The TCM Classic Film Festival is back! With a run slated for April 21-24, 2022, the festival will kick off April 21st with a 40th Anniversary screening of Steven Spielberg’s classic E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial at the world-famous TCL Chinese Theatre. This year’s edition is centered around the theme, “All Together Now: Back To The Big Screen.”
Lily Tomlin
In addition, comedian Lily Tomlin will be honored with a hand and footprint ceremony in the courtyard of the world-famous TCL Chinese Theatre Imax® in Hollywood and Leonard Maltin, one of the world’s most respected film critics and historians, is being honored with the third Robert Osborne Award, “recognizing an individual who has helped keep the cultural heritage of classic film alive for future generations.”
Rob Reiner, Meg Ryan, and Billy Crystal attend The 30th Anniversary Screening of ‘When Harry Met Sally’ at the 2019 10th Annual TCM Classic Film Festival (photo TCM Classic Film Festival)
TCM’s passion for classic movies has earned the respect of the world’s most admired directors, producers, writers, and actors. The TCM Classic Film Festival has attracted too many to name individually! Here is a sneak preview for this year:
Larry Gleeson, left, and starlet Angie Dickinson at the TCM Classic Film Festival’s MEET & GREET, at the historic Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. (Photo courtesy of HollywoodGlee)
Reuniting with fellow fans, the movies, the memories, the stars, and the glamour – it’s back live and in-person where it all began in Hollywood. Come and be a part of the 2022 TCM Classic Film Festival, April 21-24! Information on passes is available HERE.
PASS HOLDER EXCLUSIVE: Club TCM
Exclusively for passholders*, Club TCM is a private locale in the historic Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel where movie fans can gather to relax, meet new friends, and attend special presentations and events with many of our celebrity guests. Recreating the flavor of bygone Hollywood hotspots, Club TCM embodies true Hollywood glamour and is located in the Blossom Room—the site of the very first Academy Awards banquet.
ABOUT TCM CLASSIC FILM FESTIVAL
Held over four days in the heart of Hollywood, the TCM Classic Film Festival is a place where movie lovers from around the world can gather to experience classic movies as they were meant to be experienced: on the big screen, in some of the world’s most iconic venues, with the people who made them. Moreover, the TCM Classic Film Festival strives to be a place where a community of movie fans of all ages can share their love of classic movies with each other, make new friends and see films as they are seldom seen today.
For President’s Day, the American Film Institute AFI Movie Club selected Dave, a political comedy/romance about a Presidential lookalike named Dave recruited by the Secret Service to become a stand-in for the President of the United States.
Dave stars Kevin Kline, Sigourney Weaver, Frank Langella, Kevin Dunn, Ving Rhames, Ben Kingsley, Charles Grodin, and is directed by the recently departed, Ivan Reitman. Check out the video on the iconic director (Animal House, Ghostbusters, Stripes) and his commentary on tone in his films!
Interestingly, Dave features a number of cameos by real-life politicians who were given the green light to improvise and deliver monologues on their respective ideologies. The pols donated all their earned wages from the film to charities.
Notable, writer Gary Ross was working as a speechwriter for then-presidential candidate Michael Dukakis, as he was penning the screenplay for Dave. Ross received an Academy Award nomination for his efforts – for his Dave screenplay!
Dave is available to stream on Hoopla, Amazon Prime, and Google Play.
The members of the 2022 International Jury, M. Night Shyamalan (President), Karim Aïnouz, Anne Zohra Berrached, Tsitsi Dangarembga, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Connie Nielsen and Said Ben Saïd award the following prizes:
Golden Bear for Best Film
(awarded to the film’s producers)
M. Night Shyamalan (Photo: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0)
M. Night Shyamalan (South Asia / USA) – Jury President
Screenwriter, director, and producer M. Night Shyamalan has been captivating audiences worldwide with his genre films over the past three decades. His impressive filmmaking includes 14 feature films as a cinema director. His breakthrough, the 1999 psychological thriller The Sixth Sense starring Bruce Willis, was the second highest-grossing film of that year and received six Academy Award nominations. He then released a string of blockbusters with Unbreakable (2000), Signs (2002), and The Village (2004). The Visit (2015) was the most successful horror film of 2015. He could repeat this success with his next film Glass (2019). Shyamalan has also had an equally successful start in the TV sector in 2015 with the 10-episode event series Wayward Pines for FOX, based on the best-selling novels. Currently, Shyamalan serves as showrunner for the award-winning series Servant for Apple TV+. He has also directed several episodes of the series. His latest cinema film Old, which is based on the graphic novel “Sandcastle” was released internationally in cinemas in summer 2021. He is currently working on his next cinema film, Knock at the Cabin, which will be released in February 2023.
Karim Aïnouz
Karim Aïnouz (Brazil / Algeria)
Karim Aïnouz first studied architecture in Paris and Brasilia before doing a degree in film studies at New York University and gaining practical experience as an assistant director for Todd Haynes. His feature film debut Madame Satã premiered at Cannes in 2002, later O Céu de Suely (Love for Sale, 2006) and Viajo Porque Preciso, Volto Porque te Amo (I Travel Because I Have To, I Come Back Because I Love You, 2009) screened in Venice. Aïnouz is also a regular guest at the Berlinale: in 2014, with Praia do Futuro (Futuro Beach) was shown in Competition; at the same time, Cathedrals of Culture ran in Berlinale Special, where he was one of six directors. His two documentaries Zentralflughafen THF (2018), awarded the Amnesty International Prize, and Nardjes A. (2020) were both shown in Panorama. His feature film A Vida Invisível (Invisible Life) won the main prize in Un Certain Regard section at Cannes in 2019, and two years later his autobiographical work O Marinheiro das Montanhas (Mariner of the Mountains) also screened at the Croisette.
Saïd Ben Saïd
Saïd Ben Saïd (France / Tunisia)
Saïd Ben Saïd is a French-Tunisian film producer, founder, and chairman of SBS Productions. His large output of 40 films includes films directed by Paul Verhoeven, David Cronenberg, Roman Polanski, Brian De Palma, Nadav Lapid, Philippe Garrel, Walter Hill, Alain Corneau, Kleber Mendonça Filho, André Téchiné and Ira Sachs. Recent releases include David Cronenberg’s Maps to the Stars with Julianne Moore who won Best Actress in Cannes in 2014, Paul Verhoeven’s Elle which was awarded Best Foreign Picture at the 2017 Golden Globes, Nadav Lapid’s Synonyms which won the 2019 Golden Bear at the Berlinale and Kleber Mendonça Filho’s Bacurau which received the 2019 Jury Prize in Cannes. His latest production is Paul Verhoeven’s Benedetta, which premiered in the Competition at Cannes 2021. In 2015, Ben Saïd founded his distribution company SBS Distribution and his international sales arm SBS International to service his own productions.
Anne Zohra Berrached
Anne Zohra Berrached (Germany)
Anne Zohra Berrached, born in Erfurt in 1982 as the daughter of a German and an Algerian, first studied social pedagogy and worked as a theatre pedagogue in London before turning to filmmaking. After her first own short documentary film Der Pausenclown (2009), she studied at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. Her first feature-length film Zwei Mütter (Two Mothers) was awarded the section prize in the Perspektive Deutsches Kino at the Berlinale in 2013, and three years later 24 Wochen (24 Weeks) ran for the Golden Bear in the Competition. The film was awarded the German Film Award in Silver and received the GUILDE Film Award. Berrached, who usually has professional actors act together with amateurs in her films and focuses on the greatest possible authenticity, presented her most recent film Die Welt wird eine andere sein (Copilot) in the section Panorama of the Berlinale in 2021. In addition to her cinema work, the filmmaker has directed three highly acclaimed Tatort episodes.
Tsitsi Dangarembga
Tsitsi Dangarembga (Zimbabwe)
Zimbabwean filmmaker and writer Tsitsi Dangarembga studied at Cambridge and the University of Zimbabwe before coming to Berlin to study directing at the German Film and Television Academy. As a screenwriter or director, she has been involved in several of her home country’s cinematic milestones, including Neria (1991), Flame (1996), Everyone’s Child (1996) and I Want a Wedding Dress (2011). In 1992, she founded her own production company, Nyerai Films, and in 2003, the International Film Festival for Women in Harare, which also gave birth to the African Women Filmmakers’ Development Hub. She is also one of the co-founders of the Institute of Creative Arts for Progress in Africa (ICAPA) Trust. Dangarembga’s most recent novel “This Mournable Body”, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2020, which belongs to a three-part series including “Nervous Conditions” (1988) and “The Book of Not” (2006). In 2021, she was awarded the “Friedenspreis des deutschen Buchhandels“ as well as the PEN Pinter Prize and the PEN International Award for Freedom of Expression.
Ryûsuke Hamaguchi @Berlinale
Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (Japan)
Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s episodic film Gûzen to sôzô (Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy) premiered in the Competition at the Berlinale in 2021, where it won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize. In the same year, he also received the Best Screenplay Prize for an adaptation of Murakami’s Doiraibu mai kâ (Drive My Car), which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. Hamaguchi’s graduation film Passion from the Tokyo University of the Arts was screened at the San Sebastián Film Festival in 2008. This was followed by the feature film The Depths and the documentary Tōhoku Trilogy (Nami no oto (Sound of the Waves), Nami no koe (Voices from the Waves), Storytellers), which he directed together with Ko Sakai between 2011 and 2013. His international breakthrough came in 2015 with Happî awâ (Happy Hour), which celebrated its world premiere in Locarno. Three years later, he was invited to the competition in Cannes with Netemo sametemo (Asako I & II). In addition to his directing work, he also wrote the screenplay for Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Supai no tsuma (Wife of a Spy), which won the Silver Lion for Best Director at Venice in 2020.
Connie Nielsen
Connie Nielsen (Denmark / USA)
Connie Nielsen was born in Denmark where she started her career on stage alongside her mother in political Revue and Variety shows. She moved to France and Italy as a young woman to continue her studies and further her acting career internationally. Once in the US, she starred in Ridley Scott’s Oscar winner Gladiator (2000), Mission to Mars (2000) by Brian de Palma, and Basic (2003). She first appeared in a Danish production for Susanne Bier’s Brothers (2004) for which she was nominated for the European Film Award, among others, and received Best Actress awards in San Sebastián and the Danish film prize The Bodil. Nielsen has also worked with directors such as Olivier Assayas (Demonlover, 2002) and Lars von Trier (Nymphomaniac: Vol.1, 2013) and appeared in blockbusters such as Wonder Woman (2017) by Patty Jenkins and Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021). Most recently, she was a lead actress and executive producer on the British series Close to Me (2021). Nielsen is also the founder of the organization’s Human Needs Project and Road to Freedom Scholarships.
The Panorama Audience Awards Go to Baqyt (Happiness) and Aşk, Mark ve Ölüm (Love, Deutschmarks and Death)
Film stills of Baqyt (Happiness) and Aşk, Mark ve Ölüm (Love, Deutschmarks and Death)
The audience has voted: The 24th Panorama Audience Award for the best feature film goes to Baqyt (Happiness) by Askar Uzabayev. Aşk, Mark ve Ölüm (Love, Deutschmarks and Death) by Cem Kaya wins in the category Panorama Dokumente. The prizes are awarded by the Berlinale section Panorama together with radioeins and rbb television (Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg).
Film still of Baqyt (Happiness)
In the film Baqyt, the main character wears orange for her job as an influencer and a broad smile. The “Happiness” brand is her doctrine, but her home is a dark place where brute force has ruled for years. This film shows us what it costs to escape the trap of misogyny.
Aşk, Mark ve Ölüm (Love, Deutschmarks and Death)
Cem Kaya’s dense documentary essay Aşk, Mark ve Ölüm (Love, Deutschmarks and Death) celebrates 60 years of Turkish music in Germany. An alternative post-war history that is at the same time a musical Who’s Who – from Yüksel Özkasap to Derdiyoklar and Muhabbet.
The award-winning feature film will be shown on Sunday, February 20, at 6 pm, the winner of the Panorama Dokumente at 9 pm. Both screenings will take place at Zoo Palast 1.
The Panorama Audience Award has been bestowed since 1999. As of 2011, both the best feature film and the best documentary have been honoured. During the Berlinale, all cinema-goers are invited to rate the films in the Panorama section on a voting card. In total around 8,000 votes were cast and evaluated.
This year, Panorama presented a total of 29 feature films from 33 production countries, ten of them were in Panorama Dokumente.
Panorama Audience Award Winner – Feature Film 2022:
Baqyt (Happiness)
Kazakhstan
by Askar Uzabayev
2nd Place Panorama Audience Award Winner – Feature Film 2022:
Klondike
Ukraine / Turkey
by Maryna Er Gorbach
3rd Place Panorama Audience Award Winner – Feature Film 2022:
Fogaréu
Brazil / France
by Flávia Neves
Panorama Audience Award Winner –Panorama Dokumente 2022:
Aşk, Mark ve Ölüm (Love, Deutschmarks and Death)
Germany
by Cem Kaya
2nd Place Panorama Audience Award Winner – Panorama Dokumente 2022:
Nel mio nome (Into My Name)
Italy
by Nicolò Bassetti
3rd Place Panorama Audience Award Winner Panorama Dokumente 2022:
An exceptional edition of the European Film Market (EFM) at the 72nd Berlinale ended successfully yesterday, Thursday, February 17. The international trading platform for audiovisual content had to be moved online for the second time due to the pandemic. But even in virtual space, countless business meetings were organized and a record number of deals concluded during the EFM, which ran from February 10 to 17. Around 600 exhibitors (2021: 504) from 62 countries (60) presented themselves on the EFM platform, and around 1,300 market screenings (1,452) and 827 films (821) were shown, including over 600 market premieres (578). For the first time, companies from Costa Rica, Malaysia, Mongolia, and Uruguay were amongst the exhibitors.
Dennis Ruh
“The EFM has again created clear, vital momentum for the film and content trade at its traditional date at the beginning of the film year,” says EFM director Dennis Ruh, summing up. “In the wake of the already noticeable easing and lifting of restrictive measures in Europe and other parts of the world, the incentive to acquire new films and content is being felt more strongly once again, even if rights trading still had to take place largely in virtual space this year. We look forward to meeting our market participants in person in Berlin next year.”
The EFM was complemented by a six-day conference program, the “EFM Industry Sessions”, which were held under the heading SHAPING CHANGE. In the three core areas of Future, Diversity & Inclusion, and Sustainable Development, participants discussed the challenges of the film and media industry in times of digital transformation in a results-oriented three-part think tank series, among other events, and thus lent impulses to help shape the business’ shared future.
“We have the tools to drive the necessary changes in the industry. This has been shown by the results of the numerous talks and discussions at the ‘EFM Industry Sessions’. Not least the pandemic has acted as a catalyst, especially in the areas of technology and sustainability,” EFM director Dennis Ruh continued. “Now we need to use these tools purposefully and turn our motto into MAKING CHANGE. We need to take action and align our mindset with imminent change.”
The final event presented the results from three think-tanks headlined “Future”, “Production” and “Distribution”. Among other things, the theses were put forward that integrating technology and sustainable strategies as well as representation and inclusion play a decisive role in the sector’s positive future development. The pandemic has proven to be a driver and motor for both. Transparency, consolidating mental fitness, participation, and the creation of structural and institutional conditions for the inclusion of people with disabilities in front of and behind the camera are also of key importance.
In the field of production, the issue of intellectual property (IP) protection and the still existing grey area when working with streaming providers play a central role, especially for independent producers. A protective regulation might be a kind of “code of fair practice” that offers a solution for all producers. In the field of distribution, the panelists noted resistance and resilience to change processes, contrary to the current trends. Curation of content is the distinguishing feature between distributors and festivals in relation to streaming services.
The full report summarising the key findings of the think tanks can be read here.
(Press release provided by Berlinale Press Office)
Variety’s eighth annual Artisans Awards celebrate those essential to the filmmaking process and who have exhibited the most exciting and innovative work of the year in their respective fields. The in-person conversation and tribute will take place Monday, March 7th at 8:00 pm at the historic Arlington Theatre.
“What I love so much about the Artisans Awards and honoring them here at SBIFF, is that this shines a spotlight on those essential to the art of filmmaking and storytelling,” said Variety senior artisans awards editor Jazz Tangcay. “This is their moment to shine and share how they tell a story through their craft and celebrate them. It’s so great to be back in person and to share this with an in-person crowd at the festival.”
SBIFF’s Executive Director added “What festivals and events like the Artisans Awards are all about is connectivity and building community through the art of film. The past two years have not been good to those essential aspects of cinema that I cherish so much. Both Variety and SBIFF are thrilled to be back together celebrating our talented artisans.”
The Variety Artisans Award will be presented to:
Frederic Aspiras and Göran Lundstrom for Makeup and Hairstyling in HOUSE OF GUCCI
Tamara Deverell for Production Design in NIGHTMARE ALLEY
Germaine Franco for Score in ENCANTO
Greig Fraser for Cinematography in DUNE
Lin-Manuel Miranda for Song in ENCANTO
Paul Massey for Sound in NO TIME TO DIE
Kelly Port for Visual Effects in SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME
Peter Scriberras for Editing in THE POWER OF THE DOG
Jacqueline West and Bob Morgan for Costume Design in DUNE
The 37th Santa Barbara International Film Festival, presented by UGG®, will take place in IN-PERSON from March 2 through March 12, 2022. 200+ films, filmmaker Q&As, industry panels, and celebrity tributes, will be held throughout Santa Barbara, including at the historic Arlington Theatre. This year’s lineup is available on SBIFF’s mobile app. For additional information or to buy passes, visit sbiff.org.
About the Santa Barbara International Film Festival
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit arts and educational organization dedicated to discovering and showcasing the best in independent and international cinema. Over the past 36 years, SBIFF has become one of the leading film festivals in the United States – attracting 100,000+ attendees and offering 11 days of 200+ films including 100+ premieres representing over 60 countries, tributes, and panel discussions, fulfilling their mission to engage, enrich, and inspire the Santa Barbara community through film.
In 2016, SBIFF entered a new era with the acquisition of the historic and beloved Riviera Theatre. After a capital campaign and renovation, the theatre is now SBIFF’s new state-of-the-art, year-round home, showing new international and independent films every day. In 2019, SBIFF opened its own Education Center in downtown Santa Barbara on State Street to serve as a home for its many educational programs and a place for creativity and learning.
Penélope Cruz will be honored with the Montecito Award at the 37th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival. Cruz will receive the award on Tuesday, March 8th, at an in-person conversation about her career leading up to this year’s performance in Pedro Almodóvar’s PARALLEL MOTHERS from Sony Pictures Classic.
SBIFF Executive Director Roger Durling (Photo cr. Clint Weisman Studio)
“In the most complex role written by the master Almodovar, Penelope Cruz delivers the best performance of her career and a master class in calibration and detailed acting,” remarked SBIFF’s Executive Director Roger Durling. “In my book, she’s one of the great performers of our time.”
In PARALLEL MOTHERS; Two women, Janis (Penélope Cruz) and Ana (Milena Smit), coincide in a hospital room where they are going to give birth. Both are single and became pregnant by accident. Janis, middle-aged, doesn’t regret it and she is exultant. The other, Ana, an adolescent, is scared, repentant, and traumatized. Janis tries to encourage her while they move like sleepwalkers along the hospital corridors. The few words they exchange in these hours will create a very close link between the two, which by chance develops and complicates, and changes their lives in a decisive way.
PARALLEL MOTHERS
The Montecito Award is named after one of the most beautiful and stylish areas in Santa Barbara. Past recipients include Amanda Seyfried, Lupita Nyong’o, Melissa McCarthy, Saoirse Ronan, Isabelle Huppert, Sylvester Stallone, Jennifer Aniston, Oprah Winfrey, Daniel Day-Lewis, Geoffrey Rush, Julianne Moore, Kate Winslet, Naomi Watts, and Javier Bardem.
The 37th Santa Barbara International Film Festival, presented by UGG®, will take place IN-PERSON on March 2 through March 12, 2022. 200+ films, filmmaker Q&As, industry panels, and celebrity tributes, will be held throughout Santa Barbara, including at the historic Arlington Theatre. This year’s lineup is available on SBIFF’s mobile app.
About the Santa Barbara International Film Festival
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit arts and educational organization dedicated to discovering and showcasing the best in independent and international cinema. Over the past 36 years, SBIFF has become one of the leading film festivals in the United States – attracting 100,000+ attendees and offering 11 days of 200+ films including 100+ premieres representing over 60 countries, tributes, and panel discussions, fulfilling their mission to engage, enrich, and inspire the Santa Barbara community through film.
In 2016, SBIFF entered a new era with the acquisition of the historic and beloved Riviera Theatre. After a capital campaign and renovation, the theatre is now SBIFF’s new state-of-the-art, year-round home, showing new international and independent films every day. In 2019, SBIFF opened its own Education Center in downtown Santa Barbara on State Street to serve as a home for its many educational programs and a place for creativity and learning.
The members of the Children’s Jury in Generation Kplus– Tilda Aue, Maria Fock, Connar Beck Lowe, Henri Marioth, Leonardo Urrutia Schwarze, Kerstin Teichmann and Ida Lilli Zschaubitz – have awarded the following prizes:
Crystal Bear for the Best Film: Comedy Queen by Sanna Lenken, Sweden
A great protagonist, powerful and vulnerable at the same time, provided us with her captivatingly told, bittersweet story of loss, grief, anger and healing. This film was a rollercoaster ride full of emotions: sometimes sad, sometimes funny, sometimes embarrassing. The music was always most appropriate and appealing. The camera was occasionally stable, yet also shaky. In a word, the film was superb.
Special Mention: An Cailín Ciúin (The Quiet Girl) by Colm Bairéad, Ireland
A beautiful film led us into an emotional, natural world full of love. The acting performance of the protagonist truly impressed us. The profoundly explored feelings were accompanied by sensitive music.
Crystal Bear for the Best Short Film: Vlekkeloos(Spotless) by Emma Branderhorst, Netherlands
A taboo subject is finally being addressed. Something which all of mankind knows about, but hardly addresses. Stress, panic and desperation just because you don’t have enough money for tampons. That has to change!
Special Mention: Luce and the Rock by Britt Raes, Belgium / France / Netherlands
A sweet animated film takes us to a fairy tale-like, colourful and yet literally rocky world. It reminds us that home is not necessarily where you were born, but where you have friends.
Awards of the Generation KplusInternational Jury, sponsored by the Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk (The Children’s Charity of Germany)
The members of the Generation Kplus International Jury – Daniela Cajías, Nicola Jones, Samuel Kishi Leopo – have awarded the following prizes:
The Grand Prix of the Generation Kplus International Jury for the Best Film, endowed with 7,500 Euros:
An Cailín Ciúin (The Quiet Girl) by Colm Bairéad, Ireland
As many films in this year’s Generation Kplus competition, the winning film deals with the hardships of family life. It is a film with a delicate story full of details about childhood, grief, parenthood and rebuilding a family. The very strong narrative is combined with a stunning cinematography. The sound and the images create a unique atmosphere.
Special Mention: Shabu by Shamira Raphaëla, Netherlands
A film full of life, music and endearing characters. Freshness and energy are the main narrative elements, which transfer directly from the screen to the audience.
The Special Prize of the Generation Kplus International Jury for the Best Short Film, endowed with 2,500 Euros:
Gavazn (Deer) by Hadi Babaeifar, Iran
Through an amazing and poetic cinematography as well as authentic acting, this film tells a story about a boy who uses an ancient tale as a means of empowerment to save his brother. The storytelling was magnetic, mystic and truthful.
Special Mention: To Vancouver (Vancouver) by Artemis Anastasiadou, Greece
A film full of life, music and endearing characters. Freshness and energy are the main narrative elements, which transfer directly from the screen to the audience.
Awards of the Youth Jury Generation 14plus
The members of the Youth Jury in Generation 14plus – Luise Dahns, Christian Fock, Quintus Gramowski, Viola Weiser and Helene Zschaubitz – have awarded the following prizes:
Crystal Bear for the Best Film: Alis by Clare Weiskopf, Nicolas van Hemelryck, Colombia / Chile / Romania
A moving film which, utilising the simplest of means, creates an unbelievable closeness and intimacy. The protagonists and the audience are all confronted with pain and memories, albeit in a gentle manner. How do I manage to come to terms with my past without falling apart beneath it? The film answers this question with impressive honesty and directness.
Special Mention: Stay Awake by Jamie Sisley, USA
Raw and frighteningly concrete, the film thrusts us into an everyday life that is shaped by a recurring traumatic event. Throughout their common journey, the actors and their characters became our confidants while alternating between hope and disappointment. The film left us speechless and agitated.
Crystal Bear for the Best Short Film: Born in Damascus by Laura Wadha, United Kingdom
Impressive and intimate in its narrative style, this short film convinced us and also prevailed against the strong competition. By virtue of this film, we have gained access to a new reality that we had never encountered before in everyday life. In an impenetrable style, the film examines the influence that repressed memories have on our identity. Long after the end of the film, each one of us had something to think about. We were all touched by this film in a very special way, and now we want to award this with our Crystal Bear for the best short film.
Special Mention: Nada para ver aqui (Nothing to See Here) by Nicolas Bouchez, Portugal / Belgium / Hungary
This short film is a work of art! Expressive and rich in contrast to the fast pace of daily life; at the same time observing and value-free, it allows itself the freedom to connect its own self to the images. The film conveys its content in a playful way, mostly without many words, and it invites you to think. Through the interaction of shapes, colours, edges, curves, sections, light and shadows, it clearly stands out from the other films.
Awards of the Generation 14plusInternational Jury, sponsored by the Bundeszentrale für Politische Bildung (the Federal Agency for Civic Education):
The members of the Generation 14plus International Jury – Paolo Bertolin, Rubika Shah, Dash Shaw – have awarded the following prizes:
The Grand Prix of the Generation 14plus International Jury for the Best Film, endowed with 7,500 Euros:
Kind Hearts by Olivia Rochette, Gerard-Jan Claes, Belgium
The first of two equal Grand Prix goes to a film that effortlessly plunges us into the lives of two ordinary young people, sharing a delicate insight in their emotional growth, while reminding us of the unpredictable and elusive nature of that thing called love.
ex aequo
Skhema by Farkhat Sharipov, Kazakhstan
The film is an intimate lens into some of the darker challenges facing young people today. But its strength is in its universality and strong and authentic performances. It explores the vulnerability of teenage girls at that pivotal moment in their lives when they are neither child nor adult. With moments of lightness and darkness — and a fantastic ending.
Special Prize of the Generation 14plus International Jury for the Best Short Film, endowed with 2,500 Euros:
Au revoir Jérôme ! (Goodybye Jérôme !) by Adam Sillard, Gabrielle Selnet, Chloé Farr, France
When this short film appeared on screen, all of us gasped with delight. The dark theatre was illuminated by brilliant colours, strange kaleidoscopic creatures in trees, hot dog dogs, and a fragile man who ultimately plummets and shatters to pieces. To the filmmakers, we say: Thank you for this trip.
Special Mentions:
Blaues Rauschen (Blue Noise) by Simon Maria Kubiena, Germany / Austria
We awarded a special mention to a film that, with just a few neat and precise strokes, portrays the struggle of a young conflicted man trying to finding his footing and his place in the world.
Tinashé by Tig Terera, Australia
Part of the joy of watching short films is to transport one into new worlds. There is an interesting truth in this film, where it reveals something about young people that feels fresh. It is complex and deep — and taps into a side of life in Australia we don’t usually see on screen.
The 2022 San Luis Obispo International Film Festival
previews film lineup with 5 official selections
(April 26-May 1)
Larry Gleeson, center, in conversation during the 2019 SLO Film Fest. (Photo credit: Kevin O’Connor)
San Luis Obispo, CA (February 15, 2022) – The San Luis Obispo International Film Festival has announced five initial selections for the 28th edition of this year’s film festival. They include a recent hit out of Sundance, an award winner and an audience favorite from the film festival tour, an indie comedy with some familiar faces, and an international drama. As SLO Film Fest prepares to return to theaters and in-person events in April with signature and always-popular screening events like Surf Nite, and the Central Coast Filmmaker Showcase, these five films preview the variety and scope of the programming film fans can look forward to in what might be the most highly anticipated year yet for the film festival in the past three decades.
SLO Film Fest Festival Director Skye McLennan
“This is a great sample-size of films to tease what’s in store for our audiences this year,” said SLO Film Fest Festival Director Skye McLennan. “While we are hard at work to nail down the logistics and production details to make sure we come back in-style and with all the fun and all of the great movie-loving energy that this film festival is known for, ultimately everything we do is built on the films we have selected. And we couldn’t be more thrilled with what we have got in store for everyone.”
HOLY FRIT
Mye Hoang’s documentary Cat Daddies about men who have had their lives changed thanks to their pet cats is already a certified crowd-pleaser on the film festival tour, Justin Monroe’s you-gotta-see-it-to-believe-it documentary Holy Frit, about artist Tim Carey and the artistic predicament he creates for himself won Best Documentary Feature at the Naples International Film Festival, and Rita Baghdadi’s Sirens, about the growth pains of the first all-female thrash metal rock band in Lebanon was a critical and popular hit out of this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
MY DEAD DAD, PRINCESS
On the narrative side, Fabio Frey’s My Dead Dad, is a classic comic indie about a young man who inherits an apartment complex from his estranged dad and finds out from the tenants that he didn’t actually know the man. Among the film’s cast are Breaking Bad’s Raymond Cruz, Red Rocket’s Simon Rex, and Scarface’s Steven Bauer. Representing the international offerings is Peter Luisi’s Switzerland/Ukraine co-production, Princess, about the unexpected friendship that develops between a broken-down alcoholic and the young niece of his sister. Several years later, the now grown woman is in trouble and the old man has an opportunity to repay for her kindness when he was in need.
Passes are now on sale and information on the film festival can be found at https://slofilmfest.org.
2022 San Luis Obispo International Film Festival Initial Selections
Cat Daddies
Director: Mye Hoang
Country: USA, Running Time: 89 min
Following a group of firefighters, a stuntman, truck driver, disabled homeless man, tech worker and schoolteacher, Cat Daddies is a refreshing and timely exploration of modern masculinity and the unlikely bond between man and cat.
Holy Frit
Director: Justin Monroe
Country: USA; Running Time: 120 min
In this three-year race against time, talented yet unknown L.A. artist Tim Carey bluffs his way into winning the commission to create the largest stained-glass window of its kind. The problem is: He doesn’t know how to make it. After a desperate search, he finds someone who might have the answer: a famous glass maestro by the name of Narcissus Quagliata.
My Dead Dad
Director: Fabio Frey
Country: USA, Running Time: 93 min
In this charming coming-of-age film, Pedro Correa stars as a young skateboarder who discovers his estranged father has died, leaving him the responsibility of managing an apartment complex in Los Angeles. Forced to quickly grow up, he learns about the dad he never knew through the building’s eclectic tenants and a brief trip to San Luis Obispo (Booboo Stewart, Chris Pontius, Simon Rex, Raymond Cruz).
Princess
Director: Peter Luisi
Countries: Switzerland/Ukraine, Running Time: 101 min
It is the year 1985: Josef (47) is an alcoholic who has given up on life. When his younger sister moves into the same house, an unexpected friendship develops between him and her 4-year-old daughter, Nina. Thirty-five years later the two meet again. Nina is in trouble and Josef, now 82 years old, sets out to help her.
Sirens
Director: Rita Baghdadi
Countries: USA/Lebanon, Running Time: 78 min
On the outskirts of Beirut, Lilas and her thrash metal bandmates, Shery, Maya, Alma and Tatyana (Slave to Sirens), have big dreams but few opportunities. When the band’s appearance at a UK music festival isn’t the life-changer they had hoped for, Lilas comes home to Lebanon on the brink of collapse. At the same time, the complicated friendship between Lilas and her fellow guitarist Shery starts to fracture. The future of her band, her country and her dreams now all at stake, Lilas faces a crossroad.
ABOUT SAN LUIS OBISPO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
Located half-way between Los Angeles and San Francisco, San Luis Obispo’s laid-back vibe and serene natural beauty is the perfect setting for this highly regarded annual film celebration. Filmmakers rave about the warmth and attentiveness that is so much a part of the SLO Film fest experience, as does the swelling tide of industry pros and film critics who are fast discovering the film festival’s thoughtful audiences and unique programming sensibility.
(Press release provided by John Wildman, Wildworks, PR
The Homage of the Berlinale 2022 is dedicated to French film and stage actor Isabelle Huppert, who is also the recipient of the Honorary Golden Bear for lifetime achievement.
Unfortunately, today Isabelle Huppert has been tested positive for the coronavirus in Paris and therefore she will not be able to attend the Berlin International Film Festival.
While informing the festival, she emphasized that she feels very dedicated to the Berlinale and wants to participate in any possible way also to support her latest film À Propos de Joan.
“Considering that Isabelle Huppert is not feeling sick and she is willing to support the festival we have decided to go on with the award ceremony. As she cannot come, we will send our love and admiration to her home in Paris. We look forward to having her in Berlin another time”, say Berlinale directors Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian.
The award ceremony of the Honorary Golden Bear will take place on February 15, 2022, at 9.45 pm at the Berlinale Palast as planned. Isabelle Huppert will tune in live from Paris to assist the ceremony and to speak to her audience.
The film À propos de Joan (About Joan, dir: Laurent Larivière), in which she is playing the leading role, will be screened as a Berlinale Special Gala afterward.
Unfortunately, the event Berlinale Homage: In Conversation with Isabelle Huppert planned with her at Berlinale Talents has been canceled.
(Press release provided by Berlinale press office)
