Saturday, March 28, 2015

Mauritanian director Abderrahmane Sissako would be the President of the Cinéfondation and Short Films Jury of 68th Festival de Cannes(13-24 May)

This great poet of contemporary Africa will follow in the footsteps of illustrious directors such as Abbas Kiarostami, Jane Campion, Michel Gondry, Hou Hsiao-hsien and Martin Scorsese. In 2014, the internationally acclaimed Timbuktu , directed by him caused the greatest emotion among the films in Competition at the Festival de Cannes
Born in Mauritania but brought up in Mali and trained in filmmaking in the Soviet Union – at the Moscow VGIK – Abderrahmane Sissako crosses cultures and continents. His work is suffused with humanism and social consciousness and explores the complex relations between North and South as well as the fate of a much-beleaguered Africa.

The Game, directed by Sissako during his final year at Film School, was presented at La Semaine de la Critique in 1991, followed two years later by the medium-length Octobre, at Un Certain Regard. Life on Earth andWaiting for Happiness, both featured in the Directors’ Fortnight in 1998 and Un Certain Regard in 2002, thus firmly establishing the director on the international scene.Bamako, a political parable caught between anger and utopianism, presented Out of Competition in 2006, was followed by Timbuktu in Competition in 2014. This vibrant fictional protest against religious fundamentalism was the first Mauritanian work to be nominated for Best Foreign Film at the Oscars. The African director chooses to combat the ominous climate of current events with the power of art and his conviction. “I would never want to make a film that somebody else could make, and I want to see films that I would never make. What’s important to me is the cinema of anonymity – addressing the conflicts but above all the suffering endured by anonymous people – empowering them and making them visible, testifying to their courage and their beauty.”
The President of the Cinéfondation and Short Films Jury and the four figures from the arts world accompanying him will award three prizes to films submitted by Film Schools to the Cinéfondation Selection, as well as the Short Film Palme d’or – to be presented during the Festival’s closing ceremony on Sunday 24 May 2015.





Tuesday, March 24, 2015

62nd National Film Awards were announced .

The 62nd National Film Awards were announced today by Jury Chairpersons directors P. Bharathiraja (Feature Film Jury), Kamal Swaroop (Non-Fiction Feature Film Jury) and Ziya Us Salam (Writing on Film Jury).   Chaitanya Tamhane’s multi-lingual debut feature Court won the  best Feature Film Award.  Best Actor awrd won by  Kannada actor Vijay and  Kangana Ranaut  the Best Actress award .Bengali filmmaker Srijith Mukerji bagged the award for Best Direction for his film Chotushkone.  Bengali feature Asha Jaor Majhe won the Indira Gandhi Award for the Best Film by a debut director Vishal Bhardwaj’s Haider, many a awards like  Best Dialogue, Choreography, Costume Design, Playback Singing and Music Direction.  Malayalam film Ottaal  directed by Jayaraj was adjudged the best film on environment conservation, Mary Kom was judged the best popular film providing wholesome entertainment.  Ain  was adjudged as  best Malayalam film and Kuttram Kadithal as  best Tamil Film.
 The full list :
Feature Film Awards
Best Feature Film: Court (Marathi, Gujarati, Hindi, English)
Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film Of A Director: Asha Jaor Majhe (Bengali)
Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment: Mary Kom (Hindi)
Best Film On Environment Conservation: Ottaal (Malayalam)
Best Direction: Srijith Mukherjee/ Chotushkone (Bengali)
Best Actor: Vijay/ Nan Avanalla Avalu (Kannada)
Best Actress: Kangana Ranaut/ Queen (Hindi)
Best Supporting Actor: Bobby Simha/ Jigarthanda (Tamil)
Best Supporting Actress: Baljinder Kaur/ Pagdi The Honour (Haryanvi)
 
Best Male Playback Singer: Sukhvinder Singh/ Haider (Hindi)
Best Female Playback Singer: Uttara Unnikrishnan/ Saivam (Tamil)
Best Costume Designer: Dolly Ahluwalia/ Haider (Hindi)
Best Music Direction: Vishal Bhardwaj/ Haider (Hindi)
Best Background Score: Gopi Sundar/ 1983 (Malayalam)
Best Choreography: Haider (Hindi)
Special Jury Mention: Khwada (Marathi)
Best Lyrics: Nag Muthukumar/ Saivam (Tamil)
Best Make-Up Artiste: Nangaraju & Raju/ Nan Avanalla Avalu (Kannada)
Best Production Design: Aparna Raina/ Nachom Ia Kumpasar (Konkani)
Best Audiography: Mahavir Sabbanwal/ Khwada (Marathi)
Best Sound Designing: Anish John/ Asha Jaor Majhe (Bengali)
Best Re-recording: Nirbashito (Bengali)
Best Original Screenplay: Srijith Mukherji/ Chatushkone (Bengali)
Best Cinematography: Sudip Chatterjee/ Chatushkone (Bengali)
Best Editing: Vivek Harshan/ Jigarthanda (Tamil)
Best Adapted Screenplay: Joshi Mangalath/ Ottaal (Malayalam)
Best Dialogues: Vishal Bhardwaj/ Haider (Hindi)
Best Children’s Film: Kakkai Muttai (Tamil), Elizabeth Ekadashi (Marathi)
Best Child Artiste: N. Vignesh, Ramesh/ Kakkai Muttai (Tamil)
Best Film on Social Issues: 
Chotoder Chobi (Bengali)
Best Assamese Film : Othello
Best Bengali Film: Nirbashito
Best Hindi Film: Queen
Best Kannada Film: Harivu
Best Malayalam Film: Ain
Best Marathi Film: Killa
Best Odiya Film: Aadim Vichar
Best Punjabi Film: Punjab 1984
Best Tamil Film: Kuttram Kadithal
Best Telugu Film: Chandamama Kathalu
Best Rabha Film: Orong
Best Haryanvi Film: Pagdi The Honour
 
Best Feature Films (Special Mention): Ain (Malayalam), Nachom Ia Kumpasar (Konkani), Killa (Marathi), Bhoothnath Returns (Hindi)
Best Educational Films: Komal, Behind The Glass Wall
Best Exploration/ Adventure Films: Life Force-India’s Western Ghats
Best Investigative Film: Phum Shang
Best Animation Film: Sound Of Joy
Best Short Fiction Film: Mitraa
 
Awards for Writing on Cinema
Best Film Critic: Tanul Thakur
Best Book On Cinema: Silent Cinema (1895-1930) by Pasupuleti Purnachandra Rao
Best Writing On Cinema (Special Mention): Pride Of Tamil Cinema by G. Dhananjayan
Non-Fiction Feature Films
Best Narration: Ambooty Devi/ Nithya Kalyani    
Best Editing: Andy Campbell/ Tigress Blood
Best Audiography: Tender Is The Sight
Best Cinematography: Indraneel Lehri/ Amar Katha: The Story Of Binodini
Best Direction: Renu Sawant/ Aranyak
Best Film On Family Values: Towards The Silver Lining 
Special Jury Mention: A Poet, A City, A Footballer
Best Film on Environmental Issues: I Cannot Give You My Forest
Best Film On Social Issues: Can’t Take This Shit Anymore, Daughters Of Mother India
Best Biographical/Historical Reconstruction: Amar Katha-The Story Of Binodini
Best Anthropological/Ethnographic Film: Qissa-The Parsi Story
Best Debut Film Of A Director: Goonga Pahalwan
Best Non-Fiction Feature Film: Tender Is The Sight

Friday, March 13, 2015

SECOND EDITION OF PARIS COPRODUCTION VILLAGE HAS BEEN LAUNCHED

THE SUBMISSION CALL FOR THE SECOND EDITION OF PARIS COPRODUCTION VILLAGE HAS BEEN LAUNCHED!
SAVE THE DATES: JUNE 10 – 12, 2015
PARIS COPRODUCTION VILLAGE is a development and financing platform organized by Les Arcs European Film Festival and hosted by the Champs-Elysées Film Festival. The event aims at encouraging European professionals to get involved in international coproductions
During this three-day event, 15 international film projects destined for French or European coproduction will be presented to producers, sales agents, distributors, financiers and fund representatives. In addition, the 6 residents of the Cannes Film Festival Cinéfondation will join the project selection.
Participants will benefit from one-to-one pre-scheduled meetings, networking events, as well as seminars taught by leading film industry professionals. During the first edition of Paris Coproduction Village, 550 meetings were organized, while participants from 150 companies (sales agents, distributors and producers) attended the event.
This platform complements the 4th edition of the Champs-Elysées Film Festival's US-IN-PROGRESS programme, which screens 4 US feature films in late stage of post-production seeking sales representatives.
Paris Coproduction Village is supported by the Ile-de-France region and organized in collaboration with our partners Champs-Elysées Film Festival, Cannes - Cinéfondation, Producers’ Network, ACE, EAVE, Europa International, HAF and CPH:LAB.

Paris Coproduction Village eligibility criteria
Only fiction, animation and documentary feature-length projects with director and script attached are eligible.
All applications must be submitted by a production company and have secured (or under negotiation) financing from their home territory.
All projects in development should not have French partners attached when submitted.

Paris Coproduction Village Team


Pierre-Emmanuel Fleurantin, CEO
Vanja Kaludjercic, Head of Industry
Guillaume Calop, Les Arcs General Manager
Jérémy Zelnik, Consultant and Co-Founder
 News courtesy : Gonul Donmez-Colin 

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Cinema Master Classes by Major Cinema Masters

From Alan Parker to Nanni Moretti, through Jean-Jacques Annaud, Costa-Gavras, Ettore Scola, Andrzej Wajda, Edgar Reitz and Margarethe von Trotta, who will presentthe Italian Première of her last film, "The Misplaced World".

An unprecedented parterre de rois, composed of eight great European film directors is about to take the stage of the Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari, to hold the always long awaited Cinema Master Classes. The lessons will run March 21st to 28th and will be organized by Bif&st and FIPRESCI, the International Federation of Film Critics, that will celebrate in Bari its 90th Anniversary.

The eight Master Classes, each preceded by a film of its "Maestro", will begin with Sir Alan Parker, introduced by film critic Derek Malcolm, who will begin his lesson right after the amazing 1978 movie "Midnight Express". It will then be the turn of Jean-Jacques Annaud, who, introduced by Michel Ciment, will begin after the screening of his 1997 movie "Seven Years in Tibet". That very same evening at the Petruzzelli there will be the absolute Italian premiere of his latest film "Le dernier loup" (Wolf Totem).

Greek author Costa-Gavras'  lesson will draw on his 2002 film "Amen", and on the controversial relationship between the pontificate of Pius XII and the Nazi Regime. Then it will be the time of a great maestro of the Italian Cinema, Ettore Scola, who will hold his Master Class after the screening of his "Una giornata particolare" (A special day). The 1977 movie, thanks to which Scola obtained his first Academy Award nomination, will be presented in its restored copy (by the National Film Library.

Polish Andrzej Wajda – winner of an Academy Award and a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement – will be introduced by cinema critic Grazyna Torbicka and will deal with his 50 years of film making, starting from one of his latest titles: the striking 2007 "Katyn", dealing with the Soviets' crimes in Poland at the inception of World War II.

Introduced by Klaus Eder, another legendary author: German Edgar Reitz director of "Heimat", the longer than 54 hours movie in 30 episodes, which obtained countless prizes over the years and often run on the big screen – will begin his Class from the recently restored Tv series episode "Hermännchen".

In 1981, in Venice, Margarethe von Trotta won both the Golden Lion and the FIPRESCI Award with "The German Sisters" (Die bleierne Zeit); this will be the movie that will spring the discussion with the German film director. On that very same evening and joined by main actress Katja Riemann, von Trotta will present the absolute Italian Première of her last film, "The Misplaced World", triumphantly welcomed at the last Berlin Film Festival.

Finally, introduced by French cinema critic Jean Gili, it will be the turn of another great Italian director included in the Cinema Master Classes panel: Nanni Moretti. His “lesson” will be kind of surprising and particular – and it will begin right after the screening of "Caro Diario" awarded at 1984 Cannes Film Festival, together with a plethora of other awards.

All film directors will be awarded the FIPRESCI 90 Platinum Award. Nanni Moretti will also receive the “Federico Fellini Platinum Award for cinematic excellence”, during the Festival closing Petruzzelli soirée.

"Never before, in the world history of film festivals, which I know very well" – as stated by Felice Laudadio, former director of Venice Film Festival and of  TaorminaFilmFest, and more than twelve other festivals both in Italy and abroad since 1979 – "a similar group of extraordinary authors was ever reunited in a single place to hold Cinema Classes, one after the other. As a senior journalist, I wish that the mass media, of all kinds, may give this extraordinary event the same attention reserved to events which are surely more, let's say "popular", but far less relevant on both the cultural and cinematic level. And I am not saying it because Bif&st needs more public – for that matter, we wouldn’t know how to accommodate it: last year there were more than 70,000 spectators for 8 days, with an average of 1,200 participants to each cinema lesson at the Petruzzelli; fully sold out, marking a sensational phenomenon – but because this kind of initiatives, if properly reported on newspapers, TV, radio and web, is the only means to fight and defeat the increasing cultural savagery." (Source: FIPRESCI)