BREAKING NEWS / LAST HOUR INFORMATIONS

Dear Friends, 

Greetings from Porto. 

On the 15th January the country was put in lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic, at least till the 15th February. All Cultural events have been suspended and theatres were closed. However, we hope that as soon as the lockdown ends, we will be able to resume the normal activity, therefore being able to have Fantasporto in the announced dates- 25^th February till 7^th March – at the Rivoli Theatre, following all rules coming from the Health Authorities which condition the available seating and number of screenings. 

Regarding our visitors, should they decide to come to Porto, they must submit to the travelling restrictions imposed by the government. Presuming that some of the present ones continue, namely to have a negative Covid-19 test followed by  a 2 to 7 days quarantine till the end of February,  we are sorry to inform that the festival will not be able to support more than the 3 hotel nights agreed, leaving all extra expenses on account of our visitors.  We suggest that, to minimize the absence and as an introduction to the screenings, a small statement can be sent in MP4, as soon as possible. As for the International Juries, the festival will provide the necessary conditions to do his work. 

Sorry for the inconveniences. For further information, don’t hesitate to contact us through info@fantasporto.com. 

January 15th

FANTASPORTO 2021 from February 26th till March 6th

FANTASY WORLD CINEMA 

RETURNS TO PORTO

Considering the circumstances imposed by the present pandemic restrictions, FANTASPORTO/ 41st Porto International Film Festival has made the decision to maintain the 2021 festival edition in person, with a live audience. Cinema is to be seen preferentially inside theatres, in a big screen. Fantasporto’2021 continues its mission to bring audiences and film creatives together, to celebrate cinema in the best possible way. Fantasporto International Film Festival 2021 remains an unmissable event in the national & international film calendar. 

The Porto International Film Festival Line Up will has its usual sections, presenting a huge diversity of some of the most important films, features and shorts made in 2020, all screened in National, International or World Premières.

The festival has screened the first films of some of the greatest film creators of all times, one of the merits of the event. David Cronenberg, André Tarkovsky, Brian de Palma, John Carpenter, Alain Resnais, David Lynch, Andrezj Zulawski, Bigas Luna, Ridley Scott, Luc Besson, Peter Greenaway, Jean-Jacques Beinex, Neil Jordan, Joel and Ethan Coen or Lars von Trier showed their first films in the first 5 years of Fantasporto. 

Also Pedro Almodóvar, Sam Raimi, Leos Carax, Vincent Ward, Peter Jackson, Hal Hartley, Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro, Anthony Minghella, Peter Weir, Quentin Tarantino, Tim Robbins, Guillermo del Toro, Roberto Rodriguez, Vincenzo Natali, Danny Boyle, Lee Tamahori, the Waschowski brothers, Nick Cassevetes, Scott Hicks, David Fincher screened their first films in Fantasporto, making it a special place for the discovery of new talent.

Last year Oscar Winner Bong Joon Ho also started at the Porto Festival. Among these discoveries are 7 Best Film Oscar Winners! 

The Festival will be held from February 26th till March 6th (international dates) at the Rivoli Theatre in Oporto. The festival will be presential, that is with an audience, following all possible safety rules due to the pandemic. Please notice that, as the restrictions at the time of the festival are not yet known, further decisions will be taken accordingly, if necessary. 

Is a huge pleasure to announce the final Official Line Up for the 2021 edition. More news will be announced in the next few days.

BREAKING NEWS / LAST HOUR INFORMATIONS

Dear Friends, 

Greetings from Porto. 

On the 15th January the country was put in lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic, at least till the 15th February. All Cultural events have been suspended and theatres were closed. However, we hope that as soon as the lockdown ends, we will be able to resume the normal activity, therefore being able to have Fantasporto in the announced dates- 25^th February till 7^th March – at the Rivoli Theatre, following all rules coming from the Health Authorities which condition the available seating and number of screenings. 

Regarding our visitors, should they decide to come to Porto, they must submit to the travelling restrictions imposed by the government. Presuming that some of the present ones continue, namely to have a negative Covid-19 test followed by  a 2 to 7 days quarantine till the end of February,  we are sorry to inform that the festival will not be able to support more than the 3 hotel nights agreed, leaving all extra expenses on account of our visitors.  We suggest that, to minimize the absence and as an introduction to the screenings, a small statement can be sent in MP4, as soon as possible. As for the International Juries, the festival will provide the necessary conditions to do his work. 

Sorry for the inconveniences. For further information, don’t hesitate to contact us vis info@fantasporto.com. 

January, 15th

FANTASPORTO 2021 from February 26th till March 6th

INSPIRING WORLD CINEMA 

RETURNS TO PORTO

Considering the circumstances imposed by the present pandemic restrictions, FANTASPORTO/ 41st Porto International Film Festival has made the decision to maintain the 2021 festival edition in person, with a live audience. Cinema is to be seen preferentially inside theatres, in a big screen. Fantasporto’2021 continues its mission to bring audiences and film creatives together, to celebrate cinema in the best possible way. Fantasporto International Film Festival 2021 remains an unmissable event in the national & international film calendar. 

The Porto International Film Festival Line Up will has its usual sections, presenting a huge diversity of some of the most important films, features and shorts made in 2020, all screened in National, International or World Premières.

The festival has screened the first films of some of the greatest film creators of all times, one of the merits of the event. David Cronenberg, André Tarkovsky, Brian de Palma, John Carpenter, Alain Resnais, David Lynch, Andrezj Zulawski, Bigas Luna, Ridley Scott, Luc Besson, Peter Greenaway, Jean-Jacques Beinex, Neil Jordan, Joel and Ethan Coen or Lars von Trier showed their first films in the first 5 years of Fantasporto. 

Also Pedro Almodóvar, Sam Raimi, Leos Carax, Vincent Ward, Peter Jackson, Hal Hartley, Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro, Anthony Minghella, Peter Weir, Quentin Tarantino, Tim Robbins, Guillermo del Toro, Roberto Rodriguez, Vincenzo Natali, Danny Boyle, Lee Tamahori, the Waschowski brothers, Nick Cassevetes, Scott Hicks, David Fincher screened their first films in Fantasporto, making it a special place for the discovery of new talent.

Last year Oscar Winner Bong Joon Ho also started at the Porto Festival. Among these discoveries are 7 Best Film Oscar Winners! 

The Festival will be held from February 26th till March 6th (international dates) at the Rivoli Theatre in Oporto. The festival will be presential, that is with an audience, following all possible safety rules due to the pandemic. Please notice that, as the restrictions at the time of the festival are not yet known, further decisions will be taken accordingly, if necessary. 

Is a huge pleasure to announce the final Official Line Up for the 2021 edition. More news will be announced in the next few days.

OFFICIAL FANTASY FILMS COMPETITION

The Funeral Home/La Funeraria – Mauro Iván Ojeda- 86’ ( Arg)- fantasy, horror

Bernardo is an undertaker. He runs his mortuary business in the same house where he resides. In the front he has his clients. And in the back, his dysfunctional family lives among coffins, wreaths and mischievous supernatural entities that visit on a daily basis. They attribute the paranormal manifestations to the dead bodies from their mortuary work. Find the real source of all this madness will be their quest, but they might find a terrifying truth. A new film showing the vitality of Argentinean Cinema, always original and inventive. Selected by the prestigious Frightfest, Sitges and Fantasia Film festivals.

Mauro Iván Ojeda

First feature by this writer-director.

Tin Can- Seth A. Smith- 105’ (Can) – CF- horror, sci-fi

In a world dominated by a plague, a front-line parasitologist makes an important discovery. Soon she finds herself in a life-sustaining chamber. In order to escape, she must destroy the last of her kind and build a new race. Selected for the 2020 Sitges Film Festival.

Seth A. Smith

Filmmaker and visual artist, in 2012 he completed his first film, “Lowlife”. In 2017 “The Crescent” took awards for best score, screenwriting, and actress at the Atlantic International Film Festival, and was given a nomination for the 2017 Directors Guild of Canada Discovery Award. 

Suicide Forest Village – Takashi Shimizu- 116’ (Jap) – CF – horror, fantasy

Two little girls are rescued near the suicide forest. Years later, under the house where they live, a strange box is found that seems to be the cause for the death of all who come in contact with it. Hibiki and her sister are going to find the reasons that took their mother to suicide and find out the meaning of that box. The answer is in the forest. A tale of horrors in which the legends of the past come to the present. From the director of “Howling Village”, screened in Fantasporto 2020.

Takashi Shimizu

The director was born in Japan  in 1972 and it is known for “Ju-on” (2002), “The Grudge” (2004), the American remake of “Ju-on”,  “ The Grudge 2”  (2006) and “Howling Village” (2019), selected for the Sitges and Neuchatel Film Festivals and presented in Fantasporto 2020. 

Marionette – Elbert van Strien- 112’ (Hol/UK/Luxemb)- CF - fantasy, horror

Coming from Dutch director Elbert Van Strien, a past winner of the Best Fantasy Film Award of Fantasporto 2011 with his “Two Staring Eyes”, (also known as “Two Eyes Staring”), his next feature is about a psychiatrist who travels to Scotland to work at a mental hospital. One of her patients, an enigmatic young boy who draws violent images of things to come, may be the explanation for what has happened to her. The question is, is he really God?  A fascinating story with fine acting by Peter Mullan, one of the most awarded British actors, known for “Braveheart”, “Children of Man”, “Warhorse” and, most recently, for the TV series “Westworld”. Also with Thekla Reuten (“Lost”) in the role of the doctor and young Elijah Wolf (“Trainspotting 2”).

Elbert van Strien

He was born in the Netherlands in 1964. His career has been divided by short films (with his sort” “The Hidden Face” awarded in the Brussels and Dresden Festivals) and several TV series. He won in Fantasporto 2011, Best Fantasy Film and Best Screenplay with his first feature “Two Staring Eyes” (a.k.a “Two Eyes Staring”). “Marionette” is his second feature. 

Get The Hell Out – I-Fan Wang - 96’ (Taiwan)- CF- comedy, horror, zombies

A woman is elected as a member of Parliament whose fame is to have massive scenes of fighting among its members. All she wants is to prevent the construction of a chemical plant in her city. However, after another fight, she is dismissed. She turns then to the office guard as her substitute. Soon enough, he is one of the corrupt. When a virus appears transforming the politicians in zombies, hell breaks loose. They are the only ones who can prevent total disaster. A totally chaotic and satirical feature, much like Japanese manga. Selected by the Sitges and Philadelphia festivals. 

I.- Fang Wang

First feature by the director, after his win at the Taipei Film Festival with his short “02-06” 

Post Mortem- Péter Bergendy -  115’ (Hung)- CF – fantasy, horror

A photographer, an ex-soldier of the 1^st World War, goes to a small village to capture the images of dead family members with the live relatives as it was frequent at the time. In a place that had many deaths because of the Spanish Flu and unable to bury their dead due to the frozen land, the village is in the hands of unfriendly ghosts. The man is going to try to help them. This is the first Hungarian horror feature, that easily compares to major American productions, and reminding us of great classics such as the soviet “Viyi”.  Selection of the Trieste Film Festival. 

Péter Bergendy  

Péter Bergendy was born in 1964. Graduated in Psychology with a thesis about horror films, he was the Hungarian editor of the German Cinema Magazine and worked as a researcher at the Hungarian Film Institute.  As a film-meker he directed several award-winning commercials. His first feature was the comedy “Stop Mom Teresa!”  in 2004. It was followed by “The Exam”, awarded at the Chicago Film festival 2012  and “Trezor” (2018),  the first Hungarian TV film ever nominated for the Emmy’s. “Post Mortem” (2020) is the first ever horror Hungarian Feature

The Reckoning- Neil Marshall – 110’- UK- 2020 – CF – horror, fantasy 

In the 17th century, without being able to explain the plague and other evils, society blames women calling them witches. After her husband’s death, Grace and her baby fall in the hands of the lord of the manor and is accused of witchcraft. With 22 international awards, “The Reckoning” was granted Best Film, Director and Actors awards in the Los Angeles Film Awards and in the New York International Film Awards.

Neil Marshall 

He was born in England in 1970. Already known in Fantasporto for “The Descent” and for “Dog Soldiers”, his first feature, he returns after an awarded career. His previous feature was “Hellboy” (2019) and before that he worked in TV series such as “ Game of Thrones”, “WestWorld” or “Hannibal”. He got an Emmy nomination in 2014 for the episode “The Watchers on the Wall” of “Game of Thrones”.

Ten Minutes to Midnight- Erik Bloomquist - 73’ EUA- CF – comedy, horror, zombies

A late-night radio host, Amy Marlow, is trapped inside the station with her work colleagues and boss by a violent storm, shortly after being bitten by a rabid bat. To make things worse, she is being replaced after 30 years in the station.  Sienna, her substitute fights with her and is bitten. The security guard seems to be waiting for the rabid symptoms. Amy begins to doubt what she sees, thinks or does.  With Caroline Williams (“Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2”). 

Erik Bloomquist 

He is a former Top 200 Director on HBO's Project Greenlight (2001) known for his work as series creator, executive producer, writer, director, editor, and lead actor on “The Cobblestone Corridor “ (2016). He received an Emmy in 2017 as a director and as a writer for this series. “Ten to Midnight” is his first feature. 

LX 2048 – Guy Moshe- 104’ (EUA / Lituânia) - sci-fi

The future presents new challenges to humanity. The sun is toxic and only few people face daylight. Among them is Adam, a man searching to guarantee the safety of his family. In spite of being in bad terms with his wife. He must understand that he may be quickly replaced by a being like him. Or better. 

Guy Moshe

Director and screenwriter, known for “Holly” (2006), “Bunraku” (2010)  and “The Man Who Was Thursday” (2016).

O Cemitério das Almas Perdidas – Rodrigo Aragão- 95’- Brasil - CF- horror

A ship in the middle of the storm is saved by the invocation of a man called Cyprian. The sailors reach firm land where they kill the natives. But a woman survives. In the meantime, a circus of horrors arrives in the village. The artists, first, scare the villagers and, seeing their reaction, try to soften their performance. Unsuccessfully. They decide to leave but before that, they are killed by some hooded men.  And, to make things worse, the Indian cannibals arrive. 

Rodrigo Aragão

Known as director and screenwriter of “A Mata Negra/The Black Forest”, winner of the Best Screenplay award in Fantasporto 2020, the director was influenced by his father, a magician and cinema theatre owner, and the world of visual tricks and effects. He is also known for “Mud Zombies” (2008) and “A Noite do Chupacabras” (2011).

The Trouble with Being Born- Sandra Wollner- 94’ (Austria/ Alem) CF- drama, sci-fi

Elli is an android with the shape of a child whose memories are worth a lot to its owner but nothing at all to her. This is the story of a machine but much more about what humans think about loss, death, loneliness or human relationships. Presented with some controversy, mostly due to the relationship between the android and her “father”, the film won the Special Jury Award at the Belin Film Festival – Encounters, and was, among others, for the San Sebastian Film Festival. 

Sandra Wollner  

She received the German Critics Award   and won the Gotenburg Film festival for her first feature with “The Impossible Picture” (2017). “The Trouble of Being Born” is her second feature, selected for many festival such as  Berlin, Bergen or  Diagonale (Austria). 

50th International Film Festival Rotterdam: 1 – 7 February | 2 – 6 June 2021 

Mads Mikkelsen and more at IFFR 2021 online in February 50th edition goes online in February, final confirmations and ticket sales  
International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) to open reimagined 50th edition online from 1 to 7 February 2021, on the tailor-made platform IFFR.com. Adapting to the latest Covid-19 restrictions, IFFR 2021 invites national audiences and accredited international guests to take part in premiere screenings, the full February film programme and the IFFR Pro Days (1 to 5 February) online. IFFR Talks has been further expanded with Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen, starring in the festival’s opening film Riders of Justice by director Anders Thomas Jensen. More programme confirmations and practical information complete the February programme ahead of upcoming ticket sales on 22 January.

Festival director Vanja Kaludjercic: “With the online platform at the heart of the reimagined format, we are keeping with our long-established tradition of innovation and experimentation and continue to offer a unique hub for our filmmaking community to access emerging film talent. We look forward to celebrating our 50th edition, kicking off our anniversary online with our community of makers, partners, supporters and audience, through a February programme brimming with works by bold new voices and established filmmakers that are sure to strike a chord. With much enthusiasm, we warmly invite everyone to join us online in February."

Still from opening film: Riders of Justice starring Mads Mikkelsen

Berlinale News on European Film Market, Berlinale Co-Production Market, Berlinale Talents and World Cinema Fund 

European Film Market

Digitising the Business: The European Film Market (March 1-5, 2021) Presents Its Online Event Structure

At the start of every year, the European Film Market (EFM) provides a marketplace for film production sales and serves as one of the industry’s most important platforms for global film sales, distribution companies, festival programmers and producers. In 2021, a year characterised by the pandemic, the EFM will once again provide this platform: From March 1 to 5, 2021, the EFM will take place in the form of numerousonline offers and events.

Berlinale Co-Production Market Visual © Logo: Berlinale; Design: Panatom Corporate Communication 2021 

Berlinale Co-Production Market

Berlinale Co-Production Market Brings Together  35 Feature Film Projects Online With International Partners

At the Berlinale Co-Production Market (March 1-5, 2021), 35 new international feature film projects will be presented and brought together online in pre-planned individual meetings with 600 potential financing and co-production partners. Oscar nominees, Silver Bear, TEDDY and Audience Award winners are among the directors of the selected projects. Here is the selection.

Berlinale Talents lädt 2021 zum Träumen ein. © Design: Christoph Rauscher 2021 

Berlinale Talents

Dream On! – Topic, Structure and Participants of Berlinale Talents 2021

From March 1-5, the Festival’s talent development and networking platform Berlinale Talents offers participants, the industry and the film-loving public a new, much more interactive programme. This year's truly global event with digital talks and live workshops is placed under the theme of DREAMS. For this 19th edition, 200 Talents from 65 countries were chosen out of a pool of more than 3,000 applicants.

World Cinema Fund Visual  © Logo: Berlinale; Design: Panatom Corporate Communication 2021

World Cinema Fund

Online: WCF Days Focussing on “Decolonising Cinema” and “Can We Write Cinema?”

The WCF’s online panel discussions from March 1 to 5, 2021 will focus on topics that shape the funding strategy: the cultural-political profile and the artistic orientation of the Berlinale film funding initiative World Cinema Fund, which invite audiences to reflect. The focus of the English-language events is: “Decolonising Cinema” and “Can We Write Cinema? Script and Visual Language”. The offer is aimed at the public as well as industry professionals. More about the WCF Days.

How memory is not free of images and images are not beyond cycles of oppression. What people and trees have to say to each other. And the hope to surprise oneself through new connections. The first films and debates of the Berlin Critics’ Week 2021 at a glance. The film program will be available to the public virtually throughout Germany from February 27 to March 7. Debates on the programs will take place online every day from March 1 to 7 and will be broadcast live.

THIS YEAR'S FESTIVAL
GOES BEYOND FILM

The lineup for this year’s Festival goes well beyond feature and short films, episodic work, and New Frontier—we are also bringing a robust program of online special events, conversations, and activations available for free to the global public. Meet us on January 28 at the Opening Night Welcome, and then start your day every morning with The Sundance Dailies, a guide to what’s happening that day, hosted by our own Tabitha Jackson and John Cooper, with special guests like Rebecca Hall, Ed Helms, and Zoe Lister-Jones. 
 
Join us again this year (online) at Cinema Café presented by Audible with Questlove, Rita Moreno, Robin Wright, and many others, and don’t miss The Big Conversation, a new series of talks including “Barbed Wire Kisses Redux,” bringing LGBTQ+ titans back together 30 years after their original Sundance appearance. Then there’s our Womxn at Sundance Speakeasy and so much more. It’s just too much to mention here, but remember: All are free to attend! 

There’s also a lot to be discussed at this year’s Festival in cities around the country at our Satellite Screens.

MORE TO DO AND SEE OFF-SCREEN
Day or night, there’s always something happening in Festival Village, the epicenter of our Festival community where we’ll be hosting our free talks and events. This year we’ll miss the snow and dropping temperatures in Park City, but the exciting conversations and other unexpected surprises can now be experienced by anyone, anywhere. Our eternal gratitude for our incredible community of Festival sponsors, nonprofit partners, foundations, and big love to our host state, Utah, for helping to recreate and preserve the magic of Main Street in this new format. 

Visit Festival Village

Please join us for The American Pavilion 2020 Emerging Filmmaker Virtual Showcase!



The Showcase will be viewable ONLY from Friday, January 15 to Sunday, January 17. There will be a live Q&A with the filmmakers via Zoom on Sunday, January 17 at 2:00 PM (PT). You will receive the EFS site password along with Zoom login info after you register.

Call for submission

The Hellenic History Foundation ((ΙD.IS.ME.) the organizer and the instigator of the International Documentary Festival «Beyond Borders» was founded in 2008 by a team of young historians and researchers (former collaborators of Hellenic Literary and Historical Archive) with the aim of preserving, documenting and disseminating contemporary history.

With more than 45,000 members across the country, the Hellenic History Foundation is trying hard to increase awareness on the importance of history, heritage and culture. Its activities include the publishing of scientific books, the creation of history documentaries, as well as the organisation of scholarly meetings, lectures, seminars, based on its publications, research and documentaries.

An integral part of H.H.F.’s endeavour is to create history documentaries. Through academic research, combined with high quality equipment and skilled personnel, the Hellenic History Foundation aims to produce memorable documentaries that achieve recognition and distinction worldwide. H.H.F. works with reputable research centres and universities, both in Greece and abroad, to form an ever-expanding network of collaborators. There is no membership fee if you would like to become a Member of H.H.F. The Hellenic History Foundation’s only source of income is through its publications and documentaries (in Greek and English languages).

Dear filmmakers friends do not miss these Festivals in Focus.  

Bruno Chatelin and the Filmfestivals.com Team wish you much success on the festival circuit  Read this online         FOLLOW US ON THE SOCIAL NETWORKS:                      ____________________________________________________ >   FILMFESTIVALS.COM PARTNER FESTIVALS CALLING

Julien Dubuque Film Festival
April 18 – 25, 2021

French Riviera Film Festival 

Paleochora Lost World Short Film Festival  
June 5-10, 2021

April 5, 2021 Regular Deadline

Paleochora Lost World Short Film Festival launched its 1st edition in June 2019 to a spectacular success. The Festival enjoyed packed audiences at all screenings and played host to 22 visiting Filmmakers & Industry guests from as far afield as Brazil, USA, France, Ireland, UK, Germany, Greece & Iran. Check out our photos here as well as the Festival Vibe & interview videos on our YouTube Channel (Copy & Paste the link):

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfnk7RWWnYUTFmB2cpfxz6g

The 'Lost World' of Paleochora nestles between the Mountains and Sea in South West Crete and is the perfect location for Filmmakers to convene to show their work, network with colleagues and enjoy our fabulous Cretan hospitality. We may be at the most southern point of Europe, but there are BIG Film things happening here and on the entire Island of Crete. Our main aim will be to select films which focus on great storytelling, whether fiction, documentary or any other accepted genre.

Screenings are held Under the Stars in the Town Hall Square with daytime programmes held at the fabulous Pearl Cavo oceanside venue.

SUBMIT I Website I Profile on filmfestivals.com I Facebook I Twitter I Email  contact

____________________________________________________ 

Are you an independent filmmaker with an original and unique creative voice? Mirror Mountain Film Festival is officially open for submissions for our 2021 online festival, and we want to see your work! Shorts, medium-length films and features in all genres are being accepted now through FilmFreeway.

More info: https://filmfreeway.com/festival/MirrorMountainFilmFestival

13 Nordic works in progress will be presented at this year's online edition of Nordic Film Market, taking place February 4 – February 7, 2021.

As the leading marketplace in the region, the Nordic Film Market comprises a curated programme of new and upcoming Nordic films and talents.

The Nordic Film Market programme will be presented at the festival’s digital industry platform available to the market delegates. The Works in progress and Discovery projects will be presented in dynamic broadcasted sessions on February 5. The presentations will also be available to watch afterwards. Exclusive one-on-one meetings between the projects and market delegates will be followed after the presentations, by invitation only.

The selected works in progress at the 23rd edition of Nordic Film Market are:

Clara Sola (Sweden) directed by Nathalie Álvarez Mesén, produced by Nima Yousefi, Hob Ab.

Cop Secret (Iceland) directed by Hannes Thór Halldórsson, produced by Lilja Ósk Snorradóttir, Pegasus.

Golden Land (Finland) directed by Inka Achté, produced by Liisa Karpo, Napa Films.

Margrete – Queen of the North (Denmark) directed by Charlotte Sieling, produced by Birgitte Skov and Lars Bredo Rahbek, SF Studios.

Nothing to laugh about (Norway) directed by Peter Næss, produced by Gudny Hummelvoll and Eleonore Anselm, Hummelfilm, and Rikke Ennis, REinvent.

Speak No Evil (Denmark) directed by Christian Tafdrup, produced by Jacob Jarek, Profile Pictures.

The Emigrants (Sweden) directed by Erik Poppe, produced by Fredrik Wickström Nicastro, SF Studios.

The Night of The Dead (Denmark), directed by Tea Lindenburg, produced by Lise Stender and Jesper Morthorst, Motor.

The Pact (Denmark) directed by Bille August, produced by Karin Trolle and Jesper Morthorst, SF Studios.

The School Master Games (Sweden) directed by Ylva Forner, produced by Sofia Ferguson, Northern Fable.

The Venus Effect (Denmark) directed by Anna Emma Haudal, produced by Lise Stender and Rikke Lassen, Motor.

Wolka (Iceland), directed by Árni Ólafur Ásgeirsson, produced by Hilmar Sigurdsson and Beggi Jónsson, Saga Film.

Yellow Sulfur Sky (Finland) directed by Claes Olsson, produced by Jukka Helle and Hanna Virolainen, Solar Films.

Read more here

Discovery - films in development

8 films in development will be presented at this year's Discovery, February 5.

Discovery is Göteborg Film Festival’s platform for promoting new Nordic film projects in development. Discovery provides an opportunity for the international and Scandinavian film industry to discover and get in touch with new Nordic talents and film projects in an early stage.

The selected films in development at Discovery 2021 are:

Árru (Norway) directed by Elle Sofe Sara, produced by Elisa Fernanda Pirir, Mer Film.

Baby Pyramid (Denmark) directed by Cecilie McNair, produced by René Ezra and Matilda Appelin, Nordisk Film.

Family Time (Finland) by Tia Kouvo, produced by Jussi Rantamäki and Emilia Haukka, Aamu Film Company.

Hypnosis (Sweden) directed by Ernst de Geer, produced by Mimmi Spång, Garagefilm International.

One Day, This Will All Be Yours (Sweden) directed by Andreas Öhman, produced Eliza Jones and Markus Waltå, Grand Slam, and Gila Ulfung, Breidablick Film.

Stranger (Denmark) directed by Mads Hedegaard, produced by Andreas Hjortdal, Motor.

The Swedish-Finn (Sweden), directed by Johanna Pyykkö, produced by Frida Mårtensson, Jerry Carlsson and Anette Sidor, Verket.

Twilight of the Gods (Sweden) directed by Morgane Dziurla-Petit, produced by Fredrik Lange, Vilda Bomben.

Read more here

The 37th edition of the Tehran International Short Film Festival (TISFF) will be inaugurated in Tehran on Jan 20, 2021.

Presided by Sadeq Mousavi, some 63 short films will vie in international section of event for winning the festival trophy and its 3,000-dollar-pize from 19 countries including France, India, US, Spain, Germany, Ghana, China, Czech Republic, Poland, Italy, Turkey, Australia, Bulgaria, Denmark, Russia, South Africa, Belgium, Kazakhstan as well as Iran.

In the meantime, several jury members from Iran, Italy and South Korea will judge the festival which will be held in several sections including feature, documentary, experimental and animation.

Mohammad-Mehdi Asgarpur, Mohammadreza Delpak, Nasser Safarian, Esmaeil Monsef, Bahram Tavakkoli, Ruhollah Hejazi, Roqiyeh Tavakkoli, Ashkan Rahgozar and Hamidreza Lotfian are the jury members for the national competition.

All the nine movie theaters at the Iran Mall, a new major trade centre in Tehran, will be dedicated to the festival, which will be running for five days with a limited number of visitors.

The short films will also stream online for filmgoers during the event, and winners will be announced on January 25.

In this year edition, over 4,986 foreign and 1,700 Iranian short films were submitted to different sections of the festival.

For more details, logon to https://iycs.ir/category/festival/

Submissions for the 17th Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival (BFMAF) are now open.

The festival is looking for moving image works that disregard boundaries set by genre, form, convention and expectation. Feature, medium and short-length films are all welcome. For full details and to enter your work click here

About the Festival
The 17th edition of Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival will take place from the 9-12 of September 2021.
Presenting an artistically ambitious programme of new cinema and artists’ moving image. BFMAF is a platform for emerging and established artists and filmmakers, BFMAF is inspired by its surroundings to push boundaries and explore the unexplored.

Named by FilmFreeway and Moviemaker magazine as one of the 25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World, BFMAF’s premiere online edition took place over the course of three weeks last autumn. Alongside on-demand access to 53 titles (including world premieres, retrospective titles and works-in-progress), the Festival hosted in depth conversations with artists and filmmakers as well as music events and other special presentations. Pre-recorded podcasts and commissioned essays completed the extended online edition.

New Cinema Competition

All single screen films of any length are eligible for the 2021 New Cinema Competition. There will be two Berwick New Cinema awards of £1000. All selected filmmakers will receive a £400 fee

Selected submissions for this year’s edition will compete in the New Cinema Competition strand. Encompassing the festival’s view of the most distinctive works of new cinema being made around the world today. find out more about the competition here.

Past winners:

• 2020, All selected filmmakers shared the award.

Basel Abbas & Ruanne Abou-Rahme, Maria Anastassiou, Yu Araki, Mariana Caló & Francisco Queimadela, Luis Lopez Carrasco, Rhea Dillon, Jessica Dunn Rovinelli, Mouaad el Salem, Maria Clara Escobar, Elise Florenty & Marcel Türkowsky, Luke Fowler, Sky Hopinka, Nelson Makengo, Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese, Phạm Ngọc Lân, Stefan Ramirez Perez and Lisa Spilliaert.

• 2019, Onyeka Igwe, the names have changed, including my own and truths have been altered, UK,
• 2018, Callum Hill, Crowtrap, UK, 2018
• 2017, Sky Hopinka, Dislocation Blues, US, 2017
• 2016, Camilo Restrepo, Cilaos, France, 2015

Past Jury members include:

Callum Hill (filmmaker); Hyun Jin Cho (programmer, London Film Festival)), Julian Ross (programmer, International Film Festival Rotterdam), Sky Hopinka (filmmaker), Sonali Joshi (film producer and distributor, Day for Night), Gail Pickering (artist), Camilo Restrepo (filmmaker). Amal Khalaf (DIrector of Programmes, Cubitt), Joanna Raczyńska (film programmer, National Gallery of Art, USA), Shama Khanna (curator, Flatness), Rehna Zaman (filmmaker), Sebastian Buerkner (filmmaker), Beatrice Gibson (filmmaker), Salomé Lamas (filmmaker) and Fatos Üstek (curator).

Entry guidelines
Please ensure your work meets the following criteria before entering:

• Completed after 1st January 2020 (or not previously presented or screened at a film festival)
• No previous or scheduled UK film festival screenings prior to October 2021
• Feature films must not have been theatrically released in the UK before October 2021
• All works in a language other than English must be subtitled in English
• Eligible entries must have no previous or scheduled UK film festival screenings prior to October 2021.

Key dates/fees

• £15 Early Bird: Friday 12 February
• £20 Regular: Friday 26 March
• £25 Late: Friday 16 April
• Selection status: 9th August

For full details including entry guidelines and FAQ’s go to bfmaf.org/call-for-entries. If you have any questions contact us at programme@bfmaf.org.

We look forward to seeing your work!

La Biennale di Venezia /

Biennale College Cinema – Virtual Reality /

Workshop held for the

5^th Biennale College Cinema – Virtual Reality International /

12 projects participated virtually from Argentina, Brazil, Czech Republic, Cuba, France, Germany, Great Britain, Israel, Italy, Romania, Turkey

The workshop for the 5^th Biennale College Cinema – Virtual Reality International was held entirely in virtual mode from January 12^thto today, January 19^th 2021.

Using the Raum platform, the virtual workshop remotely connected the staff of the Biennale College – Cinema with the 12 selected teams from Argentina, Brazil, Czech Republic, Cuba, France, Germany, Great Britain, Israel, Italy, Romania, Turkey.

Three projects will later be selected from this group, one of which will presented in the Venice VR Expanded section of the 78^th Venice International Film Festival (1 - 11 September 2021), directed by Alberto Barbera.

The 12 projects that participated in this Biennale College Cinema VR workshop are:

·         Alternative Realities dir: Ana Corrie (UK); prod: Valentina Noya (Italy)

·         Duchampiana 2.0 dir: Lilian Hess (Germany); prod: Sarah Arnaud (France) 

·         GulliVR dir: Ricardo Karman (Brazil); prod: Bernardo Galegale (Brazil)

·         Highlife dir: Tomas Koucky (Czech Rep.); prod: Vit Hasek, Jindrich Trcka  (Czech Rep.)

·         Human – Violins dir: Ioana Mischie (Turkey); prod: Sorin Baican, Theodora Giurgiuveanu (Romania)

·         Lavrynthos dir: Amir Admoni (Brazil); prod: Fabio Rychter (Brazil) 

·         Origen VR dir: Emilia Chiquetti (Argentina); prod: Andres Waisberg (Argentina)

·         Senza Freni dir: Matteo Nicoletta (Italy); prod: Sara Barbara (Italy)

·         Tales of the March dir: Stefano Casertano (Germany); prod: Stefano Bethlen (Italy)

·         The Broom dir: Nimrod Shapira (Israel); prod: Nadav Hekselman (Israel)

·         The Eyes of Mila Kaos dir: Yimit Ramírez González (Cuba); prod: Claudia Haedo Azor (Cuba)

·         The Last Party VR dir: Caffarelli, Barbieri Marchi – Collettivo Alterazioni Video (Italy); prod: Elisa Del Prete (Italy)

The Biennale College Cinema – Virtual Reality project enjoys significant funding from the MEDIA – Creative Europe Programme of the European Commission – Directorate General Connect. The educational activities will be supported by the MEDIA contribution. This contribution comes in addition to the support given by the MEDIA Programme to the development of the Venice Production Bridge.

The Biennale College – Cinema, organized by La Biennale di Venezia, enjoys the support of the Ministry for the Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism – General Direction Cinema. It is sponsored by the Università Telematica Pegaso. Biennale College – Cinema relies on the academic collaboration of The Gotham Film & Media Institute, New York and the TorinoFilmLab. The Director is Alberto Barbera, Head of Programme is Savina Neirotti.

Opening today, 18 January 2021, registration for films /

Now online the regulations for the 78^th Venice Film Festival and the regulations for accreditation

www.labiennale.org

The Sconfini section to be replaced by Orizzonti – Extra

Starting today, Monday January 18^th, registration is open for the films to be selected for the 78^th Venice International Film Festival (1 – 11 September 2021) directed by Alberto Barbera and organized by La Biennale di Venezia.

To be admitted to the selection, the pre-selection entry form online must be completed online on or before June 11^th 2021 (or on or before May 31^st 2021 for the VR projects), following the instructions in the Regulations of the 78^th Venice Film Festival, now online at the following address: https://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/2021/regolamento.

One of the innovations to be found in the Regulations of the 78^th Venice Film Festival is a new section that will replace Sconfini, while maintaining some of its primary characteristics. It will be called Orizzonti Extra, and its very title characterizes it as an extension of the competitive section focusing on new trends in world cinema, which over the years has helped to introduce and launch authors who have become firmly established. Less constrained by standards of length and format, Orizzonti Extrawill offer a selection of works no limits of genre, duration and destination, as long as they last more than 60 minutes. Furthermore, each film must be accompanied and followed by encounters with the auteurs and cultural figures. Finally, a jury of spectators will award a prize to the best film in the section, following criteria and procedures to be announced.

All films submitted must be recently produced, completed not prior to 12 September 2020, and must not have been presented earlier in any other format or length, not even as a work-in-progress, for any selection in previous editions of the Venice International Film Festival.

As a consequence of the particolar situation caused by the Covid-19 emergency, the Direction of the Festival reserves the right of considering also films completed before 12 September 2020, as long as they have been produced after 7 September 2019, and provided that  they have not had any form of commercial distribution or exhibition on the Internet and that they have not been already submitted with regative result to the selection of the 2020 edition of the Festival.

The sections of the 78^th Venice Film Festival will be:

• Venezia 78
• Out of Competition
• Orizzonti
• Orizzonti Extra
• Venice Classics
• Venice VR Expanded

The Venice Production Bridge is confirmed as part of the Venice Film Festival. The film market not only gives continuity to the services heretofore developed (Industry Gold Club, Venice Gap Financing Market, Business Centre, Digital Video Library and VPB Market Screenings, Final Cut in Venice, Book Adaptation Rights Market), it is also an opportunity for meeting and networking for every category of professional involved in the production of films.

Also online, on the website www.labiennale.org, are the regulations for accreditation at the 78^th Venice Film Festival for the following categories:

• Industry
• Online VPB
• Film Delegation
• Cinema
• University students

For the selection process, the Director of the Venice Film Festival Alberto Barbera relies on the collaboration of the following experts: Paolo Bertolin, Giulia D'Agnolo Vallan, Bruno Fornara, Mauro Gervasini, Oscar Iarussi, Elena Pollacchi, Angela Prudenzi, Emanuele Rauco, Marina Sanna and, with more specific involvement, Gianluca Arnone, Violeta Bava, Angela Bosetto,  Francesco Giai Via, Federico Gironi, Peter Shepotinnik, Alessandra Speciale and Carla Vulpiani.

For the Venice VR Expanded section, Michel Reilhac and Liz Rosenthal, for Biennale College Cinema, Savina Neirotti and Jane Williams, while the programme coordinator for the Venice Production Bridge is Pascal Diot.

In its  2020  hybrid format, New York Film Festival reached a national online audience  of 70,000  in addition to local  drive in viewers and retained its status as a show case for the most important contemporary films. The 49^th edition of 3the New Directors / New Films (ND/NF) festival staged from   December 9-20  by the Museum of Modern Art and the Film Society of Lincoln Center (FLC) presented the perspective of how filmmakers from all over the world visualize current issues and the future. It offered 24 features and 10 short films over 12 days to a nationwide audience through the FLC virtual cinema platform. Filmmakers’ views were reflected in  many debut productions with stylistic and structural approaches negating the often-standard manner of linear film making and its narratives. Their work brought to the fore powerful, surreal, and dreamlike elements while often retaining the topical relevance of the themes selected. They forced viewers to consider intended or unintended conceptual gaps and engage in reflection. The visuals were frequently presented in a fragmented way reflecting the   chaotic and conflictual state of affairs in today’s societies where an anchor of certainty is often absent. As the poet  Yeats observed in his prescient poem written in 1919, The Second Coming, “Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world ”. As articulated by La Frances Hui, MoMA’s curator of films and co-chair of  ND/NF, “We are excited to take our festival virtual and celebrate this class of new directors who embody the innovative and nimble spirit essential for invigoration.”  However, the online presentation of outstanding films will hardly revive theatrical distribution as I suggested half a year ago in my own Farewell to Movie Theatres*. The 2020 ND/NF edition continues the festival’s  focus on the international, with a selection of the best productions, often major award winners, from film festivals like Berlin, Locarno, Rotterdam, Sundance, and Venice.  

Collective,  Alexander Nanau, 2019, Romania

Collective is a masterpiece of documentary investigative reporting going beyond the customary documentation of state sponsored corruption and the failure to engage in corrective action. In an accidental fire in a Bucharest nightclub 27 people were killed and more than 40 perished afterwards from their injuries in hospitals due to medication provided that proved useless. Up to 95% of the disinfectants applied to the burns had been diluted to increase the profit of the vendors. Burn victims developed severe infections and died.  Journalists researching the disaster uncovered and documented widespread corruption in the state funded  hospital system, coverups by  politically appointed officials of the crimes, money laundering, violations of mandated medical care procedures Romania had to follow as a member of the European Union, obfuscation and denial of facts by medical executives and other professionals, and complete disregard by local pharmaceutical corporations of health considerations. Nanau  was able to track and document the work of journalists and that of  a new minister of health who wanted to  clear up the corrupt system but was hampered by the established network of vested interests preventing action. The National Liberal party retained power in an election despite it being the backbone of ongoing systemic corruption in the health system and  widespread media reporting about the health scandal and those responsible for it.

Atlantis,  Vaetiyn Vasyanovich, 2019, Ukraine

In 2025, one year after the end of a war between Ukraine and Russia, Sergy, a decommissioned Ukrainian soldier survives in the Eastern Ukrainian Donbass region which had been devastated by the war. He first works in a derelict steel mill but loses his job because of the mill’s closure. Sergy then finds work driving water trucks in a sector where the water supply has been totally polluted, and helps a foreign NGO agent in exhuming, identifying, and burying Ukrainian and Russian soldiers, as well as civilians, from mass graves. There is little human interaction or communication in the film, nor change in the actors’ presentation of their characters. The actors were cast in large part because of their actual war experiences. The precisely shot black and white cinematography drives Atlantis, with dystopian images of burned out factories, abandoned decrepit apartment buildings, and social isolation resultant from the lack of living people.  Sergy is barely alive, facing destruction and death all around him. As he says, he once had a future but sees no possible change or meaning  now.  Atlantis  is a compelling production, in part because Vasyanovich has stripped  Atlantis to bare bone essentials.

Identifying Features, Fernanda  Valadez, 2020, Mexico and Spain

This subdued but superb portrait of a mother, Magdalena, searching for her missing son who has left Mexico with his companion to migrate to the United States, presents a well-paced story with documentary overtones. Magdalena’s quest to find her son finds her overcoming all obstacles posed by officials declaring him dead despite no clear evidence and the conflict ridden conditions in the region she passes through near the border.  In his very impressive first feature, Valadez focuses on Magdalena’s  persistence in finding out what happened to her son rather than the crimes and civil chaos caused by drug trafficking and the failings of government efforts to protect the public. These features are prominent in many films about migration from Mexico but, though important, remain in the background of Identifying Features. Many migrants trying to reach the US perish before they ever reach the border. The audience accompanies Magdalena in her painstaking investigation retracing her son’s passage, and learns how corpses and possessions are  identified, how busloads of people are hijacked and killed while officials remain silent, how the disappearance of people and their fate  is commonly accepted, and how  areas close to the border, presumably controlled by drug cartels, are so dangerous that residents simply abandon them. Daniel, having been previously deported from the US, accompanies  Magdalena on the last stretch of her search, hoping to find his own loved ones,  his parents. But the childhood home is abandoned,  and armed militia chase Magdalena and Daniel away.  The feature has a surprise ending which logically fits with Valadez’s story of individuals dislocated by forces beyond their control.

Red Moon Tide, Lois Patiño, 2020, Spain

During 2020, Red Moon Tide had its word premiered in the Berlinale’s Forum section and has been shown at more than thirty other international film festivals, receiving ten rewards to date. The director Lois Patiño, who also wrote the script and did the cinematography. This feature is a brilliant exercise of film making driven by the power of visual images. As in some other ND/NF selections, dialogue and the spoken word play a minimal role, as do personal exchanges. Red Moon Tide explores a mystical universe and the fate of Rubio, a diver who rescues bodies of shipwrecked people.  In Patiño’s words, “ We move across a limbo in the film between life and death, between the imaginary and the real. Here the dead don’t leave, they stay with us, forming a bond between the living and the dead and preventing closure of mourning if there is no body”. Thus, “everybody is paralyzed, lost deep in their own minds.”  Before he set the film in a small Galician coast village, Patiño interviewed its people who suggested that “Here, the dead do not leave, they stay with us”.

In Red Moon Rising the village and its residents  seems to be frozen in time, providing little movement and even less communication. They are stationery and mute  compared to some errant animals and the constant changes of the tide.  A  voiceover provides a fragmentary narrative about loss and seems  looped.  Rubio’s disappearance in a supposed struggle with a sea monster has left the village in a limbo and arrested their passage of time.  Immured between life and death, the living and the deceased in the village are caught up in silent thoughts and the persistent mourning of Rubio. Three witches appear in this phantom world to solve the mystery.  Patiño transcends the border between the real, imagination, and the unconscious through meticulous compositions of frequently surreal images which have a stunning impact. They carry more weight and appeal than accounts of meanings would and leave it up to the audience to ascertain what they see . After all, in the state of mourning silence prevails over speech.

Claus Mueller, filmexchange@gmail.com   New York

*in filmfestivals.com  June 2020 and The Festival Beat

The Jewish International Film Festival (February 17 – March 24) returns for another year of spectacular Jewish cinema from around the world including:

·         51 films from 19 countries

·         29 features 

·         19 documentaries

·         episodes from 3 TV series

·         in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane, and Canberra

Any chance you would be interested in:

·         providing a listing?

·         running a giveaway?

·         Interviewing Festival Director Eddie Tamir?

The 21st hybrid edition of the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival, coming soon to the comfort and convenience of home! You're invited to the Insider Preview. Everything you need to know about Virtual Cinema. 

Get a taste of what's in store for you when AJFF returns February 17-28!

All You Need to Know About Virtual Cinema

The Virtual Cinema is where you'll tune in to watch AJFF movies during the upcoming festival. We've made it easy to stream to your smart TV, computer, or mobile device. Need help getting ready? We've got answers.

Get ready with our Virtual Cinema FAQ >>