For the fifteenth year, the Nihilist Cultural Foundation presents the Nihilist International Film Festival.  This year’s evening of films will be presented at the Echo Park Film Center.  The show will start at 8:30 pm on Friday, December 12. The festival includes two hours of short films from around the country and around the world.  The films range from troubling to hilarious, from profound to completely silly.  Pretty much, something for everyone (except children and clergy).

Festival Director Elisha Shapiro commented, “Since 1999, we have been doing this film festival.  And if there’s one thing nihilists like, it’s tradition…a tradition of twisted, offensive art that makes you laugh. 

As a special feature, all those who bring their own televisions and arrive fifteen minutes early will be able to include their appliances in the traditional ritual Blessing of the Televisions.

Nihilist Film Festival director Elisha Shapiro is a Los Angeles-based conceptual artist.  He is known for presenting the 1984 Nihilist Olympics and the 1999 Nihilism Expo.  He was also the Nihilist Party candidate for Governor in 2006, for President in 1988, and for LA county sheriff in 1992. Most recently, Shapiro appeared as The Funniest Nihilist in the LA Fringe Festival.

The Echo Park Film Center is located at 1200 N. Alvarado Street in Silverlake. Ebola Special ticket prices are only 99 cents. More information is available at the Nihilists Corner website:  www.nihilists.net and www.echoparkfilmcenter.org/cinema/schedule.html.

Here is the agenda for the conference running December 7 - 9, 2014 in Austin Texas.

A few adjustments will be made.

Meanwhile you can ask for the Filmfestivals.com DISCOUNT CODE FOR A PREFERED 300€ RATE.

Sunday, December 7, 2014

Festival date: 21 - 26 April 2015

Submission deadline: 20 January 2015
Partner: Australia

www.vafi.hr/en

VAFI is a film festival for animated films made by children or youth under 18 years, but also from 5th edition -  film festival for animated films made for children and youth.

So, VAFI has two competative sections: section for animated films MADE BY children or youth - VAFI JUNIOR, and section for animated films made for children and youth - VAFI SENIOR.

VAFI JUNIOR has three categories divided by age of the authors:

MINI – for authors under 10 years
MIDI – for authors from 11 – 14 years
MAXI – for authors from 15 – 18 years

PRIZES
VAFI JUNIOR will award five prizes per category, from which one will be the first prize and the other four will be equal second prizes. The prize will be the statue and diploma for the first places and diploma for the second places. Prizes will be given by the internation Jury.

VAFI SENIOR has tree categorie divided by the age of the recipient:

MINI – for children under 10 years
MIDI – for children from 11 – 14 years
MAXI – for youth from 15 above


PRIZES
VAFI SENIOR will award one first prize per category, The prize will be the statue and diploma. Prizes will be given by children and youth jury - the members of Creative Film Studio VANIMA from Varaždin.

BLUE VAFI
From 2012 in cooperation with UNICEF and Croatia Office for Children's Rights we will also give Blue VAFI - award for the film which promots the Children's rights.

The prize is given out of the catories - one first and four equal second prizes. First prize is statue Blue VAFI and Blue diploma, and second prizes are Blue diplomas.

BLUE VAFI refers to VAFI JUNIOR.

PARTNER
Each year VAFI has partner that is presented during Festival. VAFI 5 partner will be Australia.

Celebrating Independent Horror, Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Festival Dates – December 5th to December 15th, 2014

New People Cinema

Returning for its 11th year, SF IndieFest presents Another Hole In The Head Annual Horror Film Festival. Celebrating three weeks of Independent Horror, Sci-Fi and Fantasy films, the festival will include more than 20 feature films, 60 short films, and two new live events- a live rock and roll zombie show and a live reading of scary stories. For more information and tickets, please visit www.sfindie.com or call 415-820-3907.

Opening Night

This year the festival will kick off on Friday, December 5th at 9:00PM at the New People Cinema in San Francisco with the feature film AFTERIMAGES, a collection of supernatural ghost stories from Singapore. Watch as these “ghost stories from hell” appear in the ashes after a group of film students burn paper effigy cameras as offerings to the dead.

Closing Night

On Monday, December 15th at 7:00PM, the festival will be concluding with the incredibly suspenseful indie slasher filmJENNIFER HELP US. Shot entirely on an iPhone 4S, this film follows a vengeful high school senior who kidnaps a fellow student and soon encounters dark secrets about the town’s most haunted house.

35mm Classics

Another Hole in the Head is again thrilled to present horror classics to be shown in glorious 35mm. Join us for special viewings of James Cameron’s 1986 classic “Aliens”, the1982 Steven Spielberg-produced “Poltergeist”, and the underground favorite “The Astrologer” by Craig Denney.

Confirmed Titles for This Year’s Festival

AFTERIMAGES, Singapore, 2014, Supernatural/Ghost

ALIENS, USA, 1986, Sci-Fi Alien

ANOTHER, USA, 2014, Demon/Witch

THE ASTROLOGER, USA, 1975, Sci-Fi/Supernatural

BLOOD PUNCH, USA, 2014, Horror Thriller

BLOOD RIDERS: THE DEVIL RIDES WITH US, Canada, 2013, Horror Comedy

BLOODY KNUCKLES, Canada, 2014, Horror Comedy

CALL GIRL OF CHTULHU, USA, 2014, Horror Comedy

CHARLIE’S FARM, USA, 2014, Slasher/Splatterhouse

CHRYSALIS, USA, 2014, Post-Apocalyptic Zombie

JENNIFER HELP US, USA, 2014, Suspenes/Slasher

LIMO RIDE, USA, 2014, Documentary Narrative Comedy

LOVE IN THE TIME OF MONSTERS, USA, 2014, Horror Comedy

THE MANY LIVES OF JOVAN CORNEJO, USA, 2014, Horror Comedy

MY NAME IS JONAH, USA, 2014, Documentary Comedy

POLTERGEIST, USA 1982, Supernatural/Ghost

R100, Japan, 2014, S&M Dramedy

WHERE THE DEVIL DWELLS, USA, 2014, Psychological Horror

Other Festival Highlights

On Sunday, December 14th, join us for a live rock and roll zombie show at Terra Gallery on 1st and Harrison. Doors will open at 6:30PM and the show will begin at 7:30PM. Tickets will be $20.

Also make sure to join us for a live reading of scary stories at this year’s festival that will make you jump out of your seats. Tickets will be $20 and the event will take place at the New People Cinema.

Lastly, there will be a special screening of the 1922 silent horror film “Nosferatu” on 35mm at the New People Cinema. A live DJ will be providing a spooky soundtrack to the film- you won’t want to miss this event!

Tickets

Advance online tickets for single screenings are $10. At-the-door tickets are $12.

All-inclusive festival passes will be priced at $175, which includes all films, shorts, scary story reading, rock and roll zombie show and more.

Five-film passes will be $50.

Ten-film passes will be $100.

All advance tickets are available online at www.sfindie.com. Pass holders get first priority on seating. The box office opens 30 minutes before the first show of the day. For all screenings, please arrive 15 minutes before show time to assure seating. For more information please call (415) 820-3907 or click on www.sfindie.com.

Festival Report  Part 1  RIDM  (2014) :

And as their motto rightfully states, “La Ou Toutes les Histoires Se Rencontrent” (Where All Stories Meet), the Rencontres Internationales du Documentaire de Montréal (RIDM), has boasted a very comprehensive program of contemporary life - where memory, the body, ethics, truth, reconciliation, story, and fabulation can be put on the big screen as documents to be examined discussed, dissected. 

The Festival has opened with Canada’s 2013 nominee for Best Foreign Picture Oscar Kim Nguyen and his The Nose. It is treatise on the olfactory sense inspired by Francois Chartier’s The Empire of Scents.

This first entry was in keeping with one of this year’s festival themes regarding the nexus between “the human” and “the animal”. Further in this regard,  of this theme, this year’s RIDM programming seemed to  also deployed towards looking at ideas of  how we approach ethics and exile, in contemporary society. 

One of the festival’s films to open up with these themes was A Comme Animal (L’Abcedaire de Gilles Deleuze). Here Deleuze speaks of both his likes and “dislikes” for the animal kingdom. His dislikes being moreover fanciful spurts of humour about the dog’s bark being the shame of the animal kingdom.  Deleuze does get into a very serious discussions of animals and their penchant for marking territory, thus aligning itself with his interests in territorialization and deterritorialization within contemporary society. 

On this opening day, many other films highlighted the festival’s theme of the human/ animal nexus: older classics such as Barjol and Eustache’s Le Cochon, L’Empire de Medor,  L’Hippocampe, Les Amours de Pieuvre.

Le Cochon is a heartbreaking uber-realist portrayal of a early twentieth century French village’s everyday life, highlighting the killing and then preparation of every part of the pig for consumption. The film moves through the abattoir theme most might see from far and moves into the very ritual of daily life, subsistence and survival in the French countryside.   

Day 1 of the festival had the interesting Liahona an experimental work on personal historiography- in this case a young woman’s Mormon Roots, Iron Ministry, a much needed ear- to-the-ground into the everyday lives of Chinese citizens on a train  by JP Sniadecki of Harvard’s Sensory Ethnography Lab, and an also much needed work on Montreal itself, its globally known underground music scene, and the neighbourhood much of the “scene” emerges from. This film “La Ville Est Une Ile” is a series of interviews with disconnected troubadours looking for a sense of direction, using sound as a wellspring in a city fragmented through language divisions. 

Day 1 of the festival also honored guest James Benning leading a Masterclass at the Cinematheque Québecoise, as well as some of his films, “Casse” by Nadege Trebal, again providing a much needed ear to the daily life of immigrants  working in a wrecking yard in France, and the much talked about “I Touched All Yourself” by Maira Buhler& Matias Mariani. 

Yes some films one really does look forward to as form of respite from the straight “film- engagé”, strewn with entertainment amidst the real terror. 

“I Touched All Yourself” had the kind of pull and range of the 2012 documentary sensation,  Bart Layton’s “The Imposter”. In similar ways to “The Imposter”, we are given this charming character and led down a path whose end we simply cannot divine ahead of time. 

In “I Touched All Yourself”, we see real life Christopher Kirk, the sweetest guy of all time and his journey into the psychological jungles that can be Columbia, after falling in love with a mysterious, exotic (and perhaps criminal) young woman named V.  Without ever showing her, we see that this good ol boy from Michigan might  just go through a kind of transference of character with this V, after leaving stateside and  entering into the seedy Columbian world that will change him forever. 

Well narrated and well structured, the film is a nice sort of thriller type documentary that moves through regular “television type suspense” through to the serious concerns of one a man who decides to leave the “safeness” of his home and truly enter a very much ramped up, contemporary, and globally complex and interconnected world. 

The filmmakers achieve an excellent balance between the empathy we gain for Christopher Kirk and then show (remind) us to also be wary of that very empathy we have constructed.  “I Touched All Your Stuff” is a very nice dive into the complexity that ethics really are (how they hold and may be swayed), especially when one truly confronts them  in a extreme situations. Are we all easily malleable as human beings, given a particular set of circumstances?

The RIDM festival continued with this very serious and well presented program that continuously surprised and challenged attendees, with some of the best new critical documentaries. Again, documentaries that especially worked through questions of ethics, “the human”, “the animal”, and exile. 

Peter Kruger’s “N- The Madness of Reason” is a monumental attempt to address many of the aforementioned themes.  Taking as its start, the legacy of the French Ivory Coast based Raymond Borremans.  Kruger presents a a tripartite voice over. The first voice of course being Borremans discussing his ambition and intentions in creating the Encyclopédie Borremans - Grand Dictionnaire encyclopédique de Côte d'Ivoire. The second voice being a woman pointing out the limits of reason in actually making sense of the reality which is colonial  and post colonial Africa and in the limits of  Borremans’s project. The third voice being a sort of almost poetic like spirit narrating over all voice written with specific poetic intentions by Ben Okri. The criticism goes on Borremans’ sometimes available, sometimes not available ethical register as goes his sometimes “colonialité” despite his noble intentions. “The Madness of Reason” is a monumental attempt to address the colonial project, post colonial realities,  acknowledge complicity, and look at other horizons that might go beyond human “understanding”. 

While as previously said of Krueger’s “Madness of Reason” being an attempt at a monumental project, one might begin to question the film for just that reason itself. In being a monumental attempt, the film might have missed the “uncalculated”, “the imperfections”,  silences that make cinema often  a haven for ruminating a sparking a light into hitherto  not thought of arenas and feelings. 

This thought about “The Madness of Reason” becomes especially apparent, when one looks at what might just be the RIDM festival’s true hidden gem,  Joris Lachaise’s “Ce Qu’il Ne Reste de Folie” (“What Remains of Madness”), which also casts an eye on post colonial Africa. This time, the eye is cast on a psychiatric hospital in Dakar. 

The film is nothing short of a mini masterpiece.  This thanks in no small part to one of his guides Khady Sylla,  also interned at the psychiatric institute and also a filmmaker. I had sadly never heard of her before. Her presence in the film as patient at the psychiatric hospital is subtle, light, and purely visceral every time she speaks.  Finding out after that she actually also was a noted Senegalese writer has been pure pleasure. She unfortunately passed away in 2013. 

In “Ce Qu’il Reste de la Folie”,  one is reminded of 2013‘s mini masterpiece, “Mille Soleil” by Mati Diop, in range, depth, and those pure “quietnesses” that allow the viewer to come into their own; not the explaining away as “The Madness of Reason” might be a bit “guilty” of . 

The first interesting thing in “Ce Qu’il Ne Reste de la Folie, is that it is not till almost 3/4 into the film that we actually start to see  details of the psychiatric facility.  It is clear from the get go, again from much of the film’s “quitenesses” punctuated by only essential information that comes through in the only essential sparse dialogues, that the filmmaker is not there to judge. It is clear the filmmaker ( who met Jean Rouch in his youth) is not there to judge whether the psychiatric facility works, whether the head psychiatrist is progressive or not, whether the better treatment might be traditional medicine like divination to get rid of the bad spirits of madness, whether traditional medicine or western medicine is better, and who is to blame for all this madness. 

I have read separately Khady Sylla’s own ideas on a local kind of madness. Madness after all must have its site specific vectors. And the filmmaker brings us into the wellspring territory of looking into madness in that place and time. Bottom line is we get all the information we need. We can decide or not decide for ourselves. The ride is purely interesting enough. 

When patient Khady in one of her few dialogues mentions Michel Foucault and then speaks about the fact that now that they are in an urban environment (Dakar), they must have acquired something of the madness of the occidental metropole and that hence Western medicine might in fact now be applicable, she divests the whole project of blame and questions the  traditional vs Western medicine “dilemma” and tries to look at the problem itself. Just these two sentences by Khady make watching this film essential. 

As Khady Sylla, says in another context, describing her own films on madness in Dakar, “A little while after over-exposing the film, I fell sick and crossed over to the other side. I saw what others did not see: the dislocated eye, antiquity of the glass bubble, the sky that had fallen too low, the horizon that come too close, I experienced the real interior.” There is curiously and refreshingly not any easy resort to a colonial past,  like we will see in Report #2 or #3 which discusses Hubert Sauper’s eagerly awaited follow up to “Darwin’s Nightmare”, “We Come as Friends”. Madness is seen for itself, in “Ce Qu’il Reste de La Folie”, something ineluctable to describe but yet real. 

We will not use the often used film epitaph, “ haunting” to describe, “Ce Qu’il Reste de La Folie”. “Ce Qu’il Reste de La Folie”  is rather like a well hung horizon the filmmaker is painting and we watch his painting the whole length of the film.

The presence of a character (and no better word describes him), of a real life patient at the psychiatric hospital (and the camera is not always lingering on the “mad” like in some films)  launches the viewer into a kind of comfortable perplexed state. FIrst watching him, we are actually not sure if he is the mad.

Elegantly dressed (he goes through an elegant change of clothes daily) and actually physically resembling the Senegalese director Djibril Mambéty, we are presented with an unforgettable character (yes a cliche expression but he truly is unforgettable). 

This character in “Ce Qu’il Reste de la Folie,  in his initial movements in the film, moves with the carefulness of a butoh dancer, observant like a scientist,  and then we only very late in the film realize that this character may actually be “suffering” from madness. We come to realize that he is emblematic of man stuck at the other side of nation. 

At one point, when this character begins to start acting a little bit like one of Jean Rouch’s lieutenant’s in the Les Maitres Fous, this character in “Ce Qu’il Nous Reste de la Folie”, asks his “partner”, Khady Sylla  to call the president, and we begin to understand the question that one other man (“patient”) asks about “madness”. 

This is not about colonialism, not perhaps even totally about the nation, but truly about the almost phenomenological condition that madness maybe. Again as the perceptive Khady Sylla asks of the chief psychiatrist- “I have been with you 18 year and just actually wondering what my diagnostic might be”. His answer hushed and uninterested as he decides to not even get off the phone call is on to answer her serious question.

The viewer might then say, dam system, dam nation but ultimately as in my case as a viewer one might ask oneself about understanding this sort of state of grace mixed with “stuckness” that the patients are in. Who might be these lost initiates of higher states of night that the world we are now in might be in search of either yesterday or tomorrow.

“Ce Qu’il Nous Reste de la Folie” as its title might be hinting at might be asking - what is left of a certain madness that flits and flutters between illness and higher states of grace.  The filmmaker clearly shows aspects of madness and its discussion as people living on a precipe.

From the film’s no frill’s yet incredible (but not over aestheticized) photography to it’s refusal to (impose any judgements)  judge anyone or anything, with  its silent way of telling, Joris Lachaise’s  “Ce Qu’il Nous Reste de la Folie”, is truly a 2014 major documentary find.

NEXT  TO BE CONTINUED PART 2 RIDM 2014 Festival

Tradition encounters new paths: film-makers like actress Katja Riemann as well as the directors Sigrid Hoerner, Mo Asumang and Lauro Cress will be presenting new prize-winning German productions at the 13th Festival of German Films in Moscow. This year will see the festival having an online presence on video-on-demand for the first time: the Russian VoD service ivi.ru is cooperating with German Films to have a German section in its program. The festival's opening film SUCK ME SHAKESPEER will be launched on 4 December 2014 at the same time in the cinema and on VoD.

The festival is offering a diverse mixture of commercial titles and arthouse from 3 – 8 December 2014. A total of 17 films, including fiction feature films, documentaries and shorts, will be presented to the cinema audience and the Russian industry. The festival is being held in Moscow's HORIZONT cinema for the first time this year: the cinema's  modern equipment and central location offer great accessibility and comfort for the audiences.

Katja Riemann will be travelling to Moscow for the opening on 3 December 2014 to present the German box-office hit SUCK ME SHAKESPEER by Bora Dagtekin (Rat Pack Filmproduktion, Constantin Film Produktion) as an avant-premiere. The Russian distributor Raketa Releasing will release the comedy theatrically on 4 December. The directors Sigrid Hoerner and Mo Asumang will present their works MISS SIXTY (Bavaria Pictures, moneypenny film) and THE ARYANS (HANFGARN & UFER Filmproduktion, MA MOTION Filmproduktion) with Q&As. 35 COWS AND A KALASHNIKOV by Ossie von Richthofen (Oswald von Richthofen Filmproduktion, Lohmann Medien) will be coming straight from the IDFA competition. Andrea Zimmermann, who is responsible for world sales on the film, will introduce the documentary in Moscow. Director Lauro Cress will be attending in person for the screening of THIEVES, one of the films from German Films' NEXT GENERATION SHORT TIGER 2014 program of shorts.

German Films will be organizing a dinner during the festival for Russian buyers to inform them about new and forthcoming German productions.

All films in the program of 2014's Festival of German Films in Moscow:

Fiction Feature Films:

HOME FROM HOME (DIE ANDERE HEIMAT) by Edgar Reitz (DE/FR, Edgar Reitz Filmproduktion)

ELSEWHERE (ANDERSWO) by Ester Amrami (Dirk Manthey Film, Filmuniversität Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF)

A HITMAN'S SOLITUDE BEFORE THE SHOT (DIE EINSAMKEIT DES KILLERS VOR DEM SCHUSS) by Florian Mischa Böder (HUPE Film- und Fernsehproduktion)

SUCK ME SHAKESPEER (FACK JU GÖHTE) by Bora Dagtekin (Rat Pack Filmproduktion, Constantin Film Produktion)

HIRNGESPINSTER by Christian Bach (Roxy Film GmbH, Glory Film)

JACK by Edward Berger (Port-au-Prince Film & Kultur Produktion, Neue Bioskop Film, Mixtvision Mediengesellschaft, zero west filmproduktion)

LOVE STEAKS by Jakob Lass (Filmuniversität Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF)

THE LIES OF THE VICTORS (DIE LÜGEN DER SIEGER) by Christoph Hochhäusler (DE/FR, Heimatfilm)

MISS SIXTY by Sigrid Hoerner (Bavaria Pictures, moneypenny film)

WINDSTORM (OSTWIND) by Katja von Garnier (SamFilm, Constantin Filmproduktion)

STEREO by Maximilian Erlenwein (Frisbeefilms, Kaissar Film, Wild Bunch Germany)

Documentaries:

35 COWS AND A KALASHNIKOV by Ossie von Richthofen (Oswald von Richthofen Filmproduktion, Lohmann Medien)

THE ARYANS (DIE ARIER) by Mo Asumang ( HANFGARN & UFER Filmproduktion, MA MOTION Filmproduktion)

Shorts:

PATCH by Gerd Gockell (DE/CH)

WALK THE DOG (DAME MIT HUND) by Sonja Rohleder

UTÖ by David Buob

NEXT GENERATION SHORT TIGER 2014

Partners and sponsors of German Films for this year's festival are: Deutsche Zentrale für Tourismus, Goethe-Institut Moscow, Hotel Kebur Palace, Coolconnections

The German section at ivi.ru can be found here: http://www.ivi.ru/videos/podborki/germanfilms/

Up-to-date informaton on the Festival of German Films in Moscow can also be found at: http://germanfilms.ru/2014

as well as on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GermanFilmFestival

The Finnish documentary film event for children and youth, DOKKINO, has yet again broken its attendee record. The tour that ended in November 2014 attracted more than 13 000 children and youth around the country to come and experience documentaries. DOKKINO has raised its popularity significantly over the last few years, and it has grown into the largest nationwide documentary film event designed for children and youth in Europe.

DOKKINO is a nationwide tour organized by DocPoint-elokuvatapahtumat ry (DocPoint Film Events), which introduces viewers under the age of 18 to the world of creative documentary filmmaking. Annually the tour exhibits two programmes, which contain international high-quality documentary films for students of primary and secondary schools. In addition to the tour, DOKKINO also produces a package of versatile educational material, which supplements the screening events. DOKKINO organizes film workshops as well, where students get to try documentary filmmaking.

Promoting media and social education, DOKKINO has been popular for all of its history, spanning over the last 12 years. The viewership and scope of the event have been purposefully expanded during a three-year development program, which began in 2012. The event has succeeded in expanding its viewership into a new record every year. In 2014, a total of 13 100 children and youth attended DOKKINO, when the previous year had attracted only 8 550.

A major goal for DOKKINO has been to develop into a forum for children and youth’s own ideas and activity. During the event the students will get to make their own short documentaries in workshops led by professionals, which has proven to be an excellent way to augment media education. Another goal has been to add new locations to the tour by at least two cities every year. In 2014, the tour visited a total of 13 cities in Finland, which were Helsinki, Oulu, Kuopio, Mikkeli, Pori, Jyväskylä, Turku, Tampere, Vantaa, Espoo, Vaasa, Lappeenranta and Kuusamo. New locations for 2015 will be Rovaniemi, Kajaani and Kotka. In 2015, DOKKINO will run for the 13th time.

DOKKINO website: http://docpoint.info/en/info-2/dokkino-documentary-film-event-children-young/

EUROPEAN SHOOTING STARS 2015 Jury Line-up Is Unveiled

European Film Promotion (EFP) has today announced its five members of the prestigious EUROPEAN SHOOTING STARS jury for 2015. This year’s jury represents various countries and stretches across numerous sectors of the international film industry, including Swedish actress and former SHOOTING STAR Eva Röse (Maria Wern), film editor (Empire magazine) Damon Wise from the UK, Polish director Malgorzata Szumowska (Elles), Slovenian film producer Danijel Hočevar (Circles) and French casting director Nathalie Cheron (Lucy).

Selecting from amongst today’s best and brightest young actors across Europe, the jury will decide 2015’s ten EUROPEAN SHOOTING STARS, with results being announced this December. The SHOOTING STARS event is financially supported by Creative Europe - MEDIA Programme of the European Union and the participating EFP members.

The ten actors chosen by the jury next month will then be showcased to the international film community and entertainment media at the Berlin International Film Festival (Feb 5 – 15, 2015). 23 EFP member countries have nominated their emerging actors from their territory for the potential accolade of EUROPEAN SHOOTING STAR 2015.

As part of this engagement, each SHOOTING STAR will be offered a networking platform to support their international careers - meeting casting directors, talent agents, press and filmmakers from around the world. The highlight of this three-day-event during the first weekend of the Berlinale will be the annual awards ceremony, whereby the film festival honours each actor with the SHOOTING STARS AWARD, presented by TESIRO, on the main festival stage.

Held at the renowned New York Explorer’s Club, the annual Polar Film Festival was staged for the third time from November 21-22 presenting a selection of shorts and documentaries with Arctic and Antarctica themes.  The program included the 2013 feature film Maina by Michel Poulette on the role of an Innu leader’s daughter in the conflict between two clans. Given its focus and the superb photography of most productions selected the imagery of nature and icescapes shown was stunning.  The polar film festival was introduced by a lecture by Russell. A. Potters: “Before Nanook:  Fact and Fiction in early arctic Films”. It dealt with filmmaking of the arctic before Flaherty’s 1922 Nanook documentary and the challenge of representing arctic reality between fact and fiction. The polar film festival with its specialized focus and a captive audience presented productions which for the most part cannot be seen elsewhere.  Principal sponsor of the 2014 edition was the Adventure Canada agency.

Across the Ice:  Greenland Victoria March, 2014, Sebastian Copeland The explorers Sebastian Copeland and Eric McNair-Landry engaged in a 42 days record breaking track over the Greenland ice sheet covering more than 2300 kilometers. They started their journey in Southern Narsasuq to finish in Northern Qaanaaq (Thule) spanning all of Greenland. The documentary reflects an amazing adventure because they mastered the distance on skis which were pulled by kites. Exposed to the deafening silence of the icescape with no direct contact with any other living being their track was interrupted by a blizzard which pinned them down for five days. Their brief midway stop at the relic of an abandoned cold war radar station DYE-2   with its hastily abandoned equipment and supplies created an amazing visual contrast.

Expedition to the End of the World, 2013, Daniel Dencik In this visually stunning international co-production a three-mast schooner sets out for North East Greenland with artists and scientists. They have no set  agenda other than exploring  fjords in North East Greenland, which due to climate change can now be navigated for a couple of weeks only. They brave an unpredictable adventure from encountering polar bears to their ship being stuck in ice. They find traces of Stone Age people who once lived there, sample thawing permafrost layers, observe rapidly disappearing ice massives, and discover new micro species dragged from the deep water bed of the fjord.  Philosophical discussions of the voyagers prompt reflection as they are confronted with nature and forced to question the function of civilization and the end of life in their exploration of the unknown.  Global warming melting the ice packs will end the polar bear species. As one scientist observes the polar bear may survive on land if he mates with brown bears.

Heimo’s Arctic Refuge, 2010, Vice: Far Out series      Heimo Korth lives in total isolation 150 miles north of the Arctic Circle the national arctic wildlife refuge set up by the US government in 1980 and 100 miles from the nearest neighbor. He has been staying there and living off the land for more than 30 years after a long learning survival skills period. He is the only white person left of the six families who were allowed to stay there when the refuge was established.

With his Inuit wife Edna he stays in his compounds throughout the year except for the summer and raised two daughters now grown up but living elsewhere, though visiting from time to time.  His encampment consists of a hut they built out of logs and moss and a tent. Completely self-reliant they move from this cabin to two others they built if the resources of the first cabin are exhausted. They use more than100 snares to capture small animals and fish in a nearby river. But most of their food is derived by hunting lathe animals like caribous which they slaughter and freeze. Their only luxuries are a radio, a satellite phone for emergencies and access to the internet.

The production is an object lesson in Cariboo hunting, bear defense and other survival skills without which living off the wilderness is not possible. Heiman wants to avoid contact with people and lives as far away from them as he can.  According to the producer this escape may be linked to his family background. The Vice audience was so responsive to the programs that more Far Out nature programs were produced.

Magnetic Reconnection, 2013, Kyle Armstrong  Juxtaposing moving images of  the aurora borealis with  remainders of our technologies as shown in rusting ship wrecks and elements of industrial ruins, Armstrong provides a superbly filmed introduction to nature as it “is stripping away our attempts to conquer”.  Photographed in the tundra surrounding of Churchill in Manitoba, the production features cutting edge filming and an innovative sound track. The film reconnects us with the beauty of nature and makes us question the very notion of technological progress.

The polar film festival successfully delivered an impressive program and met the expectation of outstanding photography yet pinpointing important environmental issues.

Claus Mueller   filmexchange@gmail.com

DEADLINE EXTENDED TO:

DECEMBER 12, 2014 

12PM - No late entries will be accepted

Poster must include the following text:

Media Arts Center San Diego's

22nd Annual San Diego Latino Film Festival
March 12-22, 2015
www.sdlatino.com | 619-230-1938

Please submit by:

DECEMBER 12,2014 12PM

Send submission via wetransfer.com to:
Ian Virgilio
Marketing/PR Associate
San Diego Latino Film Festival
ian@mediaartscenter.org

The festival will pay Europe’s first tribute to international star Irrfan Khan, known all over the world for his roles in “Life of Pi”, “The Millionaire”, “The Amazing Spiderman”, “Lunchbox” and the HBO series “In Treatment”. 

River to River Florence Indian Film Festival will take place in Florence from 6 to 12 December, Rome (13 and 14 December), Milan (February 2015) and, for the first time ever, in Mumbai (March 2015). The festival will showcase 40 films, among them Italian, European and wordwide premieres.

Child prostitution in Calcutta’s brothels; a single mother’s unease in a foreign country; a song contest for manual workers who try to redeem themselves from a hard life; the rural India of the castes, the aspirations of the young generations, between tradition and a rapidly-evolving world, through to sports as a way to personal redemption: these are some of the topics addressed by the 14th River to River Florence Indian Film Festival, Italy’s only festival all about Indian cinema, which will take place at Cinema Odeon (Piazza Strozzi 2), in Florence, from December 6th to 12th, with over 40 films (Italian, European and world premieres), including brand-new independent films and the latestBollywood productions. The picture is completed by Europe’s first tribute to Indian star Irrfan Khan, with 2 Italian premieres (the actor will receive ‘The Key to the City’ from the Lord Mayor of Florence, Dario Nardella, at cinema Odeon, on December 7th at 08.30 pm); 5 special events; 2 morning talks and 10 international guests who will meet the audience after the films.

As part of the 50 Giorni di Cinema Internazionale a Firenze, the Festival has been founded and is directed by Selvaggia Velo, under the Patronage of the Embassy of India and FIND - India/Europe Foundation for New Dialogues, with the contribution of the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage - Cinema Department, the Tuscan Region and Fondazione Sistema Toscana, Ente Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze and OAC, and the India Tourism Office of Milan.

Then, the festival will move to Nuovo Cinema Aquila (via l’Aquila n.66) in Rome (December 13 – 14) for a two-day festival and, in February 2015, it will move again to Spazio Oberdan in Milan (Viale Vittorio Veneto n.2) for the “best of” Florence’s festival. For the first time ever (March 2015), the River to River Florence Indian Film Festival will land in Mumbai, at the Blue Frog, with the “best of” the Florence Festival, in partnership with Pocket Films of Mumbai and Blue Frog.

OPENING AND CLOSING FILMS

The River to River festival will open with a smile on Saturday, December 6th (at 08.00 pm), with the Italian premiere of the on-the-road comedy Finding Fanny by Homi Adajana, a box-office hit in India, with a stellar cast including Nasseruddin Shah, Arjun Kapoor, Pankaj Kapur, Dimple Kapadia and Deepika Padukone, about an unsent love letter found thirty years later and five friends going on a journey to try to find the addressee. The film will be introduced by Arunima Sharma, associate director. Then, Deepika Padukone will star in the closing film too, on Friday, December 12th (at 8.00 pm) the Italian premiere of the colossal Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram-Leela by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, a gripping Bollywood take on the classic Romeo and Juliet story, with fairy-tale music and scenes.

A TRIBUTE TO IRRFAN KHAN

Irrfan Khan, who will soon be in all cinemas in Colin Trevorrow’s Jurassic World (the new chapter in the Jurassic Park saga, out in June 2015), will receive Europe’s first tribute, with the screening of three of his films: Qissa by Anup Singh (Italian premiere, on Sunday 7th at 08.30 pm, in the presence of director Anup Singh and Irrfan Khan), the story of a little girl raised as a boy by her father and married off to a girl, Paan Singh Tomar by Tigmanshu Dhulia (Italian premiere, on Monday 8th at 05.00 pm), a biopic about an Indian soldier and 3000 metre champion forced to become an outlaw, and the cult movie The Namesake by Mira Nair (on Friday 12th at 04.30 pm), about an Indian couple in New York, who try to fit in the city. In addition, seven episodes of the third series of the US HBO episodesm of In Treatment that the actor starred in will be screened on Tuesday 9th (at 05.00 pm), on Wednesday 10th (at 04.30 pm), and on Thursday 11th (at 04.00 pm).

FEATURE FILMS IN COMPETITION

Five feature films will be competing in the festival. The first one, on Sunday, December 7th  (at 05.30 pm), will be the comedy M Cream by Agneya Singh, the coming-of-age story of a group of friends who, by looking for a legendary kind of hashish, will change their outlook on their values and lifestyle; on Monday, December 8th (at 08.30 pm), love will take centre stage in the European premiere of Mrs. Scooter by Shiladitya Moulik (who will be there to meet the audience), a story of emotions on a scooter, and on Tuesday 9th (at 08.30 pm), the poetic Fandry by Nagraj Manjule, a multi award-winning film and the winner of the Mumbai International Film Awards, about the complicated story between a young dalit, a member of the untouchable caste, and a classmate from a higher caste. On Wednesday, December 10th, to coincide with the Human Rights Day, at 08.30 pm, the festival will screen the Italian premiere of Sold by Oscar-winning director Jeffrey Brown (who will be there to meet the audience). Having Emma Thompson as executive producer and starring David Arquette and Gillian Anderson, the film is about child prostitution in Calcutta’s brothels. The selection will be closed on Thursday, December 11th (at 08.30 pm), by the Italian premiere of I am Yours by Iram Haq, starring Amrita Acharia of Game of Thrones fame, the story of a young Indian-Norwegian single mother who lives in Oslo and the problems of making the two cultures live together, between love and loneliness.  

DOCUMENTARIES IN COMPETITION

The Doc India section for all forms of documentary films will take off on Monday, December 8th (at 04.00 pm), with the documentary Goonga Pehelwan by Prateek Gupta, Mit Jani and Vivek Chaudhary, about the life of the deaf Indian wrestling champion of the same name and his attempts at qualifying for the Rio Olympics 2016, while Tuesday, December 9th (at 06.30 pm), will see the world premiere of Chronicles of a temple painter by Shravan Katikaneni, the story of a Hindu man who saves a Muslim baby girl from the explosion of a bomb in Hyderabad, to the outrage of both communities. It will be followed (at 07.30 pm) by the Italian premiere of That elephant from the bridgeby Abhilash Vijayan, a silent portrait of life in an Indian circus.

On Thursday 11th (at 6.30 pm), music will steal the limelight in Champ of the camp by Mahmoud Kaabour, a documentary about an "X Factor"-like song contest in pure Bollywood style, entered every year by lots and lots of Indian manual workers working in the Arab Emirates in the attempt to redeem themselves from a lonely life.

SHORT FILMS IN COMPETITION

The selected short films at the 14th River to River Festival, all Italian premiers, will be screened on two days. The first day will be focussed on everyday life stories, on Sunday, December 7th (starting at 04.00 pm), with 6 Cup Chai by Laila Khan, Dreamworks by Vishal Vittal, Hechki by Kartik Singh, My Dear Americans by Arpita Kumar, and The Frame by Samvida Nanda. After the films, directors Laila Khan and Kartik Singh will meet the audience. The second day, Wednesday 10th (starting at 05.30 pm), will be all about love, in all its forms, with the short films 8 to 8 by Pratim Dasupta, Bar Stools by filmmaking duo Varun Bajaj and Neale Hemrajani, Chypre by Anish Dedhia, Int Café night by Adhiraj Bose, and Stuff by Sofian Khan. On Thursday 11th (at 11.00 am), the schedule will also include a Student Film Section, a selection of non-competing premieres from India’s three main film schools, the Film and TV Institute of Pune, the Whistling Woods of Mumbai, and the Prasad Film and TV Institute of Chennai.

SPECIAL EVENTS

New, this year, will be the Online Stories, contemporary Indian society told through the Internet and its social networks by the 2.0 generation of filmmakers. The selection will include (on Sunday 7th, at 02.30 pm) Hank and Asha by James E. Duff, a film about love in the age of the Internet told through the friendship between an Indian girl who studies in Prague and a lonely New-Yorker, in which two strangers look for a deep connection in a hyper-connected world; the European premiere of Acceptance (on Monday 8th, at 03.00 pm) by Matthew Chan (who will be there with the two actors, Vinesh Nagrani and Pierre Cassini), the autobiography of the director whose roommate, with the help of social networks, deceives his friends by pretending he has won a  place at Harvard. The section will be completed (on Wednesday 10th, at 06.30 pm) by Diary Of an Overly Reactive Middle Aged Teenagerby Prashant Sehgal, the ‘webcam diary’ of Saski, an aspiring actress in Mumbai, which tells how the girl spends her days from her webcam’s point of view.

The festival’s special events will include three non-competingdocumentaries, starting on Monday, December 8th (at 11.00 am) with Upaj by Hoku Uchiyama, about the professional and human relationship between kathak dance guru Pandit Chitresh Das and Afro-American tap star Jason Smith, while at 02.30 pm renewable energy will be the subject of the world premiere Narmada - Power to the people by Fahar Samar, a documentary about the mammoth project for the construction of a bridge on the Narmada dam. The selection will be closed on Friday 12th (at 06.30 pm) by the documentary-style interview Zakir Hussain: Sessionsby Anisa Quereshi, about one of the best-known living table players. After the film, Zakir Hussain, winner of three Grammy Awards and composer of soundtracks for Francis Ford Coppola’s films, will talk with the audience on Skype.

For the seventh year on end, the festival will be partnering with Pocket Films of Mumbai in Advantage India, a short film contests where the two winners - Chappalled by Yusuf Abidin and Rani by Manish Sharma - will be screened on the final day, Friday, December 12th, at 08.00 pm. The winner of the first prize at Advantage India  - The Frame by Samvida Nandi -  will automatically be entered in the short film section in competition of the festival.

THE AWARDS

In each section, the audience will select the winner (feature films, documentary films and short films) that will receive the River to River Doombo Audience Award.

All films will be screened at Cinema Odeon (P.zza Strozzi n. 2) in the original language, with Italian and English subtitles.

SIDE EVENTS

Talks

On Sunday 7th at 11.30 am, the talk Online Stories. Come i social media e le nuove tecnologie stanno cambiando l’India (How social media and new technology are changing India) with Troy Nachtigall, social media expert and lecturer at Ied, and Marco Restelli, expert of Indian studies at Milan’s Statale University and journalist (Cinema Odeon - free entrance).

On Monday 8th, at 12.00 pm, prompted by the film Upaj, the talkL'arte di improvvisare tra musica e danza (The art of improvising, between music and dancing), with Rossella Fanelli, kathak dance lecturer and performer, Nihar Mehta, tabla player, and Ernesto Tacco, tap dance lecturer and performer (Cinema Odeon - free entrance).

Wednesday 10th, at 05.00 pm, to coincide with the Human Rights Day, presentation of the book La scelta di Samir by Valeria Benatti, journalist, about the work of Indian paediatrician Samir Chaudhuri, in partnership with the Robert F. Kennedy Centre for Justice and Human Rights Europe. Guests will include paediatrician Samir Chaudhuri, founder and director of the Child In Need Institute - Cini India, and Valeria Benatti, author of the book (Robert F. Kennedy Centre for Justice and Human Rights Europe, Via Ghibellina 12a - free entrance)

Museums and exhibitions

On Tuesday, December 9th, at 07.00 pm, opening of the video festival River to River - OFF, a selection of videos by the famous four contemporary Indian artistsAnish Kapoor, Nikhil Chopra, Shilpa Gupta and Subodh Gupta, in partnership with Museo Marino Marini and Galleria Continua – San Gimignano/Beijing/Les Moulins. The exhibition will be open until December 12th (Museo Marino Marini, Piazza S. Pancrazio - free entrance).

Starting on Tuesday, December 9th, in partnership with Museo Stibbert, the festival will arrange three guided tours of the Indian collection of the museum, on Tuesday 9th (from 12.00 pm to 01.00 pm), on Wednesday 10th (from 12.00 pm to 01.00 pm) and on Friday 12th (from 02.00 pm to 03.00 pm) (Museo Stibbert, Via Stibbert 26 – holders of the cinema ticket will receive a 2 euro discount on the ticket).

During the week of the festival, at Museo Salvatore Ferragamo (Palazzo Feroni, Piazza S. Trinita 5) holders of the cinema ticket will receive a 3 euro discount on the ticket.

This year, the River to River Florence Indian Film Festival has formed a new partnership with luxury hotel J.K. Place Firenze, which welcomes its international guests in an exclusive, private atmosphere right in the heart of the city. In addition, for the second year on end, the River to River will be supported by Salvatore Ferragamo, a brand that has always been keen on dialoguing with the world of culture, art and cinema. Mediapartner, the taxidrivers.it movie website. In addition, the Festival is also sponsored by Klopman, Latte Maremma and Instyle. Its partners include: Four Seasons Hotel Firenze, Palazzo Tornabuoni, Hotel Roma, Pensione Canada, Vini Mazzei, Amblè, Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights Europe, Museo Marino Marini, Galleria Continua-San Gimignano/Beijing/Les Moulins, Museo Stibbert, Teatro del Sale and Gabrio Staff Olimpo.

During the week in Florence, Odeon Bistro will host the Indian cuisine of Royal India restaurant.

 Website www.rivertoriver.it

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Twitter & Instagram @river2riverfiff

Facebook /rivertoriverfiff

Netflix, Showtime, specifically HBO and more recently CNN as well as Aljazeera America, have been providing expanded platforms for documentaries which can be readily accessed.  Further festivals such as Britdocs and the Guanajuato International Film Festival’s ‘Documentary with an Impact’ program identify documentaries which have real consequences driving discernible change. Non-fiction programs have secured a firm position in the media landscape especially if they are issue oriented..

Over the last years there has been a rapid growth in documentary productions and an expansion of documentary programs at festivals such as the New York Film Festival and Tribeca.  The fifth edition of DOC NYC, New York City’s Documentary film festival; held at four established venues from November 13-20 has grown into the largest documentary festival in America with more than 25 thousand participants and fifty sold out screening   The program featured 155 films including 92 feature-length productions with more than 60 shown for the first time New York and 20 world premieres. Participation of more than 200 presenters in 25 panels and master classes included outstanding film makers like Albert Masyles, D.A.Pennabaker, Ric Burns, Darren Aronowski, and Jim Jarmush.  As other large, midsize or small festivals based in New York City with broad or narrow audience appeal such as the New York Film Festival, Tribeca, the NY Indian Film Festival or the Winter Awards Fest, the DOC NYC fest benefits from New York City’s as a choice location. The media industry is concentrated here, virtually all of the colleges and universities in the New York area have been running film programs churning out  thousands of trained students. There is the presence of a great number of local actual and aspiring film makers in addition to those drawn to New York. Festivals enjoy here an opinion shaping film literate audience and a large press and media industry corps which can provide buzz to the films selected. There is no major documentary film festival held during this part of the year in the United States. Also,  DOC NYC lacks the pressure cooker atmosphere of festivals like Sundance. Media corporations are the principle sponsors of DOC NYC including but not restricted to HBO, History Films, A&E, 13/WNET, NBC and CNN but also the Sundance Doc Club, Citi Bank and Indiewire.  The event was produced by IFC.

DOC NYC has expanded its program by adding two days to the Doc-A-Thon panel series. Sessions focused on first time film makers, shorts, virtually all aspects of documentary film making, and the audience.  The competition sections Viewfinders stressed directorial visions and Metropolis had New York themes.

Other sections were devoted to Shorts, the Sonic Cinema, American Perspectives, and International Perspectives. Well received new sections this year celebrated activism in Fight the Power, focused on performance in Centerstage and highlighted sports in Jock Docs. The new DocsRedux and the Short List programs presented outstanding classic and the best current documentaries. These sections carried documentaries which had been shown before and/or already premiered at festival.To list but a few from the Doc Redux series there was  ‘David’ 1961, D.A. Pennebaker; ‘High School’ 1968, F, Wiseman; ‘Salesman’ 1968, A. Masyles, D, Maysles & C. Zewrin; ‘Hoop Dreams’ 1994, S. James; and ‘Metallica: Some Kind of Monster’ J. Berlinger & B. Sinofsky, 2004.  Most recent significant productions in the Short List included   ‘Citizen Four’ L. Pointras; ‘E-Team’ K. Cevigny & R. Kauffman:’ Finding Vivian Maier’ J. Maloof & C. Siskel; ‘The Great Invisible’ M. Brown; ‘Last Days in Vietnam’ R. Kennedy; ‘Life Itself’ S. James; ‘Merchants of Doubts’ Kenner and ‘Red Army’ G.Polsky..  The Doc Redux and Short List selections were mini festivals in themselves and crucial for the comprehensive broad scope of the festival.

Among some of the noteworthy new production was  ‘The Yes Men are Revolting’ by Laura Nix presenting the last five years’ activities of these pranksters, the second chronicle devoted to them; ‘Enquiring Minds: The Untold Story of the National Enquirer’ directed by Ric Burns is a marvelous portrait of the path breaking tabloid and his publisher Generoso Pope Jr. and offers a stimulating discussion of his family’s link to the mafia.  Amy Berg’s hard hitting film ‘An Open Secret’ analyzes the exploitation and abuse of children by Hollywood’s film industry. The US Egypt co-production ‘Cairo Drive’   by Sherief Elkatsha records through chaotic traffic conditions  the street level perspective drivers have of Cairo and the wide range of its residents in the context of the recent turmoil in Egypt.  Viko Nikci’s ‘Coming Home’ depicts a former convict who adjusts’ to life after spending 13 years in prison on an alleged attempted murder charge.  In a witty portrait “Florence Arizona’ Andrea Scott describes a small town’s dependence on the local prison industry. Adam Zucker reviews in ‘The Return’ the challenge several young Polish women face who were raised Catholics but discover that they are Jewish. Their quest for a Jewish identity can be difficult as distinct from the taken for granted identity of Jews growing up in the United States or Israel. Inclusion of Wim Wenders “The Salt of the Earth’ in the Short List section was as Stephen Holden  put it “ a crowning moment  of the fest    featuring imagery from the utmost horror to the beautiful.

‘Cairo Drive’ was the Grand Jury Prize winner in the Viewfinders Competition, ‘Homme Less’ by Thomas Wirthensohn portraying the photographer Mark Reay and New York City, scored The Grand Jury Prize in the Metropolis as did Danielle’s Schwartz’  ‘Mirror Image’ on accountability and socially constructed justifications in a family setting. The SundanceNow Doc Club Audience Award was won by Rachel Lears and Robin Blotnick for ‘The Hand That Feeds’ on the labor struggle of bakery service workers.

Established in 2010 by Thurn Powers and Raphaela Neihausen, the DOC NYC festival is probably the most important addition to New York’s rich festival scene. It speaks for the acumen of the organizer that they selected seven of the 15 documentaries now on the Oscar short list. DOC NYC is a festival that cannot be missed.

Claus Mueller   filmexchange@gmail.com

The LICHTERARTAWARD is an international competition and exhibition, aiming to present the most contemporary, diverse and high-quality artistic works in the field of visual arts related to film. Accepted are works which use film and video as a primary media. The competition is open to visual artists, filmmakers and students from art and film academies. There are no restrictions on the theme of the work. To keep the high quality of the event, we want to make sure the works submitted meet high professional standards. The LICHTERARTAWARD is not a laboratory – it is a showcase for finished works.

Five finalists’ works will be exhibited throughout the festival period from 17th to 22th of March 2015.
The LICHTERARTAWARD is endowed with a 1.000 Euro prize for the best work. A jury of art experts will award the best work.

TERMSANDCONDITIONS

• The work must be new or not older than one year
• should be designed as a single projection or an room installation.

The following information should be provided as a PDF (max. 5 pages to LAA@lichter-filmfest.de– or as a link to a website):

• a project description
• a short artist biography
• a brief visual documentation of 3 previous works

We will accept all established formats but in case that a work requires a special format or was conceived to be presented as a room installation please consult with the curator in advance via e-mail.

VERYIMPORTANT
Only if it is not possible to upload the entire work it should be sent by regular mail to the postal address below. Works sent by mail will not be returned.
Only one work per participant will be accepted!
For further inquiries please contact the curator of the LICHTERARTAWARD, Saul Judd, via e-mail: s.judd@lichter-filmfest.de: s.judd@lichter-filmfest.de

Please fill out the competition entry form here
Submission ends by by January 25th, 2015.

Find the LICHTER Art Award also on Facebook!

Festival del film Locarno
5 – 15 | 8 | 2015

Locarno Industry Days’ new initiative gives continuity to the past editions of post-production showcase Carte Blanche hosting the most promising upcoming producers from Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico.

From its first edition in 2011, the Festival del film Locarno post-production showcase Carte Blanche, focusing every year in a selected country, has given the possibility to producers of the most promising films in development in four Latin American countries to present them to industry professionals attending the Festival. During these years the distribution, sales and festival selections of many films has been boosted by this initiative, deeply contributing to important international successes.

Starting from 2015, Carte Blanche Extra will guarantee a continuity to the strong connections that have been created with the previous selected countries through their national promotion agencies: Cinema do Brasil, CinemaChile, Proimagenes Colombia and IMCINE (Mexico). Each of them will invite to Locarno up to four upcoming producers to introduce their works to potential co-producers during the Locarno Industry Days (8 – 10 August, 2015). Additionally, a series of professional lunches with Industry key players will help creating a fertile networking in a productive "Latino’s Corner".

“Carte Blanche has quickly become one of the cores of the Locarno Industry Days activities. Carte Blanche Extra strengthens and develops an ongoing relationship with our partners for the benefit of the selected producers.”
Nadia Dresti, Locarno’s Delegate to the Artistic Direction and Head of International

“The experience of Carte Blanche was one of the best we had in seven years of activities. Great atmosphere, great professionals of the industry and perfect organization!”
André Sturm, Chairman of Cinema do Brasil

“Carte Blanche was for CinemaChile a very important event for the development of the Chilean director's international relations.”
Constanza Arena, Executive Director of CinemaChile

“Mexican Cinema has always had a significant place in Locarno and the possibility to strengthen the ties with Locarno Industry Days is exciting.”
Monserrat Sánchez Soler, Director of International Affairs of IMCINE

Carte Blanche Extra has been introduced today in Ventana Sur by Carlo Chatrian, Artistic Director of the Festival del film Locarno and Markus Duffner, Carte Blanche Coordinator.

More information on the Locarno Industry activities

Carte Blanche success stories

Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) is pleased to announce details of a new ‘Doc of the Day’ initiative for the 69th edition (17 to 28 June 2015)  which will shine a light on documentary feature films and see a host of Premieres, special activities and guest panellists.

The Festival has unveiled plans for some exciting new developments around documentary films.  Reflecting EIFF’s early beginnings in 1947 as a Documentary Festival, the new ‘Doc of the Day’ initiative will see a special spotlight turned on one documentary feature film every day.  Each ‘Doc of the Day’ title will have special activities organised around its Premiere, including contributions from key guests, specialist panels, and input from local and national organisations.  These and other documentary features from the Festivals other programming strands will be considered for the Award for Best Documentary Feature Film.

Diane Henderson, EIFF Deputy Artistic Director said:  “This exciting new initiative will allow increased levels of engagement for our documentary audiences, whilst providing additional opportunities for local and national agencies to connect more fully with EIFF.   ‘Doc of the Day’ is also a nod to EIFF’s long history of celebrating documentaries, whilst recognising our important function as a home for discussion, debate, and the wider appreciation of all things cinema.”

As work begins on the programme for the 2015 EIFF, programmers have already begun searching for those cinematic gems worthy of the 69th edition. Open submissions launched on 3 November and there is still plenty of time for filmmakers to send their films for consideration before the process closes on Wednesday 11 February, and anyone submitting before Wednesday 17 December can take advantage of the special earlybird rates.

Over the years, the Festival has continued to bring UK audiences ground-breaking and exciting films from around the world. All genres and lengths of films will be considered, and EIFF is especially interested in films by emerging filmmakers whose work manifests stylistic boldness, strength of form, and the ambition to use the medium in a way that resists cliché.  Films compete for various awards, including the Michael Powell Award for Best British Feature Film, Award for Best Short Film, Award for Best International Feature, and the ever-popular EIFF Audience Award.

Films can be submitted via postal form, downloaded from www.edfilmfest.org.uk/submissions  or via EIFF’s partner www.withoutabox.com.  All films must be UK premieres (except Short Animation submissions) and films that are available to purchase online, or that have broadcast in Britain are not eligible. Promotional films (e.g. tourism, charitable appeals, etc.) are not eligible and all submitted films should be no more than 12 months old by June 2015.The final selection of all films presented at the Festival and their placement in the programme is the responsibility of the Artistic Director. 



Special Challenges of Large Film Festivals ($500k + budget)

Moderator Bruno Chatelin co founder filmfestivals.com

Panelist: Joshua Nordin, Business Development Director, NEPS Worldwide –  

Panelist:  Beth Caldarello, Operations Manager, Telluride Film Festival -  

Panelist: Barbara Morgan, Executive Director, Austin Film Festival-  

Panelist: Tonya Mantooth, Vice President, San Diego Film Festival  -  

I see three moments in the discussion (before Questions from the floor)

1.       about size

size matters, what motivates festival growth, which measurement criteria

2.       Problems from growing from small to large what becomes more difficult in terms of running from craftsmanship to industrial

3.       Opportunities and rewards from running a larger festival

The presentation of each panelist will lead to a conversation around the following issues/topics based on each panelist’s perspective and experience.

·         Large festivals have a lot more moving parts

·         In terms of

·         Talent

·         Security

·         Cost

·         Film premiers

·         And etc.

·         The stakes are higher and lot more you have to be careful with

·         Handling submissions and how you staff it?

·         Biggest issue is staffing – contract staff, job responsibilities, business issues when you hire you don’t deal with when they are volunteers – it gets worse the bigger you get. – seasonal

·         Piracy issues 

Think you know a lot about The Valley? These young filmmakers thought they did. Join us in sharing this video to help crush stereotypes and appreciate the (818) in support of The Valley Film Festival a non-profit project of Community Partners. #VFF14