Anti-colonialist western will receive North American premiere at TIFF.
Felipe Gálvez’s Cannes Un Certain Regard Fipresci winner The Settlers has been selected as Chile’s Oscar submission.
‘The Settlers’: Cannes Review
The anti-colonialist western will receive its North American premiere at TIFF next month and will play in the Main Slate at New York Film Festival.
The Settlers takes place in Chile at the start of the 20th century as a wealthy landowner hires three horsemen to mark the perimeter of his property and open a path across Patagonia to the Atlantic Ocean. The expedition, comprising a young Chilean mestizo,...
Felipe Gálvez’s Cannes Un Certain Regard Fipresci winner The Settlers has been selected as Chile’s Oscar submission.
‘The Settlers’: Cannes Review
The anti-colonialist western will receive its North American premiere at TIFF next month and will play in the Main Slate at New York Film Festival.
The Settlers takes place in Chile at the start of the 20th century as a wealthy landowner hires three horsemen to mark the perimeter of his property and open a path across Patagonia to the Atlantic Ocean. The expedition, comprising a young Chilean mestizo,...
- 8/23/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Chile on Wednesday named the anti-colonialist Western The Settlers from first-time feature filmmaker Felipe Gálvez as its official entry for Best International Feature at the 2024 Academy Awards.
The film coming off a Fipresci Prize win at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, where it played in Un Certain Regard, joins a list of entrants that includes Smoke Sauna Sisterhood (Estonia), The Teachers’ Lounge (Germany), Concrete Utopia (South Korea) and Thunder (Switzerland), as previously announced.
Following forthcoming screenings at the Toronto Film Festival and the New York Film Festival, the pic will be released theatrically in North America by Mubi, which also holds distribution rights for the UK, Latin America, Turkey, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Benelux, and India, and will unveil further details as to its release plans at a later date.
Written by Gálvez and Antonia Girardi, in collaboration with Mariano Llinás, The Settler is set in Chile at the beginning of the 20th century,...
The film coming off a Fipresci Prize win at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, where it played in Un Certain Regard, joins a list of entrants that includes Smoke Sauna Sisterhood (Estonia), The Teachers’ Lounge (Germany), Concrete Utopia (South Korea) and Thunder (Switzerland), as previously announced.
Following forthcoming screenings at the Toronto Film Festival and the New York Film Festival, the pic will be released theatrically in North America by Mubi, which also holds distribution rights for the UK, Latin America, Turkey, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Benelux, and India, and will unveil further details as to its release plans at a later date.
Written by Gálvez and Antonia Girardi, in collaboration with Mariano Llinás, The Settler is set in Chile at the beginning of the 20th century,...
- 8/23/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
13 titles have received funding in the latest round from the £7m per year UK Global Screen Fund.
A raft of UK Cannes titles are among the 13 features to receive awards given out by the British Film Institute (BFI) in the latest round of funding from the £7m per year UK Global Screen Fund (Ukgsf), supporting international opportunities for the UK’s independent screen sector.
These include Jessica Hausner’s Club Zero, on which Good Chaos’ Mike Goodridge is the UK producer and will receive the award; Molly Manning Walker’s How To Have Sex, with the funding going to Emily Leo...
A raft of UK Cannes titles are among the 13 features to receive awards given out by the British Film Institute (BFI) in the latest round of funding from the £7m per year UK Global Screen Fund (Ukgsf), supporting international opportunities for the UK’s independent screen sector.
These include Jessica Hausner’s Club Zero, on which Good Chaos’ Mike Goodridge is the UK producer and will receive the award; Molly Manning Walker’s How To Have Sex, with the funding going to Emily Leo...
- 7/7/2023
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
Global distributor, streamer and production company Mubi has acquired Felipe Gálvez’ “The Settlers,” which bowed on Tuesday at the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard section.
Mubi has acquired the film for North America, U.K., Latin America, Turkey, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Benelux and India. Mubi will release the film theatrically in the U.S., U.K., and additional territories with release plans to be revealed soon.
“The Settlers” is set in Chile at the beginning of the 20th century. A wealthy landowner hires three horsemen to mark out the perimeter of his extensive property and open a route to the Atlantic Ocean across vast Patagonia. The expedition, composed of a young Chilean mestizo, an American mercenary, and led by a reckless British lieutenant, soon turns into a ‘civilizing’ raid.
“If something is controversial, it’s a good sign. It means it’s interesting. I am trying to provoke with my film,...
Mubi has acquired the film for North America, U.K., Latin America, Turkey, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Benelux and India. Mubi will release the film theatrically in the U.S., U.K., and additional territories with release plans to be revealed soon.
“The Settlers” is set in Chile at the beginning of the 20th century. A wealthy landowner hires three horsemen to mark out the perimeter of his extensive property and open a route to the Atlantic Ocean across vast Patagonia. The expedition, composed of a young Chilean mestizo, an American mercenary, and led by a reckless British lieutenant, soon turns into a ‘civilizing’ raid.
“If something is controversial, it’s a good sign. It means it’s interesting. I am trying to provoke with my film,...
- 5/24/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
It is the feature debut of Chilean filmmaker Felipe Gálvez.
Distributor and streaming platform Mubi has acquired Felipe Gálvez’ Cannes Un Certain Regard title The Settlers for North America, UK, Latin America, Turkey, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Benelux and India from mk2 Films.
It will be released theatrically in the US and UK, with additional territories with release plans to be announced soon.
Gálvez’s feature debut is an English-language western that unfolds around a rich landowner in 1901 Chile who hires three horsemen to mark out the perimeter of his extensive property and open a route to the Atlantic Ocean across vast Patagonia.
Distributor and streaming platform Mubi has acquired Felipe Gálvez’ Cannes Un Certain Regard title The Settlers for North America, UK, Latin America, Turkey, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Benelux and India from mk2 Films.
It will be released theatrically in the US and UK, with additional territories with release plans to be announced soon.
Gálvez’s feature debut is an English-language western that unfolds around a rich landowner in 1901 Chile who hires three horsemen to mark out the perimeter of his extensive property and open a route to the Atlantic Ocean across vast Patagonia.
- 5/24/2023
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
Mubi has picked The Settlers, the latest pic from Chilean filmmaker Felipe Gálvez for North America, the UK, Latin America, Turkey, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Benelux, and India.
The pic debuted in the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard section last night. Mubi has said it will release the film theatrically in the U.S., UK, and additional territories with release plans to be announced.
Set in Chile at the beginning of the 20th century, The Settlers follows a wealthy landowner who hires three horsemen to mark out the perimeter of his extensive property and open a route to the Atlantic Ocean across vast Patagonia. The expedition, composed of a young Chilean mestizo, an American mercenary, and led by a reckless British lieutenant, soon turns into a “civilizing” raid.
The deal was negotiated with mk2. Producers include Giancarlo Nasi, Benjamín Domenech, Santiago Gallelli, Matías Roveda, Emily Morgan, Thierry Lenouvel,...
The pic debuted in the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard section last night. Mubi has said it will release the film theatrically in the U.S., UK, and additional territories with release plans to be announced.
Set in Chile at the beginning of the 20th century, The Settlers follows a wealthy landowner who hires three horsemen to mark out the perimeter of his extensive property and open a route to the Atlantic Ocean across vast Patagonia. The expedition, composed of a young Chilean mestizo, an American mercenary, and led by a reckless British lieutenant, soon turns into a “civilizing” raid.
The deal was negotiated with mk2. Producers include Giancarlo Nasi, Benjamín Domenech, Santiago Gallelli, Matías Roveda, Emily Morgan, Thierry Lenouvel,...
- 5/24/2023
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Arthouse streamer Mubi has picked up Felipe Gálvez’ Chilean revisionist Western The Settlers for North America and multiple international territories, including the U.K., Latin America, Turkey, German-speaking Europe, Italy, Benelux and India one day after the film’s premiere in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section. Mubi plans to release the film theatrically in the U.S. and U.K. as well as select other international territories.
Set against the backdrop of early 20th-century Chile, The Settlers revolves around a wealthy landowner’s attempt to set the boundaries of his vast property and forge a route to the Atlantic Ocean through the expansive Patagonia region. Accompanied by a young Chilean mestizo, an American mercenary, and a daring British lieutenant, the expedition takes an unexpected turn, evolving into a “civilizing” raid on the locals.
In our review of the film, The Hollywood Reporter called The Settlers a “provocative look at Chile’s colonial past.
Set against the backdrop of early 20th-century Chile, The Settlers revolves around a wealthy landowner’s attempt to set the boundaries of his vast property and forge a route to the Atlantic Ocean through the expansive Patagonia region. Accompanied by a young Chilean mestizo, an American mercenary, and a daring British lieutenant, the expedition takes an unexpected turn, evolving into a “civilizing” raid on the locals.
In our review of the film, The Hollywood Reporter called The Settlers a “provocative look at Chile’s colonial past.
- 5/24/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Croatia’s 4Film has joined France’s Ciné Sud Promotion and Italy’s Kineofilm on Italian director Rodolfo Bisatti’s next feature film, “On Life,” starring Andree Ruth Shammah and Paolo Bonacelli.
Bisatti, who co-wrote and helmed the acclaimed 2020 drama “To the Unknown God,” will direct “On Life” from a screenplay he his writing with actress-producer Laura Pellicciari.
The film, which is set to start shooting in northeastern Italy on Aug. 7, centers on an aging countess (Shammah) who sets up a new type of school with a group of disenfranchised yet gifted children in her spacious villa.
Palazzo Panigai-Ovio in Pordenone
The producers have found an ideal 17th-century villa — the Palazzo Panigai-Ovio — in the northeastern province of Pordenone, about 100 kilometers west of Trieste, where Kineofilm is based. Bisatti also plans to shoot outdoor scenes in nearby Veneto.
The film’s cast includes Valeria Cavalli and Pamela Villoresi as well as Pellicciari.
Bisatti, who co-wrote and helmed the acclaimed 2020 drama “To the Unknown God,” will direct “On Life” from a screenplay he his writing with actress-producer Laura Pellicciari.
The film, which is set to start shooting in northeastern Italy on Aug. 7, centers on an aging countess (Shammah) who sets up a new type of school with a group of disenfranchised yet gifted children in her spacious villa.
Palazzo Panigai-Ovio in Pordenone
The producers have found an ideal 17th-century villa — the Palazzo Panigai-Ovio — in the northeastern province of Pordenone, about 100 kilometers west of Trieste, where Kineofilm is based. Bisatti also plans to shoot outdoor scenes in nearby Veneto.
The film’s cast includes Valeria Cavalli and Pamela Villoresi as well as Pellicciari.
- 2/20/2023
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
Cartas desde el país de los Tarahumaras
Mexican filmmaker Federico Cecchetti was one of the lucky half-dozen filmmakers to participate in the Cannes The Residence (32nd edition) with his sophomore project then titled “Letters from the Land of the Tarahumara” and currently known as Journey to the Land of the Tarahumara. After a long gestation period, Cecchetti landed Sylvie Testud, Olivier Rabourdin and François Négret for a meeting of the minds set in 1936 in the Tarahumara mountains backdrop type of drama. Produced by Machete, L.A.-based Amplitud and France’s Thierry Lenouvel, Cecchetti first got noticed with his Ariel Awards (Mexico’s Oscars) nominated with El Sueño del Mara’akame in 2017.…...
Mexican filmmaker Federico Cecchetti was one of the lucky half-dozen filmmakers to participate in the Cannes The Residence (32nd edition) with his sophomore project then titled “Letters from the Land of the Tarahumara” and currently known as Journey to the Land of the Tarahumara. After a long gestation period, Cecchetti landed Sylvie Testud, Olivier Rabourdin and François Négret for a meeting of the minds set in 1936 in the Tarahumara mountains backdrop type of drama. Produced by Machete, L.A.-based Amplitud and France’s Thierry Lenouvel, Cecchetti first got noticed with his Ariel Awards (Mexico’s Oscars) nominated with El Sueño del Mara’akame in 2017.…...
- 1/6/2023
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
Following on “Huesera,” a double Tribeca winner, Mexico’s Machete, headed by Edher Campos, is returning to female filmmaker social issue genre with “Cachorra,” a darkly humoured horror thriller set on the Mexico-u.S. desert border.
The feature debut of Madrid-based genre scribe and consultant Elisa Puerto Aubel, who penned Sitges Audience Award winner. “La venganza de Jairo,” “Cachorra” is one of the newest additions to a five movie 2002-23 slate at Machete, producer of Cannes Festival winners “Leap Year” and “La Jaula de Oro.” It forms part of a robust lineup at this week’s Sanfic-Mórbido Lab, which packs many of Sanfic Industria’s most commercial propositions,
All of Machete’s films, three now in post-production, carry social point. A trio – “Huesera,” “Pups” and “The Path of Silence” – show Machete driving into genre and LGBTQ themes, fast emerging as the cutting edge focuses for many of the most exciting of Latin America movies.
The feature debut of Madrid-based genre scribe and consultant Elisa Puerto Aubel, who penned Sitges Audience Award winner. “La venganza de Jairo,” “Cachorra” is one of the newest additions to a five movie 2002-23 slate at Machete, producer of Cannes Festival winners “Leap Year” and “La Jaula de Oro.” It forms part of a robust lineup at this week’s Sanfic-Mórbido Lab, which packs many of Sanfic Industria’s most commercial propositions,
All of Machete’s films, three now in post-production, carry social point. A trio – “Huesera,” “Pups” and “The Path of Silence” – show Machete driving into genre and LGBTQ themes, fast emerging as the cutting edge focuses for many of the most exciting of Latin America movies.
- 8/16/2022
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Setting the agenda for much top Brazilian cinema bowing over 2022-25, Globo Filmes has boarded 20 new Brazilian movies, powering up by far the biggest production slate of any company in Brazil.
New titles from many of Brazil’s good and great range from Cinema Novo veteran Zelito Viana to Oscar-shortlisted Cao Hambuger. The production slate features obvious big commercial plays for domestic audiences such as “Tô de Graça, o Filme,” a movie spin-off from the hugely popular sitcom franchise.
The lineup, however, displays a far larger auteurist edge than in the past, with awaited new movies from young female auteurs such as Juliana Rojas and Beatriz Seigner and battling Black filmmakers Jeferson De, Grace Passo and Sabrina Fidalgo.
The slate also features big crossover titles which bid fair to feature at some of the biggest film festivals around the world, such as Hamburger’s “School Without Gates,” “Macunaíma 21,” from Felipe Bragança and Zahi Guajajara,...
New titles from many of Brazil’s good and great range from Cinema Novo veteran Zelito Viana to Oscar-shortlisted Cao Hambuger. The production slate features obvious big commercial plays for domestic audiences such as “Tô de Graça, o Filme,” a movie spin-off from the hugely popular sitcom franchise.
The lineup, however, displays a far larger auteurist edge than in the past, with awaited new movies from young female auteurs such as Juliana Rojas and Beatriz Seigner and battling Black filmmakers Jeferson De, Grace Passo and Sabrina Fidalgo.
The slate also features big crossover titles which bid fair to feature at some of the biggest film festivals around the world, such as Hamburger’s “School Without Gates,” “Macunaíma 21,” from Felipe Bragança and Zahi Guajajara,...
- 5/25/2022
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
One of Chile’s preeminent international film producers, Giancarlo Nasi at Quijote Films, has boarded “Horizon,” the much-awaited sophomore outing of César Augusto Acevedo, director of “Land and Shade,” a Cannes Camera d’Or and Critics’ Week Grand Prize winner.
Nasi’s co-production of Horizon sees him reuniting with the project’s lead producer, Colombia’s Paola Pérez Nieto at Inercia Films. Both backed “Land and Shade.”
They are joined by Thierry Lenouvel at Paris-based Ciné Sud Promotion, one of France’s most active co-producers of Latin America art pics. Nasi’s credits include 2018 Berlinale Panorama player “Marilyn,” Ciné Sud’s take in Beatriz Seigner’s “Los silencios.”
“Horizon” tells the story of a mother and son separated by war now, after they’re dead, meeting again in a world absolutely ruined by violence. Inés and Basilio seek to fund life’s true values, when hope seems to be lost.
Nasi’s co-production of Horizon sees him reuniting with the project’s lead producer, Colombia’s Paola Pérez Nieto at Inercia Films. Both backed “Land and Shade.”
They are joined by Thierry Lenouvel at Paris-based Ciné Sud Promotion, one of France’s most active co-producers of Latin America art pics. Nasi’s credits include 2018 Berlinale Panorama player “Marilyn,” Ciné Sud’s take in Beatriz Seigner’s “Los silencios.”
“Horizon” tells the story of a mother and son separated by war now, after they’re dead, meeting again in a world absolutely ruined by violence. Inés and Basilio seek to fund life’s true values, when hope seems to be lost.
- 10/6/2021
- by Emilio Mayorga
- Variety Film + TV
Following its acclaimed 2020 drama “To the Unknown God,” Italy’s Kineofilm is developing a feature about an aging countess who sets up a new type of school with a group of disenfranchised yet gifted children in her spacious 16th-century villa.
Kineofilm’s Rodolfo Bisatti, who co-wrote and helmed “To the Unknown God,” will direct the new film from a screenplay he his writing with actress-producer Laura Pellicciari.
The film follows Olimpia, a woman in her sixties who lives alone in her villa until she opens it up to take in a group of abandoned young people. Although suffering hardships, the children are gifted in their own ways and eager to share their skills and knowledge.
With the 500-year-old villa in extreme need of renovation, however, the countess is facing financial problems and is considering an offer from city planners who have their own designs for the beautiful building.
Looking at her talented children,...
Kineofilm’s Rodolfo Bisatti, who co-wrote and helmed “To the Unknown God,” will direct the new film from a screenplay he his writing with actress-producer Laura Pellicciari.
The film follows Olimpia, a woman in her sixties who lives alone in her villa until she opens it up to take in a group of abandoned young people. Although suffering hardships, the children are gifted in their own ways and eager to share their skills and knowledge.
With the 500-year-old villa in extreme need of renovation, however, the countess is facing financial problems and is considering an offer from city planners who have their own designs for the beautiful building.
Looking at her talented children,...
- 9/10/2021
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
France’s Cine Sud Promotion Boards ‘Land and Shade’ Director Cesar Acevedo’s ‘Horizonte’ (Exclusive)
Thierry Lenouvel’s Cine Sud Promotion has boarded the upcoming sophomore feature of Colombia’s Cesar Augusto Acevedo, “Horizonte” whose debut feature “Land and Shade” (“La Tierra y La Sombra”) took Cannes 2015 by storm, winning the Camera d’Or for best first feature and three other Critics’ Week awards that year.
Cine Sud backed “Land and Shade” so it was virtually a given that it would support Acevedo’s next film. “First of all, I would like to say we lived a wonderful adventure with César and his first film, a big human adventure, with him and his producers, Diana Bustamante and Paola Perez,” Lenouvel told Variety.
“No one supported us in France at the beginning, despite the obvious talent of Cesar. But we finished the film and then the Cannes miracle happened,” he continued, adding: “How can I forget those magical moments and have the privilege of seeing the...
Cine Sud backed “Land and Shade” so it was virtually a given that it would support Acevedo’s next film. “First of all, I would like to say we lived a wonderful adventure with César and his first film, a big human adventure, with him and his producers, Diana Bustamante and Paola Perez,” Lenouvel told Variety.
“No one supported us in France at the beginning, despite the obvious talent of Cesar. But we finished the film and then the Cannes miracle happened,” he continued, adding: “How can I forget those magical moments and have the privilege of seeing the...
- 12/3/2020
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Hollywood agency ICM Partners has come on board Rohena Gera’s festival favorite “Sir” and will represent it for sales in Anglophone markets U.S., U.K. and Australia, among other territories. The Hollywood agency will also serve as the film’s awards season lobbyist.
A delicately observed study of class differences in Indian society, “Sir” stars Tillotama Shome as a domestic live-in help with Vivek Gomber, a man from a wealthy family who seems to have it all, but is somewhat lost. As their worlds collide and the two individuals connect, the barriers between them seem only more insurmountable.
The cast also includes Divya Seth Shah, Geetanjali Kulkarni, Bhagyashree Pandit, Anupriya Goenka and Bachan Pachera.
“We have a very intimate yet hierarchical relationship with the people who work in our homes,” Gera said. “I wanted to explore that without being preachy, and a love story allowed me to do that.
A delicately observed study of class differences in Indian society, “Sir” stars Tillotama Shome as a domestic live-in help with Vivek Gomber, a man from a wealthy family who seems to have it all, but is somewhat lost. As their worlds collide and the two individuals connect, the barriers between them seem only more insurmountable.
The cast also includes Divya Seth Shah, Geetanjali Kulkarni, Bhagyashree Pandit, Anupriya Goenka and Bachan Pachera.
“We have a very intimate yet hierarchical relationship with the people who work in our homes,” Gera said. “I wanted to explore that without being preachy, and a love story allowed me to do that.
- 11/10/2020
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Director Peter Webber is preparing a six-part series sequel to his Colombia-set teen drama “Pickpockets” (“Maestros del robo”), which Netflix launched globally in 2018. The film tells the story of aspiring teenage thieves learning how to be successful pickpockets.
“Apparently, it did really well amongst teenagers,” Webber told Variety. “They asked us to do a sequel, so at the moment we are working on six one-hour episodes following up the main characters.”
Netflix is not believed to be officially attached to the sequel, which is still in development stages.
It’s understood that the project will have a broader scope than the film. “As the series develops, the locations change,” Webber said. “It’s a bit more international than the last one.”
British native Webber is currently at the El Gouna Film Festival, where he is serving as jury president of the Feature Narrative Competition section. The jury also comprises iconic Egyptian actor Asser Yassin,...
“Apparently, it did really well amongst teenagers,” Webber told Variety. “They asked us to do a sequel, so at the moment we are working on six one-hour episodes following up the main characters.”
Netflix is not believed to be officially attached to the sequel, which is still in development stages.
It’s understood that the project will have a broader scope than the film. “As the series develops, the locations change,” Webber said. “It’s a bit more international than the last one.”
British native Webber is currently at the El Gouna Film Festival, where he is serving as jury president of the Feature Narrative Competition section. The jury also comprises iconic Egyptian actor Asser Yassin,...
- 10/26/2020
- by Kaleem Aftab
- Variety Film + TV
Costa Rican documentary “Los Últimos,” by Álvaro Torres Crespo, won the $10,000 Iff Panama Film Match Award, in the first edition of Iff Panama Film Match – the Panama Film Festival’s Cinematographic Co-Production Forum for Central America and the Caribbean, supported by the Idb Lab.
Initially planned as an integral part of the on-site film festival, the event was restructured as a virtual forum, with 10 projects in development – from Costa Rica, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic and Panama, including four Panamanian projects.
The jury members – top Colombian producer Diana Bustamante, Thierry Lenouvel, one of France’s key co-producers with Latin America, and Inti Cordera, director of DocsMX, one of Latin America’s key doc events – said that “Los Últimos” was chosen “due to the relevance of its issues, history and central character, [as] ever more than before, messages from drawn from the knowledge of our indigenous peoples must be disseminated and promoted through...
Initially planned as an integral part of the on-site film festival, the event was restructured as a virtual forum, with 10 projects in development – from Costa Rica, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic and Panama, including four Panamanian projects.
The jury members – top Colombian producer Diana Bustamante, Thierry Lenouvel, one of France’s key co-producers with Latin America, and Inti Cordera, director of DocsMX, one of Latin America’s key doc events – said that “Los Últimos” was chosen “due to the relevance of its issues, history and central character, [as] ever more than before, messages from drawn from the knowledge of our indigenous peoples must be disseminated and promoted through...
- 5/22/2020
- by Martin Dale
- Variety Film + TV
Forum was first to target filmmakers from Central America and the Caribbean.
Costa Rica’s Los Ultimos has won the inaugural virtual Iff Panama Film Match co-production forum’s $10,000 Iff Panama Film Match Award.
The pitching forum was the first of its kind to target filmmakers from Central America and the Caribbean and ran from May 18-21.
A jury comprising Diana Bustamante, Thierry Lenouvel and Inti Cordea hailed the “complex socio-economic reality” of Álvaro Torres Crespo’s documentary in its depiction of a fishing family who realise drug smuggling may be their best way of earning an income.
The...
Costa Rica’s Los Ultimos has won the inaugural virtual Iff Panama Film Match co-production forum’s $10,000 Iff Panama Film Match Award.
The pitching forum was the first of its kind to target filmmakers from Central America and the Caribbean and ran from May 18-21.
A jury comprising Diana Bustamante, Thierry Lenouvel and Inti Cordea hailed the “complex socio-economic reality” of Álvaro Torres Crespo’s documentary in its depiction of a fishing family who realise drug smuggling may be their best way of earning an income.
The...
- 5/22/2020
- by 36¦Jeremy Kay¦54¦
- ScreenDaily
$10,000 prize-winner to be announced on May 22.
Iff Panama has scheduled its first virtual Co-Production Form, Panama Film Match, for filmmakers in the Central America and Caribbean region.
Ten projects from Costa Rica, Guatemala, Dominican Republic and Panama will participate from May 18-22, with four hailing from the host country. Participants will compete for a $10,000 co-production award sponsored by Idb-Lab and the winner will be announced on May 22.
Iff Panama, whose physical festival did not take place last month due to the coronavirus pandemic, will offer a week of cinema and has organised masterclasses, and meetings with international producers, distributors and...
Iff Panama has scheduled its first virtual Co-Production Form, Panama Film Match, for filmmakers in the Central America and Caribbean region.
Ten projects from Costa Rica, Guatemala, Dominican Republic and Panama will participate from May 18-22, with four hailing from the host country. Participants will compete for a $10,000 co-production award sponsored by Idb-Lab and the winner will be announced on May 22.
Iff Panama, whose physical festival did not take place last month due to the coronavirus pandemic, will offer a week of cinema and has organised masterclasses, and meetings with international producers, distributors and...
- 5/5/2020
- by 36¦Jeremy Kay¦54¦
- ScreenDaily
The Panama Intl. Film Festival, (Iff Panama) the highest-profile film event in Central America, is using online tools to develop existing and new initiatives.
In one move, it has just completed its pix-in-post competition Primera Mirada, its new Su Mirada sidebar for women filmmakers from the region, and is now launching a new Virtual Co-Production Forum – the Panama Film Match – and a streamlined five-day online festival.
All initiatives are sponsored by the Inter-American Development Bank.
Iff Panama was initially slated to run from March 26 to April 1, but was postponed due to the Covid-19 crisis.
Undeterred, the festival has used online tools to maintain its crucial role in supporting new projects from the region.
Launched in 2015, Primera Mirada has served as an important springboard for projects from the region, providing vital post-production funding.
This year’s $10,000 first prize went to Dominican Republic revenge thriller “Rafaela,” by Tito Rodríguez (“Una fiesta inolvidable...
In one move, it has just completed its pix-in-post competition Primera Mirada, its new Su Mirada sidebar for women filmmakers from the region, and is now launching a new Virtual Co-Production Forum – the Panama Film Match – and a streamlined five-day online festival.
All initiatives are sponsored by the Inter-American Development Bank.
Iff Panama was initially slated to run from March 26 to April 1, but was postponed due to the Covid-19 crisis.
Undeterred, the festival has used online tools to maintain its crucial role in supporting new projects from the region.
Launched in 2015, Primera Mirada has served as an important springboard for projects from the region, providing vital post-production funding.
This year’s $10,000 first prize went to Dominican Republic revenge thriller “Rafaela,” by Tito Rodríguez (“Una fiesta inolvidable...
- 4/30/2020
- by Martin Dale
- Variety Film + TV
Cannes–The Pop Up Film Residency, a mentorship program launched this year by former TorinoFilmLab artistic director Matthieu Darras and Slovak producer Juraj Krasnohorsky, has announced three new residents, four new hosts, and two new creative partners for 2019.
Based in Bratislava, the program offers a three-week residency in Slovakia each month, along with a series of international residencies throughout the year with a growing network of partners, including Cannes Critics’ Week, Eave and the Doha Film Institute.
“The big difference between this residency and other support schemes for talents is that it’s really tailor-made,” said Darras. “Once we really get an understanding of the person, the project, we actually find the good residency.”
A former Cannes Critics’ Week programmer, Darras described the Pop Up Film Residency as a “passion project” designed to offer mentorship on an intimate scale. “I have 20 years of experience running labs, where I usually have programs with 20, 25 projects,...
Based in Bratislava, the program offers a three-week residency in Slovakia each month, along with a series of international residencies throughout the year with a growing network of partners, including Cannes Critics’ Week, Eave and the Doha Film Institute.
“The big difference between this residency and other support schemes for talents is that it’s really tailor-made,” said Darras. “Once we really get an understanding of the person, the project, we actually find the good residency.”
A former Cannes Critics’ Week programmer, Darras described the Pop Up Film Residency as a “passion project” designed to offer mentorship on an intimate scale. “I have 20 years of experience running labs, where I usually have programs with 20, 25 projects,...
- 5/23/2019
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Colombian filmmaker Ruben Mendoza’s “Wandering Girl” (“Niña Errante) has won the Grand Prix for best film at the Black Nights Film Festival in Tallinn, Estonia, which wrapped Dec. 2.
The drama’s composer, Las Anes, also took home the Best Music prize whose score was praised by the jury for its “inspiring musical whispering of magical femininity.”
Cited by the jury for “powerfully exploring themes of grief and abandonment through a very moving, intimate, piercing, and delicate sensorial cinematic approach,” “Wandering Girl” was filmed across 932 miles through Colombia. The coming-of-age/road movie follows four half-sisters who meet for the first time when their rakish father dies. Together they embark on a journey to leave the youngest, played by a mesmerizing Sofia Paz in her big screen debut, with an aunt.
“The film manages to unveil the inner worlds of four sisters and their relationships while at the same time explore...
The drama’s composer, Las Anes, also took home the Best Music prize whose score was praised by the jury for its “inspiring musical whispering of magical femininity.”
Cited by the jury for “powerfully exploring themes of grief and abandonment through a very moving, intimate, piercing, and delicate sensorial cinematic approach,” “Wandering Girl” was filmed across 932 miles through Colombia. The coming-of-age/road movie follows four half-sisters who meet for the first time when their rakish father dies. Together they embark on a journey to leave the youngest, played by a mesmerizing Sofia Paz in her big screen debut, with an aunt.
“The film manages to unveil the inner worlds of four sisters and their relationships while at the same time explore...
- 12/1/2018
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Brazilian writer-director Beatriz Seigner’s “Los Silencios” won this year’s Impact Award at Stockholm Film Festival.
The film, which world premiered at Cannes’s Directors Fortnight, is a supernatural drama about a family torn by Colombia’s civil conflict.
Seigner’s sophomore outing, “Los Silencios” beat out strong contenders including Brady Corbet’s “Vox Lux” and Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra’s “Birds of Passage.”
The Impact Award is meant to highlight films that are politically minded and reflect today’s world in innovative ways. This year’s theme among the nominated films was the impact of armed conflicts on lives and relationships.
The festival praised “Los Silencios” for the “strong characters portrayed — especially the mother and her son; and the way it tackles big issues in a changing country” with an “intimate” approach.
“We connect with the characters and through them we learn about the issues of refugees,...
The film, which world premiered at Cannes’s Directors Fortnight, is a supernatural drama about a family torn by Colombia’s civil conflict.
Seigner’s sophomore outing, “Los Silencios” beat out strong contenders including Brady Corbet’s “Vox Lux” and Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra’s “Birds of Passage.”
The Impact Award is meant to highlight films that are politically minded and reflect today’s world in innovative ways. This year’s theme among the nominated films was the impact of armed conflicts on lives and relationships.
The festival praised “Los Silencios” for the “strong characters portrayed — especially the mother and her son; and the way it tackles big issues in a changing country” with an “intimate” approach.
“We connect with the characters and through them we learn about the issues of refugees,...
- 11/16/2018
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Los Cabos, Mexico — Ringing its options as one of Canada’s most internationally-minded companies, Yanick Letourneau’s Quebec-based Périphéria has boarded “Viaje al País de los Tarahumaras” and English-language “In Cold Light.”
Directed by Federico Cecchetti, “Viaje,” which won the best pitch Talent On The Road Award at Los Cabos Film Festival on Saturday, is set up at Edher Campos’ Mexico-City based Machete Producciones, and co-produced by Périphéria and Thierry Lenouvel’s Paris-based Ciné-Sud Promotion.
Mike MacMillan’s Toronto-based Lithium Studios is producing “In Cold Light” with Périphéria and “I Am Not a Witch’s” Emily Morgan, at London-based Quiggety Productions.
“Viaje” is Périphéria’s second co-production with Machete, after “V-500,”a three-part take on migration and transformation in Canada, Mexico and Colombia which Périphéria majority-produced, with Machete as its Mexican partner.
For Périphéria, and indeed Giroux, “In Cold Light” marks a move toward the mainstream in a broader audience movie.
Directed by Federico Cecchetti, “Viaje,” which won the best pitch Talent On The Road Award at Los Cabos Film Festival on Saturday, is set up at Edher Campos’ Mexico-City based Machete Producciones, and co-produced by Périphéria and Thierry Lenouvel’s Paris-based Ciné-Sud Promotion.
Mike MacMillan’s Toronto-based Lithium Studios is producing “In Cold Light” with Périphéria and “I Am Not a Witch’s” Emily Morgan, at London-based Quiggety Productions.
“Viaje” is Périphéria’s second co-production with Machete, after “V-500,”a three-part take on migration and transformation in Canada, Mexico and Colombia which Périphéria majority-produced, with Machete as its Mexican partner.
For Périphéria, and indeed Giroux, “In Cold Light” marks a move toward the mainstream in a broader audience movie.
- 11/12/2018
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Brazil’s Directors’ Fortnight entry “Los Silencios” typifies a growing breed of Brazilian films, shot in multiple locations and in co-production with one or more countries. Beatriz Seigner’s cross-border drama about a Colombian family fleeing the armed conflict in their native country was co-produced by Seigner’s Miriade Filmes and Leonardo Mecchi’s Enquadramento Prods. (“The Trial”), along with France’s Cine-Sud Promotion and Colombian shingle Dia-fragma.
“We shot mainly in Colombia so the key crew members were Colombian — and mostly women,” says Cine-Sud’s Thierry Lenouvel, who is co-producing Anita Rocha’s next film, “Medusa,” with Vania Catani’s Bananeira Filmes and is boarding two other Brazilian films in development: Dezenove’s Vietnam-set “The Paths of My Father” by Mauricio Osaki and BossaNovaFilms’ “To Our Children,” by actress-helmer Maria de Medeiros.
Co-producing Argentine helmer Lucrecia Martel’s acclaimed period drama “Zama” “was a lot of work but the rewards were high,...
“We shot mainly in Colombia so the key crew members were Colombian — and mostly women,” says Cine-Sud’s Thierry Lenouvel, who is co-producing Anita Rocha’s next film, “Medusa,” with Vania Catani’s Bananeira Filmes and is boarding two other Brazilian films in development: Dezenove’s Vietnam-set “The Paths of My Father” by Mauricio Osaki and BossaNovaFilms’ “To Our Children,” by actress-helmer Maria de Medeiros.
Co-producing Argentine helmer Lucrecia Martel’s acclaimed period drama “Zama” “was a lot of work but the rewards were high,...
- 5/11/2018
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Waheeda Rehman, Shashank Arora (Titli, pictured) and Tillotama Shome (Qissa) have joined the cast of Anup Singh’s third feature The Song of Scorpions, which was first pitched at Film Bazaar 2013.
As previously reported, French-Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani and Irrfan Khan lead the cast. Rehman, an Indian acting legend who has appeared in more than 85 films since the 1950s, plays Farahani’s grandmother, a singing healer.
Qissa director Singh will start the 7-week shoot for the new film on Nov 26 in Rajasthan.
Saskia Vischer, Shahaf Peled, Michel Merkt and Thierry Lenouvel are producing the Swiss-French co-production. Rakesh Mehra’s Kriti Productions is serving as the Indian co-producer.
The film has backing from Swiss federal fund Bak, regional fund Cinéforom, and the Cnc’s Aide aux cinemas du monde.
Set in the mystical Thar Desert of Rajasthan, Singh’s original story is about a shaman woman who travels the desert and heals scorpion poisoning with a song. When...
As previously reported, French-Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani and Irrfan Khan lead the cast. Rehman, an Indian acting legend who has appeared in more than 85 films since the 1950s, plays Farahani’s grandmother, a singing healer.
Qissa director Singh will start the 7-week shoot for the new film on Nov 26 in Rajasthan.
Saskia Vischer, Shahaf Peled, Michel Merkt and Thierry Lenouvel are producing the Swiss-French co-production. Rakesh Mehra’s Kriti Productions is serving as the Indian co-producer.
The film has backing from Swiss federal fund Bak, regional fund Cinéforom, and the Cnc’s Aide aux cinemas du monde.
Set in the mystical Thar Desert of Rajasthan, Singh’s original story is about a shaman woman who travels the desert and heals scorpion poisoning with a song. When...
- 11/23/2015
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
Jordanian producer Rula Nasser has boarded Dogme-style drama Medina, directed by Danish-Palestinian filmmaker Omar Shargawi, as producer alongside Nordisk Film Production.
Nasser’s production company The Imaginarium Films was previously line producer on the project, which filmed in Jordan, and has now been set up as a Danish-Jordanian co-production. TrustNordisk is handling international sales on the film.
Shargawi also stars as a man who returns to an unspecified Arab city with his Danish pregnant wife and is first imprisoned and then set free into a world that tests his faith and morality.
Shargawi previously directed Go With Peace Jamil (2008), which won a Tiger award at Rotterdam, and award-winning documentaries My Father From Haifa (2010) and ½ Revolution (2011).
The project is one of five selected for Dubai Film Market’s ‘Dfm Goes to Cannes’ works-in-progress screenings in the Cannes Marche. The line-up includes another project produced by Nasser, Rifqi Assaf’s road movie The Curve, which she co-produced...
Nasser’s production company The Imaginarium Films was previously line producer on the project, which filmed in Jordan, and has now been set up as a Danish-Jordanian co-production. TrustNordisk is handling international sales on the film.
Shargawi also stars as a man who returns to an unspecified Arab city with his Danish pregnant wife and is first imprisoned and then set free into a world that tests his faith and morality.
Shargawi previously directed Go With Peace Jamil (2008), which won a Tiger award at Rotterdam, and award-winning documentaries My Father From Haifa (2010) and ½ Revolution (2011).
The project is one of five selected for Dubai Film Market’s ‘Dfm Goes to Cannes’ works-in-progress screenings in the Cannes Marche. The line-up includes another project produced by Nasser, Rifqi Assaf’s road movie The Curve, which she co-produced...
- 5/19/2015
- by lizshackleton@gmail.com (Liz Shackleton)
- ScreenDaily
Neil Armfield.s Holding the Man, Simon Stone.s The Daughter, Jeremy Sims. Last Cab to Darwin and Jen Peedom.s feature doc Sherpa will have their world premieres at the Sydney Film Festival.
The festival program unveiled today includes 33 world premieres (including 22 shorts) and 135 Australian premieres (with 18 shorts) among 251 titles from 68 countries.
Among the other premieres will be Daina Reid.s The Secret River, Ruby Entertainment's. ABC-tv miniseries starring Oliver Jackson Cohen and Sarah Snook, and three Oz docs, Marc Eberle.s The Cambodian Space Project — Not Easy Rock .n. Roll, Steve Thomas. Freedom Stories and Lisa Nicol.s Wide Open Sky.
Festival director Nashen Moodley boasted. this year.s event will be far larger than 2014's when 183 films from 47 countries were screened, including 15 world premieres. The expansion is possible in part due to the addition of two new screening venues in Newtown and Liverpool.
As previously announced, Brendan Cowell...
The festival program unveiled today includes 33 world premieres (including 22 shorts) and 135 Australian premieres (with 18 shorts) among 251 titles from 68 countries.
Among the other premieres will be Daina Reid.s The Secret River, Ruby Entertainment's. ABC-tv miniseries starring Oliver Jackson Cohen and Sarah Snook, and three Oz docs, Marc Eberle.s The Cambodian Space Project — Not Easy Rock .n. Roll, Steve Thomas. Freedom Stories and Lisa Nicol.s Wide Open Sky.
Festival director Nashen Moodley boasted. this year.s event will be far larger than 2014's when 183 films from 47 countries were screened, including 15 world premieres. The expansion is possible in part due to the addition of two new screening venues in Newtown and Liverpool.
As previously announced, Brendan Cowell...
- 5/6/2015
- by Don Groves
- IF.com.au
Exclusive: Paris-based Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani will star in Qissa director Anup Singh’s upcoming drama Mantra - The Song Of Scorpions.
Farahani will play a singer and scorpion healer from the Manganiar community of Rajasthan in the Switzerland-France-India co-production.
Geneva-based Saskia Vischer is lead producer on the project, which will be co-produced by Thierry Lenouvel of France’s Cine Sud Promotion and Rakesh Mehra of India’s Kriti Productions. Lenouvel was a co-producer and Mehra the line-producer on Qissa.
Farahani was nominated as most promising actress at this year’s Cesar Awards in France for her role in Atiq Rahimi’s The Patience Stone. Her credits also include Asghar Farhadi’s About Elly (2009) and Hiner Saleem’s My Sweet Pepper Land (2013). She also starred in Ridley Scott’s Body Of Lies (2008) alongside Leonardo DiCaprio.
Scheduled to shoot next year, Mantra - The Song Of Scorpions is a contemporary folktale set in the desert of Rajasthan. The film...
Farahani will play a singer and scorpion healer from the Manganiar community of Rajasthan in the Switzerland-France-India co-production.
Geneva-based Saskia Vischer is lead producer on the project, which will be co-produced by Thierry Lenouvel of France’s Cine Sud Promotion and Rakesh Mehra of India’s Kriti Productions. Lenouvel was a co-producer and Mehra the line-producer on Qissa.
Farahani was nominated as most promising actress at this year’s Cesar Awards in France for her role in Atiq Rahimi’s The Patience Stone. Her credits also include Asghar Farhadi’s About Elly (2009) and Hiner Saleem’s My Sweet Pepper Land (2013). She also starred in Ridley Scott’s Body Of Lies (2008) alongside Leonardo DiCaprio.
Scheduled to shoot next year, Mantra - The Song Of Scorpions is a contemporary folktale set in the desert of Rajasthan. The film...
- 11/22/2014
- ScreenDaily
Ciné-Sud has two films selected for Toronto: the Iranian feature “ Red Rose” (handled internationally by Udi – Urban Distribution International) and the Vietnam-France-Norway-Germany co-production “Flapping in the Middle of Nowhere” by Nguyen Hoang Diep which will premiere September 1st, 2nd and 3rd in Venice/ Critics Week before moving to Toronto And with no international sales agent to date.
In Locarno, "Los ausentes" (“The Absent Ones) by Nicolas Pereda, a Mèxico-Spain-France coproduction is screening out of competition on August 11! The international sales agent is Caravan Pass, a former production company formed in 2005 in Paris by Natalie Dana. In 2014 founder Natalie and industry celeb-acquisitions persona, Elizabeth Dreyer, turned the company to international sales as well. They are actively seeking completed/ unlaunched films and projects at the financing stage.
Natalie Dana worked in sales at some of the industry’s most recognizable sales agencies, including Mercure and Celluloid Dreams. She also headed distribution for various film distributors and selected films for the prestigious Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival for five years. Under her guidance, Caravan Pass has produced or co-produced four feature films and two documentaries, partnering with notable production companies in several countries including Brazil and Italy.
Elizabeth Dreyer began her career in acquisitions, acquiring completed films and projects for North America for Miramax Films and Focus Features. As an independent consultant she has since sourced and sold remakes to international producers, advised renowned distributors around the world on pre-buys and completed film pickups, and developed feature films for proven French film producers looking to access the international market. She most recently handled sales and acquisitions for Celluloid Dreams.
Ciné-Sud Promotion itself started in 1993 as a company designed to promote art house films (Rachid Bouchareb, Wang Chao, Guillermo Del Toro, Raymond Depardon, Djibril Diop Mambety, Julio Medem, Jafar Panahi, Manuel Poirier, Arturo Ripstein, Paulo Rocha, Carlos Saura, Paolo & Vittorio Taviani, Jean-Philippe Toussaint… amongst others). There is still the press promotion department which is now under the leadership of Claire Viroulaud, publicist for many art house movies.
In 2001 Thierry Lenouvel, the founder, created a production arm and has thus far produced or co-produced 30 films which have won more 150 international awards.
The mission remains constant: Quality, without frontiers, without constraints of form, style or genre, researching emerging talents and supporting already acclaimed directors with projects whch deliver a singular and important message for and about humanity and our society utilizing strong cinematic forms.
This is only a part of all Thierry has created. Read on, dear reader, read on.
Amiens International Film Festival
Although many festivals now have competitions for cash prizes and forums for pitching and co-production meetings, Amiens stands out with its Fund for Aid for the Development of Feature Film Script and its ties to its creator, Ciné Sud, that privately owned feature film production company transformed by prolific producer Thierry Lenouvel created the Fund in 1996.
The Screenplay Development Fund (Fonds d'aide au développment du scénario or Fads) is awarded during the Amiens Film Festival to a project at one of the most critical stages in the life of a movie, that is at script stage. In its 19 years of existence it has supported 79 feature film scripts of which 39 were completed, 9 are shooting now, 21 are in development. More than 632,600 Euros have been granted. Cnac, the Venezuelan film organization has given a grant of 10,000 € for the past five years.
Fads partners: National Film Centre and Moving • International Organization of la Francophonie • Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs • Moroccan National Center for Cinema (Ccm) • Groupama Gan Foundation for Cinema • Regional Council of Picardy • Central Fund for Social Activities picture • Independent National Film Centre (Cnac - Venezuela)
In 2014, four scholarships of € 10,000 each were granted to directors of the following projects:
Family Gustavo Cordova Rondon (Venezuela) which has also won:
Cnac Script Development Fund (Venezuela)
Amiens Script Development Fund 2013
Ibermedia Development Fund 2013
And it has been selected to participate at:
Produire Au Sud Andean Workshop 2013
Ibermedia Project Development Workshop 2013
Oaxaca Screenwriters Lab 2014
Berlinale Talent Project Market 2014
The Court Of My Mother Idriss Diabaté (Côte d'Ivoire)
My Favorite Fabric Gaya Jiji (Syria)
Territoria Nora Martirosyan (Armenia)
And an additional grant of € 7,000 was awarded to the French project Dance Silent of Pradeepan Raveendran.
The rules and the application form of the next Script Fund of Amiens (due August 18!) that he created is available online or on request…from Thierry or even from me!
And, last but not least, Thierry brings "Cinema in Motion" from San Sebastian (who decided to stop the program in 2013) to Venice where it's now called " Final Cut in Venice", a workshop to help six works in progress from Africa and Arabic World toward completion with the support of French and Italian technical industries.
For more information contact:
Thierry Lenouvel
thierry [At] cinesudpromotion.com
Some films produced by Ciné-Sud:
Tirana. Year Zero by Fatmir Koci (France/Albania/ Belgium), Competition/Venice 2001, Golden Alexander/Thessaloniki
Rachida by Yamina Bachir Chouikh (France/Algeria), Official Selection/Cannes 2002
Fuse ! (Gori Vatra) by Pjer Zalica (Bosnia/Austria/Turkey/France), Silver Leopard/Locarno 2003
Wall by Simone Bitton (France/Israel), Directors Fortnight/Cannes 2004, Special Jury Prize/Sundance, Grand Prix/Marseille, Pesaro, Montreal, Jerusalem
Moolaade by Sembene Ousmane (Sénégal/France/Burkina/Maroc), Grand Prix Un Certain Regard/Cannes 2004, Best Foreign Film/American Critics Awards
Falafel by Michel Kammoun (Lebanon/France), Bayard d’Or/Namur 2006, Silver Muhr/Dubai, Bronze Palm/Valencia
Pomegranates And Myrrh by Najwa Najjar (Palestine/Germany/France), Competition/Sundance 2009, Rotterdam, 1st price in Doha
Rachel by Simone Bitton (France/Belgium), Forum/Berlin 2009, Competition/Cinema du Réel 2009
Every Day Is A Holliday by Dima El Horr (France/Lebanon/Germany),Toronto 2009, Roma, Dubai, Rotterdam, New York 2010
Mothers by Milcho Manchevski (Macedonia/Bulgaria/France),Toronto 2010, Berlin (Panorama) 2011
The Stoplight Society by Ruben Mendoza (Colombia/France/Spain/ Germany), best Colombian film of the year/Cartagena 2011, Best Director/Amiens 2010, Best 1st film/Huelva 2010
El Campo by Hernan Belon (Argentina/Italy/France) – Venice 2011/Critics Week
Fat, Bald, Short Man (Colombia/France) – more than 20 selections in 2011/2012
La Playa by Juan Andres Arango (Colombia/Brazil/France) – Cannes 2012/Official Selection, Un Certain Regard
Villegas by Gonzalo Tobal (Argentina/France) – Cannes 2012/Official Selection
La Sirga by William Vega (Colombia/Mexico/France) – Cannes 2012/Directors Fortnight
Qissa by Anup Singh (India/Germany/France/Holland) – Toronto 2013/Netpac award, Rotterdam 2014/Audience Award
Dust On The Tongue by Ruben Mendoza (Columbia/France) – Cartagena 2014/Best film, best director
Mateo by Maria Gamboa (Colombia/France) – Cartagena 2014/Jury Special award
Run, Boy, Run by Pepe Danquart (Germany/France) – Cannes Junior 2014
In post-production :
Red Rose by Sepideh Farsi (Iran/France/Grèce)
Los Ausentes by Nicolas Pereda (Mexico/Spain/France)
Ausencia by Chico Teixeira (Brazil/France)
Flapping In The Middle Of Nowhere by Nguyen Hiang Diep (Vietnam/France/Norvège/Allemagne)
In development :
Kill Two Birds With One Stone by Fejria Deliba (France)
Embrace Of The Serpent by Ciro Guerra (Colombie/Vénézuela/France)
Mantra, Song Of Scorpions by Anup Singh (Inde/Suisse/France)
Sal by William Vega (Colombie/Allemagne/France)
Parable Of A Blind Christ (Chili/France)
Land And Shade by Cesar Acevedo (Colombie/France)
D’Une Rive L’Autre by Sepideh Farsi (France)...
In Locarno, "Los ausentes" (“The Absent Ones) by Nicolas Pereda, a Mèxico-Spain-France coproduction is screening out of competition on August 11! The international sales agent is Caravan Pass, a former production company formed in 2005 in Paris by Natalie Dana. In 2014 founder Natalie and industry celeb-acquisitions persona, Elizabeth Dreyer, turned the company to international sales as well. They are actively seeking completed/ unlaunched films and projects at the financing stage.
Natalie Dana worked in sales at some of the industry’s most recognizable sales agencies, including Mercure and Celluloid Dreams. She also headed distribution for various film distributors and selected films for the prestigious Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival for five years. Under her guidance, Caravan Pass has produced or co-produced four feature films and two documentaries, partnering with notable production companies in several countries including Brazil and Italy.
Elizabeth Dreyer began her career in acquisitions, acquiring completed films and projects for North America for Miramax Films and Focus Features. As an independent consultant she has since sourced and sold remakes to international producers, advised renowned distributors around the world on pre-buys and completed film pickups, and developed feature films for proven French film producers looking to access the international market. She most recently handled sales and acquisitions for Celluloid Dreams.
Ciné-Sud Promotion itself started in 1993 as a company designed to promote art house films (Rachid Bouchareb, Wang Chao, Guillermo Del Toro, Raymond Depardon, Djibril Diop Mambety, Julio Medem, Jafar Panahi, Manuel Poirier, Arturo Ripstein, Paulo Rocha, Carlos Saura, Paolo & Vittorio Taviani, Jean-Philippe Toussaint… amongst others). There is still the press promotion department which is now under the leadership of Claire Viroulaud, publicist for many art house movies.
In 2001 Thierry Lenouvel, the founder, created a production arm and has thus far produced or co-produced 30 films which have won more 150 international awards.
The mission remains constant: Quality, without frontiers, without constraints of form, style or genre, researching emerging talents and supporting already acclaimed directors with projects whch deliver a singular and important message for and about humanity and our society utilizing strong cinematic forms.
This is only a part of all Thierry has created. Read on, dear reader, read on.
Amiens International Film Festival
Although many festivals now have competitions for cash prizes and forums for pitching and co-production meetings, Amiens stands out with its Fund for Aid for the Development of Feature Film Script and its ties to its creator, Ciné Sud, that privately owned feature film production company transformed by prolific producer Thierry Lenouvel created the Fund in 1996.
The Screenplay Development Fund (Fonds d'aide au développment du scénario or Fads) is awarded during the Amiens Film Festival to a project at one of the most critical stages in the life of a movie, that is at script stage. In its 19 years of existence it has supported 79 feature film scripts of which 39 were completed, 9 are shooting now, 21 are in development. More than 632,600 Euros have been granted. Cnac, the Venezuelan film organization has given a grant of 10,000 € for the past five years.
Fads partners: National Film Centre and Moving • International Organization of la Francophonie • Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs • Moroccan National Center for Cinema (Ccm) • Groupama Gan Foundation for Cinema • Regional Council of Picardy • Central Fund for Social Activities picture • Independent National Film Centre (Cnac - Venezuela)
In 2014, four scholarships of € 10,000 each were granted to directors of the following projects:
Family Gustavo Cordova Rondon (Venezuela) which has also won:
Cnac Script Development Fund (Venezuela)
Amiens Script Development Fund 2013
Ibermedia Development Fund 2013
And it has been selected to participate at:
Produire Au Sud Andean Workshop 2013
Ibermedia Project Development Workshop 2013
Oaxaca Screenwriters Lab 2014
Berlinale Talent Project Market 2014
The Court Of My Mother Idriss Diabaté (Côte d'Ivoire)
My Favorite Fabric Gaya Jiji (Syria)
Territoria Nora Martirosyan (Armenia)
And an additional grant of € 7,000 was awarded to the French project Dance Silent of Pradeepan Raveendran.
The rules and the application form of the next Script Fund of Amiens (due August 18!) that he created is available online or on request…from Thierry or even from me!
And, last but not least, Thierry brings "Cinema in Motion" from San Sebastian (who decided to stop the program in 2013) to Venice where it's now called " Final Cut in Venice", a workshop to help six works in progress from Africa and Arabic World toward completion with the support of French and Italian technical industries.
For more information contact:
Thierry Lenouvel
thierry [At] cinesudpromotion.com
Some films produced by Ciné-Sud:
Tirana. Year Zero by Fatmir Koci (France/Albania/ Belgium), Competition/Venice 2001, Golden Alexander/Thessaloniki
Rachida by Yamina Bachir Chouikh (France/Algeria), Official Selection/Cannes 2002
Fuse ! (Gori Vatra) by Pjer Zalica (Bosnia/Austria/Turkey/France), Silver Leopard/Locarno 2003
Wall by Simone Bitton (France/Israel), Directors Fortnight/Cannes 2004, Special Jury Prize/Sundance, Grand Prix/Marseille, Pesaro, Montreal, Jerusalem
Moolaade by Sembene Ousmane (Sénégal/France/Burkina/Maroc), Grand Prix Un Certain Regard/Cannes 2004, Best Foreign Film/American Critics Awards
Falafel by Michel Kammoun (Lebanon/France), Bayard d’Or/Namur 2006, Silver Muhr/Dubai, Bronze Palm/Valencia
Pomegranates And Myrrh by Najwa Najjar (Palestine/Germany/France), Competition/Sundance 2009, Rotterdam, 1st price in Doha
Rachel by Simone Bitton (France/Belgium), Forum/Berlin 2009, Competition/Cinema du Réel 2009
Every Day Is A Holliday by Dima El Horr (France/Lebanon/Germany),Toronto 2009, Roma, Dubai, Rotterdam, New York 2010
Mothers by Milcho Manchevski (Macedonia/Bulgaria/France),Toronto 2010, Berlin (Panorama) 2011
The Stoplight Society by Ruben Mendoza (Colombia/France/Spain/ Germany), best Colombian film of the year/Cartagena 2011, Best Director/Amiens 2010, Best 1st film/Huelva 2010
El Campo by Hernan Belon (Argentina/Italy/France) – Venice 2011/Critics Week
Fat, Bald, Short Man (Colombia/France) – more than 20 selections in 2011/2012
La Playa by Juan Andres Arango (Colombia/Brazil/France) – Cannes 2012/Official Selection, Un Certain Regard
Villegas by Gonzalo Tobal (Argentina/France) – Cannes 2012/Official Selection
La Sirga by William Vega (Colombia/Mexico/France) – Cannes 2012/Directors Fortnight
Qissa by Anup Singh (India/Germany/France/Holland) – Toronto 2013/Netpac award, Rotterdam 2014/Audience Award
Dust On The Tongue by Ruben Mendoza (Columbia/France) – Cartagena 2014/Best film, best director
Mateo by Maria Gamboa (Colombia/France) – Cartagena 2014/Jury Special award
Run, Boy, Run by Pepe Danquart (Germany/France) – Cannes Junior 2014
In post-production :
Red Rose by Sepideh Farsi (Iran/France/Grèce)
Los Ausentes by Nicolas Pereda (Mexico/Spain/France)
Ausencia by Chico Teixeira (Brazil/France)
Flapping In The Middle Of Nowhere by Nguyen Hiang Diep (Vietnam/France/Norvège/Allemagne)
In development :
Kill Two Birds With One Stone by Fejria Deliba (France)
Embrace Of The Serpent by Ciro Guerra (Colombie/Vénézuela/France)
Mantra, Song Of Scorpions by Anup Singh (Inde/Suisse/France)
Sal by William Vega (Colombie/Allemagne/France)
Parable Of A Blind Christ (Chili/France)
Land And Shade by Cesar Acevedo (Colombie/France)
D’Une Rive L’Autre by Sepideh Farsi (France)...
- 8/8/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Exclusive: The UK’s Framestore and producer David P. Kelly are set to partner on a $5m Mexican Cold War feature Lunik III, pitched at this week’s Moscow Business Square (Mbs).
Speaking exclusively to ScreenDaily, producer Victor Zavala Kugler of Jade Films said the English-language project was being pitched for the first time in Moscow since being introduced at the market in Guadalajara earlier this year
Kelly and Framestore’s animation supervisor Max Solomon first met Kugler and the film’s writer-director Antonio Zavala Kugler during the four-day event in Moscow.
¨We have a co-production agreement between Mexico and the UK, and the UK can work with Russia through the European Convention, so we don’t have to wait for an agreement between Mexico and Russia,¨ Kugler said.
¨It would be a very organic co-production, there are no bolts in the structure,¨ Kelly observed.
¨We will shoot the film in Mexico and work with David on accessing...
Speaking exclusively to ScreenDaily, producer Victor Zavala Kugler of Jade Films said the English-language project was being pitched for the first time in Moscow since being introduced at the market in Guadalajara earlier this year
Kelly and Framestore’s animation supervisor Max Solomon first met Kugler and the film’s writer-director Antonio Zavala Kugler during the four-day event in Moscow.
¨We have a co-production agreement between Mexico and the UK, and the UK can work with Russia through the European Convention, so we don’t have to wait for an agreement between Mexico and Russia,¨ Kugler said.
¨It would be a very organic co-production, there are no bolts in the structure,¨ Kelly observed.
¨We will shoot the film in Mexico and work with David on accessing...
- 6/24/2014
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
This year the 12th edition of the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (Iffla) includes a lineup of narrative and documentary features and short films. The impressive program reflects the rich diversity of Indian cinema, as well as the future of Indian filmmaking, with cutting-edge filmmakers and emerging voices bringing their acclaimed films to Los Angeles.
The festival is widely recognized as the premiere showcase of groundbreaking Indian cinema globally. Iffla will run April 8-13 at ArcLight Hollywood in Los Angeles, the festival’s home since its inception. Jadoo, an exploration of family bonds amidst two feuding brothers’ restaurants in England, will screen as the festival’s Closing Night Gala. The film is written and directed by Iffla alum Amit Gupta, and first premiered at the 2013 Berlinale. It features a wonderful ensemble cast that includes Kulvinder Ghir, Amara Karan, Harish Patel, Tom Mison, and Madhur Jaffrey. As previously announced, Iffla will open with Jeffrey D. Brown’s Sold, produced by Jane Charles and executive produced by Emma Thompson.
Iffla 2014 wil l present more than 33 films, including three world premieres, six North American premieres, six U.S. premieres, and 16 Los Angeles premieres. The films feature 10 different languages, from Hindi to Marathi, to Russian to Bengali. Additionally, Iffla supports American, Australian, British, Canadian, and European diaspora filmmakers from nine different countries telling their stories.
“I'm thrilled and proud that Iffla's line-up this year includes an especially diverse range of cinematic experiences, covering many regions of India and the diaspora,” said Iffla’s Artistic Director Jasmine Jaisinghani. "We would like to thank our Programming Advisor in India, Uma Da Cunha, for helping our programming team source some of these exceptional films."
Program highlights include: the North American premiere of Anurag Kashyap’s latest, Ugly an intense, masterfully directed psychological thriller that premiered in the 2013 Director’s Fortnight section of Cannes; Liar's Dice, the remarkable directorial debut of South Indian actress Geetu Mohandas that premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival; Anup Singh’s latest feature Qissa: The Tale of a Lonely Ghost, starring Irrfan Khan (Life of Pi, Slumdog Millionaire), winner of Netpac Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, and Dioraphte Award at the International Film Festival Rotterdam; the Audience Award winner at the 2013 Slamdance Film Festival Hank and Asha , an exploratory, romantic look at two people bonding in the digital age by newcomer James E. Duff; Nagraj Manjule’s Fandry, a highly praised debut feature for its multilayered emotion and realism on the subject of caste discrimination; Brahmin Bulls starring Roshan Seth (Gandhi, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Mississippi Masala) and Sendhil Ramamurthy (Beauty and the Beast, Heroes) as an estranged father and son unexpectedly brought together to confront the family’s past; and Siddharth, a nuanced look at a family whose son goes missing, by lauded Canadian director and Iffla alum Richie Mehta (Amal).
The festival's feature documentary competition includes an eclectic mix of films from established and upcoming filmmakers that consider India's unique traditions and dynamic future. The films include: the world premiere of
The Auction House , an intimate and funny look at two brothers trying to keep their anachronistic family business going in the digital age; festival favorite Powerless, which depicts intense struggles over electricity in a mid-size Indian city; Faith Connections, Iffla alum Pan Nalin's beautiful and rare look at the Kumbh Mela; and the National Award-winning Shepherds of Paradise, about an arduous, mountainous trek through an animal drive in the Kashmiri winter.
The Bollywood by Night series returns this year with Bombay Talkies and Monsoon Shootout. Premiering at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, Bombay Talkies is a quartet of short films that celebrates 100 years of Indian cinema. The omnibus film features work by four of India’s most exciting contemporary directors: Karan Johar, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar, and Anurag Kashyap, as well as a stellar cast that includes Amitabh Bachchan, Rani Mukerji, and Katrina Kaif. Monsoon Shoutout is a thrilling debut by Iffla alum writer/director Amit Kumar about how a split-second decision made by a rookie police officer has rippling effects in his life and the lives of those around him.
The shorts competition showcases a diverse selection of 15 films that include narrative, documentary, experimental, and animated works. Highlights of this year’s program include Academy Award® shortlisted Kush; Sundance award winner Love.Love.Love.; and the world premiere of acclaimed director Umesh Kulkarni’s The Fly.
Festival Passes and Gala tickets are currently on sale at the festival's website.
For more information, please visit:
Website: www.indianfilmfestival.org.
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ indianfilmfestival
Twitter: https://twitter.com /iffla
Tumblr: http://indianfilmfestival.tumblr.com/
About Iffla
Now in its 12th year, the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (Iffla) is a nonprofit organization devoted to a greater appreciation of Indian cinema and culture by showcasing films, honoring entertainment industry business executives, and promoting the diverse perspectives of the Indian diaspora.
Opening Night Gala
Sold
Los Angeles Premiere
USA/2014/97min
Director: Jeffrey D. Brown
Producer: Jane Charles
Executive Producer: Emma Thompson
Screenwriters: Joseph Kwong, Jeffrey D. Brown
Composer: John McDowell, Sammy Chand, Salim & Sulaiman Merchant
Cast: Susmita Mukherjee, Seema Biswas, Tillotama Shome, Niyar Saikia, Priyanka Bose, Ankur Vikal, Parambrata Chatterjee, Gillian Anderson, David Arquette
Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Jeffrey D. Brown adapts Patricia McCormick’s novel Sold – a National Book Award finalist – into a vivid, harrowing and inspiring story of a young girl’s resilience in the face of unspeakable cruelty.
Closing Night
Jadoo
Los Angeles Premiere
UK/2013/84 mins
Director: Amit Gupta
Producers: Amanda Faber, Isabelle Georgeaux, Richard Holmes, Nikki Parrott
Screenwriter: Amit Gupta
Composer: Stephen Warbeck
Cast: Kulvinder Ghir, Amara Karan, Harish Patel, Tom Mison, Madhur Jaffrey
Set in Leicester, England, Amit Gupta’s culinary comedy charts the chaos that ensues when young Shalini gets engaged to her longtime boyfriend Mark. The fact that Mark is not Indian is the least of Shalini’s concerns. Her father Raja and uncle Jagi have been at war for years. After a legendary falling out that caused them to close their family restaurant, each man opened his own establishment – directly across the street from one another! Shalini’s dream wedding would see both men put aside their differences and prepare the feast together, but resentment runs deep and neither man can hear mention of the other’s name without a spike in blood pressure. Both the prospect of disappointing their beloved Shalini and the threat of a new, hip restaurant opening in the area force Raja and Jagi to work together – but for how long? In this uproariously funny and heartfelt exploration of family bonds, shared history and gastronomic perfection, Gupta’s cast is endlessly appealing. Plus, there’s enough mouth-watering Indian food on display to have your stomach growling before the credits roll.
Feature Films
Before My Eyes (Ankhon Dekhi)
Los Angeles Premiere
India/2013/107min
Director: Rajat Kapoor Producer: Manish Mundra
Screenwriter: Rajat Kapoor
Cast: Sanjay Sanjay Mishra, Seema Pahwa, Rajat Kapoor, Taranjeet, Maya Sarao
Celebrated writer, director, and actor Rajat Kapoor (Midnight’s Children, Monsoon Wedding, Mixed Doubles, Mithya) paints an offbeat yet thought-provoking portrait of domestic life in modern day Delhi when an incident prompts head of the family Bauji to reject anything he himself has not experienced, much to the exasperation of his extended family but to the delight of his newfound philosopher disciples. Balancing the comical and the existential, both Bauji and the film ask the basic question, ‘Can you know truth without true experience?’
Brahmin Bulls
Los Angeles Premiere
USA/96min/2013
Director: Mahesh Pailoor
Producer: Yoshinobu Tsuji
Screenwriters: Anu Pradhan, Mahesh Pailoor
Cast: Sendhil Ramamurthy, Roshan Seth, Mary Steenburgen, Justin Bartha, Cassidy Freeman, Monica Raymund, Michael Lerner
Mahesh Pailoor's tender, funny, and touching debut tells the story of estranged father and son Ashok and Sid, who reunite at Sid's Los Angeles home when Ashok arrives unexpectedly. Each man is keeping secrets from one another, and when the truth is revealed, parent and child must work even harder to close the rift between them.
Fandry
North American Premiere
India/2013/103min
Director: Nagraj Manjule
Producers: Vivek Kajaria, Nilesh Navalakha
Screenwriter: Nagraj Manjule
Cast: Kishor Kadam, Chhaya Kadam, Somnath Awghade, Suraj Pawar, Rajshree Kharat, Sakshi Vyavhare, Aishvarya Shinde, Nagraj Manjule
Marathi poet Nagraj Manjule's impressive debut feature tells the story of Jabya, a Dalit boy, and his family's struggle against daily prejudice in their Maharashtra village. Jabya's carefree childhood desires and antics are soon stifled by his family's "untouchable" status, and the film's gradual transformation into an insightful and damning look at caste discrimination builds from a murmur to a defiant roar. Refusing to reduce his Dalit characters to victims – most explicitly at the film's explosive conclusion - Manjule's socially reflective film has received critical acclaim in India.
Hank and Asha
Los Angeles Premiere
USA/2013/73min
Director: James E. Duff
Producers: James E. Duff, Julia Morrison
Screenwriters: James E. Duff, Julia Morrison
Cast: Mahira Kakkar, Andrew Pastides
James E. Duff's feature directorial debut, the Audience Award winner at the 2013 Slamdance Film Festival, is an endearing tale of a long-distance connection in the digital age. Hank and Asha, two aspiring filmmakers separated by an ocean, connect with one another through video messages and quickly find themselves heading towards romance. That is, until Asha reveals some surprising news. Duff has created a captivating ode to the new possibilities open to us now that the world's gotten smaller.
Liar's Dice
Los Angeles Premiere
India/2013/104min
Director: Geetu Mohandas
Producers: Alan McAlex, Ajay G. Rai
Screenwriter: Geetu Mohandas
Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Geetanjali Thapa, Manya Gupta
Established actress Geetu Mohandas steps behind the lens for her bracing directorial debut. A woman named Kamala and her daughter journey from their remote Himalayan village to Delhi in search of Kamala's missing husband. They find a guide in an unfriendly wanderer whose interest may lie more in his personal gain than in any help he can offer them. Beautifully shot by Rajeev Ravi (Gangs of Wasseypur), Mohandas' film evokes a hazardous world where answers may never be clear and a helping hand always comes at a price.
Phoring
North American Premiere
India/2013/128min
Director: Indranil Roychowdhury
Producers: Anasua Roychowdury, Sugata Bal
Screenwriters: Indranil Roychowdhury, Sugata Sinha
Cast: Akash Adhikary, Sohini Sarkar, Sourav Basak, Ritwick Charaborty, Shankar Debnath, Senjuti Roymukherjee
Indranil Roychowdhury's stunning feature debut is an evocative, unpredictable tale of confused adolescence in a struggling North Bengal town. Phoring, an imaginative adolescent boy, and his beautiful new teacher Doel form a close friendship that soon arouses doubt and suspicion when Doel's presence in the town is revealed to have less-than-noble origins. Roychowdhury accomplishes a tricky feat with his first film by luring us with the promise of an inspirational teacher-student story before ultimately delivering a much more complex and truthful account of the joys and pains of growing up.
Qissa: The Tale of a Lonely Ghost (2013)
Los Angeles Premiere Germany-India-Netherlands/2013/109min
Director: Anup Singh
Producers: Bero Beyer, Johannes Rexin, Bettina Brokemper, Thierry Lenouvel
Screenwriter: Anup Singh, Madhuja Mukherjee
Cast: Irrfan Khan, Tisca Chopra, Tillotama Shome, Rasika Dugal
Set in 1940s Punjab, Anup Singh’s latest feature Qissa details the aftermath of the Indo-Pakistan Partition through the experiences of one Sikh family, headed by Umber (Irrfan Khan). Following the family’s forceful displacement from their village, Umber’s desire for a male heir is stronger than ever. When his wife gives birth to their fourth daughter, Kanwar, Umber makes the fateful decision to raise her as a boy. This tragic choice ends up dividing the family in violent ways, and provokes a series of increasingly unsettling situations for Kanwar as she grows up. While in a sense a ghost story, the source of pain and suffering is all too real.
Siddharth
Los Angeles Premiere
Canada-India/2013/96min
Director: Richie Mehta
Producers: David Miller, Steven N. Bray
Screenwriter: Richie Mehta
Cast: Rajesh Tailang, Tannishtha Chatterjee
A celebrated Iffla alum, Canadian director Richie Mehta returns to the festival with a heartbreaking story of parents Mahendra and Suman, whose son goes missing after being sent to work 200 miles north of Delhi. Carried by powerful yet restrained performances from Rajesh Tailang and Tannishtha Chatterjee as the parents, Mehta and cast capture the dignity of those facing the unthinkable. Mehta's chance encounter with a man searching for his lost son alerted him to the underreported plight of the families of 44,000 children estimated missing in India every year.
Ugly
North American Premiere
India/2013/128mins/Dcp
Director: Anurag Kashyap
Writer: Anurag Kashyap
Producers: Vikas Bahl, Madhu Mantena, Vikramaditya Motwane, Vivek Rangachari, Arun Rangachari
Cast: Rahul Bhatt, Ronit Roy, Tejaswini Kolhapure, Anshika Shrivastava
When ten-year-old Kali disappears from her father Rahul's car on the busy streets of Mumbai, the events that follow quickly spiral out of control and plunge into a morass of corruption and violence. Rahul and Kali's mother, Shalini, are divorced. Shalini is now married to Shoumik, the local police chief. When Shoumik learns that his stepdaughter is missing, he and Rahul clash in a breathless race to find the girl. With intricate plotting and vivid characterizations, Iffla alum Anurag Kashyap fashions a story that's sure to keep the heart racing.
Writers (Sulemani Keeda)
North American Premiere
India/2013/90min
Director: Amit V Masurkar
Writer: Amit V Masurkar
Producer: Datta Dave
Cast: Naveen Kasturia, Mayank Tewari, Aditi Vasudev and Karan Mirchandani
Writing partners Dulal and Mainak dream of shaking up Bollywood in director Amit Masurkar's slacker comedy. The two young men take a job from the wealthy, oddball son of a famous B-movie producer, but soon fear they're on the path to selling out. Masurkar's film captures the creative spirit of Andheri West, a Mumbai suburb where writers, directors, and actors come from all over India with the dream of working in the film industry, and is a sweet taste of things to come from the new "hindie" cinema.
Documentary Features
The Auction House: A Tale of Two Brothers
World Premiere
UK/2014/85min
Director: Ed Owles
Producers: Ed Owles, Giovanna Stopponi
The auction houses of Kolkata used to be where the rich and famous found the right high-end objects to decorate their homes. Today, the family-owned Russell Exchange is the last, and oldest, one to remain in India. Director Ed Owles follows two brothers, with the older brother moving back to Kolkata from London with hopes of using his Western business acumen to bring the Exchange into the 21st century. However, in a country radically transformed by technology and a rising youth culture, it may already be too late.
Faith Connections
Los Angeles Premiere
France-India/2013/115min/Dcp
Director: Pan Nalin
Producers: Raphaël Berdugo, Gaurav Dhingra, Pan Nalin, Virginie Lacombe
Every three years, Hindus gather at one of four rotating sites for Kumbh Mela, a religious celebration of faith and devotion marked by bathing in the sacred waters of the Ganges. With 100 million people at the 2013 Kumbh Mela, the pilgrimage is said to be the largest gathering on the planet. Iffla alum Pan Nalin crafts a moving and unique view of the mass gathering and presents unique stories of how individuals came to be there to share in the belief of the divine.
Powerless (Katiyabaaz)
Los Angeles Premiere
India/2013/82min
Director: Fahad Mustafa and Deepti Kakkar
Producers: Fahad Mustafa, Deepti Kakkar, Judy Tam, Leopold Koegler
Screenwriter: Fahad Mustafa
In Kanpur, a city of three million that has seen better days, one of the only ways for many residents to get electricity is to steal it. Co-directors Fahad Mustafa and Deepti Kakkar focus their attention on the likes of pirate engineers like Loha Singh and first female CEO at the local power authority Ritu Maheshwari. Coupled with beautiful photography of the intricately tied together powerlines of the city and a pulsating original score, they present a unique documentary about current-day India and its future battles over limited resources.
Shepherds of Paradise
U.S. Premiere
India/2013/50min
Director/Producer/Screenwriter/Cinematographer/Editor: Raja Shabir Khan
Composer: Bilal Iran
Nomadic herder Gafoor has to lead his large flock of goats, sheep, cows and horses across Jammu all the way to Kashmir so they can graze. Director Raja Shabir Khan presents lives few have ever seen, let alone lived, with simple beauty and real terror in a film that has won major National Awards in India. A cinematic wonder that must be seen to truly understand, Shepherds of Paradise is a testament of the power of film to transport us to other lands and experiences.
Bollywood By Night
Bombay Talkies
North American Premiere
India/117min/2013
Directors: Karan Johar, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar, Anurag Kashyap
Producers: Ritesh Sidhwani, Farhan Akhtar, Guneet Monga
Screenwriters: Karan Johar, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar, Reema Kagti, Anurag Kashyap
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan , Rani Mukerji, Katrina Kaif, Randeep Hooda, Saqib Saleem, Nawazuddin Siddiqui
A quartet of short films directed by four of India’s most exciting contemporary filmmakers celebrates 100 years of Indian cinema in this omnibus film. Karan Johar, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar and Anurag Kashyap crafts a tale of ordinary people whose love of movies profoundly alters the course of their lives. Each story beautifully captures how lovers of cinema can’t help but carry that fascination into their day-to-day life. Haven’t we all wished, at one time or another, that our lives were more like a film?
Monsoon Shootout
Los Angeles Premiere
India-uk-Netherlands/2013/88min
Director: Amit Kumar
Producers: Trevor Ingman, Guneet Monga, Martijn De Grunt
Screenwriter: Amit Kumar
Cast: Vijay Varma, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Geetanjali Thapa
A split-second decision made by a rookie police officer propels writer/director Amit Kumar’s debut feature, which fascinatingly splinters into three separate, equally pulse-pounding scenarios. In a secluded alley drenched in the pouring rain, principled cop Adi aims his gun at Shiva, a vicious gangster on the run. What Adi decides to do next will reverberate throughout his personal and professional life in ways he could never imagine. Kumar thus explores the ripple effect our choices have, and how we unknowingly alter the lives of those around us.
Shorts
Aarti
Shorts Program 2
World Premiere
USA/2013/4min
Director: David Walter Lech
Producer: Terrie Samundra
A hypnotic look into the nightly “ceremony of light” ritual in a Hindu temple in Sheikhupur, Punjab.
Alchemy
Shorts Program 2
U.S. Premiere
India/2013/5min
Directors: Pranay Patwardhan, Shivangi Ranawat, Janmeet Singh
Producer: Pritesh Varia
A bold and vibrant song to the intricate fabric of modern day India, a kaleidoscope of voices, colors and traditions.
Bhiwani Junction
Shorts Program 1
Los Angeles Premiere
USA/2013/18min
Director: Abhi Singh
Producer: Abhi Singh
A poignant documentary portrait of Himanshu, a 12-year old boxer, whose formidable commitment to the sport makes his lofty dreams to become an Olympic champion appear well within reach.
Black Rock (Kaatal)
Shorts Program 1
U.S. Premiere
India/2012/22min
Director: Vikrant Pawar
Producer: Film and Television Institute of India
Two young lovers spend one last afternoon together. A beautiful meditation on the ephemeral nature of young love that has won three of India’s National Film Awards.
The Fly (Makhi)
Shorts Program 2
World Premiere
India/2013/31min
Director: Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni
Producer: Film and Television Institute of India
Employed as a Fly Killer in an upscale restaurant, Pipal must ensure a fly-free environment by smacking dead the flies that buzz over the patrons’ heads. When a nearby drainage is closed and the source of the fly infestation eradicated, Pipal must find a way to produce enough live flies to save his job, in this delightfully absurdist commentary on urban India’s emerging work culture.
Beloved (Humsafar)
Shorts Program 2
U.S. Premiere
India/2012/6min
Directors/Writers: Swapnil Awate, Laura Erbacher
Producer: Dsk Supinfocom
A sweeping single shot takes us on the breathtaking animated journey of two lovers and their eternal pursuit of harmony.
Jaya
Shorts Program 2
USA/2013/19min
Director: Puja Maewal
Producer: Puja Maewal
Young Jaya is able to survive the gruesome gang life in the unforgiving streets of Mumbai by posing as a boy. When she meets a wealthy businessman who looks like he could be the father who abandoned her, she sets out to reclaim her identity, in this engrossing drama that was shortlisted for a Student Academy Award®.
Kush
Shorts Program 1
India/2013/25min
Director: Shubhashish Bhutiani
Producer: Shubhashish Bhutiani
A bus full of schoolchildren boisterously makes its way back from a field trip when the news of Indira Gandhi’s assassination by her Sikh bodyguards breaks. As violence quickly erupts across the country, Kush, the only Sikh student in the class, must find a way to escape the unquenchable fury of retribution, in this gripping drama that was shortlisted for an Academy Award®.
Little Gypsy (Kachho Gadulo)
Shorts Program 1
Los Angeles Premiere
India/2012/6min
Directors: Saptesh Chaubal, Pranay Patwardhan, Shivangi Ranawat
Producer: D.S.K. Supinfocom
Inspired by the folk traditions of various parts of India, this stunning animated film sweeps us into a mythical journey that celebrates the power of play and imagination.
Love.Love.Love.
Shorts Program 2
Los Angeles Premiere
Russian Federation/2013/12min
Director: Sandhya Daisy Sundaram
Producers: Tanya Petrik, Guillaume Protsenko
An intimate ode to the wondrous force of love, as it takes new shapes and forms through the endless Russian winters. Love. Love.Love. won the Short Film Special Jury Award for Non-Fiction at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.
Outpost
Shorts Program 1
U.S. Premiere
India-usa/2013/17min
Director: Shiva Shankar Bajpai
Producer: Aditi Anand
In the barren desert of the India-Pakistan border, two lone army guards on the opposite sides of the line yearn for booze, mosquito repellent and some human contact, in this humorous glimpse into the absurdity of rigid immaterial divides.
Presence
Shorts Program 2
U.S. Premiere
India/2012/17min
Directors: Ekta Mittal, Yashaswini Raghunandan
Producers: Ekta Mittal, Yashaswini Raghunandan
Long days and nights spent within the bellies of the rising structural beasts that rapidly transform the city of Bangalore bring on visions of ghosts that speak of the construction workers’ memories, longings and fears, in this haunting meditation on the migrant experience.
Skin Deep
Screens with Writers
U.S. Premiere
India/2013/20min
Director: Hardik Mehta
Producers: Devang Bhavsar, Niraj Kothari
Sanjay and Sushma plan to elope to escape a looming arranged marriage. They are in love and their future together shines bright and perfect and filled with possibility--that is, as long as an extra piece of skin that complicates their sex life gets fixed in what should be a routine medical procedure. But Mumbai’s electricity gods have other plans in store for them.
Small Yellow Field (Tau Seru)
Shorts Program 1
Los Angeles Premiere
Australia-India/2013/8min
Director: Rodd Rathjen
Producer: Rodd Rathjen
In the remote vastness of the Himalayas, a young nomad's curiosity lies beyond the horizon. This stunningly photographed film made its world premiere at Cannes Critics’ Week.
The Puppet (Tamaash)
Screens with Shepherds Of Paradise
Los Angeles Premiere
India/2013/32min
Directors: Devanshu Singh, Satyanshu Singh
Producers: Datta Dave, Chaitanya Hegde, Omar Nissar Paul, Devanshu Singh, Satyanshu Singh
A mysterious puppet offers young Anzar the chance to escape his father’s relentless punishments over his poor school grades by granting him the power to inflict misfortune on his nemesis, his brilliant classmate, Sadat. However, his newfound peace is short-lived as Sadat falls severely ill and Anzar comes to realize that the puppet’s powers are spiraling out of his control...
The festival is widely recognized as the premiere showcase of groundbreaking Indian cinema globally. Iffla will run April 8-13 at ArcLight Hollywood in Los Angeles, the festival’s home since its inception. Jadoo, an exploration of family bonds amidst two feuding brothers’ restaurants in England, will screen as the festival’s Closing Night Gala. The film is written and directed by Iffla alum Amit Gupta, and first premiered at the 2013 Berlinale. It features a wonderful ensemble cast that includes Kulvinder Ghir, Amara Karan, Harish Patel, Tom Mison, and Madhur Jaffrey. As previously announced, Iffla will open with Jeffrey D. Brown’s Sold, produced by Jane Charles and executive produced by Emma Thompson.
Iffla 2014 wil l present more than 33 films, including three world premieres, six North American premieres, six U.S. premieres, and 16 Los Angeles premieres. The films feature 10 different languages, from Hindi to Marathi, to Russian to Bengali. Additionally, Iffla supports American, Australian, British, Canadian, and European diaspora filmmakers from nine different countries telling their stories.
“I'm thrilled and proud that Iffla's line-up this year includes an especially diverse range of cinematic experiences, covering many regions of India and the diaspora,” said Iffla’s Artistic Director Jasmine Jaisinghani. "We would like to thank our Programming Advisor in India, Uma Da Cunha, for helping our programming team source some of these exceptional films."
Program highlights include: the North American premiere of Anurag Kashyap’s latest, Ugly an intense, masterfully directed psychological thriller that premiered in the 2013 Director’s Fortnight section of Cannes; Liar's Dice, the remarkable directorial debut of South Indian actress Geetu Mohandas that premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival; Anup Singh’s latest feature Qissa: The Tale of a Lonely Ghost, starring Irrfan Khan (Life of Pi, Slumdog Millionaire), winner of Netpac Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, and Dioraphte Award at the International Film Festival Rotterdam; the Audience Award winner at the 2013 Slamdance Film Festival Hank and Asha , an exploratory, romantic look at two people bonding in the digital age by newcomer James E. Duff; Nagraj Manjule’s Fandry, a highly praised debut feature for its multilayered emotion and realism on the subject of caste discrimination; Brahmin Bulls starring Roshan Seth (Gandhi, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Mississippi Masala) and Sendhil Ramamurthy (Beauty and the Beast, Heroes) as an estranged father and son unexpectedly brought together to confront the family’s past; and Siddharth, a nuanced look at a family whose son goes missing, by lauded Canadian director and Iffla alum Richie Mehta (Amal).
The festival's feature documentary competition includes an eclectic mix of films from established and upcoming filmmakers that consider India's unique traditions and dynamic future. The films include: the world premiere of
The Auction House , an intimate and funny look at two brothers trying to keep their anachronistic family business going in the digital age; festival favorite Powerless, which depicts intense struggles over electricity in a mid-size Indian city; Faith Connections, Iffla alum Pan Nalin's beautiful and rare look at the Kumbh Mela; and the National Award-winning Shepherds of Paradise, about an arduous, mountainous trek through an animal drive in the Kashmiri winter.
The Bollywood by Night series returns this year with Bombay Talkies and Monsoon Shootout. Premiering at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, Bombay Talkies is a quartet of short films that celebrates 100 years of Indian cinema. The omnibus film features work by four of India’s most exciting contemporary directors: Karan Johar, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar, and Anurag Kashyap, as well as a stellar cast that includes Amitabh Bachchan, Rani Mukerji, and Katrina Kaif. Monsoon Shoutout is a thrilling debut by Iffla alum writer/director Amit Kumar about how a split-second decision made by a rookie police officer has rippling effects in his life and the lives of those around him.
The shorts competition showcases a diverse selection of 15 films that include narrative, documentary, experimental, and animated works. Highlights of this year’s program include Academy Award® shortlisted Kush; Sundance award winner Love.Love.Love.; and the world premiere of acclaimed director Umesh Kulkarni’s The Fly.
Festival Passes and Gala tickets are currently on sale at the festival's website.
For more information, please visit:
Website: www.indianfilmfestival.org.
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ indianfilmfestival
Twitter: https://twitter.com /iffla
Tumblr: http://indianfilmfestival.tumblr.com/
About Iffla
Now in its 12th year, the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (Iffla) is a nonprofit organization devoted to a greater appreciation of Indian cinema and culture by showcasing films, honoring entertainment industry business executives, and promoting the diverse perspectives of the Indian diaspora.
Opening Night Gala
Sold
Los Angeles Premiere
USA/2014/97min
Director: Jeffrey D. Brown
Producer: Jane Charles
Executive Producer: Emma Thompson
Screenwriters: Joseph Kwong, Jeffrey D. Brown
Composer: John McDowell, Sammy Chand, Salim & Sulaiman Merchant
Cast: Susmita Mukherjee, Seema Biswas, Tillotama Shome, Niyar Saikia, Priyanka Bose, Ankur Vikal, Parambrata Chatterjee, Gillian Anderson, David Arquette
Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Jeffrey D. Brown adapts Patricia McCormick’s novel Sold – a National Book Award finalist – into a vivid, harrowing and inspiring story of a young girl’s resilience in the face of unspeakable cruelty.
Closing Night
Jadoo
Los Angeles Premiere
UK/2013/84 mins
Director: Amit Gupta
Producers: Amanda Faber, Isabelle Georgeaux, Richard Holmes, Nikki Parrott
Screenwriter: Amit Gupta
Composer: Stephen Warbeck
Cast: Kulvinder Ghir, Amara Karan, Harish Patel, Tom Mison, Madhur Jaffrey
Set in Leicester, England, Amit Gupta’s culinary comedy charts the chaos that ensues when young Shalini gets engaged to her longtime boyfriend Mark. The fact that Mark is not Indian is the least of Shalini’s concerns. Her father Raja and uncle Jagi have been at war for years. After a legendary falling out that caused them to close their family restaurant, each man opened his own establishment – directly across the street from one another! Shalini’s dream wedding would see both men put aside their differences and prepare the feast together, but resentment runs deep and neither man can hear mention of the other’s name without a spike in blood pressure. Both the prospect of disappointing their beloved Shalini and the threat of a new, hip restaurant opening in the area force Raja and Jagi to work together – but for how long? In this uproariously funny and heartfelt exploration of family bonds, shared history and gastronomic perfection, Gupta’s cast is endlessly appealing. Plus, there’s enough mouth-watering Indian food on display to have your stomach growling before the credits roll.
Feature Films
Before My Eyes (Ankhon Dekhi)
Los Angeles Premiere
India/2013/107min
Director: Rajat Kapoor Producer: Manish Mundra
Screenwriter: Rajat Kapoor
Cast: Sanjay Sanjay Mishra, Seema Pahwa, Rajat Kapoor, Taranjeet, Maya Sarao
Celebrated writer, director, and actor Rajat Kapoor (Midnight’s Children, Monsoon Wedding, Mixed Doubles, Mithya) paints an offbeat yet thought-provoking portrait of domestic life in modern day Delhi when an incident prompts head of the family Bauji to reject anything he himself has not experienced, much to the exasperation of his extended family but to the delight of his newfound philosopher disciples. Balancing the comical and the existential, both Bauji and the film ask the basic question, ‘Can you know truth without true experience?’
Brahmin Bulls
Los Angeles Premiere
USA/96min/2013
Director: Mahesh Pailoor
Producer: Yoshinobu Tsuji
Screenwriters: Anu Pradhan, Mahesh Pailoor
Cast: Sendhil Ramamurthy, Roshan Seth, Mary Steenburgen, Justin Bartha, Cassidy Freeman, Monica Raymund, Michael Lerner
Mahesh Pailoor's tender, funny, and touching debut tells the story of estranged father and son Ashok and Sid, who reunite at Sid's Los Angeles home when Ashok arrives unexpectedly. Each man is keeping secrets from one another, and when the truth is revealed, parent and child must work even harder to close the rift between them.
Fandry
North American Premiere
India/2013/103min
Director: Nagraj Manjule
Producers: Vivek Kajaria, Nilesh Navalakha
Screenwriter: Nagraj Manjule
Cast: Kishor Kadam, Chhaya Kadam, Somnath Awghade, Suraj Pawar, Rajshree Kharat, Sakshi Vyavhare, Aishvarya Shinde, Nagraj Manjule
Marathi poet Nagraj Manjule's impressive debut feature tells the story of Jabya, a Dalit boy, and his family's struggle against daily prejudice in their Maharashtra village. Jabya's carefree childhood desires and antics are soon stifled by his family's "untouchable" status, and the film's gradual transformation into an insightful and damning look at caste discrimination builds from a murmur to a defiant roar. Refusing to reduce his Dalit characters to victims – most explicitly at the film's explosive conclusion - Manjule's socially reflective film has received critical acclaim in India.
Hank and Asha
Los Angeles Premiere
USA/2013/73min
Director: James E. Duff
Producers: James E. Duff, Julia Morrison
Screenwriters: James E. Duff, Julia Morrison
Cast: Mahira Kakkar, Andrew Pastides
James E. Duff's feature directorial debut, the Audience Award winner at the 2013 Slamdance Film Festival, is an endearing tale of a long-distance connection in the digital age. Hank and Asha, two aspiring filmmakers separated by an ocean, connect with one another through video messages and quickly find themselves heading towards romance. That is, until Asha reveals some surprising news. Duff has created a captivating ode to the new possibilities open to us now that the world's gotten smaller.
Liar's Dice
Los Angeles Premiere
India/2013/104min
Director: Geetu Mohandas
Producers: Alan McAlex, Ajay G. Rai
Screenwriter: Geetu Mohandas
Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Geetanjali Thapa, Manya Gupta
Established actress Geetu Mohandas steps behind the lens for her bracing directorial debut. A woman named Kamala and her daughter journey from their remote Himalayan village to Delhi in search of Kamala's missing husband. They find a guide in an unfriendly wanderer whose interest may lie more in his personal gain than in any help he can offer them. Beautifully shot by Rajeev Ravi (Gangs of Wasseypur), Mohandas' film evokes a hazardous world where answers may never be clear and a helping hand always comes at a price.
Phoring
North American Premiere
India/2013/128min
Director: Indranil Roychowdhury
Producers: Anasua Roychowdury, Sugata Bal
Screenwriters: Indranil Roychowdhury, Sugata Sinha
Cast: Akash Adhikary, Sohini Sarkar, Sourav Basak, Ritwick Charaborty, Shankar Debnath, Senjuti Roymukherjee
Indranil Roychowdhury's stunning feature debut is an evocative, unpredictable tale of confused adolescence in a struggling North Bengal town. Phoring, an imaginative adolescent boy, and his beautiful new teacher Doel form a close friendship that soon arouses doubt and suspicion when Doel's presence in the town is revealed to have less-than-noble origins. Roychowdhury accomplishes a tricky feat with his first film by luring us with the promise of an inspirational teacher-student story before ultimately delivering a much more complex and truthful account of the joys and pains of growing up.
Qissa: The Tale of a Lonely Ghost (2013)
Los Angeles Premiere Germany-India-Netherlands/2013/109min
Director: Anup Singh
Producers: Bero Beyer, Johannes Rexin, Bettina Brokemper, Thierry Lenouvel
Screenwriter: Anup Singh, Madhuja Mukherjee
Cast: Irrfan Khan, Tisca Chopra, Tillotama Shome, Rasika Dugal
Set in 1940s Punjab, Anup Singh’s latest feature Qissa details the aftermath of the Indo-Pakistan Partition through the experiences of one Sikh family, headed by Umber (Irrfan Khan). Following the family’s forceful displacement from their village, Umber’s desire for a male heir is stronger than ever. When his wife gives birth to their fourth daughter, Kanwar, Umber makes the fateful decision to raise her as a boy. This tragic choice ends up dividing the family in violent ways, and provokes a series of increasingly unsettling situations for Kanwar as she grows up. While in a sense a ghost story, the source of pain and suffering is all too real.
Siddharth
Los Angeles Premiere
Canada-India/2013/96min
Director: Richie Mehta
Producers: David Miller, Steven N. Bray
Screenwriter: Richie Mehta
Cast: Rajesh Tailang, Tannishtha Chatterjee
A celebrated Iffla alum, Canadian director Richie Mehta returns to the festival with a heartbreaking story of parents Mahendra and Suman, whose son goes missing after being sent to work 200 miles north of Delhi. Carried by powerful yet restrained performances from Rajesh Tailang and Tannishtha Chatterjee as the parents, Mehta and cast capture the dignity of those facing the unthinkable. Mehta's chance encounter with a man searching for his lost son alerted him to the underreported plight of the families of 44,000 children estimated missing in India every year.
Ugly
North American Premiere
India/2013/128mins/Dcp
Director: Anurag Kashyap
Writer: Anurag Kashyap
Producers: Vikas Bahl, Madhu Mantena, Vikramaditya Motwane, Vivek Rangachari, Arun Rangachari
Cast: Rahul Bhatt, Ronit Roy, Tejaswini Kolhapure, Anshika Shrivastava
When ten-year-old Kali disappears from her father Rahul's car on the busy streets of Mumbai, the events that follow quickly spiral out of control and plunge into a morass of corruption and violence. Rahul and Kali's mother, Shalini, are divorced. Shalini is now married to Shoumik, the local police chief. When Shoumik learns that his stepdaughter is missing, he and Rahul clash in a breathless race to find the girl. With intricate plotting and vivid characterizations, Iffla alum Anurag Kashyap fashions a story that's sure to keep the heart racing.
Writers (Sulemani Keeda)
North American Premiere
India/2013/90min
Director: Amit V Masurkar
Writer: Amit V Masurkar
Producer: Datta Dave
Cast: Naveen Kasturia, Mayank Tewari, Aditi Vasudev and Karan Mirchandani
Writing partners Dulal and Mainak dream of shaking up Bollywood in director Amit Masurkar's slacker comedy. The two young men take a job from the wealthy, oddball son of a famous B-movie producer, but soon fear they're on the path to selling out. Masurkar's film captures the creative spirit of Andheri West, a Mumbai suburb where writers, directors, and actors come from all over India with the dream of working in the film industry, and is a sweet taste of things to come from the new "hindie" cinema.
Documentary Features
The Auction House: A Tale of Two Brothers
World Premiere
UK/2014/85min
Director: Ed Owles
Producers: Ed Owles, Giovanna Stopponi
The auction houses of Kolkata used to be where the rich and famous found the right high-end objects to decorate their homes. Today, the family-owned Russell Exchange is the last, and oldest, one to remain in India. Director Ed Owles follows two brothers, with the older brother moving back to Kolkata from London with hopes of using his Western business acumen to bring the Exchange into the 21st century. However, in a country radically transformed by technology and a rising youth culture, it may already be too late.
Faith Connections
Los Angeles Premiere
France-India/2013/115min/Dcp
Director: Pan Nalin
Producers: Raphaël Berdugo, Gaurav Dhingra, Pan Nalin, Virginie Lacombe
Every three years, Hindus gather at one of four rotating sites for Kumbh Mela, a religious celebration of faith and devotion marked by bathing in the sacred waters of the Ganges. With 100 million people at the 2013 Kumbh Mela, the pilgrimage is said to be the largest gathering on the planet. Iffla alum Pan Nalin crafts a moving and unique view of the mass gathering and presents unique stories of how individuals came to be there to share in the belief of the divine.
Powerless (Katiyabaaz)
Los Angeles Premiere
India/2013/82min
Director: Fahad Mustafa and Deepti Kakkar
Producers: Fahad Mustafa, Deepti Kakkar, Judy Tam, Leopold Koegler
Screenwriter: Fahad Mustafa
In Kanpur, a city of three million that has seen better days, one of the only ways for many residents to get electricity is to steal it. Co-directors Fahad Mustafa and Deepti Kakkar focus their attention on the likes of pirate engineers like Loha Singh and first female CEO at the local power authority Ritu Maheshwari. Coupled with beautiful photography of the intricately tied together powerlines of the city and a pulsating original score, they present a unique documentary about current-day India and its future battles over limited resources.
Shepherds of Paradise
U.S. Premiere
India/2013/50min
Director/Producer/Screenwriter/Cinematographer/Editor: Raja Shabir Khan
Composer: Bilal Iran
Nomadic herder Gafoor has to lead his large flock of goats, sheep, cows and horses across Jammu all the way to Kashmir so they can graze. Director Raja Shabir Khan presents lives few have ever seen, let alone lived, with simple beauty and real terror in a film that has won major National Awards in India. A cinematic wonder that must be seen to truly understand, Shepherds of Paradise is a testament of the power of film to transport us to other lands and experiences.
Bollywood By Night
Bombay Talkies
North American Premiere
India/117min/2013
Directors: Karan Johar, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar, Anurag Kashyap
Producers: Ritesh Sidhwani, Farhan Akhtar, Guneet Monga
Screenwriters: Karan Johar, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar, Reema Kagti, Anurag Kashyap
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan , Rani Mukerji, Katrina Kaif, Randeep Hooda, Saqib Saleem, Nawazuddin Siddiqui
A quartet of short films directed by four of India’s most exciting contemporary filmmakers celebrates 100 years of Indian cinema in this omnibus film. Karan Johar, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar and Anurag Kashyap crafts a tale of ordinary people whose love of movies profoundly alters the course of their lives. Each story beautifully captures how lovers of cinema can’t help but carry that fascination into their day-to-day life. Haven’t we all wished, at one time or another, that our lives were more like a film?
Monsoon Shootout
Los Angeles Premiere
India-uk-Netherlands/2013/88min
Director: Amit Kumar
Producers: Trevor Ingman, Guneet Monga, Martijn De Grunt
Screenwriter: Amit Kumar
Cast: Vijay Varma, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Geetanjali Thapa
A split-second decision made by a rookie police officer propels writer/director Amit Kumar’s debut feature, which fascinatingly splinters into three separate, equally pulse-pounding scenarios. In a secluded alley drenched in the pouring rain, principled cop Adi aims his gun at Shiva, a vicious gangster on the run. What Adi decides to do next will reverberate throughout his personal and professional life in ways he could never imagine. Kumar thus explores the ripple effect our choices have, and how we unknowingly alter the lives of those around us.
Shorts
Aarti
Shorts Program 2
World Premiere
USA/2013/4min
Director: David Walter Lech
Producer: Terrie Samundra
A hypnotic look into the nightly “ceremony of light” ritual in a Hindu temple in Sheikhupur, Punjab.
Alchemy
Shorts Program 2
U.S. Premiere
India/2013/5min
Directors: Pranay Patwardhan, Shivangi Ranawat, Janmeet Singh
Producer: Pritesh Varia
A bold and vibrant song to the intricate fabric of modern day India, a kaleidoscope of voices, colors and traditions.
Bhiwani Junction
Shorts Program 1
Los Angeles Premiere
USA/2013/18min
Director: Abhi Singh
Producer: Abhi Singh
A poignant documentary portrait of Himanshu, a 12-year old boxer, whose formidable commitment to the sport makes his lofty dreams to become an Olympic champion appear well within reach.
Black Rock (Kaatal)
Shorts Program 1
U.S. Premiere
India/2012/22min
Director: Vikrant Pawar
Producer: Film and Television Institute of India
Two young lovers spend one last afternoon together. A beautiful meditation on the ephemeral nature of young love that has won three of India’s National Film Awards.
The Fly (Makhi)
Shorts Program 2
World Premiere
India/2013/31min
Director: Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni
Producer: Film and Television Institute of India
Employed as a Fly Killer in an upscale restaurant, Pipal must ensure a fly-free environment by smacking dead the flies that buzz over the patrons’ heads. When a nearby drainage is closed and the source of the fly infestation eradicated, Pipal must find a way to produce enough live flies to save his job, in this delightfully absurdist commentary on urban India’s emerging work culture.
Beloved (Humsafar)
Shorts Program 2
U.S. Premiere
India/2012/6min
Directors/Writers: Swapnil Awate, Laura Erbacher
Producer: Dsk Supinfocom
A sweeping single shot takes us on the breathtaking animated journey of two lovers and their eternal pursuit of harmony.
Jaya
Shorts Program 2
USA/2013/19min
Director: Puja Maewal
Producer: Puja Maewal
Young Jaya is able to survive the gruesome gang life in the unforgiving streets of Mumbai by posing as a boy. When she meets a wealthy businessman who looks like he could be the father who abandoned her, she sets out to reclaim her identity, in this engrossing drama that was shortlisted for a Student Academy Award®.
Kush
Shorts Program 1
India/2013/25min
Director: Shubhashish Bhutiani
Producer: Shubhashish Bhutiani
A bus full of schoolchildren boisterously makes its way back from a field trip when the news of Indira Gandhi’s assassination by her Sikh bodyguards breaks. As violence quickly erupts across the country, Kush, the only Sikh student in the class, must find a way to escape the unquenchable fury of retribution, in this gripping drama that was shortlisted for an Academy Award®.
Little Gypsy (Kachho Gadulo)
Shorts Program 1
Los Angeles Premiere
India/2012/6min
Directors: Saptesh Chaubal, Pranay Patwardhan, Shivangi Ranawat
Producer: D.S.K. Supinfocom
Inspired by the folk traditions of various parts of India, this stunning animated film sweeps us into a mythical journey that celebrates the power of play and imagination.
Love.Love.Love.
Shorts Program 2
Los Angeles Premiere
Russian Federation/2013/12min
Director: Sandhya Daisy Sundaram
Producers: Tanya Petrik, Guillaume Protsenko
An intimate ode to the wondrous force of love, as it takes new shapes and forms through the endless Russian winters. Love. Love.Love. won the Short Film Special Jury Award for Non-Fiction at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.
Outpost
Shorts Program 1
U.S. Premiere
India-usa/2013/17min
Director: Shiva Shankar Bajpai
Producer: Aditi Anand
In the barren desert of the India-Pakistan border, two lone army guards on the opposite sides of the line yearn for booze, mosquito repellent and some human contact, in this humorous glimpse into the absurdity of rigid immaterial divides.
Presence
Shorts Program 2
U.S. Premiere
India/2012/17min
Directors: Ekta Mittal, Yashaswini Raghunandan
Producers: Ekta Mittal, Yashaswini Raghunandan
Long days and nights spent within the bellies of the rising structural beasts that rapidly transform the city of Bangalore bring on visions of ghosts that speak of the construction workers’ memories, longings and fears, in this haunting meditation on the migrant experience.
Skin Deep
Screens with Writers
U.S. Premiere
India/2013/20min
Director: Hardik Mehta
Producers: Devang Bhavsar, Niraj Kothari
Sanjay and Sushma plan to elope to escape a looming arranged marriage. They are in love and their future together shines bright and perfect and filled with possibility--that is, as long as an extra piece of skin that complicates their sex life gets fixed in what should be a routine medical procedure. But Mumbai’s electricity gods have other plans in store for them.
Small Yellow Field (Tau Seru)
Shorts Program 1
Los Angeles Premiere
Australia-India/2013/8min
Director: Rodd Rathjen
Producer: Rodd Rathjen
In the remote vastness of the Himalayas, a young nomad's curiosity lies beyond the horizon. This stunningly photographed film made its world premiere at Cannes Critics’ Week.
The Puppet (Tamaash)
Screens with Shepherds Of Paradise
Los Angeles Premiere
India/2013/32min
Directors: Devanshu Singh, Satyanshu Singh
Producers: Datta Dave, Chaitanya Hegde, Omar Nissar Paul, Devanshu Singh, Satyanshu Singh
A mysterious puppet offers young Anzar the chance to escape his father’s relentless punishments over his poor school grades by granting him the power to inflict misfortune on his nemesis, his brilliant classmate, Sadat. However, his newfound peace is short-lived as Sadat falls severely ill and Anzar comes to realize that the puppet’s powers are spiraling out of his control...
- 4/8/2014
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Sydney's Buzz
Today I am writing from Cartagena, Colombia where I attended Ficci, the Festival Internacional de Cine de Cartagena de Indias.
This former colonial jewel in the crown of Spain offers a huge array of delights, film-wise, art-wise, food-wise and people-wise. Gorgeous arts and gorgeous people, sweet, polite and proud. As much as I love Havana, Cartagena is how Havana should look.
And as much as I loved Careyes where I was last week, the art and artisanal scope here is so wide; from the Colombian painter and sculptor, Botero to indigenous palm weaving – décor for homes (not cheap!), bags, designer clothing, linen and rubies.
Aside from films, my big discoveries of the day are Ruby Rumie, a Colombian artist who spends much of her time here in her studio in the Getsemaní section of town and in Chile. Coincidentally (again) Gary Meyer (Telluride Film Festival) and his wife Cathy who are here with Gary on the Documentary Competition Jury (I just left them in Careyas!) also just discovered her as well. The other artist, Olga Amaral, works in indigenous styles of weaving and textile production and now is favoring gold leaf displays of woven wall tapestries. Stunning. Both are available at the Nh Gallery, a place I just happened to wander into as I was walking from the theater to my equally stunning hotel Casa Pestagua.
The courteous and helpful people here are a proud mix of white, brown and black. They say the blacks will never follow the orders of a white. They say the blood of slaves is embedded in the wall fortifications of the city. The Inquisition here was very powerful, and they say the Jews (Conversos) coming in the conquistadors’ ships went to settle Medellín and the Catholics to Bogotá. Cartagena was the last city to be free of the Spanish crown and as such, it was extremely conservative.
It would take days to visit all the museums throughout the city. The Art Biennale is now in many of them (free entry) including the Museum of the Inquisition with its torture machines. The Museum of Gold with pre-Colombian gold artworks is astounding. All the gold of Latin America (and emeralds, diamonds and silver) went from here in the Spanish galleons back to Spain until the city declared its independence in 1811. We in the North know this history but from a different perspective. Eduardo Galeano’s Open Veins of Latin America and Gonzalo Arijon’s documentary Eyes Wide Open, an update of Galeano’s ideas are good starting points for understanding this part of the world. Eye opening indeed!
The beauty of the city and its people is matched by the food. There is great food here here and some very haute cuisine restaurants. Ceviches of many kinds, new sweet fruits like the pitaya and the drink mixing limeade and coconut milk delight the palate. The festival invites enough but not too many industry folks so it can host lunches and dinners in wonderful venues along with cocktail hours where we can all meet and talk. Talk among us is of food and film, film and food…even of food film festivals that are cropping up from Berlin, San Sebastian, here and in Northern California…stay tuned.
The Colombian government is aware of the need for the public to rediscover their own stories and to this end all the festival screenings are free, and all are packed Sro. The government also supports filmmakers with a deliberate, well-planned and well executed strategy to increase production and create an infrastructure.
Colombian films’ biggest challenge is to increase their share of their rapidly growing domestic market, worth $182.3 million in box office in 2012. One way forward is international co-production, where Bam (Bogotá Audiovisual Market) July 14-18, 2014 plays a large role. There is a mini version of this here (Encuentros Cartagena), centering on French and Colombian co-production, but not limited to that, with guests like George Goldenstern from Cinefondation (Cannes), producer/ international sales agent Marie-Pierre Masia and and the ever present Thierry Lenouvel of Cine-Sud whose film Tierra en la lengua aka Dust on the Tongue won the Best Picture Award in Competition. Vincenzo Bugno of World Cinema Fund of the Berlinale is always here too as is Jose Maria Riba on the Jury of the Competition and programmer for San Sebastian and Directors Fortnight. Also on the jury are Wendy Mitchel and Pawel Pawlikowski whose film Ida (Isa: Portobello Film Sales) is playing (outside of the Competition). A look at the winning competition films shows the strength of co-productions today.
Best Picture: Dust on the Tongue of Ruben Mendoza (Colombia) Colombia Film of $15,000. Special Jury Prize: The Third Side of the River (La tercera orilla) which premiered in Competition at the Berlinale, by Celina Murga (Argentina, Netherlands, Germany) (Isa: The Match Factory) Best Director: Alejandro Fernández Almendras for To kill a man (Matar a un hombre) which premiered in Sundance (Chile, France). Film Factory is selling international rights and Film Movement has U.S. It also won the Fipresci or International Critics’ Award. Best Actor: Fernando Bacilio by El Mudo (Peru, Mexico, France), Urban Distribution International is the sales agent.
Cinema in Colombia continues its steep ascent in the international production world. The reasons, according to Bugno, lie in “new political decisions, funding structures, and the developing of a new producing environment that also has to do with new emerging young talent.”
A visit to the festival headquarters proves the point of the extensive government support of film not only for its own sake, but for the sake of all the people, dispossessed, abused, Lgbt, children and women. It is a beautiful sight to see such support, and the people seem to reciprocate; I hear more praise than complaints about the government and everyone seems cautiously optimistic, aware of its current position vis à vis what has thankfully become recent history with the guerillas who had been waging war with the government for the past 40 years and the current elections and competing points of view between the former President Uribe and the current President Juan Manuel Santos.
Aecid , Association Espagnola de Cooperacon Internacional para el Desarrollo (The Spanish Association for International Cooperation for Development), a festival sponsor supports social cohesion, equality of genders, construction of peace, respect for cultural diversity and the reduction of poverty.
Currently in Colombia, national cinema holds a 10% share of the Colombian market and 8% of the box office. In 2012, 213 films were produced in Colombia, a huge increase since 2009 when 19 were produced according to Ocal, the Observotario del Cine f nCl [sic]. In 2012, 23 of the 213 domestic films were released theatrically, a tremendous increase from the 6 Colombian films released in the year 2000. [1],[2] This number surpasses every record in Colombia’s film history
This 10 day spectacular film festival gives free entry to all at 8 theaters and, proving the point that people love the movies, every single screening is packed solid, Sro. More than 135 films come from 27 countries. 48 daily screenings include 14 open air screenings in great locations. There are 40 world premieres and 26 Latin American premieres.
150 invited guests included Abbas Kiarostami, Clive Owen, Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu, Pavel Pawlikowsky with his film Ida, John Sayles with whom I had an interesting talk about U.S. current distribution and of Return of Seacaucus Seven and Sunshine State. The screening of his film Go For Sisters has received an enthusiastic response from the audiences.
Since 2013, coproductions between the U.S. and Colombia with variations on the theme are on the rise. With its 40% cash rebate, Colombia is proving to be a great place to make movies.
Colombians such as Simon Brand are making English language genre films such as this year’s festival debuting Default (Isa: Wild Bunch). For budgets under Us$1 million, action, thrillers and horror genres can cross borders, and can recoup costs and even profit.
The reverse is also notable. Four films screening here are Colombian films made by Americans. The winner to three prizes here for Best Director, Best Documentary and the Audience Prize, Marmato by Marc Grieco was workshopped twice at Sundance where it premiered this January 2014. It is represented internationally by Ro*co and its U.S. representative is Ben Weiss at Paradigm. The other three remarkable debut films are Mambo Cool by Chris Gude,Manos Sucias by Josef Wladyka (a Japanese-Polish American) and Parador Hungaro by Patrick Alexander and Aseneth Suarez Ruiz. Look for upcoming interviews with these four directors who came to Colombia and, because of their experiences here, decided to make these exceptional movies. My next blog will be interviews with each of these films’ directors.
Secundaria , the first film I saw here was not shot here although it too was directed by an American who made 21 trips to Cuba to make it. Documenting the high school ballet training and competitions held by Cuba’s world famous National Ballet School -- Watch the trailer here -- it was not only beautiful but it magically captured the ever-present economic issues of Cuba. I can’t wait to see Primaria about the grade school of the Nbs.
Director and coproducer Mary Jane Doherty has been an Associate Professor of Film at Boston University since 1990. Proud of her lineage as a student of iconic documentarian Ricky Leacock, she developed B.U.’s Narrative Documentary Program: a novel approach to non-fiction storytelling using the building blocks of fiction film. Lyda Kuth , the coproducer, is founding board member and executive director of the Lef Foundation, which supports independent filmmakers through the Lef Moving Image Fund. In 2005, she established Nadita Productions and was producer/director on her first feature documentary, Love and Other Anxieties.
A cocktail party is given daily at the festival where we can all meet up. It was there I met Gail Gendler VP of Acquisitions for AMC/ Sundance Channel Global (international not domestic) and Gus
Dinner one night was with the jury for Nuevos Creadores (New Creators). Cynthia Garcia Calvo, Editor in Chief of LatamCinema.com, a Latino equivalent to Indiewire.com out of Chile and Argentina and I spoke of possible ways to cooperate. The third member of the jury, Javier Mejia, director of Colombia’s best film of 2008 Apocalypsur also has a documentary here, Duni, about a Chilean filmmaker who left Chile during the dictatorship and came to Colombia where he made political films in Medellin but never discussed his reasons for coming or even his Chilean roots. How happy I was that I had seen and enjoyed the films of the third jury member, Daniel Vega, who with his brother Diego made The Mute aka El Mudo (Isa: Urban Media) which played in Toronto and San Sebastian and his earlier film October, both dark comedies or perhaps dramadies dealing with subjective realities in unique environs of Peru we have never seen. He promised to help me with the Peru chapter of my upcoming book. Peru is in the lower middle of countries which support filmmaking. Their film fund is a rather laid back affair administered by the Ministry of Culture who receives money from the Ministry of Finance when they “get around to it”.
Jury for New Creators: Javier Mejía, Cynthia García Calvo and Diego Vega,displaying the winner for the Best Short Film: Alen Natalia Imery (Universidad del Valle) who won a Sony video camera, 2,000, 000 pesos of in kind services from Shock Magazin, and a scholarship for graduate Project Management and Film Production at the Autonomous University of Bucaramanga
Second prize went to The murmur of the earth Alejandro Daza (National University) - Win a Sony camera, and a Fellowship for Graduate Record Audio and Sound Design of the Autonomous University of Bucaramanga.
Other winners are:
Official Colombian Film Competition
Jurors: David Melo - Alissa Simon - Daniela Michel
Best Film: Marmato by Mark Grieco (Colombia, USA) Winner of the I.Sat Award for $30K and the Cinecolor Award for $11k in deliveries
Special Jury Prize: Mateo by María Gamboa
Best Director: Rubén Mendoza for Dust on the Tongue (Tierra en la lengua). Winner of Hangar Films Award for $30K in film equipment to produce his next film.
Additional Awards
Audience Award Colombia: Marmato by Mark Grieco (Colombia, USA). Winner of $15K
Official Documentary Competition
Jurors: Gary Meyer- Luis Ospina - Laurie Collyer
Best Film: Marmato by Mark Grieco (Colombia, USA). Winner of the Cinecolor Award for $13Kin post-production services.
Special Jury Prize: What Now? Remind Me (E Agora? Lembra-me) by Joaquim Pinto (Portugal)
Best Director: Justin Webster for I Will Be Murdered (Seré asesinado) (Spain, Denmark, U.K.)
Official Short Film Competition
JurorsOswaldo Osorio -Pacho Bottia - Denis de la Roca
Best Short Film: Statues (Estatuas) by Roberto Fiesco (Mexico). Winner of a professional Sony camera and $3K from Cinecolor in post-production services for his next project.
Special Jury Prize: About a Month (Pouco Mais de um Mês) by André Novais Oliveira (Brazil)
Best Director: Manuel Camacho Bustillo for Blackout chapter 4 "A Call to Neverland" (Blackout capítulo 4 "Una llamada a Neverland") (Mexico). Winner of a Sony photographic camera.
Gems
Jurors: Mauricio Reina - Manuel Kalmanowitz - Sofia Gomez Gonzalez
Best Film: Like Father, Like Son by Hirokazu Koreeda (Japan). Winner of the Rcn Award for $50 to promote the release of the film in Colombia.
Special Jury Prize: Ilo Ilo by Anthony Chen (Singapore)
[1] http://www.cinelatinoamericano.org/ocal/cifras.aspx
[2] http://www.mincultura.gov.co/areas/cinematografia/estadisticas-del-sector/Documents/Anuario%202012.p...
This former colonial jewel in the crown of Spain offers a huge array of delights, film-wise, art-wise, food-wise and people-wise. Gorgeous arts and gorgeous people, sweet, polite and proud. As much as I love Havana, Cartagena is how Havana should look.
And as much as I loved Careyes where I was last week, the art and artisanal scope here is so wide; from the Colombian painter and sculptor, Botero to indigenous palm weaving – décor for homes (not cheap!), bags, designer clothing, linen and rubies.
Aside from films, my big discoveries of the day are Ruby Rumie, a Colombian artist who spends much of her time here in her studio in the Getsemaní section of town and in Chile. Coincidentally (again) Gary Meyer (Telluride Film Festival) and his wife Cathy who are here with Gary on the Documentary Competition Jury (I just left them in Careyas!) also just discovered her as well. The other artist, Olga Amaral, works in indigenous styles of weaving and textile production and now is favoring gold leaf displays of woven wall tapestries. Stunning. Both are available at the Nh Gallery, a place I just happened to wander into as I was walking from the theater to my equally stunning hotel Casa Pestagua.
The courteous and helpful people here are a proud mix of white, brown and black. They say the blacks will never follow the orders of a white. They say the blood of slaves is embedded in the wall fortifications of the city. The Inquisition here was very powerful, and they say the Jews (Conversos) coming in the conquistadors’ ships went to settle Medellín and the Catholics to Bogotá. Cartagena was the last city to be free of the Spanish crown and as such, it was extremely conservative.
It would take days to visit all the museums throughout the city. The Art Biennale is now in many of them (free entry) including the Museum of the Inquisition with its torture machines. The Museum of Gold with pre-Colombian gold artworks is astounding. All the gold of Latin America (and emeralds, diamonds and silver) went from here in the Spanish galleons back to Spain until the city declared its independence in 1811. We in the North know this history but from a different perspective. Eduardo Galeano’s Open Veins of Latin America and Gonzalo Arijon’s documentary Eyes Wide Open, an update of Galeano’s ideas are good starting points for understanding this part of the world. Eye opening indeed!
The beauty of the city and its people is matched by the food. There is great food here here and some very haute cuisine restaurants. Ceviches of many kinds, new sweet fruits like the pitaya and the drink mixing limeade and coconut milk delight the palate. The festival invites enough but not too many industry folks so it can host lunches and dinners in wonderful venues along with cocktail hours where we can all meet and talk. Talk among us is of food and film, film and food…even of food film festivals that are cropping up from Berlin, San Sebastian, here and in Northern California…stay tuned.
The Colombian government is aware of the need for the public to rediscover their own stories and to this end all the festival screenings are free, and all are packed Sro. The government also supports filmmakers with a deliberate, well-planned and well executed strategy to increase production and create an infrastructure.
Colombian films’ biggest challenge is to increase their share of their rapidly growing domestic market, worth $182.3 million in box office in 2012. One way forward is international co-production, where Bam (Bogotá Audiovisual Market) July 14-18, 2014 plays a large role. There is a mini version of this here (Encuentros Cartagena), centering on French and Colombian co-production, but not limited to that, with guests like George Goldenstern from Cinefondation (Cannes), producer/ international sales agent Marie-Pierre Masia and and the ever present Thierry Lenouvel of Cine-Sud whose film Tierra en la lengua aka Dust on the Tongue won the Best Picture Award in Competition. Vincenzo Bugno of World Cinema Fund of the Berlinale is always here too as is Jose Maria Riba on the Jury of the Competition and programmer for San Sebastian and Directors Fortnight. Also on the jury are Wendy Mitchel and Pawel Pawlikowski whose film Ida (Isa: Portobello Film Sales) is playing (outside of the Competition). A look at the winning competition films shows the strength of co-productions today.
Best Picture: Dust on the Tongue of Ruben Mendoza (Colombia) Colombia Film of $15,000. Special Jury Prize: The Third Side of the River (La tercera orilla) which premiered in Competition at the Berlinale, by Celina Murga (Argentina, Netherlands, Germany) (Isa: The Match Factory) Best Director: Alejandro Fernández Almendras for To kill a man (Matar a un hombre) which premiered in Sundance (Chile, France). Film Factory is selling international rights and Film Movement has U.S. It also won the Fipresci or International Critics’ Award. Best Actor: Fernando Bacilio by El Mudo (Peru, Mexico, France), Urban Distribution International is the sales agent.
Cinema in Colombia continues its steep ascent in the international production world. The reasons, according to Bugno, lie in “new political decisions, funding structures, and the developing of a new producing environment that also has to do with new emerging young talent.”
A visit to the festival headquarters proves the point of the extensive government support of film not only for its own sake, but for the sake of all the people, dispossessed, abused, Lgbt, children and women. It is a beautiful sight to see such support, and the people seem to reciprocate; I hear more praise than complaints about the government and everyone seems cautiously optimistic, aware of its current position vis à vis what has thankfully become recent history with the guerillas who had been waging war with the government for the past 40 years and the current elections and competing points of view between the former President Uribe and the current President Juan Manuel Santos.
Aecid , Association Espagnola de Cooperacon Internacional para el Desarrollo (The Spanish Association for International Cooperation for Development), a festival sponsor supports social cohesion, equality of genders, construction of peace, respect for cultural diversity and the reduction of poverty.
Currently in Colombia, national cinema holds a 10% share of the Colombian market and 8% of the box office. In 2012, 213 films were produced in Colombia, a huge increase since 2009 when 19 were produced according to Ocal, the Observotario del Cine f nCl [sic]. In 2012, 23 of the 213 domestic films were released theatrically, a tremendous increase from the 6 Colombian films released in the year 2000. [1],[2] This number surpasses every record in Colombia’s film history
This 10 day spectacular film festival gives free entry to all at 8 theaters and, proving the point that people love the movies, every single screening is packed solid, Sro. More than 135 films come from 27 countries. 48 daily screenings include 14 open air screenings in great locations. There are 40 world premieres and 26 Latin American premieres.
150 invited guests included Abbas Kiarostami, Clive Owen, Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu, Pavel Pawlikowsky with his film Ida, John Sayles with whom I had an interesting talk about U.S. current distribution and of Return of Seacaucus Seven and Sunshine State. The screening of his film Go For Sisters has received an enthusiastic response from the audiences.
Since 2013, coproductions between the U.S. and Colombia with variations on the theme are on the rise. With its 40% cash rebate, Colombia is proving to be a great place to make movies.
Colombians such as Simon Brand are making English language genre films such as this year’s festival debuting Default (Isa: Wild Bunch). For budgets under Us$1 million, action, thrillers and horror genres can cross borders, and can recoup costs and even profit.
The reverse is also notable. Four films screening here are Colombian films made by Americans. The winner to three prizes here for Best Director, Best Documentary and the Audience Prize, Marmato by Marc Grieco was workshopped twice at Sundance where it premiered this January 2014. It is represented internationally by Ro*co and its U.S. representative is Ben Weiss at Paradigm. The other three remarkable debut films are Mambo Cool by Chris Gude,Manos Sucias by Josef Wladyka (a Japanese-Polish American) and Parador Hungaro by Patrick Alexander and Aseneth Suarez Ruiz. Look for upcoming interviews with these four directors who came to Colombia and, because of their experiences here, decided to make these exceptional movies. My next blog will be interviews with each of these films’ directors.
Secundaria , the first film I saw here was not shot here although it too was directed by an American who made 21 trips to Cuba to make it. Documenting the high school ballet training and competitions held by Cuba’s world famous National Ballet School -- Watch the trailer here -- it was not only beautiful but it magically captured the ever-present economic issues of Cuba. I can’t wait to see Primaria about the grade school of the Nbs.
Director and coproducer Mary Jane Doherty has been an Associate Professor of Film at Boston University since 1990. Proud of her lineage as a student of iconic documentarian Ricky Leacock, she developed B.U.’s Narrative Documentary Program: a novel approach to non-fiction storytelling using the building blocks of fiction film. Lyda Kuth , the coproducer, is founding board member and executive director of the Lef Foundation, which supports independent filmmakers through the Lef Moving Image Fund. In 2005, she established Nadita Productions and was producer/director on her first feature documentary, Love and Other Anxieties.
A cocktail party is given daily at the festival where we can all meet up. It was there I met Gail Gendler VP of Acquisitions for AMC/ Sundance Channel Global (international not domestic) and Gus
Dinner one night was with the jury for Nuevos Creadores (New Creators). Cynthia Garcia Calvo, Editor in Chief of LatamCinema.com, a Latino equivalent to Indiewire.com out of Chile and Argentina and I spoke of possible ways to cooperate. The third member of the jury, Javier Mejia, director of Colombia’s best film of 2008 Apocalypsur also has a documentary here, Duni, about a Chilean filmmaker who left Chile during the dictatorship and came to Colombia where he made political films in Medellin but never discussed his reasons for coming or even his Chilean roots. How happy I was that I had seen and enjoyed the films of the third jury member, Daniel Vega, who with his brother Diego made The Mute aka El Mudo (Isa: Urban Media) which played in Toronto and San Sebastian and his earlier film October, both dark comedies or perhaps dramadies dealing with subjective realities in unique environs of Peru we have never seen. He promised to help me with the Peru chapter of my upcoming book. Peru is in the lower middle of countries which support filmmaking. Their film fund is a rather laid back affair administered by the Ministry of Culture who receives money from the Ministry of Finance when they “get around to it”.
Jury for New Creators: Javier Mejía, Cynthia García Calvo and Diego Vega,displaying the winner for the Best Short Film: Alen Natalia Imery (Universidad del Valle) who won a Sony video camera, 2,000, 000 pesos of in kind services from Shock Magazin, and a scholarship for graduate Project Management and Film Production at the Autonomous University of Bucaramanga
Second prize went to The murmur of the earth Alejandro Daza (National University) - Win a Sony camera, and a Fellowship for Graduate Record Audio and Sound Design of the Autonomous University of Bucaramanga.
Other winners are:
Official Colombian Film Competition
Jurors: David Melo - Alissa Simon - Daniela Michel
Best Film: Marmato by Mark Grieco (Colombia, USA) Winner of the I.Sat Award for $30K and the Cinecolor Award for $11k in deliveries
Special Jury Prize: Mateo by María Gamboa
Best Director: Rubén Mendoza for Dust on the Tongue (Tierra en la lengua). Winner of Hangar Films Award for $30K in film equipment to produce his next film.
Additional Awards
Audience Award Colombia: Marmato by Mark Grieco (Colombia, USA). Winner of $15K
Official Documentary Competition
Jurors: Gary Meyer- Luis Ospina - Laurie Collyer
Best Film: Marmato by Mark Grieco (Colombia, USA). Winner of the Cinecolor Award for $13Kin post-production services.
Special Jury Prize: What Now? Remind Me (E Agora? Lembra-me) by Joaquim Pinto (Portugal)
Best Director: Justin Webster for I Will Be Murdered (Seré asesinado) (Spain, Denmark, U.K.)
Official Short Film Competition
JurorsOswaldo Osorio -Pacho Bottia - Denis de la Roca
Best Short Film: Statues (Estatuas) by Roberto Fiesco (Mexico). Winner of a professional Sony camera and $3K from Cinecolor in post-production services for his next project.
Special Jury Prize: About a Month (Pouco Mais de um Mês) by André Novais Oliveira (Brazil)
Best Director: Manuel Camacho Bustillo for Blackout chapter 4 "A Call to Neverland" (Blackout capítulo 4 "Una llamada a Neverland") (Mexico). Winner of a Sony photographic camera.
Gems
Jurors: Mauricio Reina - Manuel Kalmanowitz - Sofia Gomez Gonzalez
Best Film: Like Father, Like Son by Hirokazu Koreeda (Japan). Winner of the Rcn Award for $50 to promote the release of the film in Colombia.
Special Jury Prize: Ilo Ilo by Anthony Chen (Singapore)
[1] http://www.cinelatinoamericano.org/ocal/cifras.aspx
[2] http://www.mincultura.gov.co/areas/cinematografia/estadisticas-del-sector/Documents/Anuario%202012.p...
- 3/26/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
From April 8th to the 11th, Indian films will once again be showcased in the Us at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (Iffla). In its 12th year, Iffla boasts an incredible lineup of fabulous films that reflects the rich diversity of Indian cinema. Iffla’s Artistic Director Jasmine Jaisinghani says, “I’m thrilled and proud that Iffla’s line-up this year includes an especially diverse range of cinematic experiences, covering many regions of India and the diaspora.”
Iffla 2014 presents 33 films that include feature films, documentaries and shorts. The festival will have three world premieres, six North American premieres, six U.S. premieres, and 16 Los Angeles premieres. The films feature 10 different languages, from Hindi to Marathi, to Russian to Bengali. Additionally, Iffla supports American, Australian, British, Canadian, and European diaspora filmmakers from nine different countries telling their stories.
Bollywood will be well represented with three outstanding films all showing during the festival’s run.
Iffla 2014 presents 33 films that include feature films, documentaries and shorts. The festival will have three world premieres, six North American premieres, six U.S. premieres, and 16 Los Angeles premieres. The films feature 10 different languages, from Hindi to Marathi, to Russian to Bengali. Additionally, Iffla supports American, Australian, British, Canadian, and European diaspora filmmakers from nine different countries telling their stories.
Bollywood will be well represented with three outstanding films all showing during the festival’s run.
- 3/21/2014
- by Stacey Yount
- Bollyspice
Film-makers from Georgia were the big winners at the Open Doors awards ceremony at the Locarno Film Festival.
The prizes were handed out at the end of the 11th edition of Locarno’s four-day co-production lab devoted to cinema from the South Caucasus, with a focus on Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.
See You In Chechnya, a feature documentary about war correspondents, won the Open Doors Production Award worth $22,600 (20,000 Chf).
The film, directed by Georgia’s Alexander Kvatashidze, also won the Arte Open Doors Award worth $8,000 (€6,000). Set for release next year, it already has French, Dutch and Estonian partners on board.
Abysm, directed by Armenia’s Oksana Mirzoyan, picked up the Open Doors Development Award while Madona, by Georgian director Nino Gogua, won the Open Doors Post-Production Award. Both prizes are worth $16,000 (15,000 Chf).
Sleeping Lessons, the second feature from Georgia’s Rusudan Pirvelli, won the Cnc Award, worth $9,300 (€7,000).
The 12 projects that participated in the co-pro lab were selected...
The prizes were handed out at the end of the 11th edition of Locarno’s four-day co-production lab devoted to cinema from the South Caucasus, with a focus on Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.
See You In Chechnya, a feature documentary about war correspondents, won the Open Doors Production Award worth $22,600 (20,000 Chf).
The film, directed by Georgia’s Alexander Kvatashidze, also won the Arte Open Doors Award worth $8,000 (€6,000). Set for release next year, it already has French, Dutch and Estonian partners on board.
Abysm, directed by Armenia’s Oksana Mirzoyan, picked up the Open Doors Development Award while Madona, by Georgian director Nino Gogua, won the Open Doors Post-Production Award. Both prizes are worth $16,000 (15,000 Chf).
Sleeping Lessons, the second feature from Georgia’s Rusudan Pirvelli, won the Cnc Award, worth $9,300 (€7,000).
The 12 projects that participated in the co-pro lab were selected...
- 8/13/2013
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Colombia had three films in the various sections of Cannes this year. And the Colombian producers, Diana Bustamente ♀ and Jorge Forero of Burning Blue, produced two of them along with Thierry Lenouvel’s Cine-Sud. Burning Blue was created by Diana Bustamante, producer of The Wind Journeys (Cannes 2009), and Crab Trap (Berlin 2010), with her friend and artist colleague Jorge Forero. This company is focused on new directors and particulary on the new and artistic proposals which work with the imagen in all its possibilities.
La Sirga
The first and foremost film is the first feature film from Colombian director William Vega, La Sirga, which played in this year's Cannes' Directors Fortnight and was nominated for the Camera d’Or Award, Fipresci Prize. It also won the Cinema in Construction Award & Cine + Award at the Toulouse Film Festival. "Evocative! William Vega’s first feature is the latest in an impressive string of Colombian arthouse films", says Lee Marshall of Screen Daily. It was just picked up for North America by Film Movement. It is their 4th Colombian film.
Film Movement is one of the most successful experiments in alternative modes of distribution which has successfully survived since Larry Meistrich launched it in 2003. He has moved on and it's now run by a great team headed by Adley Gartenstein. Its DVD of the month club for critically acclaimed movies -- both American indies and foreign films -- is the first of its kind. The company also provides films that are screened theatrically at locations in Chicago, Los Angeles and other cities. Recently they have also partnered with YouTube and Hulu to provide online movies, and have received extensive praise from film critics such as Roger Ebert. It will have its New York theatrical opening late 2012, with a limited national roll-out to follow, as well as a day-and-date Cable Video on Demand premiere.
Film Movement acquired it from one of my favorite international sales agents, Pierre Menahem, now of Mpm (Movie Partners in Motion, founded by Marie-Pierre Macia and Juliette Lepoutre) but formerly (when I met him) at Celluloid Dreams. Pierre Menahem says, "We are thrilled to work again with Film Movement on another beautifully directed first feature film from Latin America. After the 20-times-awarded Found Memories (aka Historias) by Julia Murat, we are very excited to team up again with one of the best arthouse films distributors in North America for such an amazing film...Director William Vega is definitely a talent to watch and we are proud to start his international career with sales in the U.S., to Zootrope for France, Ama for Greece and Cineplex in Colombia right after its Cannes launch a week ago.” There is also strong interest in the U.K., Japan, Scandinavia, Benelux and Switzerland.
La Playa
The second film is La Playa by Juan Andrés Arango, his film debut as well. This Brazil-Colombia-France coproduction premiered at Cannes Ff Un Certain Regard. It was picked up for international sales prior to Cannes by Doc & Film. France's Jour2Fete will distribute La Playa in France.
Rodri
And the third Colombian film is in the Short Film Corner, Rodri by director Franco Lolli, depicting a family dealing with unemployment, will appear in the Short Film Corner. The film was inspired by its two main actors, the director's mother and uncle. Lolli will turn toward directing his first full-length film after the festival.
Colombia also had 10 production companies participating in the Producers Network, an important adjunct to the Cannes Marche.
La Sirga
The first and foremost film is the first feature film from Colombian director William Vega, La Sirga, which played in this year's Cannes' Directors Fortnight and was nominated for the Camera d’Or Award, Fipresci Prize. It also won the Cinema in Construction Award & Cine + Award at the Toulouse Film Festival. "Evocative! William Vega’s first feature is the latest in an impressive string of Colombian arthouse films", says Lee Marshall of Screen Daily. It was just picked up for North America by Film Movement. It is their 4th Colombian film.
Film Movement is one of the most successful experiments in alternative modes of distribution which has successfully survived since Larry Meistrich launched it in 2003. He has moved on and it's now run by a great team headed by Adley Gartenstein. Its DVD of the month club for critically acclaimed movies -- both American indies and foreign films -- is the first of its kind. The company also provides films that are screened theatrically at locations in Chicago, Los Angeles and other cities. Recently they have also partnered with YouTube and Hulu to provide online movies, and have received extensive praise from film critics such as Roger Ebert. It will have its New York theatrical opening late 2012, with a limited national roll-out to follow, as well as a day-and-date Cable Video on Demand premiere.
Film Movement acquired it from one of my favorite international sales agents, Pierre Menahem, now of Mpm (Movie Partners in Motion, founded by Marie-Pierre Macia and Juliette Lepoutre) but formerly (when I met him) at Celluloid Dreams. Pierre Menahem says, "We are thrilled to work again with Film Movement on another beautifully directed first feature film from Latin America. After the 20-times-awarded Found Memories (aka Historias) by Julia Murat, we are very excited to team up again with one of the best arthouse films distributors in North America for such an amazing film...Director William Vega is definitely a talent to watch and we are proud to start his international career with sales in the U.S., to Zootrope for France, Ama for Greece and Cineplex in Colombia right after its Cannes launch a week ago.” There is also strong interest in the U.K., Japan, Scandinavia, Benelux and Switzerland.
La Playa
The second film is La Playa by Juan Andrés Arango, his film debut as well. This Brazil-Colombia-France coproduction premiered at Cannes Ff Un Certain Regard. It was picked up for international sales prior to Cannes by Doc & Film. France's Jour2Fete will distribute La Playa in France.
Rodri
And the third Colombian film is in the Short Film Corner, Rodri by director Franco Lolli, depicting a family dealing with unemployment, will appear in the Short Film Corner. The film was inspired by its two main actors, the director's mother and uncle. Lolli will turn toward directing his first full-length film after the festival.
Colombia also had 10 production companies participating in the Producers Network, an important adjunct to the Cannes Marche.
- 6/6/2012
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
I saw this film when it won the Works in Progress prize in Dubai. It is a film which you will be seeing in the top festivals.
Producer Thierry Lenouvel invites you to join the Facebook group "Every Day is a Holiday / Chaque Jour est une Fête". It's Independence Day in Lebanon: three women who've never met before are on the same bus heading to visit a prison situated in a remote area of the country. Traveling through an arid landscape littered with mines and decapitated dreams, the journey transforms into the women's quest for their own independence.
Thierry says, "Bonsoir à tous, on tente une nouvelle expérience : la coproduction de notre dernier film par souscription internet !Rejoignez-nous et inviter vos amis à nous rejoindre à leur tour... Merci."...
Producer Thierry Lenouvel invites you to join the Facebook group "Every Day is a Holiday / Chaque Jour est une Fête". It's Independence Day in Lebanon: three women who've never met before are on the same bus heading to visit a prison situated in a remote area of the country. Traveling through an arid landscape littered with mines and decapitated dreams, the journey transforms into the women's quest for their own independence.
Thierry says, "Bonsoir à tous, on tente une nouvelle expérience : la coproduction de notre dernier film par souscription internet !Rejoignez-nous et inviter vos amis à nous rejoindre à leur tour... Merci."...
- 5/9/2009
- by Sydney@SydneysBuzz.com (Sydney)
- Sydney's Buzz
The Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) drew to a close with a stunning award ceremony with fireworks, dervish dancing and a rich array of the most wonderful food for hundreds of guests.
The recognition of the best films in the festival and in the AsiaAfrica and Arab Muhr Competitions brought to an end an exciting event in which the crosswinds of Arab nations, Africa and Asia mixed and clarified issues of the film business which will be of great concern for the new cycle the film business is now entering.
The Muhr Awards included a new AsiaAfrica segment embracing films from such emerging markets as Afghanistan, Turkey, Cameroon and Kazakhstan. The Muhr Awards for Excellence in Arab Cinema made a strong show chosen from filmmakers all over the Middle East and around the world. DIFF's Artistic Director Masoud Amralla al Ali had good reason to be proud and the filmmakers will return with future films, judging on their reactions to the royal treatment they received in Dubai.
The prize for Best Emirati Talent went to Haydar Mohammed, Best Emirati Female Filmmaker was presented to Nujoom Al Ghanem and Best Emirati Filmmaker went to Saeed Salmeen Al-Murry. For the first time, the International Federation of Film Critics, or FIPRESCI, awarded a Best Arab Film prize to Masquerades by Lyes Salem.
Other prizes include the Arab Muhr Competition for Feature Film:
* Best Film: Masquerades by Lyes Salem
* Special Jury Prize: Adhen - Dernier Maquis by Rabah Ameur-Zaimeche
Documentary:
* First Prize: 'Thakirat L Sabbar: Hikayat Thalath Qura Falasteenia' ('Memory Of The Cactus: A Story Of Three Palestinian Villages') by Hanna Musleh
* Special Jury Prize: 'Samaan Bidiyaa' ('The One Man Village') by Simon El Habre
* Second Prize: Marina Of The Zabbaleen by Engi Wassef
Best Cinematographer: Luca Coassin for 'Casanegra'
Best Composer: Sylvain Rifflet for 'Adhen - Dernier Maquis'
Best Editor: Nicolas Bancilhon for 'Adhen - Dernier Maquis'
Best Screenplay: Annemarie Jacir for Milh Hadha Al-Bahr ('Salt Of This Sea')
Best Actress: Hafsia Herzi for Francaise
Best Actor: Anas Elbaz and Omar Lotfi for 'Casanegra'
Short Films:
* First Prize: La Route Du Nord ('The North Road') by Carlos Chahine
* Special Jury Prize: 'Bint Mariam' by Saeed Salmeen Al-Murry
* Second Prize: Sa et Asary ('At Day s End') by Sherif El Bendary
Muhr AsiaAfrica Awards
Feature Film:
* Best Film: Treeless Mountain by So Yong Kim
* Special Jury Prize: Kyuka ('Vacation') by Hajime Kadoi
Documentary:
* First Prize: Mental by Kazuhiro Soda
* Special Jury Prize: 'Xiao Li Zi' ('Survival Song') by Guangyi Yu
* Second Prize: Une Affarie De Negres ('Black Business') by Osvalde Lewat
Best Cinematographer: Reza Teymouri for 'Aram Bash Va Ta Haft Beshmar' ('Be Calm And Count To Seven')
Best Composer: Jorga Mesfin, Vijay Iyer for Teza
Best Editor: Sreekar Prasad for Firaaq
Best Screenplay: Deepa Mehta for Heaven On Earth
Best Actress: Anh Hong for Trang Noi Day Gieng ('Moon At The Bottom Of The Well')
Best Actor: Askhat Kuchinchirekov for Tulpan
Short Films:
* First Prize: 'Shao Nian Xue' ('Young Blood) by Haolun Shu
* Special Jury Prize: 'Expectations' by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
* Second Prize: 'Kam Sanabanyz' ('Everything Is OK') by Akjoltoy Bekbolotov
The festival had previously announced the results of the second annual Dubai Film Connection (DFC), established to bring Arab and international film professionals together. DFC selected 18 projects from 108 submissions, of which three were awarded a US$25,000 Dubai International Film Festival Prize: 'This is my Picture When I Was Dead' by Mahmoud al Massad (Jordan-Netherlands); 'Barbershop Trinity' by Chadi Zeneddine (Lebanon); and 'Ouardia Once Had Sons' by Djamila Sahraoui (Algeria-Morocco). The three producers of the three projects will attend the prestigious 2009 Cannes Producers Network.
'Every Day is a Holiday' by Dima El-Hor (Lebanon-France) won the DIFF Desert Door Work in Progress Award, the 6,000 Euro ‘"International Relations" prize from French broadcaster Arte went to 'Death for Sale' by Faouzi Bensaiei (Morocco-France-Belgium); and the new Bahrain Film Production Company Works in Progress Award went to 'When I Saw You' by Annemarie Jacir (Palestine-Jordan). The new Young Journalist Award, instituted in 2008 to stimulate interest in film criticism as a career in the region, went to Melissa Khan of Mahe Manipal University in Dubai.
Winners of cash prizes from 21 competing projects in the Dubai Film Connection were chosen by a jury. Global film funds, sales companies and distributors will make deals with the winners of cash prizes, which total about $118,000. The Work In Progress Award of $25,000 from Kuwait company Desert Door went to 'Every Day Is A Holiday', a French/ Lebanese/ German co-production by Dima El-Horr and produced by Thierry Lenourvel. 'When I Saw You' by AnneMarie Jacir from Palestine won the $10,000 Bahrain Film Pfoduction Co. award for projects in development. 'Death For Sale' by Morroccan director Faouzi Bensaidi, on the 6,000 Euro prize from ARTE in France. Aside from the DIFF itself, there are numerous other activities all being ably managed by Shivani Pandya, Managing Director. These concurrent events have commanded great interest. The Co-Production Market run by Jane Williams, formerly with Binger Institut of Amsterdam, Hubert Bals Fund and the Rotterdam Cinemart is showing three works in progress including the Sundance FF 2009 Competition film 'Amreeka' by Cherien Dabis plus a list of other films in various stages of development. Working with Julie Bergeron of the Cannes Market Co-Production Market, the Co-Production Market is opening the doors between East and West in a notably winning style made possible to the warm hospitality of the people of Dubai. The Film Market where you can see every film in the festival plus more in a virtual on-demand video market has made its first deal with Alchemy Films picking up the South African feature ' Mr. Bones 2' for the Middle East. 'Mr Bones' producer, Anant Singh, also a favorite son of Los Angeles as well as of South Africa, is in Dubai with the international premiere of the documentary 'More Than Just a Game'. The Dubai Film Market, run by Zaid Yaghi is built on the model of IDFA's documentary market run by Fred De Haas who also manages the Documentary Market at IDFA. Tom Davia, Head of Programme Administration and Film Services also works with the Miami Film Festival. Other attendees here inlcude Thierry Lenouvel whose film 'Rachel' will be in the Berlinale 2009, Filmmaker Magazine and Forensic Films' Scott Maccaulay, Nadia Saah of New York, whose new company Boomgen Studios creates content and, most importantly, creates niche marketing and distribution for films with Middle Eastern content, Iran's M. Mehdi Yadegan of IRIM Media Trade, the largest TV station in the Middle East, producer Caroline Benjo of Haut et Court, international sales agents Pascal Diot of Onoma Films and Wouter Barendrecht of Fortissimo, Raphael Berdugo of Roissy, who is also a producer of 'Caramel', a Lebanese film which was in the Festival de Cannes and has been a great box office success in Lebanon. And, of course, FilmFinders is here seeing what new developments in the Middle East are being created in this time of great change in our film industry.
The recognition of the best films in the festival and in the AsiaAfrica and Arab Muhr Competitions brought to an end an exciting event in which the crosswinds of Arab nations, Africa and Asia mixed and clarified issues of the film business which will be of great concern for the new cycle the film business is now entering.
The Muhr Awards included a new AsiaAfrica segment embracing films from such emerging markets as Afghanistan, Turkey, Cameroon and Kazakhstan. The Muhr Awards for Excellence in Arab Cinema made a strong show chosen from filmmakers all over the Middle East and around the world. DIFF's Artistic Director Masoud Amralla al Ali had good reason to be proud and the filmmakers will return with future films, judging on their reactions to the royal treatment they received in Dubai.
The prize for Best Emirati Talent went to Haydar Mohammed, Best Emirati Female Filmmaker was presented to Nujoom Al Ghanem and Best Emirati Filmmaker went to Saeed Salmeen Al-Murry. For the first time, the International Federation of Film Critics, or FIPRESCI, awarded a Best Arab Film prize to Masquerades by Lyes Salem.
Other prizes include the Arab Muhr Competition for Feature Film:
* Best Film: Masquerades by Lyes Salem
* Special Jury Prize: Adhen - Dernier Maquis by Rabah Ameur-Zaimeche
Documentary:
* First Prize: 'Thakirat L Sabbar: Hikayat Thalath Qura Falasteenia' ('Memory Of The Cactus: A Story Of Three Palestinian Villages') by Hanna Musleh
* Special Jury Prize: 'Samaan Bidiyaa' ('The One Man Village') by Simon El Habre
* Second Prize: Marina Of The Zabbaleen by Engi Wassef
Best Cinematographer: Luca Coassin for 'Casanegra'
Best Composer: Sylvain Rifflet for 'Adhen - Dernier Maquis'
Best Editor: Nicolas Bancilhon for 'Adhen - Dernier Maquis'
Best Screenplay: Annemarie Jacir for Milh Hadha Al-Bahr ('Salt Of This Sea')
Best Actress: Hafsia Herzi for Francaise
Best Actor: Anas Elbaz and Omar Lotfi for 'Casanegra'
Short Films:
* First Prize: La Route Du Nord ('The North Road') by Carlos Chahine
* Special Jury Prize: 'Bint Mariam' by Saeed Salmeen Al-Murry
* Second Prize: Sa et Asary ('At Day s End') by Sherif El Bendary
Muhr AsiaAfrica Awards
Feature Film:
* Best Film: Treeless Mountain by So Yong Kim
* Special Jury Prize: Kyuka ('Vacation') by Hajime Kadoi
Documentary:
* First Prize: Mental by Kazuhiro Soda
* Special Jury Prize: 'Xiao Li Zi' ('Survival Song') by Guangyi Yu
* Second Prize: Une Affarie De Negres ('Black Business') by Osvalde Lewat
Best Cinematographer: Reza Teymouri for 'Aram Bash Va Ta Haft Beshmar' ('Be Calm And Count To Seven')
Best Composer: Jorga Mesfin, Vijay Iyer for Teza
Best Editor: Sreekar Prasad for Firaaq
Best Screenplay: Deepa Mehta for Heaven On Earth
Best Actress: Anh Hong for Trang Noi Day Gieng ('Moon At The Bottom Of The Well')
Best Actor: Askhat Kuchinchirekov for Tulpan
Short Films:
* First Prize: 'Shao Nian Xue' ('Young Blood) by Haolun Shu
* Special Jury Prize: 'Expectations' by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
* Second Prize: 'Kam Sanabanyz' ('Everything Is OK') by Akjoltoy Bekbolotov
The festival had previously announced the results of the second annual Dubai Film Connection (DFC), established to bring Arab and international film professionals together. DFC selected 18 projects from 108 submissions, of which three were awarded a US$25,000 Dubai International Film Festival Prize: 'This is my Picture When I Was Dead' by Mahmoud al Massad (Jordan-Netherlands); 'Barbershop Trinity' by Chadi Zeneddine (Lebanon); and 'Ouardia Once Had Sons' by Djamila Sahraoui (Algeria-Morocco). The three producers of the three projects will attend the prestigious 2009 Cannes Producers Network.
'Every Day is a Holiday' by Dima El-Hor (Lebanon-France) won the DIFF Desert Door Work in Progress Award, the 6,000 Euro ‘"International Relations" prize from French broadcaster Arte went to 'Death for Sale' by Faouzi Bensaiei (Morocco-France-Belgium); and the new Bahrain Film Production Company Works in Progress Award went to 'When I Saw You' by Annemarie Jacir (Palestine-Jordan). The new Young Journalist Award, instituted in 2008 to stimulate interest in film criticism as a career in the region, went to Melissa Khan of Mahe Manipal University in Dubai.
Winners of cash prizes from 21 competing projects in the Dubai Film Connection were chosen by a jury. Global film funds, sales companies and distributors will make deals with the winners of cash prizes, which total about $118,000. The Work In Progress Award of $25,000 from Kuwait company Desert Door went to 'Every Day Is A Holiday', a French/ Lebanese/ German co-production by Dima El-Horr and produced by Thierry Lenourvel. 'When I Saw You' by AnneMarie Jacir from Palestine won the $10,000 Bahrain Film Pfoduction Co. award for projects in development. 'Death For Sale' by Morroccan director Faouzi Bensaidi, on the 6,000 Euro prize from ARTE in France. Aside from the DIFF itself, there are numerous other activities all being ably managed by Shivani Pandya, Managing Director. These concurrent events have commanded great interest. The Co-Production Market run by Jane Williams, formerly with Binger Institut of Amsterdam, Hubert Bals Fund and the Rotterdam Cinemart is showing three works in progress including the Sundance FF 2009 Competition film 'Amreeka' by Cherien Dabis plus a list of other films in various stages of development. Working with Julie Bergeron of the Cannes Market Co-Production Market, the Co-Production Market is opening the doors between East and West in a notably winning style made possible to the warm hospitality of the people of Dubai. The Film Market where you can see every film in the festival plus more in a virtual on-demand video market has made its first deal with Alchemy Films picking up the South African feature ' Mr. Bones 2' for the Middle East. 'Mr Bones' producer, Anant Singh, also a favorite son of Los Angeles as well as of South Africa, is in Dubai with the international premiere of the documentary 'More Than Just a Game'. The Dubai Film Market, run by Zaid Yaghi is built on the model of IDFA's documentary market run by Fred De Haas who also manages the Documentary Market at IDFA. Tom Davia, Head of Programme Administration and Film Services also works with the Miami Film Festival. Other attendees here inlcude Thierry Lenouvel whose film 'Rachel' will be in the Berlinale 2009, Filmmaker Magazine and Forensic Films' Scott Maccaulay, Nadia Saah of New York, whose new company Boomgen Studios creates content and, most importantly, creates niche marketing and distribution for films with Middle Eastern content, Iran's M. Mehdi Yadegan of IRIM Media Trade, the largest TV station in the Middle East, producer Caroline Benjo of Haut et Court, international sales agents Pascal Diot of Onoma Films and Wouter Barendrecht of Fortissimo, Raphael Berdugo of Roissy, who is also a producer of 'Caramel', a Lebanese film which was in the Festival de Cannes and has been a great box office success in Lebanon. And, of course, FilmFinders is here seeing what new developments in the Middle East are being created in this time of great change in our film industry.
- 12/27/2008
- Sydney's Buzz
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.