The 6^th edition of the Champs-Elysées Film Festival, created by the Producer, Distributor and Exhibitor Sophie Dulac, will take place from Thursday 15th to Thursday 22nd June , 2017, in the cinemas on the Champs-Elysées.

In order to enhance the Franco-Americain theme, the festival is creating a competition of 6 French feature films this year premiering in Paris, with or without french distributors.  Programmmed by the French movie journalist Alex Masson, these films will subsequently tour several towns in the United States after the festival.

This French selection will complement the competition of 6 Independent American films, premiering in France, with or without french distributors.

A jury of professionals will award two prizes:

-  the Jury Prize for the best Independent French film ;

-  the Jury Prize for the best Independent American film.

Each film will be awarded 10 000€ to be given to the French Distributor. If the film does not have a distributor, a French distributor will have one year to acquire the film in order to receive the prize.

TITRAFILM will award its’ « Coup de Cœur » to one of the 6 French films in Competition and will give 50% reduction to the distributor on future distribution costs - not to exceed 10.000€.

VARIETY will award its’ « Coup de Cœur » to one of the 6 American films in competition via an advert in one of the Variety Dailies during the Toronto Festival in September 2017 - worth 11 000 $.

An Audience Award will also be given to each selection.

Also new this year, the creation of a Short Film Jury which will give two prizes,  each one worth 2000€ cash to be given to the Producer:

- the Jury Prize for the best French Short film ;

- the Jury Prize for the best American Short film.

Additionally, France Televisions and Universciné will accompany the competition of short films:

- the France Televisions Prize for Best Short French Film will be awarded and acquired by France Televisions.

- The Web UniversCiné prize will put all the French and American short films in competition onto their VoD platform and will invite their users to vote for their favourite film between 15th-21st June, 2017.  The winners will benefit from an offer to buy their film by UniversCiné as well as the possibility of being in a special Blaq out DVD box edited specially for the Champs-Elysées Film Festival. 

An Audience Award will also be given to each selection.

US In Progress Paris,  organized within the Industry Days of the festival at the initiative of the American Film Festival of Wroclaw in Poland and the Champs-Elysées Film Festival in Paris, is also starting it’s call for entries. Several American features or documentaries in post production, that have not been presented to the European market, will be selected and screened to 40 sales agents, distributors, Festival representatives and European buyers. The US In Progress Prize will be given by a jury of professionals and will correspond to the value of 45 000€ in post production and promotion services.

The call for entries for each selection will be open

from 17th January to 10th April 2017.

 (20th April for the US in Progress)

Details on the call for filmsand submission of films for the pre-selection of the festival are on the festival website: www.champselyseesfilmfestival.com

and on the site Film Freeway :  https://filmfreeway.com

"Presidents come and go.. We support the storytellers and let them tell their stories." - Robert Redford

The 2017 Sundance Film Festival kicks off today with the Day One Press Conference at 1 PM MT!

If you're at #Sundance this year, take part in our Snapchat and Instagram Challenges: http://bit.ly/2iOGNPd

The 47th Berlinale Forum is showing 43 films in its main programme, 29 of which as world premieres and 10 as international premieres. This year’s Special Screenings will be announced in a further press release. 

This year’s programme shines a light on the sheer wealth of forms employed by the documentary, including films from Southeast Asia, Europe, North America, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa. The spectrum could hardly be broader here, encompassing institutional portraits, long-term observational projects, and works that employ participatory, narrative, essayistic, ethnographic, political and experimental approaches. These are joined by various hybrid forms that cannot be clearly categorised as either fiction or non-fiction. One recurring motif is that of landscape, which is seldom relegated to the status of backdrop, but rather frequently takes on a leading role.

One regional focus is formed by films from Latin America, with six works from Brazil, Peru, Chile, Mexico and Argentina exhibiting a wide range of different formal approaches.

Davi Pretto’s narrative feature Rifle sets out for the endless plains of the Brazilian south to stage a modern Western there. A taciturn former soldier is employed to guard a small landholder’s estate. But when an agricultural company seeks to buy up the land, he reacts in truly drastic fashion.

Peruvian brothers Alvaro und Diego Sarmiento find stunning images to convey the leisurely flow of life in a verdant river landscape. Río Verde. El tiempo de los Yakurunas (Green River. The Time of the Yakurunas) is an attentive observation of the daily routines of the indigenous inhabitants of Peru’s Amazon region. 

In Casa Roshell, Chilean director Camila José Donoso assembles a portrait of a most unusual institution in the Mexican capital, a place where men learn to be women during the day, before the parties get going at night. All manner of boundaries blur in this tiny utopia: between gay, straight and bi, male and female, past and present, reality and fiction.

Vladimir Durán’s debut feature Adiós entusiasmo (So Long Enthusiasm) is at once realistic and surreal and one of three Argentinian films showing in the main programme. Ten-year-old Axel lives with his mother and three sisters in a flat in Buenos Aires. They’d be a perfectly normal family if only the mother weren’t imprisoned in one of the rooms.

El teatro de la desaparición (The Theatre of Disappearance) by sculptor and installation artist Adrián Villar Rojas presents a hypnotic triptych which depicts latent states of war, drawing on sensual images seemingly only tenuously connected that employ disparate styles and jump freely from continent to continent.  

Albertina Carri’s Cuatreros (Rustlers) examines Argentina’s complex recent past: Isidro Velázquez was a bandit and dissident active in the 1960s whose story formed both the basis for a sociology book by her father Roberto Carri and a feature film that is now lost. The director draws on archive images to bring her own biography into alignment with wider historical events. 

The Sensory Ethnographic Lab has already been well-represented at the Forum and Forum Expanded in the form of Sweetgrass, Leviathan and Yumen and several of its key figures now return to this year’s programme. Verena Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor’s somniloquies works with sound recordings of Dion McGregor, who became famous for talking in his sleep. In El mar la mar, J.P. Sniadecki and Joshua Bonnetta dissect the Sonoran Desert – a landscape marked by the border between the United States and Mexico.

North American cinema once again forms a strong presence at this year’s Forum. Golden Exits by Alex Ross Perry tells the story of a young Australian woman who comes to New York for a few months and unwittingly throws the lives of two couples into disarray.

Menashe, the feature debut by Joshua Z Weinstein, is set in Borough Park, Brooklyn and is almost entirely in Yiddish. The titular Menashe fights to keep custody of his son following the death of his wife. Yet the Hasidic community demands he lead a more ordered life and find a new spouse, neither of which come easy to this kind, but awkward loner.

Amman Abbasi is also showing his debut feature at the Forum. It tells the story of a thirteen-year-old who has lost direction following the death of his brother, meaning that being initiated into a local gang now appears a necessary step towards becoming a man. Dayveon is a search for brotherhood in an African American community in the rural South.

Jeremy Levine and Landon Van Soest’s sensitive long-term documentary For Ahkeem was shot in Missouri, focussing on Daje, who lives with her single mother in St. Louis. Like many black teenagers in the neighbourhood, she has problems at school, while her everyday life is shaken again and again by the violent deaths of her friends.

The many strong documentaries in the programme also include works from Germany. Ann Carolin Renninger and René Frölke’s Aus einem Jahr der Nichtereignisse (From a Year of Non-Events) follows a year in the life of a 90-year-old north German farmer, who lives alone on a rural farmstead.

Heinz Emigholz, a familiar Forum guest for many years now, returns to the programme with his “Streetscapes” series, which loosely links together four separate films. 2+2=22 [The Alphabet] documents the recording sessions for the album “ABC” by electronic music group Kreidler in Tbilisi, Georgia. Bickels [Socialism] examines the architecture of Samuel Bickels, who created numerous kibbutz buildings and museums in Israel. Streetscapes [Dialogue] is a fictionalised dialogue about filmmaking based on the protocols of a mammoth psychoanalysis session and was shot in buildings by Julio Vilamajó, Eladio Dieste and Arno Brandlhuber in Uruguay and Berlin, some of which then pop up again in the final chapter Dieste [Uruguay].

Nicolas Wackerbarth’s feature Casting is also dedicated to the process of filmmaking. Director Vera is unwilling to compromise when it comes to finding the right lead actress for a Fassbinder remake for television. Acting assistant Gerwin delivers dialogues with a bevy of famous actresses and soon realises that this could be his big chance. The film’s starry cast includes Ursina Lardi, Andrea Sawatzki, Corinna Kirchhoff, Judith Engel, Marie-Lou Sellem and many more.

The films of the 47th Forum

2+2=22 [The Alphabet] by Heinz Emigholz, Germany – WP

Adiós entusiasmo (So Long Enthusiasm) by Vladimir Durán, Argentina / Colombia – WP

At Elske Pia (Loving Pia) by Daniel Joseph Borgmann, Denmark – WP

Aus einem Jahr der Nichtereignisse (From a Year of Non-Events) by Ann Carolin Renninger, René Frölke, Germany – WP

Autumn, Autumn by Jang Woo-jin, Republic of Korea – IP

Barrage by Laura Schroeder, Luxembourg / Belgium / France – WP

Bickels [Socialism] by Heinz Emigholz, Germany / Israel – WP

Casa Roshell by Camila José Donoso, Mexico / Chile – WP

Casting by Nicolas Wackerbarth, Germany – WP

Chemi bednieri ojakhi (My Happy Family) by Nana & Simon, Germany / Georgia/France

Cuatreros (Rustlers) by Albertina Carri, Argentina – IP

Dayveon by Amman Abbasi, USA – IP

Dieste [Uruguay] by Heinz Emigholz, Germany – WP

Drôles d’oiseaux (Strange Birds) by Elise Girard, France – IP
 

For Ahkeem by Jeremy Levine, Landon Van Soest, USA – WP

Golden Exits by Alex Ross Perry, USA – IP

Jassad gharib (Foreign Body) by Raja Amari, Tunisia / France

Loktak Lairembee (Lady of the Lake) by Haobam Paban Kumar, India

Maman Colonelle (Mama Colonel) by Dieudo Hamadi, Democratic Republic of Congo / France – WP

El mar la mar by J.P. Sniadecki, Joshua Bonnetta, USA – WP

El mar nos mira de lejos (The Sea Stares at Us from Afar) by Manuel Muñoz Rivas, Spain / The Netherlands – WP

Menashe by Joshua Z Weinstein, USA / Israel – IP

Mittsu no hikari (Three Lights) by Kohki Yoshida, Japan – WP

Mon rot fai (Railway Sleepers) by Sompot Chidgasornpongse, Thailand

Motherland (Bayang Ina Mo) by Ramona S. Diaz, USA / The Philippines – IP

Motza el hayam (Low Tide) by Daniel Mann, Israel / France – WP

Mzis qalaqi (City of the Sun) by Rati Oneli, Georgia / USA / The Netherlands / Qatar / USA – WP

Newton by Amit V Masurkar, India – WP

Occidental by Neïl Beloufa, France – IP

Qiu (Inmates) by Ma Li, People’s Republic of China – WP

Rifle by Davi Pretto, Brazil / Germany – IP

Río Verde. El tiempo de los Yakurunas (Green River. The Time of the Yakurunas) by Alvaro Sarmiento, Diego Sarmiento, Peru – WP

Shu'our akbar min el hob (A Feeling Greater than Love) by Mary Jirmanus Saba, Lebanon – WP

somniloquies by Verena Paravel, Lucien Castaing-Taylor, France / USA – WP
 

Spell Reel by Filipa César, Germany / Portugal / France / Guinea-Bissau – WP

Streetscapes [Dialogue] by Heinz Emigholz, Germany – WP

Tamaroz (Simulation) by Abed Abest, Iran – WP

El teatro de la desaparición (The Theatre of Disappearance) by Adrián Villar Rojas, Argentina – WP

Tiere (Animals) by Greg Zglinski, Switzerland / Austria / Poland – WP

Tigmi n Igren (House in the Fields) by Tala Hadid, Morocco / Qatar – WP

Tinselwood by Marie Voignier, France – WP

Werewolf by Ashley McKenzie, Canada – IP

Yozora ha itsu demo saikou mitsudo no aoiro da (The Tokyo Night Sky Is Always the Densest Shade of Blue) by Yuya Ishii, Japan – WP

The Forum Expanded curatorial team has now completed the 2017 selection. 44 artistic works from a total of 21 countries have been invited, including 28 films of various lengths, 15 installations and a performance. The opening of the group exhibition at the Akademie der Künste at the Hanseatenweg already takes place on February 8, one day before the start of the Berlinale. 13 video and sound installations are being shown there, once again supplemented by film screenings from February 10 onwards. SAVVY Contemporary present the exhibition „The Law of the Pursuer“ by Amos Gitai and the multichannel sound installation Lago by Joshua Bonnetta is being exhibited at the Marshall McLuhan Salon of the Embassy of Canada.

Sharon Lockhart’s Rudzienko celebrates its world premiere in the film programme. Lockhart examines a recurring theme of her artistic practice in this new work: the experience of childhood and adolescence. For a period of three years, she worked with the inhabitants of the Youth Centre for Sociotherapy  in Rudzienko, Poland. Milena is one of the girls featured, who Lockhart met while shooting Podwórka (Forum Expanded 2010). The film emerged from the work with the teenagers and shows a mixture of conversations which deal with everyday teenager worries and philosophical questions in equal measure.

Works by other artists invited to the programme also forge links to films and installations previously shown at Forum Expanded and the Forum: Noam Enbar presents the installation Pana Ha'Geshem (The Rain is Gone) in which a theatre group performs a structured, improvised vocal composition. The installation is based on material created as part of Avi Mograbi’s film Between Fences, which was shown at the Forum in 2016. Enbar and Mograbi already took part at the 2012 edition of Forum Expanded with a live installation.

Izadora (listening to versions of herself) by Philip Scheffner, Merle Kröger and Izadora Nistor describes a moment that belongs to 14-year-old Izadora and her alone. Scheffner and Kröger already worked with Izadora and her family in their films Revision (Forum 2012) und And-Ek Ghes… (Forum 2016).

„The Stars Down to Earth“ is the title of this year’s Forum Expanded programme and is taken from the text of the same name by Theodor W. Adorno in which he grapples with the role of the irrational in mass culture. The works assembled around this theme confront an era that’s gone off the rails and engage with it by taking a keen look at the concrete and the present as well as the past.

In this way, the Bawabet Yafa (Jaffa Gate) multimedia installation conceived by Khaldun Bshara examines the history of the Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem, which was completely redesigned in line with the wishes of the new colonial rulers after the British conquest of the city. One part of the installation is the video ON THAT DAY by Mohanad Yaqubi which was produced by the RIWAQ Centre for Architectural Conservation and takes a closer look at the gate via historical photos.

Mohanad Yaqubi’s Off Frame AKA Revolution until Victory also forms part of the film programme. For Off Frame, he rummaged through archives across the entire globe to try and find films by Palestine Film Unit (PFU), a filmmaking collective whose militant practice accompanied the Palestinian Revolution and brought it into international view. Only a small number of the numerous films created between 1968 and 1982 still exist today, which makes rediscovering and interrogating them in relation to their current relevance all the more vital.

Yaqubi also presents his research as part of this year’s “Think Film” conference series. “Think Film No. 5: Archival Constellations” takes place in compact fashion over one day at the silent green Kulturquartier in Wedding. Eight archive presentations, three archive visits and a performance are planned. 

What role does the location of an archive play, whether as a shelter, repository, production facility or sometimes even as a danger zone? Archives are movable entities; they can make new connections which bring them to life. The film archive of the INCA (Instituto Nacional de Cinema e Audiovisual) in Guinea-Bissau thus also holds films from the former Soviet Union. Works from the Kiev School of Scientific Film ended up in a contemporary art context in similar fashion. The archive visits lead into Amos Gitai’s exhibition at SAVVY Contemporary as well as into the Arsenal – Institute for Film and Video Art e.V. film archive, where concert footage (including that of Einstürzende Neubauten, Malaria, Nick Cave) from 1980s West Berlin can be seen that stems from the !K7 archive. The day comes to a close with a special edition of the “Rising Stars, Falling Stars” series at which archivist and performer Ms. Vaginal Davis will be presenting a small 16mm excavation. 

Films

Aapothkalin Trikalika (The Kali of Emergency) by Ashish Avikunthak (India / Germany, 79’)

Asbestos by Sasha Litvintseva, Graeme Arnfield (United Kingdom, 20’)

A Tall Tale by Maya Schweizer (Germany / Ireland, 16’)

The Brick House by Eliane Esther Bots (Netherlands, 16’)

Camera Threat by Bernd Lützeler (Germany, 30’)

Dark Adaption by Chris Gehman (Canada, 14’)

HASHTI Tehran by Daniel Kötter (Iran, 59’)

Heliopolis Heliopolis by Anja Dornieden, Juan David González Monroy (Germany, 26’)

Im Gehäus (In His Room) by Eva C. Heldmann (Germany, 27’)

Jokinen by Laura Horelli (Finland, 45’)

Not Every Day is Spring by Haig Aivazian (Lebanon, 46’)

Off Frame AKA Revolution until Victory by Mohanad Yaqubi (Palestine / France / Qatar, 63’)

One Plus One Makes a Pharaoh's Chocolate Cake by Marouan Omara, Islam Kamal (Egypt / Switzerland, 37’)

Popeye Sees 3D by Ken Jacobs (USA, 21’)

Ride Like Lightning, Crash Like Thunder by Fern Silva (USA, 9’)

Rudzienko by Sharon Lockhart (Poland / USA, 53’)

Seif Tagreeby (Experimental Summer) by Mahmoud Lotfy (Egypt, 69’)

Serce Miłości – Director‘s Cut (A Heart of Love – Director‘s Cut) by Łukasz Ronduda (Poland, 88’)

Set by Peter Miller (Germany, 10’)

The Shortest Day by Karø Goldt (Austria, 3’)

Sokun Al Sulhufat (Turtles are Always Home) by Rawane Nassif (Qatar / Lebanon, 12’)

SPIN by Ginan Seidl (Germany, 80’)

Tashlikh (Cast Off) by Yael Bartana (Israel / Netherlands, 12’)

Ten Mornings Ten Evenings and One Horizon by Tomonari Nishikawa (Japan, 10’)

Studies on the Ecology of Drama by Eija-Liisa Ahtila (Finland, 26’)

Ulrike‘s Brain by Bruce LaBruce (Germany / Canada, 55’)

Ulysses in the Subway by Paul Kaiser, Marc Downie, Ken & Flo Jacobs (USA, 59’)

The Welfare of Thomás Ó Hallissy by Duncan Campbell (United Kingdom, Ireland, 31’)

Performance

Confessions of an Actress by Susanne Sachsse (Germany)

Group Exhibition at the Akademie der Künste am Hanseatenweg

Bawabet Yafa (Jaffa Gate) by RIWAQ (Conzept: Khaldun Bshara) (Palestine)

Constructed Futures: Haret Hreik by Sandra Schäfer (Germany)

Hawamesh Aan Al-Hegra (Footnotes on Migration) by Take to the Sea (Egypt)

Isla Santa Maria 3D by Oliver Husain (Canada)

Izadora (listening to versions of herself) by Philip Scheffner, Merle Kröger, Izadora Nistor (Germany)

Pana Ha'Geshem (The Rain is Gone) by Noam Enbar (Israel / France)

Purple, Bodies in Translation - Part II of A Yellow Memory from the Yellow Age by Joe Namy (Lebanon)

Twelve by Jeamin Cha (Republic of Korea)

UHF42 E01+E02 by Mike Crane (USA / Palestine)

Untitled Fragments by James Benning (USA)

When Things Occur by Oraib Toukan (Palestine / United Kingdom)

Wutharr, Saltwater Dreams by Karrabing Film Collective (Australia)

And:

Towards Memory von Katrin Winkler (Germany)

Marshall McLuhan Salon of the Embassy of Canada

Lago by Joshua Bonnetta (Canada / USA)

SAVVY Contemporary

The Law of the Pursuer by Amos Gitai (Israel)

Think Film No. 5: Archival Constellations

Material to Investigate the Present, the Future Past - An Encounter with the Archive by the Harun Farocki Institut

Lab Space – Film Lab as Physical Space and Its Influence on Creative Process by Lisabona Rahman (Indonesia)

Reclaiming History, Unveiling Memory Part II by Didi Cheeka (Nigeria)

Archive visits to:

SAVVY Contemporary: The Law of the Pursuer by Amos Gitai; Arsenal – Institute for Film and Video Art: Living Archive - 10.000 Films& Subkultur Berlin80, a !K7 video archive.

The Solid Image by Filipa César (Germany / Portugal) and Sana Na N’Hada (Guinea Bissau)

For an Imperfect Archive by Reem Shilleh and Mohanad Yaqubi (Palestine)

Performing Moments of an Archive by Jasmina Metwaly and Philip Rizk (Egypt / Germany)

Kinotron: The Kyiv School of Scientific Film by Oleksiy Radynski (Ukraine)

Reclaiming History, Unveiling Memory Part II by Didi Cheeka (Nigeria)

Saltwater Dreams: Archives of the Present by Karrabing Film Collective (Australia)

Vaginal Davis Presents: Rising Stars, Falling Stars

Buy your VIP Full Festival Pass and don't miss a second of the 8th Annual Festival! The VIP Full Festival Pass guarantees entry into ALL Festival events including film screenings and industry panels. 
The VIP Pass is your personal invitation to the exclusive Opening Party, Awards Ceremony, and Closing Party. For the first year, the Festival will be presenting an innovative installation of art/experimental films as well as a day-long Virtual Reality experience - secure your entry to both events with your VIP Full Festival Pass.

Purchase your VIP Full Festival pass today and take advantage of the early bird special price $100.00 (reg. price $250.00) through March http://bit.ly/2jd0v85

@IFFPanama

Center: Brother Bajrangi director, Kabir Khan

A total of 263 filmmakers from 41 countries submitted their films for the sixth edition of the International Film Festival of Panama.

Spain, Argentina, and Mexico were the countries with the highest number of nominated films (39 each); followed by Venezuela (16), Brazil (14), Chile (12), Colombia (11), and India (9). Panama and Peru each submitted seven proposals, while Costa Rica, the United States, France, and Portugal each sent six films.

Central American and Caribbean directors and producers, who count on IFF Panama for international screening of their works, also responded to IFF Panama’s 2017 open call, nominating 26 films in total.

IFF Panama also received works from international filmmakers hailing from Germany, Belgium, Gambia, Georgia, Greece, Ireland, England, Japan, Israel, Myanmar, the Czech Republic, and Turkey; among many other cultures.

International film distributors referred 97 films to IFF Panama including works from the United States, Germany, and Mexico.

The sixth edition of the International Film Festival of Panama will be held between March 30th and April 5th and, as in each previous edition, will present a diverse sample of the best of global cinema, a solid exhibition of Latin American cinema, and special screening of films from Central America and the Caribbean.

More than 100 international guests including directors, actors, producers, distributors, and marketing agents will attend the event in the capital of the isthmus as special guests of IFF Panama 2017.

46th International Film Festival Rotterdam runs 25 January - 5 February 2017
In its Deep Focus: Nuts & Bolts programme section, International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) presents a series of unique machines from the studios of independent filmmakers and artists. Through an exhibition, film screenings and live performances, Nuts & Bolts reveals just how wide-ranging the diversity of techniques used is: from digital and high-tech to analogue and deliberately anachronistic.

Deep Focus: Nuts & Bolts
The exhibition Nuts & Bolts is made up of a dozen installations: from home-made projectors and shadow plays to wooden cameras and window drawings. The installations, performances and films in Nuts & Bolts are research laboratories that allow us to explore our relationship to the moving image. They also show us how these artists enter into highly individualistic dialogues with the history of film. The programme consists of works by the likes of Quay Brothers, Wim Janssen and Dušica Dražić, Guy Maddin and Mika Taanila. The legendary radical filmmaker Peter Kubelka will daily present his vision on the relationship between bread, butter and cinema.

Find out where and how to immerse yourself in the multimedia art pieces of New Frontier.

For the third year in a row, the Cartagena International Film Festival will include a tribute to the past in its official image. This year, we're bringing back the India Catalina, chosen in 1960 as the symbol of the Festival by its founder, Víctor Nieto. The statuette, which is awarded to the winning films, was designed by artist Héctor Lombana. In 1974 Spanish sculptor Eladio Gil designed the monument that has since become an emblem of this city, inspired by the Festival statuette.

The India Catalina is a controversial historical figure that has been scorned for her role as translator and cultural mediator at the time of the Spanish conquest. This year FICCI wishes to revive this memory that belongs not only to the city but to the Festival as well. The style and graphics put a spin on the image that allows us to see and feel the historic weight of the India Catalina who appears, imposing, beneath a bough of bijao leaves. With this traditional plant we immerse ourselves in the environment of the Caribbean, a region which, like this contradictory and fearless woman, symbolizes the mestizo nature of our nation and our continent.

For the past 57 years the India Catalina has accompanied us while we honor the achievements of world cinema, and for the past 33 years the best of Colombian television has been recognized by the awards that carry her name. With this poster FICCI brings us closer to her, invites us to make her ours and to allow ourselves to be touched by her presence.

The Competition and Berlinale Special of the 67^th Berlin International Film Festival are now complete. 18 of the 24 films selected for Competition will be competing for the Golden and the Silver Bears. 22 of the films will have their world premieres at the festival.

The Berlinale Special will present recent works by contemporary filmmakers, documentaries, and extraordinary formats, as well as brand new series from around the world.

Berlinale Special Galas will be held at the Friedrichstadt-Palast and Zoo Palast. Other Special premieres will take place at the Kino International. Moderated discussions will follow the screenings at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele.

For the third time, Berlinale Special Series will present a selection of series in the official programme. Six German and international productions will have their world premieres at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele this year. Audiences will be able to see the first two episodes of each series.

Competition

The following films will complete the Competition programme:

Final Portrait
United Kingdom / France
By Stanley Tucci (Big Night, Joe Gould's Secret, Blind Date)
With Geoffrey Rush, Armie Hammer, Clémence Poésy, Tony Shalhoub, James Faulkner, Sylvie Testud
World premiere – Out of competition

Hao ji le (Have a Nice Day) - Animation
People’s Republic of China
By Liu Jian (Piercing I)
World premiere

Sage femme (Midwife)

France / Belgium

By Martin Provost (Le ventre de Juliette, Séraphine, Violette)

With Catherine Frot, Catherine Deneuve, Olivier Gourmet

World premiere – Out of competition

The following countries are participating in the Competition programme: Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong – China, Hungary, India, Ireland, Japan, Lebanon, Norway, People’s Republic of China, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Senegal, Slovakian Republic, Republic of Korea (South Korea), Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and USA.

Berlinale Special

Berlinale Special Gala at the Friedrichstadt-Palast

Maudie
Canada / Ireland
By Aisling Walsh (Song for a Raggy Boy, The Daisy Chain)
With Sally Hawkins, Ethan Hawke, Kari Matchett, Zachary Bennett
European premiere

Berlinale Special Gala at the Zoo Palast

The Lost City of Z
USA
By James Gray (We Own The Night, Two Lovers, The Immigrant)
With Charlie Hunnam, Sienna Miller, Robert Pattinson, Tom Holland
International premiere

Berlinale Special at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele

the bomb– Experimental film
USA
By Kevin Ford (Three Days, By the River), Smriti Keshari (Food Chains), Eric Schlosser (Command and Control; Fast Food Nation; Food, Inc.)
Live music by The Acid
International premiere

La libertad del diablo (Devil's Freedom) - Documentary
Mexico
By Everardo González (Pulque Song, Old Thieves: The Legend of Artegio, El cielo abierto)
World premiere

Nema-ye nazdik (Close Up)
Iran (1990)
By Abbas Kiarostami (Taste of Cherry, The Wind Will Carry Us, Certified Copy)
With Hossain Sabzian, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Abolfazl Ahankhah, Mehrdad Ahankhah, Monoochehr Ahankhah
German premiere of the restored version
As part of the cultural programme "Iranian Modernity" of the Goethe-Institut

The Trial: The State of Russia vs Oleg Sentsov - Documentary

Estonia / Poland / Czech Republic

By Askold Kurov (Zima, ukhodi!; Leninland; Children 404)

World premiere

30 Years European Film Academy

13 films have been selected for the Berlinale Special programme, including productions and co-productions from the following countries: Belgium, Canada, Cuba, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Iran, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, Poland, Slovakian Republic, Spain, and USA.

Berlinale Special Series at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele

4 Blocks
Germany
Director: Marvin Kren (Blood Glacier, The ABCs of Death 2, Rammbock: Berlin Undead)
With Kida Khodr Ramadan, Frederick Lau, Veysel Gelin, Almila Bagriacik, Maryam Zaree, Karolina Lodyga, Oliver Masucci, Massiv
Broadcaster: TNT Serie
World premiere

Below The Surface
Denmark / Germany
Creator: Kasper Barfoed (Summer of '92)
Director: Kasper Barfoed
With Johannes Lassen, Sara Hjort Ditlevsen, Paprika Steen
Broadcaster: Kanal 5, Discovery Networks Denmark
World premiere

Black Spot
France / Belgium
Creator: Mathieu Missoffe (Profiling)
By Thierry Poiraud (Goal of the Dead), Julien Despaux (Accused)
With Suliane Brahim, Laurent Capelluto, Hubert Delattre, Samuel Jouy
Broadcaster: France 2
World premiere

Der gleiche Himmel (The Same Sky)
Germany / Czech Republic
Creator: Paula Milne (The Politician’s Wife, The Virgin Queen, Endgame)
Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel (Downfall, 13 Minutes)
With Tom Schilling, Sofia Helin, Friederike Becht, Ben Becker, Jörg Schüttauf
Broadcaster: ZDF
World premiere

Patriot
USA / Czech Republic
Creator: Steve Conrad (The Secret Life of Walter Mitty)
With Michael Dorman, Kurtwood Smith, Michael Chernus, Kathleen Munroe, Aliette Opheim, Chris Conrad, Terry O’Quinn
Broadcaster: Amazon Prime Video
World Premiere

SS-GB
United Kingdom
Director: Philipp Kadelbach (Platonic Love,  Generation War)
With Sam Riley, Kate Bosworth, Lars Eidinger, James Cosmo, Rainer Bock, Maeve Dermody, Aneurin Barnard, Jason Flemyng
Broadcaster: BBC One
World premiere

The following countries are participating in the Berlinale SpecialSeries programme: Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, United Kingdom, and USA.
The 67th Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin will take place February 9 to 19, 2017.
The Award Ceremony will be held at the Berlinale Palast on Saturday, February 18, 2017. The last festival day, February 19, 2017, is the Berlinale Publikumstag.

Competition 2017

Ana, mon amour by Călin Peter Netzer (Romania / Germany / France)
Bamui haebyun-eoseo honja (On the Beach at Night Alone) by Hong Sangsoo (Republic of Korea - South Korea)
Beuys by Andres Veiel (Germany) - Documentary
Colo by Teresa Villaverde (Portugal / France)
The Dinner by Oren Moverman (USA)
Django by Etienne Comar (France) – First feature
El bar (The Bar) by Álex de la Iglesia (Spain) – Out of competition
Félicité by Alain Gomis (France / Senegal / Belgium / Germany / Lebanon)
Final Portrait by Stanley Tucci (United Kingdom / France) – Out of competition
Hao ji le(Have a Nice Day) by Liu Jian (People’s Republic of China) - Animation
Helle Nächte (Bright Nights) by Thomas Arslan (Germany / Norway)
Joaquim by Marcelo Gomes (Brazil / Portugal)
Logan by James Mangold (USA) – Out of competition
Mr. Long by Sabu (Japan / Hong Kong, China / Taiwan / Germany)
The Party by Sally Potter (United Kingdom)
Pokot(Spoor) by Agnieszka Holland (Poland / Germany / Czech Republic / Sweden / Slovakian Republic)
Return to Montauk by Volker Schlöndorff (France / Germany / Ireland)
Sage femme (Midwife) by Martin Provost (France / Belgium) – Out of competition
T2 Trainspotting by Danny Boyle (United Kingdom) – Out of competition
Teströl és lélekröl(On Body and Soul) by Ildikó Enyedi (Hungary)
Toivon tuolla puolen(The Other Side of Hope) by Aki Kaurismäki (Finland / Germany)
Una mujer fantástica(A Fantastic Woman) by Sebastián Lelio (Chile / USA / Germany / Spain)
Viceroy’s House by Gurinder Chadha (India / United Kingdom) – Out of competition
Wilde Maus(Wild Mouse) by Josef Hader (Austria) – First feature

Berlinale Special 2017

Acht Stunden sind kein Tag (Eight Hours Don't Make A Day) by Rainer Werner Fassbinder (Federal Republic of Germany 1972) – TV series with 5 episodes
the bomb by Kevin Ford, Smriti Keshari, Eric Schlosser (USA) – Experimental film
Es war einmal in Deutschland... (Bye Bye Germany) by Sam Garbarski (Germany / Luxembourg / Belgium)
In Zeiten des abnehmenden Lichts (In Times of Fading Light) by Matti Geschonneck (Germany)
La libertad del diablo(Devil's Freedom) by Everardo González (Mexico) - Documentary
La Reina de España (The Queen of Spain) by Fernando Trueba (Spain)
Le jeune Karl Marx (The Young Karl Marx) by Raoul Peck (France / Germany / Belgium)
The Lost City of Z by James Gray (USA)
Masaryk (A Prominent Patient) by Julius Ševčík (Czech Republic / Slovakian Republic)
Maudie by Aisling Walsh (Canada / Ireland)
Nema-ye nazdik(Close Up) by Abbas Kiarostami (Iran)
The Trial: The State of Russia vs Oleg Sentsov by Askold Kurov (Estonia / Poland / Czech Republic) - documentary
Últimos días en La Habana(Last Days in Havana) by Fernando Pérez (Cuba / Spain)

Berlinale Special Series

4 Blocks– Director: Marvin Kren (Germany)

Below The Surface– Creator / Director: Kasper Barfoed (Denmark / Germany)

Black Spot– Creator: Mathieu Missoffe - Director: Thierry Poiraud, Julien Despaux (France / Belgium)

Der gleiche Himmel (The Same Sky) - Creator: Paula Milne – Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel (Germany / Czech Republic)

Patriot– Creator: Steve Conrad (USA / Czech Republic)

SS-GB– Director: Philipp Kadelbach (United Kingdom)

Foundation Backs Institute’s Annual Screenwriters Intensive, Year-Round Diversity Work

Join Jeff Skoll (Founder and Chairman, The Skoll Foundation), Dr. David Suzuki (scientist and broadcaster), Amy Goodman (moderator), Mohamed Nasheed (Former President, Maldives), and Al Gore (Former Vice President, United States of America) for a discussion on The New Climate.

International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) invests both in talent and in technology in order to keep cinema relevant and vibrant. IFFR’s co-production market CineMart and film tech hub Propellor are entering into a cooperation with Océ  – A Canon Company - a global leader in digital imaging & printing. During CineMart 2017 the Propellor | Kickstart event will take place, developing new models for the production, distribution and screening of films. The best idea presented after the workshops will win the Canon Innovation Award.

46th International Film Festival Rotterdam
25 January - 5 February 2017

 
 

Propellor | Kickstart is the first event of Propellor, a cooperation between IFFR, Berlinale’s European Film Market, CPH:Dox in Copenhagen and Berlin-based Cinemathon. This event links up the film industry with developments in information technology. Marit van den Elshout, head of IFFR PRO, is proud of the cooperation with Océ and Canon: “It’s important for the entire Propellor project that every partner is at home in areas other than film that can help take the project further. With big companies like these, which invests in technology and innovation, we have found a partner not only for this event. This cooperation is also of great value in the further development of Propellor: thanks to the exchange of knowledge, we are able to develop innovative business models at different levels.”

“As inventors, we know how innovation works. Our long history proves that innovation is really in our DNA ” says Floor Schmeitz of Océ. “We invest over 150 million euros annually in Research & Development to build the printing technologies of the future. We also embrace opportunities outside of printing, and look forward to exploring the possibilities for innovation in the film industry. We are happy to be a sponsor of this platform, and to support various initiatives throughout the year.”
 
The Propellor Kickstart event takes place on 31 January and 1 February in Rotterdam. 40 participants were selected to attend the event from over 80 submissions. Experts from both the film and tech/start-up world have been invited to join the participants to test the different ideas and give feedback. Two ideas will be selected by the mentors and other participants to be pitched at the CineMart Closing Night. The audience at the event will vote on which project will win the Canon Innovation Award. The award includes travel, accommodation and participation in the Propellor bootcamp in Berlin this summer.
Other partners of the Propellor | Kickstart are the Cambridge Innovation Center Rotterdam, Venture Café and Creative Europe Desk NL.
 
Founded in 1877, Océ is a global leader in digital imaging and industrial printing. Océ’s mission is to drive new digital imaging technologies and transform these into local imaging products and services for both blue-chip multinationals around the globe and creative studios around the corner. As a Canon Group Company, Océ operates a vast global network of R&D centres to connect emerging digital print technologies to future markets. Océ is headquartered in the Netherlands, in the heart of Europe’s hi-tech corridor.

International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) offers a high quality line-up of carefully selected fiction and documentary feature films, short films and media art. IFFR actively supports new and adventurous filmmaking talent through numerous industry initiatives including co-production market CineMart, through Propellor and BoostNL, its Hubert Bals Fund and Rotterdam Lab. More information at IFFR.com.

Bero Beyer, the IFFR Festival Director, tells filmfestivals.com and the rest of the world that he is ready to welcome us all.

"International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) offers a high quality line-up of carefully selected fiction and documentary feature films, short films and media art. The festival's focus is on recent work by talented new filmmakers. However, within the four sections the Festival presents, there is also room for retrospectives and themed programmes. IFFR actively supports new and adventurous filmmaking talent through its co-production market CineMart, its Hubert Bals Fund,Rotterdam Lab and other Industry activities.

IFFR is one of the largest audience and industry-driven film festivals in the world. During twelve festival days, hundreds of filmmakers and other artists present their work to a large audience (2016: 305.000 admissions) and 2.538 film professionals. The festival's Official Selection includes some 252 feature films and 225 short films out of 50 countries. It aims to organise and stimulate film-related activities in Rotterdam."

The 46th edition is from Wednesday 25 January till Sunday 5 February 2017.

Three Surprising Indie Gems from China and Hong Kong / Brazil Well-Represented with Five Films

With the invitation of 24 further feature films, the selection for the Panorama 2017 programme has been completed. 51 works from 43 countries have been chosen for screening in the section, including 21 in Panorama Dokumente and 29 feature films in the main programme and PanoramaSpecial. 36 of these films will be celebrating their world premieres at the Berlinale, while the programme also features six international and nine European premieres  

The German production Tiger Girl by Jakob Lass will open this year’s edition of PanoramaSpecial at Berlin’s Zoo Palast cinema, along with the previously announced Brazilian production Vazante.

In Tiger Girl’s fast-paced narrative, a strong friendship develops between two women, one in which conventional value systems begin to unravel, in what amounts to a veritable moral portrait of the underbelly of today’s German republic. Daniela Thomas’ Vazante represents for its part the programme focus “Black Worlds”, which is also reinforced by the freshly confirmed inclusion of the South African production Vaya by Akin Omotoso, which offers an immersion in the urbanity of Johannesburg.

The fourth film from Brazil is Como Nossos Pais (Just Like Our Parents) by Laís Bodanzky, who depicts the everyday lives of three generations in Sao Paulo as a pyrotechnic display of individual passions and existential delusions staged with a sublime naturalness. The short animated film Vênus - Filó a fadinha lésbica (Venus - Filly the Lesbian Little Fairy) by Sávio Leite rounds off Brazil’s strong presence at this year’s edition of Panorama.

With Discreet, US indie director Travis Mathews, a chronographer of a gay Western modernity, is showing his second film in Panorama. An eerie soundscape floats atop his often elliptically edited story, which revolves around a man approaching middle age who gets caught up in the darker depths of his past.

The original style of Moroccan filmmaker Hicham Lasri was already apparent at Panorama 2015 in The Sea is Behind and on display again last year in Starve Your Dog. Now he returns for the third time with HeadbangLullaby, a visually stunning psychedelic fairy tale swimming in vibrant colour and full of absurd situations, which also takes a long socially critical look at the history of Lasri’s native Morocco.

Naoko Ogigami already enchanted audiences in Berlin with Megane in 2008 and Rentaneko in 2012. In her most recent film Karera ga Honki de Amu toki wa (Close-Knit), the Japanese director employs contemplative, focussed imagery to honour a potential matter-of-factness for non-normative sexualities and the value of families that are defined by love and care and not by conventions.

Three modern arthouse films from China and Hong Kong shed some fresh light on the complex upheavals afoot throughout the vast country. Establishing alternatives for one’s self within authoritarian systems is a great step towards individual freedom: In Bing Lang Xue (The Taste of Betel Nut), we experience the whirlwind of young love on a resort island, while in Ghost in the Mountains and Ciao Ciao, a French co-production, we bask in the breath-taking landscapes of the Chinese highlands through the power of adept cinematography.

In his New Zealand film One Thousand Ropes, Samoan director Tusi Tamasese creates mythic images full of tension and concentration to relate the story of Maea, the baker and male midwife with the healing hands, whose personal demons play an integral role in his everyday life.

Today whole hordes of young cosmopolitans are drawn to Berlin by the promise of happiness that the city has come to represent – three films that pay tribute to this vision in extremely different manners are gathered at Panorama: the psycho thriller Berlin Syndrome by Australian director Cate Shortland, featuring Teresa Palmer, Max Riemelt and Matthias Habich; the feminist fairy tale The Misandrists by Berlinale regular Bruce LaBruce; and the para-pornographic work of underground science fiction Fluidø, by Taiwanese-American artist Shu Lea Cheang.

Europe

Thirteen more films have been confirmed for the final selection from Europe alone. These include works like the Spanish debut feature Pieles (Skins) by Eduardo Casanova, Rekvijem za gospodju J. (Requiem for Mrs. J.) by Serbia’s Bojan Vuletić, Ferenc Török’s 1945 from Hungary and God's Own Country, Francis Lee’s feature-film debut from United Kingdom. Teona Mitevska returns with a bitter depiction of Macedonian adolescents trying to get their bearings in When the Day Had no Name. Also returning to Panorama are Norwegians Ole Giæver, with the emancipatory and philosophical self-examination Fra balkongen (From the Balcony), and Erik Poppe with Kongens Nei (The King's Choice), which deals with the Norwegian king’s resistance to the German armed forces in World War II.

Luca Guadagnino will show his French-Italian account of summer love, Call Me by Your Name, featuring Armie Hammer, Timothée Chalamet, Michael Stuhlbarg and Amira Casar, a screen adaptation of André Aciman’s novel of the same name, co-written with James Ivory.

The Belgian-French-Lebanese co-production Insyriated by Philippe Van Leeuw is an intense chamber drama featuring Hiam Abbass as a woman trapped in the family’s apartment while a war rages on outside. Kaygı (Inflame) by Ceylan Özgün Özçelik tells the story of the incremental roll-out of wide-spread censorship of the press in Turkey and its effect on the work of a young female journalist. And finally there is Georgian director Rezo Gigineishvili’s Hostages, in which a longing for freedom and independence escalates into a readiness to use violence for young Soviet citizens during an airplane hijacking set in 1983.

The Panorama Audience Awards for Best Feature Film and Best Documentary will be presented for the 19^th time together with radioeins and for the first time in co-operation with rbb television. In 2016, over 30,000 audience members cast their votes. On the Berlinale Publikumstag, February 19, the winning films will be presented in CinemaxX7 following the awards ceremony.

For the fifth time, the Heiner Carow Prize will be awarded to a documentary, fiction feature or essay film in Panorama in co-operation with the DEFA Foundation for the Promotion of German Film Culture. Following the presentation of the award on February 16 in Kino International, the Heiner Carow film Bis dass der Tod euch scheidet (Until Death Do Us Part, GDR 1979) will be shown.

Panorama main programme and Panorama Special

1945 - Hungary
By Ferenc Török
With Péter Rudolf, Bence Tasnádi, Tamás Szabó Kimmel, Dóra Sztarenki, Eszter Nagy-Kálózy
European premiere

Berlin Syndrome - Australia
By Cate Shortland
With Teresa Palmer, Max Riemelt
European premiere

Bing Lang Xue (The Taste of Betel Nut)– Hong Kong, China
By Hu Jia
With Zhao Bing Rui, Yue Ye, Shen Shi Yu
World premiere

Call Me by Your Name - Italy / France
By Luca Guadagnino
With Armie Hammer, Timothée Chalamet, Michael Stuhlbarg, Amira Casar, Esther Garrel, Victoire Du Bois
European premiere

Ciao Ciao - France / People’s Republic of China
By Song Chuan
With Liang Xueqin, Zhang Yu
World premiere

Como Nossos Pais (Just Like Our Parents) - Brazil
By Laís Bodanzky
With Maria Ribeiro, Clarisse Abujamra, Paulo Vilhena, Felipe Rocha, Jorge Mautner, Herson Capri, Sophia Valverde, Annalara Prates
World premiere

Discreet - USA                       
By Travis Mathews
With Jonny Mars, Atsuko Okatsuko, Joy Cunningham, Bob Swaffar
World premiere

Fluidø - Germany
By Shu Lea Cheang
World premiere

Fra balkongen (From the Balcony) - Norway
By Ole Giaever
World premiere

Ghost in the Mountains– People’s Republic of China
By Yang Heng
With Tang Shenggang, Liang Yu, Shang Meitong, Xiang Peng, Zhang Yun
World premiere

God's Own Country - United Kingdom
By Francis Lee
With Josh O'Connor, Alec Secăreanu, Gemma Jones, Ian Hart
European premiere

Headbang Lullaby - Morocco / France / Qatar / Lebanon
By Hicham Lasri
With Aziz Hattab, Latefa Ahrrare, Zoubir Abou el Fadl, El Jirari Benaissa, Salma Eddlimi, Adil Abatorab
World premiere

Hostages – Russian Federation / Georgia / Poland
By Rezo Gigineishvili
With Merab Ninidze, Darejan Kharshiladze, Tina Dalakishvili, Irakli Kvirikadze
World premiere

Insyriated– Belgium / France / Lebanon
By Philippe Van Leeuw
With Hiam Abbass, Diamand Abou Abboud, Juliette Navis, Mohsen Abbas, Moustapha Al Kar
World premiere

Karera ga Honki de Amu toki wa (Close-Knit) - Japan
By Naoko Ogigami
WithToma Ikuta, Rinka Kakihara, Kenta Kiritani
World premiere

Kaygı (Inflame) - Turkey
By Ceylan Özgün Özçelik
With Algı Eke, Özgür Çevik
World premiere– Debut film

Kongens Nei (The King's Choice) - Norway / Sweden / Denmark / Ireland
By Erik Poppe
With Jesper Christensen, Anders Baasmo Christiansen, Karl Markovics, Tuva Novotny, Katharina Schüttler, Juliane Köhler
European premiere

The Misandrists - Germany
By Bruce LaBruce
With Susanne Sachsse, Kembra Pfahler
World premiere

One Thousand Ropes - New Zealand
By Tusi Tamasese
With Uelese Petaia, Frankie Adams, Væle Sima Urale, Ene Petaia, Beulah Koale, Anapela Polataivao
World premiere

Pieles (Skins)– Spain
By Eduardo Casanova
with Ana Polvorosa, Candela Peña, Carmen Machi, Macarena Gómez, Secun de la Rosa, Jon Kortajarena, Antonio Duran "Morris", Eloi Costa
World premiere - Debut film

Rekvijem za gospodju J. (Requiem for Mrs. J.) - Serbia / Bulgaria / Macedonia / Russian Federation / France
By Bojan Vuletić
With Mirjana Karanović, Jovana Gavrilović, Danica Nedeljković, Vučić Perović
World premiere

Tiger Girl – Germany
By Jakob Lass
With Ella Rumpf, Maria Dragus
World premiere

Vaya - South Africa
By Akin Omotoso
With Mncedisi Shabangu, Zimkhitha Nyoka, Nomonde Mbusi, Sihle Xaba, Warren Masemola,
Zimkhitha Nyoka, Nomonde Mbusi, Azwile Chamane
European premiere

When the Day Had no Name - Macedonia / Belgium / Slovenia
By Teona Mitevska
With Leon Ristov, Hanis Bagashov, Dragan Mishevski, Stefan Kitanovic, Igorco Postolov, Ivan Vrtev Soptrajanov
World premiere

Supporting Film

Vênus - Filó a fadinha lésbica (Venus - Filly the Lesbian Little Fairy) – Brazil
By Sávio Leite

Already Announced Titles

Centaur - Kyrgyzstan / France / Germany / The Netherlands, by Aktan Arym Kubat
Honeygiver Among the Dogs– Bhutan, by Dechen Roder
Pendular - Brazil / Argentinia / France, by Julia Murat
The Wound - South Africa / Germany / The Netherlands / France, by John Trengove
Vazante - Brazil / Portugal, by Daniela Thomas

The industry programme of the 46th edition.

A wide range of interesting panels, discussions, masterclasses and off course many, many (PRO) screenings will make you feel right at home on Planet IFFR.

Check the online line up of films and events at IFFR2017

The 27^th Annual San Diego Jewish Film Festival presented by the San Diego Center for Jewish Culture at the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center, JACOBS FAMILY CAMPUS, will run February 8-19, 2017.  The 12-day Festival is the largest Jewish cultural event in San Diego and draws over 17,000 attendees annually and 97 film screenings. The Festival features San Diego film premieres, international guest artists and filmmakers local and international. Screenings will be shown at 5 locations.

This year the festival will showcase a total of 60 films of the best contemporary Jewish themed films from around the world celebrating life, human rights, and freedom of expression. This year the emphasis is on Our Lives Projected because “we show films that mirror the experience that many in our audience have had themselves or may be hearing about for the first time; it’s also intended to expand the notion of “our lives” to show that we are a diverse and divergent community,” according to Festival Director, Jacqueline Silverman.

 The mission of the Film Festival is to offer outstanding world cinema that promotes awareness, appreciation and pride in the diversity of the Jewish people to attendees of the community at large.  Festival programs aim to educate and illuminate through evocative, independent fiction and documentary films that portray the Jewish experience from current to historic global perspectives.

Highlights for this year's event will include a private advance screening on February 8, 2017 at 7:00 pm for the film festival underwriters to Rosenwald, directed by Aviva Kempner who will be in attendance and receive a SDJFF Outstanding Filmmaking Award at the David & Dorothea Garfield Theatre LFJCC, JACOBS FAMILY CAMPUS. This year’s official opening night on February 9th at the Reading Cinemas Town Square at 7:00 pm will feature a San Diego premiere of On the Map, directed by Dani Menkin  and featuring local celebrity Bill Walton. Mr. Menkin will be in attendance. The official closing night film at the Reading Cinemas Town Square will be Body and Soul: An American Bridge directed by Robert Philipson, which focuses on the early performance history of the jazz standard Body and Soul composed by a Jewish composer Johnny Green and how this song smashed the barriers between African Americans and American Jews. Mr. Philipson will be in attendance.

On February 13, 2017 a collection of international short films in 4 different programs begins at 10:00 am to 10:00 pm and will be screened at the ArcLight La Jolla. Cinemas.

Another highlight on February 15th is the centerpiece film The People vs. Fritz Bauer, directed by Lars Kraume, an historical thriller that dramatizes the obstacles that tenacious state attorney general Bauer faced in prosecuting the architects of Auschwitz. Screening at 8:00 pm at the Reading Cinemas Town Square.

A total collection of 60 films in this year’s film line-up will be screened at the following theaters:

 Reading Cinemas Town Square 14 - 4665 Clairemont Drive, San Diego; ArcLight La Jolla Cinemas  - 4425 La Jolla Village Drive, San Diego (west side of Westfield UTC mall); Carlsbad Village Theatre - 2822 State St., Carlsbad; Edwards San Marcos Stadium 18 - 1180 West San Marcos Blvd, San Marcos (next to Restaurant Row); David and Dorothea Garfield Theatre, LFJCC, JACOBS FAMILY CAMPUS - 4126 Executive Drive, La Jolla.

For tickets or information call 858-362-1348 or visit www.sdjff.org. 

Social media postings are on facebook.com/SDJFF/