International Film Festival Mannheim - Heidelberg

November 9 - 18 (Germany)

For
the many first or second time directors present - 17 of the 20 filmmakers
in competition, this ten-day event drew high marks for its quality
film programming and atmosphere conducive to exchanges between each
other. To such a point that Alain de Halleux, director of Don't
Cry Germaine which won the People's Choice Award, seized
the podium during the award ceremony and awarded Fest Director Michael
Koetz with the "Best Festival Award." This was not at
all in the ceremony script.

The
festival center was the Mannheim Stadhaus, which in normal times
is frequented for its shopping mall, library and multipurpose auditorium.
The meeting point was the foyer café where impromptu discussions
and organized "Talk Shows" with the directors were held
daily. By night this hub slipped into the evening cocktail spirit,
which quite often broke into dance until the wee hours of the morning.
As a festival that is not too small/not too big, it is ideal for
intimate meetings in a family-style atmosphere.

Let
it be known that the 49th edition was not only festive. Directors
appreciate the event because they know that buyers are an integral
part of the attendees. The festival moved back its dates from October
to November in recent years so as to alleviate any scheduling problems
that industry insiders were encountering with the October London
Screenings and MIFED Market events. Effective indeed, the festival
announced a clear increase in the number of accredited guests present
- more than 1000 including 350 journalists, 200 producers, 100 theatre
owners and 60 directors.

The
Mannheim Meetings, inaugurated in 1997, are a key part of the festival's
double strategy that parts from the mainstream flow to focus on
newcomers. Of the 200 film projects submitted, 65 were selected
(after raising the pre-interest of producers around the world) to
participate in the one-on-one Meetings arranged by the festival
directly with producers. 300 such encounters occurred during the
event and probably another 300 unofficial one-on-one meetings ensued.
At the closing press conference, Director Michael Koetz announced
that 3 projects were on the verge of agreement and that a total
of 12 projects were expected to be finalized in the coming months.

"We
are not a German festival. We are an international festival held
in Germany," explained Koetz. And that was certainly true for
the film projects - dominated by Africa, Latin America, Eastern
and Western Europe and Canada, and the films screened - 78 films
from 48 countries.

The
international competition was divided into three categories: fiction
feature, documentary feature and short film. Of the twenty films
screened in the fiction and documentary sections, not one of them
had already secured German distribution, 6 were world or international
premieres and 5 were European premieres.

No
blockbusters were programmed to lure the crowds, no star system
employed and in fact "the filmmakers get the best hotel rooms"
according to Michael Koetz. "We offer films that we think the
audience should discover not films they already know." Screenings
were held in 10 modest theatres in Mannheim and Heidelberg and the
evening screenings were systematically screened to bursting crowds
who didn't balk at seating in folding chairs in the aisles. It seems
as if the Mannheim-Heidelberg audiences delight at the fact they
will be viewing films they might otherwise never see in their local
theatres. And much to the delight of Michael Koetz who is seeing
his festival climb back up the festival chain of importance. The
festival reported that they had surpassed the 60,000 entries reached
last year.

The
films each screened several times for a total of 800 screenings,
while the professionals had the added opportunity of choosing their
film and hours in the screening room where 20 individual TVs were
at their disposal. Among the other films on the program were New
Films from Latin America including titles like Crane
World (Argentina) and Santitos (Mexico), The Art of Film
featuring works by Clemens Klopfenstein and Daniel Schmid, International
Discoveries, Erotic Film Stories and The Korean Academy of Film
Arts selection. The Special Screenings featured films that had been
aided by previous Mannheim Meetings: Geography of Fear by
Auli Mantila, Desire by Colleen Murphy, Dear Fidel
by Wilifried Huismann, Lost
Killers by Dito Tsintsadze.

At
the awards ceremony, Jean Lefebvre representing the 5-member jury
announced that they ran out of prizes for all the quality films
they viewed. Ali Zaoua, which focuses on a dozen street kids
from Casablanca, won the highest honors - The Art of Film Award,
even though the Moroccan director was one of the absent. A surprising
alignment occurred between the FIPRESCI and Ecumenical juries awarding
Best Feature to Loners by David Ondricek (Czech Republic)
and Best Short to Les Chausettes Sales by David Lanzmann.
In keeping with the visions of Mannheim-Heidelberg, the ceremony
also included recommendations from a jury of theatre owners suggesting
Sanam, Ali Zaoua, Two
Thousand and None, and Loners for theatrical release.

The
2001 edition will be a special event celebrating the 50th anniversary:
November 8 - 17.