Category Archives: Film Festivals

The accomplished Iranian screenwriter and film director Asghar Farhadi’s captivating drama Nader and Simin: A Separation won the Golden Bear for the Best Film at the 61st Berlin Film Festival and was elated to receive his coveted prize at the closing ceremony on Saturday February 19, 2011. This must really be fulfilling for him after winning the Silver Bear for Best Director for his film About Elly in 2009. This is the first time an Iranian film has won the Golden Bear.

Asghar Farhadi lifting up his Golden Bear at the 61st Berlinale.

The male and female actors of “Nader and Simin, A Separation” were honored each with a Silver Bear for their performance.

The film is about a middle-class couple Nader and Simin married for fifteen years and live with their eleven-year-old daughter Termeh in Tehran. The family belong to the urban upper middle-class and the couple are on the verge of separation. Simin wants to leave the country with her husband and daughter, as she does not want Termeh to grow up under the prevailing conditions. Her desire is not shared by the stubborn Nader. He has concerns for his father, who lives with the family and suffers from Alzheimer’s disease. When Nader decides to stay in Iran, Simin files for a divorce.

Bela Tarr took home the Jury Grand Prix of the Silver Bear for being the runner-up for his film “The Turin Horse”.

The other winners emerged in the following order:

Silver Bear – Best Director
Ulrich Köhler
for Schlafkrankheit (Sleeping Sickness)

Silver Bear – Best Actress
to the actress-ensemble in
Jodaeiye Nader az Simin (Nader And Simin, A Separation)
by Asghar Farhadi

Silver Bear – Best Actor
to the actor-ensemble in
Jodaeiye Nader az Simin (Nader And Simin, A Separation)
by Asghar Farhadi

Silver Bear – Outstanding Artistic Achievement
Wojciech Staron for the camera in
El premio (The Prize)
by Paula Markovitch

ex aequo

Barbara Enriquez for the production design in
El premio (The Prize)
by Paula Markovitch

Silver Bear – Best Script
Joshua Marston and Andamion Murataj for
The Forgiveness Of Blood (The Forgiveness Of Blood)
by Joshua Marston

Alfred Bauer Prize
Awarded in memory of the Festival founder, for a work of particular innovation.

Wer wenn nicht wir (If Not Us, Who)
by Andres Veiel

Click here for more details.

~ By Hope O. Opara

2011 Sundance Film Festival Announces Jury Prizes In Short Filmmaking

Filmmakers from Australia, Poland, Spain, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Canada and the United States Celebrated for their Documentary and Narrative Work

Park City, UT –The 2011 Sundance Film Festival this evening announced the jury prizes in shorts filmmaking and gave honorable mentions based on outstanding achievement and merit. The awards were presented at a ceremony held in Park City, Utah. These award recipients will also be honored at the Festival’s Awards Ceremony hosted by Sundance Alum Tim Blake Nelson on Saturday, January 29.

The 2011 Short Film jurors are Barry Jenkins (director, writer, Medicine for Melancholy); Kim Morgan (Film and Culture writer, Sunset Gun, The Hitlist) and Sara Bernstein (Vice president, HBO Documentary films; supervising producer, Baghdad ER, White Light, Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki).

The Jury Prize in Short Filmmaking was awarded to Brick Novax pt 1 and 2 (Director and Screenwriter: Matt Piedmont)— Penniless and now living in a seedy motel with only weeks to live, international super legend Brick Novax records his amazing tales as an astronaut, movie star, corporate CEO, and famous musician to preserve his legacy as the coolest guy in the history of the world.

The Jury Prize in International Short Filmmaking was given to Deeper Than Yesterday Australia (Director and Screenwriter: Ariel Kleiman) – After three months submerged underwater in a submarine, the crew have become savages. Oleg, one of the men onboard, fears that losing perspective may mean losing himself.

In addition, The Shorts Jury awarded Honorable Mentions in Short Filmmaking to:

Choke / Canada (Drector and Screenwriter: Michelle Latimer)— Upon leaving his First Nations reserve, Jimmy encounters the lost souls of the city and is reminded that no matter how far you travel, you cannot escape who you are.

Diarchy / Italy (Director and Screenwriter: Ferdinando Cito Filmomarino) – Giano and Luc are traveling through the woods when a storm breaks, forcing them to take shelter in Luc’s villa. Gradually and insidiously, a competition emerges between them, with terrible consequences.

The External World / Germany, Ireland (Director and Screenwriter: David O’Reilly) – A boy learns to play the piano.

The Legend of Beaver Dam / Canada (Director: Jerome Sable; Screenwriters: Jerome Sable and Eli Batalion) – When a ghost story around the campfire awakens an evil monster, it’s up to nerdy Danny Zigwitz to be the hero and save his fellow campers from a bloody massacre.

Out of Reach / Poland (Director and Screenwriter: Jakub Stozek) – Karolina and Natalia seek refuge from their domineering father and reminiscence about sad childhood without a mother in a basement of their block of flats.

Protoparticles / Spain (Director and Screenwriter: Chema García Ibarra) – The experiment was a success: protomatter exists.

Festival Sponsors
The 2011 Sundance Film Festival sponsors include: Presenting Sponsors—Entertainment Weekly, HP, Acura, Sundance Channel and Chase SapphireSM; Leadership Sponsors—Bing™, Canon, DIRECTV, Honda, Southwest Airlines and YouTube™; Sustaining Sponsors—FilterForGood®, a partnership between Brita® and Nalgene®, The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, L’Oréal Paris, Stella Artois®, Timberland, and Trident Vitality™. Sundance Institute recognizes critical support from the Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development, and the State of Utah as Festival Host State. The support of these organizations will defray costs associated with the 10-day Festival and the nonprofit Sundance Institute’s year-round programs for independent film and theatre artists. In return, sponsorship of the preeminent Festival provides these organizations with global exposure, a platform for brand impressions and unique access to Festival attendees.

About Sundance Film Festival
Supported by the nonprofit Sundance Institute, the Festival has introduced global audiences to some of the most ground-breaking films of the past two decades, including sex, lies, and videotape, Maria Full of Grace, The Cove, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, An Inconvenient Truth, Precious, Trouble the Water and Napoleon Dynamite and, through its New Frontier initiative, has brought the cinematic works of media artists including Isaac Julian, Doug Aitken, Pierre Huyghe, Jennifer Steinkamp and Matthew Barney. www.sundance.org/festival

Sundance Institute
Sundance Institute is a global nonprofit organization founded by Robert Redford in 1981. Through its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, composers and playwrights, the Institute seeks to discover and support independent film and theatre artists from the United States and around the world, and to introduce audiences to their new work. The Institute promotes independent storytelling to inform, inspire, and unite diverse populations around the globe. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Son of Babylon, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America. www.sundance.org

The 40th edition of International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) begins from 26 January to 6 February 2011.

The first or second feature films concurring for three equal top prizes of each 15,000 euro, includes three world premieres. Two of the competing films have been supported by Rotterdam’s Hubert Bals Fund.

The Jury of the Tiger Awards Competition 2011:

 Lucrecia Martel, filmmaker, scriptwriter and film producer (Argentina)
 Sandra den Hamer, director of the EYE Film Institute Netherlands and former IFFR director
 filmmaker Andrei Ujica (Romania)
 Wisit Sasanatieng, filmmaker (Thailand)
 Lee Ranaldo, vocalist, guitarist, composer and co-founder of noise rock band Sonic Youth (USA).

The Jury of the Tiger Awards selected the following 14 films for the prestigious Tiger Aawrds and the winner will be announced on Friday February 4, 2011.

Chitra sutram / The Image Threads
Vipin Vijay, India, 2010, 104’, European premiere
A tale about a computer teacher, a black magician and a cyber creature who are predestined for online and offline encounters. The story oscillates between Indian mythology, surrealist personal symbolism and the cyber world. First feature film of Vipin Vijay.

Vete más lejos, Alicia / Alicia, Go Yonder
Elisa Miller, Mexico, 2010, 67’, International premiere
A moving and visual portrayal of the excitement, alienation, and loneliness nineteen-year old Alicia experiences when she leaves her parental home in Mexico for Buenos Aires with the ambition to become an acrobat. First feature film of Elisa Miller.

Pasuggun / Bleak Night
Yoon Sung-Hyun, South Korea, 2010, 116’, International premiere
Yoon’s New Current Award winning film focuses on the subdued aggression and explosive relationships among friends in Korea’s often repressive school system. First feature film of Yoon Sung-Hyun.

Finisterrae
Sergio Caballero, Spain, 2010, 80’, International premiere
Portraying two lost ghosts who take the Way of Saint James to the end of the world (Finisterra), this hypnotizing road movie is a treat for eyes and ears. It draws inspiration from Philippe Garrel’s The Inner Scar. First feature film of Sergio Caballero.

Wasted Youth
Argyris Papadimitropoulos & Jan Vogel, Greece, 2011, 98’, World premiere & Opening Film
During a hot summer in Athens, the lives of two protagonists unexpectedly cross paths: a passionate teenage skater and a policeman in his midlife crisis. Second feature film of
Argyris Papadimitropoulos and first feature film of Jan Vogel.

Gromozeka
Vladimir Kott, Russia, 2011, 104’, World premiere
Funny, serious and touching at the same time, the film offers a view of contemporary Russia following three parallel stories of old school friends. Now a police officer, taxi driver and surgeon in their forties, they cross paths without realizing it. Second feature film of Vladimir Kott.

Fasl-e baran-haye moosemi / Rainy Seasons
Majid Barzegar, Iran, 2010, 86’, European premiere
This intimate Iranian film tells the story of an urban teenage boy trapped between his parents’ divorce and his own troubles. It reveals a seldom shown side of Iranian society – middle class urban youths that have the same problems as everywhere around the world. First feature film of Majid Barzegar.

Headshots
Lawrence Tooley, Germany, Austria, 2010, 92’, International premiere
Subtle distance characterizes the point of view of the filmmaker towards his subject: a female photographer makes her way through 21st century Berlin, a city full of artistic and complicated people. Second feature film of Lawrence Tooley.

O céu sobre os ombros / The Sky Above
Sérgio Borges, Brazil, 2010, 72’, International premiere
Blurring borders between documentary and fiction, this film portrays a few moments from the lives of three men from Belo Horizonte: a transsexual prostitute and academic, a Hare Krishna soccer fan and a would-be writer. Winner of five awards at the Festival of Brazilian Cinema. First feature film of Sérgio Borges.

Fuyu no kimono / Love Addiction
Uchida Nobuteru, Japan, 2010, 92’, International premiere
In Love Addicton, superior improvisation and total commitment overcome all limitations of low budget film-making. The filmmaker points his camera at four characters, co-workers who have complicated relationships during and after working hours. Second feature film of Uchida Nobuteru.

Igillena maluwo / Flying Fish
Sanjeewa Pushpakumara, Sri Lanka, 2011, Hubert Bals Fund, 125’, World premiere
This daring, exciting story from northern Sri Lanka convincingly captures the madness in a land where the psychology of war is omnipresent. Three parallel stories deal with the attempts of ordinary village people to lead a normal life in abnormal circumstances. First feature film of Sanjeewa Pushpakumara.

Tee-rak / Eternity
Sivaroj Kongsakul, Thailand, 2010, Hubert Bals Fund, 105’, European premiere
After his death, a man returns to the landscape of his childhood and relives the relationship that was meant to last forever. Eternity is a romantic and spiritual film as well as a meditation about the death of a loved one. First feature film of Sivaroj Kongsakul.

Todos tus muertos / All Your Dead Ones
Carlos Moreno, Colombia, 2010, 90’, International premiere
One Sunday morning, a Colombian farmer finds a pile of dead bodies in his corn field. On Election Day, the local politicians however have other things on their mind than dealing with the crime. Second feature film of Carlos Moreno.

Musan il-gy / The Journals of Musan
Park Jung-Bum, South Korea, 2010, 127’, European premiere
Already an award winning film, The Journals of Musan portrays the plights and emotions of a North Korean defector who is trying to adapt to South Korea’s capitalist society. First feature film of Park Jung-Bum, who plays the lead himself.

© 2011 International Film Festival Rotterdam

The multiple award winning Nigerian movie Champions of Our Time is the extraordinary story of two exceptionally brilliant young girls from opposing ends of the social spectrum. They both nurse ambitions of becoming the next winner of the prestigious St. Flairs Foundation Quiz Competition. However, their quest unravels a web of intrigue, high-stakes politiking, corruption in high places, and a culture of neglect and discrimination against the physically challenged amongst us. How far will the players go to achieve their dreams in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds? Find out in “CHAMPIONS OF OUR TIME”.

The movie starring top Nigerian movie stars Segun Arinze, Joke Silva-Jacob, Ngozi Ezeonu, Ejike Asiegbu, Ayo Adesanya, Paul Adams and Ejike Metu has won the Best Film awards at the following international film festivals:
Zafaa International Film Festival
Abuja International Film Festival.
Zuma International Film Festival.

It also won the Golden Mboni prize at the Lola Kenya Screen FestivalTerracotta Nigerian Film and TV Awards.

–Official Selection at the African Movies Academy Awards (AMAA 2010)

–Official Selection at Zanzibar International Film Festival.

–Official Selection at Deep Fried International Film Festival, U.K.

–Official Selection at Lucasfilm International Film Festival, Germany

–Official Selection at Lola Kenya Screen Festival.

Cast: — Segun Arinze, Joke Silva-Jacob, Ngozi Ezeonu, Ejike Asiegbu, Ayo Adesanya, Charles Inojie, (Introducing) Treasure Obasi and Feyisola Ewulomi, Paul Adams, Ejike Metu.

Crew:

DIRECTOR — Mak Kusare
PRODUCER — Chidi Nwokeabia & Emeka Enyiocha
D.O.P — Pindem Lot
SCREENPLAY — Chidi Nwokeabia
EDITOR — Eric Obinwa & Idi Nasiru
MUSIC — Muhammed Musulumi
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER — Macnuel Productions
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR — Charles Inojie
CONTINUITY — Ikechukwu Omenaihe
MAKE-UP — Yemisi Ikotun
CUSTOMIER — Chioma Okafor
LOCATION — Macnuel Productions Ltd. & Simeone Owest

Champions of Our Time is now showing at the Silverbird Cinemas and other viewing centres in Nigeria.