleytoux (France/Belgium) for the film Release the Dogs The International Federation of Film Societies (FICC) Jury granted the Don Quixote Award to the film Detainment directed by Vincent Lambre (Ireland). A well-known crime story we have read about for 25 years. The brutal murder of a baby boy affects us all, and this film was emotionally stressing to watch. Based on the original tapes from the police questioning, and without showing any graphic details, the horror of the crime hits you like a sledgehammer. The audience is like a fly on the wall when the truth is revealed. Despite the awful crime, we feel the director has managed to bring humanity into the portrait of the young killers, which were brilliantly played by Ely Solan and Leon Hughes. It is a heartbreaking story and it has changed the life of so many people in a very sad way. The Special Mention to the film: Joe Boots directed by Florian Baron (Germany, USA). The narrative is plain and simple, but it went straight to our hearts. It’s just one guy telling his story, but it is the story of every soldier coming home from war. He is changed but nobody can see it and most of us don’t care. The film is a tribute to every veteran.INTERNATIONAL DocFilmMusic COMPETITION
GOLDEN HEYNAL for the director of the best film – Stephen Nomura Schible for the film Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda (USA, Japan) For a skillfully crafted an intimate portrait of an unique and outstanding composer SPECIAL MENTION – Jukka Kärkkäinen and J-P Passi for the film Punk Voyage (Finland) For a life story bigger than music – Keep on rocking guys because PUNK’S NOT DEAD!NATIONAL COMPETITION
GOLDEN HOBBY-HORSE for the director of the best film funded by the President of the Polish Filmmakers Association – Rafał Łysak for the film Unconditional Love (Poland). 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. SILVER HOBBY-HORSE for the director of the best documentary film – Marta Prus for the film Over the Limit (Poland, Germany, Finland). In a suggestive way the film brings the viewer deep into to the world of dramatic choices made by a sportswoman and an artist. SILVER HOBBY-HORSE for the director of the best animated film – Marta Pajek for the film III (Poland). For spectacular drawing of the living shapes portraying an intimate experience of a woman and a man. SILVER HOBBY-HORSE for the director of the best fiction film – Maciej Kawalski for the film Atlas (Poland). For an accurate, comedic attempt to encapsulate the madness of the contemporary world. SPECIAL MENTION in the documentary category for Michał Hytroś for the film The Sisters (Poland). For presenting the comedic potential of the world behind the monastery walls. SPECIAL MENTION in the feature film category – Damian Kocur for the film 1410 (Poland). For the courage to ask naive questions and laugh at important matters. The Award of the Polish Filmmakers Association for the best film editing – Grażyna Gradoń for the film Notes on Life. A Movie about Edward Żebrowski (dir. Maria Zmarz-Koczanowicz) Maciej Szumowski Award for remarkable social awareness funded by the National Broadcasting Council – Tomasz Knittel for the film Universam Grochów (Poland). The Award for the best short and documentary films producer in Poland funded by the Polish Audiovisual Producers Chamber of Commerce (KIPA) – Anna Kępińska and Maciej Kubicki (Telemark) for the film Over the Limit (Poland, Germany, Finland). Best Cinematography Award under the patronage of The Polish Society of Cinematographers funded by Coloroffon Film – Adam Suzin for the film Over the Limit.THE AWARD OF THE STUDENT JURY
Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda (USA, Japan) directed by Stephen Nomura Schible. For showing how the most destructive forces can inspire the clearest sounds.THE AUDIENCE AWARD
Marta Prus for her film “Over the limit”.KFF INDUSTRY AND DOC LAB POLAND AWARDS
ANIMATED IN POLAND:
SOUND MIND AWARD – for the project of the film “The land of Whim”, dir. Betina Bożek, prod. Animation Film Studio, Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow AUDIOVISUAL TECHNOLOGY CENTER SPECIAL MENTION – “Red light train”, dir. Alicja Kot, prod. Animation Film Studio, Academy of Fine Arts in KrakowDOCS TO START:
HBO AWARD – for the project of the film “Scandal!”, dir. Bartosz Paduch, prod. Maciek Ostatek, Kacper Jaroszyński / „W To Mi Graj” Foundation KRAKOW FILM KLASTER AWARD – for the project of the film “Walk with Angels”, dir. Tomasz Wysokiński, prod. Tomasz Wysokiński /Ayahuasca Project LIGHTCRAFT AWARD – for the project of the film “The Last Expedition”, dir. Eliza Kubarska, prod. Monika Braid /Braidmade Films EUROPEAN DOCUMENTARY NETWORK SPECIAL MENTION (EDN) – project of the film “Lessons in Democracy”, dir. Michał Helwak, prod. Marcin Wierzchosławski / Metro Films DOK LEIPZIG SPECIAL MENTION – for the project of the film “Ambulance Poland – Syria”, dir. Aleksander Zalewski, prod. Anna Kubik Sobala / AksamitDOCS TO GO!:
COLOROFFON AWARD – for the project “Lessons of Love”, dir. Małgorzata Goliszewska, Katarzyna Mateja, prod. Anna Stylińska / Fundacja Widok INSTITUTE OF DOCUMENTARY FILM SPECIAL MENTION – for the project of the film “An Ordinary Country”, dir. Tomasz Wolski, prod. Anna Gawlita / Kijora Film
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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?
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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.