Impressions of the opening weekend of the Berlinale 2017.

A report by Mr.Lalit Rao (FIPRESCI)

Films from Central Asia continue to make their presence felt in international film festivals all around the world. Kirghiz film Atanym Kereezi (“A father's will”) directed by Bakyt Mukul and Dastan Zhapar Uulu is the latest success story which is surely going to make central Asian region proud of its filmmakers. It charmed both local festival audiences as well as jury members at the 9^th Bangalore International Film Festival 2017 in order to be judged as the “Best Asian Film”. This film was the Kyrgyz entry for the best foreign language film at the 89^th Academy awards. A father’s will also bagged Golden Zenith prize for the best first fiction film at Montreal World Film Festival. Kirghiz actor Iman Mukul received the prize on behalf of his father who was busy participating in a different film festival.

By showcasing best films from regional industry (Kannada films), India  (Indian films) and Asia (Asian films), Bangalore International Film Festival has emerged as an important film festival in India. It is one of the few festivals in the world to constitute five independent juries which would watch twelve films to choose best films. Indian cinema section is the key segment of this festival as it enables viewers to decipher the vitality of serious cinema in India. Three young filmmakers won important honors in this category. Débutante director Ananya Kasaravalli won best film award for Harikatha Prasanga (Chronicles of Hari). As part of “A window on Asian cinema” segment, Ananya Kasaravalli’s film had its world première at 21^st Busan International Film Festival 2016. Chitra Bharati Indian cinema competition jury also gave two separate awards. The jury special award was presented to Pune based director Mangesh Joshi for his second film “Lathe Joshi”. The jury mention was accredited to Kerala based director Dr.Biju Kumar Damodaran for his seventh film “Kaadu Pookkunna Neram” (When the woods bloom). FIPRESCI (India) paid its homage to veteran Indian film archivist late Mr.P.K.Nair by establishing an award in his name to honor excellence in Indian cinema. It awarded best Indian film prize to Manipur based director Haobam Paban Kumar for Loktak Lairembee (Lady of the lake). This film is also representing India at the panorama section of Berlin International Film Festival 2017

Bangalore International Film Festival is considered to be a much sought after event in India’s “Silicon valley” Bangalore which is the capital city of Karnataka state. According to film industry professionals, roughly 150 films are made annually in Kannada language. It is for this very reason that this film festival has created a competition section for the films produced in Karnataka state in order to provide an international platform for Kannada films and filmmakers. Four significant awards were presented to films from Kannada cinema competition section. “Rama  Rama  Re” directed by D.Satya Prakash was awarded the best film prize. Director S.P.Raghu won 2^nd  best film award for directing Pallata (The Shift). Young director Hemant.M.Rao got 3^rd best film prize for critically as well as commercially successful film “Godhi Banna Sadharma Mykattu”  (Wheatish brown, average build). Finally, director B.Suresha won the prestigious international jury’s NETPAC award for “Uppina Kagada” (Sand Paper).

© Mr.Lalit Rao (FIPRESCI)

Jury members : 9^th Bangalore International Film Festival 2017.

Asian cinema competition jury

1. M.S.Sathyu. (Director, India)

2. Bolavaru Mohamed Kunhi. (Writer,India)

3. Sergei Anashkin (Film critic, Russia)

4. Dalmira Tilepbergenova (Writer, Kyrgyzstan)

5. Latika Padgaonkar (Film critic, India)

Indian cinema competition jury

1. K.C.N.Chandrasekhar (Producer, India)

2. Bijaya Jena (Director/Actress,India)

3. Arun Chadha (Documentary film maker, India)

4. Dan Wolman (Director, Israel)

5. Girish Rao Hatwar (Film critic, India)

Critics jury for Indian cinema

1. Jacek Fuksiewicz  (Film critic, Poland)

2. M.K.Raghavendra (Film critic, India)

3. Prem Chand (Film critic, India)

Kannada cinema competition (International jury)

1. Paul Spurrier (Director, Thailand)

2. Ranjani Ratnavibhushana (Film critic, Sri Lanka)

3. Lalit Rao (Film critic, India)

Kannada cinema competition jury

1. Swapan Mullick (Film critic, India)

2. Malti Sahai (Administrator, India)

3. Ratnottama Sengupta (Journalist, India)

4. G.N.Mohan (Writer, India)

5. S.Mahendar (Director, India)

Winter Short Film Screening is back on the Crest Theatre’s Big Screen!

… Always with English subtitles

It is movie awards season, and as every year, the Sacramento French Film Festival is happy to present the 2017 CÉSAR NOMINATED SHORTS (ANIMATION and LIVE ACTION categories).

France's best shorts of the year will be featured at the 10th anniversary edition of our WINTER SHORT FILM SCREENING on SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2017, 7pm, at the Crest Theatre! After the films, the audience will be invited to vote for the “Sacramento César Awards” while enjoying coffee and pastries provided by our official coffee sponsor, the delightful COFFEE WORKS.

The Crest bar (operated by the SFFF) will be open from 6pm and all evening long, serving Wine and Pastis or Champagne Cocktails for only $5. All bar proceeds benefit the Sacramento French Film Festival.

Additionally, Empress Tavern will be serving a very special prix-fixe, 3-course French dinner at 5pm.

The deadline to make dinner reservations is Monday, February 20.

The 41st César Ceremony (French Academy Awards) will have been held the day before (Friday, February 24) and the César winners will be announced at the end of the evening, along with the results of the Sacramento voting.

Film Submitter s we have been very impress with the A level of submissions. To those submitting content bring your "A " GAME! We want the best! Looking for Animation, Documentaries, Web Series, Action and Comedies, and SYFY.

iNDYREELS - New Streaming Platform For Movie Watching.

DO YOU MOVIEEE?

                                   WE MOVIEEEE!!!!

Cinema Made in Italy returns to London’s Ciné Lumière from 1 - 5 March 2017. This seventh edition of the festival brings a brand new array of exciting and inspiring films to the South Kensington cinema.  Once again, screenings will be followed by Q&As with visiting filmmakers, who will also be available for press interviews:

Violante Placido and Cristiana Capotondi (actresses) - 7 Minutes

Alessandro Aronadio (director) - Ears

Stefano Mordini (director) - Pericle the Black

Roberto Andò (director) - The Confessions

Pierfrancesco Diliberto aka Pif (director, writer, actor) and Michele Astori (writer) - In Guerra Per Amore

Irene Dionisio (director) - Pawn Streets

Andrea Molaioli (director) - Slam

Pippo Delbono (director and actor) - Vangelo

Michele Vannucci (director) and Mirko Frezza (actor) - I Was a Dreamer

Maurizio Di Rienzo - Cinema Made In Italy programmer and film critic

http://www.institut-francais.org.uk/cine-lumiere/whats-on/festivals-series/cinema-made-in-italy-2017/

FOR PRESS INFORMATION AND INTERVIEW REQUESTS, PLEASE CONTACT:

Fabrice Ouakinine/Clare Leach:  firstname.lastname@premiercomms.com

T: +44 20 7292 8330 / www.premiercomms.com

PRESS MATERIAL AVAILABLE ON:

http://ftp.premiercomms.com

User name:        cinemamadeinitaly2017

Password:           f1lm1tal1a

Twitter: @CinemaMadeinIt

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/Cinema-MADE-in-ITALY-1534214436839796/

VENUE AND BOX OFFICE INFORMATION

Screenings: Wednesday 1 - Sunday 5 March 2017

Ciné Lumière : 17 Queensbury Place, London SW7 2DT, T +44 (0)20 7871 3515

Tickets:£12/£10 (conc.); £9/£7 (conc.) for films in the ‘Sunday Classics’ section; £5 for viewers aged 25 and under, if registered for the ’25 and Under £5 Scheme’ on the French Institute website

Full programme and booking details:

http://www.institut-francais.org.uk/cine-lumiere/whats-on/festivals-series/cinema-made-in-italy-2017/

SCREENING PROGRAMME

Wednesday 1st March

6.30 pm  / 7 Minutes (88 minutes)                                                                                                                                                                                              

Intro and Q&A with Violante Placido and Cristiana Capotondi (actresses)

Thursday 2nd March

6.30 pm /  EARS (90 minutes)

Intro and Q&A with Alessandro Aronadio (director)

8.50 pm / Pericle the Black (100 minutes)                                                                                                                                     

Intro and Q&A with Stefano Mordini  (director)

Friday 3rd March

6.30 pm / The Confessions (100 minutes)                                                                                                                                         

Intro and Q&A with Roberto Andò (director)      

8.50 pm / In Guerra Per Amore (99 minutes)                                                                                                                                   

Intro and Q&A with Pierfrancesco Diliberto aka Pif (director and writer) and Michele Astori (writer)

Saturday 4th March

6.15 pm /  Pawn Streets (85 minutes)                                                                                                                                               

Intro and Q&A with Irene Dionisio (director)

8.50 pm / Slam (100 minutes)                                                                                                                                                                  

Intro and Q&A with Andrea Molaioli (director)

Sunday 5th March

2.00 pm  / The Battle of Algiers (121 minutes) (distributed in the UK by CultFilms: www.cultfilms.co.uk)                  

4.20 pm / Vangelo  (87 minutes)                                                                                                                                                          

Intro and Q&A with Pippo Delbono (director and actor)

6.40 pm / I Was a Dreamer (100 minutes)                                                                                                                                            

Intro and Q&A with Michele Vannucci (director) and Mirko Frezza (actor)

LINE-UP FOR CINEMA MADE IN ITALY 2017

7 MINUTES (7 Minuti) – Opening Night

Director: Michele Placido – 88 mins

Cast: Ambra Angiolini, Ottavia Piccolo, Cristiana Capotondi, Fiorella Mannoia, Maria Nazionale, Violante Placido, Clémence Poésy, Sabine Timoteo, Anne Consigny, Michele Placido, Bruno Cariello, Mimma Lovoi, Donato Placido, Gerardo Placido, Luisa Cattaneo, Erika D’Ambrosio, Balkissa Maiga, Lee Colbert

Following a takeover, the new owner of an Italian textile plant (played magnificently by Anne Consigny, who was most recently seen in Paul Verhoeven’s Elle), flies in from Paris to propose the plan masterminded in order to preserve the workers’ future.  When the women in the plant’s council learn that nobody will lose their job, provided everyone gives up seven minutes of their daily break, it seems too good to be true. But when they start to analyse what the seven minutes actually represent, it soon dawns on them that more is at stake than merely their workers’ rights. Based on a true story, 7 minutes is a taut and gripping drama featuring emotionally anchoring performances from notably Clémence Poésy, Ambra Angiolini and Ottavia Piccolo.

EARS (Orecchie)

Director: Alessandro Aronadio – 90 mins

Cast: Daniele Parisi, Francesca Antonelli, Silvana Bosi, Masaria Colucci, Silvia D’Amico, Piera Degli Esposti, Ivan Franek, Sonia Gessner, Paolo Giovannucci, Rocco Papaleo, Andrea Purgatori, Re Salvador, Niccolò Senni, Pamela Villoresi, Milena Vukotic, Massimo Wertmüller

Following his brilliant debut feature Due Vite per Caso (which has won over 15 awards), Alessandro Aronadio is back with a sharp and witty comedy. Stylishly shot in black and white, Ears follows a day in the life of a hapless young university lecturer, as he wanders around the streets of Rome, questioning the true purpose of his life. Clarity is obtained after a succession of Kafkaesque situations, which include an encounter with a bevy of mistrusting nuns, an outlandish rapper, and an impertinent ear specialist. Made on a micro budget under the umbrella of the Biennale College Cinema programme, Alessandro Aronadio’s absurdist comedy was an instant hit when it premiered at last year’s Venice International Film Festival.

PERICLE THE BLACK (Pericle il Nero)

Director: Stefano Mordini – 100 mins

Cast: Riccardo Scamarcio, Marina Foïs, Valentina Acca, Gigio Morra, Maria Luisa Santella, Lucia Ragni, Eduardo Scarpetta, Seloua M’Hamdi, Samuel Laurie

Co-produced by the Dardenne brothers, and loosely based on Giuseppe Ferrandino’s Pericle il Nero, Stefano Mordini’s third feature is a contemporary Italian mafia film set in Belgium and France. Riccardo Scamarcio (Burnt, Effie Gray, Third Person) is a loyal Camorra low-life who makes ends meet by doing dirty jobs for Don Luigi, a Neapolitan crime lord and pizzeria owner based in the outskirts of Liège.  When a job goes wrong, he has no choice but to go on the run, and after a brief spell in hiding, ends up in Calais. Alienated, and deep down yearning to be part of a family, he seeks refuge in the form of divorced bakery worker Anastasia, played superbly by French actress Marina Foïs (Paris Follies, Polisse, Irréprochable). They embark on a bittersweet whirlwind romance, as they endeavour to sidestep the shadow of his tormented past.

THE CONFESSIONS (Le Confessioni)

Director: Roberto Andò – 100 mins

Cast: Toni Servillo, Daniel Auteuil, Connie Nielsen, Pierfrancesco Favino, Moritz Bleibtreu, Marie-Josée Croze, Richard Sammel, Johan Heldenbergh, Stéphane Freiss, Aleksei Guskov, Ernesto D'Argenio, Lambert Wilson, Julian Ovenden, Togo Igawa, Andy de la Tour, John Keogh, Giulia Andò

Produced by Angelo Barbagallo (Dear Diary, The Son’s Room, Certified Copy), Roberto Andò’s slick mystery thriller centers on a simple monk of the Carthusian order, who shakes things up at a G8 meeting held in a luxury hotel on the Baltic Coast. After a high-ranking official is found dead in his room, it transpires that the purpose of the state treasurers’ gathering is to introduce radical economic reforms that will have irreparable destructive effects on less-developed countries in the world. Stopping them soon becomes a race against time…. The elegant mise en scène, Oscar-winning composer Nicola Piovani’s exquisite score, along with a stellar cast including Toni Servillo, Daniel Auteuil, and Connie Nielson, make for irresistible viewing.

IN GUERRA PER AMORE

Director: Pierfrancesco Diliberto aka Pif – 99 mins

Cast: Andrea Di Stefano, Pierfrancesco Diliberto aka Pif, Sergio Vespertino, Maurizio Bologna, Miriam Leone, Samuele Segreto, Stella Egitto, Antonello Puglisi, Vincent Riotta, Maurizio Marchetti, Mario Pupella, Aurora Quattrocchi, Rosario Minardi, Orazio Stracuzzi, Lorenzo Patanè, David Mitchum Brown, Forest Baker, Salvatore Ragusa, Domenico Centamore

Following on from The Mafia Kills Only in Summer, Pierfrancesco Diliberto (aka Pif) brings us another funny and touching tale peppered with historical facts.  It is 1943, and World War II is in full swing. In the heart of New York fresh faced Arturo (played by Pierfrancesco Diliberto) has fallen head over heels for his restaurant boss’ daughter Flora. The feeling is mutual, but Flora has been promised to the son of an influential New York mobster. The only way Arturo will be able to marry his beloved, is if he is granted approval by her father, who lives in a small town in Sicily. Young and broke, Arturo enlists in the US Army, which is preparing to invade the island, an event which will change the history of Sicily, Italy, and the Mafia forever. 

Francesco Diliberto (aka Pif) was assistant director to Marco Tullio Giordana on the anti-Mafia film I Cento Passi in 1998. Besides being a film director, writer and actor, he is also a satirical current-affairs broadcaster who has contributed to numerous Italian TV shows, including Le Iene. He has had his own show, Il Testimone, on MTV since 2007 and hosts the radio show I Provinciali on RAI 2, along with his screenwriting collaborator Michele Astori.

PAWN STREETS (Le Ultime Cose)

Director: Irene Dionisio – 85 mins

Cast: Fabrizio Falco, Roberto De Francesco, Christina Rosamilia, Alfonso Santagata, Salvatore Cantalupo, Anna Ferruzzo, Nicole De Leo, Maria Eugenia D'Aquino, Margherita Coldesina, Matteo Polidoro

Set in Turin, Pawn Streets reveals an insider’s view of the goings on behind the closed doors of a local pawnbrokers, and the wheeling and dealing which takes place in the streets outside. Each and every object tells a different story: a cherished fur coat is handed over by a transvestite who has become estranged from her family; a precious gold necklace fetches a moderate price for a desperate mother of two. Meanwhile, a penniless grandfather unwillingly becomes embroiled in black market pawn broking, so he can afford to buy a hearing aid for his three year old grandson. Irene Dionisio, who is also a documentary film-maker, succeeds in rendering an honest account of some of the circumstances which might drive people to pawn their most cherished belongings, as a last resort. Pawn Streets is produced by Carlo Cresto-Dina, whose previous credits include The Wonders and Corpo Celeste.

SLAM (Tutto per una ragazza)

Director: Andrea Molaioli – 100 mins

Cast: Ludovico Tersigni, Barbara Ramella, Jasmine Trinca, Luca Marinelli, Pietro Ragusa, Fiorenza Tessari, Lidia Vitale, Fausto Sciarappa, Gianluca Broccatelli, Tony Hawk

Sam is a 16 year old skateboarding fanatic who has his whole life ahead of him. When his girlfriend breaks the news that she is pregnant, the only person he can turn to is his all-time hero and skateboarding legend, Tony Hawk. Reminiscent of the film Sliding Doors, Sam is inexplicably hurtled into the future and offered a glimpse of what will be…. or what could be.  At the end of the day, it is up to Sam to make the right decisions. Based on Nick Hornby’s successful novel of the same name, Slam is all twists and turns and heel flips, and features a splendid performance by Luca Marinelli, who starred in last year’s They Call Me Jeeg Robot. Prior to making his first feature film, Andrea Molaioli worked as assistant director and second director on numerous films, including Nanni Moretti’s The Son’s Room and Dear Diary. In 2008 his film The Girl By the Lake won three David di Donatello Awards.

THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS (La Battaglia di Algeri)

Director: Gillo Pontecorvo – 121 mins

Cast: Brahim Haggiag, Jean Martin, Saadi Yacef

The Battle of Algiers tells the story of the life-and-death struggle between the French colonial government of Algeria and the Algerian Liberation Front, the FLN, who wanted the French out and were willing to set off bombs to do it. The French sent in their elite Paratroopers with the order to use Any Means to break the insurgent – torture included. It’s a true story, done on location with many of the FLN appearing in it, including the producer who was an FLN leader. This film, which was first released in 1966, is a passionate yet completely impartial record of struggle which led to Algeria’s Independence.

The Battle of Algiers is distributed in the UK by CultFilms: www.cultfilms.co.uk. Digitally re-mastered in high definition from restored archive elements approved by the filmmakers, this all-time classic release of The Battle of Algiers also commemorates the 50th anniversary of Algerian independence. The new version also includes some previously unseen footage, making this the most complete edition ever. The restoration was curated by Cineteca di Bologna and Istituto Luce-Cinecitta, in collaboration with Surf Film, Casbah Entertainment, and CultFilms.

VANGELO

Director: Pippo Delbono – 87 mins

Cast: Pippo Delbono, Safi Zakria, Nosa Ugiagbe, Petra Magoni, Pepe Robledo, Ilaria Fantin, Bobò Robledo

In Vangelo theatre director Pippo Delbono visits a migrant centre and meets the refugees who have come to seek shelter there. They are in limbo, waiting to find out if they will be allowed to stay, or simply be moved on to the next holding area. He becomes part of their everyday lives, in which they are suspended between painful memories and an uncertain future. Slowly but surely, the refugees open up to him, and tell him their stories. Some of these feature on screen, others remain secret. Through the lives of these people, the inevitable protagonists of a new age, Delbono’s vision for his theatrical production of the Gospel starts to take shape.

I WAS A DREAMER (Il più grande sogno)

Director: Michele Vannucci – 100 mins

Cast: Mirko Frezza, Alessandro Borghi, Vittorio Viviani, Milena Mancini, Ivana Lotito, Ginevra De Carolis

Mirko is a 39 year old father of two, who returns home after an eight year stint in jail. He dreams of being given a second chance, and attempts to leave behind a life of violence and petty crime once and for all. The perfect opportunity arises when he is unexpectedly elected president of the neighborhood committee in his local area in a run-down suburb of Rome. Before long, Mirko starts putting all his energy into transforming the lives of those around him, setting up a soup kitchen and food bank, and even persuading fellow down-and-outs to grow tomatoes on a nearby allotment. Little by little, he manages to reconcile with his two daughters, and prepare for the arrival of his third child, which his ever-patient wife is expecting. Michele Vannucci met lead actor Mirko Frezza when he was auditioning for his graduation film in 2012. Hanging out with him for three years inspired Vannucci to write the screenplay for I Was a Dreamer, which is based on Mirko’s real-life experiences.

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October 07, 2017

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Categories

BFI Flare: Programme announced!

The full line-up for BFI Flare: London LGBT Film Festival is now online

This year's Festival will open with the World Premiere of Fergus O’Brien’s Against the Law, and will close with the International Premiere of Jennifer Reeder’s Signature Move. 

The programme is once again divided into three handy sections: Hearts, Bodies and Minds. Packed with this year's must-see LGBT films as well as talks, events, club nights and more, there's something for everyone at this year's Flare!

Tickets go on sale to the public from 27 February, or join the BFI to get to the front of the queue with priority booking from 22 February.

Explore the programme

Special Presentations

Our Opening & Closing Night Galas, plus Centrepiece Screening

Against the Law

Thu 16 Mar 18:15 & 20:45 | NFT1

This year’s opening film highlights a key moment in British history that led to the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality.

Signature Move

Sun 26 Mar 18:15 & 20:40 | NFT1

A moving account of a young woman navigating her life between a mother who doesn’t really know her daughter and a burgeoning relationship that offers the possibility of real happiness.

Torrey Pines (with live score)

Sat 18 Mar 18:45 | NFT2

This psychedelic coming-of-age road trip is both a stop-motion animation, and a theatrical show with live score from Queercore band, Your Heart Breaks.

Hearts

Films about love, romance and friendship

I Love You Both

22 & 24 Mar

Twin brother and sister fall for the same guy in this fresh and surprising modern rom-com.

Taekwondo

18 & 20 Mar

A gorgeously photographed, teasingly libidinous exercise in latent homoeroticism set over a long hot summer in Buenos Aires.

Bodies

Stories of sex, identity and transformation

The Handmaiden

22 & 23 Mar

Sex, intrigue and duplicity run wild in this 1930s Korean-set drama inspired by Sarah Waters’ marvellous Fingersmith.

Miles

21 & 23 Mar

In a desperate bid to get the college scholarship he needs, a teenage boy joins the girls’ volleyball team.

Minds

Reflections on art, politics and community

Free Cece!

21 & 22 Mar

Laverne Cox leads this insightful documentary into the case of Cece McDonald, whose infamous trial sparked protests around the world.

Pride?

25 & 26 Mar

A warm and intelligent survey that examines the history of Pride, its radical off-shoots and what the future of queer organising will be.

Short and Sweet

Small but perfectly formed

Trials and Liberations

18 & 19 Mar

When it comes to love, we all make mistakes, but do we ever learn from them?

Not Over Till It's Over

25 & 26 Mar

Personal stories of transgender and non-binary experiences from around the globe.

Winks and Nudges

An exploration (and reconsideration) of camp cinema

Can't Stop The Music

Thu 23 Mar 21:00 | BFI IMAX

A monument to camp with the Village People and some of the most dazzling musical numbers ever committed to celluloid.

BFI Flare recommends

Patsy

Fri 17 Feb 22:00-03:00 | Dalston Superstore
The sporadic queer Parisian trainwreck returns! After wild nights across the world, she’s back for oodles of handbaggy house and euphoric disco.

Read more

Coming Out: 50 Years of Gay Literature

Sat 25 Feb 19:00 | Wolfson Theatre, LSE
Dean Atta, Neil Bartlett and Maureen Duffy talk about changing attitudes to homosexuality reflected in literature fifty years on from the Sexual Offences Act.

Read more

Lizzie

22 Feb - 12 Mar | Greenwich Theatre 
A new American rock musical based on the trial of Lizzie Borden.
 

Read more

Philadelphia's most exciting film festival returns for its fifth year!  The 2017 Cinedelphia Film Festival will run from April 13-29 entirely at PhilaMOCA.  As diverse and alternative as ever, this year's programming features everything from a Philly-made documentary hunt for the elusive Sly Stone to an evening with legendary filmmaker Alex Cox (Repo Man, Sid & Nancy).  Opening Night, Closing Night, and select programming are below, full schedule will be announced on March 1.

Thursday, April 13, 7:00 + 9:30 PM (Opening Night)
BLUE VELVET REVISITED - Philly Premiere of an extraordinary documentary comprised entirely of unreleased footage from the set of the David Lynch classic Blue Velvet.

Friday, April 14, 7:00 + 10:00 PM
AN EVENING WITH NEIL BREEN - The visionary actor/director who dethroned Tommy Wiseau in the annals of cult moviemakers makes his first-ever appearance in Philadelphia!

Saturday, April 15, 7:00 PM
AN EVENING WITH ALEX COX - The pioneer of punk filmmaking makes a rare visit to Philadelphia for an extended chat/Q&A and a screening of Repo Man.

Saturday, April 15, 10:00 PM
TOMBSTONE RASHOMON - Philly Premiere of the latest film from Alex Cox, a retelling of the Tombstone legend in the style of Kurosawa's Rashomon.

Saturday, April 22, 7:30 PM
BEYOND VAUDEVILLE/ODDVILLE, MTV RETROSPECTIVE/REUNION - The legendary public access-turned-MTV show gets a video retrospective with the original co-hosts in attendance!  Plus a live taping of a new episode with special guests!

Friday, April 28, 8:00 PM
MAUSOLEUM DANCE PARTY - A live taping of PhilaMOCA's public access show featuring the first-ever Philadelphia performance from 1970s gay garage/disco icon Laurice!

Saturday, April 29, 6:00 + 9:00 PM (Closing Night)
ON THE SLY: IN SEARCH OF THE FAMILY STONE - Produced and Directed by Philadelphia natives, this Slamdance 2017 selection features a local man's 10-year quest to find the elusive Sly Stone.  Philadelphia Premiere.

PhilaMOCA
531 N. 12th Street
Philadelphia, PA  19123
http://www.philamoca.org
http://www.cinedelphiafilmfestival.com

About:
The Cinedelphia Film Festival is Philadelphia's alternative celebration of film that pays tribute to everything from locally-shot rarities to video-era oddities.  It is organized in-house by PhilaMOCA head Eric Bresler.
The Philadelphia Mausoleum of Contemporary Art (PhilaMOCA) is a multi-award-winning art and event space housed in a 100-year-old former showroom for mausoleums.  It was named one of the "21 Reasons Philadelphia is the Coolest City in America" by the Huffington Post and one of the "20 Best Things to do in Philadelphia" by Time Out New York.

   
New Collage Film by Guy Maddin Commissioned by the Film Society and Stanford Live and Created in Collaboration with Kronos Quartet and Composer Jacob Garchik Reimagines One of the Most Iconic San Francisco Films of All Time

San Francisco, CA -- The San Francisco Film Society today announced that Closing Night of the landmark 60th San Francisco International Film Festival will be The Green Fog -- A San Francisco Fantasia, a new commission by the Film Society and Stanford Live in which the world-renowned Kronos Quartet will perform a new score by composer Jacob Garchik to accompany a visual collage by award-winning filmmaker and cultural iconoclast Guy Maddin. The Green Fog will take place at the historic Castro Theatre on Sunday, April 16 at 7:00 pm, followed by the Closing Night Party at Mezzanine.

"We are delirious with joy that such forces of contemporary culture have come together to create a singular new work for the city of San Francisco as a 60th birthday present to the SF International Film Festival," said SF Film Society Executive Director Noah Cowan. "We look forward to a night where we experience the city anew as one of Guy Maddin's fever dreams, interpreted through the images of myriad filmmakers who have been bewitched by the place and the sounds of the musicians that serve as our iconoclastic ambassadors to the world."

Maddin, assisted by his Forbidden Room collaborator Evan Johnson, set himself the challenge and constraint to remake Vertigo without using any footage from the Hitchcock classic, creating a "parallel-universe version," in his words. Using Bay Area-based footage from a variety of sources -- studio classics, '50s noir, documentary and experimental films, and '70s prime-time TV -- and employing Maddin's mastery of assemblage technique, seen in work like My Winnipeg and Brand Upon the Brain, the result exerts the inexorable pull of Hitchcock's twisted tale of erotic obsession while paying tribute to our fair city and the ways it looks and feels through the medium of cinema.

Composer Jacob Garchik, who was born in San Francisco and has worked with Kronos Quartet since 2006, fashions a score that collides and converses with Maddin and Johnson's irreverent and loving footage to create a distinctive musical extravaganza. Both filmmakers and composer are excited to include a live Foley element, the "Old Hollywood" method of creating special sound effects.

San Francisco's Kronos Quartet have combined a spirit of fearless exploration with a commitment to continually re-imagine the string quartet experience for more than 40 years. They have collaborated with recording artists including Paul McCartney, Laurie Anderson, Jarvis Cocker, Patti Smith, and David Bowie, and have performed scores by Philip Glass live for the films Mishima (1985) and Dracula(1931). At the 58th SF International Film Festival, they performed to Bill Morrison's Beyond Zero: 1914-1918. They spend at least five months of each year on tour, so it's a pleasure and a privilege to have them on their home territory for this very special event.

The performance will be followed by a rousing Closing Night Party at 8:30 pm at Mezzanine (444 Jessie Street), closing out the Festival's 60th anniversary in style with cocktails, snacks, and live DJ sets. 21 and over only.

Tickets to The Green Fog - A San Francisco Fantasia:

Film Only: $40 member / $50 general

Party Only: $40 member / $50 general

Film & Party: $75 member / $90 general

VIP Film & Party: $130 member / $160 general

Box office is now open online at sffs.org for SF Film Society members and opens February 15 for the general public.

In recent years the SF Film Society has presented dozens of film and live music pairings -- many of which were commissioned as world premieres -- at the San Francisco International Film Festival, including Vampyr with Mercury Rev; Kronos Quartet Beyond Zero: 1914-1918; Cibo Matto New Scene; The Unknown with Stephin Merritt; Short films with Thao and the Get Down Stay Down; Waxworks with Mike Patton, Scott Ammendola, Matthias Bossi, and William Winant; Buster Keaton Shorts with Merrill Garbus (tUnE-yArDs); Claire Denis Film Scores 1996-2009 with Tindersticks; 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea with Stephin Merritt; The Lost World with Dengue Fever; The Golem with Black Francis; The Phantom Carriage with Jonathan Richman; Heaven and Earth Magic with Deerhoof; Street Angel with American Music Club; Sunrise with Lambchop; A Page of Madness with Superchunk; Jean Painlevé: The Sounds of Science with Yo La Tengo; and Tom Verlaine: Music for Film.

For general information visit sffs.org.

To request interviews, contact your Festival Press Office contact.

For photos and press materials visit sffs.org/press.

San Francisco Film Society
The San Francisco Film Society champions the world's finest films and filmmakers through programs anchored in and inspired by the spirit and values of the San Francisco Bay Area. Building on a legacy of nearly 60 years of bringing the best in world cinema to the local audiences, SFFS is now a national leader in film exhibition, media education and filmmaker services.
 
The Film Society presents more than 100 days of exhibition each year, reaching a total audience of more than 100,000 people. Its acclaimed education program introduces international, independent and documentary cinema and media literacy to more than 10,000 teachers and students. Through Filmmaker360, the Film Society's filmmaker services program, essential creative and business services, and funding totaling millions of dollars are provided to deserving filmmakers at all stages of their careers.
 
The Film Society seeks to elevate all aspects of film culture, offering a wide range of activities that engage emotions, inspire action, change perceptions and advance knowledge. A 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation, it is largely donor and member supported. Membership provides access to discounts, private events and a wealth of other benefits.

For more information visit sffs.org

Stanford Live

Stanford Live presents a wide range of the finest performances from around the world, fostering a vibrant learning community and providing distinctive experiences through the performing arts. With its primary home at Bing Concert Hall, Stanford Live is simultaneously a public square, a sanctuary and a lab, drawing on the breadth and depth of Stanford University to connect performance to the significant issues, ideas and discoveries of our time.

Stanford Live includes a wealth of collaborators and partners, including Stanford academic departments and individual faculty members, Stanford students, off-campus arts institutions, and community organizations. Crucially, Stanford Live supports the university's focus on placing the arts at the heart of a Stanford education. For more information visit live.stanford.edu.

The 15^th edition of Berlinale Talents was rounded off yesterday by Berlinale International Jury member and artist Olafur Eliasson as well as director Raoul Peck, who is at the festival this year with the Oscar-nominated I Am Not Your Negro (Panorama) and Le jeune Karl Marx (Berlinale Special). During the last six days, over 100 experts, 250 Talents and well over 6,000 visitors turned HAU Hebbel am Ufer into an international hub of discussion and networking for film lovers.

“Once again, this year’s Berlinale Talents proves to be the festival’s innovation lab. Where else can young filmmakers and experienced experts from every culture, country and profession have such open, inspiring exchange and collaborate on bringing new films to life? I wish these Talents success as they turn their ideas into reality. And above all: Have courage!” said the Federal Commissioner for Culture and the Media, Prof. Monika Grütters, on the occasion of the 15^th anniversary of Berlinale Talents.

Courageous Mutual Exchange

In a time of political and social upheaval, this year’s theme has been a call to take a clear stance on cinematic narratives and aesthetics as well as a reminder against discouragement to rally our optimism and work together to bring about change. Throughout over 100 events and workshops, Talents discussed and worked with renowned experts and mentors, including Paul Verhoeven and Maggie Gyllenhaal, Christo, Agnieszka Holland, Ana Lily Amirpour, Isabel Coixet, Andres Veiel, Gurinder Chadha, Laura Poitras, Timothy Spall and many more.

Sunday’s opening panel, with this year’s Berlinale International Jury President Paul Verhoeven and Berlinale International Jury member Maggie Gyllenhaal set the tone for this year’s edition. “Be courageous and step into the unknown,” was Paul Verhoeven’s encouragement for the Talents. Christo, in his 90-minute discussion with the audience, called for creative work to be based in real contexts: “The most important thing of all our work is that it is about real things: real wind, real wet, real dry, real fear.” The days to come were a journey towards discovering personal, creative and filmic moments of courage. Talents alumna Ana Lily Amirpour, who returned this year as an expert, summed up what makes Berlinale Talents so special: “I loved it here when I came in 2010, and I still feel the same. It’s invigorating to be around so many people from everywhere in the world who are just madly in love with their ideas.”

Prizes during Berlinale Talents

Once again, prizes were awarded to filmmakers during Berlinale Talents.

As part of the “Talent Project Market,” the VFF Talent Highlight Award, endowed with € 10,000, went to the project The Bus to Amerika by producer Nefes Polat and director Derya Durmaz (Turkey). Cash prizes of €1,000 each were awarded to the Cuban producer Maria Carla del Rio and the Singaporean producer Jeremy Chua for their nominated projects.

For the fifth time, the Robert Bosch Stiftung awarded during Berlinale Talents film prizes to promote international cooperation between German and Arab filmmakers, endowed with up to € 60,000 each.

Animation: Night by director Ahmad Saleh (Jordan) and producers Jessica Neubauer (Germany) and Saleh Saleh (Jordan)

Short Film: The Trap by director Nada Riyadh (Egypt) and producers Eva Schellenbeck (Germany) and Ayman El Amir (Egypt)

Documentary: Behind Closed Doors (Mor L’Bab) by director Yakout Elhababi (Morocco) and producers Karoline Henkel (Germany) and Hind Sah (Morocco / France)

Co-Partner Nespresso kicked off the vertical video contest “Nespresso Talents 2017” during Berlinale Talents. The competition is open for entries until April 17, 2017, at nespresso.com/talents. Winners will be officially announced during the Cannes Film Festival and receive a cash prize and participation in a mentoring programme.

And tonight, Berlinale Talents and Perspektive Deutsches Kino will jointly award the inaugural Kompagnon-Fellowship during the closing evening of Perspektive Deutsches Kino.

Ben Becker after the screening of "Der Gleiche Himmel" (The Same Sky)

Berlin Journal, Thursday Day 7 

by Alex Deleon <film festivals.com>
Only two films were seen today but both of were of primo excellence.
After resting in bed until noon I headed out to West Berlin on the U-bahn to Catch the  much heralded TV series World Premiere of "The Same Sky" about sex espionage in divided Berlin  in 1974 at the hard to get to Haus der Deutschen Festspiele. Getting there is half a hardship because it is still a tortuous walk after emerging from the metro but the effort expended was justified by the spectacle in question.

The main reason for my own interest in a television show was because of the collaboration between director Oliver Hirschbiegel  and actor Ben Becker of the 2006 masterpiece "Ein Ganz Gewöhnlicher Jude" and hoping to catch up with Becker after all these years, which I in fact did, after the screening. Hopefully that will,lead to an extensive interview in the near future

But Why? -- one might ask, a TV show at a major Film festival?

The answer supplied by festival topper Dieter Koslick is both direct and simple. In recent years the quality of TV drama has improved so much that the viewership is beginning to overlap and compete with film viewing to a large extent world wide. Time to include the best of TV films here.

What was shown was the first two installments of what will be a six part mini-series. The title " The Same Sky" (der Gleiche Himmel) will ring so true to Residents of this city who who lived from 1961 up until 1989 in a city divided into Communist East (GDR) and Capitalist  west, but obviously living under the same sky?

This series will appear in three two hour segments here in Germany but in six single. hour installments in UK and elsewhere. Thebstory starts in East Berlin at an espionage training center where young German soldiers are being taught how to seduce enemy women who could become valuable information sources. One trick, the lecturer tells us, is to make eye contact and focus on the  the Left eye of the intended female victim because women operate by emotion, not by logic, and the left eye is connected to the Right side of the brain where the emotions reside. (Sounds good to me -- maybe I'll give it abtry on my next attempt at seduction!) -- sounds comical but this is a serious story based on presumed fact. A fresh looking young chap is selected toninfiltrate the wesr under an assumed identity and attempt to seduce an unmarried older Swedish woman working for British M.I. in a i oortant position that could supply critical information to the GDR. 

In the first two segments we see how the young undercover agent is able to become intimate with the lady in question by successfully applying the seduction techniques learned in the GDR soy school. 

The attractive older woman who is the object of GDR military intelligence is played by Swedish actress Sofia Helin, well known in Europe from the TV series The Bridge and the young seducer is popular German TV actor Tom Schilling.  Ben Becker plays the gruff East German officer who is the handler of the young agent sent to the other side of the Wall and himself infiltrates the west on occasion. 

Fascinating story, Can't wait to see how it comes out in the followup installments. The script was written by multi-award winning British screenwriter Paula Milne which accounts for the British twist to this Berlin Story.

Jesper Christensen, magnificent as Hakon VII in "The King's Choice"

From there I walked up to the Zoo Palast, a long twenty minute trudge, just in time to catch The Norwegian WWII epic called "The Kings 

Choice". (Kongens Nei). This is a tremenndous docu-drama of the category "They don't them like this Anymore" -- over two hours long but focusing just on the four day period from April 8 to April 11, 1940 -- when the Germans invaded Norway for the iron ore reserves and the long strategic coastline under the pretense that they were protecting Norway from a British invasion. The old actor who plays King Hakon VI as a devoted family man as well as a noble king was exceptional and arresting. (Jesper Christensesn, 68)
Suspense filled, almost an historical thriller. So well made that even if this is a relatively unknown corner of WW history it may go over at some international BOs just for the spectacle and scope. Great picture.
Made my festival day, and washed it down with an Indian dinner at Ashoka in Savigny Plarz.
King Hakon VII already up in years, has to decide whether  to acquiesce to a Puppet Government under Norwegian traitor Quisling or refuse to accede to the German demands and bring the Norwegians into armed conflicr with the invaders. After fleeing to the north one step ahead of the advancing Germans he agrees to meet the German envoy for a final attempt at a negotiated settlement to achieve a peaceful solution but feels it his royal duty to decline and go into a brief hopeless war of resistance.
The events of these critical days are followed almost hour by hour to produce a documentary effect but this is actually fictional although based on real, people and real events.

Xlnt movie. Made my day.

"King's Choice" is a 2016 biographical war film directed by Erik Poppe. A co-production between Norway and Ireland, and was selected as the Norwegian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars 2017.

Alex, Golden Bear Lounge

Grand Hyarr, Berlin

Alex Deleon-Pevney <filmfestivals.com>

"... the invincible Martians against whom all of mans weapons were as useless as toys were finally stopped (on the verge of destroying Mankind) by bacteria, the littlest things that God in his wisdom had put on the Earth".

With these exalted words ending Paramount's magnificent 1953 adaptation of the famous  H. G. Wells sci-fi opus I decided to call it a night and pass up.still another film for which I had a ticket and go back to my hotel without even bothering to find out which films had won which awards.

Why bother when you've had a perfect evening at the movies and the awards blahblahbla will all be in the papers in the morning  anyway. 

This year I actually saw more competition films than ever before -ten out of the eighteen in the running for the Bears -- but no strong favorites or disfavorites. One of the ones I didn't see will probably win the Golden Bear (they always do) and Berlin Festival awards, unlike Hollywood Oscars, are little more than symbolic and have little effect on the eventual market appeal of the winners. However Berlin bear winners are usually picked up by other festivals later in the year and find their audience that way. The only big name in the competition lineup is Finland's Aki Kaurismäki with a politically minded film called "The Other Side of Hope".  Because I have always like his dry humor and minimalist style Aki will be my sentimental favorite, however I will not be surprised if a weird film from an odd country comes in out of the cold to cop the Golden Bear best film award.  

The festival officially ends today, Saturday, but the Berlinale wisely tacks on an extra day -- Always on Sunday -- for frustrated film fans to catch up with important films they couldn't get to during the overcrowded offerings during the week.

Tomorrow I will be see the Kaurasmäki I missed during the week because all showings were sold out before I made my bid. Another one I am hot for on Sunday is "Viceroy's House" is about the last English viceroy of India, Lord Mountbatten, on the verge of the traumatic partition of the country in 1947 and the creation of a new country called Pakistan.

 One of the hottest numbers of the festival, Haitian director Raoul Peck's documentary on James Baldwin "I am not your Negro" which is based on Baldwin's last unfinished book, has been sold out all week and is sold out as well tomorrow on Getaway Day but will undoubtedly turn up at other festivals throughout the year. Yesterday's International New York Times carried a lengthy discussion of this film testifying to it's more than merely cinematic importance. One wonders whether America will ever get over the sticky legacy of the slavery on which the nation was built.

Negro American writer James Baldwin as seen in the  film "I am not your Negro"

by Alex Deleon

The Gala Berlinale Palace theater which is the main festival venue,

on Getaway Day, the fay after the closing festival awards

The day starred out with Volker Schloendorf's comperition entry "Return to Montauk" set primarily in New York City, starring Stellan Skarsgård as Max Zorn, a renowned Swedish novelist and Nina Hoss as his dried up ex-love from many years before.  Got very tired of looking at Stellan's puffy face and philosophical pronouncements plus the tiresome scenes of effete New York intellectuals in general.

i had a good parterre seat but walked it after about 45 minutes when I realized I was bored to death and very hungry for a McDonlads Bacon and scrambled aggs breakfast, from where I am now writing this.
Next up, The Viceroy's House at 12:15. Same venue.

VICEROY's House, Gurinder Chadha. Competition.

Delhi, 1947' Lord Earl Mountbatten appointed as the last viceroy of India will have to oversee the Partition of the Indian subcontinent  into two separate  states, moslem Pskistan and Hindu Bharat (India).  A massive colorful epochal film with lavish palace interiors and a cast of thousands of refugees. 14 Million people were displaced from their homes and home country and over a million slaughtered in race riots across the country. Real newspaper headlines of the time punctuate the telling along with much b/w archival footage to create a gripping documentary effect although this is basically a work of fiction  based however very solidly on historical events. Jinna, the secular founder of Pakistan, Nehru the secular leader of India, and Gandhi, who was totally opposed to Partition, are all portrayed in many scenes agonizing over the impending division of the country along religious lines which will inevitably uproot millions and cost millions of lives in what was a tragedy comparable in scale to that of WWII in Europe -- the other great tragedy of the XXth century. 

Numerous Indian films have addressed various aspects of the traumatic Partition but this is the first entirely in English to look at the events mainly from the British perspective..

This is an extremely powerful historical docu-drama made in the classical style that should go a long way toward educating the 

outside world on the roots of a deadly dangerous conflict that continues to simmer tiday, seven decades later between two nuclear armed giants.. A triumph for Indian-English filmmaker 

Gurinder Chandha who is herself the granddaughter of a woman who barely survived the insanity of this near double genocide and  eventually emmigrated to England.

The central character of Lord Mountbatten is played by veteran English actor Hugh Bonneville (last seen here in Monuments Men), and Madame Sahib Edwina Mountbatten by Gillian Anderson.  Bollywood star Huma Qureshi (Gangs of Wassexpur) and Dev Patel (The harassed quiz show winner in Slumdpg Millionaire) appear in key Indian roles. This was also the last screen appearance of the great Indian character acror Om Puri of the memorable bulbous nose, who appeared in over 100 Indian films and died in January at the ahe of 66. British-Indian director Gurinder, Chadha, 67, of Punjabi-Sikh origin via Kenya, came to international revognition with the feminist foorball (soccer) comedy "Bend it like Beckham" in 2002 but Viceroy will be remembered as her Master Work.Truly monumental in every respect.

Alex, HyarrbGrand lobby

Berlin

by Alex Deleon

The Gala Berlinale Palace theater which is the main festival venue, on Getaway Day, the fay after the closing festival awards

The day starred out with Volker Schloendorf's comperition entry "Return to Montauk" set primarily in New York City, starring Stellan Skarsgård as Max Zorn, a renowned Swedish novelist and Nina Hoss as his dried up ex-love from many years before.  Got very tired of looking at Stellan's puffy face and philosophical pronouncements plus the tiresome scenes of effete New York intellectuals in general.

i had a good parterre seat but walked it after about 45 minutes when I realized I was bored to death and very hungry for a McDonlads Bacon and scrambled aggs breakfast, from where I am now writing this.
Next up, The Viceroy's House at 12:15. Same venue.

VICEROY's House, Gurinder Chadha. Competition.

Delhi, 1947' Lord Earl Mountbatten appointed as the last viceroy of India will have to oversee the Partition of the Indian subcontinent  into two separate  states, moslem Pskistan and Hindu Bharat (India).  A massive colorful epochal film with lavish palace interiors and a cast of thousands of refugees. 14 Million people were displaced from their homes and home country and over a million slaughtered in race riots across the country. Real newspaper headlines of the time punctuate the telling along with much b/w archival footage to create a gripping documentary effect although this is basically a work of fiction  based however very solidly on historical events. Jinna, the secular founder of Pakistan, Nehru the secular leader of India, and Gandhi, who was totally opposed to Partition, are all portrayed in many scenes agonizing over the impending division of the country along religious lines which will inevitably uproot millions and cost millions of lives in what was a tragedy comparable in scale to that of WWII in Europe -- the other great tragedy of the XXth century. 

Numerous Indian films have addressed various aspects of the traumatic Partition but this is the first entirely in English to look at the events mainly from the British perspective..

This is an extremely powerful historical docu-drama made in the classical style that should go a long way toward educating the 

outside world on the roots of a deadly dangerous conflict that continues to simmer tiday, seven decades later between two nuclear armed giants.. A triumph for Indian-English filmmaker 

Gurinder Chandha who is herself the granddaughter of a woman who barely survived the insanity of this near double genocide and  eventually emmigrated to England.

The central character of Lord Mountbatten is played by veteran English actor Hugh Bonneville (last seen here in Monuments Men), and Madame Sahib Edwina Mountbatten by Gillian Anderson.  Bollywood star Huma Qureshi (Gangs of Wassexpur) and Dev Patel (The harassed quiz show winner in Slumdpg Millionaire) appear in key Indian roles. This was also the last screen appearance of the great Indian character acror Om Puri of the memorable bulbous nose, who appeared in over 100 Indian films and died in January at the ahe of 66. British-Indian director Gurinder, Chadha, 67, of Punjabi-Sikh origin via Kenya, came to international revognition with the feminist foorball (soccer) comedy "Bend it like Beckham" in 2002 but Viceroy will be remembered as her Master Work.Truly monumental in every respect.

Alex, HyarrbGrand lobby

Berlin

Organized by The Jewish Museum and the Film Society of Lincoln Center, the 26^th edition of the Jewish Film Festival was presented from January 11-24. Considered to be among the most important festivals among the more than 60 Jewish film festivals held each year in the United States the JFF is the oldest Jewish Film Festival in the US. It offers feature, documentary, and short films from around the world encompassing past and present Jewish experiences and the factors shaping them around the world.  The 2017 edition of the festival included 29 feature films and shorts. 26 productions were shown for the first time in New York or the United States including three world premiere productions.  As a tribute to Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder The Producers (1967) had its 50^th anniversary screening at the festival. Some parts of the festival were free and open to the public like the poster exhibition “The Producers and Beyond” focusing on Mostel and Wilder which included a compilation of film and television clips of these actors. There was no charge either for a master class on documentary film making by Tomar and Berak Heyman or the panel “Film Portraits” by Jens Hoffman on the role and formats of biopics with film makers from productions selected for this year’s festival.  In April 2017 the NYJFF will continue its free off-season Artist Focus series at the Jewish Museum with new films transcending the visual arts and cinema led by Jennifer West.

Most screenings of the festival were sold out and catered to a well-established, though slightly aged, upscale audience. The New York Metropolitan area includes more than 2 million Jews, it is the largest urban concentration of Jews second only to Tel Aviv. Among the appealing offerings were:

Moon in the 12th House, Dorit Hakim, Israel 2016. This film opened the festival with a convincing narrative, superbly delivering Hakin’s first feature film. The film centers on two estranged sisters, Lenny and Mara though they are bonded emotionally. They were separated for a long time because Mira left for an adventurous life in Tel Aviv while Lenny was raised in a boarding school. She returned to live at home to take care of her disabled father who does not communicate and withdraws into watching television. Whereas Mira runs a night club and is involved with a drug dealer.  Lenny has a predictable solitary existence confined to the father and occasional taking care of an adolescent boy whose mother is away. When Mira comes to visit Lenny conflicts between their life styles and divergent aspirations erupt until seemingly resolved on the surface.

Past Life, Avi Nesher, Israel, 2016.  Two sisters are also the focus for this film; Nana is an outgoing passionate writer and her sister Sephie a quiet classical musician, both raised by a strict father who works as a gynecologist and a somehow withdrawn mother. The parents are holocaust survivors.  Accidentally, the sisters come across material that sheds doubts on the father’s record in Poland during the Second World War implying that he could be among the guilty.  Nana insists on investigating the father’s past life and getting answers about his activities during the war. However, after discussions in Israel, Poland, and Germany with people who knew their father, no clear evidence about his role emerges. The answer to their question is a diary he kept during the war which the sisters eventually locate and authenticate. The narrative of this film is rather complex but Nesher succeeds in executing it well and making Past Life a compelling mystery feature depicting the sensitive issues of coping with the burdens of the past linked to the holocaust.

Peshmerga, Bernard-Henry Levy, France, 2016.  Accompanying over a period of six months the slowly advancing Kurdish troops fighting Islamic State soldiers Levi presents an outstanding documentary record of the of the Kurdish fighters. Through superbly photographic images in close and wide shots, birds eye drone images of the areas controlled by the Islamic State, exposure to the everyday life of the combatant and interviews with the Kurdish soldiers and their officers, the viewer becomes embedded in the struggle and comes to understand the driving force of the Kurdish involvement, the establishment of a Kurdish state.  This motivation persists against all odds.

Stefan Zweig, Farewell to Europe, Maria Schrader, Austria/ France/Germany, 2016 Schrader conveys in five parts and an epilogue a portrait of Stefan Zweig’s exiled life in the United States and Latin America. In official encounters he was glorified by politicians and fellow exiles yet to the consternation of his audience he refused to condemn publicly the Third Reich because for him such statements taken without risk were meaningless unless followed by effective action. He traveled widely and embraced Brazil as reflected in his 1941 book ‘Brazil: Land of the Future’ and moved to the German colonized small Brazilian town of Petropolis in 1940. Yet even in his beloved Brazil his mind remained homeless and he could not see starting a new life at his age. In his suicide note he revealed “my own language having disappeared from me and my spiritual home, Europe, having destroyed itself.” He concluded, “I salute all my friends! May it be granted to them yet to see the dawn after the long night! I, all too impatient, go on before.”

 Claus Mueller   filmexchange@gmail.com

New this year at the NYC Independent Film Festival is our Virtual Reality category! You can submit your presentations for consideration for our 2017 festival exclusively through our website or Filmfreeway through February 28! Visit http://bit.ly/1Jcd2Q1 for all info.

Berlinale 2017 Comes to a Splendid Close

The 67^th Berlin International Film Festival culminated with the presentation of the awards on Saturday, February 18 (see list of prize-winners).

Over eleven days, the Berlinale drew movie fans and the international film industry to cinemas and a large variety of events. Its reputation as the world’s biggest public festival was reconfirmed: a total of 334,471 tickets were sold. And with more than 7,000 visitors, the programme of the Berlinale Open House in the Audi Berlinale Lounge – with its Berlinale Lounge Nights and a variety of other events - was a crowd-puller.

Not only the Berlinale but also the European Film Market (EFM) can look back at a successful edition.

With 9,550 trade professionals from 108 countries at 192 stands, the EFM once again recorded a significant increase in participants this year. It was gratifying to observe the huge crowds at many different new EFM initiatives. The “Berlinale Africa Hub”, which debuted this year, achieved its goal of providing African film-making with an exceptionally attractive platform. Events within the framework of the “EFM Horizon presented by Audi” initiative, which focussed on the film industry of the future, were very popular as well.

In its third round, the expanded “Drama Series Days” again registered a rise in attendance. And with Mexico, the very first “Country in Focus” at the EFM also proved a resounding success.

Once more Berlinale’s activities for refugees were received with great enthusiasm: the Berlin International Film Festival had urged visitors to make donations for the traumatised children and adolescents at Zentrum ÜBERLEBEN. With the 17,574 euro (on Feb 20, 2017) collected, the centre will be able to provide its young patients with additional social and psychological support, as well as recreational activities.

About 1,400 people participated in a “movie mentoring” project in which volunteers from Berlin’s non-profit refugee aid organisations accompanied refugees to Berlinale screenings.

The 68^th Berlin International Film Festival will be held from February 15 to 25, 2018.