Another space of distribution deals have been made this week at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival:
• Fox Searchlight bought worldwide distribution rights to “Patti Cake$,” director Geremy Jasper’s crowd-pleasing tale of a white New Jersey girl (Danielle McDonald) who pursues his dreams of being a rap star. It played in the U.S. Dramatic competition.
• Fox Searchlight also picked up worldwide distribution rights to Amanda Lipitz’s documentary “Step,” which follows the progress of a step team at an inner-city Baltimore school. Fox Searchlight also acquired the remake rights. The movie played in the U.S. Documentary competition.
• Sony Pictures Classics has bought worldwide rights to the comedy “Brigsby Bear,” which played in the U.S. Dramatic competition. Directed by Dave McCary and filmed in Utah, the movie stars Kyle Mooney (who co-wrote the screenplay) as a young man whose life is upended, and he discovers the children’s TV show he watched his entire life was made for an audience of one.
Roadside Attractions and FilmNation teamed up to secure North American rights to “Beatriz at Dinner,” starring Salma Hayek as a holistic therapist who encounters a businessman (John Lithgow) at a dinner party. The movie, which played in the Premieres section, was directed by Miguel Arteta and written by Mike White.
• Amazon picked up the true-life drama “Crown Heights,” starring Lakeith Stansfield as a Brooklyn man wrongfully imprisoned for a murder he didn’t commit. The movie was directed by Matt Ruskin.
• Amazon also has picked up worldwide theatrical rights to “City of Ghosts,” Matthew Heineman’s documentary (in the U.S. Documentary competition) about a citizen-journalist group risking life and limb to get out information about the Islamic State’s atrocities in Syria. The movie was produced by A&E Indie Films, and A&E will retain the TV rights.
• IFC Midnight has acquired U.S. rights to “78/52,” director Alexandre O. Phillippe’s documentary (which played in the Midnight section) that dissects the shower scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho.”
• RLJ Entertainment landed U.S. rights to the Midnight title “Bushwick.” The movie, directed by Cary Murnion and Jonathan Milott and starring Brittany Snow and Dave Bautista, is set in a near-future in which a secessionist Texas militia invades Brooklyn.
Be the look of the 53rd Chicago International Film Festival! Cinema/Chicago is again hosting its annual design competition seeking the unique poster to be the key image for this year’s Festival, Oct 12-26, 2017. The winning designer, selected by a panel of Festival officials, will receive a $2,500 cash prize!
The official Festival poster is the signature look of the Chicago International Film Festival each year. Poster submissions should convey the experience of the Festival and be designed with the tagline “BECAUSE LIFE IS A MOVIE” Poster submissions must also conform to Cinema/Chicago’s design and submission guidelines and include the $25/entry fee. Submissions without the required elements (see below) or submission fee will not be considered.
Entries must be submitted by March 31, 2017 at 11:59pm CST. Late entries will not be accepted. Please read the Designer Agreement fully here. Complete rules and details are available here.
Design Guidelines:
All designs must be 27” x 40”, or scale to 27” x 40”
Must be vertically orientated
Design must be easily translated into a variety of mediums (online banners, book covers, etc.)
Design must incorporate the Festival’s official “eyes” logo (available here)
Design must reflect the theme “BECAUSE LIFE IS A MOVIE” and include that text
Design must clearly state: 53rnd Chicago International Film Festival
Design must include the festival dates: October 12-27, 2017
Design must include website: ChicagoFilmFestival.com
Artists must use their own original artwork; Copyrighted characters, images or clip art will not be accepted (with the exception of the Chicago International Film Festival logo)
Submission Guidelines:
All file submissions must be in pdf, jpeg or png format
Entries must be submitted at 300 dpi (CMYK)
File must be no larger than 12MB
Entries must include a completed Submission Form
To submit multiple designs, submit the Form and entry fee for each design
ALMOST HEAVEN (UK, 2017) is a gentle portrait of a young girl coming-of-age and her start into the working world learning an unusual job. The first feature film by British Director Carol Salter will celebrate its world premiere at the section Generation 14plus of the Berlin International Film Festival and is nominated for the overall sections Glashütte Original Documentary Award. The prize will be presented during the official Award Ceremony in the Berlinale Palast. ALMOST HEAVEN is one of 16 documentaries that have been nominated for the Award.
Synopsis
Far from home, afraid of the dark, and terrified of ghosts, young Ying Ling is training to become a mortician in one of China’s largest funeral homes. Charming, cheeky and quirky, Ying Ling spends 24 hours a day with her fellow trainee morticians, living together and working in a basement with no daylight. She learns to perform spa and beauty treatments for the dead, speaking to them softly, watched by their family members. Against this backdrop, she forms a special friendship with a fellow mortician Jin Hau and they share the strangeness of working with the dead together. In their spare time, they go together to arcades and fast food outlets, bantering playfully with each other, a welcome relief from the daily grind at the funeral home. But when Jin Hau suddenly leaves the funeral home, Ying Ling is left to face the harsh realities of the job alone.
ALMOST HEAVEN is a reflection on death and the fragility of life but also a reflection what it is like to be young and alive; a tender elegy to first love, friendship and caring for the dead.
Director: Carol Salter, UK, 2017, 75 Minutes, Color, 5.1
Stay tuned for more on ALMOST HEAVEN!
The Director. Carol Salter is an award winning documentary director and editor who has specialized in making intimate portraits of extraordinary people in other cultures. Her films, e.g. the semi long documentary Mayomi (2008) and the documentary short film Unearthing the Pen (2011) have been presented at many international film festivals winning numerous awards worldwide.
2017 SLAMDANCE FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES AUDIENCE AND JURY SPARKY PRIZES
STRAD STYLE, directed by Stefan Avalos wins Grand Jury Prize
and Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature
Grand Jury Prize Best Narrative Feature: DIM THE FLUORESCENTS; directed by Daniel Warth
Narrative Feature Audience Award Winner: DAVE MADE A MAZE, directed by Bill Watterson
(PARK CITY, UT – January 26, 2017)– The 23rd Slamdance Film Festival announced the feature and short film recipients of this year’s Sparky awards in the Audience, Jury, and Sponsored Categories. The award winners were announced at the festival’s annual Awards Ceremony at the Treasure Mountain Inn in Park City, UT.
Established in 1995 by a wild bunch of filmmakers, Slamdance has proven, year after year, that when it comes to recognizing talent and launching careers, independent and grassroots communities can do it themselves. Previous Slamdance alumni include: Christopher Nolan (THE DARK KNIGHT; MEMENTO), and Claire Carre (EMBERS).
Peter Baxter, President and Co-Founder of Slamdance (Photo via moviebytes.com
“Independent film is made beautiful not by those individual artists that form celebrity culture but by creative collaboration” said Slamdance Co-Founder and President, Peter Baxter. “At Slamdance this year we’ve experienced an entire program of beautiful independent film and the promise of great emerging artists continuing the legacy of what we set out to do. With our awards we honor several filmmakers yet we know and must acknowledge Slamdance has just been made stronger by everyone of them who has taken part.”
Full list of winners:
Jury Awards | Narrative Features
Narrative Feature Grand Jury Prize
Dim the Fluorescents
(Canada) World Premiere
Director: Daniel Warth; Screenwriter(s): Miles Barstead, Daniel Warth
Jury statement: “Empathetic, weird and insanely funny, this film delivers its crazy script with guts & panache. It’s a delight–beautifully executed and smart as a whip. The jury is thrilled to present the grand jury prize for best narrative feature to DIM THE FLUORESCENTS.”
Narrative Features Honorable Mention
Kate Can’t Swim
(USA) World Premiere
Director: Josh Helman; Screenwriter(s): Jennifer Allcott, Josh Helman
Jury statement: “Flawless in its execution of portraying real relationships with believably nuanced characters, authentic on-screen chemistry and an engaging story that thrives on what isn’t said.”
Jury statement: “For capturing a journey of passion and commitment, honesty and the triumph of one vision against all odds.’
Documentary Feature Honorable Mention
The Modern Jungle
(Mexico/USA)
Director(s) & Screenwriter(s): Charles Fairbanks, Saul Kak
Jury statement: “For its beautiful cinematography, for a compassionate journey into a dangerous and uncharted world.”
Documentary Short Grand Jury Prize
Moriom
(Switzerland)
Director(s): Francesca Scalisi, Mark Olexa
Jury statement: “For an arresting portrayal dramatically shot of human trauma and its consequence.”
Documentary Short Honorable Mention
Irregulars
(Italy)
Director: Fabio Palmieri
Jury statement: “For its visionary take on the dehumanized face of immigration.”
Jury Awards – Narrative Shorts/Animated Shorts
Narrative Shorts Grand Jury Prize
No Other Way To Say It
(USA)
Director and Screenwriter: Tim Mason
Jury statement: “Brave new voice, that found the magical combination to create the complete short film. “It’s Good There’s no other way to say it.”
Narrative Shorts Honorable Mention
Oh What a Wonderful Feeling
(Canada)
Director and Screenwriter: François Jaros
Jury statement: “Powerful storytelling that found a way to lean away from the stereotypes and consider the humans within the context, with a technical savvy and social responsibility this film reminds us to witness everyone and to see their power.”
Animated Shorts Grand Jury Prize
Hold Me (Ca Caw Ca Caw)
(USA)
Renee Zhan
Jury statement: “For its brilliant, and nuanced portrait of power and control and the pain that this artists creates. This honest voice found a way to share a very private moment with a flawless combination of oppressed levity”
Animated Shorts Honorable Mention
My Father’s Room
(South Korea) North American Premiere
Director and Screenwriter: Nari Jang
Jury statement: “This heartbreaking portrait of a girl’s broken relationship and the lifelong effects of growing up with an abusive father found a way to sear into its audience to look at the root of pain, asking us to reflect if we could ever escape its cloud. A complete and touching film.”
Jury Awards – Experimental Shorts/Anarchy Shorts
Experimental Shorts Grand Jury Prize
UpCycles
(USA)
Director: Ariana Gerstein
Jury statement: “We are impressed by the unusual and meticulous process involved in making UpCycles. We are even more affected that the process never overshadowed the pure visual delight of experiencing this experimental film.”
Experimental Shorts Honorable Mention
Blua
(Colombia)
Director and Screenwriter: Carolina Charry Quintero
Jury statement: “We were surprised by the unexpected shifts between the documentary, narrative, and experimental moments in Blua, and we look forward to seeing the path the filmmaker takes with her future work.”
Anarchy Shorts Grand Jury Prize
Ape Sodom
(Canada)
Director and Screenwriter: Maxwell McCabe-Lokos
Jury statement: “While we were impressed by the strange and fully realized world of this film, we were more impressed by seeing how many objects someone could shove up their ass at one time. Ape Sodom not only lived up to its name — it embodies the spirit of anarchy.”
Anarchy Shorts Honorable Mention
Horseshoe Theory
(USA) World Premiere
Director: Jonathan Daniel Brown
Jury statement: “At a time when America is more divided than ever, this film gives us the hope that two opposing sides can set aside their differences, come together, work together, fall in love… and cum together.”
Spirit of Slamdance Award Winner:
Neighborhood Food Drive
(USA) World Premiere
Director: Jerzy Rose; Screenwriter(s): Halle Butler, Mike Lopez, Jerzy Rose
Audience Awards
Audience Award for Narrative Feature:
Dave Made a Maze
(USA) World Premiere
Director: Bill Watterson; Screenwriter(s): Steven Sears, Bill Watterson
Audience Award for Documentary Feature:
Strad Style
(USA) World Premiere
Director: Stefan Avalos
Audience Award for Beyond Feature:
Future ‘38
(USA) World Premiere
Director and Screenwriter: Jamie Greenberg
ABOUT SLAMDANCE
Slamdance is a community, a year-round experience, and a statement. Established in 1995 by a wild bunch of filmmakers who were tired of relying on a large, oblique system to showcase their work, Slamdance has proven, year after year, that when it comes to recognizing talent and launching careers, independent and grassroots communities can do it themselves. This year’s event concluded January 26th, 2017.
(Source: Press release provided by After Bruce PR and Marketing)
For many years now, the Berlin International Film Festival has been committed to documentary film and diverse documentary forms. This was evident not only in the programmes of the different sections, initiatives and special series but also in the European Film Market (EFM).
Thanks to the support of Glashütte Original, watch manufacturer from Saxony, the Berlin International Film Festival is launching a new award, the Glashütte Original Documentary Award.
The Glashütte Original Documentary Award is endowed with € 50,000, funded by Glashütte Original. The prize money will be split between the film’s director and producer. A total of 16 documentary entries from the current programmes of the Competition, Berlinale Special, Panorama, Forum, Generation and Perspektive Deutsches Kino sections are nominated for the Glashütte Original Documentary Award.
The prize will be presented during the official Award Ceremony in the Berlinale Palast on February 18. In addition to the prize money, Glashütte Original will also provide the trophy, which will be finely crafted in the company’s manufactory in Saxony.
A three-member jury will pick the winner:
Daniela Michel (Photo by Fabrizio Maltese)
Daniela Michel (Mexico)
Born in Mexico City, Daniela Michel is a film critic and founding director of the Morelia International Film Festival, an annual event launched in 2003 to support a new generation of Mexican filmmakers. After studying filmmaking she received a degree in English Literature. She has curated retrospectives of Mexican cinema in and outside Mexico. Michel has also served on the Jury for the “Un Certain Regard” and “La Semaine de la Critique” sections of the Cannes Film Festival, the Venice Film Festival, the Sundance Film Festival, the Locarno International Film Festival, the San Sebastian International Film Festival, the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), the Sarajevo Film Festival, among other festivals, as well as the Rockefeller Foundation’s Media Arts Fellowships and the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative.
Laura Poitras (Photo by Jan Sturman
Laura Poitras (USA)
Laura Poitras, who was born in the USA, first studied at the San Francisco Art Institute and then The New School in New York. Her work crosses the boundaries of documentary film, journalism, and art. In 2006 she began her 9/11 Trilogy with the film My Country, My Country, for which she received her first Oscar nomination. This was followed by The Oath (2010), which like My Country, My Country, was shown in the Berlinale’s Forum section. With CITIZENFOUR, the third part of her trilogy, Poitras won the Academy Award for Best Documentary in 2015. With this film about Edward Snowden, she also took home awards from the German Film Prize, the Director’s Guild of America, and BAFTA. Her reporting on NSA surveillance has appeared in Der Spiegel, The Guardian, and the Washington Post, and received a Pulitzer Prize and the Nannen Prize for Press Freedom. In 2016, she mounted her first solo museum exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art. She is co-creator of the visual journalism project, Field of Vision.
Samir (Photo courtesy of Dschoint Ventschr Filmproduktion)
Samir (Iraq / Switzerland)
Samir was born in Bagdad and moved with his family to Switzerland when he was seven years old. In the 1980s, after studying at Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) and training to be a typesetter, he began working as a cameraman, director, and screenwriter. Over the years he has made more than 40 short and full-length films. In 1994, he – and documentary filmmaker Werner Schweizer and producer Karin Koch – took over Dschoint Ventschr (spoken like Joint Venture) Filmproduktion, which concentrates on promoting young Swiss talents. Samir has directed both fiction and documentary films for the cinema and television – including Snow White (2005), which received multiple awards – as well as many stage productions. His documentary Iraqi Odyssey was screened in the Berlinale Panorama in 2015 and submitted by Switzerland for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.
The following films are nominated for the Glashütte Original Documentary Award:
Competition (1)
Beuys – Germany
By Andres Veiel
Berlinale Special (1)
La libertad del diablo (Devil’s Freedom) – Mexico
By Everardo González
Panorama (5)
Belinda – France
By Marie Dumora
El Pacto de Adriana – Chile
By Lissette Orozco
Erase and Forget – United Kingdom
By Andrea Luka Zimmerman
Fünf Sterne (Five Stars) – Germany
By Annekatrin Hendel
Istiyad Ashbah (Ghost Hunting) – France / Palestine/ Switzerland / Qatar
By Raed Andoni
Forum (5)
For Ahkheem – USA
By Jeremy S. Levine and Landon Van Soest
Maman Colonelle (Mama Colonel) – Democratic Republic of Congo / France
By Dieudo Hamadi
El mar la mar – USA
By Joshua Bonnetta and J.P. Sniadecki
Mzis qalaqi (City of the Sun) – Georgia / USA / The Netherlands / Qatar
By Rati Oneli
Tigmi n Igren (House in the Fields) – Morocco / Qatar
By Tala Hadid
Generation (3)
Almost Heaven – United Kingdom
By Carol Salter
Shkola nomer 3 (School Number 3) – Ukraine / Germany
By Yelizaveta Smith, Georg Genoux
Soldado (Soldier) – Argentina
By Manuel Abramovich
Perspektive Deutsches Kino (1)
Eisenkopf (Ironhead) – Germany
By Tian Dong
All nominated films will celebrate their world premiere at the Berlinale 2017.
CAMBRIDGE, MA (January 26th, 2017) – The Hasty Pudding Theatricals, the oldest theatrical organization in the United States, welcomed Oscar winning actress, OCTAVIA SPENCER (who was nominated for a second Oscar earlier this week), to Harvard University, where she received her Woman of the Year award.
The Woman of the Year is the Hasty Pudding Theatricals oldest honor, bestowed annually on performers who have made lasting and impressive contributions to the world of entertainment. Established in 1951, Woman of the Year has been given to many notable and talented entertainers, including Meryl Streep, Debbie Reynolds, Mary Tyler Moore, Julia Roberts, Jodie Foster, Dame Helen Mirren, and most recently Kerry Washington.
Octavia Spencer, the Hasty Puddings 2017 Woman of the Year parades through Cambridge, Mass. (Photo credit: Getty Images)
The Woman of the Year festivities, presented by RELATED, began with a parade through the streets of Cambridge. The weather was uncharacteristically warm for Cambridge in January. Following the parade, the Hasty Pudding Theatricals hosted a celebratory roast for the actress at Farkas Hall, the Hasty Pudding’s historic home in the heart of Harvard Square since 1888. Before she was able to receive her pot, Ms. Spencer had to work her way off the “naughty list”, which she was placed on due to her roles in the Bad Santa movies. First she referenced her infamous pie scene from The Help by choosing one of three people to pie in the face. Her choice was a Hasty Pudding member dressed as Presidential Counselor, Kellyanne Conway. She also proved her fealty to her alma mater, Auburn University, by tackling an archrival, University of Alabama fan onstage. Due to her fondness for pink nail polish, she was charged with giving another Cast member a makeover with an oversize tube of nail polish. Finally, she rounded out her roast by singing a duet of James Brown’s “I Got You (I Feel Good)” in reference to her role in Get on Up.
A press conference followed the presentation, which was the first to be live-streamed free and to the public via the Hasty Pudding’s Facebook (www.facebook.com/thehastypudding), as it happened. To close out the festivities, the Hasty Pudding Theatricals members performed several musical numbers from the group’s upcoming 169th production, Casino Evil.
The Hasty Pudding Theatricals will celebrate their 51st Man of the Year, RYAN REYNOLDS, on Friday February 3rd, 2017. The traditional roast and Pudding Pot ceremony will take place at Farkas Hall, as well as the Opening night of HPT 169: Casino Evil.
TO LIVE STREAM the Hasty Pudding Theatricals’ Man of Year press conference, viewers can tune in at 8:30 p.m. EST on Friday, February 3rd via the Hasty Pudding’s Facebook www.facebook.com/thehastypudding
TO PURCHASE TICKETS to the Hasty Pudding Theatricals’ 169th production, Casino Evil, contact the HPT Box Office at 617-495-5205 or order online at www.hastypudding.org/buy- tickets. The show will be performed at Harvard University’s historic Farkas Hall, located at 12 Holyoke Street, from February 3rd until March 5th. The company then travels to New York to perform at The Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College on March 10th and 11th (call 212-772-4448 for tickets), followed by performances on March 15th-17th at Hamilton City Hall in Bermuda.
ABOUT THE HASTY PUDDING INSTITUTE OF 1770
The Hasty Pudding Institute of 1770’s philanthropic mission is to provide educational and developmental support in all aspects of the performing arts for the underprivileged, to encourage satire and comedy, and to cultivate young talent around the world. The Institute is comprises the Hasty Pudding Club (the oldest social club in the United States), the Hasty Pudding Theatricals (the third oldest theater group in the world, after the Comédie-Française and the Oberammergau Passion Players) and the Harvard Krokodiloes (the foremost collegiate a cappella group in the United States). Over the last two centuries, it has grown into a premiere performing arts organization, a patron of the arts and comedy, and an advocate for satire and discourse as tools for change worldwide.
Nomination for the Glashütte Original Documentary Award at Berlin Film Festival
FOR AHKEEM (USA, 2017) is the coming-of- age story of an extraordinary young girl who never gives up as she strives to balance school, family, and trauma within the challenging world of being a Black teenager in America. This feature documentary by Jeremy Levine and Landon Van Soest will celebrate its world premiere at the section Forum of the Berlin International Film Festival and is nominated for the overall sections Glashütte Original Documentary Award. The prize will be presented during the official Award Ceremony in the Berlinale Palast. FOR AHKEEM is one of 16 documentaries that have been nominated for the Award.
Beginning one year before the fatal police shooting of a Black teenager in nearby Ferguson, Missouri, FOR AHKEEM is the coming-of-age story of Daje Shelton, a Black 17-year-old girl in North St. Louis. She fights for her future as she is placed in an alternative high school and navigates the marginalized neighborhoods, biased criminal justice policies and economic devastation that have set up many Black youth like her to fail. After she is expelled from her public high school, a juvenile court judge sends Daje to the court-supervised Innovative Concept Academy, which offers her one last chance to earn a diploma. Over two years we watch as Daje struggles to maintain focus in school, attends the funerals of friends killed around her, falls in love with a classmate named Antonio, and navigates a loving-but-tumultuous relationship with her mother.
As Antonio is drawn into the criminal justice system and events in Ferguson just four miles from her home seize the national spotlight, Daje learns she is pregnant and must contend with the reality of raising a young Black boy.
Through Daje’s intimate coming of age story, FOR AHKEEM illuminates challenges that many Black teenagers face in America today, and witnesses the strength, resilience, and determination it takes to survive.
Since 2006, when it introduced the GWFF Best First Feature Award, the Berlinale has been even more committed to supporting the next generation of film makers. The award is endowed with 50,000 Euros, donated by the GWFF (Gesellschaft zur Wahrnehmung von Film- und Fernsehrecht), a society dedicated to safeguarding film and television rights. The prize money is to be split between the producer and the director of the winning film. Additionally, the director will be awarded with a high-quality viewfinder as both a useful instrument and memorable trophy.
Festival Director Dieter Kosslick and the heads of the Competition, Panorama, Forum, Generation and Perspektive Deutsches Kino sections have nominated a total of 16 directorial debuts. The winners will be announced at the official Award Ceremony in the Berlinale Palast on February 18.
A three-person jury will decide on the GWFF Best First Feature Award:
Jayro Bustamante (Photo credit: berlinale.de)
Jayro Bustamante (Guatemala)
In 2015 with his debut feature, Ixcanul, Jayro Bustamante was the first Guatemalan director invited to participate in the Competition of the Berlinale. Cast with amateur actors from the region of the Kaqchikel Maya, the film won the Silver Bear Alfred Bauer Prize. Ixcanul went on to screen at 60 other film festivals, including those in Karlovy Vary, Jerusalem, Telluride, Toronto, Biarritz, Cartagena, Mumbai, Guadalajara, Ghent, and San Sebastián, and took home 52 awards. What is more, Ixcanul was the second Guatemalan movie ever submitted for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. Jayro Bustamante, who had previously studied in Paris and Rome, as well as directed commercials for Ogilvy & Matter, has also made a variety of short, documentary, and animated films. Currently he is working on his next two full-length feature films: Temblores and Los tenis de barrondo.
Clotilde Courau (Photo credit: Roch Armando)
Clotilde Courau (France)
Clotilde Courau began her acting career at 16 and performed on stage while still at acting school. For her screen debut in Jacques Doillon’s The Little Gangster, which ran in the Berlinale Competition in 1991, she received the European Film Award and her first nomination for a César. Ever since, Clotilde Courau has been an established star of French cinema. She is known for films such as Elisa (dir: Jean Becker, 1995); The Bait (dir: Bertrand Tavernier, 1995); the opening film of the Berlinale 2007, La vie en rose (dir: Olivier Dahan); and In the Shadow of Women (dir: Philippe Garrel, 2015). She has also starred in international productions, e.g. in Paul Mazursky’s The Pickle (1993) and Rod Lurie’s Deterrence (1999). Courau regularly performs on the stage: recently she played in “Piaf, l’être intime”, which she also directed. Her latest film Le Ciel attendra by Marie Castille Mention-Schaar will open in German cinemas in 2017.
Mahmoud Sabbagh (Photo credit: Ahmed Mater)
Mahmoud Sabbagh (Saudi Arabia)
Born in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) in 1983, author, director and producer Mahmoud Sabbagh presented his debut feature, Barakah Meets Barakah, in the Berlinale’s Forum section in 2016. There this remarkably humorous film won the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury. It went on to be screened at, e.g., the Toronto International Film Festival, and ultimately entered the race – only the second Saudi Arabian film ever to do so – for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. For some years now, Sabbagh, who has a degree in documentary filmmaking from New York’s Columbia University, has been considered one of the pioneers of a new independent generation of filmmakers in his country. Among other works, he has directed and penned a documentary on the controversial poet Hamza Shehata as well as the highly-regarded online TV series Cash.
The following 16 films are nominated for the GWFF Best First Feature Award:
Competition(2)
Django – France
By Etienne Comar
With Reda Kateb, Cécile de France, Alex Brendemühl, Ulrich Brandhoff
Wilde Maus – Austria
By Josef Hader
With Josef Hader, Pia Hierzegger, Georg Friedrich, Jörg Hartmann, Denis Moschitto
Panorama(2)
Kaygı (Inflame) – Turkey
By Ceylan Özgün Özçelik
With Algı Eke, Özgür Çevik
Pieles(Skins) – Spain
By Eduardo Casanova
With Ana Polvorosa, Candela Peña, Carmen Machi, Macarena Gómez, Secun de la Rosa, Jon Kortajarena, Antonio Duran “Morris”, Eloi Costa
Forum(3)
Adiós entusiasmo(So Long Enthusiasm) – Argentina / Colombia
By Vladimir Durán
With Camilio Castiglione, Mariel Fernandez, Laila Maltz, Martina Juncadella, Verónica Llinás
Casa Roshell – Mexico / Chile
By Camila José Donoso
With Roshell Terranova, Liliana Alba, Lia García, Diego Alberico, Cristian Aravena
Motza el hayam (Low Tide) – Israel / France
By Daniel Mann
With Gal Hoyberger, Susanne Gschwendtner, Amnon Wolf, Eran Ivanir, Oleg Levin
Generation(5)
As duas Irenes(Two Irenes) – Brazil
By Fabio Meira
With Priscila Bittencourt, Isabela Torres
Butterfly Kisses – United Kingdom
By Rafael Kapelinski
With Theo Stevenson, Liam Whiting
Estiu 1993(Summer 1993) – Spain
By Carla Simón
With Laia Artigas, Paula Robles
Freak Show – USA
By Trudie Styler
With Alex Lawther, Abigail Breslin
Wallay – France / Burkina Faso / Qatar
By Berni Goldblat
With Makan Nathan Diarra, Ibrahim Koma
Perspektive Deutsches Kino (4)
Back for Good – Germany
By Mia Spengler
With Kim Riedle, Juliane Köhler, Leonie Wesselow, Nicki von Tempelhoff
Die beste aller Welten(The Best Of All Worlds) – Germany / Austria
By Adrian Goiginger
With Verena Altenberger, Jeremy Miliker, Lukas Miko, Michael Pink
Millennials – Germany
By Jana Bürgelin
With Anne Zohra Berrached, Leonel Dietsche, Jan Koslowski, Anna Herrmann
Die Tochter(Dark Blue Girl) – Germany
By Mascha Schilinski
With Helena Zengel, Karsten Antonio Mielke, Artemis Chalkidou
All nominated films will celebrate their world premiere at the Berlinale 2017.
