International Film News
Claire Denis
Claire Denis to Attend the Berlinale Talent Campus
21/01/2010
Acclaimed French filmmaker Claire Denis, whose most recent film, White Material starred Isabelle Huppert and acreened at the 2009 Venice Film Festival, will be a guest of the Talent Campus’ ‘In the Limelight Series’. The interview will take place on 17 February at 17:00 in HAU 1. Her attendance is just one of the many events that make up the Campus’ exciting programme at this year’s Berlinale.
Two strands in the Campus programme offer the chance to engage with collaborative ideas beyond national boundaries. The panel discussion Cinema Unlimited - Intercontinental Connections will bring together directors Rafi Pitts (Iran), Jean-Marie Téno (Cameroon, based in France), Natalia Smirnoff (Argentina) and Madhusree Dutta (India) to talk about international cross-border collaborations. The event will take place between 11-12:30 on Mondat 15 Fenruary, at HAU 1.
IFG contributor, founder of Power to the Pixel and Digital Distribution Strategy Advisor for the UK Film Council will moderate the series The Indie Filmmaker’s Guide to Cross Media, which aims to approach the future of narrative and storytelling from an immersive, interactive point of view. The sessions will run from 14-15:30 everyday from 15-17 February.
For more information, click here.
Children’s Laureate Anthony Browne
The London Book Fair Focus on Digital Technologies, South Africa and Editing
13/01/2010
One of the IFG’s partners, the London Book Fair, recently launched their first newsletter of the new year. In a direct parallel with the film industry, major issues surround the direction digital technology is taking business practices and the way the audience/reader enjoy their chosen entertainment. There is also an extended piece on how the South African market is developing and the importance of the role of the editor. Such issues will be a feature at the London Book Fair, which runs from 19-21 April at London’s Earls Court.
In ‘The Lost Art of Editing’ Liz Thomson looks at the role of the editor in the publishing industry; an often unsung role that can make or break the success of a publication. It is also a complex role, whose many stages require good organisation on the part of the editor.
South Africa may be headlining the year’s sporting calendar with its hosting the 2010 World Cup, but its presence at the LBF in April will also show itself to be a major player in the publishing market. the South Africa 2010 New Title Showcase will offer ‘exhibiting and non-exhibiting publishers and authors a unique opportunity to display their titles at The London Book Fair as part of the South Africa Market Focus’. And the LBF’s market focus aims to:
- Strengthen cultural and publishing relations between South Africa and the international publishing industry
- Educate the rest of the world about South Africa’s literature and authors
- Enable publishers from South Africa to promote their books and literature to all parts of the world via the Fair
- Give South African companies the opportunity to concentrate on trade links and the business of publishing and promoting their writers
Finally, the Digital Zone & Theatre is an opportunity to respond to the ‘growing need for publishers to understand the digital work flow and what is involved. The zone showcases the best companies with digital offerings and the theatre gives them the opportunity to present their products to a wider audience.’
The current newsletter also features an interview with the Children’s Laureate, Anthony Browne
For more information about the London Book Fair, go to: www.londonbookfair.co.uk.
Winners and presenters at the 22nd European Film Awards
© EFA/jens-braune.de
European Film Awards Winners Announced
21/12/2009
The 22nd European Film Awards on 12 December 2009 were the first time the event took place in Germany but not Berlin. German comedienne Anke Engelke played host to the 1,400 guests gathered for the ceremony at the spectacular Jahrhunderthalle in Bochum. The show at the former steel factory in the heart of Germany’s industrial Ruhr area was a unique change from the regular system that brings the European Film Awards to Berlin, home of the European Film Academy, every two years. It was also the kick-off for the European Capital of Culture year RUHR.2010 “Essen for the Ruhr”.
Engelke successfully walked the line between glamorous ceremony and comedy show that easily transcended cultural boundaries, entertaining both guests in the hall and TV viewers all over Europe during the later broadcasts.
Guests presenting the awards included actresses Victoria Abril and María Valverde (Spain), Caterina Murino (Italy) and Johanna ter Steege (the Netherlands), actors Maciej Stuhr (Poland), Jesper Christensen (Denmark) and Anatole Taubman (Switzerland), as well as German directors Volker Schlöndorff and Detlev Buck.
The White Ribbon by Michael Haneke, a grim and gloriously shot study of violence in a small village in early 20th century Germany was the big winner of the evening, garnering three top prizes for European Film, Director and Screenwriter. Haneke called his film “a truly European production”, accompanied on stage by its Austrian, German, French and Italian co-producers.
Another favourite of the evening, Slumdog Millionaire, received two awards; director Danny Boyle accepted the People’s Choice Award voted for by film fans across the continent and Anthony Dod Mantle’s cinematographer award for his diverse work on both Slumdog Millionaire and Lars von Trier’s psychological horror drama Antichrist.
Stephen Daldry, director of The Reader and newly appointed European Film Academy ambassador, accepted the award for European Actress on behalf of the much deservedly winning though not present Kate Winslet for her moving performance as a former concentration camp guard in The Reader.
The award for European actor went to newcomer Tahar Rahim for his role as a prisoner forced to kill another inmate in Jacques Audiard’s acclaimed A Prophet. The five times nominated French prison drama took home another award; the European Film Academy Prix d’Excellence went to the film’s sound designers Brigitte Taillandier, Francis Wargnier, Jean-Paul Hurier & Marc Doisne.
For Pedro Almodóvar’s film noir Broken Embraces, Alberto Iglesias was awarded European Composer, while Swiss filmmaker Peter Liechti’s The Sound of Insects – Report of a Mummy, an account of a man starving himself to death, received the European film Academy Documentary – Prix Arte. The European Co-Production Award – Prix EURIMAGES went to producers Diana Elbaum and Jani Thiltges.
Two awards went to Poland: Poste Restante by Marcel Lozinski was awarded European Short Film and this year’s Critics’ Award, the Prix FIPRESCI went to doyen Andrzej Wajda for his remarkably fresh and courageous Tatarak.
The Academy itself proved to be young in spirit as well by giving an award for best animated feature film for the first time in its history. The prize went to the amazing Mia and the Migoo by Jacques-Rémy Girerd.
How much cinema is due to the passion and enthusiasm of individual artists, rarely became more apparent than with the award for European Discovery for best debut. Like his four dedicated co-nominees, British director Peter Strickland, who shot his disturbing revenge drama Katalin Varga in Romania with Hungarian speaking actors, fought for his film for years before he was able to finish it.
On a multilingual evening, French actress Isabelle Huppert got to the heart of it, suggesting that the language uniting Europe is cinema itself. She received the award for European Achievement in World Cinema from German director Volker Schlöndorff.
Surely one of the most moving moments of the ceremony was surprise guest Eric Cantona who took the stage in honour of Ken Loach who received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the star of his latest film Looking for Eric. The football legend hailed Loach as “a genius” and added: "For five decades he has not stopped tackling social issues, and always with realism, humour, love and modesty". The attending guests welcomed Loach with standing ovations.
The 2010 Awards Ceremony will take place in Tallinn, Estonia’s beautiful capital on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. Like in Bochum, the event will be the first highlight of the year of European Capital of Culture that will proceed in Tallinn 2011. The 23rd European Film Awards are scheduled for 4 December 2010.
Berlinale Talent Campus for Up and Coming Filmmakers
21/12/2009
The Berlinale Talent Campus which takes place from February 13th to 18th is an international summit for up-and-coming filmmakers from all over the world that takes place at Theater Hebbel am Ufer during the Berlin International Film Festival. Each year, the Campus invites 350 ‘Talents’ from all areas of filmmaking and offers them the opportunity to learn from renowned film professionals – former Campus experts include Tilda Swinton, Stephen Frears, Gael Garcia Bernal, Shah Rukh Khan, Mike Leigh, Stephen Daldry, Julie Delpy, Wim Wenders, Janusz Kaminski and many more -and to establish a worldwide collaborative network.
“The Campus enables the film industry’s most creative young talents from around the globe to unite and work together for one week in Berlin. This collaboration is what puts the Berlinale Talent Campus at the cutting edge of the film industry,” says Festival Director Dieter Kosslick.
"CINEMA NEEDS TALENT: LOOKING FOR THE RIGHT PEOPLE"
In 2010, the six-day programme, consisting of lectures, seminars, and workshops, will focus on the theme "Cinema Needs Talent: Looking for the Right People" and will promote the idea of collaborative filmmaking. ‘Stick with your friends’ has proven to be a valuable advice for many in their filmmaking career. For filmmakers around the world, it’s never been a better time to join forces: teaming up with the right people to inspire and support you remains an essential element of improving your work. Developing one’s personal craftsmanship on the one hand, and to benefit from other people’s fortes on the other is the true sense of collaborative filmmaking. It’s about finding the most exalting people to work with, daring to ask the vital questions in order to exceed your own limits, and having the greatest time of your life when making film.
HANDS-ON PROGRAMMES
An important part of the Campus are the hands-on training programmes which offer personal tutoring, coaching and training to selected participants from different fields of work:
Berlin Today Award
The short film competition of the Berlinale Talent Campus offers five young directing talents the chance to produce a short film in cooperation with a Berlin / Brandenburg based production company. The nominated films celebrate their world premiere during the Berlinale Talent Campus. The winning film, chosen by a jury, will receive the BERLIN TODAY AWARD.
Talent Project Market
The Talent Project Market, in co-operation with the Berlinale Co-Production Market, offers selected Talents the opportunity to get in touch with professional producers, financiers, distributors and sales agents during the Berlinale Co-Production Market.
Script Station & Doc Station
The Script & Doc Station offers Talents the chance to receive feedback and advice on their screenplays from internationally renowned documentary experts and script consultants. They participate in intense workshops and one-on-one sessions, and receive constructive guidance in documentary and feature film development.
Score Competition
The Score Competition invites composers and sound designers to compose a new soundtrack for pre-selected film material. An international jury will select three composers and have their new scores finalized with a film orchestra in a professional sound and editing studio in Berlin during the Berlinale Talent Campus. One of the three finalists will receive an award for his/her outstanding score.
Campus Studio
The Campus Studio, which consists of a Post-Production Studio and an Editing Studio, focuses on improving the post-production process of films. It provides the Talents with professional equipment and gives them the opportunity to work with first-class post-production experts using the latest digital workflows and renowned editors helping them with rough cut editing.
Talent Press Eight young journalists come to the Berlin International Film Festival to acquaint themselves with current trends in world cinema. Under the tutelage of prominent film writers they share their impressions and insights by writing daily articles for the Berlinale Talent Campus website. The articles also appear on the websites of FIPRESCI and the Goethe-Institut.
Talent Actors Stage The Talent Actors Stage provides a wide variety of training opportunities in acting technique, working with dialogue, casting and camera acting. This hands-on training is not only intended for actors: it also focuses on interdisciplinary collaboration with directors, producers, screenwriters and cinematographers in order to encourage exchange between different areas of filmmaking.
CAMPUS ABROAD
The roots of the Campus are firmly planted in Berlin, but since 2003, new shoots of the Campus initiative have been sprouting internationally. These Campus Abroad editions have the familiar structure and purpose of their German counterpart; all while retaining a regional perspective and finding support and the necessary amenities in a locally based international film festival. At the moment there are 4 Campus Abroad programmes in collaboration with the film festivals Durban, Sarajevo, Buenos Aires and Guadalajara.
For more information go to www.berlinale-talentcampus.de.
