FIPRESCI Grand Prix 2019 to Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma

  

Roma, by Alfonso Cuarón, was elected the best film of the past year by the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) and will receive the Grand Prix 2019 at the opening ceremony of the 67^th San Sebastián Film Festival, on the 20^th of September. In the past, the Grand Prix has gone to Paul Thomas Anderson, Maren Ade, Michael Haneke, Aki Kaurismäki, Cristian Mungiu, Richard Linklater, Jean-Luc Godard, Pedro Almodóvar, George Miller, and Jafar Panahi, among others.

A total of 618 critics and journalists from all over the world took part in the poll. All feature-length films that had their world première since July 2018 were eligible in an initial nominations phase, from which four finalists emerged: Pain and Glory (Dolor y Gloria, Pedro Almodóvar), Parasite (Gisaengchung, Bong Joon-ho), The Favourite (Yorgos Lanthimos) and Roma. The second round of votes resulted in a new triumph for the Mexican film, which started by winning the Golden Lion at Venice last year and went on to receive the Oscar awards to the Best Foreign Language Film, as well as Best Director and Best Cinematographer for Cuarón.

The FIPRESCI Grand Prix was created in 1999 and is presented every year at the San Sebastián Film Festival. It is the federation’s most representative acknowledgment, as it is not chosen by a jury (like the international critic's prize awarded to a film from a festival program), but is elected by all members, and all feature-length productions of the previous twelve months are eligible. 

FIPRESCI Grand Prix 2018 goes to "Phantom Thread" directed by Paul Thomas Anderson

Paul Thomas Anderson has become the first filmmaker to win the FIPRESCI Grand Prix three times, as Phantom Thread was chosen best film of the past year by the members of the International Federation of Film Critics, after "Magnolia" in 2000 and "There Will Be Blood" in 2008. The award will be presented on the 21^st of September, during the opening ceremony of the San Sebastián International Film Festival.

"Phantom Thread" was selected in a poll in which 473 film critics and journalists from around the world took part. The other three finalists, after a nomination phase open to all feature-length films, premièred internationally since July 2017, were Lucrecia Martel's "Zama", Martin McDonagh's "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri", and Pawel Pawlikowski's "Zimna Wojna" (Cold War).

The FIPRESCI Grand Prix exists since 1999, and is the federation’s most representative acknowledgment, as it is not chosen by a jury (like the International Critics Prize awarded to a film from a festival program), but is elected by all members, and all feature-length productions of the previous twelve months are eligible. In the past, this special award has been bestowed upon Michael Haneke, Aki Kaurismäki, Cristian Mungiu, Richard Linklater, Jean-Luc Godard, Pedro Almodóvar, George Miller, Jafar Panahi and Maren Ade, among others.

POST SCRIPT :

"Set in postwar London, amid the insular world of 50s haute couture, Phantom Thread is an oedipal gothic romance, a tale of lost mothers and broken spells, with secret messages (“never cursed”) sewn into its gorgeously cinematic cloth. A swooning score, crisp visuals and paper-cut-sharp performances combine to conjure a poisoned rose of a movie, inviting you to prick your finger on its thorns and succumb to its weird, dark magic."(The Guardian)

The Other Side of Hope" (Toivon tuolla puolen) won FIPRESCI Grand Prix 2017 .

FIPRESCI Grand Prix 2017 for "The Other Side of Hope" (Toivon tuolla puolen)

 Aki Kaurismäki to receive the award for the second time

"The Other Side of Hope" (Toivon tuolla puolen) is the best film of the past year, according to the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI). Aki Kaurismäki will receive the »FIPRESCI Grand Prix 2017« during the opening ceremony of the San Sebastián International Film Festival on September 22, after hundreds of film critics and journalists from around the world picked his Berlinale entry (and winner of the Silver Bear for Best Director) out of all feature-length films premièred internationally since July 2016. The Finnish filmmaker had already taken home the Federation's most comprehensive award fifteen years ago, when "The Man Without a Past" (Mies vailla menneisyyttä) was awarded the Grand Prix 2002.

The poll, open to all FIPRESCI members, received responses from 576 voters. In the first phase, any full-length work, of any origin and nature, could be nominated. The three finalists to reach the final phase were "The Other Side of Hope", Oscar winner "Moonlight" by Barry Jenkins, and Berlinale Golden Bear "On Body and Soul" (Testrol és lélekrol) by Ildikó Enyedi.

The FIPRESCI Grand Prix exists since 1999, and is the Federation's most representative acknowledgement, as it is not chosen by a jury (like the »International Critics Prize« awarded to a film from a festival's program), but is elected by all members among, and is open to all feature-length productions of the previous twelve months. In the past, this special award has been bestowed upon Michael Haneke, Cristian Mungiu, Paul Thomas Anderson, Jean-Luc Godard, George Miller and Maren Ade, among others.

FIPRESCI JURY PRIZES IN 70TH BERLIN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2017

PRIZES OF THE FIPRESCI JURY

The juries of the “Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique” (FIPRESCI), the international film critics association, viewed  films from the Competition programme ,the Panorama and Forum sections. They award a prize for the best film in each of these sections.

The Jury 2017 comprise of the following critics:

Competition
Alin Öjeni Tasçiyan (Jury President)
Dubravka Lakic
Denise Bucher

Panorama
Kerem Akca
Alejandra Trelles
Jennifer Borrmann

Forum
Sasja Koetsier
Rasha Hosny
Rüdiger Suchsland

PRIZE WINNER COMPETITION 2017

   

Testről éslélekről   (On Body and Soul)*

by Ildikó Enyedi

Jury statement
Testről és lélekről is an idiosyncratic love story full of lyricism and humour, free of all social conventions. It impresses us with the subtlety and eloquence of its style and involves us in its joy of living and loving.

PRIZE WINNER PANORAMA 2017

Pendular
by Julia Murat

Jury Statement
Pendular receives the FIPRESCI award in the Panorama section for its outstanding visual quality and its narrative force that results in an accurate portrait of two contemporary artists. The expression of the modern and bold choreography of human relations in the storyconnects perfectly with the aesthetic and dramatic originality of the 

film.

                     

PRIZE WINNER FORUM 2017

Shu'our akbar min el hob
by Mary Jirmanus Saba

Jury statement
This is a film which combines dense observation and sensitivity, multiple perspectives, several different sources of footage, plural personal histories and fates to a collective history of a country and a generation.
Full of melancholia, it is yet full of hope, the longing for a better future.
Documentary cinema at its best, this is exciting, thrilling, encouraging. Mary Jirmanus Saba has managed to deliver a very brave and mature debut film, which tells its audience a lot about the unknown history of the middle-east.
A search without the one answer, but with many hints and productive questions – a film which lives on for a long while after the screening is over. The feeling which lives with it is indeed greater than love. It is a feeling for others, for a society, for mankind. We call that politics.

*On Body and Soul won this year's Golden Bear for the best film,furthermore, it is worth pointing out that the Ecumenical Jury Prize also singled out On Body and Soul in the competition. 

FIPRESCI -Warsaw Critics Project 2016 Call for Participants

Applications are now open for the 11th FIPRESCI Warsaw Critics Project – a training programme for young critics and film journalists from Central and Eastern Europe coordinated by the Warsaw Film Foundation and FIPRESCI, the International Federation of Film Critics.
The workshop will be held during the 32nd Warsaw Film Festival between 7 and 16 October 2016. A group of young critics will be invited to the festival and have a unique opportunity to take part in one of the most prestigious film events in the region, meeting high-profile film professionals and contributing to the deliberation meeting that decides which film is awarded by the festival's FIPRESCI jury.
Deadline for applications: 15 September 2016.
More information at: http://wff.pl/journalists/workshop
http://www.fipresci.org/news/warsaw-critics-project-2017

Jameson CineFest Miskolc International Film Festival (September 9-14, 2016)

 Call for Young Talents

"Critical Skills Workshop"- an initiative of the Jameson CineFest Miskolc International Film Festival and FIPRESCI, the International Federation of Film Critics.

talentcampus@cinefest.hu

Young film critics and film journalists will be invited to Miskolc to report on the films of the 13th Jameson CineFest Miskolc International Film Festival (September 9-18, 2016)

The programme is designed for young (under 30) film critics or journalists in Eastern European countries: Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia. They should meet the following criteria:

· They must be fluent in English (writing and speaking)

· Be eager to report on films within the framework of the Jameson CineFest

· Have published articles in newspapers, film magazines or on specialised websites.

The participants are expected:

· To be willing to cover a broad range of journalistic work: you will write interviews, reviews, reports, articles and features on the Jameson CineFest Miskolc International Film Festival

· To attend editorial meetings with their mentors.

· Participants will grant unlimited use and exploitation rights in and to all articles and reviews written in the framework of the Talent Campus and the Jameson CineFest Miskolc International Film Festival. The resulting articles will be published on the websites of CineFest and FIPRESCI.

The participants will be offered:

· A share of the travel expenses according to their country of origin.

· Free accommodation from September 9 to 14, 2016.

· The opportunity to meet and to be with many young talented filmmakers from all over the world and to experience the day-to-day buzz of a prestigious festival with unique competition programmes and the screening of classics. The CineFest will remember Krysztof Kieslowski, screening his "Three Colors" trilogy. This year's Lifetime Achievement award winner, Juliette Binoche, will honour the Festival with her presence. The participants have an opportunity to watch Károly Makk's digitally re-mastered classics, meet the new Hungarian talents (Hungarian New Wave program) and explore the rich world of international cinema.

· Participants will be guided through the Jameson CineFest by experienced colleagues.

· Every day, participants will have the opportunity to write a critique of a film from the festival program or short reviews of an event at the Campus program, and will discuss and review it with your fellow participants and film critics.

The application should include:

· Curriculum vitae and personal data (address, email etc, as well as a passport photo).

· Up to three (3) articles (scan of the originals) that you have published in the last two years (if these articles are not in English you should supply us with a decent translation as a proof of your English writing skills for each article).

· A short text (up to 100 words) outlining why you want to write about cinema.

How to proceed with your application:

Send your request together with all documents to the festival, at talentcampus@cinefest.hu. The deadline is August 5, 2016. The participants will be informed by middle of August.

The "Critical Skills Workshop" is an initiative of the Jameson CineFest Miskolc International Film Festival and FIPRESCI, the International Federation of Film Critics.

"Mad Max: Fury Road" Wins FIPRESCI Grand Prix

George Miller will receive a new award for his latest dystopian film "Mad Max: Fury Road", at the upcoming San Sebastián Film Festival. The Australian filmmaker will collect the FIPRESCI Grand Prix 2015, attributed by film critics from all over the world, during the opening ceremony of the 63rd edition of the Spanish festival, on the 18th of September. "You could have knocked me over with a feather! It's lovely to have this great cohort of critics acknowledge our collective labours in this way," he replied to the announcement.
In an open poll, 493 members of the International Federation of Film Critics, FIPRESCI, first nominated any feature-length work premièred since July 2014, and then chose among four finalists: Hou Hsiao-Hsien's "The Assassin" (Nie yin niang), László Nemes's "Son of Saul" (Saul fia), Jafar Panahi's "Taxi" and Miller's "Mad Max: Fury Road".
The latest film in the Mad Max saga, which premiered in Cannes last May, will be screened as a special event during the San Sebastián Film Festival, where the FIPRESCI Grand Prix has been presented since its creation in 1999, to filmmakers like Jean-Luc Godard, Michael Haneke, Paul Thomas Anderson, Jafar Panahi, Pedro Almodóvar, Nuri Bilge Ceylan or Richard Linklater.

 This dystopian film tells us a story in the furthest reaches of our planet, in a stark desert landscape where humanity is broken, and everyone is fighting for the necessities of life, there are two rebels who just might be able to restore order—Max (Tom Hardy), a man of action and few words, who seeks peace of mind following the loss of his wife and child in the aftermath of the chaos, and Furiosa (Charlize Theron), a woman of action who believes her path to survival may be achieved if she can make it across the desert back to her childhood homeland. A typical dystopian film is one which is often, but not always, set in the future, in a society where the government is corrupt and/or ineffectual

Berlinale Talent Campus, Goethe Institute and FIPRESCI inform

CALL FOR ENTRIES - TALENT PRESS 2016

Berlinale Talents is a vibrant platform for emerging film critics and journalists to improve their working skills and discover current trends in world cinema. Along with our Talent Press partners we invite you to apply for the 2016 edition.

At Talent Press, the most promising critics and journalists from around the world meet people, review movies and take part in events throughout the entire festival and Berlinale Talents. They share their experiences and thoughts in an extensive essay, written under the tutelage of renowned mentors. All work done in Berlin is published at the partner websites of FIPRESCI (the International Federation of Film Critics) and Goethe-Institut as well as within the participants' own international media networks.

APPLY NOW AT http://www.berlinale-talents.de/story/41/application-2016.html
DEADLINE: 1 September 2015, 23:59 (CET)

Great to Meet You

Talent Press is designed for film critics and journalists (both online and print) who are approximately in the fifth to tenth year of their career and have already published articles in newspapers, film magazines, on websites etc. As English is the basic language for all Talent Press events, participants should be fluent in writing and speaking. All participants should be eager to report on films screened at the Berlin International Film Festival and on events held during Berlinale Talents.

Please get to know our former Talent Press participants

What We Will Offer You

Talent Press offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet and spend a week with 300 talented film creatives from all over the world and to experience the day-to-day buzz of a prestigious festival. You will be guided through the Talent Press programme and and receive feedback on your work by internationally renowned mentors and experts. According to your chosen topic for the essay, you have the opportunity to access film screenings, make interviews and take part in all masterclasses and other events of Berlinale Talents. Your work will be published and promoted on the websites of Berlinale Talents, Goethe-Institut and FIPRESCI. Berlinale Talents offers you free accommodation in Berlin during the time of the event. Furthermore, Berlinale Talents will cover a share of your travel expenses (depending on your country of origin).

See the World Differently

In addition to the Talent Press workshops, Berlinale Talents offers a programme of around 60 master classes, roundtables and interactive panel discussions per year. Film professionals from the Berlinale, the European Film Market and many other experts of international reputation and from various backgrounds give insights into their work and enter into a direct dialogue with the audience.

Last year's Summit welcomed Darren Aronofsky, Claudia Llosa, Matthew Weiner, Ursula Meier, Joshua Oppenheimer, Alex McDowell, Joanna Hogg, The Yes Men, Wim Wenders, Bong Joon-Ho, Walter Salles, and many more.

If you want to see and hear more, please watch the live recordings of all our past editions.

Talent Press 2015 Alumni Highlights

Ana Sturm: Kino! Printed in “Kino! NO. 25/26 2015”, Slovenia
http://www.e-kino.si

Julia Cooper: The National Post
http://news.nationalpost.com/arts/movies/everything-is-as-bad-as-possible-exploring-dystopic-spaces-at-the-berlinale

Monty Majeed: Alliance Of Women Film Journalists Blog
http://goo.gl/IwvDyY

Michael Guarneri: Mubi
https://mubi.com/notebook/posts/a-life-in-the-dark-a-conversation-with-dirk-meier

Alonso Díaz de la Vega: El Universal
http://beta.eluniversal.com.mx/blogs/alonso-diaz-de-la-vega/segunda-vuelta

Oriana Franceschini: Desistfilm
http://blog.desistfilm.com/2015/02/12/berlinale-pool-side-view/

Oris Aigbokhaevbolo: TNS – True Nollywood Stories / Bakwa Magazine
http://tns.ng/on-the-place-of-african-cinema-at-european-festivals/
http://bakwamagazine.com/2015/04/24/on-the-place-of-african-cinema-at-european-festivals/ 

FIPRESCI Prize- The Critics Awards- at 68th Festival de Cannes 2015

At the 68th Cannes Film Festival (May 13-24, 2015),three prizes have been presented by the International Federation of Film Critics – FIPRESCI.

Prize, Official Competition:

"Son of Saul" (Saul Fia) by László Nemes,

(Hungary 2015, 107 min).

Prize, Un Certain Regard:

"Masaan" by Neeraj Ghaywan 

(India, France, 2015, 103 min).

Prize, Parallel Sections:

"Paulina" (La Patota) by Santiago Mitre

(Argentine, Brazil, France, 2015, 103 min,

presented in the Critics' Week).

Jury members were:

Mario Abbade Neto, Brazil ("Jornal O Globo", "Almanaque Virtual")

Borborah Bitopan, India ("The Assam Tribune")

Jean Roy, France ("L'Humanité")

Müge Turan, Turkey ("Altyazi", "Arkapencere.com")

Richard Mowe, UK ("BBC Radio Culture Show", "Eye for Film")

Alex Masson, France ("Cinemateaser", "FHM", "Notre temps")

Steffen Moestrup, Denmark ("Le monde diplomatique", "Kristeligt Dagblad")

Clarence Tsui, Hong Kong ("The Hollywood Reporter")

Ramy Razek, Egypt ("El Masry El Yom").

Coordination: Pamela Biénzobas, Chile ("Revista de Cine Mabuse.cl").

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)

Fénix Awards -Ibero-American Critic's Award to Brazilian film critic José Carlos Avellar.

 In the first edition of the Fénix Awards the International Federation of Film Critics, FIPRESCI, has decided to bestow the Ibero-American Critic's Award to Brazilian film critic José Carlos Avellar. 

An admired and appreciated writer, critic, teacher and programmer, Avellar worked for over twenty year’s  for the newspaper Jornal do Brasil, and has published six books on Brazilian and Latin-American cinema. The former vice-president of FIPRESCI is also Berlinale's delegate in Brazil. 

FIPRESCI has teamed up with Cinema 23 in its effort to promote Ibero-American cinema, and will acknowledge the contribution to film criticism in the region through the Ibero-American Critic's Award every year within the Fénix Awards .The first edition will take place on Thursday, October the 30th, in Mexico City. The ceremony will be broadcasted live (at 8:30 PM local time) by E! Entertainment Television in Latin America, by Cinelatino in the United States, and by Canal 52 in Mexico.