(Veteran wildlife filmmaker Naresh Bedi was honoured with the V Shantaram Life Time Achievement Award at the opening ceremony of the Mumbai International Film Festival for Documentary, Animation and Short Films, MIFF 2016 on Thursday evening.  Later, Bedi shared his wildlife film making experiences with media persons at the MIFF Media Centre). 

Love of nature and wild-life was inculcated in Naresh Bedi by his father, Dr. Ramesh Bedi, an international expert in plant medicine and a consultant to the government of India.

Born and raised Haridwar, close to forests and animal habitats, Naresh Bedi recalled the days when his father carried him on his shoulders into the forests. He also remembered the day when he, all of eight years old, was returning from a trek, and suddenly spotted an elephant waking up from slumber. Terrified, he had run for his life. 

Dr. Bedi prevailed upon his elder son to learn photography and document the flora, fauna and wild-life of the country, an area that was totally neglected till then. Naresh Bedi joined the Film & Television Institute of India in Pune and completed his Diploma in Cinematography, with a gold medal. However, he eschewed all offers to shoot feature films, and devoted all his life to capturing nature. Born in 1947, he has been in this profession for about 46 years now. 

Narrating his four decade long journey in the wildlife film making, Naresh Bedi said pre-digital era posed multiple challenges and tested patience. He said it took nearly five years to shoot his acclaimed film ‘Ganges Gharial’, which won him the Wild Screen Red Panda Award, popularly known as Green Oscars.  In fact, he is the first Asian to win this award. 

Naresh Bedi has been credited to have filmed some of the rare wildlife moments and his productions have been aired on prestigious channels like BBC, Channel 4, National Geographic, Discovery Channel and Canal Plus. 

His other film, ‘Cherub of the Mist’, had the honour of being the opening film of MIFF 2016.  A film about conservation of  two cute red pandas, ‘Cherub of the Mist’ has won 15 awards, including 3 Classic Telly Awards. Many sceptics had found it hard to believe that  red pandas existed when Bedi started his project. It was a small news item that Bedi had read in a newspaper about a couple of red pandas being set free in Darjeeling, and released into their natural habitat. What followed was an amazing voyage of discovery, as he tracked the panda over several months, which eventually resulted in a fascinating film. 

On the matter of costing, Bedi revealed, “Earlier, we were ridiculed for venturing into sanctuaries and adivasi areas and even dubbed madmen, but sanctuaries charged us affordable fees. Nowadays, perhaps because of the presence of international television channels showing so many nature and wild-life films, they think we are making a lot of money, and have increased the licence fees astronomically.”

About the new technology, Bedi said that it is a double-edged sword. “On one hand, you can shoot on small cameras, without the need for complicated lighting or celluloid film. On the other, you have a lot of sub-standard stuff coming out from makers who lack commitment or training.” 

Asked how could we balance compelling economic needs and wild-life conservation, Bedi admitted that our growing population does need to tap forest resources. “However, a balance has to be found. We cannot destroy entire forests and mountains and hope to save our ecology at the same time. At my farm in Haridwar, elephants destroy my electric fences, but I also find leopards giving birth in my sugar-cane plantation. When a kingfisher got trapped in my fish net, I got my grandson to cut the net and set it free.”

Will Allen (former member of The Cult) tells us about his film "Holy Hell," which premieres in the U.S. Documentary Competition at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival.

7Meet (on video) Christopher Nolan, Colin Trevorrow, Rachel Morrison, and moderator Alex Ross Perry for a discussion on the aesthetics of film, its intrinsic qualities, and its appeal to filmmakers who have made the artistic choice to use film as a shooting format.

Join "Anomalisa" co-directors Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson, cinematographer Joe Passarelli, and producer Rosa Tran live at Sundance Film Festival's Cinema Café.

The Cartagena International Film Festival (FICCI) is pleased to welcome one of the most outstanding actresses of our times as its guest of honor this year. Susan Sarandon, the New Yorker who has appeared in everything from dramas and cult films to comedy and animated movies in a career spanning over 40 years, joins the party with a retrospective featuring six films in which she gives some of her most acclaimed performances.

Little did Sarandon imagine she would become one of Hollywood’s most sought-after actresses in the cut-throat movie industry. Over 40 years have passed since she did her first film and even though she has a star in the Hall of Fame, she still can’t quite understand how she got here. This amazing sense of humility, combined with her strength of character and conviction when talking about her political postures, have made her a living icon of the seventh art.

Her introduction to the acting world was as unconventional as she herself is as an actress—one day she accompanied her first husband to an audition for Joe (1970) and left with the lead part. It wasn’t long before directors started knocking on the door of this unusual actress who had no formal training to speak of and no experience other than the auditions she’d done for the theater group at the Catholic University of America while she was studying there. Her enormous dramatic intensity, magnified by her distinctive large eyes and fiery red hair, no doubt had something to do with it. Today her name guarantees the success of any production.

Sarandon has appeared in more than 130 films and her performances have earned her Golden Globe, EMMY and Oscar nominations. In 1996, she won an Academy Award for Best Lead Actress in Dead Man Walking (1995) and has also won BAFTA and SAG awards. Her work has been acknowledged by the Lincoln Center Film Society and she has been showered with awards at film festivals worldwide. FICCI, the longest-running film festival in Latin America, joins the army of admirers of this acting legend who is not only a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF, but who champions numerous other causes.

Our retrospective begins with The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), a cult classic in which Sarandon made waves as Janet, the recently wed heroine who ends up at Dr. Frank-N–Furter’s castle, where strangely wonderful events occur. Next is Atlantic City (1980), in which her performance as Sally, a love-struck character who lives on the edge in a haze of drugs, earned her her first Oscar nomination. In The Hunger (1983), she and the recently deceased David Bowie try to escape the destiny Miriam the vampire (Catherine Deneuve) has in store for them.

One of her more controversial roles was as the waitress Louise in the box-office hit Thelma & Louise (1991), in which her character takes to the open road in search of freedom and ends up running from the law. No retrospective of Sarandon’s work would be complete without Dead Man Walking, the film that won her an Oscar for her performance as Sister Helen Prejean, who is based on a real life character. And to round off, Romance & Cigarettes (2005), a musical directed by John Turturro that flits between comedy and drama, showing off the eclecticism and versatility of this talented actress.

A “first” in both cinema and Catholic Church history will be made as the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church, His Holiness Pope Francis will play himself in the family film “Beyond the Sun” from AMBI Pictures.

In his feature film debut (and film debut for any Pope in the history of the Church), His Holiness Pope Francis portrays himself in the inspirational story based on the Gospels, told in several tales with Jesus’s message, so children can learn and incorporate Jesus’s parables.

The idea for the feature film emanated from Pope Francis asking the filmmakers to do a movie for children that communicates Jesus’s message.

Pope Francis is willing to participate in the movie to support charity as all profits from “Beyond the Sun” will be donated to two selected charities – El Almendro and Los Hogares de Cristo (located in Argentina) which support Pope Francis’ social and spiritual message within the film. These organizations help aid at-risk children and young adults in need. 

“Beyond the Sun” is a family adventure story where children from different cultures emulate the apostles while searching for Jesus in the world around them. The film will be uplifting and is intended to spiritually engage and encourage audiences of all ages to transmit Jesus words, to understand them and integrate them to live a better life, make good choices and help others.

Graciela Rodriguez wrote the film’s screenplay based on her own concept.

AMBI co-founders Andrea Iervolino and Lady Monika Bacardi are fully financing and producing the film through their AMBI Pictures banner. Co-producers are Graciela Rodriguez and Gabriel Leybu.

For Producer Andrea Iervolino, the movie represents a full circle return to where his career began. At the age of 15, Iervolino made his first film in his hometown of Cassino, Italy. It was the church in his home town that opened its doors and let him shoot this film within, sparking a career that has seen him produce over 50 films by age 27. “Beyond the Sun,” will have a special distinction among them.

Said Iervolino, “Our excitement and gratitude toward His Holiness, Pope Francis participating in this film is beyond words. This is not just a movie for us, it’s a message, and who better to have on your side to deliver an important societal and spiritual message than the Pope.” Iervolino added, “This movie will provide funds to support extremely worthwhile causes that we take very seriously. This message and cause are very dear to the entire AMBI family and we are honored and inspired by the level of collaboration from the Vatican.”

Monika Bacardi said: “It is a great honor for Andrea and I to have the opportunity to work with His Holiness, Pope Francis, to spread the awareness of his message, through this film. We will make a movie everyone involved with can be proud of. Not only will families from around globe enjoy this film and be entertained, but they will be moved. There are creative ways to help those in need all over the world and we hope this film does just that. We appreciate Pope Francis’s permission to film him and use his image in our movie.”

Principal photography is slated to begin early 2016 in Italy. AMBI will oversee worldwide distribution for “Beyond the Sun” through its Los Angeles-based international sales division, AMBI Distribution.

Monsegnior Eduardo Garcia will be Pope Francis’ advisor for “Beyond the Sun.”   

About AMBI

AMBI Group is a consortium of vertically integrated film development, production, finance and distribution companies wholly owned and operated by Andrea Iervolino and Monika Gomez del Campo Bacardi, Lady of Bayfield Hall, better known as “Monika Bacardi.”

AMBI has quickly emerged as one of the industry’s most prolific financing, production and sales companies with the capacity to develop, package, finance, produce and sell a broad array of films for worldwide distribution. Among the films on AMBI’s burgeoning film slate are a remake of Christopher Nolan’s iconic film Memento;  Lamborghini – The Legend, a biopic on Lamborghini founder Ferruccio Lamborghini to be written by Bobby Moresco; Septembers of Shiraz, starring  Salma Hayek and Adrien Brody; the contemporary fairy tale This Beautiful Fantastic starring Jessica Brown Findlay and Tom Wilkinson; a documentary feature about Federico Fellini title The Man of La Dolce Vita; James Franco’s In Dubious Battle, featuring an ensemble cast that includes Franco, Nat Wolff, Selena Gomez, Vincent D’Onofrio, Robert Duvall, Ed Harris, Bryan Cranston, Josh Hutcherson, Zach Braff and Sam Shepherd; the 3D CGI family animated film Arctic Justice: Thunder Squad, featuring the  voices of Jamie Foxx, John Cleese, Alec Baldwin, James Franco, Angelica Huston and Heidi Klum; the sci-fi thriller Rupture starring Noomi Rapace, Michael Chiklis and Peter Stormare; the psychological thriller Lavender starring Abbie Cornish and Dermot Mulroney; the romantic comedy All Roads Lead to Rome, starring Sarah Jessica Parker;  Barry Levinson’s acclaimed drama The Humbling, starring Al Pacino; and the sci-fi action thriller Andron: The Black Labyrinth, starring Alec Baldwin and Danny Glover, among several others.

AMBI recently made news with the acquisition of the Exclusive Media Group film library, which gives AMBI an incredibly diverse portfolio of critical hits, commercial blockbusters and cult favorites such as Begin Again, Cruel Intentions, Donnie Darko, End of Watch, Ides of March, Hit & Run, Memento, The Mexican, Parkland, Rush, The Skulls, Sliding Doors, Snitch, Undefeated and The Way Back, to name a few.  In addition to the library titles, AMBI now has the rights to a number of titles within EMG’s active movie development slate, as well as all sequel and remake rights to the popular EMG films.

Andrea Iervolino has produced, funded and distributed over 50 feature films including The Merchant of Venice, The Humbling and All Roads Lead to Rome, to name just a few. He is considered one of the youngest and most accomplished entrepreneurs in the Italian film industry. Iervolino was the recipient of the coveted Mimmo Rotella Award for his contributions to the Italian cinema industry. The award was presented to him at the 2014 Venice Film Festival, alongside fellow recipients Al Pacino and Barry Levinson. Iervolino most recently received the Honor of Recognition as Ambassador of Italian Cinema in the World at annual Italian Contemporary Film Festival (ICFF).

Lady Monika Bacardi is the widow of Luis Adalberto Facundo Gomez del Campo Bacardi, Lord of Bayfield Hall, known as Lord Luis Bacardi (descendent of the Bacardi founder, still a family-run company). Renowned for her passion of modern art and love of photography and movies, Monika Bacardi is a highly successful businesswoman who is now committed to producing films, through AMBI, on top of her numerous philanthropic activities. 

 George Miller © Carl Court / AFP

The 69th Festival de Cannes will be presided by the Australian director, screenwriter and producer, George Miller. Along with his Jury, it will fall to him to award the Palme d’or at the close of the Festival, to be held from 11 to 22 May.

On receiving his invitation from the Festival, George Miller exclaimed, "What an unmitigated delight! To be there in the middle of this storied festival at the unveiling of cinematic treasures from all over the planet. To spend time in passionate discourse with fellow members of the jury. Such an honor. I'll be there with bells on!"

It was in Cannes last May that Mad Max: Fury Road set out on its fantastic cavalcade across our screens. The film, shown Out of Competition in the Official Selection, marked the return not only of the hero of the legendary saga for the millions of fans of Max Rockatansky, but also the comeback of his creator, George Miller, and of the visionary filmmaking that made him a household name around the world.

The roots of George Miller's career, alongside those of Peter Weir, Bruce Beresford and Phillip Noyce stretch back to the golden age of Australian cinema from the 1980s. Originally from a small village in Queensland, George Miller wrote and directed Violence in the Cinema, part 1 in 1971. Produced by his friend Byron Kennedy, with whom he founded the Kennedy Miller company, the short film picked up two prizes from the Australian Film Institute. This official recognition encouraged George Miller to pursue a career in film and to make his first feature.  

In 1979, Mad Max, inspired by the "outback gothic" genre sweeping Australia at the time, introduced Mel Gibsonand was a worldwide smash hit. A superb pas-de-deux with American cinema, this ultra-violent futuristic film brought the action film genre a touch of class with its masterly combination of Road Movie, Western and Science-Fiction elements. A legendary saga was born which in turn gave rise to Mad Max 2: the Road Warrior in 1981, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome in 1985 and Mad Max: Fury Road in 2015.

Throughout his career, George Miller has constantly experimented with a variety of genres, brilliantly reconciling mass audience expectations and the highest artistic standards. In 1983, along with John Landis, Steven Spielberg and Joe Dante, he directed the final segment of Twilight Zone: The Movie. Then came The Witches of 'Eastwick in 1987 and the intimate drama Lorenzo's Oil in 1992, starring Susan Sarandon and Nick Nolte, which picked up Oscar nominations for Best Screenplay and Best Actress. 

In 1995, he adapted and produced Babe, directed by Chris Noonan, which picked up seven Oscar nominations including Best Film and Best Adaptation. In 2006, his first animated film Happy Feet was a huge box office hit and garnered the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. Happy Feet 2 took up the story in 2011.

In 2015, 30 years after the last Mad Max, the 4th chapter of the post-apocalyptic epic, complete with feminist and anti-totalitarian overtones, once again took cinemas by storm and has been the talk of the press and the festival circuit ever since. With ten nominations for the 2016 Oscars, including Best Film and Best Director, it recently scooped no fewer than nine prizes at the Critics Choice Awards, including that of Best Director. 

The 70-year-old Miller has won international acclaim for these spectacular and jubilant creations, as well as for his eclecticism, inventiveness and sheer audacity.  His nomination marks a no-holds-barred celebration of genre cinema. But above all, the 2016 Festival de Cannes is all set to welcome a big-hearted film lover and a great human being.

With actress Meryl Streep serving as Jury President  the International Jury will decide who will receive the Golden Bear and Silver Bears of the 2016 Berlinale Competition.

The other members of the International Jury will be actor Lars Eidinger (Germany), film critic Nick James (United Kingdom), photographer Brigitte Lacombe (France), actor Clive Owen (United Kingdom), actress Alba Rohrwacher (Italy) and director Małgorzata Szumowska (Poland).

Meryl Streep, Jury President, USA

Meryl Streep has appeared in over 40 films and is considered one of the world’s most talented and versatile actresses. She has received countless awards and nominations, including three wins among her unprecedented 19 Oscar nominations. She was honoured with a Golden Globe eight times and nominated an additional 20 times. Meryl Streep’s international breakthrough came in the late 1970s with the TV series Holocaust and Michael Cimino’s The Deer Hunter (1978, her first Oscar nomination), as well as the couples drama Kramer vs. Kramer (D: Robert Benton, 1979), for which she garnered her first Oscar statuette. She won further Academy Awards for her compelling performance in Sophie’s Choice (D: Alan J. Pakula, 1982) as well as her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady (D: Phyllida Lloyd, 2011). Meryl Streep has been a guest at the Berlin International Film Festival on a number of occasions. In 1999, she was awarded the Berlinale Camera and, in 2003, she shared the Silver Bear with Julianne Moore and Nicole Kidman for their performances in The Hours (D: Stephen Daldry). In 2006, she could again be seen in the Berlinale Competition in Robert Altman’s ensemble comedy A Prairie Home Companion. The 2012 Berlinale Homage was dedicated to Meryl Streep and she was also awarded an Honorary Golden Bear for lifetime achievement. Most recently, Meryl Streep excelled in films such as the historical drama Suffragette (D: Sarah Gavron, 2015), Ricki and the Flash (D: Jonathan Demme, 2015) and the musical Into the Woods (D: Rob Marshall, 2014). She will next be seen in Stephen Frear’s Florence Foster Jenkins. As president of the Berlinale 2016 jury, Meryl Streep takes on the role of a juror at a film festival for the first time in her longstanding career.

Meryl Streep, Alba Rohrwacher, Clive Owen, Małgorzata Szumowska, Lars Eidinger, Brigitte Lacombe, Nick James

Lars Eidinger, Germany

Lars Eidinger is one of Germany’s most accomplished actors. He alternates between stage, screen and television roles without difficulty. Since 1999, he has been a member of the ensemble at Berlin’s Schaubühne theatre, where he has also directed plays. His most outstanding performances on the stage include Thomas Ostermeier’s production of “Hamlet”, which Eidinger has played nationally and internationally over 250 times since 2008.

His breakthrough on the screen was in Maren Ade’s Everyone Else, which won the Jury Grand Prix (Silver Bear) at the Berlinale in 2009. He participated in the Berlinale Competition again in 2012 with Home for the Weekend (D: Hans-Christian Schmid), and in 2015 with Sworn Virgin (D: Laura Bispuri). In that same year he was also in the Panorama section with Dora or the Sexual Neuroses of Our Parents (D: Stina Werenfels). Eidinger, who has received many prizes, such as the Grimme Award and the German Film Critics’ Award, has played in international cinema productions, including most recently the period drama Matilda (D: Alexey Uchitel). Now, after Clouds of Sils Maria, he is working with Olivier Assayas again, as well as with Philipp Kadelbach in London, on the BBC series SS-GB starring Sam Riley.

Nick James, United Kingdom

Nick James is an internationally renowned film critic, author and programmer from the United Kingdom. In the late 1980s he began to write articles about film for “City Limits” magazine, where he soon became head of the film section. Since 1997 he is editor of the internationally celebrated film magazine “Sight & Sound”. His articles on film, art and literature have been published in, for instance, “The Guardian”, “The Observer”, “The Independent”, “Vogue”, the “London Review of Books” and “The Literary Review”. In 2002 “Heat”, his book about Michael Mann’s film of the same name, was published. In 2010 he received the title of Chevalier de L’ordre des arts et des lettres from the French Ministry of Culture. Since 2012 he has curated the “Deep Focus” film series, which is put on twice a year by the British Film Institute at BFI Southbank.

Brigitte Lacombe, France

Since the 1970s, French photographer Brigitte Lacombe, who lives in New York, has ranked among the world’s best-known and most successful artists in her field. Her photographs frequently appear in publications such as “Vanity Fair”, “Vogue”, “The New Yorker”, “Zeit Magazin”, “The Financial Times”, and “The New York Times Magazine”. In 1975, one of her first big assignments took her to the Cannes Film Festival and ever since she has had very close links to the world of cinema. She works regularly as a special photographer visiting the film sets of directors such as Martin Scorsese, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Spike Jonze, Sam Mendes, David Mamet and Michael Haneke. From 2009 to 2013, she was commissioned by the Doha Film Institute (DFI) to take portraits of over 350 international filmmakers and actors, mostly from the Middle East region. Lacombe, who has received many prizes, including the Art Directors Club’s Lifetime Achievement Award for Photography, has published two books to date: “Lacombe anima / persona” (Steidl-Dangin, 2008) and “Lacombe cinema / theatre” (Schirmer/Mosel, 2001).

Clive Owen, United Kingdom

In 1991, right at the start of his career, Berlinale audiences got to see Clive Owen in Stephen Poliakoff’s Close My Eyes, which screened in the Panorama section. With it the English actor began a long list of impressive performances in which he has succeeded in balancing small arthouse productions such as Croupier (D: Mike Hodges, 1998) or Shadow Dancer (D: James Marsh, Competition - out of competition 2012) with big mainstream hits such as Sin City (2005). He received the Golden Globe and a nomination for an Oscar for Mike Nichols’s Closer (2005), and worked with directors such as Robert Altman (Gosford Park, 2001), Alfonso Cuarón (Children of Men, 2006) and Spike Lee (Inside Man, 2006). Owen, who is currently playing the lead in Soderbergh’s TV series The Knick (since 2014), for which he has been Golden Globe nominated, starred in Tom Tykwer’s political thriller The International (2008), which opened the Berlinale in 2009. This spring he will begin production on Luc Besson’s Valérian and the City of a Thousand Planets.

Alba Rohrwacher, Italy

Alba Rohrwacher numbers amongst the most important actress of her generation. The daughter of a German father and Italian mother, she made her feature film debut with An Italian Romance (D: Carlo Mazzacurati) in 2004. Since then she has worked with numerous renowned Italian and international directors. She has already won the Italian David di Donatello film award twice (2007 and 2008). In 2009 she was celebrated as a European Shooting Star at the Berlinale and in Venice in 2014 she won the Coppa Volpi for Best Actress for her performance in Hungry Hearts (D: Saverio Costanzo). She had already made two Berlinale Special guest appearances, with What More Do I Want (D: Silvio Soldini, 2010) and Doris Dörrie's Bliss (2012), before she shone in the lead role in Laura Bispuri's 2015 Competition entry Sworn Virgin. Amongst her other successes are I Am Love (2009) by Luca Guadagnino, Dormant Beauty by Marco Bellocchio (2012) and Alice Rohrwacher’s The Wonders (2014).

Małgorzata Szumowska, Poland

Małgorzata Szumowska is among Poland’s most prominent filmmakers. She graduated in film directing from the Polish National Film, Television and Theatre School in Łódź. She has won several international awards and her films have been presented at the most important film festivals worldwide. Her first two feature films, Happy Man (2000) and Stranger (2004) were both nominated by the European Film Academy for European Discovery of the Year. The next movie 33 Scenes from Life was awarded at the film festival in Locarno. Szumowska’s films have been seen frequently in Berlin. Stranger was shown in the Panorama section in 2005. In 2012, Elles starring Juliette Binoche opened the Panorama and went on to theatrical distribution in more than 40 countries. Her first film in Competition at the Berlin International Film Festival was In the Name of, which won the Teddy Award at the 63rd Berlinale. Małgorzata Szumowska was seen in Competition here most recently in 2015, with Body, for which she won the Silver Bear for Best Director. The film went on to garner the most awards of any Polish film in 2015.

The International Jury presents the following awards:

Golden Bear for Best Film (awarded to the film’s producer)

Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize

Silver Bear Alfred Bauer Prize for a feature film that opens new perspectives

Silver Bear for Best Director

Silver Bear for Best Actress

Silver Bear for Best Actor

Silver Bear for Best Script

Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution in the categories camera, editing, music, score, costume or set design

Since 2006, when it introduced the 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 18 directorial debuts. The winners will be announced at the official Award Ceremony in the Berlinale Palast on February 20.

A three-person jury will decide on the Best First Feature Award:

Enrico Lo Verso (Italy)

Enrico Lo Verso was born in Palermo in 1964 and grew up in Syracuse. His first leading role, in The Stolen Children (1992) by Gianni Amelio, brought the Sicilian actor to international attention as well as gaining him nominations for the European Film Award and the Golden Globes in the Best Actor category. Following this he appeared before the camera for Gérard Corbiau in Farinelli (1994), Gianni Amelio in Lamerica (1994, European Film Award) and Ridley Scott in Hannibal (2001). He went on to later film with Giuseppe Tornatore Baarìa (2009). In addition, he has worked with such greats as Ettore Scola and Ricky Tognazzi. In 2012 audiences saw him in Edoardo Ponti's The Nightshift Belongs to the Stars, which won the Best Narrative Short award at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Ursula Meier (Switzerland / France)

Part Swiss part French director Ursula Meier studied film at the Institut des Arts de Diffusion (IAD) in Belgium. She was second assistant director on two films by Alain Tanner while also making her own short films. After two documentaries, she directed the TV film Strong Shoulders for Arte. Her first feature for the big screen, Home, premiered at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival Semaine de la Critique. Her next film, Sister, was shown in Competition at the 2012 Berlinale and won a Silver Bear Special Award. Both films were the Swiss submissions for Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, Home in 2009 and Sister in 2013. Ursula Meier directed the Quiet Mujo segment of the omnibus film Bridges of Sarajevo presented in official selection at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. Ursula Meier was at the 2015 Berlinale with her documentary short Kacey Mottet Klein, Birth of an Actor (Generation).

Michel Franco (Mexico)

Director and producer Michel Franco was born in Mexico City and started making films whilst he was still a student. After various short films and commercials, he celebrated his feature debut in 2009 with Daniel & Ana, which was invited to the Directors' Fortnight sidebar in Cannes. Three years later he received the Un Certain Regard Award for After Lucia, also in Cannes. In 2015 he returned to the Croisette, where his Chronic, with Tim Roth in the lead role, won the Best Screenplay Award in the Competition. That same year 600 Miles, which Franco produced and was directed by Gabriel Ripstein, screened in the Panorama section of the Berlinale, winning the award for Best First Feature. Franco was also involved as a producer in the Venezuelan-Mexican coproduction Desde allá (D: Lorenzo Vigas), which won the Golden Lion at the 2015 Venice Film Festival.

The following 18 films are nominated for the Best First Feature Award:

Competition (2)

Genius – United Kingdom / USA

By Michael Grandage

With Colin Firth, Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, Laura Linney, Guy Pearce

Inhebbek Hedi (Hedi) - Tunisia / Belgium / France

By Mohamed Ben Attia

With Majd Mastoura, Rym Ben Messaoud, Sabah Bouzouita, Hakim Boumessoudi, Omnia Ben Ghali

Panorama (5)

Aloys – Swiss / France
By Tobias Nölle
With Georg Friedrich, Tilde von Overbeck

Já, Olga Hepnarová (I, Olga Hepnarová) – Czech Republic / Poland / Slowak Republic / France 
By Tomáš Weinreb, Petr Kazda
With Michalina Olszanska, Marta Mazurek, Ondrej Malý

Nakom – Ghana / USA
By Kelly Daniela Norris, TW Pittman
With Jacob Ayanaba, Grace Ayariga, Abdul Aziz, Justina Kulidu, Shetu Musah, Esther Issaka, Thomas Kulidu, James Azudago, Felicia Awinbe, Sumaila Ndaago

San Fu Tian (Dog Days) – Hong Kong, China / People’s Republic of China
By Jordan Schiele
With Huang Lu, Tian Mu Chen, Luo Lan Shan

Shelley – Denmark / Sweden
By Ali Abbasi
With Ellen Dorrit Petersen, Cosmina Stratan, Peter Christoffersen

Forum(4)

Akher ayam el madina (In the Last Days of the City) - Egypt / Germany / United Kingdom / United Arab Emirates

By Tamer El Said

With Khalid Abdalla, Laila Samy, Hanan Youssef, Maryam Saleh, Hayder Helo

Barakah yoqabil Barakah (Barakah Meets Barakah) - Saudi Arabia

By Mahmoud Sabbagh

With Hisham Fageeh, Fatima AlBanawi, Sami Hifny

Deadweight - Germany / Finland

By Axel Koenzen

With Tommi Korpela, Ema Vetean, Archie Alemania, Jeanne Balibar

Zhī fán yè mào (Life after Life) – People’s Republic of China

By Zhang Hanyi

With Zhang Li, Zhang Mingjun, Wang Ji Shan, Wie Xiao Min, Zhang Zhi Min

Generation (5)

6A - Sweden

By Peter Modestij

With Emine Özkan, Tyra Olin, Omeya Lundqvist, Caroline Söderström

Rara - Chile / Argentina

By Pepa San Martín

With Julia Lübbert, Emilia Ossandón, Mariana Loyola, Agustina Muñoz

Valderama - Iran

Von Abbas Amini

Mit Hamed Alipour, Nafiseh Zare, Gity Ghasemi, Assadolah Monjazi

Woorideul (The World of Us) – Republic of Korea (South Korea)

By Yoon Ga-eun

With Choi Soo-in, Seol Hye-in, Lee Seo-yeon

Zhaleika - Germany

By Eliza Petkova

With Anna Manolova, Snezhina Petrova, Mihail Stoyanov, Stoyko Ivanov

Perspektive Deutsches Kino(2)

Agonie (Agony) - Germany

By David Clay Diaz

With Samuel Schneider, Alexander Srtschin, Alexandra Schmidt

Meteorstraße (Meteor Street) - Germany

By Aline Fischer

With Hussein Eliraqui, Oktay Inanc Özdemir, Bodo Goldbeck

By Alex Deleon ~ filmfestivals.com

              
The 34th edition of the Bergamo film festival in Northern Italy (officially known as The BERGAMO FILM MEETING) running this year from March 5 - 13, will be featuring one of the most interesting personal actor tributes of the as yet early 2016 festival season.  The hommage and retro in question is to the iconic goddess of the early French Nouvelle Vague, Danish-French actress (and vocalist) Anna Karina. Karina (born 1940) charmed the boots off of eveybody in a series of iconoclastic films by Jean-Luc Godard, in the early to mid sixties, with her perfect cleancut beauty, naughty sexiness, and slightly Danish accent in such films as: Band of Outsiders, A Woman is a Woman (and whutta woman!) and Pierrot le Fou.

 She was often paired with Jean-Paul Belmondo in films that became the Trademark of the then ground breaking New Wave. She didn't have to exhibit any great profundity as an actress because that was not what the New Wave was about, but her captivating screen presence was enough to make more "serious" directors such as Buñuel (La Religieuse, 1966), Visconti (The Stranger, 1967), Cukor (Justine, 1969), Delvaux (Rendez-vous à Bray, 1971), Fassbinder (Chinese Roulette, 1976), and much later, by Jaque Rivette in "Haut, Bas, Fragile", 1994. 

French director Rivette who just passed away thus month at age 87 was also associated with the new wave but more in line with elder statemen like Eric Rohmer. Hopefully some Rivette films will also be screened at Bergamo

 as a kind of "In Memorium".

Twelve Karina films will be presented during the festival week and the actress will attend the festival in person.

Aside from the scheduled presence of Karina which is alone sufficient justification for a trip to Bergamo, there will be a selective retro of films by Hungarian master, Miklos Jancsó, who passed away in 2014 at the venerable age of 92. Besides his numerous Hungarian films now considered classics, for a brief period in the early seventies Jancsó, perhaps to take a breather from the pressures of working under a communist regime, spend enough time in Italy  to shoot four films there.  This is oddly enough a kind of a blank interlude in Jancso's career and is little known compared to his major Hungarian works. The director himself  was not overly enthralled by his Italian films and regarded them as throwaway in-between movies he made just to breath the air of a free country for a while. in any case he was clearly not in his element artistically away from Hungary and working with non-Hungarian actors. One of these films, however, "The Pacifist" 1970, provides an intriguing intersection in Bergamo, because it starred Antonioni muse Monica Vitti in the odd role of a journalist in a murder film.  Vitti directed by Jancso is one for the books whether the film is any good or not!

Hungarian model and activist Ilona Staller, alias "Cicciolina", became a porno star in Italy as well as a serious candidate for high public offices. 

Jancso's best known Italian film was ""Public Vices and Private Virtues" (Vizi privati, pubbliche virtù, 1975), also known as "Vice and Pleasure" which achieved a certain notoriety at the time because it was about a  debauched pan-sexual young  prince who has sex with everybody in sight, male and female, and contained orgiastic sex scenes viewed as explicit (relatively speaking) for the time.  This might be seen as a predecessor to Guccione's mainstream porno extravaganza, Caligula, which came out only a few years later and aroused endless discussion.

Another talking point about this picture was that the Budapest born Hungarian starlet Ilona Staller was in it. Staller had resettled in Italy, redubbed herself "Cicciolina" and was enjoying a thriving career in Italy as a major porno star!  This film has been classified by some as straight pornography and by others as political symbolism --or "Eroticism within a deliberately anarchic context" -- which makes sense in the context of some of his other politically charged films populated by totally nude women in questionable situations. Because of the scenes depicting orgies, the movie was banned in Italy and Jancso was sentenced to four months in prison but was later acquitted on appeal. Whatever else Jancso may have been he was certainly a rebel at heart always forcing viewers to confront things they normally would look away from -- such as mass unexplained nudity and sado-masochism.  Jancso's Italian period has been almost entirely neglected or glossed over by the international film critical press and the films themselves are all but unknown and rarely seen. Hopefully the upcoming Bergamo FIlm Meeting will show them and thereby fill out the jigsaw puzzle on one of the most unusual Maestros of world cinema, Miklos Jancsó. -- And don't forget, even geniuses like Pushkin wrote some "dirty poems".

Whatever other delights may be on tap at Bergamo 2016 remains to be seen, but one thing is sure. This relatively unknown film festival is not going to remain unknown for long.

Alex, Budapest
  

THE DRAGON OF DRAGONS, MARCEL ŁOZIŃSKI

Marcel Łoziński, one of the most renowned Polish filmmakers, frequently awarded at international festivals, winner of countless film festivals and many prestigious awards, will be honoured by Krakow Film Festival with the title "Dragon of Dragons" for lifetime achievement.

"Programme Council decided to award this year's Dragon of Dragons to Marcel Łoziński for his absolute fidelity to documentary film, and, within the frames of this fidelity - for widening its means of expression. Firstly, for many years, this widening applied to examining, by the means of documentary cinema, the state of consciousness in a society undergoing political oppression. Later, starting from 1990s, - asking by the documentary filmmaker the ultimate questions, about fear, passing of time, about relationships with the loved ones and at the same time, about the right to ask these questions," this is how the nomination is explained by Professor Tadeusz Lubelski, an eminent film critic and film theoretician.

The Dragon of Dragons award, given for the 19th time this year, is the highest distinction granted by Krakow Film Foundation Programme Council, the organiser of Krakow Film Festival, in recognition for contribution to the development of international cinema in documentary and animated film genre. Among previous winners of the award, there are many prominent filmmakers, among others, Werner Herzog, Priit Pärn, Kazimierz Karabasz, Bohdan Kosiński, Bogdan Dziworski, Allan King, Albert Maysles, Jonas Mekas, Helena Trestíková, Stephen and Timothy Quay, Raoul Servais, Jerzy Kucia and Paul Driessen.

Marcel Łoziński, director, documentary filmmaker, educator, born in 1940 in Paris. He graduated from the Film and TV Direction Department at Lodz Film School. He was nominated for the Academy Award in 1994 for the film "89 mm from Europe." Winner of the European Film Academy award in 2009 for the film "Poste Restante." Winner of "Paszport Polityki" (Polityka's Passport) for lifetime achievement. Frequently awarded at Krakow Film Festival, and also at festivals in San Francisco, Leipzig, Berlin, Tokyo, Sydney, Montreal, Oberhausen, Nyon and many others around the world. Winner of numerous awards, among others, the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage award, Andrzej Wajda Freedom Award, International Award for Independent Films "Grand Off," the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights award. Last year, he was awarded the Medal for Merit to Culture - Gloria Artis. He is a tutor of DOK PRO programme at Wajda School.

The Dragon of Dragons award at Krakow Film Festival has a special significance for Marcel Łoziński: "The festival in Krakow has always been a magical place for me. Permanent and the most important one. For us, it became our strictest, but at the same time, the wisest reviewer - we were afraid of it, but we trusted it the most. In the distant times of Polish People's Republic, it was the only place, where we could confront our films with the audience. Later, our films, considered by the authorities "anti-establishment ones", were shelved.

I used to come to the festival in various roles: a participant with a film to show, a jury member, I handed the Dragon of Dragons to my friend Bohdan Kosiński and to my lecturer from Lodz School, Kazimierz Karabasz. I gave a laudation dedicated to the memory of Wojtek Wiszniewski in 1981. For me, the most beautiful year was 1976. It was the year in which our group was victorious: Tom Zygadło with "A Mic for Everyone," Zbyszek Rybczyński - "New Book," Bohdan Kosiński with "An Etnographic Sketch," Andrzej Zajączkowski with "Boiling Point," Daniel Szczechura - "The Ardent Fingers," Andrzej Brzozowski with "Roadside," Piotr Szulkin for "A Lass and the Devil," Jacek Petrycki for cinematography in three awarded films and me, for "Frontal Impact." In those days, taking into account the message of these films, it was a really courageous jury, with Krzysztof Kieslowski, by no means the chairman. Later, there were many wonderful moments in Krakow, but this collective success of ours in Polish People's Republic was the most important one for us. "
 

The official award ceremony will be held on May 31, 2016 at the 56th Krakow Film Festival. The festival audience will have the opportunity to get acquainted with an extensive selection from the works of the award winner and to participate in his Masterclass.

56th Krakow Film Festival is held from May 29 to June 5, 2016.

More information about the Festival:

http://www.krakowfilmfestival.pl/en/

https://www.facebook.com/events/941374359287097/

Leading Chinese production and distribution outfit Fundamental Films and Company Films announced that Harald Zwart (The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, The Karate Kid) will direct their upcoming action film, Rally Car, (working title) starring Keanu Reeves (John Wick, The Matrix Trilogy). Jeremy Lott (Spy Kids) has penned the script which is based on a treatment by Stephen Hamel. Reeves and Hamel will produce under their Company Films banner along with Fundamental Films Chairman Mark Gao and President Gregory Ouanhon, while EVP of Development, Gary Glushon, will Executive Produce. Fundamental Films is financing the project, with IM Global handling international sales and introducing the film to buyers at Berlin’s European Film Market next week.  CAA is representing the U.S. rights.

Rally Car centers on a hot shot former champion NASCAR driver (Reeves), who doesn’t want to believe his glory days are behind him. When his professional and personal life begin to spiral out of control, he’s forced to take part in a high stakes international rally race across the face of China, with a young Chinese girl as his co-driver, in order to prove he’s still the badass racer he thinks he is.

Fundamental Films Chairman Mark Gao said of the project: “This is a story that will resonate with audiences worldwide and we’re looking forward to the thrilling ride Harald Zwart will be taking us on. The project promises to be action-packed, full of high-octane car-chases, heart-pumping adventure and visually stunning locations to showcase some of the most dramatic landscapes of China.”

Company Films’ Stephen Hamel added: “We are thrilled to continue our collaboration with Fundamental Films and this is such an incredible opportunity to shoot on location in China. Big stunts and fast cars jamming through some of the most amazing locations on earth. We couldn’t be more pleased that Harald has joined us to direct. He has a real passion for the project and vision for the action and the drama that is spot on. This is going to be a blast on the big screen.” Hamel is currently producing the Morten Tyldum-directed Passengers starring Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt.

 Rally Car is the second collaboration between Fundamental and Company Films, following Replicas, also starring Reeves and based on Hamel’s treatment.

Harald Zwart, Keanu Reeves and Company Films are represented by CAA, and Jeremy Lott is represented by CAA and Aperture Entertainment.

 Fundamental Films continues to grow beyond distribution in the Chinese market, steadily becoming an international player in film financing, funding and the co-production of international projects. The company is currently working on a number of local and international productions, including Luc Besson’s big-budget graphic-novel Valerian, where Fundamental is the main financier, and Matthias Hoene’s Warrior’s Gate, amongst others.  

NO FUTURE WITHOUT A PAST – Save Your Place in Film History!
A discussion on feminism, diversity and film archives on the occasion of the 66th Berlin International Film Festival

18 February 2016 - Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth / Berlin

Who decides today what we will remember tomorrow?
What are the ways and means to secure the place of women film-makers in the history of film?
How to resist canon? Join in the discussion. Get Networked Up!

The world-wide debate as to gender equality in the film industry is thriving and the demands for quotas are beginning to show first results. But what happens to the films made by female directors after the cinema release or TV broadcast? Indeed, some pioneering female film-makers of the past are still hardly known, their names rarely appearing in any best-of list. They get marginal consideration on media studies courses at the universities. When it comes to digitisation processes, provision for copies of their 35-mm films is not always top of the agenda. Especially within the framework of digitisation, it is important to ensure that the legacy of women film-makers is not lost. The artistic achievements and visions of female directors of the silent-movie era to the present day must be preserved for future generations.

Welcome
Dr Ralf Kleindiek (State Secretary, Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth)'
Petra Müller (CEO, Film- und Medienstiftung NRW)
Silke J. Räbiger (Festival Director, Dortmund | Cologne International Women’s Film Festival)

Keynotes
Who decides what we will remember tomorrow? Dr. Alexandra Juhasz (Producer, Professor of Media Studies, Pitzer College, USA)
Why did nobody ever show me this? Anna Koblitz (Film Scientist, University of Vienna)

Panel 
Beryl Richards (Chair, Directors UK) | Kajsa Hedström (Project Manager Archival Film Collections, Swedish Film Institute) | Wilbirg Brainin-Donnenberg (Curator, FC Gloria, Austria) | Dr. Rainer Rother (Artistic Director, Deutsche Kinemathek) | Norma Guevara (Festival international de films de femmes, IRIS, France)
Moderator: Karola Gramann (Kinothek Asta Nielsen, Frankfurt a. M.)
Interverntion: Belinde Ruth Stieve (Actress, Blogger, Germany)

Discussion and Reception
Thursday 18 February 2016, 11.30 a.m.
Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth / Glinkastrasse 24, 10117 Berlin

Organised by: Dortmund | Cologne IWFF
In collaboration with: FC Gloria and Kinothek Asta Nielsen
Sponsored by: Film- und Medienstiftung NRW and Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth

Viacom President and CEO Philippe Dauman has been appointed as the company's executive chairman, replacing Sumner Redstone, who becomes chairman emeritus

Philippe Pierre Dauman (born March 1, 1954) is the President and CEO of Viacom. He has served at this post since September 2006. Dauman is a longtime associate of the company's chairman Sumner Redstone. Dauman served from 1994 to 2000 as a member of Viacom's executive committee and as executive vice president in charge of strategic transactions, legal and government affairs, human resources and administration, supervising Paramount Pictures Entertainment, Showtime Networks and Simon & Schuster. Dauman was also a director at Redstone-owned CBS Corporation until September 2006.

GFF Live: Master Class Tom Hooper Danish Girl Honorary Dragon Award

by Quendrith Johnson, Los Angeles Correspondent

Tonight Johnny Depp’s alleged "Oscar slight" was put into perspective by esteemed film critic Leonard Maltin at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. “There are only five slots,” Maltin said of Depp’s absence from the Best Actor category for BLACK MASS. “It was a career high for him.” This was on the red carpet right before a sit-down interview with Johnny Depp before the Maltin Modern Master Award was presented by BLACK MASS director Scott Cooper. Cooper opened up with lines you read in obituaries, waxing poetic with: “there was Charlie Chaplin, Lon Chaney, there was Brando, and there’s Depp.”

The official one-paragraph sum-up goes something like "Depp is a three-time Academy Award nominee for Best Actor for his work in “Finding Neverland,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” and “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.”  Over the last three decades, Depp’s diverse range of roles has made him one of the leader actors of his generation including performances John Waters’ “Cry Baby,” “Benny & Joon,” Lasse Hallstrom’s “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape” and “Chocolat,” Mike Newell’s “Donnie Brasco,” Terry Gilliam’s “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” Ted Demme’s “Blow,” “The Libertine,” Michael Mann’s “Public Enemies” and several collaborations with Tim Burton including “Edward Scissorhands,” “Ed Wood” and “Sleepy Hollow.”"

Depp is seated across from Maltin in comfy talk show chairs while Scott Cooper stands at the podium delivering the rest of that outsized speech, including a cautionary tale about meeting one’s heroes, and how this actor has never disappointed. If you look closely at the Man Who Gave Us Captain Jack Sparrow in Disney’s PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN franchise, you notice Johhny Depp is clearly wearing marijuana-leaf patterned knit socks atop thick-soled shiny patent-leather shoes. The contrast to the pinstripe gray bespoke tailored suit, with buttoned vest, and black matte dress shirt is completely in character. His blue-hued nightshades, as opposed to sunglasses, are the only hint left that he lived in Paris for a number of years raising his two children in his former relationship to Vanessa Paradis. 

Whether that is Amber Heard who keeps appearing on stage when the lights go down for clips of Depp’s body of work — from WHAT’S EATING GILBERT GRAPE to BLOW to RUM DIARY to his portrayals of Hunter S. Thompson, Donnie Brasco, John Dillinger in PUBLIC ENEMIES, to Willy Wonka to The Mad Hatter from ALICE IN WONDERLAND — it’s hard to say. His new bride, star of DRIVE ANGRY and most recently The DANISH GIRL, skipped the red carpet.

He was 47 minutes late for this. It’s almost like Leonard Maltin has coaxed him into this ceremony, being the iconoclast that the Tim Burton protege has become.

Depp will dash off 80’s phrases like “Chia Pet,” “Killer,” and “I’m right there with you, man,” that underscore his 52 years. But he also has this hand-through-the-hair, ring-wearing ephemeral quality that is 100% musician, as in Rock Star. When he tells a story about Marlon Brando as a mentor, Depp opens with “they tell you never meet your heroes,” but then goes on to relate that Brando was strictly human, a relaxed guy. But. “There would always be kimonos. I’m not going to twist it around for you,” his words end in a flourish. “There would be Marlon getting out of a car in the morning, in a kimono…” The point is that Brando’s eccentricities were legendary, but he was “a relaxed human being,” who showed Depp that if “you are playing Henry the 8th, you shouldn’t be eating Doritos at the Craft Table.” He adds that "whatever you need to get you 'there' is what works for me," in acting.

Depp winces at every clip, except BLOW. But it is fake cringing, and you instinctively get how he has survived in Hollywood all these years. This is a “TV actor, I was a TV actor first” on 21 Jump Street who refused to do anything Their Way. “Once I wore a turban and I wouldn’t take it off… I guess I was trying to get fired. I’m always trying to get fired.” Then he segues into how “I tortured Leo on Gilbert Grape, I don’t know why. I told you it was a dark time.”

His nightshades come on and off, another time he sincerely twists a thread on his weed-socks, then he rolls and lights a deep brown cigarillo, blows smoke as it nears 10:30 pm, running long because he was late. Maltin makes him promise to show his unreleased Brando film (possibly still titled “The Brave”) at the festival next year. Johnny Depp shakes his hand in a gentleman's agreement, and somehow manages to have completely escaped being defined or answering any probing professional or personal questions. You’ll find out “I’m a fraud,” he jokes. “If you have an ideas,” about acting, “share them with me.” The audience has gone from hormonal screaming on his arrival to rapt attention to “Aww” when he mentions struggling to pay the rent in his early years. But even with Leonard Maltin, the quicksilver that is Johnny Depp and the mists of his various moods haven’t lifted. His true self is hiding in plain sight, and you can only really understand the Kentucky-born Depp in these three photos taken when we spoke briefly on the red carpet.Depp is answering “There are many of the same actors in gangster films BLACK MASS and PUBLIC ENEMIES, did you do this on purpose?” He thinks about it, hand to his mouth, then walks away while saying, “Yes, I did. There’s a story to that. You’ll hear it in a moment.” Meaning, he thinks Leonard Maltin will bring it up, but he doesn’t. And this ironically sums Depp up, he leaves you hanging, wanting more even though you’re not sure what you’re going to get.

Stay tuned for more SBIFF 2016 with Rooney Mara, Cate Blanchett, Sylvester Stallone, and many more to come…

The Modern Master Award was established in 1995 and is the highest accolade presented by SBIFF.  Created to honor an individual who has enriched our culture through accomplishments in the motion picture industry, it was re-named the Maltin Modern Master Award in 2015 in honor of long-time SBIFF moderator and renowned film critic Leonard Maltin.  Past recipients include Michael Keaton, Bruce Dern, Ben Affleck, Christopher Plummer, Christopher Nolan, James Cameron, Clint Eastwood, Cate Blanchett, Will Smith, George Clooney and Peter Jackson. The 31st annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival will take place from Wednesday, February 3rd through Saturday, February 13th.

For more information, please visit www.sbiff.org.

# # #

MIFF 2016: Master Class by Festival Director Mukesh Sharma

Varied experience and a long, eventful career, make Mukesh Sharma just the person to speak on ‘How not to make films’. And he speaks so fast that he can compress so much in an hour-and-a-half! On 30 January 2016, a packed and refurbished RRIII theatre, on the 10th floor, of the Phase I building, at the Films Division headquarters in Mumbai, heard him talk about his acclaimed film children’s feature film Anokha Aspatal (The Unusual Hospital), made for the Children’s Film Society Of India (CFSI) and a German-Indian co-production, shot during his earlier tenure at Mumbai Doordarshan (DD, India’s state-owned television channel).

A science graduate, Sharma was associated with CFSI in 1980, and worked with them, as Production Officer, during the tenures of Dr. V Shantaram, ShabanaAzmi, Jaya Bachchan and Amol Palekar. In this period, he produced about 52 films. His first as a director, Anokha Aspatal, won a special mention at the National Awards in 1989. The nation’s first Indo-Mauritius co-production venture was initiated by Sharma, with film Ankur Maina Aur Kabutar (Operation Pink Pigeon), the other film he directed.

Many things went wrong during the making of Anokha Aspatal. It was the story of Amma and her grandson, Gagan, who run a unique hospital. They treat and offer shelter to wild animals, shot and wounded by poachers. There were serious issues related to the animals, mainly the tiger and the elephant, and by the time these were sorted, Tom Alter, who was to play the poacher, Mr. Smith, was not available. Sharma himself donned the costume, and before he knew it, the producer-director was also playing a character. To add to their woes, a continuity issue cropped up when a child artiste came on the set wearing a blue sweater, but Sharma felt that he had been wearing a red one in the last shot. No stills or footage was available to decide either way. As is the norm, they shot it both ways. As if that was not enough, the latter one important scene, when printed, had the lights bleeding, a phenomenon the FTII veteran cameraman of the 1965 batch, who was Sharma's assistant as well, could not explain.

Having made an arrangement with Sunny Super Sounds, the unit rushed back to Mumbai, from its shooting locales in north India, and was desperate to meet a 31 March deadline, set by CFSI Chairperson Jaya Bachchan. They had 10 days to complete the post production, which included separate tracks for music, effects and dubbing, and these were the last ten days of March. But even as they arrived at the facility, the facility owner Dharmendra, the star, was instructing his staff to block the very same 10 days for a home production. Sharma and his unit just froze at the prospect of missing their deadline. Somehow, he mustered up enough courage to go up to Dharmendra and tell him about the deadline that was hanging over their heads like a sword. To their delight, Dharmendra smiled, and told them that the commitment would be honoured. He would shift his own post-production to Madras (Chennai).

In the German-Indian collaboration, a whole schedule was shot without incurring any expense whatsoever. Sharma was heading DD Sahyadri (Mumbai) at that time, when the Director General of Doordarshan, based in New Delhi, told him to help a German director shoot some scenes in Mumbai, as part of a Melting Pot cities series that included Shanghai and Kuala Lumpur. Sharma agreed to help. The director flew down to Mumbai. A Doordarshan cameraman was assigned to the shoot. Shooting was organised at HajiAli Dargah (mausoleum), St. Michael’s Church at Mahim, Sidhhi Vinayak Temple and with the dabbawalas (tiffin delivery services), on DVC Pro tapes. The director stayed at the DD guest house, free. A Deutsche Welle production, it became a DW-DD co-production, edited in Berlin. DW owns German rights, DD the Indian rights. Touché!

We thought this was going to be about how not to make films. In the end, it turned out to a lesson in how to make films, surmounting all obstacles, foreseen and unforeseen.

By Maria Esteves – February 7, 2016

The Flaherty NYC Winter/Spring 2016 (FNYCWS16) Queer Transitions was held at Anthology Film Archives, New York, Tuesday, February 2, 7:00PM. In collaboration with The New School; co-presented by Women Make Movies; programmed by Lana Lin, associate professor, School of Media Studies, The New School; and Cauleen Smith, professor, Vermont College of Fine Arts; the six documentary shorts presentation included Michelle Parkerson’sStorme: Lady of the Jewel Box and Tara Mateik’s Operation Invert. A special Q&A discussion with directors Parkerson and Mateik moderated by archivist and independent curator Leeroy Kun Young Kang preceded the post-screening reception.

FNYCWS16 Queer Transitions: Programmer Lana Lin, associate
professor, School of Media Studies, The New School, and, left,
director Michelle Parkerson.

FNYCWS16 Queer Transitions: Activists and independent curator
Leeroy Kun Young Kang.

FNYCWS16 Queer Transitions: Director Tara Mateik.

FNYCWS16 Queer Transitions: Director Michelle Parkerson.

FNYCWS16 Queer Transitions: (L-R) Archivist and independent curator
Leeroy Kun Young Kang, directors Michelle Parkerson and Tara Mateik.

FNYCWS16 Queer Transitions: (L-R) Programmer Lana Lin, associate professor,
School of Media Studies, The New School; director Michelle Parkerson; archivist
and independent curator Leeroy Kun Young Kang; and director Tara Mateik.

______________________

Thu / Feb 11th / 8pm

- Opening Night -

AURA

Debate:

- Pablo Agüero (director)

- Pamela Biénzobas (film critic Mabuse)

- Richard Brody (movies editor The New Yorker)

- Kiva Reardon (founding editor cléo jornal)

- Zahra Vargas (director)

Film adds to the lives of bodies, uses their aura, turns them into myths. Whether and how these myths can be controlled, is both a political and an aesthetic question.

Films: Homer, a Hunter’s Fate, Dir: Zahra Vargas // Eva Doesn’t Sleep, Dir: Pablo Agüero.

__________________________
Fri / Feb 12th / 8pm
Power

Debate:

- Fadi Abdelnour (artistic director Alfilm Film Festival)

- Heba Amin (visual artist, filmmaker)

- Jay Weissberg (film critic Variety, artistic director Pordenone Silent Film Festival)

In the face of political power and its violence, digital imagery is in an asymmetric position. It does, however, challenge power relations within cinema. To what aim and how?

Film: Coma, Dir: Sara Fattahi.

_____________________

Sat / Feb 13th / 8pm

Seduction

Debate:

- Philippe Grandrieux (director)

- Pamela Pianezza (writer, photographer, founder and curator Midnight Pictures)

- Dr. Marcus Stiglegger (professor of film studies, Dekra University of Applied Sciences)

-“Mad Kate“ (performance-artist, musician)

Strategies of a cinema that overexcites us. We explore titillation as philosophical and affective force.

Film: Despite the Night (Malgré la nuit), Dir: Philippe Grandrieux.

_____________________

Sun / Feb 14th / 8pm

World-building

Debate:

- Paulo Branco (producer)

- Denis Côté (director)

- Cintia Gil (director Doclisboa Film Festival)

- Boyd van Hoeij (film critic The Hollywood Reporter)

What are the rules of the game and who has the authority to play them? We discover films that test the integrity of our perspectives.

Films: May We Sleep Soundly, Dir: Denis Côté // Cosmos, Dir: Andrzej Żuławski.

__________________________
Tue / Feb 16th / 8pm
Silencing

Debate:

- Ilona Jurkonyte (film curator, film critic, co-founder Kaunas International Film Festival, Vanier Scholar Concordia University)

- Dr. Gertrud Koch (professor of film studies, Freie Universität Berlin)

- Igor Minaev (director),

- Karel Och (artistic director Karlovy Vary Film Festival)

- Vadim Sher (composer)

While we blindfold our present, how can we see a future? A search for arrangements of the past that aim to liberate the moment.

Films: Blue Dress, Dir: Igor Minaev // Vapour, Dir: Apichatpong Weerasethakul.

__________________________

Wed / Feb 17th / 8pm

Exhibition

Debate:

- Candice Breitz (artist and professor of film and video, HDK Braunschweig)

- Alexander Horwath (director Austrian Filmmuseum)

- Lewis Klahr (director)

- Michael Salu (writer, artist, creative director)

- Rainer Knepperges (director and writer)

No art scene without moving images. But where is the art scene in cinema? A debate on the joy of exhibiting, being exhibited and needless compartmentalising.

Film: Sixty Six, Dir: Lewis Klahr.

__________________________

Thu / Feb 11th / 8pm

Zeitgeist

Debate:

- Marita Neher (director)

- Jennifer Reeder (filmmaker)

- Dr. Mirjam Schaub (professor of philosophy, aesthetics, cultural theory, HAW Hamburg)

- Tatjana Turanskyj (filmmaker)

Are there any coordinates that we want to trust? Or do we actually enjoy getting lost? We take a deep breath and follow some misdirections.

Films: 88:88, Dir: Isiah Medina //

Disorientation Is Not A Crime, Dir: Marita Neher, Tatjana Turanskyj.

________________________________________________________ 

All films will be shown in their original language with English subtitles, all the debates will be held in English.

The BERLIN CRITICS’ WEEK takes place from February 11th to February 18th at the Hackesche Höfe Kino in the centre of Berlin.

Film criticism as agenda: during the Berlinale the Critics’ Week presents international films, a selection based on the principle of discussing the most stimulating works. International critics and filmmakers will discuss politics and aesthetics, preferences and rejection, new forms of distribution and perception. How do we watch films? Which films are we longing for? What constitutes cinema?

The BERLIN CRITICS’ WEEK is an initiative oft he German Film Critics Association (Verband der deutschen Filmkritik e.V.) in collaboration with the Heinrich Böll Foundation (Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung e.V.), supported by The Federal Agency for Civic Education (Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung/bpb).