Saturday, February 17--- The Berlinale Competition section closes with the world premiere of ANGEL, the latest film from international favorite François Ozon (8 WOMEN). The film, a French-Belgian-British co-production, is the French director's first film in English., Set in England at the beginning of the 20th Century, the film portrays the rise and fall of a young woman from humble beginnings, who breaks into the highest echelons of society as an author. Romola Garai stars as the head-...
Saturday, February 17-----As the Berlin Film Festival moves into its final weekend, a host of films from Asia have demonstrated the continued vitality and excitement of Asian cinema on the world scene. In the Berlinale Competition section, four Asian films are competing for the top prize, the Berlinale Golden Bear. Celebrated Korean director Park Chan-wook (whose film OLDBOY was a major international arthouse hit) returns to the horror genre with a sense of humor, with his tongue-in-cheek film ...
The Farewell Ceremony and bestowal of the Volkswagen Score Competition final award on Thursday marked the successful close of the Berlinale Talent Campus #5. 362 young filmmakers from all over the world were welcomed to the three buildings that make up the “Hebbel am Ufer” theatres for six intensive days. Panel discussions with renowned film and media experts, excursions, screenings and workshops - with over 80 different events the fifth Campus could offer an array of interpretations of this...
Antonio Banderas’ El Camino de los Ingleses (Summer Rain) has won the Europa Cinemas Label as Best European film in the Panorama section of the Berlinale, it was announced today by a jury of four Europa Cinemas exhibitors. The Label will be awarded this evening at the joint Europa Cinemas/Fipresci awards ceremony.This marks the third year that the Europa Cinemas Label has been awarded to the Best European film in the Panorama section of the Berlinale, and complements the Labels awarded at the ...
The eight members of this international jury – organisers of queer and other film festivals – view films within the framework of all programs of the Berlinale which have queer context. Three films are nominated for each category and one receives a TEDDY for best feature film, best documentary/essay film and usually the best short film,each with a cash award of € 3,000.Members of the Jury:Charlie Boudreau – Canada (image+nation Montréal International LGBT Film Festival)Frédéric Arends ...
Friday, February 16----Much has been written about the "golden age of documentaries" that we suddenly and fortunately are currently immersed in. Perhaps it is a response to a violent and confusing world to which we are looking to bring knowledge, healing and understanding. Aside from aesthetic considerations, the documentary has also proven to be a highly profitable item for distributors, with such films as FAHRENHEIT 911, MARCH OF THE PENGUINS and this year's AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH...
Friday, February 16-----The Berlinale Keynotes , a new information initiative launched this year by the Berlin Film Festival organization, got off to a successful start. Over 300 distinguished international industry representatives, invited by Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and the Berlin International Film Festival, came together to watch the new event format at the Ritz-Carlton, Berlin. The first edition focused on the future of the film industry in the digital age, in terms of technology, con...
The Youth Jury of 14plus, the youth film competition of the 57th Berlin International Film Festival announced today at 5 pm at the Zoo Palast the winners. The jury was composed of: Lena-Lotte Agger, Silvia Dudek, Elif Erönder, Till Gerber, Adam Heise, Jean-Marc Philippe Montag, Ruby Reimann. The Crystal Bear for the Best Feature Film went to: Adama Meshuga'at by Dror Shaul. A Special Mention went to: The Fall by Tarsem Singh....
The members of the international short film jury Peace Anyiam-Fiberesima (Nigeria)Riina Sildos (Estonia)Ning Ying (China) award the following prizes: The GOLDEN BEAR to RAAK by Hanro Smitsman (The Netherlands) The SILVER BEAR ex aequo to DECROCHE by Manuel Schapira (France) and MEI by Arvin Chen (USA-Taiwan, China) The Prix UIP to ROTTEN APPLE by Ralitza Petrova (United Kingdom) The DAAD short film prize to ANNEM SINEMA ÖGRENIYOR by Nesimi Yetik (Turkey) The award cer...
During the World Cinema Fund Day on February 14 the WCF announced an expansion of the focus regions. Alongside projects from Africa, Latin America, Middle East and Central Asia, filmmakers from South East Asia and the Caucasus can be funded from summer 2007 onwards. The WCF is active in production funding as well as in distribution support. The submission deadline for production funding is March 15, 2007, for distribution support in Germany the deadline is February 27, 2007.“We always believ...
Most of the greatest artists are also great visionaries and for the past 57 years the Berlinale has seen a lot of them walk on its red carpet. But cinema's glory comes also from the vision of great businessmen that have shaped and are still shaping the movie industry. Taking this into account, Berlin International Festival hosted this year for the first time a new kind of event called Berlinale Keynotes, a series of speeches and panel discussions about the future of the cinema industry...
The Berlinale is coming to a close and the exhibitors at the European Film Market are starting to pack their stuff after one full week of fruitful exchanges between buyers, sellers and institutions. The building that hosted most of the companies, the Martin-Gropius-Bau, is still teeming with life as people are meeting in the huge atrium around cups of coffee, as the weather is so freezing outside, taking time to marvel at the wonderful structure inspired by Italian Renaissance. Watching th...
A better year, but not for everyone. Following a 2005 marked by a minus sign almost everywhere, the year that has just ended has represented a breath of fresh air for European cinema exhibition in general. This is what is revealed by MEDIA Salles, anticipating to the Berlin Festival the publication of figures on cinema-going in Europe in 2006, included in the “final 2006” edition of the European Yearbook, which is being presented today, 15 February, during the traditional “Italian Breakfa...
Wednesday, February 14----Today, the Berlin Film Festival celebrated The World Cinema Fund (WCF) with a series of events the Festival dubbed World Cinema Fund Day. The Fund was founded in 2004 as a joint initiative of the German Federal Cultural Foundation and the Berlin International Film Festival, with the Goethe Institute participating as a cooperation partner since 2005. The Fund supports film projects from the focus regions Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia, as well...
Wednesday, February 14-----Veteran Berlin Film Festival goers know that the program section that often has the most challenging, invigorating and energetically inventive cinema choices are in the Berlinale Forum, which has only grown in stature under the stewardship of Forum head Christoph Terteche. “We see the Berlinale Forum as a kind of laboratory for the mainstream cinema of the future”, Terteche explained. “We offer our audiences and attending professionals a challenging group of fi...
the Dutch short live action film CONTACT directed by Hanro Smitsman was awarded with the Golden Bear at the 57th Berlin International Film Festival. The members of the international short film jury awarded CONTACT the prize ‘for being a brilliant film on its approach to the subjects of love, anger and desperation. But you mustn’t forget to mention the humour of the film. We honour the ability of the director to show in a compact manner three angles of the same story.’Previously The Netherl...
Tuesday, February 13----Actress-turned-director Julie Delpy's TWO DAYS IN PARIS, which had its world premiere in the Panorama section of the Berlin Film Festival a few days ago, has been purchased for North American rights. The Samuel Goldwyn Company and Netflix's Red Envelope Entertainment have announced the joint acquisition of the film, which they are planning to release in the US and Canada this coming summer. TWO DAYS IN PARIS is a romantic comedy about a French woman photographe...
Tuesday, February 13-----On Monday, there was a constellation of Shooting Stars in the skies over the Berlin Film Festival. The stars in question are not of the celestial kind, but represent twenty-five of the hottest actors and actresses of European cinema. This initiative of the European Film Promotion, the pan-European organization of almost thirty European national film promotion boards, celebrates its tenth year of presenting Europe's newest acting talents, with several special events d...
Monday, February 12----A new film festival has been launched on the beautiful and historic island nation of Malta. The Malta International Film Festival, which will be held from September 15-23, 2007, hosted a press conference and reception this morning at the Hotel Berlin to introduce the international film community to the festival team and to its ambitious plans for its inaugural event. The Festival is being organized by the AECEO (Association pour l'Echange Culturel Entre l'Europe ...
Monday, February 12----The International Film Festival Summit (IFFS), the first international conference for film festival directors, programmers, fundraisers and sponsors held on the European continent, hosted a reception today at the Vox Bar at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in the heart of Potsdamer Platz, the nerve center for the Berlin Film Festival. IFFS made a number of exciting announcements at the event, for both the International Film Festival Summit Europe, to be held on April 18, 2007 at the ...
Sunday, February 11----The Panorama section is the non-competitive sidebar of the Berlinale that has a reputation among Festival veterans as the most ambitious and exploratory program in the Festival. The section has introduced many of world cinema’s most illustrious talents. Showcasing more than 50 films, most making their international premieres, the Panorama opened on Friday with Canadian director Bruce McDonald’s THE TRACEY FRAGMENTS, a visually inventive exploration of a fifteen-year-...
Sunday, February 11----Arts Alliance Media (AAM), a UK company that is leading the charge on the creation of digital cinema networks in the UK and the rest of Europe, is the leading sponsor for the European Film Market (EFM). This successful collaboration will culminate next year with the company serving as the exclusive main partner of the EFM. “With Arts Alliance Media, we have found the ideal partner for digital film services,” comments EFM director Beki Probst.
The London-based compan...
