Central Airport THF[/caption]
The Sundance Institute will award $585,000 in targeted grants to twenty-three projects from independent nonfiction storytellers. 57% of the supported projects are helmed by women, and 48% are from outside the U.S.; 34% of grantees are first-time feature filmmakers.
“These artists are hard at work on projects that capture the world as it is, as well as imagining it as it could be,” said Hajnal Molnar-Szakacs, the recently-appointed Director of the Sundance Institute’s Documentary Film Fund. “The stories here deeply reflect my team’s collaborative vision for this fund and we are thrilled to highlight voices with richly diverse sensibilities and perspectives. In our current cultural and political moment, independent storytelling is vital: to help make meaning and present a layered, complex interpretation of truth.”
Sundance Institute has a long history and firm commitment to championing the most distinctive nonfiction films from around the world. Recently-supported films include Hale County This Morning This Evening; I Am Not Your Negro; Last Men in Aleppo; An Insignificant Man; Casting JonBenet; Strong Island; Hooligan Sparrow; Newtown and Weiner.
Zentralflughafen THF (Central Airport THF)
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Sundance Institute Awards Over Half a Million Dollars to Groundbreaking Documentary Projects
[caption id="attachment_29305" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Central Airport THF[/caption]
The Sundance Institute will award $585,000 in targeted grants to twenty-three projects from independent nonfiction storytellers. 57% of the supported projects are helmed by women, and 48% are from outside the U.S.; 34% of grantees are first-time feature filmmakers.
“These artists are hard at work on projects that capture the world as it is, as well as imagining it as it could be,” said Hajnal Molnar-Szakacs, the recently-appointed Director of the Sundance Institute’s Documentary Film Fund. “The stories here deeply reflect my team’s collaborative vision for this fund and we are thrilled to highlight voices with richly diverse sensibilities and perspectives. In our current cultural and political moment, independent storytelling is vital: to help make meaning and present a layered, complex interpretation of truth.”
Sundance Institute has a long history and firm commitment to championing the most distinctive nonfiction films from around the world. Recently-supported films include Hale County This Morning This Evening; I Am Not Your Negro; Last Men in Aleppo; An Insignificant Man; Casting JonBenet; Strong Island; Hooligan Sparrow; Newtown and Weiner.
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AFI DOCS 2018 Unveils Full Slate of 92 Films
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UNITED SKATES[/caption]
AFI DOCS has finally revealed its full slate of 92 films representing 22 countries for the 16th edition of the American Film Institute’s five-day documentary film festival in the nation’s capital. AFI DOCS 2018 runs June 13 to 17 in Washington, DC, and Silver Spring, MD.
As previously announced, the festival will open with the world premiere of PERSONAL STATEMENT and will close with UNITED SKATES. ABOVE AND BEYOND: NASA’S JOURNEY TO TOMORROW screens as the Centerpiece Screening. Special Screenings include THE COLD BLUE, KINSHASA MAKAMBO, MR. SOUL! and WITKIN & WITKIN.
AFI DOCS 2018 PROGRAM
OPENING NIGHT SCREENING
PERSONAL STATEMENT: DIRS Juliane Dressner and Edwin Martinez. USA. Karoline, Enoch and Christine are Brooklyn high school seniors who just want to go to college, but like so many public-school students throughout the country, their schools don’t have enough college guidance support. Refusing to give up, they decide to work as college counselors in their schools, becoming the very resource they don’t have themselves. World Premiere.CLOSING NIGHT SCREENING
UNITED SKATES: DIRS Dyana Winkler and Tina Brown. USA. Roller-skating has played a critical role in modern African-American culture, with rinks serving as both a haven of community and of artistic expression, and a flashpoint in the civil rights movement. UNITED SKATES chronicles the fight to save these rinks, and the souls of communities nationwide.CENTERPIECE SCREENING
ABOVE AND BEYOND: NASA’S JOURNEY TO TOMORROW: DIR Rory Kennedy. USA. Rory Kennedy tells the stories of the women and men behind the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s decades-long exploration of our solar system, our universe and our planet, in this enlightening film that celebrates NASA’s triumphs, mourns its tragedies and affirms the importance of its mission both in space and on Earth.SPECIAL SCREENINGS
THE COLD BLUE: DIR Erik Nelson. USA. In 1943, legendary Hollywood director William Wyler crafted MEMPHIS BELLE, a celebrated tribute to the titular WWII bomber. Using footage shot by Wyler from the National Archives, director Erik Nelson has made a new film, featuring gripping narration from some of the last surviving B-17 pilots. A meditation on youth, war and stunning bravery. World Premiere. KINSHASA MAKAMBO: DIR Dieudo Hamadi. DRC, France, Germany. Amid the backdrop of seemingly the neverending political and social unrest that hangs over the Democratic Republic of Congo, three young activists take to the streets with their fellow countrymen to overthrow their country’s President and help enact much needed change in their politically beleaguered country. East Coast Premiere. MR. SOUL!: DIRS Sam Pollard and Melissa Haizlip. USA. An in-depth look at the late 1960s WNET public television series SOUL! and its producer Ellis Haizlip. The series was among the first to provide expanded images of African Americans on television, shifting the gaze from inner-city poverty and violence to the vibrancy of the Black Arts Movement. WITKIN + WITKIN: DIR Trisha Ziff. Mexico. The artwork of septuagenarian twins Joel-Peter and Jerome Witkin transcends genres and traditional form. WITKIN & WITKIN explores the brothers’ complicated relationship with one another, and examines depths and divisions in their work. Joel-Peter’s stunning photography and Jerome’s powerful figurative paintings distinctly capture the human condition, reflecting differing emotional and intellectual approaches. U.S. Premiere.FEATURE FILM SELECTIONS
209 RUE SAINT-MAUR, PARIS 10ÈME – THE NEIGHBOURS: DIR Ruth Zylberman. France. After selecting a building at random in a Jewish neighborhood in Paris, French director Ruth Zylberman meticulously reconstructed its community of inhabitants during the German occupation. What results is the spellbinding 209 RUE SAINT-MAUR, an experimental historiography that tells the emotional story of lives uprooted and destroyed under the Nazis. U.S. Premiere. ALONE IN THE GAME: DIRS Natalie Metzger and Michael Rohrbaugh. USA. Outdated ideas and outright prejudice have made competitive sports one of the gay rights movement’s final frontiers. ALONE IN THE GAME reveals how a new generation of queer and transgender athletes are scoring victories on and off the field by standing up for their rights — including the right to compete. World Premiere. AMÉRICA: DIRS Erick Stoll and Chase Whiteside. USA. At the heart of this film is 93-year-old matriarch América. When an accidental fall lands her son in jail for neglect, her three freewheeling grandsons must reunite to get their father out of prison and their grandmother out of bed. What emerges is an unforgettable and tender tale of familial love. AMERICA TO ME: DIR Steve James. USA. In this first episode of his excellent miniseries, Steve James returns to the subjects that have marked his career — class, race, and how the two affect social and economic mobility. James follows students at a public high school in suburban Chicago that is considered the gold standard of diversity, yet on the ground, he discovers a different story. BATHTUBS OVER BROADWAY: DIR Dava Whisenant. USA. Steve Young is obsessed with industrial musicals, the often bizarre and hilarious productions commissioned by companies to celebrate their products at corporate conventions. Follow him as he investigates this odd aspect of midcentury corporate culture, while continuing his search for gems like “Diesel Dazzle” and “The Bathrooms Are Coming!” BISBEE ’17: DIR Robert Greene. USA. Bisbee, Arizona, an old copper-mining town on the Mexican border, finally reckons with its darkest day: the deportation of 1,200 immigrant miners left to die in the middle of the desert in 1917. Filmmaker Robert Greene captures the city’s residents as they commemorate this tragic event by staging a reenactment on its 100th anniversary. BLOWIN’ UP: DIR Stephanie Wang-Breal. USA. A New York City courtroom recommends a unique and compassionate intervention option to young women charged with prostitution: submit to free counseling sessions designed by a mentoring program to get you off the street, and your record will be expunged. Are they ready to make that change? CENTRAL AIRPORT THF: DIR Karim Aïnouz. Germany, France, Brazil. A decade after ceasing operations, Berlin’s historic Tempelhof Airport has found a second life serving a new group of arrivals and departures: refugees now seeking asylum in Germany. CENTRAL AIRPORT THF looks at the absurdity of life for migrants making the most of the long layover. CHARM CITY: DIR Marilyn Ness. USA. On the streets of Baltimore, the murder rate is approaching an all-time high, and distrust of the police reaches a fever pitch. With neighborhoods in peril, residents attempt to diffuse the violence through cooperative efforts helmed by community leaders, compassionate law-enforcement officers and a progressive young city councilman. COMBAT OBSCURA: DIR Miles Lagoze. USA. Miles Lagoze was deployed as a combat photographer in Afghanistan, making videos for official Marine Corps recruitment purposes. Compiled of outtakes from those videos, this disturbingly raw portrait of the conflict in Afghanistan exposes the gulf between the war we’re meant to see and the war as it really is. East Coast Premiere. CRIME + PUNISHMENT: DIR Stephen Maing. USA. In 2015, a group of 12 whistleblower cops sued the NYPD for using illegal quotas despite a 2010 statewide ban on the practice. A blood-boiling investigation into a corrupt organization, CRIME + PUNISHMENT follows these officers as they face retaliation for attempting to resist against racist practices. DARK MONEY: DIR Kimberly Reed. USA. A portrait of democracy under fire, DARK MONEY pulls back the curtain on big money in national politics. Revealing how right-wing giants like the Koch brothers hide behind super PACs to do their bidding — in the forms of corporate-funded smear campaigns and dangerous legislation — this film is as timely as it is eye-opening. THE DISTANT BARKING OF DOGS: DIR Simon Lereng Wilmont. Denmark, Finland, Sweden. Taking an observational approach, this masterful film follows 10-year-old Oleg and his grandmother as they cope with life mere miles from the frontline of the war in Ukraine, showing how children navigate the trauma of conflict, while still seeing the world with naiveté and wonder. DON’T BE NICE: DIR Max Powers. USA. Following a diverse team of slam poets as they mine their feelings and personal experiences about race, sexuality, gender and popular culture to craft poems for national competition, DON’T BE NICE demonstrates how collaboration and communication between artists can allow them to better understand who they are and what they want to say. U.S. Premiere. FOR THE BIRDS: DIR Richard Miron. USA. In Richard Miron’s surprising and empathetic film, we follow a woman named Kathy who lives with 200 pet birds. What starts as a story about Kathy’s battle with local animal advocacy groups slowly transforms into an intimate drama about the toll of Kathy’s bird-hoarding — on her marriage and mental health. North American Premiere. FOSTER: DIR Mark Jonathan Harris. USA. Oscar® winners Mark Jonathan Harris and Deborah Oppenheimer (INTO THE ARMS OF STRANGERS: STORIES OF THE KINDERTRANSPORT) roam courtrooms, foster homes, juvenile halls and the streets of Los Angeles to tell the moving human stories behind the largest county child protection agency in the United States. World Premiere. THE GOSPEL OF EUREKA: DIRS Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher. USA. A tiny Arkansas town is home to a popular live-action Passion Play — and a tightknit gay community centered around a lively drag bar. A touching, upbeat look at an enlightened town that maintains a peaceful coexistence of two seemingly divergent groups through tolerance, love and inclusion. GURRUMUL: DIR Paul Williams. Australia. With the release of his debut album, blind indigenous Australian musician Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu became an unlikely star in both his homeland and in the larger world music scene. But as Gurrumul’s fame grew, the balance between his culture’s way of life and a career in music proved tricky to maintain. U.S. Premiere. HAL: DIR Amy Scott. USA. Surveying the works of iconoclastic filmmaker Hal Ashby (HAROLD AND MAUDE, THE LAST DETAIL, COMING HOME), director Amy Scott identifies how Ashby’s brilliant and seminal works helped define both the New Hollywood of the 1970s and the American experience for a decade. HALE COUNTY THIS MORNING, THIS EVENING: DIR RaMell Ross. USA. Winner of a Special Jury Prize at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, RaMell Ross’ assured feature debut is a lyrical look at the lives of two young African-American men born and raised in Alabama’s Hale County, the community that surrounds them and the paths they follow throughout the years. HAPPY WINTER: DIR Giovanni Totaro. Italy. The escapism of being on holiday gets a fascinating twist in Giovanni Totaro’s shrewdly observant HAPPY WINTER. Mondello beach in Palermo, Italy, is a seemingly pleasant circus of bronzed vacationers milling about. But behind the happy goings-on is a different story of collective denial about the looming economic crisis. U.S. Premiere. HESBURGH: DIR Patrick Creadon. USA. He counseled presidents and popes, served on corporate boards and infuriated Richard Nixon. He was one of the only friends to whom Ann Landers turned for advice. During his 35 years as president of the University of Notre Dame, Theodore Hesburgh became one of the most influential and inspiring people of the 20th century. World Premiere. INTO THE OKAVANGO: DIR Neil Gelinas. USA. National Geographic photographer Neil Gelinas makes his directorial debut with INTO THE OKAVANGO. This visually stunning film follows three passionate individuals as they embark on a four-month journey along the titular river — witnessing Africa’s animal and bird population in visceral, jaw-dropping close-up — to discover why the Okavango Delta is rapidly drying up. INVENTING TOMORROW: DIR Laura Nix. USA. Laura Nix’s inspiring film follows high school students from around the world, many of whom hail from dangerously polluted countries, as they tackle daunting environmental issues affecting their communities. Watch as the teens then bring their ingeniously proposed solutions to “the science fair of science fairs” — the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. IT WILL BE CHAOS: DIRS Lorena Luciano and Filippo Piscopo. USA. Follow an Eritrean man and a Syrian family on dual quests for freedom amid the refugee crisis in the eastern Mediterranean. Tension mounts as they battle the rough seas, harsh conditions and red tape standing in their way. Will they make it to a new life in Europe? THE LIBERATION: DIRS Christoph Green and Brendan Canty. USA. Therapy sessions, cooking lessons and raw personal stories provide the drama in THE LIBERATION, DC-based filmmakers Christoph Green and Brendan Canty’s story of the formerly incarcerated men and women struggling to get through DC Central Kitchen’s 14-week culinary training program. Can they make it and turn their lives around? East Coast Premiere. LOVE, GILDA: DIR Lisa D’Apolito. USA. Lisa D’Apolito’s moving documentary LOVE, GILDA looks back at the exuberant life and courageous death of Gilda Radner, the first female superstar of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE. Using an abundance of archival photos and clips, along with confessional narration by Radner, the film paints a loving portrait of her short but spectacularly eventful life. MATANGI / MAYA / M.I.A.: DIR Stephen Loveridge. UK. Drawn from 22 years’ worth of personal video footage, MATANGI / MAYA / M.I.A. is an intimate look at the life of rapper, songwriter and activist M.I.A., from her childhood in war-torn Sri Lanka, to her eventual rise to international stardom as one of the most thought-provoking artists working in music today. MCQUEEN: DIRS Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui. UK. This intimate profile offers unparalleled access to one of the fashion industry’s brightest stars, Alexander McQueen. Brilliant, bold and informed by a British punk aesthetic, the designer was known for his exquisite and strikingly original clothes and his legendary runway shows — theatrical spectacles influenced by contemporary art, theater and photography. MINDING THE GAP: DIR Bing Liu. USA. First-time filmmaker Bing Liu turns the camera on himself, his family members and his skateboarder friends in this deeply moving depiction of three young men in a small Midwestern town grappling with issues of class, race and learning to overcome the cycles of family violence. A MURDER IN MANSFIELD: DIR Barbara Kopple. USA. Two-time Oscar® winner Barbara Kopple takes on true crime, revisiting a horrific 1989 domestic murder in Ohio. Collier Boyle was 12 when his father killed and buried his wife under the flooring of a remote countryside home. Now an adult, Collier returns to Mansfield to face the lingering impact of his mother’s murder. ON HER SHOULDERS: DIR Alexandria Bombach. USA. Filmmaker Alexandria Bombach follows Nadia Murad, a young Yazidi woman who gained international attention after escaping captivity by the Islamic State. Forgoing sensationalism, Bombach’s award-winning film offers a fresh perspective on Nadia’s new life as a human rights activist raising awareness for her people and their plight. OVER THE LIMIT: DIR Marta Prus. Poland, Germany, Finland. As the 2016 Summer Olympics loom, Russian gymnast Margarita Mamun prepares to represent her country at this historic event. But the path to the Olympics is not an easy one in this unflinching portrait of an athlete straining to retain her humanity while going for gold. U.S. Premiere. PICK OF THE LITTER: DIRS Dana Nachman and Don Hardy. USA. Shortly after birth, five Labrador puppies enter the intensive two-year training program at California’s Guide Dogs for the Blind. Here, only the best pups will make the cut to protect and serve blind partners, while others will have to change careers for good. THE PRICE OF EVERYTHING: DIR Nathaniel Kahn. USA. An examination of the contemporary art market through the eyes of artists, dealers and collectors, THE PRICE OF EVERYTHING is the latest work from Oscar® nominee Nathaniel Kahn. Illuminating complex dynamics between artistic intention and consumer behavior, the film begs the question: What value do we place on the priceless? THE PROVIDERS: DIRS Anna Moot-Levin and Laura Green. USA. THE PROVIDERS follows three “country doctors” — health care providers working for a small network of clinics in northern New Mexico — as they confront the challenges of keeping those in their poor and opioid-plagued communities safe. As the film movingly shows each doctor’s day-to-day responsibilities, a complex portrait emerges of small-town America. SHIRKERS: DIR Sandi Tan. USA. In 1992, Sandi Tan shot a film in Singapore with her friends and her American mentor, Georges. As the film neared completion, Georges disappeared with the footage, leaving Sandi heartbroken. Twenty years later, the footage is discovered, and the strange mystery of Georges begins to unravel. THE SILENCE OF OTHERS: DIRS Almudena Carracedo and Robert Bahar. USA, Spain. A quest for justice by those who suffered under the repressive regime of General Francisco Franco is at the heart of this powerful and provocative film. Those who were tortured or had family members murdered are demanding the truth be told to the Spanish people, and the remaining perpetrators put on trial. U.S. Premiere. STUDIO 54: DIR Matt Tyrnauer. USA. An Icarus tale unfolds to a disco beat in STUDIO 54, an intimate peek behind the velvet ropes, where mirror balls twinkled over Liza Minelli, Diana Ross, Mick Jagger and Andy Warhol in Matt Tyrnauer’s illuminating history of the rise and fall of the legendary New York nightclub. THIS ONE’S FOR THE LADIES: DIR Gene Graham. USA. Diving inside an unexpected subculture of Newark, THIS ONE’S FOR THE LADIES follows a group of women who throw weekly underground male exotic dance parties. Exploring sexual identity and the meaning of community, the film is a unique portrait of the black experience in 21st-century America. TRANSMILITARY: DIRS Gabriel Silverman and Fiona Dawson. USA. Gabriel Silverman and Fiona Dawson make their stirring feature debut with TRANSMILITARY, following four individuals who come out as transgender to top officials at the Pentagon — a brave move that puts their military careers in jeopardy, and shows a struggle for equality that is more relevant than ever. TRE MAISON DASAN: DIR Denali Tiller. USA. With a parent in prison, three Rhode Island boys tackle adult realities few of their peers can even imagine. Unfettered access to three troubled but promising young lives produces an unforgettable perspective on the multigenerational consequences of U.S. incarceration, where one out of 14 kids has a parent with a prison history. UNDER THE WIRE: DIR Chris Martin. UK. In 2012, acclaimed journalist Marie Colvin illegally crossed the Syrian border to cover the country’s civil war. She became one of the only voices reporting on the atrocities being committed against the Syrian people. With breathtaking footage, UNDER THE WIRE profiles one woman’s drive to uncover the truth, no matter the cost. International Premiere. UNITED WE FAN: DIR Michael Sparaga. Canada. UNITED WE FAN follows the ingenious save-our-show campaigns that have been spurred by passionate television uber-fans throughout the decades. From STAR TREK to CAGNEY AND LACEY and CHUCK — plus many more — this delightful doc highlights the grassroots efforts needed to save beloved TV shows. U.S. Premiere. YOURS IN SISTERHOOD: DIR Irene Lusztig. USA. More than four decades after the birth of Ms. Magazine, director Irene Lusztig combs the publication’s archives and pairs some of the most memorable letters, many never published, with contemporary readers to comment on just how far we’ve come — and what we still have to accomplish.
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2018 Sheffield Doc/Fest film Unveils Lineup of ‘bold and innovative non-fiction films’
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Before Father Gets Back[/caption]
The 2018 Sheffield Doc/Fest film program lineup presents bold and innovative non-fiction films made by some of the most authentic international filmmakers working today. 2018 audiences will be treated to 37 World, 18 International, 24 European and 70 UK film premieres.
The works are selected across the main program Doc/Adventure, Doc/Expose, Doc/Think, Doc/Love, Doc/Rhythm, Doc/Visions, and focus Retro/Electric Avenues, New/UK, New/Lebanon program strands and accompanying Special Live events. Doc/Fest 2018 film program includes one special Preview screening, a late-night offering as Docs ‘Til Dawn and a selection of outdoor screenings Free Screen.
The festival opens on Thursday 7 June with the world premiere of Sean McAllister’s A Northern Soul.
OPENING NIGHT
A Northern Soul (World premiere; UK, 2018, 80 min, dir. Sean McAllister) – Following A Syrian Love Story’s Doc/Fest Grand Jury Award win in 2015, Sean McAllister returns to Sheffield to open the Festival’s 25th Edition with the World Premiere of A Northern Soul. With his signature vision and sense of rapport, Sean reflects on changes to his Yorkshire hometown: a city divided by Brexit that is simultaneously celebrated as UK City of Culture and hit by austerity. Drawn to the fringes of town, Sean encounters Steve, a struggling warehouse worker by day and hip-hop performer by night, with a dream…SPECIAL PREVIEW
McQueen (UK/USA, 2017, 111 min, dir. Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui) – Archival footage and personal testimonials present an intimate portrait of revolutionary British fashion designer ‘Lee’ Alexander McQueen, the working-class boy who became a global one-man fashion brand.THE FULL FILM program LINE-UP – BY STRAND:DOC/ADVENTURE
Before Father Gets Back (World premiere; dir. Mari Gulbiani, 80 min) – In a Georgian village, from which many men have left for Syria, two girls escape a shared longing for their fathers through the magic of cinema. Bruce Lee & the Outlaw (World premiere; dir. Joost Vandebrug, 85 min) – Nicu, a young homeless boy, is adopted by Bruce Lee, the notorious “King of the Underworld” and goes to live with him in the tunnels underneath Bucharest. Central Bus Station (World premiere; dir. Tomáš Elšík, 78 min) – Central Bus Station, a building which has turned from great gift to a place for immigrants. Yonathan has learnt that it can reveal the essence of the society as well as one’s soul. Ghosthunter films in competition Into The Okavango films in competition Love Means Zero (UK premiere; dir. Jason Kohn, 89 min) – At eighty-six, famed tennis coach Nick Bollettieri is a living legend. At his academy in Florida, he raised a generation of champions. Too Beautiful: Our Right to Fight (World premiere, dir. Maceo Frost, 77 min) – Cuba ranks highly at Olympic boxing, but women can’t compete. This immersive film follows Havana boxer Namibia, who’s hoping the ban is lifted before she ages out of eligibility. Over the Limit Phantom Cowboys (International premiere; dir. Daniel Patrick Carbone, 93 min) – Three boys in small town America find their hopes and dreams tempered by their circumstances. Moving back and forth over eight years, this is a moving, skilful exploration of adolescence. Tanzania Transit (European premiere; dir. Jeroen van Velzen, 75 min) – On a train crossing Tanzania, a riding microcosm of East African society, we follow three main characters, reflecting on the strength to survive. The Game The Insufferable Groo (World premiere, 98 min, dir. Scott Christopherson) – Having directed nearly 200 low-budget movies, Utah filmmaker Stephen Groo seeks Jack Black for his latest human/elf fantasy drama. This hilarious yet sincere portrait depicts an uphill production battle. The Lonely Battle of Thomas Reid (UK premiere; dir. Feargal Ward, 77 min) – Thomas Reid lives a solitary life. But beside his 17th century farm looms a vast American factory. When the Irish State tries to take his farm, he vows to resist. The Man Who Stole Banksy (European premiere; 91 min, dir. Marco Proserpio) – A Palestinian taxi driver attempts to sell a Banksy mural on eBay. As we follow the artwork, we uncover a secret art market of stolen walls from around the world. Three Identical Strangers (European premiere; 96 min, dir. Tim Wardle) – In 1980, three New York identical triplets, separated at birth, discovered each other. But behind the remarkable story lurked a dark secret that questioned the notion of who we are. Time Trial Vienna Calling (World premiere; dir. Petr Šprincl, 67 min) – In this docufiction road movie, a grave robbing artist and his sidekicks journey to Vienna in a horse drawn caravan of death to return some famous teeth.Shorts
Zion – see Short Doc Award Cheer From Parts Unknown Hands Up, Chin Down Skip Day Skywards To Be a Torero Taking the Waters The Water SlideDOC/EXPOSE
A Thousand Girls Like Me (European premiere; dir. Sahra Mosawi, 76 min) – A young Afghan woman confronts the will of her family and the traditions of her country to seek justice for years of sexual abuse from her father. A Woman Captured Commander Arian I, Dolours (European premiere; dir. Maurice Sweeney, 82 min) – Dolours Price, bred to violent republicanism, yet ultimately haunted by her actions, gave a filmed interview not to be broadcast until after her death. This is her shocking story. Kinshasa Makambo Laila At The Bridge Lost Warrior Of Fathers and Sons On Her Shoulders One or Two Questions (UK premiere; dir. Kristina Konrad, 237 min) – In 1986, Uruguay passed a law granting amnesty for human rights violations committed by the military and police during the dictatorship (1973-85). One or Two Questions uses footage of interviews recorded on the streets between 1987 and 1989, to present a multifaceted reflection of the country and its inhabitants, in which the values of democracy – such as peace, justice – are continually questioned. The Ballymurphy Precedent (World premiere; dir. Callum Macrae, 106 min) – The little known story about the death of eleven innocent people at the hands of the British Army in a Catholic estate in Belfast in 1971. This is a massacre that few have heard of, yet it was one of the most significant events in the Troubles. The British army continues to cover it up because they cannot afford to admit the truth. The relatives of those who died are fighting for justice – and our investigation shows why. This secret massacre led directly to the Bloody Sunday killings by the same Parachute regiment just five months later. The Congo Tribunal (UK premiere; dir. Milo Rau, 100 min) – Staged as a tribunal on-location in Bukavu and Berlin, director Milo Rau creates an unshrouded portrait of one of the biggest and bloodiest economic wars in human history. The Distant Barking of Dogs The Silence of Others The Trade (European premiere; dir. Matthew Heineman, 125 min) – Addicts and their families struggle in Atlanta, drug lords and poppy-seed farmers toil in Mexico, and narcotics units and dealers clash in Columbus. Under The Wire (World premiere; dir. Chris Martin, 93 min) – A powerful film that tells the story of celebrated Sunday Times journalist Marie Colvin and photographer Paul Conroy’s ill-fated trip to Syria in February 2012. Based on Conroy’s book of the same title. When the War Comes (UK premiere; dir. Jan Gebert, 76 min) – A paramilitary group in Slovakia is recruiting hundreds of young men, aiming to create a model community based on military drill, obedience and fear. Whispering Truth to Power (European premiere; dir. Shameela Seedat, 87 min) – With exclusive, behind-the-scenes access, this film charts the final year in office of South African anti-corruption champion Thuli Madonsela as she attempts to seek justice for ordinary people. After successfully challenging President Jacob Zuma for illegal use of state funds, she faces the biggest challenge of her career: exposing the systematic takeover of government by a private family in cahoots with the President.Shorts
Black Sheep – see Short Doc award Ebrahim Fake News Fairytale Las Nubes The Holiday Inn-Side Watching the Detectives Doc/Dispatch – showcase for short documentary journalism from citizen reporters, investigative filmmakers and responsive news units; projects TBADOC/LOVE
Amal América Ashore (UK premiere; dir. Leonor Teles, 82 min) – Ashore portrays the life of a singular fisherman in an ancient riverfront community near Lisbon as he drifts between ocean solitude and family anchors. For The Birds Game Girls (UK premiere; dir. Alina Skrzeszewska, 90 min) -This compassionate observational documentary charts the relationship between two homeless women in Los Angeles’ sprawling Skid Row. Tiahna seems resigned to street life, but girlfriend Teri wants to escape. Have You Seen The Listers? (UK premiere; dir. Eddie Martin, 86 min) – From the director of All This Mayhem, a candid and personal family portrait as young father Anthony Lister embarks on the rocky road to become the world’s greatest street artist. Home Games (World premiere; dir. Alisa Kovalenko, 86 min) – A season in the life of Alina, a poor 20-year-old girl from Kyiv who has a chance to be saved by football. A Northern Soul (World premiere) – see OPENING NIGHT Minding the Gap Out (UK premiere; dir. Denis Parrot, 70 min) – The first documentary to address LGBTQ+ coming out stories exclusively through social media footage. People’s Republic of Desire (European premiere; dir. Hao Wu, 95 min) – In China’s popular live streaming showrooms, two internet celebrities seek fame, fortune and human connection, ultimately finding the same promises and perils online as in their real lives. The Eyes of Orson Welles (UK premiere; dir. Mark Cousins, 110 min) – Filmmaker Mark Cousins dives deep into the visual world of this legendary director and actor, to reveal a portrait of the artist as he’s never been seen before. Turning 18 (World premiere; dir. Ho Chao-ti, 87 min) – Two young girls meet at a vocational training program after which their lives move in completely different directions. Both from broken homes, Pei searches for hope in love, while Chen struggles to avoid her parents’ fate. As they approach 18, the undercurrents of their lives surface, nearly overwhelming them. How can an unloved life find a strength of her own? Young SolitudeShorts
Baby Brother Black I Am Confessions of an Angry Mother Landline Last Man Standing Lotus Lovers of the Night Mountain – see Short Doc award Pumpkin MovieRETRO/ELECTRIC AVENUES
Cocorico Monsieur Poulet DisorderShorts program
Black Film City of Contrasts Horse of Mud + Sad Song of Touha + The Sandwich IFO In Order Not To Be Here Liberty City Crawl (Superman II) Many Thousands Gone Mobile Men Moor Mother Live in London My White Baby Secrets From the Street: No Disclosure Sto Lat Strolling – also see Free Screen on page xx The StrikeDOC/RHYTHM
Antigone (UK premiere; dir. Pedro González Rubio, 73 min) – In the biggest public university in Latin America a group of theatre students and their teacher prepare Antigone, a Greek tragedy that addresses the conflict between the rules of power and the will of a young woman to do the right thing. Life, theatre and fiction are interwoven following the rehearsals in classrooms, in their homes, in public spaces and surrealist landscapes of the city. Ashes and Embers (UK premiere; dir. Manon Ott, 71 min) – A poetic and political portrait of a working-class suburb in the process of change, “Ashes and Embers” invite us to meet its inhabitants: a journey from dusk to dawn where, while speaking of their lives, they also express their revolt and their quest for freedom. Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes (European premiere; dir. Sophie Huber, 85 min) – The film explores the vision behind the iconic American jazz record label. Through current recording sessions, rare archive and conversations with iconic Blue Note artists, the film reveals an intimate perspective of a legacy that continues to be vital in today’s political climate. Legendary artists Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter come together with today’s generation of ground-breaking Blue Note artists such as Robert Glasper and Ambrose Akinmusire to record an All-Stars album. Desolation Center (UK premiere; dir. Stuart Swezey, 92 min) – followed by live performance from Thurston Moore – The film vividly portrays the untold story of a series of guerrilla desert gatherings now recognised as the inspiration for Burning Man and Coachella, with performances by Sonic Youth, Minutemen, Meat Puppets, Swans, and more. Generation Wealth (dir. Lauren Greenfield, 108 min) – Lauren Greenfield’s postcard from the edge of the American Empire captures a portrait of a materialistic, image-obsessed culture. Simultaneously personal journey and historical essay, the film bears witness to the global boom-bust economy, the corrupted American Dream, and the human costs of late stage capitalism, narcissism, and greed Harmony (UK premiere; dir. Frederick Paxton, 71 min) – Bold city symphony reveals the terrible beauty in Siberia’s polluted Chelyabinsk. A mesmerizing mix of sound and image highlight the often punishing rituals inflicted on young Russian boys and girls. Milford Graves Full Mantis (UK premiere; dir. Jake Meginsky, Neil Young (Co-Director), 91 min) – Celebrating the creativity of legendary American percussionist Milford Graves, this film is itself a kaleidoscope ode to the creative process, and a unique homage to the free jazz pioneer. Parallel Planes (International premiere; dir. Nicole Wegner, 100 min) – This film pays homage to the American DIY spirit and the diversity of the US musical landscape outside the commercial music industry. Nicole Wegner maintains eye level with her twelve subjects, including Ian MacKaye (Minor Threat, Fugazi), Michael Gira (Swans) and Valentine Falcon (Get Hustle), who gleefully hack the music industry and play by their own rules. Punk Voyage (dir. JP Passi, Jukka Kärkkäinen, 97 min) – PKN, a band of four mentally disabled men, is Europe’s no 1 punk-rock act. When the band’s leader decides to retire, Punk Voyage shows all the quarrels, tears and laughter. Shakedown (UK premiere; dir. Leilah Weinraub, 72 min) – “If you straight, you don’t need to be in the front.” Former drag show host Teresa and Ronnie-Ron co-founded Shakedown in the 90s, establishing a thriving underground scene. Dancers including Egypt, Miss Mahogany, I-Dallas and Slow-Wine entertain the throng. This strip club was a space for LA’s African-American queer community to explore identity, sexuality and have an incredible time. Silvana (UK premiere; dir. Mika Gustafson, Olivia Kastebring, Christina Tsiobanelis, 91 min) – Silvana Imam is a fierce force of nature. We witness the Swedish rap artist’s career soar, and the genesis of her relationship with pop artist, Beatrice Eli. The pair become Sweden’s Beyoncé and Jay-Z; a power-couple of phenomenal talent and influence. As the pressures of her iconic status begin to spiral, Silvana is forced to confront her inner conflicts. This One’s For The Ladies (International premiere; dir. Gene Graham, 83 min) – Race, class and sexuality intersect at Newark strip club the Dojo: a karate school by day, home to the New Jersey Nasty Boyz by night. In addition to spotlighting the exotic dancers who work there – both male and lesbian – Gene Graham’s affectionate portrait celebrates the community of women who sustain this microcosm of black American society. Tranny Fag Yellow Is Forbidden (European premiere; dir. Pietra Brettkelly, 94 min) – Haute couture is the most exclusive club in the world: Mostly men. Exclusively European. Largely conglomerate-funded. Yet, Guo Pei, an independent Chinese designer has been invited to present a collection.Shorts
Artificial Things Arr. for a Scene Mini Miss To The Front: Scenes From a Women’s Rock Camp Weltschmerz – see Short Doc awardDOC/THINK
A Journey to the Fumigated Towns Boys Who Like Girls (World premiere; dir. Inka Achte, 68 min) – Two years have passed since the infamous Delhi gang rape, and India is ablaze with talk of men’s role in gendered violence. Teenager Ved joins a boys’ club run by ‘Men Against Violence and Abuse’ and realises there may be a healthier path for him than the one paved by his abusive father. Will his be the first generation of boys that actually likes girls? Central Airport THF Ex-Shaman Flow (World premiere; dir. Nicolás Molina, 82 min) – FLOW observes the human connection between two rivers: Ganges in India and Biobío in Chile. It proposes a poetic journey blending both civilizations through the flow of one great river. German Class (World premiere; dir. Florian Heinzen-Ziob, 89 min) – Over the course of six months the film closely follows the daily ups and downs of a group of children from abroad as they take their first steps in the German school system. Infinite Football (World premiere; dir. Corneliu Porumboiu, 70 min) – Romanian filmmaker Porumboiu focuses on Laurentiu Ginghina, a bureaucrat who dreams of revolutionizing football. Yet when the director makes Ginghina’s alternative game reality, the bureaucrat can’t stop reworking his theories. Esta Todo Bien (World premiere; dir. Tuki Jencquel, 70 min) -“That’s the drama. You can’t get sick.” These sadly apt words are spoken by Francisco, an activist who delivers badly needed medicines in Venezuela where salaries peak at twelve dollars a month and 16,000 doctors have left the country. Our New President Radio Atlas: A Lunkhead Among The Stars (dir. Gyrid Listuen, 47 min) – Radio Atlas presents Gyrid Listuen’s Prix Europa-winning radio documentary from the nineties — exploring the internal world of a young man with Down’s Syndrome. The Cleaners (UK premiere; dir. Hans Block, Moritz Riesewieck, 88 min) – Digital scavengers’ are outsourced to delete inappropriate content from the net, while at the same time the lives of people around the globe are dramatically affected by online censorship. A ‘cleaner’ rates thousands of disturbing images every day, with lasting psychological impact. From the shared global village to fake news and radicalization, the film charts the rise and fall of social media’s utopian ideology. The Dread The Gospel of Eureka The Pain of Others The Proposal The Trial (UK premiere; dir. Maria Ramos, 139 min) – The Trial offers a behind-the-scenes look at the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, Brazil’s first female President. The film portrays the “judicial political” trial first at the House of Representatives and then, at the Senate focusing on the President’s Defence Team: her lawyer José Eduardo Cardoso and two senators who struggle to prove the President’s innocence against a majority vote by a Congress riddled with corruption. The Waldheim Waltz What Is Democracy? When Lambs Become LionsShorts
90 Seconds in North Korea Girlhood Give I Am Bisha I Signed The Petition The River of the KukamasDOC/VISIONS
Arboretum Cycle (UK premiere; dir. Nathaniel Dorsky, 137 min) – A magical collection of seven 16mm films by Nathaniel Dorsky, explores the beauty of Californian nature in Spring light. Each silent film celebrates qualities of energy, joy, fullness, and rebirth. Black Mother Doel Female Human Animal (European premiere; dir. Josh Appignanesi, 74 min) – Shot in the real-life contemporary art world, Female Human Animal is a psycho-thriller about a creative woman disenchanted with what modern life and “modern men” have to offer her. When writer Chloe Aridjis curates an inspiring retrospective of the surrealist Leonora Carrington, an elusive, brooding man appears, seeming to offer more. A darkly romantic docufiction that puts on screen the lurid unconscious of our new sexual politics. Going South (UK premiere; dir. Dominic Gagnon, 104 min) – Going South is the second part of a tetralogy in which Dominic Gagnon intends to explore the cardinal points of the Internet in the post-truth era. Hale County This Morning, This Evening La Commune (Paris, 1871) Last Year in Utopia (UK premiere; dir. Jana Magdalena Keuchel, Katharina Knust, 72 min) – In this revealing and playful Brechtian recreation of events, six cast members from a cancelled German reality television program make an emotional return to their show’s isolated forest location. Margaret Tait: A Century (64 min, dir. Margaret Tait) – Marking both the centenary of the 1918 suffrage act and her birthday, pioneering British filmmaker Margaret Tait is the center of Margaret Tait: A Century -a mini retrospective collection of her titles: Colour Poems, A Portrait of Ga, Tailpiece, Aerial, Where I am is Here. McQueen Music When The Lights Go Out Obscuro Barroco Shirkers Sleep Has Her House (UK premiere; dir. Scott Barley, 90 min) – A hypnotic reverie in a dark forest, underneath waterfalls and shifting shapes in the night. Captured on an iPhone, this is a symphonic and haunting science fiction of nature. The Task Turtle Rock Victory Day (UK premiere; dir. Sergei Loznitsa, 94 min) – Once a year, crowds gather in Berlin’s Treptower Park to mark the anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany. Master of sustained observation, Sergei Loznitsa, captures the medal bedecked veterans and burly biker gangs assembling for this spring day of patriotic songs and speeches. Loznitsa’s carefully framed compositions become a meditation on the nationalistic myths still gripping Europe. Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin (World premiere; dir. Arwen Curry, 65 min) – A trailblazing rebel who shook the world of literature, defying gender norms, societal expectations and patriarchal gatekeeping. Ursula K Guin remains a peerless lightning bolt of imagination and political insight.Shorts
A God’s Shadow Cops Are Actors Fluid Frontiers Here There Is No Earth House Maskirovka Rebirth is Necessary – see Short Doc award Song for Europe With history in a room filled with people with funny names 4
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FSLC Announces 5th Art of the Real Lineup, Opens with Premiere of ‘John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection’
John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection The Film Society of Lincoln Center today announced the fifth edition of Art of the Real, an essential showcase for the most vital and innovative voices in nonfiction and hybrid filmmaking, taking place April 26 to May 6. The 2018 lineup features a host of brilliant new works and exciting artist spotlights, including one world premiere, eight North American premieres, and seven U.S. premieres, with many of the filmmakers in person.
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Berlinale 2018 Awards: TOUCH ME NOT Wins Golden Bear | Complete List
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Touch Me Not by Adina Pintilie[/caption]
It’s awards time at the 68th Berlin International Film Festival, and Touch Me Not by Romanian artist and director, Adina Pintilie, won the top prize, the Golden Bear for Best Film. Touch Me Not follows a filmmaker and her protagonists in a personal research project on intimacy. The film takes us on a journey of discovery through the emotional worlds of Laura, Tómas and Christian, blurring the boundaries between fiction and reality, and providing profoundly insightful insights into their lives.
Winners of 68th Berlin International Film Festival Awards
PRIZES OF THE INTERNATIONAL JURY
GOLDEN BEAR FOR BEST FILM (awarded to the film’s producer) Touch Me Not by Adina Pintilie SILVER BEAR GRAND JURY PRIZE Twarz Mug by Małgorzata Szumowska SILVER BEAR ALFRED BAUER PRIZE for a feature film that opens new perspectives Las herederas The Heiresses by Marcelo Martinessi SILVER BEAR FOR BEST DIRECTOR Wes Anderson for Isle of Dogs (Isle of Dogs — Ataris Reise) SILVER BEAR FOR BEST ACTRESS Ana Brun in Las herederas (The Heiresses) by Marcelo Martinessi SILVER BEAR FOR BEST ACTOR Anthony Bajon in La prière (The Prayer) by Cédric Kahn SILVER BEAR FOR BEST SCREENPLAY Manuel Alcalá and Alonso Ruizpalacios for Museo (Museum) by Alonso Ruizpalacios SILVER BEAR FOR OUTSTANDING ARTISTIC CONTRIBUTION Elena Okopnaya for costume and production design in Dovlatov by Alexey German Jr.GWFF BEST FIRST FEATURE AWARD
GWFF BEST FIRST FEATURE AWARD endowed with € 50,000, funded by GWFF Touch Me Not by Adina Pintilie SPECIAL MENTION An Elephant Sitting Still by Hu BoGLASHÜTTE ORIGINAL — DOCUMENTARY AWARD
GLASHÜTTE ORIGINAL — DOCUMENTARY AWARD endowed with € 50,000, funded by Glashütte Original Waldheims Walzer The Waldheim Waltz by Ruth Beckermann LOBENDE ERWÄHNUNG Ex Pajé Ex Shaman by Luiz BolognesiPRIZES OF THE INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM JURY
GOLDEN BEAR FOR BEST SHORT FILM The Men Behind the Wall by Ines Moldavsky SILVER BEAR JURY PRIZE (SHORT FILM) Imfura by Samuel Ishimwe AUDI SHORT FILM AWARD endowed with € 20,000, enabled by Audi Solar Walk by Réka Bucsi BERLIN SHORT FILM NOMINEE FOR THE EUROPEAN FILM AWARDS Burkina Brandenburg Komplex by Ulu BraunPRIZES OF THE JURIES GENERATION
Children’s Jury Generation Kplus CRYSTAL BEAR for the Best Film Les rois mongols Cross My Heart Hand auf’s Herz by Luc Picard SPECIAL MENTION Supa Modo by Likarion Wainaina CRYSTAL BEAR for the Best Short Film A Field Guide to Being a 12-Year-Old Girl Handbuch einer 12-Jährigen by Tilda Cobham-Hervey SPECIAL MENTION Snijeg za Vodu Snow for Water Schnee für Wasser by Christopher VilliersInternational Jury Generation Kplus
THE GRAND PRIX OF THE GENERATION KPLUS INTERNATIONAL JURY for the best feature-length film, endowed with € 7,500 by the Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk Sekala Niskala The Seen and Unseen Sichtbar und unsichtbar by Kamila Andini SPECIAL MENTION Allons enfants Cléo & Paul by Stéphane Demoustier THE SPECIAL PRIZE OF THE GENERATION KPLUS INTERNATIONAL JURY for the best short film, endowed with € 2,500 by the Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk Jaalgedi A Curious Girl Ein neugieriges Mädchen by Rajesh Prasad Khatri SPECIAL MENTION Cena d’aragoste Lobster Dinner Hummer zum Abendbrot by Gregorio FranchettiYouth Jury Generation 14plus
CRYSTAL BEAR for the Best Film Fortuna by Germinal Roaux SPECIAL MENTION Retablo by Álvaro Delgado-Aparicio L. CRYSTAL BEAR for the Best Short Film Kiem Holijanda by Sarah Veltmeyer SPECIAL MENTION Je fais où tu me dis Dressed for Pleasure by Marie de MaricourtInternational Jury Generation 14plus
THE GRAND PRIX OF THE GENERATION 14PLUS INTERNATIONAL JURY for the best feature-length film, endowed with € 7,500 by the Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung (Federal Agency for Civic Education) Fortuna by Germinal Roaux SPECIAL MENTION Dressage by Pooya Badkoobeh THE SPECIAL PRIZE OF THE GENERATION 14PLUS INTERNATIONAL JURY for the best short film, endowed with € 2,500 by the Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung (Federal Agency for Civic Education) Juck by Olivia Kastebring, Julia Gumpert and Ulrika Bandeira SPECIAL MENTION Na zdrowie! Bless You! by Paulina ZiolkowskaPRIZES OF THE INDEPENDENT JURIES
PRIZES OF THE ECUMENICAL JURY
Competition In den Gängen (In the Aisles) by Thomas Stuber Special Mention: Utøya 22. juli (U – July 22) by Erik Poppe Panorama Styx by Wolfgang Fischer endowed with € 2,500 Forum Teatro de guerra (Theatre of War) by Lola Arias endowed with € 2,500PRIZES OF THE FIPRESCI JURY
Competition Las herederas (The Heiresses) by Marcelo Martinessi Panorama River’s Edge by Isao Yukisada Forum An Elephant Sitting Still by Hu Bo GUILD FILM PRIZE In den Gängen (In the Aisles) by Thomas StuberCICAE ART CINEMA AWARD
Panorama Tinta Bruta (Hard Paint) by Marcio Reolon and Filipe Matzembacher Forum Teatro de guerra (Theatre of War) by Lola Arias LABEL EUROPA CINEMAS Styx by Wolfgang FischerTEDDY AWARD
Best Feature Film Tinta Bruta (Hard Paint) by Marcio Reolon and Filipe Matzembacher Nominated: Las herederas (The Heiresses) by Marcelo Martinessi and Touch Me Not by Adina Pintilie Best Documentary/Essay Film Bixa Travesty (Tranny Fag) by Claudia Priscilla and Kiko Goifman Nominated: Yours in Sisterhood by Irene Lusztig and Shakedown by Leilah Weinraub Best Short Film Three Centimetres by Lara Zeidan Nominated: T.R.A.P by Manque La Banca and Je fais où tu me dis (Dressed for Pleasure) by Marie de Maricourt Special Jury Award Obscuro Barroco by Evangelia Kranioti L’Oréal Paris TEDDY NEWCOMER AWARD Retablo by Álvaro Delgado-Aparicio L. CALIGARI FILM PRIZE La casa lobo (The Wolf House) by Cristóbal León and Joaquín Cociña PEACE FILM PRIZE The Silence of Others by Almudena Carracedo and Robert Bahar AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL FILM PRIZE Zentralflughafen THF (Central Airport THF) by Karim Aïnouz Special Mention: Eldorado by Markus Imhoof HEINER CAROW PRIZE Styx by Wolfgang FischerREADERS’ JURIES AND AUDIENCE AWARDS
PANORAMA AUDIENCE AWARD Fiction Film Profile by Timur Bekmambetov PANORAMA AUDIENCE AWARD Documentary Film The Silence of Others by Almudena Carracedo and Robert Bahar BERLINER MORGENPOST READERS’ JURY AWARD Dovlatov by Alexey German Jr. TAGESSPIEGEL READERS’ JURY AWARD L’empire de la perfection (In the Realm of Perfection) by Julien Faraut TEDDY READERS’ AWARD POWERED BY MANNSCHAFT Las herederas (The Heiresses) by Marcelo MartinessDEVELOPMENT AWARDS
COMPASS-PERSPEKTIVE-AWARD Überall wo wir sind (Everywhere We Are) by Veronika Kaserer KOMPAGNON-FELLOWSHIP Blutsauger by Julian Radlmaier (Perspektive Deutsches Kino 2017) When a farm goes aflame, the flakes fly home to bear the tale by Jide Tom Akinleminu (Berlinale Talents 2018) ARTE INTERNATIONAL PRIZE The War Has Ended by Hagar Ben Asher, produced by Madants (Poland), Match Factory Productions (Germany) and Transfax Film Productions (Israel) EURIMAGES CO-PRODUCTION DEVELOPMENT AWARD Madants (Poland), Match Factory Productions (Germany) and Transfax Film Productions (Israel) for The War Has Ended (Director: Hagar Ben Asher) VFF TALENT HIGHLIGHT AWARD Producer Jing Wang (China) for Tropical Memories (Director: Shipei Wen)
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Berlinale 2018: 18 Documentary Films Nominated for Glashütte Original – Documentary Award
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Viaje a los Pueblos Fumigados (A Journey to the Fumigated Towns)[/caption]
This year, for the second time ever, the 2018 Berlin International Film Festival will present the Glashütte Original – Documentary Award. A total of 18 documentary films from the current program of the Competition, Berlinale Special, Panorama, Forum, Generation and Perspektive Deutsches Kino sections and the special presentation Culinary Cinema are nominated for the Glashütte Original – Documentary Award. All nominated films will celebrate their world premiere at the Berlinale 2018.
The Glashütte Original – Documentary Award is endowed with € 50,000, and trophy funded by Glashütte Original. The prize money will be split between the film’s director and producer. The prize will be presented during the official Award Ceremony in the Berlinale Palast on February 24.
A three-member jury will pick the winner: Cíntia Gil (Portugal) – co-director of the Doclisboa, documentary film festival in Portugal ; Ulrike Ottinger (Germany) -director; and Eric Schlosser – (USA)investigative journalist, playwright, screenwriter, and filmmaker.
The following films are nominated for the Glashütte Original – Documentary Award:
Competition – Out of competition
Eldorado Switzerland / Germany By Markus ImhoofBerlinale Special
Viaje a los Pueblos Fumigados (A Journey to the Fumigated Towns) Argentina By Fernando SolanasPanorama
Al Gami’ya (What Comes Around) Lebanon / Egypt / Greece / Qatar / Slovenia By Reem Saleh Až přijde válka (When the War Comes) Czech Republic / Croatia By Jan Gebert Ex Pajé (Ex Shaman) Brazil By Luiz Bolognesi Game Girls France / Germany By Alina Skrzeszewska Obscuro Barocco France / Greece By Evangelia Kranioti Zentralflughafen THF (Central Airport THF) Germany / France / Brazil By Karim AïnouzForum
Den’ Pobedy (Victory Day) Germany By Sergei Loznitsa L’empire de la perfection (In the Realm of Perfection) France By Julien Faraut Minatomachi (Inland Sea) Japan / USA By Kazuhiro Soda Premières solitudes (Young Solitude) France By Claire Simon Waldheims Walzer Austria By Ruth BeckermannGeneration
Ceres Belgium / Netherlands By Janet van den Brand What Walaa Wants Canada / Denmark By Christy GarlandPerspektive Deutsches Kino
The Best Thing You Can Do With Your Life Germany / Mexico By Zita Erffa draußen Germany By Johanna Sunder-Plassmann, Tama Tobias-MachtCulinary Cinema
The Green Lie Austria By Werner Boote
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2018 Berlin Film Festival Unveils Full Panorama Lineup, Opens with Wolfgang Fischer’s STYX
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Styx[/caption]
The 2018 Berlin International Film Festival has revealed the full lineup of the Panorama program, which will feature a total of 47 films from 40 countries, with 37 world premieres and 16 directorial debuts. 20 films will be screened in the scope of Panorama Dokumente , while 27 fiction features are shown in Panorama Special as well as the main program.
The section takes a look at Wolfgang Fischer’s Styx , which will open Panorama Special on February 16 at Zoo Palace. Nearly dialogue-free, the film tells the story of a female doctor on a sailing vacation.
A Czech production opens Panorama Dokumente. Jan Gebert’s Až přijde válka ( When the War Comes ) is the global trend of a socially acceptable form of nationalism using the example of the Slovak Slovenski Branci Slovak paramilitary organization. Árpád Bogdán’s feature film Genezis ( Genesis ) takes place on the series of attacks on Roma in Hungary in 2008/2009, exposing their effects on the victimized families and the community as well as casting light on the failures of the Hungarian judicial system pursuit of those guilty of crimes perpetrated under the dictatorial Franco regime is depicted in The Silence of Others, produced by Pedro Almodóvar. Former Brazilian president Dilma Roussef’s impeachment can be witnessed firsthand in O processo ( The Trial ).
In Generation Wealth , Lauren Greenfield raises awareness for the self-indulgent quest for luxury and the total surrender to vanity leading to a sort of “ultra-decadence,” while in Lemonade , produced by Cristian Mungiu, the American Dream remains tauntingly out of reach for those who can not afford to buy a piece of it. In the French-German production Game Girls , two women try to escape life on Skid Row, the USA’s “Capital City of the Homeless”. Shakedown immerses the viewer in the Afro-American queer strip club scene of Los Angeles 1990s, relating its protagonists’ search for freedom and self-determination to great immediacy. In the Italian production country, Iranian director Babak Jalali who is defending their cultural identity with dignity.
Family dynamics under the microscope: In Al Gami’ya ( What Comes Around ), the residents of one of Cairo’s poorest districts have developed a bank-free financing system for themselves. Two intimate portraits of rural conflict, set in Central China’s Henan province and the German state of Saxony-Anhalt respectively, are drawn in Jordan Schiele’s The Silk and the Flame and Rosa Hannah Ziegler’s family life ( Family Life ). Yang Mingming’s debut film Rou Qing Shi ( Girls Always Happy ) showcases the verbal duels of an odd mother-daughter duo looking for happiness in style or daydreams of getting rich quick. In La enfermedad del domingo ( Sunday’s Illness ), a mother and her daughter return to one another following years of estrangement. In Jibril , her final work for the Babelsberg University of Applied Sciences KONRAD WOLF, Henrika Kull depicts the isolation and love in the interaction between a single mom and a prison inmate.
The Argentinian production Marilyn and the Brazilian film Tinta Bruta ( Hard Paint ) both show the isolation and the inherent in their protagonists’ search for their place in the world. In the mafia tale La terra dell ‘abbastanza ( Boys Cry ), two young men discover an ostensibly simple way out of a sticky situation. A complex web of responsibilities is included in the two instalments of the miniseries Ondes de choc ( Shock Waves ), directed by Lionel Baier and Ursula Meier.
Three further films serve as reflections on cinema itself: Mes provinciales ( A Paris Education ), which is set in a Parisian millennial student milieu; Depending vois rouge ( I See Red People ), In Which Bojina Payanotova Confronts her parents With Their possible connections to the Bulgarian secret police; and Hotel Jugoslavija , in which director Nicolas Wagnières elevates at abandoned Grand Hotel to the status of contemporary witness to history, acting on his principle of “filming to retain and regain”.
Fluid boundaries between reality and fiction are especially present in four productions. Xiao Mei investigates the enigma surrounding the disappearance of a young woman while the dark fairy tale Koly padayut pereva ( When the Trees Fall ) includes the frightening and enchanting experiences of three generations of women. In a hybrid form between fiction and documentary film, Trinta Lumes ( Thirty Souls ) reimagines the Galician backcountry as a mythical place populated by both the living and the dead. Finally, in the deceptively calm flow of horizon ‘s ( Horizon ) images, a man is at risk of losing his footing in life after a separation.
The hard reality reflected in two productions from India and the Democratic Republic of the Congo was in stark contrast in this context. In Garbage , a young woman’s endures a nightmare of male violence. Kinshasa Makambo on the other hand provides insight into the brutal everyday existence of Congolese resistance fighters.
In addition to their appearance in Yocho , cinematic dystopias and allegories of reality are featured in Kim Ki-duk’s Inkan, gongkan, sikan grigo inkan ( Human, Space, Time and Human ) , in which of the widely differing backgrounds assembled on a warship develop a bestial need for patriarchal domination. From Iran comes the film Hojoom (Invasion ), which adeptly establishes an oppressive mood with its post-apocalyptic science-fiction world devoid of sunlight.
Partisan takes a look back at Frank Castorf’s twenty-five year legacy at Berlin’s Volksbühne theater. Chilly Gonzales, self-proclaimed president of the Berlin Underground, is the subject of Shut Up and Play the Piano . MATANGI / MAYA / MIA The Sri Lankan Resistance artist portrays the controversial star between the labels attached to the music and media industries. In Idris Elba’s directorial debut, Yardie , the score by Dickon Hinchcliffe (“Tindersticks”) accentuates the journey of a young man from Kingston to London .
Al Gami’ya ( What Comes Around ) – Lebanon / Egypt / Greece / Qatar / Slovenia
By Reem Saleh
Documentary
World Premiere
Až přijde válka ( When the War Comes ) – Czech Republic / Croatia
By Jan Gebert
Documentary
World Premiere
La enfermedad del domingo ( Sunday’s Illness ) – Spain
By Ramón Salazar
With Bárbara Lennie, Susi Sánchez, Greta Fernández, Miguel Ángel Solá, Richard Bohringer
World premiere
Familienleben ( Family Life ) – Germany
By Rosa Hannah Ziegler
Documentary
World Premiere
Game Girls – France / Germany
By Alina Skrzeszewska
Documentary
World Premiere
Garbage – India
By Q
With Tanmay Dhanania, Trimala Adhikari, Satarupa The
World Premiere
Generation Wealth – USA
By Lauren Greenfield
Documentary
International Premiere
Genezis ( Genesis ) – Hungary
By Árpád Bogdán
With Anna Marie Cseh, Enikő Anna Illési, Milán Csordá’s
World Premiere
Hojoom ( Invasion ) – Iran
By Shahram Mokri
With Abed Abest, Elaheh Bakhshi, Babak Karimi, Pedram Sharifi, Mehdi Etemad Saied
International Premiere
Horizonti ( Horizon ) – Georgia / Sweden
By Tinatin Kajrishvili
With George Bochorishvili, Ia Sukhitashvili, Jano Izoria, Soso Gogichaishvili
World Premiere
Hotel Jugoslavija – Switzerland
By Nicolas Wagnières
Documentary
European Premiere
Inkan, gongkan, sikan grigo inkan ( Human, Space, Time and Human ) – Republic of Korea
By Kim Ki-dukWith Mina Fujii, Jang Keun-suk, Ahn Sung-ki, Lee Sung-jae, Ryoo Seung-bum, Sung Ki-youn, Joe Odagiri
World premiere
Je vois rouge ( I See Red People ) – France / Bulgaria
By Bojina Panayotova
Documentary
World Premiere
Jibril – Germany
By Henrika Kull
With Susana Abdulmajid, Malik Adan, Doua Rahal, Emna El-Aouni
World Premiere
Kinshasa Makambo – Democratic Republic of the Congo / France / Switzerland / Germany / Qatar / Norway
By Dieudo Hamadi
Documentary
World Premiere
Koly padayut dereva ( When the Trees Fall ) – Ukraine / Poland / Macedonia
By Marysia Nikitiuk
With Anastasiia Pustovit, Sofia Halaimova, Maksym Samchyk, Mariya Svizhynska, Alla Samoilenko
World Premiere
Country – Italy / France / Netherlands / Mexico
By Babak Jalali
With Rod Rondeaux, Florence Klein, James Coleman, Wilma Pelly
World Premiere
Lemonade – Romania / Germany / Canada / Sweden
By Ioana Uricaru
With Mina Manovici, Steve Bacic, Dylan Scott Smith, Milan Hurduc, Ruxandra Maniu
World Premiere
Marilyn – Argentina / Chile
By Martín Rodríguez Redondo
With Walter Rodriguez, Catalina Saavedra, Germán de Silva, Ignacio Giménez, Rodolfo Garcia Werner
World Premiere
MATANGI / MAYA / MIA – USA / United Kingdom / Sri Lanka
By Steve Loveridge
With Maya Arulpragasam
Documentary
International Premiere
Mes provinciales ( A Paris Education ) – France
By Jean Paul Civeyrac
With Andranic Manet, Corentin Fila, Gonzague Van Bervesselès, Diane Rouxel, Jenna Thiam, Sophie Verbeeck
World Premiere
O processo ( The Trial ) – Brazil / Germany / Netherlands
By Maria Ramos
Documentary
World Premiere
Ondes de choc – Journal de ma tête ( Shock Waves – Diary of My Mind ) – Switzerland
By Ursula Meier
With Fanny Ardant, Kacey Mottet-Klein, Jean-Philippe Ecoffey, Carlo Brandt, Stéphanie Blanchoud, Jean-Quentin Châtelain
International Premiere
Ondes de choc – Prénom: Mathieu ( Shock Waves – First Name: Mathieu ) – Switzerland
By Lionel Baier
With Maxime Gorbatchevsky, Michel Vuillermoz, Ursina Lardi, Mickael Amman, Adrien Barazzone, Piere-Isaïe Duc, Nastassja Tanner
International Premiere
Partisan – Germany
By Lutz Pehnert, Matthias Ehlert, Adama Ulrich
With Frank Castorf, Sophie Rois, Kathrin Angerer, Herbert Fritsch, Henry Hübchen, Alexander Scheer
Documentary
World Premiere
Rou qing shi ( Girls Always Happy ) – People’s Republic of China
Yang Mingming
With Nai An, Yang Mingming, Zhang Xianmin, Li Qinqin, Huang Wei, Yuan Li
World Premiere
Shakedown – USA
By Leilah Weinraub
Documentary
World Premiere
Shut Up and Play the Piano – Germany / France / United Kingdom
By Philip Jedicke
With Chilly Gonzales, Peaches, Feist, Sibylle Berg, Jarvis Cocker
Documentary
World Premiere
La terra dell’abbastanza ( Boys Cry ) – Italy
By Damiano D’Innocenzo, Fabio D’Innocenzo
With Matteo Olivetti, Andrea Carpenzano, Milena Mancini, Max Tortora, Luca Zingaretti
World Premiere
The Silence of Others – USA / Spain
By Almudena Carracedo, Robert Bahar
Documentary
World Premiere
The Silk and the Flame – United States
By Jordan Schiele
Documentary
World Premiere
Styx – Germany / Austria
By Wolfgang Fischer
With Susanne Wolff, Gedion Oduor
World Premiere
Tinta bruta ( Hard Paint )- BrazilBy Marcio Reolon, Filipe Matzembacher
With Shico Menegat, Bruno Fernandes, Guega Peixoto, Sandra Dani, Frederico Vasque’s
World Premiere
Trinta Lumes ( Thirty Souls )- SpainBy Diana Toucedo
With Alba Arias, Samuel Vilariño’s
World Premiere
Xiao Mei – Taiwan
By Maren Hwang
With Chen Yi-Wen, Liu Kuan-Ting, Na Dow, Wu Chien-Ho, Yin Shin, Laurence Chiu, Chang Shao-Huai, Samantha Ko, Wu Kang-jen, Jao Cincin
World Premiere
Yardie – United Kingdom
By Idris Elba
With Aml Ameen, Shantol Jackson, Stephen Graham, Fraser James, Sheldon Shepherd, Everaldo Creary
European Premiere
Already featured films:
L’Animale – Austria by Katharina Mückstein
Bixa Travesty ( Tranny Fag ) – Brazil by Claudia Priscilla, Kiko Goifman
Ex Pajé ( Ex Shaman ) – Brazil by Luiz Bolognesi
Malambo, el hombre bueno (Malambo, the Good Man) – Argentina by Santiago Loza
Obscuro Barroco – France / Greece by Evangelia Kranioti
La omisión ( The Omission ) – Argentina / Netherlands / Switzerland by Sebastián Schjaer
River’s Edge – Japan by Isao Yukisada
Profiles – USA / UK / Cyprus by Timur Bekmambetov
That Summer – Sweden / Denmark, USA by Göran Hugo Olsson
Yocho (Foreboding) – Japan by Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Central Airport THF ( Central Airport THF ) – Germany / France / Brazil by Karim Aïnouz
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Berlin Film Festival Confirms First Films in 2018 Panorama Program
[caption id="attachment_25976" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
Bixa Travesty (Tranny Fag)[/caption]
The first eleven films have been confirmed for the Panorama program of the upcoming 2018 Berlin International Film Festival.
In the German documentary Zentralflughafen THF (Central Airport THF), Brazilian-Algerian director Karim Aïnouz films the everyday lives of refugees in the hangars of the defunct Berlin airport Tempelhof. While they dream of having finally reached their destination, Berliners flee from their everyday lives to the public park on Tempelhofer Feld.
In Timur Bekmambetov’s US fiction film Profile, a British journalist goes undercover and infiltrates the digital propaganda channels of the so-called Islamic State, which has been mobilising ever greater numbers of young women from Europe. Her daily internet contacts with ISIS recruiters gradually pull her in and push the limits of her investigation.
In Yocho (Yocho (Foreboding)), the latest science fiction film by Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, aliens take over human emotions. Their uncanny system of subjugation kindles a paranoia that turns individual initiative into obedience. Inspired by a manga of the same name is River’s Edge by Isao Yukisada. In the 1990s, shortly after the collapse of the economic boom in Japan, a group of young people struggle to reconnect with their feelings. Anger and frustration unleash a frenzy of sex and turmoil.
Four productions from Latin America have already been confirmed. La omisión (The Omission), Argentinian filmmaker Sebastián Schjaer’s first full-length fiction film, intimately depicts a transient worker. Wrapped in thick winter clothing, she defies the cold of Tierra del Fuego and the expectations put on her as a young mother. Also from Argentina is Malambo, el hombre bueno (Malambo, the Good Man) by Santiago Loza. Mesmerizing black-and-white images tell the story of a malambo dancer whose body becomes his adversary. The “malambistas” train a lifetime for competitions – and when a dancer finally wins he has to retire. A struggle for freedom in which torment and fulfilment are remarkably one. In dense images, the Brazilian documentary Ex-Pajé (Ex Shaman) by Luiz Bolognesi shows the imminent ethnocide of the indigenous Paiter Suruí who live in the Amazon basin. A former Christianized shaman turns to the spirits he had abandoned in order to preserve their cultural identity.
Another film from Brazil is dealing with “body politics”: Bixa Travesty (Tranny Fag). The female trans*body becomes a political means of expression in both public and private space. The black, transgender singer Linn da Quebrada deconstructs how alpha males conceive of themselves. Kiko Goifman and Claudia Priscilla portray a charismatic artist who reflects on gender and has an extraordinary stage presence.
The dreamlike cinematographic poem Obscuro Barroco by Greek director Evangelia Kranioti focuses on a transgender Brazilian personality: Luana Muniz (1961-2017), icon of queer subculture, drifts through the world of Rio de Janeiro, a city of extremes, with its political conflicts, carnival masquerades, and novel bodies whose transformations no longer acknowledge clear gender lines.
Two works deal with another important topic of the Panorama 2018 – “resistance to machismo”: La omisión and the Austrian fiction film L’Animale by Katharina Mückstein, where an 18-year-old high school graduate and her motocross clique are the source of unease in the neighbourhood. Her need to belong, her experience of male dominance and the ardent devotion to her clique arouse conflicting emotions in her.
After the success of The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 and Concerning Violence in the Panorama, Swedish filmmaker Göran Hugo Olsson will return to present his new documentary That Summer. In it he brings back the eccentric universe of the symbiotic mother-daughter duo from the documentary classic Grey Gardens. That Summer presents what was believed to have been lost: footage from the summer of 1972, filmed by Peter Beard and Lee Radziwill, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’s sister. Additional material – shot by Andy Warhol, Jonas Mekas, Albert Maysles, and Vincent Fremont – provides insight into the dynamics of the former artist community in the Hamptons.
L’Animale – Austria
By Katharina Mückstein
With Sophie Stockinger, Kathrin Resetarits, Dominik Warta, Julia Franz Richter, Jack Hofer, Dominic Marcus Singer, Simon Morzé
World premiere
Bixa Travesty (Tranny Fag) – Brazil
By Claudia Priscilla, Kiko Goifman
With Linn da Quebrada, Jup do Bairro, Liniker
Documentary
World premiere
Ex Pajé (Ex Shaman) – Brazil
By Luiz Bolognesi
Documentary
World premiere
Malambo, el hombre bueno (Malambo, the Good Man) – Argentina
By Santiago Loza
With Gaspar Jofre, Fernando Muñoz, Pablo Lugones, Nubecita Vargas, Gabriela Pastor, Carlos Defeo
World premiere
Obscuro Barroco – France / Greece
By Evangelia Kranioti
Documentary
World premiere
La omisión (The Omission) – Argentina / The Netherlands / Switzerland
By Sebastián Schjaer
With Sofía Brito, Lisandro Rodriguez, Malena Hernández Díaz, Victoria Raposo, Pablo Sigal
World premiere
Profile – USA / UK / Cyprus
By Timur Bekmambetov
With Valene Kane, Shazad Latif, Christine Adams, Morgan Watkins, Amir Rahimzadeh
World premiere
River’s Edge – Japan
By Isao Yukisada
With Fumi Nikaidou, Ryo Yoshizawa, SUMIRE , Shiori Doi, Aoi Morikawa
International premiere
That Summer – Sweden / Denmark / USA
By Göran Hugo Olsson
With Peter Beard, Lee Radziwill, Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale, Edith Bouvier Beale, Andy Warhol
Documentary
European premiere
Yocho (Yocho (Foreboding)) – Japan
By Kiyoshi Kurosawa
With Kaho, Shota Sometani, Masahiro Higashide
European premiere
Zentralflughafen THF (Central Airport THF) – Germany / Brazil / France
By Karim Aïnouz
Documentary
World premiere