Turkish Delight – Festival On Wheels 2010 in Artvin
By Martin Blaney | December 31, 2010
Ron had always spoken warmly of Turkey’s Festival on Wheels – he had visited Bursa and Kars in 2005 and 2006, respectively (cf. reports in KINO – German Film of February and November 2006) – and so I gladly accepted the invitation from festival director Başak Emre and general secretary Dr. Ahmet Boyacioğlu to attend the 16th edition of the festival’s international section held in the eastern Turkish town of Artvin from December 10-16 to keep up a tradition.
Organised as in previous years by the Ankara Cinema Association, this year’s edition had spent a week (December 3-9) in Ankara before moving to Artvin and then travelling on for a final stage at the Black Sea town of Ordu from December 16-19.
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Polanski’s The Ghost Writer dominates at the 2010 European Film Awards
By admin | December 10, 2010
European Film Awards dominated by Polanski's The Ghost Writer
As Tallinn’s Black Nights Film Festival started winding down, all eyes turned to the 23rd European Film Awards which held in the Estonian capital to bringing the good and the great of European cinema together for their annual celebration of filmmakers from Portugal to Finland, and Ireland to Israel.
This year’s edition will go down in the Film Awards’ history as the one when the European Film Academy’s (EFA) 2,300 strong membership decided to break the record books by awarding Roman Polanski’s The Ghost Writer six prizes of its seven nominations, including distinctions for Best Film, Director, Actor (Ewan McGregor) and Production Designer (Albrecht Konrad).
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My Joy and The Poll Diaries triumph in Tallinn
By Martin Blaney | December 10, 2010
EurAsia Best Director Award winning Chris Kraus, courtesy PÖFF
The historical Estonian capital of Tallinn should be on everybody’s list of destinations for any time of the year, but in the weeks up to Christmas, the medieval old town is particularly attractive with its Christmas markets and the whiff of mulled wine in the air. For the past 14 years, another good reason to visit Tallinn has been to attend the Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) which was held between November 19 and December 5 under the able leadership of festival director Tiina Lokk.
“PÖFF audience sizes have remained relatively stable in spite of the blowing winds and economic crisis,” Lokk said in her introduction in the festival catalogue. “Last year’s attendance of close to 55,000 is a good indicator. For the sake of comparison, it should be noted that the number is around 300,000 in Berlin and that city is home to several million people! All this is very good – it all shows that Estonians have claimed PÖFF as their own.”
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Mannheim-Heidelberg Celebrates International Young Cinema
By Martin Blaney | December 9, 2010
Ahmet Boyacıoglu receives the International Jury’s Special Award for his feature debut Siyah Beyiz (Black and White), courtesy Norbert Bach/IFFMH
A year ahead of its 60th anniversary the Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival (November 11-21, 2010) remained true to its reputation as a platform for the new generation of filmmakers and followed the adage that “small is beautiful”.
“Compared to other film festivals, the trademark of Mannheim-Heidelberg is that we only show a limited number of films and can therefore take individual care of each film and its maker,” says festival director Michael Kötz who will celebrate his 20th anniversary at the head of the festival next year. In 2010, the festival presented 45 films in six programme sections which Kötz admits was perhaps fewer than his ideal, but this decision was dictated by the fact that he had one less screening venue in Mannheim and was not sure how the Heidelbergers would take to the two new temporary cinemas located above the old town in the Castle Gardens.
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Beyond the Image.
By Dorothea Holloway | December 3, 2010
An einem Nachmittag im November saßen wir beisammen – Martin Blaney, Gregor Sedlag und ich – und machten Pläne für KINO – German Film No: 99, 2011, die Berlinale-Ausgabe. Da schlug Martin vor aus Rons Doktorarbeit eine Passage über Ingmar Bergman zu zitieren. Das freute mich natürlich, denn die Berlinale wird eine Bergman-Retrospektive im Programm zeigen.
Beyond the Image. Approaches to the Religious Dimension in the Cinema, so der Titel von Rons Dissertation, und weiter – unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Filme von Ingmar Bergman, Robert Bresson und Karl Dreyer. Publiziert wurde die Arbeit vom Weltrat der Kirchen in Zusammenarbeit mit Interfilm. — Den Kontakt zum Weltrat der Kirchen bekam Ron durch John Taylor (WACC) World Association for Christian Communication und Jan Hes von Interfilm der Niederlande. In Church and Film in Dialogue (1955 – 2005) schreibt James M. Wall “John Taylor and Jan Hes, two film education pioneers to whom we all owe a great deal.” —
Ron war der erste Katholik, der an einer evangelischen Fakultät seinen Doktor machte, ermutigt durch meinen Bruder Dr. Dieter Moritz, der auch an der Universität Hamburg studiert hatte. Rons Doktorvater im Fach Praktische Theologie war der hochverehrte, liebenswerte Profesor Hans-Rudolf Müller-Schwefe. EIn wichtiger Ratgeber war auch Rune Waldekranz, den ich in Lübeck bei den Nordic Film Days kennenlernte; Waldekranz ist der Produzent von Bergman.
Das Cover für Beyond the Image schuf John Taylor. Er schenkte uns auch das Logo für das Cover von KINO – German Film, das wir nie verändern werden.
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Hof Film Days Fetes Bob Rafelson
By Dorothea Holloway | November 4, 2010
Bob Rafelson with Francine Brücher (left) and Ursula Wulfekamp (right), courtesy Hof Film Days
The German film community’s annual family gathering in the Franconian town of Hof kicked off this year with Florian Cossen’s feature debut Das Lied in mir (The Day I Was Not Born). The film had already won prizes at festivals in Montreal and Zurich and left Hof with this year’s Eastman Promotion Award for up-and-coming filmmakers.
Meanwhile, the Town of Hof Film Prize – awarded to a person having a special connection with the Film Days – went to the Oscar-winning filmmaker Caroline Link who had worked as a volunteer in Hof some 20 years ago. International filmmakers joining the next generation of German directors in Hof this year included Mike Leigh (Another Year), Olivier Assayas (Carlos), and Srdjan Koljevic (The Woman With A Broken Nose).
The 44th International Hof Film Days dedicated its retrospective to Bob Rafelson with ten films that the master had personally selected. The New Hollywood veteran and wife Gabrielle made the long journey to the festival which Ron Holloway had once called ‘the German Telluride’.
Wet and Porn.com – two featurettes directed by Rafelson for Regina Ziegler’s successful series Erotic Tales in co-production with WDR – were shown on the Friday evening (Oct 29). The cinema was full, and the audience was taken with the films and had a ball.
And now, the real surprise for me: the two films were shown again a day later on the Saturday morning to a really enthusiastic audience who were in a wonderful mood. Every nuance was understood! That was quite remarkable when one remembers that both films are in English and without any subtitles. There was a great atmosphere with these 30-minute Erotic Tales – a marvelous success. If only Ron could have been there to see it! It would also have been a perfect Saturday morning for Regina Ziegler and production manager Tanja Meding, since the films were then followed by Bob Rafelson in conversation with Robert Fischer – wonderful! Master filmmaker Rafelson in great fettle and clearly interested in speaking about his work, while Fischer had done his homework and was well prepared. I mean it as sincere praise when I say that the two reminded me of the German TV football pundits Delling and Netzer – or of Goethe’s Faust and Famulus Wagner!
(Click for German version)
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Hof 2010: Kulturpreis for Heinz Badewitz
By Dorothea Holloway | November 4, 2010
One could hardly imagine Heinz Badewitz being able to slip away from his own festival for even a few hours. However, he actually managed this year to travel to nerby Bamberg to receive a Culture Award which has been presented by the energy concern Eon Bayern in collaboration with the Bavarian Ministry of Science and Art since 2005.
In his laudatory speech for Badewitz, Eon Bayern CEO Thomas Barth described the Hof Film Days as an important contribution to the Bavarian cultural landscape. The festival, which was established by Badewitz and friends in 1967, continues to give a mighty boost to the Bavarian and German film scene. Heinz Badewitz has rendered particular service to the German cinema and his other awards include the Honorary German Film Prize which he received in 1998.
(Click for German version)
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Bitola Keeps on Filming
By Martin Blaney | November 3, 2010
Jury President Vilmos Zsigmond presents the Golden Camera 300 to Martin Gschlacht for Women Without Men, courtesy Manaki Brothers
Now into its third decade, the Manaki Brothers International Cinematographers’ Film Festival in Bitola, Macedonia, followed last year’s motto of “Keep on Dreaming” with a new one, “Keep on Filming”, as the event changed its dates from the end of September to the middle of October.
Actress-producer Labina Mitevska served as the festival director and built upon the successful formula introduced for the 30th anniversary edition last year of an extensive film programme – a record 95 films in 2010 – combined with a series of supporting educational and information events for the local filmmakers.
Away from the film programme, Manaki Brothers 2010 continued its Script Corner workshop for young screenwriters, introduced a series of workshops for budding local film critics, and played host to some 80 students coming from film schools from Macedonia, Bulgaria, Germany, France and Israel.
The 31st edition opened with the local gala premiere of Milcho Manchevski’s new film Mothers, a mystifying mix of fiction and documentary, which has been reportedly invited to screen in the Berlinale’s Panorama next February.
Moreover, the festival was blessed with a sprinkling of Hollywood glamour on the first weekend through the presence of actress Daryl Hannah who was presented with the Special Golden Camera 300 Award for an Outstanding Contribution to World Cinema Art.
This year’s Official Competition International Jury was headed by veteran DoP Vilmos Zsigmond (You Will Meet A Dark Stranger) and included last year’s Golden Camera 300 winner Natasha Braier (The Milk Of Sorrow), as well as Christine Dollhofer, director of the Crossing Europe film festival in Linz.
No less than five of 12 competition films were co-productions made with Germany ranging from Jaco van Dormael’s Mr Nobody, Semih Kaplanoglu’s Golden Bear winner Bal to Shirin Neshat’s feature debut Women Without Men and Samuel Maoz’s Golden Lion winner Lebanon.
The decision to hold the festival later in the autumn had been made to enable more cinematographers to travel to Bitola to represent their films in person, and several of them took the opportunity to meet colleagues and exchange views about the state of cinematography. Benoit Debie came from France for Enter The Void, Daniel Bouquet from The Netherlands for Nothing Personal, and Giora Bejach from Israel for Lebanon. A previous jury member in Bitola, Martin Gschlacht arrived from Austria to present Women Without Men, while Hungary’s Adám Fillenz was here in person for Pal Adrienn screening in the New Visions sidebar.
In addition, veteran British cinematographer Roger Pratt (12 Monkeys) was in town to be honoured with a Special Golden Camera 300 Award for an Outstanding Contribution to World Cinema Art.
This year’s Golden Camera 300 went deservedly to Martin Gschlacht for his work on Women Without Men. “If there was ever a perfect lighting and composition for a certain movie, this film shows what that lighting and composition could do,” the jury declared.
Meanwhile, the Silver Camera 300 was presented to Benoit Debie for creating “a new, unknown world” in Enter The Void, and the Bronze Camera 300 was awarded to Giora Bejach for his lighting of Lebanon. “The cinematographer had a very challenging job, shooting almost the entire movie within a small tank. He had come up with very creative lighting ideas, working in the most gruelling conditions,” the jury observed.
In addition, other awards were handed out to cinematographers Christoph Beaucarne (Mr Nobody), Daniel Bouquet (Nothing Personal) and Adam Filenz (Pal Adrienn).
Then, before the closing film You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger, Vilmos Zsigmond was presented with the Golden Camera 300 Lifetime Achievement Award and the Award for Cultural Diplomacy by the US Ambassador.
Programme selector Blagoja Kunovski and his colleagues of the sidebars should be congratulated for putting such an eclectic and thought-provoking programme together, while Labina Mitevska ensured in her gentle and unfussy manner that her second outing as festival director was as friendly and intimate as last year’s edition.
More information about the festival can be found at www.manaki.com.mk.
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Warsaw Film Festival 2010
By Martin Blaney | October 27, 2010
The music of Chopin was literally in the air during this year’s Warsaw Film Festival (8-17 October) which was held parallel with the 16th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition on the 200th anniversary of the composer’s birth.
Strolling along Poland’s most prestigious street Krakowskie Przedemiescie near the festival hotel, visitors to the Polish capital could activate a button on street benches to hear various works by the national composer being played. The competitions were broadcast live on local radio, and a daily magazine in Polish and English was distributed throughout the town together with a CD selection of the entrants’ performances.
However, the film festival was not to be left out and offered its own very special celebration of the Chopin anniversary. An extract from one of Chopin’s piano concertos was played over the official festival trailer before each film screening (the trailer can be accessed at the festival website www.wff.pl).
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Locarno Continues to be a Home from Home for Films from Germany
By Martin Blaney | August 25, 2010
Artistic director Olivier Père applauding Franceso Rosi as he receives his Career Achievement Award, courtesy Festival del Film Locarno
The change of Locarno Film Festival’s artistic director from Frédéric Maire to Frenchman Olivier Père this year didn’t see any great change in the festival’s traditional support for films from Germany or made with German partners.
No less than four of the 18 titles selected by Père for the International Competition were produced with German involvement: ranging from the world premieres of Benedek Fliegauf’s first English language film Womb, Pia Marais’ second feature At Ellen’s Age, and Serbian filmmaker Oleg Novkovic’s White White World to the international premiere of Bruce LaBruce’s L.A. Zombie, co-produced by Berlin-based Jürgen Bruning.
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