Somewhere in Oaxaca, southern Mexico: 16 years old Mateo lives here in a rural community, where the traditional Zapotec culture is still alive. But on the other hand it´s a poor region from where a lot of the young people migrate to the US. Mateo itself prepares his – dangerous – crossing of the border to reach the almost mythical city of Los Angeles. For this reason he joins a local gang, so that he can draw on their support over there. To be accepted into their circles, he has to commit wicked crimes – and the problems start.

That´s the almost predictable beginning of the movie „Los Ángeles“ by US-director Damian John Harper. However, the film offers (surprising) twists and not get lost in the usual display of violence and misery. Although the violence plays an important role, the film provides an intimate insight in everyday life and culture of the Zapotecs; even many dialogues are in Zapotec language. The camera (by Friede Clausz) is always moving and near to the protagonists, creating an documentary-style emotional closeness. The older villagers still hold on to their ancient values, maintaining a natural connection to their roots, each supporting the other in their own way. Mateo is torn between the possibility, to try his luck in Los Angeles and the simple life of his community.

Perhaps even more amazing than the film itself is its genesis: Director Damian John Harper is a trained anthropologist, who lived one year in the village, where the shooting of his first full-length movie took place. The actors are not professionals, but inhabitants of the community. After the screening Harper tells, that he had many nightmares about the question, if he as a foreigner was allowed to make a movie about the Zapotecs. But as we can say: It has been a good decision and Harper succeed presenting a cliché-free film about the Zapotecs between tradition and modernity.

And contrary to what one might have suspected the movie has not been co-produced by Mexico, but alone by Germany, where Harper studied film at the University of Television ans Film in Munich. But as Harper points out: Mexicans and Zapotecs have had great importance in the production, even though there has been no money from Mexico.

Golden Bear for Best Film : Bai Ri Yan Huo (Black Coal, Thin Ice) by Diao Yinan

OPORTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL FANTASPORTO 2014  Oporto Film Festival promotes films that seek new forms and methods of film making. 

34th edition of the Festival to be celebrated from February 28 to March 8, 2014.

Fantasporto and Porto Pictures Gallery and  the recent ones here

11 world and european openings from all over the world…33 country´s, 200 films

FANTASPORTO 2014 PRESENTS THE MOST RECENT FANTASY FILMS IN OPORTO, THE “BEST TOURISTIC DESTINATION OF 2014”

Going now to its 34th edition, the Oporto International Film Festival- Fantasporto is a film forum of the arts, with nearly 200 films, book presentations and art and photography exhibitions at the main theatre. It begins on the 28th February till the 9th March, introducing this year two new sections and screening many World and European Premières which will spice up the original competitions, Fantasy Films, Directors Week (general films), Orient Express (Asian Films) and Portuguese Cinema.

With lots of directors, producers, actors, guests and a very special atmosphere, Fantasporto is indeed a treat with 33 participating countries. The first new section is Fantas Classics, to present the remastered versions of film classics such as “The Wizard of Oz” and “Gone with the Wind” which are the highlights in this edition.

The second new section is called Industry Screenings, a chance for producers and sales agents to screen whatever films they want. The beginning of a new specialized Fantasy Film Market? Portuguese Cinema is also paying homage to producer Henrique Espírito Santo.

With a welcoming team and fine weather, we hope, come to Fantasporto, one of the leading film festivals of the world, happening in a city that was consider again for 2014, as the Best European Touristic Destination and is a Unesco World Heritage Site.

www.fantasporto.com

FANTASPORTO is in the FACEBOOK with more than 73.000 fans

February 15th

SEITE 49/50

 

The festival

photographers 2014 are: Ali Ghandtschi, Richard Hübner, Andreas Teich, Alexander Janetzko and Sandra Weller for the Competition films, the special events and receptions and theBerlinale Special events, Dirk-Michael Deckbar in the Berlinale VIP Club, the BMW Golden Bear Lounge and the Partner Lounge, Peter Kreibich for “Berlinale Goes Kiez”, Brigitte Dummer and Gundula Krüger in the Panorama, Daniel Seiffert in the Perspektive Deutsches Kino, Max Kullmann forGeneration, Peter Himsel, Lydia Hesse, David Ausserhofer, Bettina Ausserhofer and Chiara Ferrau forBerlinale Talents, Dario Lehner and Marian Stefanowski in the Forum, Kay Strasser in the Forum Expanded, Sandra Weller for the Retrospective and the Homage, Juliane Eirich in the Berlinale Co-Production Market, Oliver Möst for the European Film Market, Jan Windszus for the sponsorship department, Heinrich Völkel for the Berlinale Shorts, Piero Chiussi for the Culinary Cinema as well as Trevor Good for the special series “NATIVe – A Journey into Indigenous Cinema.”

About a month after the festival, selected photos will be stored in the online archive, where they will keep alive the memory of the most exciting moments, the stars and personalities that marked the year's Berlinale.

Journalists and community members are invited to attend the 14th Annual ReelWorld Film Festival press conference on Wednesday, March 5, 2014 at Famous Players Canada Square Cinemas. The full slate of dramas, documentaries, shorts, music videos and professional development activities will be announced.

Actress and Founder Tonya Williams along with ReelWorld programmers, filmmakers, and artists are expected to be in attendance. Many will be available for interviews directly following the sneak peek of this year’s films. Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti has confirmed his attendance.

14th Annual ReelWorld Film Festival Official Press Conference

Where:              Famous Players Canada Square Cinemas
                         2190 Yonge Street, Toronto, Ontario            

                        (Corner Eglinton Avenue and Yonge Street)

When:               Wednesday, March 5, 2014

                         10:00 am – Sign in, Brunch served

                                                      10:30 am – Conference begins                            

A second event on Thursday, March 6, 2014 will be held at the Cornell Community Centre.  Media are invited to attend this event, which will focus on the inaugural festival in Markham. Mayor Scarpitti is expected to attend.

The ReelWorld Film Festival screens dramas, documentaries, shorts and music videos by emerging and establishing artists who view the world from a variety of perspectives. Founded in 2001 by Actress Tonya Williams, ReelWorld has become a game-changer in the industry, helping racially diverse talent find their niche and exercise their entrepreneurial spirit.  In addition to slating films that answer audience demands to include more than 50% Canadian content , the ReelWorld Film Festival is among the leaders in offering professional development activities for talent who are focussed on lifelong Arts careers. Key sponsors include: TD Bank Group, Telefilm  Canada, NBCUniversal Canada, Global Toronto, , Wired Messenger Inc., Pierre Laurent, DJ Woods and Cineplex Entertainment LP. .Early bird festival passes on sale now at www.reelworld.ca.  The ReelWorld Film Festival runs from April 2 to 6, 2014 in Toronto and April 11 to 13, 2014 in Markham.

For the fourth yearin a row, the City of The Hague embraces the Arab Women’sFilm Festival, starting on Friday7March2014for the duration of three days. The film festival will take place at FilmhuisDenHaag and The American Book Center, and this year’s programme will include 14 films andthe presence of14guests: filmmakers, journalists andcritics from abroad. 

The activities of the fourth edition under the theme of ‘change makers’ will begin on Friday 7March at the American Book Center with the photo exhibitionAna Ana by Egyptian photographer Wafaa Samir, the leading character of AWFF’s opening film by the same name.

Later in the evening, the opening ceremony will take place at FilmhuisDenHaag, starting with a musical performance by two outstanding Moroccan-Dutch musicians: singer Samira Dainan and guitar player Hafez Ismaili M'hamdi. The pre-premiere of the Dutch-Egyptian opening film Ana Ana will follow afterwards. This unique documentarywasreceived very well by a range of film critics and was nominated for Best Dutch Documentary at the IDFA 2013 in Amsterdam. The story isabout the inner world of four young creative Egyptian women and theeffect of the Egyptian revolution on them, followed by a Q&A with the award-winning film directors Corinne van Egeraat, Petr Lom and the leading character Wafaa Samir. The short fiction filmHaleema by German director Boris Schaarschmidt will be screened as well.

Later on the evening, the Dutch premiere of the Belgian-Moroccanfeature film Le sac de farine by Moroccan director Kadija Leclere will follow. Based on the true life of the director, the film traces the story of an eight-year-old Moroccan girl who lives in Belgium in the 1970s till her teenage years in a poverty-stricken village in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, where she is taken to by her biological father. Silk, an American short fiction film by director Catherine Dent will be screened as part of the same programme. Furthermore, during the opening evening there will be a stand by the American Book Center with a specially selected collection of book and magazines related to the Arab countries and culture.

On the second day, Saturday8 March,the acting workshop Crash Course in Acting Basics! will be given to beginning actors and actresses between the ages of 15 and30 years by the award-winning Syrian actress, film director and producer Nadia Hamzeh. 

The screening of feature-length documentary Rafea: Solar Mama will follow, directed by Mona Eldaief and Oscar-nominee Jehane Noujaim. It is about a strong-minded Bedouin woman that struggles against tradition and society as she seeks to become Jordan's first solar engineer. The documentary will be preceded by the screening of the European premiere of the Jordanian short fiction film Horizon, written and directed by Zain Duraie and the Egyptian short documentary Life by Her Hand directed by Sally Abu Basha. The screenings will be followed by a Q&A with Horizon’s film director Zain Duraie. 

In the evening, the European premiere of the Lebanese feature film Void will take place, a story aboutsix Lebanese women of different ages, who await the return of their sons, brothers, husbands or lovers, who have been missing since the Civil War. The film will be preceded by the short fiction filmSanctity by Saudi director Ahd. A Q&A with one of Void’s directors Tarek Korkomaz and producers Sam Lahoud and Nicolas Khabbaz will follow at the end of the screenings.

On Sunday9 March,the third and last day ofthe fourth edition, will kick off with the retrospective programme The Palestinian woman within the film industry between then and now: What has changed? The famous and award-winning Palestinian directorandactressNisreenFaour will introduce the programme by giving a lecture. The screenings of feature films Amreeka by Palestinian filmmaker Cherien Dabis, Miral by American filmmaker JulianSchnabel and the short documentary This is the Law! by Palestinian film director Fadya Salah Al-Deenwill follow after the lecture.

During the closing evening of AWFF, the feature filmBehind Closed Doors by Moroccan director Mohammed Ahed Bensouda will be screened for the first time in the Netherlands. The story follows a woman who is a victim of sexual harassment at her place of work. She is happy in her marriage and has a stable job, till the moment that the company where she works appoints a new manager and where she starts to face many obstacles that encounter her life. Scrap, a short fiction film by Saudi director Bader Alhomoud, will be part of the closing programme as well. Both screenings will be followed by a Q&A with the directors of Behind Closed Doors and Scrap.

Filmfestivals.com publishes The Berlinale Dailies and blasts them to Berlinale attendees.

More will follow with many video interviews shot in Berlin.                      

BERLIN COVERAGE I BERLIN PHOTOS I PHOTOS VIDEOS

__________________________________________ ______________________

> THE BERLIN COVERAGE

PREVIEW BERLINALE NEWSLETTER N°1

OPENING BERLINALE NEWSLETTER  N°2

MID BERLINALE NEWSLETTER N°3

Eye on Films Founder Loic Magneron introduces the EOF project from Berlin

Loic Magneron, relaxed, after his formal Eye on Films formal presentation on screen at MBG Restaurant.   A NEW BUSINESS MODEL FOR THE PROMOTION, CIRCULATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF FIRST FEATURE FILMS Eye on Films is a unique, global network of film professionals, which guarantees the circulation of a selection of first feature films in festivals partners in Europe and third countries, and the commercial exploitation of these films by distribution partners in Europe and third countrie...

 

Meet Gina Dellabarca Festival Director Show Me Shorts

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FIPRESCI Prize has been presented to a film each in the international competition and in the Panorama and the Forum sections.

At the 64th Berlin International Film Festival (Germany, Berlinale, February 6-16, 2014) the FIPRESCI Prize has been presented to a film each in the international competition and in the Panorama and the Forum sections.   Prize, competition: "Life of Riley" (Aimer, boire et chanter) by Alain Resnais (France, 2013).   Prize, Panorama: "The Way He Looks" (Hoje eu quero voltar sozinho) by Daniel Ribeiro (Brazil, 2014).   Prize, Forum: "Forma...

 

Berlin 2014 OFAJ en conversation avec filmfestivals.com - Interview with Participants of the French German Youth Exchange

Les membres du jury 2014 : Lucie Brux, 26 ans, F-75013 Paris Mathilde Saraux, 23 ans, F-29290 Saint-Renan (Brest) Clément Konopnicki, 23 ans, F-34200 Sète Manon Cavagna, 20 ans, D-61191 Rosbach vor der Höhe (Frankfurt) Rebecca Raab, 25 ans, D-76316 Malsh (Karlsruhe) Tom Ullrich, 25 ans, D-4779 Wermsdorf (Weimar) Itamar Gov, 24 ans, Jérusalem     Conversation with the participants of L'OFAJ A...

 

 

Berlinale 2014 – Prix OFAJ - Dialogue en perspective Video ambiance

The Awards ceremony © bc Constitué de trois Français, trois Allemands et un Israélien, âgés de 20 à 26 ans, et présidé par le réalisateur français Denis Dercourt, le jury a visionné les 14 films de la section Perspective Deutsches Kino mettant en avant les premières œuvres de jeunes réalisateurs allemands. Il a choisi de récompenser Anderswo de Ester...

 

Captures from the Red Carpet Day 10 Closing Ceremony

February 15th SEITE 49/50 ...

 

Key Words on Cinema by the jury of OFAJ Prix Dialogue en Perspective

After a short introduction on the mission at Berlinale by Jury President Deni Dercourt, each member of the jury had to give FILMFESTIVALS.COM one word, their favorite word to describe cinema... Their (dialog in perspective) output was right on target: Cinema is.. a fascinating experience where laugthers, passion, motions, images and creativity....wawwwwwwww are the key words. OFAJ is an international organisation created in 1963 to serve...

 

Interview with Denis Dercourt President of Jury OFAJ Dialogues en Perspective - Perspecktiv Deutsches Kino

Dennis Dercourt OFAJ (Office Franco Allemand pour la Jeunesse)is an international organisation created in 1963 to serve cooperation between France and Germany. Since 2004, OFAJ gathers a jury, young french and german film fans, to deliver the Ofaj Award Perspektive Deutsches Kino at the Berlinale. The Website for OFAJ ...

 

Blind by Eskil Vogt has won the EUROPA CINEMAS LABEL

After winning the screenwriting award at Sundance, Blind by Eskil Vogt has won the EUROPA CINEMAS LABEL as best European film at the Berlin Film Festival’s Panorama section! Norway | 2014 | Drama | Norwegian Having recently lost her sight, Ingrid retreats to the safety of her home. Her deepest fears and repressed fantasies soon take over. Eskil Vogt  Cast: Ellen Dorrit Petersen Henrik Rafaelsen Vera Vitali Marius Kollbenstvedt Production: Motlys Lemming Film &...

 

10 Prizes for German Films at Berlinale 2014

64th Berlin International Film Festival (6 - 16 February 2014)   It was a successful 64th Berlinale for German films. German cinema already had a high profile in this year's Competition with four titles, and it also featured prominently among the prize-winners: a total of ten awards went to German films and co-productions at the weekend. Anna and Dietrich Brüggemann received the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay for STATIONS OF THE CROSS (KREUZWEG, UFA Fiction, cine plus F...

 

Kreuzweg - Stations of the Cross by Dietrich Brüggemann press conference highlights

Press Conference Highlights "Kreuzweg" / "Stations of the Cross" by Dietrich Brüggemann Dietrich Brüggemann (Director) Lea van Acken (Actress) Franziska Weisz (Actress) Florian Stetter (Actor)   ...

 

Nymphomaniac Press Conference Highlights

The cast talks of the challenge of the sex scenes and more Press Conference Highlights "Nymphomaniac" by Lars von Trier (DK/ D / F/ Belgien/ Sweden) Uma Thurman (Actress) Stacy Martin (Actress) Stellan Skarsgård (Actor) Christian Slater (Actor) Shia LaBeouf (Actor) Louise Vesth (Producer)   ...

 

Canadians Talk Shop at the Canada Stand!

Dan Shannon of ID Communications and Laurie Gordon of Musivision Films meet at the Telefilm Canada Stand. Dan Shannon is a regular guest panelist at the Berlinale's Meet the Docs  "Meet the Distributors." conference.  Musivision is busy developing a slate of films including documentary films on Animation Masters including Meet Gerry about Gerald Potterton animator of Heavy Metal and Yellow Submarine. Musivision is also in pre-pro...

 

The Complete list of Berlinale Awards

PRIZES OF THE INTERNATIONAL JURY    GOLDEN BEAR FOR BEST FILM (awarded to the film’s producer)    Bai Ri Yan Huo    Black Coal, Thin Ice    by Diao Yinan        SILVER BEAR GRAND JURY PRIZE    The Grand Budapest Hotel    The Grand Budapest Hotel    by Wes Anderson         SILVER BEA...

 

Berlinale 2014: Crystal Bears and Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk Prizes in Generation Kplus

 

The members of the Children’s Jury Generation Kplus   Charlotte Dammasch Lara Kläffling Fabian Krüger Fiona Lukas Daria Rabes Zoe Rentmeister Lilly Rinklebe Quinten Samrotzki Jan-Hendrik Schmahl Cosmo Schüppel Janek Sommerfeldt   give the following awards:   Crystal Bear for the Best Film: Killa by Avinash Arun, India 2014 This film convinced us in all respects: with his good camera work and the great actors, but also because of its incredib...

 

Crystal Bears and the Awards by the Federal Agency for Civic Education in Generation 14plus

 

Berlinale 2014: Crystal Bears and the Awards by the Federal Agency for Civic Education (Bundeszentrale für Politische Bildung) in Generation 14plus   The members of the Youth Jury in Generation 14plus   Simon Kalmbach Luca Kokol Karla Laitko Leonie Mo Munder Paula Noack Nicola Scholz Florian Stündel   give the following awards:   Crystal Bear for the Best Film: 52 Tuesdays by Sophie Hyde, Australia 2013 The situation is exceptional but familiar. This...

 

Press Conference Highlights "Boyhood" by Richard Linklater (USA) Silver Bear for Best Director.

Boyhood is 2014 American film written and directed by Richard Linklater and starring Ethan Hawke, Patricia Arquette and Ellar Coltrane. The film was shot intermittently over a twelve year period. Filming began in the summer of 2002 in Houston, Texas and completed in October of 2013. The film premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, with a theatrical release set for later in 2014. The film also competed in the main competition section ...

 

The Golden Bear for Best Film Goes to "Bai Ri Yan Huo" (Black Coal, Thin Ice) by Diao Yinan

The International Jury awarded the Golden Bear for Best Film to "Bai Ri Yan Huo" (Black Coal, Thin Ice) by Diao Yinan   The Trailer ...

 

View the highlights of the Award Ceremony and closing of the 64th Berlinale.

Golden Bear for Best Film : Bai Ri Yan Huo (Black Coal, Thin Ice) by Diao Yinan ...

 

Berlinale 2014 the Jury Prizes

The members of the 2014 International Jury, James Schamus (President), Barbara Broccoli, Trine Dyrholm, Mitra Farahani, Greta Gerwig, Michel Gondry and Christoph Waltz, award the following prizes: Golden Bear for Best Film Diao Yinan Bai Ri Yan Huo  (Black Coal, Thin Ice) by Diao Yinan Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize © 2013 Twentieth Century Fox The Grand Budapest Hotel by Wes Anderson ...

 

The Awards of The 64th Berlinale, Ambiance and Pictures

 

Captures from the Red Carpet Day 9

 

BERLIN FEBRUARY 14, 2014...Ambiance Scorcese... ...

 

Berlinale 2014: Record Attendance and a Splendid Close

 

Over the past ten days, the Berlinale has presented cinema’s creative power and diversity, as well as welcomed guests and the public to many discussions and talks about “the seventh art”. With 330,000 tickets sold, attendance set a new record in the history of the Festival.   Today, on Saturday 15, 2014, the 64th Berlin International Film Festival is drawing to a splendid close with the Award Ceremony. At 7.00 pm, the winners of the Golden Bear and Silver Bears, the Bear...

 

Perspektive Deutsches Kino: Ester Amrami’s Anderswo (Anywhere Else) Wins “FGYO-Award Dialogue en perspective”

Ester and the Jury after the Awards Ceremony   Today, on Saturday February 15, at the award ceremony of the independent juries, the young French-German-Israeli jury will present the “FGYO-Award Dialogue en perspective”. This year it goes to Ester Amrami’s film Anderswo (Anywhere Else). The prize was initiated by the French-German Youth Office (FGYO), an official partner of the Berlinale, and the Berlin International Film Festival in 2004, and is endowed for the second ...

 

Berlinale 2014: Panorama Audience Awards for Difret and Der Kreis

The public has cast its votes: the 16th Panorama Audience Awards - presented by the Berlinale’s Panorama section in collaboration with radioeins of Berlin-Brandenburg’s public radio and television station rbb, and tip Berlin, Berlin’s city magazine - go to Difret for best fiction film and Der Kreis (The Circle) for best documentary. The official award ceremony will be held on Berlinale Kinotag, the special day of screenings for the public: Sunday, February 16 at 5.00 pm in...

 

"Beauty and the Beast" is more Beastly than Beautiful on Valentines Day in Berlin

  Alex Farba-Deleon  <filmfestivals.com>   It's a sunny Valentines Day in Berlin, Day number 9, as the festival goes into wind down mode. Two quick obituarial notes; the passing of two show business legends this week: Sid Caesar, 92, the great comedian of the early b/w television days and Shirley Temple, 85, child star of the thirties who was the highest paid actress in Hollywood in 1937 the age of nine! Shirley Temple at the height of her career --...

 

Berlinale 2014: Crystal Bears and the Awards by the Federal Agency for Civic Education (Bundeszentrale für Politische Bildung) i

Berlinale 2014: Crystal Bears and the Awards by the Federal Agency for Civic Education (Bundeszentrale für Politische Bildung) in Generation 14plus   The members of the Youth Jury in Generation 14plus   Simon Kalmbach Luca Kokol Karla Laitko Leonie Mo Munder Paula Noack Nicola Scholz Florian Stündel   give the following awards:   Crystal Bear for the Best Film: 52 Tuesdays by Sophie Hyde, Australia 2013 The situation is exceptional but familiar. Th...

 

28. TEDDY AWARDS 2014 – The Winners

The awards were given yesterday at the Comic Opera (for the first time) February 14, 2014 The nine members of the international jury – programmers of queer film festivals and programmes – view films of queer interest within the framework of all sections of the Berlinale. Three films are nominated for each of the categories: best feature film, best documentary/essay film and the best short film. The jury presents furthermore it’s Special Jury Award. Members of the Jury: ...

 

 

Join us or watch the 28th TEDDY AWARD Ceremony on ARTE TV and ARTE+7

if you cannot be with us tonight, Feb 14 at the Komische Oper Berlin watch the 28th TEDDY AWARD Ceremony on ARTE TV and ARTE+7. . . 28. TEDDY AWARD - TAG 9 28. TEDDY AWARD - TAG 8 28. TEDDY AWARD - TAG 7 28. TEDDY AWARD - TAG 6 28. TEDDY AWARD - TAG 5   ...

 

 

Berlinale Talents 2014: The Art of Telling Stories Differently

 

Guided by the theme "Ready to Play? Breaking the rules", Berlinale Talents took place for the twelfth time from February 8 to 13, with 300 selected Talents and 150 experts, at the HAU Hebbel am Ufer in Berlin.   Berlinale Talents 2014 focused on the art of storytelling and finding innovative, playful approaches to content. Prominent screenwriters and directors like Michel Gondry (The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), James Schamus (Lust and Caution), Greta Gerwig (Frances ...

More blog entries

___________________________________________________________________________

> PRIX DIALOGUE EN PERSPECTIVE 2014 OFAJ - DFJW

 

Rencontre avec Béatrice Angrand la Secrétaire Générale de l OFAJ

 

Filmfestivals.com a rencontré Béatrice Angrand Secrétaire Générale de  l'OFAJ à l occasion du voyage de presse à la découverte du Prix Dialogue en perspective 2014 OFAJ - DFJW   Qu’est-ce que l’OFAJ ? L’Office franco-allemand pour la Jeunesse (OFAJ) est une organisation internationale au service de la coopération franco-allemande i...

Déjeuner avec le Jury - OFAJ Dialogue en Perspective

Président du Jury, Denis Dercourt, France L’auteur et réalisateur Denis Decourt a touché un public international en 2006 avec son Thriller La tourneuse de pages dans la sélection « Un certain regard » du festival de Cannes. Son premier film réalisé en Allemagne Zum Geburstag (Pour ton anniversaire), avec Marie Bäumer et Mark Waschke dans les rôles principaux, montre l’intérêt ...

 

Panel Théâtre et Cinéma : Où mènent les désirs ? Le jeu d'Acteur en France et en Allemagne: Morceaux choisis de la table ronde

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Remise du prix indépendant « Prix OFAJ Dialogue en perspective »

64ème Festival International du Film de Berlin (6-16 février 2014) Perspektive Deutsches Kino: Anderswo de Ester Amrami reçoit le « Prix OFAJ Dialogue en perspective »   © bc   À l’issue de la 64ème édition du Festival International du Film de Berlin, le prix indépendant « Prix OFAJ Dialogue en perspective » a été remis samedi 15 février par un jeune jur...

 

Pourquoi avoir choisi Hannah Arendt pour la sélection des membres du jury du Prix OFAJ Dialogue en Perspective

Les jeunes candidats au jury à la Berlinale de Perspetkiv des Deutsches Kino on du rédiger une critique du film Hannah Arend. Laurie Gordon (filmfestivals.com ) avait une raison toute spéciale d'être très touchée par ce choix qui met en scène son père au procès d'Eichmann.   ...

 

TRAVELLING FILM FESTIVAL BRINGS THE BEST IN WORLD CINEMA TO DUBBO

Festival to run at Reading Cinemas from March 21-23, 2014

From tales of ghosts, war and honour to critically acclaimed features about love, family and terrorism – Dubbo film-buffs will be able to watch the latest and greatest in world cinema when the Travelling Film Festival hits Reading Cinemas from Friday March 21 to Sunday March 23, 2014.

Tickets to Australia’s longest-running travelling film festival are on sale now, with this year’s program promising to take local audiences on a journey across cultures, continents and communities. The Festival will showcase an eclectic selection of six features and three short films from Australia, Italy, France, Chile, Spain, Germany, United States and the United Kingdom.

Many of the titles will arrive in Dubbo on the back of acclaimed runs on the international film festival circuit and sell-out screenings across the Northern Territory.

The Festival will kick off on March 21 with THE DARKSIDE, a documentary that brings true Australian ghost stories to life with the help of some of the nation’s most iconic acting talent including Deborah Mailman, Claudia Karvan and Aaron Pedersen.

The film, directed by Australian filmmaker Warwick Thornton (Samson and Delilah), made its international premiere this week at The Berlin International Film Festival and presents a collection of moving and bizarre first-hand accounts from regular people who have had weird experiences and unexplainable experiences with the unknown.

Also screening will be the Golden Globe and BAFTA-winning drama THE GREAT BEAUTY, directed acclaimed Italian filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino (Il Divo). The film has been nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at this year’s Academy Awards and tells the story of Jep, a charismatic 65-year-old journalist-bachelor who reflects on life and love as he explores Rome’s people, ruins and city streets.

The Festival will round out on March 23 with French drama THE PAST, directed by award-winning Iranian director Asghar Farhardi. The film was nominated for the Palme d’Or at Cannes International Film Festival and centres on an Iranian man who faces the prospect of divorce after leaving his French wife and two children to return to his homeland.

Other Festival highlights include the latest drama-epic from Kurdish Cinema legend Hiner Saleem MY SWEET PEPPER LAND; crime-thriller and Eric Bana starrer CLOSED CIRCUIT; and award-winning Chilean-Spanish comedy-drama GLORIA, which tracks a lonely 58-year-old's search for love in ballrooms for older singles.

What: Travelling Film Festival 
When: March 21-23, 2014

Full program details and ticketing information can be found at: http://www.sff.org.au/public/travelling-film-festival/tff-locations/dubbo/

The Druid Underground Film Festival plunges through the US to deliver a white-knuckle hell-ride of avant-weird films from around the world! Chock-full of hybrid moments which recklessly skate through Experimental, Comedy and Horror, this year's program is DUFF’s most absurd and inspiring to date! 

After a night of bizarre films and free raffle prizes, find out why Flavorpill says DUFF doesn't so much "defy convention as mow it down, douse it in kerosene, and flick a Zippo at it!"

I LOVE The Druid Underground Film Festival from Druid Underground Film Festival on Vimeo.

RSVP
Humboldt County, CA, March 13th

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San Francisco, CA March 14th

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Los Angeles, CA March 22nd

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New York, NY April 21st-22nd           

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NY Best of the Fest DVD Release Party and Screening:

www.facebook.com/events/1392891827640209

For Updates and to Submit your Film:

www.druidundergroundfilmfestival.com

ITFS – First Programme Highlights 

This April, Stuttgart is again the centre of the animation world! The 21st International Festival of Animated Film (ITFS) and the FMX 2014, Conference on Animation, Effects, Games and Transmedia, present all cultural, economic and academic aspects of animation. In addition, the ITFS and FMX host the Animation Production Day, which unites as business platform the international animation industry. Visitors will benefit from the partnership and the temporal and spatial parallelism of the three events.

The ITFS together with the FMX and the APD is one of the world's largest and most important events for animated film. From April 22 to 27, 2014, animated film fans and industry members from around the world can watch over 1,000 of the best and latest animated films that represent the full range of genre, including numerous German and world premieres. In the International Competition the ITFS will show the Oscar-nominated short film "Mr. Hublot" by Laurent Witz and Alexandre Espigare as well as productions from Germany, Israel, France, China, South Africa, Japan, Canada, Iran and many other countries. The region of Stuttgart is well represented, among others, with the two productions of Film Academy Ludwigsburg, "Harald" by Moritz Schneider and "Contrast" by Carmen Büchner.

Next to the competitions with the latest international films, the framework programme offers exciting highlights. Studio presentations feature masters and milestones in the field of animation: Constantin Film with the 3D movie „Tarzan“ (the biggest European motion capture project), Laika („Coraline“ „ParaNorman“) with „The Boxtrolls“ and Studio 100 announced their attendance. The Danish “grandmaster of animation“ Jannik Hastrup presents the animation studio Tegnefilm. Producer Peter Rommel (e. g. “Wetlands”, “Summer in Berlin”) and Oscar winner Chris Landreth (“The End”, “Ryan”) are also expected to come.

Exclusive Workshops, with national and international renowned animation filmmakers and authors, impart expert knowledge. Expected to attend are, among others, the industry giants Max Howard (former president of Warner Bros. Feature Animation and vice president of Walt Disney Feature Animation) and Emmy winner Eric Shaw, who will both be part of this year’s jury.

Further topics of the festival are World War I, which marks its 100th anniversary this year, the 1970s cult series "Barbapapa", and international trends and developments of the animated film, which will be addressed in several programme items. From this year’s guest country, Israel, the filmmaker Tsvika Oren presents the highlights of the Israeli short film production, Vibeke Sorensen from the Nanyang University Singapore curates three programmes of "abstract experimental animation", and there will be the Animation Co-production Forum for new projects from the Arab world.

Under the Slogan „Let’s play!“ the ITFS 2014 will significantly expand its Gamezone, with numerous workshops and presentations in the area of games, transmedia and digital content. Additionally there are plenty of possibilities to play games at several locations in Stuttgart like the Schlossplatz or the youth centre Jugendhaus Mitte.

Another highlight of this year’s ITFS programme is the presentation of the German Voice Actor Award which takes place for the first time in co-operation with Renitenztheater, Stuttgarts oldest cabaret theatre, in a special gala. On the shortlist are famous German actors like Ilja Richter, Anna Thalbach, Til Schweiger, also Hannah Herzsprung, Marie Bäumer and Detlev Buck.

Important industry prizes are the Animated Com Award (with partners like ADC Deutschland and Daimler AG), which is given for outstanding work in the areas of advertising, spatial communication, and technology as well as the German Screenplay Award, which aims to promote talented German authors and seeks to contribute to an improving quality of the contents of animated films. The award shows take place in the framework of glamorous galas in the Mercedes-Benz Museum or Neues Schloss. www.itfs.de 

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Just a few steps away from the ITFS, the FMX 2014,Conference on Animation, Effects, Games and Transmedia (22 to 25 April, 2014), takes place with the theme "A Realtime Experience". While the ITFS is primarily intended as a festival for an interested audience, the FMX as Europe's most influential conference addresses the makers of the digital entertainment industry. Thus, international experts from the fields of art, technology, and business come together at the FMX this year to discuss topical issues such as realtime, disruption, gamification and industry aspects ranging from production to distribution and financing. In addition to the conference programme, the FMX Forum offers many possibilities of interaction, for example on the Market Place, where international software and hardware companies present research projects from academia and industry as well as interactive installations. In addition, the Recruiting Hub offers digital-production houses the opportunity for talent scouting, and the School Campus introduces 21 international film and media schools and their best projects. www.fmx.de

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The Animation Production Day (APD), an event within the framework of the FMX 2014 and ITFS 2014, will be held on April 24 and 25, 2014. As business platform for the international animation industry the APD gives international production companies the opportunity to present projects in the fields of animation and digital content, in exclusive 30-minute one-to-one meetings, to potential co-producers, publishers, sales agents, broadcasters, banks and investors. The aim of the event is to bring together the right partners for each project, to find new ways of financing, product strategies and recovery options. The programme is complemented by the APD conference track, where top-level speakers share their strategies and visions for the future of the animation industry. www.animationproductionday.de
 
Trailer ITFS 2014

More Plot-O-Mat adventures, featuring a piano and an anvil, can be seen in the second official Trailer of the ITFS.
 

 

The Stuttgart Festival of Animated Film (ITFS), April 22 – 27, 2014, was founded in 1982 and is one of the largest and most important festivals for animated film worldwide. Prize money of 70,000 Euros is awarded in nine competition categories. The Stuttgart Festival of Animated Film works in close co-operation with the FMX, Europe’s biggest Conference on Animation, Effects, Games and Transmedia, attracting industry professionals. Together with the FMX the ITFS holds the business platform Animation Production Day.

The 18th edition of the Human Rights Watch Film Festival in London will be presented from 18 to 28 March, 2014 with a programme of 20 award-winning documentary and feature films. The festival will take place at the Curzon Mayfair, Curzon Soho, Ritzy Brixton and for the first time at the Barbican.

This year’s programme includes ten UK premieres and three exclusive previews organised around five themes: Armed Conflict and the Arab Spring; Human Rights Defenders, Icons and Villains; Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Rights; Migrants’ Rights and Women’s Rights and Children’s Rights.

“This year’s programme demonstrates the risks filmmakers take to capture the stories behind the headlines, and our centrepiece film, the E-Team, reveals the tenacity and heroic efforts of human rights activists to bring war crimes to the world’s attention,” said John Biaggi, Human Rights Watch festival director. “We look forward as ever to welcoming many filmmakers and film subjects to festival screenings, which will give audiences insight and understanding into some of the most complex situations in the world today”.

On 18 March at the Curzon Mayfair, a fundraising benefit film and reception for Human Rights Watch will feature a screening of Jehane Noujaim’s Academy Award® nominated The Square followed by discussion with special guests moderated by David Mepham, UK director at Human Rights Watch.
 

The Opening Night event on 20 March at the Curzon Soho will be the UK premiere of Dangerous Acts Starring the Unstable Elements of Belarus attended by the director Madeleine Sackler, the director. The Belarus Free Theatre is an acclaimed troupe that defies Europe’s last remaining dictatorship. With smuggled footage and uncensored interviews, Sackler’s film conveys not only the group’s great emotional, financial, and artistic risks but also their risk of censorship, imprisonment, and exile.

The festival will close on 28 March at the Ritzy with the UK premiere of Return to Homs, winner of the World Cinema Jury Prize, Documentary, Sundance Film Festival 2014. Tamara Alrifai, Middle East/North Africa advocacy and communications director at Human Rights Watch, will discuss the film with a special guest.

Between August 2011 and August 2013 Derki filmed a group of young revolutionaries in the western Syrian city of Homs who fight for justice through peaceful demonstrations. As the army acts ever more brutally and their city transforms into a ghost town, the young men begin to take up arms. The close-up camerawork takes the viewer right into the city, and scenes of grim battles in a deserted city soon replace those of lively protest parties in the streets.

This year’s programme features a centrepiece event: a special preview of Ross Kauffman and Katy Chevigny’s E-Team, winner of the Excellence in Cinematography Award, Documentary, Sundance Film Festival 2014. When atrocities are committed in countries held hostage by ruthless dictators, Human Rights Watch sends in the E-Team (Emergencies Team), a collection of fiercely intelligent individuals who document war crimes and report them to the world.

Kauffman and Chevigny take viewers to the front lines in Syria and Libya, where shrapnel, bullet holes, and unmarked graves provide mounting evidence of atrocities by government forces. The crimes are rampant, random, and often unreported—making the E-Team’s effort to get information out of the country and into the hands of media outlets, policymakers, and international tribunals even more necessary.  Ross Kauffman, Katy Chevigny and the film’s subjects will attend the festival screenings.

The festival will also feature Abounaddara Collective Shorts From Syria followed by a panel discussion.  Abounaddara is a collective of filmmakers working towards providing an alternative image of Syrian society. Since April 2011, the collective has produced one short film every week, using a very particular cinematographic language – a sort of ‘emergency cinema’. Working in a state of emergency, the collective’s members are subject to certain constraints: difficult access to film sites, the need to protect the safety of those filmed, even the state of the internet connection. The event will include screenings of five Abounaddara Collective shorts and a discussion about ‘emergency cinema’ in the context of Syria and other countries in the region.

Panelists include:  Tamara Alrifai of Human Rights Watch; Rachel Beth Anderson, filmmaker of First to Fall; and Charif Kiwan, spokesperson for the Abounaddara Collective

Other titles within Armed Conflict and the Arab Spring include Rachel Beth Anderson & Tim Grucza’s First to Fall, a story of friendship, sacrifice, and the madness of war. Hamid and Tarek leave their lives as students in Canada and travel to Libya, their homeland, to join the fight to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi although neither of them has ever picked up a weapon. A second-hand video camera becomes Hamid’s ticket to the front, where he documents battles to liberate the city of Misrata. He eventually earns a gun and becomes a fully-fledged soldier with an AK-47 in one hand and his video camera in the other. Meanwhile Tarek joins a training camp and eventually a katiba  — a freedom fighter battalion — in Misrata. In a battle to liberate Zawya, his hometown, Tarek’s life will change forever.  Rachel Beth Anderson & Tim Grucaz will attend festival screenings.
 

Sara Ishaq, filmmaker of The Mulberry House, (UK premiere) is Yemeni-Scottish. In 2011, after 10 years away, she travels back to Yemen and takes her camera along. She hopes to feel at home in the place that was once so close to her heart, but the complications soon become clear. Outside the gates of her family home, people are protesting President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s authoritarian rule, and Ishaq and her family quickly become caught up in the movement. Ishaq contributes by acting as a local correspondent, sharing news with the international press. In this personal film, Ishaq captures events in her own home throughout this tumultuous period, when multiple changes are afoot. Sarah Ishaq will attend the festival screenings.

In addition to E Team, three other titles play within Human Rights Defenders, Icons and Villains: Watchers of the Sky, Nelson Mandela: The Myth and Me and Big Men.

Inspired by Samantha Power's Pulitzer Prize-winning book ‘A Problem From Hell’, Watchers of the Sky  (UK premiere) (winner of the Documentary Editing Award / US Documentary Special Jury Award for Use of Animation, Sundance Film Festival 2014), is the latest documentary by the award-winning filmmaker Edet Belzberg. In her characteristic cinéma vérité style, Belzberg interweaves the stories of five exceptional humanitarians  — Benjamin Ferencz, Raphael Lemkin, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, Samantha Power, and Emmanuel Uwurukundo — whose lives and work are linked together by the on-going crisis in Darfur. Through the stories of these contemporary characters, the film uncovers the forgotten history of the Genocide Convention and its founder Raphael Lemkin, the international lawyer who dedicated his life to preventing genocide.

In Nelson Mandela: The Myth and Me, (UK premiere) (winner of the Special Jury Award, IDFA 2013), the filmmaker Khalo Matabane uses conversations with politicians, activists, intellectuals, and artists to question the meaning of freedom, reconciliation and forgiveness—and challenges Mandela's legacy in today's world of conflict and inequality. The film juxtaposes Matabane’s inner quest for coherence with the opinions both of people who knew Mandela and of those whose political perspectives were shaped by him. Matabane weighs equally the words of his subjects, leading viewers to question these concepts as well. Khalo Matabane will attend the festival premiere screenings.
 

A cautionary tale about the toll of American oil investment in West Africa, Big Men reveals the secretive worlds of both corporations and local communities in Nigeria and Ghana. The director, Rachel Boynton, gained unprecedented access to Africa's oil companies and has created an account of the ambition, corruption, and greed that epitomise Africa's ‘resource curse.’ The film uncovers the human impact of oil drilling and contains footage of militants operating in the Niger Delta.  Rachel Boynton will attend festival screenings.

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights:

Cameroon has more arrests for homosexuality than any other country in the world. For Born This Way (UK premiere) the filmmakers Shaun Kadlec and Deb Tullmann gained intimate access to the lives of four young gay Cameroonians, to offer a portrait of day-to-day life in modern Africa. This is a story of what is possible in the global fight for equality. Shaun Kadlec will attend festival screenings. Born This Way is co-presented with BFI Flare: London LGBT Festival.

Can Candan’s My Child introduces a courageous group of mothers and fathers in Turkey, who are parents of LGBT individuals. They have not only gone through the process of accepting their children for who they are personally, but have taken the next step: to share their experiences with other LGBT families and the public. Seven parents intimately share their experiences as they redefine what it means to be parents and activists in a homophobic and transphobic society. Two of the film’s subjects and two producers will attend festival screenings.

Migrants Rights:

Mano Khalil’s The Beekeeper (UK premiere) relates the story of Ibrahim Gezer, a displaced Kurdish beekeeper from southeast Turkey, and his experience of integration into Switzerland. The turmoil of the decades-long conflict between the Turkish state and the armed Kurdish guerrilla movement, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), robbed Gezer of everything he had: his wife, two of his children, his country, and over 500 bee colonies—his means of making a living. He has been left only with his love for bees and his unshakeable faith in humanity.
 

A visual essay in five parts, Evaporating Borders, looks at what it means to be displaced and examines the idea of belonging and notions of diaspora, exile, and migration. Filmed on the island of Cyprus, one of the easiest points of entry into Europe, the film explores the lives of asylum seekers and political refugees. Through the microcosm of the current situation on the island, the filmmaker Iva Radivojevic explores tolerance and immigration practices throughout Europe and the Western world—where migrating populations have become subject to a variety of human rights abuses.  Iva Radivojevic will attend the exclusive preview screenings.

Women’s Rights & Children’s Rights:
 

Scheherazade’s Diary (UK premiere) is a tragicomic documentary that follows women inmates through a 10-month drama therapy/theatre project set up in 2012 by the director Zeina Daccache, at the Baabda Prison in Lebanon. Through ‘Scheherazade in Baabda’, these ‘murderers of husbands, adulterers and drug felons’ reveal their stories—tales of domestic violence, traumatic childhoods, failed marriages, forlorn romances, and deprivation of motherhood. In sharing their stories, the women of Baabda Prison hold up a mirror to Lebanese society and all societies that repress women.  Zeina Daccache will attend the festival screenings.
 

Berit Madsen’s Sepideh – Reaching for the Stars, introduces viewers to a young Iranian woman who dares to dream of a future as an astronaut. At night, she stares up at the universe. At home, full of hope and longing, she watches recordings of the first female Iranian in space, Anousheh Ansari. When her father died suddenly six years earlier, Sepideh discovered that she could feel closer to him by watching the stars. And so her dream was born. But not everyone appreciates her boundless ambition. As we follow Sepideh, it becomes clear just how much at odds her dreams are with her current reality and the expectations of those around her.  

Jasmila Zbanic's drama For Those Who Can Tell No Tales (UK premiere) is inspired by the play ‘Seven Kilometers North-East’ written by Kym Vercoe who plays herself in the film. A summer holiday in Bosnia-Herzegovina leads Vercoe, an Australian tourist, to discover the silent legacy of wartime atrocities in a seemingly idyllic town on the border of Bosnia and Serbia. An overnight stay at the Viilina Vlas hotel in Visegrad inexplicably gives way to anxiety and sleepless nights. Back in Australia, she finds out that the hotel was used as a rape camp during the war. Questions around the region's atrocities begin to haunt her, as does the question of why the guidebook, or the town itself, made no mention of the event. The testimonies she later finds online compel her to return to Visegrad and investigate this hidden history for herself.

Richie Mehta’s drama Siddharth is set in New Delhi. Twelve-year-old Siddharth is sent away by his father, Mahendra, to work in a trolley factory to help support their family. When he fails to return for the Diwali festival, his distraught father begins a desperate search to find his missing son. The authorities believe that Siddharth may have been abducted and trafficked.  Mehta brings to life Mahendra's moving, tangled, and often futile-seeming journey with a touch that transforms it into both a commentary on modern India and a portrait of one family within that society.

An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker, from the acclaimed Bosnian director Danis Tanovic, enlists a cast of non-professionals to reconstruct a harrowing personal ordeal that became a national scandal. Struggling to make ends meet as a scrap-metal forager in the remote Roma community of Poljice, Nazif Maujic has a routine that becomes a desperate fight for survival when his partner, Senada, suffers a miscarriage. Without medical insurance or the means to pay the couple are denied admittance to the local hospital. So begins a hellish 10-day odyssey pitting the couple against social prejudice and a callous bureaucracy, exposing the institutional discrimination faced by Bosnia-Herzegovina's Roma minority.

In Hisham Zaman’s Before Snowfall (UK premiere) Siyar, the oldest son in his household, confronts the question of family honour after his older sister, Nermin, flees an arranged marriage.  The film is a look at killing in the name of honour, at the intricate web of connections that sustain the brutal tradition, and the unbelievable lengths to which some will go to see it through.

For more information on the Human Rights Watch Film Festival, please visit:
http://ff.hrw.org/london

For downloadable images and press kits, please visit:

http://ff.hrw.org/press

Follow on Twitter: @hrwfilmfestival

For further information about interviews, review copies, and press ticket requests, please contact:
Sarah Harvey: sarah@sarahharveypublicity.co.uk
Nikki Cummins: nikki@sarahharveypublicity.co.uk
Sarah Harvey Publicity: +44-207-232-2812

Notes to Editors:.

Human Right Watch Film Festival 2014

Full Listings (tickets on sale 7 February)

Tuesday 18 March 18.45 | Curzon Mayfair | Benefit Film & Reception     

The Square

(Dir Jehane Noujaim, Egypt/US, 2013, 99min) Doc

In English and Arabic with English subtitles

2014 Academy Award® Nominee for Best Documentary Feature

Thursday 20 March 18.30 | Curzon Soho | Opening Night Film & Reception

Dangerous Acts Starring The Unstable Elements Of Belarus (UK premiere)

(Dir Madeleine Sackler, US/UK/Belarus, 2013, 76min) Doc

In English and Belarusian and Russian with English subtitles

Friday 21 March 18.30 | Ritzy | Q&A with filmmaker

Saturday 22 March 16.00 | Curzon Soho | Q&A with filmmaker

Nelson Mandela: The Myth and Me (UK Premiere)

(Dir Khalo Matabane, South Africa/Germany, 2013, 84min) Doc

In English and German and French with English subtitles

Special Jury Award, International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam 2013

Friday 21 March 18.30 | Curzon Soho | Q&A with filmmaker and film subjects

Saturday 22 March 16.00 | Barbican | Q&A with producers and film subjects

My Child

(Dir Can Candan, Turkey, 2013, 82min) Doc

In Turkish with English subtitles

Friday 21 March 21.00 | Ritzy

Saturday 22 March 18.30 | Curzon Soho

An Episode In The Life Of An Iron Picker

(Dir Danis Tanovic, Bosnia and Herzegovina/France/Slovenia, 2013, 74min) Drama

In Bosnian with English subtitles

Silver Bear, Jury Grand Prix and Silver Bear, Best Actor, Berlin Film Festival 2013

Friday 21 March 18.30 | Barbican | Q&A with filmmaker

Saturday 22 March 16.00 | Ritzy | Q&A with filmmaker

Scheherazade’s Diary (UK Premiere)

(Dir Zeina Daccache, Lebanon, 2013, 80min) Doc

In Arabic with English subtitles

Friday 21 March 21.00 | Curzon Soho

Saturday 22 March 18.30 | Barbican

Sepideh – Reaching for the Stars (Exclusive Preview)

(Dir Berit Madsen, Denmark/Iran/Germany/Norway/Sweden, 2013, 91min) Doc

In English and Farsi with English subtitles

Saturday 22 March 18.30 | Ritzy | Q&A with filmmaker

Sunday 23 March 18.00 | Curzon Soho | Q&A with filmmaker

Big Men

(Dir Rachel Boynton, US, 2013, 99min) Doc

In English and Ijaw and Twi with English subtitles

Sunday 23 March 16.00 | Barbican

Monday 24 March 18.15 | Ritzy

The Beekeeper (UK Premiere)

(Dir Mano Khalil, Switzerland, 2013, 107min) Doc

In German and Kurdish with English subtitles

Sunday 23 March 19.00 | Barbican

Monday 24 March 21.00 | Ritzy

For Those Who Can Tell No Tales (UK Premiere)

(Dir Jasmila Zbanic, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2013, 72min) Drama

In English and Bosnian with English subtitles

Sunday 23 March 16.00 | Ritzy

Monday 24 March 21.00 | Curzon Soho

Siddharth

(Dir Richie Mehta, Canada/India, 2013, 96min) Drama

In English and Hindi with English subtitles

Monday 24 March 18.15 | Curzon Soho | Q&A with filmmakers and film subjects

Tuesday 25 March 18.30 | Barbican | Q&A with filmmakers and film subjects

E-Team (Exclusive Preview)

(Dirs Katy Chevigny and Ross Kauffman, US, 2013, 88min) Doc

In English and French/German/Russian/Arabic with English subtitles

Monday 24 March 18.30 | Barbican | Q&A with filmmaker

Wednesday 26 March 18.30 | Ritzy | Q&A with filmmaker

Evaporating Borders (Exclusive Preview)

(Dir Iva Radivojevic, US/Cyprus, 2014, 73min) Doc

In English and Arabic and Greek with English subtitles

Tuesday 25 March 18.15 | Ritzy | Q&A with filmmaker

Wednesday 26 March 20.30 | Curzon Soho | Q&A with filmmaker

Born This Way (UK Premiere)

(Dirs Shaun Kadlec and Deb Tullmann, Cameroon, 2012, 84min) Doc

In English and French with English subtitles
 

Co-presented with BFI Flare: London LGBT Festival

Tuesday 25 March 20.45 | Ritzy | Q&A with filmmakers

Thursday 27 March 18.30 | Curzon Soho | Q&A with filmmakers

First To Fall

(Dirs Rachel Beth Anderson/Tim Grucaz, UK/US, 2013, 80min) Doc

In English and Arabic with English subtitles

Tuesday 25 March 18.15 | Curzon Soho

Thursday 27 March 18.30 | Barbican

Watchers of the Sky (UK Premiere)

(Dir Edet Belzberg, US, 2014, 114min) Doc

In English and Zaghawan/Spanish/French with English subtitles

Wednesday 26 March 18.30 | Curzon Soho | Panel Discussion On ‘Emergency Cinema

Abounaddara Collective Shorts from Syria

Wednesday 26 March 20.45 | Ritzy | Q&A with filmmaker

Thursday 27 March 18.30 | Ritzy | Q&A with filmmaker

The Mulberry House (UK Premiere)

(Dir Sara Ishaq, Syria/Yemen/Egypt/Scotland/United Arab Emirates, 2013, 64min) Doc

In English and Arabic with English subtitles

Wednesday 26 March 20.45 | Barbican

Thursday 27 March 20.45 | Ritzy

Before Snowfall (UK Premiere)  

(Dir Hisham Zaman, Germany/Norway, 2013, 105min) Drama

In Kurdish with English subtitles

Friday 28 March 18.30 | Ritzy Cinema | Closing Night Film & Reception

Return to Homs (UK Premiere)

(Dir Talal Derki, Syria/Germany, 2013, 87min) Doc

In Arabic with English subtitles

Armed Conflict and the Arab Spring

     Abounaddara Collective Shorts from Syria

     First to Fall

     The Mulberry House

     Return to Homs

     The Square

Human Rights Defenders, Icons, and Villains

     Big Men

     Dangerous Acts Starring the Unstable Elements of Belarus

     E-Team

     Nelson Mandela: The Myth and Me

     Watchers of the Sky

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Rights

     My Child

     Born This Way

Migrants’ Rights
     The Beekeeper

     Evaporating Borders

Women’s Rights and Children’s Rights

     An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker

     Before Snowfall

     For Those Who Can Tell No Tales

     Scheherazade’s Diary

     Sepideh

     Siddarth

Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is one of the world’s leading independent organisations dedicated to defending and protecting human rights. We work tenaciously to lay the legal and moral groundwork for deep-rooted change, and fight to bring greater justice and security to people around the world.

Human Rights Watch Film Festival

Through the Human Rights Watch Film Festival we bear witness to human rights violations and create a forum for courageous individuals on both sides of the lens to empower audiences with the knowledge that personal commitment can make a difference. The film festival brings human rights abuses to life through storytelling in a way that challenges each individual to empathise and demand justice for all.
 
 

ReelWorld Honours Seven Individuals Who Inspire Us (and Others) to Strive
 

Toronto, Ontario (February 21, 2014) – Do the same characteristics that inspires us, inspire you?  When selecting Trailblazer and Visionary Award recipients we look for people who have recognized their path and followed it without wavering.  We seek out excellence and thought leaders who are on the forefront, prompting others to naturally follow. This year’s 2014 Trailblazers and the Visionary Award recipient pushes our expectations even further. We are honouring on-air talents and behind-the-scenes artists who are pushing the Arts beyond the traditional. 

“These individuals have managed to navigate around the challenges of our industry, using their unique talents, and creating artistry that is compelling, relevant and impactful. Congratulations to you all!” said Tonya Williams, Founder and Executive Director of ReelWorld Film Festival.

About the 2014 ReelWorld Award recipients: 

 Ana Serrano is the 2014 Visionary Award recipient. An international leader in digital media, Serrano drives good storytelling forward at the same time she is manipulating and pioneering digital media to tell stories better. Read more

 Roy T. Anderson, who in addition to writing, directing and producing Akwantu: the Journey, has amassed more than 400 credits as a stuntman on blockbuster films The Dark Knight Rises, Bourne Ultimatum, and Wolf of Wall Street. Read more

 Ins Choi, an award-winning playwright and actor has won the hearts of audiences across Canada and inspired younger artists of colour while challenging conventional stereotypes about Asian Canadians. Read more

 Waawaate Fobister is an Aboriginal Canadian playwright, actor, dancer, producer, and writer. His storytelling challenges stereotypes related to sexuality within Aboriginal communities. Read more

 Sangita Patel, Entertainment Reporter, ET Canada. Read more

 Kim Roberts is an actress with more than 200 credits. She has appeared in Lucky 7, Being Erica, Dawn of the Dead,  Rookie Blue, Blue Bloods, Suits, Lost Girl, and Degrassi: The Next Generation. Read more

 Ellen Wong takes on strong female roles that expand the way women are perceived. Her many credits include a starring role in ReelWorld's award-winning short Silent Cargo, earning her an ACTRA Award nomination for Best Performance by a Female Lead. Read more

The Trailblazer and Visionary Awards will be presented at ReelWorld’s Brunch With Brilliance held at Famous Players Canada Square on April 6, 2014. 

The ReelWorld Film Festival screens dramas, documentaries, shorts and music videos by emerging and establishing artists who view the world from a variety of perspectives. Founded in 2001 by Actress Tonya Williams, ReelWorld has become a game-changer in the industry, helping racially diverse talent find their niche and exercise their entrepreneurial spirit. In addition to slating films that answer audience demands to include more than 50% Canadian content, the ReelWorld Film Festival is among the leaders in offering professional development activities for talent who are focussed on lifelong Arts careers. Key sponsors include: TD Bank Group, Telefilm Canada, NBCUniversal Canada, Global Toronto, Wired Messenger Inc., Pierre Laurent, DJ Woods and Cineplex Entertainment LP. Early bird festival passes on sale now at www.reelworld.ca. The ReelWorld Film Festival runs from April 2 to 6, 2014 in Toronto and April 11 to 13, 2014 in Markham.

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For more information, please contact: 

THE RIVIERA MAYA FILM FESTIVAL 2014 ANNOUNCES ITS PROGRAM, MARCH 9th-15th

Today, the Riviera Maya Film Festival announced its official program of domestic and international films to be screened at this year’s annual event (March 9th-15th). In its third edition, the Festival continues its mission of promoting and distributing quality cinema for a larger audience, as well as showcasing the state of Quintana Roo as a cultural and travel destination which attracts and supports film development throughout the world. This year’s festival to includes more than 50 feature films from 23 countries.

The competitive sections of the Festival are Mexican Platform, in which the jury bestows two Kukulkan Awards endowed with 300,000 MXN each and a Kukulkan Youth Jury Award, endowed with 100,000 MXN; the RivieraLAB/Co-production Forum, where two selected projects will receive a financial incentive of 200,000 MXN each; and the RivieraLAB/Work in Progress, where two selected projects will receive a financial incentive of 200,000 MXN each. In total, the Festival grants 1,500,000 MXN in prizes.

“In our 3rd edition, we want to continue working towards the promotion and distribution of the film industry, bringing it to the largest possible audience,” stated Paula Chaurand, Director of the Festival. “Under the motto ‘Cinema Unites Us’ we would like to create a sense of appropriation that involves the residents of the Riviera Maya as well as its visitors.”

“Due to the quality level of the submissions, it was hard to narrow the number of participating projects this year,” said Maximiliano Cruz, Coordinator of the Mexican Platform. “The international committee chose projects that reflect the cinematic contrasts of various national cultures.”

“This year, 82 films from 18 countries have been submitted to the Co-production Forum and 71 films from 20 countries to the Work-in-Progress section. These competitive sections are made for film projects looking for international funding and co-production aid as well as for sale agents and distribution to begin their promotion,” said the RivieraLAB Director, Sandra Gómez.

The Riviera Maya Film Festival will take place in Cancun, Puerto Morelos, Playa del Carmen, and Tulum, from March 9th to the 15th.

Below you can find a selection of some of the films which will be shown at the 2014 Riviera Maya Film Festival:

·         A Promise (Director Patrice Leconte, Starring Rebecca Hall, Alan Rickman, Richard Madden, Toby Murray)

·         Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas (Director Arnaud des Pallières, Starring Mads Mikkelsen, Delphine Chuillot, David Kross)

·         Grand Central (Director Rebecca Zlotowski, Starring Tahar Rahim, Oliver Gourmet, Léa Seydoux)

·         Hard to Be a God (Director Aleksei German, Starring Leonid Yarmolnik, Dmitriy Vladimirov, Laura Lauri)

·         Holy Field Holy War (Director Lech Kowalski)

·         Night Moves (Director Kelly Reichardt, Starring Dakota Fanning, Jesse Eisenberg, Peter Sarsgaard, Alia Shawkat)

·         Nymphomaniac: Volume 1 & Volume 2 (Director Lars von Trier, Starring Charlotte Gainsbourg, Christian Slater, Uma Thurman, Shia LaBeouf)

·         Oldboy (Director Spike Lee, Starring Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Olsen, Samuel L. Jackson)

·         R100 (Director Hitoshi Matsumoto, Starring Mao Daichi, Lindsay Kay Hayward, Hairi Katagiri, Gin Maeda)

·         Seduced and Abandoned (Director James Toback, Starring Ryan Gosling, Martin Scorsese, Jessica Chastain, Diane Kruger)

·         The Double (Director Richard Ayoade, Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Sally Hawkins, Mia Wasikowska)

·         Til Madness Do Us Apart (Director Wang Bing)

·         Tip Top (Director Serge Bozon, Starring Isabelle Huppert, Sandrine Kiberlain, Karole Rocher)

·         Why Don´t You Play in Hell (Director Shion Sono, Starring Hiroki Hasegawa, Gen Hoshino, Akihiro Kitamura)

*Additional titles to be forthcoming.

For more information, please visit: http://rmff.mx/

About the Riviera Maya Film Festival

The Riviera Maya Film Festival was created in 2012 with the goal to meet one of the greatest needs of the film industry in Mexico and perhaps in the entire world: the distribution of quality international cinema.

By bringing this sort of films to a larger number of people we reaffirm our belief in the transforming power of cinema due to its ability to show different glances and ways of thinking. That’s why we decided the festival should be for free and that is also why we decided to revitalize the experience of watching a film by organizing screenings in all kinds of stages and contexts, such as at the beach or in public squares.