2013 German Film Award Winners

Posting winners as they are announced via Twitter and facebook.  When info becomes available at official site, will confirm winners.  All winners are confirmed in official site that you can check here.

Honorary Lola goes to Werner Herzog; Audience Award Lola to Schlussmacher by Matthias Schweighöfer and Torsten Künstler.

Seems that Oh Boy will win most major awards... only one to go... and went to Oh Boy, which becomes the big winner tonight.

Winners are in BLUE.

3/22/13
A few hours ago the Deutsche Filmakademie (German Film Academy) announced the nominees for the Deutscher Filmpreis (German Film Awards) -better known as Lolas- and Cloud Atlas leads the pack with 9 nods including top award and Best Director closely followed by Jan Ole Gester's debut film Oh Boy with eight nods.

These are the nominees for all the 16 categories.

Best Film
Cloud Atlas, Lana Wachowski, Andy Wachowski and Tom Tykwer
*Hannah Arendt, Margarethe von Trotta BEST FILM IN SILVER
*Lore, Cate Shortland BEST FILM IN BRONZE
*Oh Boy, Jan Ole Gerster  BEST FILM IN GOLD
Quellen des Lebens, Oskar Roehler
Die Wand (The Wall), Julian Roman Pölsler

Best Director
*Jan Ole Gester for Oh Boy
Margarethe von Trotta for Hannah Arendt
Lana Wachowski, Andy Wachowski and Tom Tykwer for Cloud Atlas

Best Actress in a Leading Role
Martina Gedeck in Die Wand (The Wall)
Birgit Minichmayr in Gnade (Mercy)
*Barbara Sukowa in Hannah Arendt

Best Supporting Actress
Margarita Broich in Quellen des Lebens
Friederike Kempter in Oh Boy
*Christine Schorn in Das Leben ist nichts für Feiglinge

Best Actor in a Leading Role
Edin Hasanovic in Schuld sind immer die Anderen
*Tom Schilling in Oh Boy
Sabin Tambrea in Ludwig II

Best Supporting Actor
*Michael Gwisdek in Oh Boy
Robert Gwisdek in Das Wochenende (The Weekend)
Ernst Stötzner in Was Bleibt (Home for the Weekend)

Best Screenplay
Pam Katz and Margarethe von Trotta for Hannah Arendt
*Jan Ole Gerster for Oh Boy
Anna Maria Praßler for Schuld sind immer die Anderen

Best Cinematography
Adam Arkapaw for Lore
Jakub Bejnarowicz for Gnade (Mercy)
*John Troll and Frank Briebe for Cloud Atlas

Best Art Direction
Susann Bieling for Die Abenteuer des Huck Finn
*Uli Hanisch and Hugo Bateup for Cloud Atlas
Udo Kramer for Die Vermessung der Welt (Measuring the World)

Best Editing
*Alexander Berner for Cloud Atlas
Anne Fabini for More Than Honey
Anja Siemens for Oh Boy

Best Sound Design
*Christian Bischoff, Uve Haussig and Johannes Konecny for Die Wand (The Wall)
Benjamin Krbetschek and Holger Lehmann for Du hast es Versprochen (Forgotten)
Stefan Soltau, Björn Wiese and Dominik Rätz for Gnade (Mercy)
Markus Stemler, Ivan Sharrock, Frank Kruse, Matthias Lempert, Roland Winke and Lars Ginzel for Cloud Atlas

Best Film Score
*The Major Minors and Cherilyn MacNeil for Oh Boy
Max Richter for Lore
Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek and Reinhold Heil for Cloud Atlas

Best Costume Design
*Kym Barrett and Pierre-Yves Gayraud for Cloud Atlas
Stefanie Bieker for Lore
Frauke Firl for Hannah Arendt
Thomas Oláh for Die Vermessung der welt (Measuring the World)

Best Make Up
Jeannette Latzelsberger, Gregor Eckstein, Elke Lebender, Stephanie Däbritz and Julia Rinkl for Quellen des lebens
*Daniel Parker and Jeremy Woodhead for Cloud Atlas
Astrid Weber for Hannah Arendt

Best Documentary
*More Than Honey, Markus Imhoof
Vergis Mein Nicht, David Sieveking
Die Wohnung (The Flat), Arnon Goldfinger

Best Children's Film
Das Haus der Krokodile (Victor and the Secret of Crocodile Mansion), Cyrill Boss and Philipp Stennert
*Kaddisch für einen Freund, Leo Khasin

To check the official list go here.  Awards ceremony will take place on April 26 in Berlin's Friedrichstadt-Palast, will be broadcast live by ZDF and will be hosted by Mirjam Weichselbraun.

There are many interesting films among the nominees, specially the family/personal dramas that seem to have interesting stories but there are a few period films and/or historical real life people  that also could be interesting. Among the documentaries The Flat has become must be seen for me. Great.

66th Festival de Cannes Official Selection Lineup - Update 1

Today organizers announced five (5) more films in the Official Selection, with Jim Jarmusch's Only Lovers Left Alive (with Tilda Swinton) going into the Competition, Claude Lanzmann's Le Dernier des Injustes out of competition and three (3) films in Un Certain Regard: Lucia Puenzo's Wakolda, Hiner Saleem's My Sweet Pepperland and Katrin Gebbe's Tore Tanzt.

4/18/13
A few minutes ago the Official Selection lineup was unveiled and yes, there are some very positive surprises for me even when most films in the main competition are the ones everyone was buzzing and speculating will make the selection. The surprises: the latest film by master filmmaker Jia Zhangke, one of my favorite Sixth Generation Chinese directors, and none other than Amat Escalante that even when his films are quite violent, truly mesmerizes me with his particular and peculiar style. Fantastic!

My biggest non-positive surprise is to find Steven Soderbergh latest film in the Official Selection (?!) not only is a TV movie (is HBO) but the film stills and promotion material seems truly awful representation of Liberace. Obviously now I know will expect more from this movie that will premier Sunday, May 26 at 9pm on HBO.

As have been doing in previous years in one post will list ALL films that made this year selection and will update as soon as they announce new films in any section.

Competition

Behind the Candelabra, Steven Soderbergh, USA
Borgman, Alex van Warmerdam, Netherlands
Grisgris, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, France and Chad
Heli, Amat Esclante, Mexico
Inside Llewyn Davis, Ethan and Joel Coen, USA
Jeune et Jolie, François Ozon, France
Jimmy P. (aka Jimmy Picard) (Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian), Aranud Desplechin, USA
La Vie d'A Adèle (aka Le Bleu est une coleur chaude), Abdellatif Kechiche, France
La Grande Bellezza (The Great Beauty), Paolo Sorrentino, Italy and France
La Vénus à la fourrure (Venus in Fur), Roman Polansky, France
Le passé (The Past), Asghar Farhadi, France
Michael Kohlhaas, Arnaud des Pallières, France and Germany
The Immigrant (aka Lowlife), James Gray, USA
Nebraska, Alexander Payne, USA
Only Lovers Left Alive, Jim Jarmusch, USA
Only God Forgives, Nicolas Winding Refn, France and Denmark
そして父になる Soshite chichi ni naru (Like Father, Like Son), Hirokazu Kore-eda, Japan
天注定 Tian Zhu Ding (A Touch of Sin), Jia Zhangke, China
Un château en Italie, Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi, France
藁の楯 わらのたて Wara No Tate (Shield of Straw), Takashi Miike, Japan

Out of Competition
Opening Film: The Great Gatsby, Baz Luhrmann, Australia and USA
Closing Film: Zulu, Jérôme Salle, France
All is Lost, J.C. Chandor, USA
Blood Ties, Guillaume Canet, France and USA
Le dernier des injustes, Claude Lanzmann, France and Austria

The Jury
President: Steven Spielberg, director, USA
Naomi Kawase, director, Japan
Cristian Mungiu, director, scriptwriter and producer, Romania
Lynne Ramsay, director, scriptwriter and producer, UK
Ang Lee, director, scriptwriter and producer, Taiwan
Daniel Auteuil, actor and director, France
Christoph Waltz, actor, Austria
Nicole Kidman, actress and  producer, Australia
Vidya Balan, actress, India

Un Certain Regard

Opening Film: The Bling Ring, Sofia Coppola, USA
Anonymous, Mohammad Rasoulof, Iran
As I Lay Dying, James Franco, USA
(*) Bends, Flora Lau, Hong Kong and China
Death March, Adolfo Alix Jr., Philippines
(*) Fruitvale Station, Ryan Coogler, USA
Grand Central, Rebecca Zlotowski, France
(*) La Jaula de Oro, Diego Quemada-Diez, Mexico
Les Salauds, Claire Denis, France
L'Image Manquante, Rithy Panh, Cambodia
L'Inconnu du lac, Alain Guiraudie, France
(*) Miele, Valeria Golino, France and Italy
My Sweet Pepperland, Hiner Saleem, Turkey, Iran, Irak
Norte, Hanggan ng kasaysayan (Norte, The End of History), Lav Diaz, Philippines
Omar, Hany Abu-Assad, Palestine and USA
(*) Sarah préfère la course, Chloé Robichaud, Canada
(*) Tore Tanzt, Katrin Gebbe, Germany
Wakolda, Lucía Puenzo, Argentina, Spain, France, Germany and Norway

Un Certain Regard Jury
President: Thomas Vinterberg, director, scriptwriter and producer, Denmark

Special Screenings
Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight, Stephen Frears, USA (TV movie)
Seduced and Abandoned, James Toback, USA (Documentary)
Stop the Pounding Heart, Roberto Minervini, Italy, Belgium and USA
Week End of A Champion, Roman Polanski, UK, 1972 (Documentary)

Midnight Screenings
盲探 Man Tam (Blind Detective) , Johnnie To, Hong Kong
(*) Moonsoon Shootout, Amit Kumar, India and UK

Cannes Classics
Vertigo, Alfred Hitchcock, USA, 1958

Jerry Lewis' Tribute
Max Rose, Daniel Noah, USA

Gala Screening, Tribute to India
Bombay Talkies, Zoya Akhtar, Dibakar Banerjee, Anurag Kashyap and Dibakar Banerjee, India

Short Films Competition
37°4 S, Adriano Valerio, France, 11'
Bishtar az do saat (More Than Two Hours), Ali Asgari, Iran, 15'
Condom Lead, Mohammed Abou Nasser and Ahmad Abou Nasser, Palestine and Jordan, 14'
Hvalfjörður (Whale Valley, Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson, Iceland and Denmark, 15'
Inseki to Impotence (The Meteorite and Impotence), Omoi Sasaki, Japan, 10'
Mont Blanc, Gilles Coulier, Belgium, 14'
Olena, Elżbieta Benkowska, Poland, 14'
Ophelia, Annarita Zambrano, Poland, 14'
Safe, Moon Byoung-gon, South Korea, 13'

Cinéfondation Selection
Asunción, Camila Luna Toledo, Chile, 21', (Pontificia Universidad Catolica)
Au-delà de l'Hiver (After the Winter), Zhi Wei Jow, France, 19' (Le Fresnoy)
Babaga, Gan de Lange, Israel, 26' (The Sam Spiegel Film & TV School)
Contrafábula de una Niña Disecada (Fable of a Blood-Drained Girl), Alejandro Iglesias Mendizábal, Mexico, 25' (CCC)
Danse Macabre, Małgorzata Rżanek, Poland, 5' (Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw)
Duet, Navid Danesh, Iran, 24', (Karnameh Film School)
En Attendant le dégel (Waiting for the Thaw), Sarah Hirtt, Belgium, 20' (INSAS)
Exil (Exile), Vladilen Vierny, France, 16' (La fémis)
Going South, Jefferson Moneo, USA, 15' (Columbia University)
În acvariu (In the Fishtank), Tudor Cristian Jurgiu, Romania, 20' (UNATC)
Mañana Todas Las Cosas (Tomorrow All The Things), Sebastián Schjaer, Argentina, 17' (UCINE)
Needle, Anahita Ghazvinizadeh, USA, 21' (The School of the Art Institute of Chicago)
O Šunce, Eliška Chytková, Czech Republic, 6' (Tomas Bata University in Zlίn)
Pandy (Pandas), Matúš Vizár, Czech Republic, 12' (FAMU)
The Magnificent Lion Boy, Ana Caro, UK, 10' (NFTS)
The Norm of Life, Evgeny Byalo, Russia, 23' (High Courses for Scriptwriters and Film Directors)
Seon (The Line), Kim Soo-Jin, South Korea, 27' (Chung-Ang University)
Stepsister, Joey Izzo, USA, 18' (San Francisco State University)

Special Screening
(*) Otdat Konci (Bite The Dust), Taisia Igumentseva, Russia

Short Films and Cinéfondation Jury
President: Jane Campion, director, New Zealand
Majida Abdi, actress, director and producer, Ethiopia
Nicoletta Braschi, actress and producer, Italy
Nandita Das, actress, India
Semih Kaplanoğlu, director, writer and producer, Turkey

(*) First film competes for the Camera d'Or

Main Competition, Out of Competition, Special Screenings and Tributes info, film stills or trailers @MOC
Un Certain Regard info, film stills or trailers @MOC
Check trailers for some Cinéfondation shorts at MOC.

Read basic info for all films but will continue finding more information, film stills and/or trailers and will upload them at MOC. So will update links to each section asap.

21st L'ACID Selection

Reliable news have already the ACID selection even when it is not posted at the official site of L'Association du Cinéma Indépendant pour sa Diffusion, so I'm doing post and will confirm as soon as they publish at official site plus will add the special screenings and any other event they program for this year.

Update
The announcement is up at official site thus films are confirmed.

These are the nine (9) feature films in the 2013 selection

Au Bord du Monde, Claus Drexel, France
Braddock America, Jean-Loic Porton and Gabriella Kessler, France (documentary)
C’est eux les chiens, Hicham Lasri, Morocco
Deux automnes, trois hivers, (Two Autumns, Three Winters), Sébastien Betbeder, France

La Bataille de Solferino, Justine Triet, France
Ô Heureux Jours!, Dominique Cabrera, France (documentary)
Swandown, Andrew Kötting, UK
The Strange Little Cat, Ramon Zürcher, Germany
Wajma, Barmak Akram, France and Afghanistan

For me it is a big surprise to find in L'ACID selection Barmak Akram's film Wajma, which won an award at 2013 Sundance as its presence in this section means that has no distribution.

Around minute 2 the list of movies begin with images in the below video, but if you wish to see the photos pleas go here.

45th Quinzaine des Réalisateurs Lineup

Today Edouard Waintrop, Artistic Director, announced the Directors' Fortnight selection that includes comedies, thrillers, 2 horror films, and 3 documentaries. A total of 21 features will screen with 17 world premieres selected after checking 3,311 titles.

There are some surprises as Yolande Moreau's first solo film, Sebastian Silva's film, the only Romanian film in all Cannes (a short) plus the most surprising duo of Jodorowsky films (!) one by him and another about him.  But most impressive is the fact that I have seen one of the films in the selection, fabulous short film Swimmer by Lynne Shelton!

Feature Films
Opening Film: The Congress, Ari Folman, Israel, Germany, Poland, France and Belgium
Closing Film: Henri, Yolande Moreau, France and Belgium

A Strange Course of Events, Raphaël Nadjari, Israel and France
(*) Les Apaches, Thierry de Peretti, France
(*) Ate ver a luz (After The Night), Basil Da Cunha, Switzerland
Blue Ruin, Jeremy Saulnier, USA
La Danza de la Realidad, Alejandro Jodorowsky, France, Chile and Mexico
(*) L'Escale, Kveh Bakhtiari, France and Switzerland (documentary)
(*) La Fille du 14 Juillet, Antonin Peretjatko, France
(*) Ilo Ilo, Anthony Chen, Singapore
(*) Jodorowsky's Dune, Frank Pavich, USA (Documentary)
(*) Last Days on Mars, Ruairi Robinson, UK and Ireland
(*) Les Garçons et Guillaume, à table!, Guillaume Gallienne, France
Magic Magic, Sebastián Silva, USA and Chile
On The Job, Erik Matti, Philippines
The Selfish Giant, Clio Barnard, UK
Tip Top, Serge Bozon, France
Ugly, Anurag Kashyap, India
Un Voyageur, Marcel Ophuls, France
El Verano de los Peces Voladores, Marcela Said, France and Chile
We Are What We Are, Jim Mickle, USA

(*) Competing for the Camera d'Or

Short Films
Gambozinos, João Nicolau, France and Portugal
Lágy Eső, Dénes Nagy, Belgium and Hungary
Le quepa sur la vilni, Yann Le Quellec, France
Man kann nicht alles auf einmal tun, aber man kann alles auf einmal lassen, Marie-Elsa Sgualdo, Switzerland
O umbra de nor, Radu Jude, Romania
Pouco mais de um mês, André Novais Oliveira, Brazil
Que je tombe tout le temps?, Eduardo Williams, France
Solecito, Oscar Ruiz Navia, Colombia, Denmark and France
Swimmer, Lynne Ramsay, UK

Beyond the selection, Directors’ Fortnight will host a range of peripheral events this year. These include the Taipei Factory, a joint initiative between Directors Fortnight and the Taiwan Film Commission to team four Taiwanese directors with four other filmmakers from around the world. The resulting shorts will be screened at Directors’ Fortnight.

Taipei Factory

The Pig, Singing Chen (Taiwan) and Jero Yun (Korea)
Silent Asylum, Midi Z (Taiwan) and Joana Preiss (France)
A Nice Factory, Shen Ko-Shang (Taiwan) and Luis Cifuentes (Chile)
Mr. Chang’s New Address, Chang Jung-Chi (Taiwan) and Alireza Khatami (Iran)

Other events includes a Tribute to Jane Campion, who this year will receive the Carrosse d'Or and the Directors' Assembly consisting of two panels to discuss key issues impacting the film industry today.

Directors' Assembly Program

Session 1 - Saturday May the 18th
Independent directors’ experiences worldwide

From their experiences, directors will talk about film production conditions and financial support schemes for cinema worldwide. It can be about the independent cinema in the United States, financing schemes in India, China, Brazil, and about everything directors wish to point out as well… They will talk about new creative and economic momentum that they conjure up to make their films. Daring productions sometimes turn away from cinema support schemes, as their heaviness and slowness weigh on creative energy. It will be about putting those systems and those different context to the test of the filmmaking reality and the work methods of each.

A new global and multipolar cinema leads to rapid mutations of our professional practices…

Session 2 - Tuesday May 21st
The European crisis and its consequences on its Member States’ cultural policies

Often in Europe, institutional stakeholders, producers and distributors script debates about cinema economics in which directors have a hard time finding their rightful place. Re-assessment of national cinema support schemes, coproductions difficulties, European funds shrinking… what role can they play in discussions about cultural policies ?

Cinema is not just an industry, neither is it an industry like any other : between cultural ambition and economic power, how to solve the visible contradiction between regulation, competition and cultural exception ?

Will check all films for info, original names, etc. and will update post accordingly ASAP.

52nd Semaine de la Critique Lineup

A few minutes organizers released a video with Charles Tesson, Semaine Artistic Director, announcing this year selection with films that seem will be the usual "strange" films, which is absolutely Great!

As always there are seven (7) films in the Selection of 1st or 2nd films.

For Those in Peril, Paul Wright, UK
Dabba (The Lunchbox), Ritesh Batra, India, France and Germany
Le Démantèlement (The Dismantlement), Sébastien Pilote, Canada
Los Dueños, Agustin Toscano and Ezequiel Radusky, Argentina
Nos héros sont morts ce soir, David Perrault, France
Salvo, Fabio Grassadonia and Antonio Piazza, Italy and France
МАЙОР The Major, Yury Bykov, Russia

Special Screenings
Opening Night: Suzanne, Katell Quillévéré, France
Closing Night: TBA
Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, David Lowery, USA
Les Rencontres d’après minuit, Yann Gonzalez, France

Short Films
Agit Pop, Nicolas Pariser, France
Breathe Me, Han Eun-young, South Korea
Komm und Spiel (Come and Play), Daria Belova, Germany
La lampe au beurre de Yak, Hu Wei, France and China
Océan, Emmanuel Laborie, France
Pátio, Ali Muritiba, Brazil
Pleasure, Ninja Thyberg, Sweden
Tau Seru, Rodd Rathjen, India and Australia
The Opportunist, David Lassiter, USA
Vikingar, Magali Magistry, France and Iceland

Check info, stills and/or trailer @MOC

Film info is not yet at site, but will check the net to find what is available for each film. In the meantime see the video with the announcement (has English subtitles) to check photos from some of the films.

2013 Cannes Film Festival News

In last Thursday press conference besides announcing the lineup a few more things happened that are worth sharing. First was the release of "A Word From The President" were Gilles Jacob tells us about his vision for current edition and second, a hosting fund raising auction with Plantu & Friends in an event called Cartooning For Peace.

A Word From The President

Everyone knows the Cannes event that changes every year: poster, films, juries, prizes; behind its walls, there’s also an attitude which, decade in decade out, guarantees the continuing existence of this institution. The idea is one I particularly like, and it sees the festival as a shelter for endangered artists. Our influence has a long history: in the 1970s, already, Robert Favre le Bret and Maurice Bessy fou ght over Andrei Tarkovski; next, with Pierre Viot, we invited film makers harassed in their own countries, but who would be protected by the aura of the festival. Such watchfulness set precedents. I’m not going to list the names of those who benefitted, from Eastern Europe, Asia or the Middle East, but when we come across them, even years later, the warmth of their friendship is proof of their gratitude. And our doors remain open, both to them and to others... To all the others ...

Cannes, land of welcome. The 2013 edition illustrates – quite literally – this trait of ours. Indeed, we’ve invited press cartoonists to attend, they who have their own unique way to fight for liberty. On the press floor, under the eye of Plantu, there’ll be an exhibition of satirical, sharp and talented drawings on the theme of cinema. You’ll find a note about it in your press books.

And, so it is, that cartoonists from countries where freedom of expression is not a given will be rubbing up against each other. It’s like a signal: in the freest of countries, isn’t the ultimate dream of those in power for critics of their actions to be completely ignored? We must do all we can to ensure that the light of cartoonists, their art which consists in withholding nothing while summarizing fully in a single image, that that light never goes out: it’s the very last bastion against the despotism and dictatorship of the strong over the weak. By programming an event within which lies inherent a call to insurrection, the festival should perhaps fear that one day it might fall victim itself!

There is another philosophy that leaders should never forget, and that’s the hard work over many years that has enabled the identifying, help with developing, the encouraging, confidence-building and the time-saving given to successive generations of young film makers. We’ve been at this task of sifting and educating, or monitoring, rather, for a long time via a consistent process which became the Caméra d’or, the Cinéfondation and it’s Résidence, and the Atelier... I never miss a chance to say: sow and you shall reap the Fellinis of tomorrow. And the Bergmans and Buñuels. And the Jane Campions.

We thank the great artists who give of their time, expertise and enthusiasm to our young green shoots by heading up the Cinéfondation and short film jury. Helping burgeoning film makers dodge difficulties, get their projects known , and find the money to make them: that’s vocational for a few generous artists who find helping the newcomers to be vocational.

Thus, our good fairy this year is Jane Campion, who loved the idea of presiding over this jury, in the wake of Scorsese, Kusturica, the Dardenne brothers, Hou Hsiao Hsien, and all the others... Lady Jane, as I’ve been calling her since we met, is power, unity, harsh poetry and violence. She knows what she’s talking about. The three shorts of hers that we screened as a group when she first came in ’86 encapsulated everything about her world. They were great for all of the qualities mentioned, but they were also great because they were not copies of things that already existed. And then, 7 years after
Peel, The Piano won the Palme d’Or. What a beautiful example, what an inspiration for our filmmakers of tomorrow... At her side will be Maji-daAbdi, the Ethiopian director and producer, Nicoletta Braschi, the Italian actress, Nandita Das, the Indian actress and Semih Kaplanoglu, the Turkish director.

And now, it’s time to switch on the projectors, the official selection is about to be revealed...

Gilles Jacob

So, besides giving us his vision about this years' festival, praising Jane Campion and presenting us the complete Short Films and Cinéfondation jury, he announced an event that hopefully we will be able to see the works online, as yes I am curious to see the cartoons, especially those of many of my favorite directors.

The Event: Les dessins de la Liberté

The Festival de Cannes is hosting a fund raising auction sale on Monday, 20th of May at the Festival Agora to support Cartooning for Peace. This event, co-organized by Piasa, will present cartoonists Willis from Tunis (Tunisia), Dilem (Algeria), Kichka (Israel) and Plantu (Le Monde and L’Express) and will be conducted by the auctioneer James Fattori. For this unprecedented meeting between editorial cartoons and films, original collector artwork will be put on sale. The funds raised will benefit Cartooning for Peace to support their action.

Created in 2008 by Kofi Annan and Plantu, Cartooning for Peace aims to promote a better understanding and mutual respect between people of different cultures and beliefs using editorial cartoons as a universal language, by subtly shaking politically correct mindsets.

The exhibition linked to the benefit event, will be presented at the Palais des Festivals, during the whole festival.

A selection of eighty cartoons portrays legendary films, the film industry and famous film directors such as Fellini, Bergman, Spielberg or Haneke, in a light and satirical tone. Some cartoons also remind us that cinema creativity is still threatened in countries such as Iran or Algeria. If a film director has a problem with authorities, cartoonists from all over the world will take his defense and report freedom of expression violations.

Freedom of expression is under the spotlight to defend artistic freedom!

Nice work Cannes.

Cheers!!!

66th Festival de Cannes Short Films and Cinéfondation Lineup

While the Official Selection of feature films for the 66th Festival de Cannes will be revealed on Thursday 18th April, the list of Short Films is unveiled today.

As we already know the Cinéfondation and Short Films Jury, presided by Jane Campion, will announce the award winners for the Short Film Competition and the Cinéfondation Selection.

Short Films Competition

This year, the Selection Committee received 3,500 short films, representing productions from no fewer than 132 countries.

Nine films will compete in 2013 for the Short Film Palme d’Or, to be awarded by Jane Campion, President of the Jury, at the Closing Ceremony of the 66th Festival de Cannes on 26th May. For the first time, a Palestinian film will take part in the Short Films Competition.

37°4 S, Adriano Valerio, France, 11'
Bishtar az do saat (More Than Two Hours), Ali Asgari, Iran, 15'
Condom Lead, Mohammed Abou Nasser and Ahmad Abou Nasser, Palestine and Jordan, 14'
Hvalfjörður (Whale Valley, Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson, Iceland and Denmark, 15'
Inseki to Impotence (The Meteorite and Impotence), Omoi Sasaki, Japan, 10'
Mont Blanc, Gilles Coulier, Belgium, 14'
Olena, Elżbieta Benkowska, Poland, 14'
Ophelia, Annarita Zambrano, Poland, 14'
Safe, Moon Byoung-gon, South Korea, 13'

Cinéfondation Selection

The Cinéfondation Selection selected 18 films (14 fiction films and 4 animated films) among the 1,550 submitted this year from 277 schools from all around the world

By focusing on the quality of work submitted by lesser-known institutions, the Selection is a true reflection of the diversity of film schools. This year sees a particularly significant broadening of scope, with a third of the schools being selected for the first time and one country – Chile – which has never previously been selected.

The following are the short films in competition; the schools are in parenthesis.

Asunción, Camila Luna Toledo, Chile, 21', (Pontificia Universidad Catolica)
Au-delà de l'Hiver (After the Winter), Zhi Wei Jow, France, 19' (Le Fresnoy)
Babaga, Gan de Lange, Israel, 26' (The Sam Spiegel Film & TV School)
Contrafábula de una Niña Disecada (Fable of a Blood-Drained Girl), Alejandro Iglesias Mendizábal, Mexico, 25' (CCC)
Danse Macabre, Małgorzata Rżanek, Poland, 5' (Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw)
Duet, Navid Danesh, Iran, 24', (Karnameh Film School)
En Attendant le dégel (Waiting for the Thaw), Sarah Hirtt, Belgium, 20' (INSAS)
Exil (Exile), Vladilen Vierny, France, 16' (La fémis)
Going South, Jefferson Moneo, USA, 15' (Columbia University)
În acvariu (In the Fishtank), Tudor Cristian Jurgiu, Romania, 20' (UNATC)
Mañana Todas Las Cosas (Tomorrow All The Things), Sebastián Schjaer, Argentina, 17' (UCINE)
Needle, Anahita Ghazvinizadeh, USA, 21' (The School of the Art Institute of Chicago)
O Šunce, Eliška Chytková, Czech Republic, 6' (Tomas Bata University in Zlίn)
Pandy (Pandas), Matúš Vizár, Czech Republic, 12' (FAMU)
The Magnificent Lion Boy, Ana Caro, UK, 10' (NFTS)
The Norm of Life, Evgeny Byalo, Russia, 23' (High Courses for Scriptwriters and Film Directors)
Seon (The Line), Kim Soo-Jin, South Korea, 27' (Chung-Ang University)
Stepsister, Joey Izzo, USA, 18' (San Francisco State University)

The three Cinéfondation Prizes will be awarded at a ceremony prior to the screening of the winning films on Friday 24th May in the Buñuel Theatre.

Check trailers for some Cinéfondation shorts at MOC.

After reading, see film stills and/or trailer for all short films, can say that some seem very interesting; unfortunatelly not all have trailers and/or film stills but will be frequently checking to post at MOC trailers when they are released.

Cheers!!! Cannes has started.

2013 Cannes Wish List

As next Thursday April 18 we will learn the Cannes Official Selection let me share with you all my wish list with films that hopefully will make any section of the festival but IF they don't still believe that most films will be must be seen.

The Masters

Le Passe (The Past) by Asghar Farhadi.
Know director became famous for his Oscar winner film but I follow him closely since his 2006 Fireworks Wednesday and this is must be seen for me for him and because Tahar Rahim is the lead. Let's hope Bérénice Bejo acts better here than in her other films, sigh.

La Grande Bellezza (The Great Beauty) by Paolo Sorrentino.
Absolutely must be seen for me as teaser has such beautiful images of Rome on top the star is none other than Toni Sevillo. (Photo)

Nymphomaniac by Lars Von Trier.
Soon we will know if director deeply tarnished his relationship with the festival or not. If film is not in Cannes then surely will be in Venice. Who can resist Charlotte Gainsbourg performing a self-diagnosed nymphomaniac? Not me.

Malavita by Luc Besson.

Female Master Directors

Abus de faiblesse (Abuse of Weakness) by Catherine Breillat.
The star is none other than Isabelle Huppert so we know that the story has to be intense and perhaps much more as Breillat adapted her novel -with the same name- about her true personal experience with professional conman Christophe Rocancourt.

Les Salauds (The Bastards) by Claire Denis.
With Chiara Mastroianni and Vincent Lindon. Not crazy about director but this revenge drama seems could be interesting. (Photo)

Serena by Susanne Bier.
The great Danish director took a break from her amazing dramas to direct light Love is All You Need; now she plays again with the English language to tell a very American story. The catch is that the leads are none other than Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper; but has great British actors too.

Bird People by Pascale Ferran.
Nude Area by Urszula Antoniak.
Wakolda by Lucia Puenzo.

Great Filmmakers ("walking" to become Masters)

Le Bleu est une couleur chaude (Blue is the Earmest Color) by Abdellatif Kechiche.
Really enjoy his movies and more if the star is none other than Léa Seydoux and has a story that seems will have lesbian interest (!!!). (Photo)

A Most Wanted Man by Anton Corbijn.
Images suggest that Corbijn kept his peculiar fabulous style in this adaptation of John le Carre's espionage thriller starring none other than Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Only God Forgives by Nicolas Winding Refn.
Trailer impressed me but I was more impressed by Kristin Scott Thomas as hardly recognized her. Director regular Ryan Goslin (recall Drive?) is also here in a film that I suspect will be even more violent than Drive.

Twelve Years a Slave by Steve McQueen.
McQueen's regular, great Michael Fassbender stars in this very American slavery story that know will have director impressive style (has to). My only concern is that Brad Pitt also stars in film. Still, European buzz wonder if film will be ready for Cannes.

Tom à la ferme (Tom at the Farm) by Xavier Dolan.
Cannes "enfant not-so-terrible" maybe will make his dream come true this year IF his latest film finally makes the Official Selection; but no matter where it lands, film has to be his most drama intensive when he tells about a grieven man meeting his lover's family, who were not aware of this son's sexual orientation. The best, Dolan also acts (I enjoy his performances). If film makes Cannes be sure that film will compete for a Teddy. Just read that "maybe" film will NOT be in Cannes, shame.

Jeune et jolie by François Ozon.
Like Father, Like Son by Hirokazu Kore-Eda.
Nine Minutes Interval by Corneliu Porumboiu.

In English

Blood Ties by Guillaume Canet.
Yes he is directing his first English language film and is a remake of Les Liens du Sang where he was the main actor. Perhaps the only good thing film has is his wife acting in film.

The Buttler by Lee Daniels.
After being highly impressed with the Paperboy this tale about a butler who served eight different American Presidents at the White House could be better than what I imagined before seeing the Paperboy; so the great cast (John Cusack, Vanessa Redgrave, Alan Rickman, etc) could make this movie (hopefully) good.

The Congress by Ari Folman.
Highly impressed with his Waltz with Bashir but as some do Folman went to America to do an English movie with American stars and Sci-Fi genre. Still story (an aging, out-of-work actress accepts one last job...) could be interesting specially when Robin Wright plays a version of herself who travels to the future.  The Great news, film is a blend of live action (70 mins) and animation (50 mins) that looks/feels like his previous film.

The list could grow exponentially but let's stop here as we only have to wait 5 days to learn which film made the Official Selection plus the selection in the parallel sections and beyond. Can't wait for Cannes and know you can tell.

Cheers!!!!

5th La Fabrique Les Cinémas du Monde

Located at the heart of Cannes Film Festival’s international village, the pavilion is a unique venue dedicated to filmmakers from Africa, Asia, Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, and the Near and Middle East. As a platform for working and networking opportunities, it has become the place to be for artists, professionals and international institutions seeking information on world cinema during the festival.

Since 2009, the Cinémas du Monde Pavilion has been run by the Institut Français in partnership with the International Organisation of La Francophonie, the Audiovisuel Extérieur de la France – composed of RFI, Monte Carlo Doualiya, France 24, and the partner French-language channel TV5 Monde. With their shared desire to promote cultural dialogue and diversity, the pavilion’s partners have contributed resources and expertise enabling world cinema to have its own workspace and networking area at the biggest international festivals.

A delegation of young directors and their producers have been invited to take part in the Fabrique Les Cinémas du Monde, a programme supporting talented new filmmakers. Its excellent workshops and abundant professional contacts have already helped several films and projects find co-production and international distribution opportunities.

In 2013, just like in the previous editions, a renowed cinema personnality will sponsor the Pavilion. He will brilliantly follow in the footsteps of his prestigious predecessors : Maria De Medeiros, Elia Suleiman Elsa Zylberstein, Pablo Trapero, Sandrine Bonnaire, Rithy Panh, and Juliette Binoche and Abderrahmane Sissako.

Raoul Peck will be the patron of the 2013 edition of the La Fabrique Les Cinémas du Monde. He will share his experience with young directors and hold a master class.

The 2013 selection

9 talented young directors from emerging countries, and their producers, will will be able to take advantage of personalised project support through one-to-one meetings with key players in the film industry.

Before Leaving, Mohammed Latrèche, Algeria
Territoria, Nora Martirosyan, Armenia
Loveling, Gustavo Pizzi, Brazil
The Siren of Faso Fani, Michel K. Zongo, Burkina Faso
The Taste in our Tongues, Monica Bravo, Colombia
Carmen, Pierre Lucson Bellegarde, Haiti
Jambula Tree, Kahui Wanuri, Kenya and South Africa
The Sigbin Chronicles, Joanna Arong, Philippines
The Mercy Of The Jungle, Joel Karekezi, Rwanda

4 countries will be represented for the first time: Armenia, Burkina Faso, Haiti and the Philippines. To learn more about the program and/or each of the projects please go to official site.

Cinéfondation L'Atelier 2013

For L’Atelier’s 9th edition, 15 projects from 14 countries have been selected. Since its creation in 2005, L’Atelier has been stimulating creative filmmaking and encouraging the emergence of a new generation of filmmakers.

By inviting directors and their producers to meet hundreds of potential partners during the Festival de Cannes, L’Atelier offers its participants access to international co-production, thereby maximizing their chances of completing their projects. So far, out of 126 projects presented over the last eight years, 83 have been completed and 29 are currently in pre-production.


The Projects

Rey, Niles Attalah, Chile
Ciao Ciao, Song Chuan, China
Out/In the Streets, Jasmina Metwaly and Philip Rizk, Egypt
Lamb, Yared Zeleke, Ethiopia
Je ne suis pas un salaud, Emmanuel Finkiel, France
Stage Fright, Yorgos Zois, Greece
Chenu, Manjeet Singh,India
Holy Air, Shady Srour, Israel
The House on Fin Street, Amir Manor,Israel
Sworn Virgin, Laura Bispuri, Italia
Me, Myself and Murdoch, Yahya Alabdallah, Jordan / Palestine
Days of Cannibalism, Teboho Joscha Edkins, South Africa
Memories of the Wind, Özcan Alper,Turkey
Road Kill, Yuichi Hibi, U.S.A.
Los Herederos (The Heirs), Jorge Hernández Aldana, Mexico

To learn more about each project please read the Livre des Projects below.

52nd Semaine de la Critique Poster

Today the poster was released and the following is the commentary for the poster selection.

For its 52nd edition, La Semaine de la Critique continues its series of portraits initiated last year with the collaboration of Les Bons Faiseurs agency.  Following on from Anamaria Vartolomei's classic pale beauty, the beautifully lit face of Soko stands out against the logo of the Selection that revealed her in the superb Augustine, Alice Winocour's debut film.

By discovering first features, the section in charge of talent scouting also showcases new actors, often performing their first roles on the big screen. Maggie Cheung, Viggo Mortensen, Léa Seydoux, Gael García Bernal, Alice de Lencquesaing, all these actors whose early and promising years are reflected in Soko's luminescent and serene beauty, which radiates the pleasure and sensuality of performance.

The Selection of the 52nd edition and a commentary by Charles Tesson, Artistic Director, will be posted online on April 22nd.

Interesting is to notice that the three Cannes 2013 posters are really movie related in direct or indirect ways. That's great!