25th European Film Awards - Short Film Nominations

With this year’s final nomination having been announced at the International Short Film Festival in Drama (Greece), the list of nominated short films is now complete.

The short film initiative is organized by the European Film Academy in co-operation with a series of film festivals throughout Europe. At each of these festivals, an independent jury presents one of the European short films in competition with a nomination in the short film category of the European Film Awards.

These are the nominated short films.

Angers Short Film Nominee
L’AMBASSADEUR ET MOI (The Ambassador And Me), directed by Jan Czarlewski, Switzerland, 15 min, documentary

Berlin Short Film Nominee
VILAINE FILLE MAUVAIS GARÇON (Two Ships), directed by Justine Triet, France, 30 min, fiction

Bristol Short Film Nominee
MITEN MARJOJA POIMITAAN (How To Pick Berries), directed by Elina Talvensaari, Finland, 18 min, documentary

Cork Short Film Nominee
TWO HEARTS, directed by Darren Thornton , Ireland, 17 min, fiction

Drama Short Film Nominee
EINSPRUCH VI (Objection VI), directed by Rolando Colla, Switzerland, 17 min, fiction

Ghent Short Film Nominee
DEMAIN, ÇA SERA BIEN (Tomorrow Will Be Good), directed by Pauline Gay, France, 16 min, fiction

Grimstad Short Film Nominee
SESSIZ / BÉ DENG (Silent), directed by L. Rezan Yeşilbaş, Turkey, 14 min, fiction

Krakow Short Film Nominee
VILLA ANTROPOFF, directed by Vladimir Leschiov & Kaspar Jancis, Latvia/Estonia, 13 min, animation

Locarno Short Film Nominee
BACK OF BEYOND, directed by Michael Lennox, UK, 25 min, fiction

Rotterdam Short Film Nominee
IM FREIEN (In the Open), directed by Albert Sackl, Austria, 23 min, experimental

Tampere Short Film Nominee
CSICSKA (Beast), directed by Attila Till, Hungary, 20 min, fiction

Valladolid Short Film Nominee
SUPERMAN, SPIDERMAN SAU BATMAN (Superman, Spiderman or Batman), directed by Tudor Giurgiu, Romania, 11 min, fiction

Venice Short Film Nominee
TITLOI TELOUS (Out of Frame), directed by Yorgos Zois, Greece, 10 min, experimental

Vila do Conde Short Film Nominee
MANHÃ DE SANTO ANTÓNIO (Morning of Saint Anthony’s Day), directed by João Pedro Rodrigues, Portugal, 25 min, fiction

To check the official announcement go here. The nominees will be presented to the over 2,700 members of the European Film Academy and it is they who will elect the overall winner: the European Film Academy Short Film 2012 which will be presented at the 25th European Film Awards Ceremony on 1 December in Malta.

60th San Sebastian Film Festival Award Winners

With a good awards ceremony, San Sebastian closes this year. The most emotional moment was when Dustin Hoffman received the Donostia award, not only for the movie clips but also for his speech.

Great films won awards. Good.

Official Selection

Golden Shell for Best Film: Dans La Maison (In The House), François Ozon, France

Special Jury Prize: Blancanieves (Snow White), Pablo Berger, Spain and France
Special Mention: The Attack, Ziad Doueiri and Joelle Touma, Lebanon, France, Qatar, Belgium

Silver Shell for Best Director: Fernando Trueba for El Artista y La Modelo, Spain

Silver Shell for Best Actress: (tie)
Katie Coseni in Foxfire, Laurent Cantet, France and Canada
Macarena García in Blancanieves (Snow White), Pablo Berger, Spain and France

Silver Shell for Best Actor: Jose Sacristan in El Muerto y Ser Feliz (The Dead Man and Being Happy), Javier Rebollo, Spain, Argentina and France

Jury Prize for Best Cinematography: Fasle Kargadan (Rhino Season), Bahman Ghobadi, Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan
Jury Prize for Best Screenplayer: Dans La Maison (In The House), François Ozon, France

Zabaltegi-New Directors

Kusta-New Directors Award: Fernando Guzzoni for Carne de Perro (Dog Flesh), Chile, France and Germany
Special Mentions:
Parviz, Majid Barzegar, Iran
El Limpiador (The Cleaner), Adrián Saba, Peru

Horizontes Latinos

Best Film: El Ultimo Elvis, Armando Bo, Argentina and USA
Special Mentions:
Era Uma Vez Eu, Veronica (Once Upon A Time Was I, Veronica), Marcelo Gomes, Brasil
Despues de Lucia, Michel Franco, Mexico

Other Awards

FIPRESCI Award: El Muerto y Ser Feliz (The Dead Man and Being Happy), Javier Rebollo, Spain, Argentina and France
SIGNIS Award: Días de Pesca (Gone Fishing), Carlos Sorin, Argentina
Solidarity Award: Le Capital (Capital), Costa Gravas, France
Serbitzu Saria for Best Basque Film: Pura Vida, Pablo Iraburu y Migueltxo Molina, Spain
SEBASTIANE Award: Joven y Alocada (Young and Wild), Marialy Rivas, Chile
Euskatel Youth Award: 7 Cajas (7 Boxes), Juan Carlos Maeglia and Tana Schémbori, Paraguay

TVE - Another Look Award: Shesh Peamin (Six Acts), Jonathan Gurfinkel, Israel
Special mention: The Attack, Ziad Doueiri, Lebanon, France, Qatar and Belgium

Films in Progress Award: Gloria, Sebastián Lelio, Chile
Norteado Award: Tanta Agua, Ana Guevara and Leticia Jorge, Uruguay, Mexico, Netherlands

Cinema in Motion Awards
Le Veau D'Or (The Golden Calf), Hassan Legzouli, France and Morocco
Moug (Waves), Ahmed Nour, Egypt and Morocco

Audience Award: The Sessions, Ben Lewin, USA
European Film Audience Award: The Angel's Share, Ken Loach, UK, France, Belgium and Italy

International Film Student Meetings Awards - Short Films
Panavision Award: The Mass of Men, Gabriel Gauchet, UK, National Film and TV School
Freak Independent Film Agency Award: The Mass of Men, Gabriel Gauchet, UK, National Film and TV School
Participation in the Short Film Corner at Cannes Festival
The Mass of Men, Gabriel Gauchet, UK, National Film and TV School
Wedding Duet, Goran MIhailov, Romania, Universitatea Nationala de Arta Teatrala si Cinematografica“I.L. Caragiale
I Think This Is The Closest to How the Footage Looked, Yuval Hameiri and Michal Vaknin, Israel, Tel Aviv University

To check info about each movie go here and/or check home page at fest official page.

Bye Bye Blondie

I find films directed by Virginie Despentes quite unpleasant to watch, especially Baise Moi but also Les Jolies Choses which she did not direct, did not wrote the screenplay but was based on her novel. This film is not like those as while still having some very unpleasant moments, definitively she toned down -a lot- from her directorial debut and made film easier to watch.

Most surprising was to find that movie is based on her book with the same name but in book the protagonists are a man and a woman, while in movie are two women. Have no idea why Despentes changed the story but definitively if this was a man/woman story would have been similar to many other stories told in films; what makes story different is that is about two women.

I see everything with Emmanuelle Béart so film was must be seen for me because of her and well, yes because is absolutely with lesbian interest. The bad news is that this film is NOT fantastic Nathalie, did not enjoyed much Béart performance (that's what happens with an inexperienced director) and found story not that much interesting.

Film tells the story of Frances and Gloria who meet when they are teenagers, fall in love, life separates them and when they're older Frances looks for and finds Gloria again. So older Frances is played by Béart and older Gloria by Béatrice Dalle; this couple have no chemistry, their interactions look forced BUT chemistry explodes when they fight, which are the only scenes where I recognized the Béart I enjoy so much.

The good news is that story is not told sequentially as their younger years are told by flashbacks, but what is incredibly good are the performances by Clara Ponsot (teen Frances) and Soko (teen Gloria) as couple not only has good chemistry but somehow their story is a lot more interesting. Just to watch Béart fighting and the younger couple film is worth watching.

Will share a bit more about story. Younger Gloria is punk, which gives permission to play some nice old punk rock and later some retro punk scenes with a famous French punk icon, so she's rebellious and ends up in a psychiatric institution. There is where she meets younger Frances who dares Gloria to have sex with her as is forbidden by the institution. What follows you have to watch, but will share that while watching started to think that story was about two different backgrounds, about love not being enough and I was sure that was what I was seeing until the "shocking" end that absolutely surprised me. In French cinema not often you will see a film ending like this film does.

Found film as a film to be uneven, some scenes have good tech specs while many others don't. I know this is unthinkable/unforgivable in French cinema but for the lesbian interest genre unfortunately is quite common, so know that won't bother at all to those watching because they enjoy the genre.

Having two well-known French actresses in film, Béart and Dalle, plus famous singer Soko, attracted much attention from critics and viewers, but I'm afraid that this film is only suited for lesbian interest audiences that do not mind to see "unusual" French movies. Sigh.

Can't say I did not enjoy film but also cannot say that I enjoy it. I'm lukewarm as after all film looks and feels like a Virginie Despentes film; all right, a slightly improved Despentes.

Enjoy!

Watch trailer @MOC

Tanner Hall

Browsing what to watch in my cable, discovered this 2008 produced film that was screened at 2009 Toronto fest, seems went into oblivion until 2011 when had a limited theater release and the DVD came out. Film is co directed by two little-known women, that's it if you are NOT familiar with royalty and/or lesbian celebrities. Tatiana von Furstenberg, better known as Tatiana Desirée Prinzessin zu Fürstenberg, and Francesca Gregorini, better known as Countess Francesca McKnight Donatella Romana Gregorini di Savignano di Romagna or Portia di Rossi's ex, direct and co wrote the film.

All right after the film royal pedigree let me share that I found movie to be quite interesting and surprisingly good, with a few storyline exceptions that were really horrendous. Film is "inspired" by co directors/writers real experiences while being in England boarding schools but has fiction peppered around. Have no idea what is fiction and what is not, but I can guess the storyline that involved Mr. and Mrs. Middlewood has to be fiction, was introduced mainly for comic relief and is absolutely horrendous, not only because casting, actors performances but also because was not credible, realistic. The last becomes more visible as everything else not related exclusively to the Middlewood's looks and feels very real. If all those scenes were deleted, film would have been better.

Film tells the story of four girls at a very upper class New England boarding school and is a slice of their lives that shows crucial moments that changed them forever. Fernanda (Rooney Mara), Victoria (Georgia King), Kate (Brie Larson) and Lucasta (Amy Ferguson) are the four very different personalities girls and this story is interesting, actresses give quite good performances and feels real. Admit that saw film to see Rooney Mara's performance and now I'm quite impressed, the young actress can really act and she's good; so sorry that I had to meet her doing the American version of Lizbeth Salander.

If you enjoy regular girls boarding school movies maybe you will not enjoy this one as definitively film does not look like regular American cinema, this is similar to European cinema and/or European boarding school stories. Film has a lesbian interest character and perhaps those that enjoy the genre could enjoy the storyline that -for a change- has a happy ending.

A good film with some big flaws, but believe could entertain you and if you are like me, unable to appreciate Mara's most famous performance, then give this movie a chance and maybe you will agree that Mara shows here that she's an actress worthy to follow her career.

Enjoy!!

Watch trailer @MOC

Eu când vreau să fluier, fluier (If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle)

Truly amazing film that takes us slowly into an intense study on human reactions to impotence, inability to stop something and how far can we go trying. Took me a while but finally was able to see Florin Serban's 2010 highly acclaimed feature film debut that won the 2010 Berlinale Jury Grand Prix, was Romania submission to Oscar in 2011, and collected many honors in the fest circuit and awards season. Some things are worth waiting for and definitively this film was one of them.

Set in a youth-reformatory tells the story of Silviu (George Pistereanu) last days of sentence where after years of being an exemplary recluse starts to transgress the prison rules thanks to learning that his mother came back from Italy to take his younger brother back with her. Film is set in a prison but in my opinion this is not a prison movie at all, as I believe is used because is a setting that perfectly allows to show a microcosm where due to forceful confinement naturally facilitates impossibilities to do what you wish to do. And that's what exactly happens in film, as Silviu after unsuccessfully trying reasonable ways to help him stop his mother, has to resort to extreme measures.

It's a simple story that becomes outstanding thanks to absolutely impressive performance by Pistereanu and the mind-blowing Serban's abilities as a filmmaker and storyteller. Film is so good that is one of the few films that I have seen that very successfully translated a play to the big screen, as film is based on the stage play with the same name by Andreea Valean.

Film gloriously closes with an open end where you have to imagine what comes next, was Silviu successful? Did he stopped his mother? Was everything worth it? It's up to you to close this story with a classical happy ending or opt for a different outcome. I simply love when filmmakers leave to us viewers the opportunity to close the story, especially after a very intense, very emotional ride. Fantastic.

I know that film is not for general audiences as has a very slow pace, has many silences, actors express what happens more with face and body expressions than words and yes, nothing is spelled-out in here, you have to get inside the movie to highly enjoy the ride. Almost my perfect kind of movie as the only thing missing was to be visually stunning, but in this case I forgive filmmaker as beauty definitively is something that could not be present in this film and story. This is glorious raw realism.

If you haven't seen film yet, strongly suggest you do so if you enjoy great Romanian new wave cinema.

BIG ENJOY!!!

Watch trailer @MOC

Fraulein - Ein Detusches Melodram

The last made for TV movie by Michael Haneke before doing his first big screen film (later he did two more made for TV movies) is a film that honestly really confused me. My first spontaneous reaction was that this movie does not fit what I have in my head regarding Haneke as to me film looks and feels quite normal. Yes found film to be similar to several European movies from those years (the eighties) and before, as film is set in the near past, post-WWII and there was nothing I could find that told me this was a Haneke film. Sigh. But that doesn't mean at all that I didn't enjoy watching this unusual melodrama, a film that to enjoy it you have to really recall many movies, some cinema history and some WWII history, I'll explain later.

Then I started to read about this movie and what follows is a mix of what I read and what I saw in film. Let's start by sharing that this film is considered by some cinema academics as the "response" to Rainer Werner Fassbinder's Die Ehe der Maria Braun (The Marriage of Maria Braun) and perhaps it is as definitively this film looks like what Haneke said: "a deliberate attempt to create a counter-film against the heroizing of German postwar mentalities". In this film the lead role Anna, played by Angelica Domröse, is more concerned with her life and the inconveniences that came when his husband, believed to be dead, suddenly returns to the small German village; which is very different than the patriotic view that predominated in post-war set German cinema. I don't really remember Fassbinder's film as saw it a very long time ago, but maybe will see it again to see with my own eyes the two films relationship.

Nevertheless from what I read, what got my attention is that cinema academics claim that with this film Haneke "overcame" his Fassbinder "obsession". If factual, then we have to thank this film that helped Haneke to develop his own particular master style.

As mentioned film tells the story of Anna, who has a good life 10 years after her husband, Hans, became a POW in Russia. Film starts with Hans family discussing that is time to declare Hans dead, Anna's refusal and showing us how happy life was for this family in this sleepy German village. Anna has two teenage children, works/owns a movie theater and has a companion, Andre, who is accepted by all her family, including her in-laws. Everything changes when she gets a letter from the association of war returnees, telling her that Hans is returning home. Not a bad story, even when only seen in the surface, without analyzing the movie clips, the historic events and news seen in the movie theater and other screens.

If something I discovered after reading about film is that film is complex, very complex. To me contemporary Haneke's films have been quite easy to decode, but this one was not, even when I'm familiar with many -not all- the movie clips and other elements shown in film. Maybe now that I learned so much about this movie I could watch it again to decode all elements; so, I do recommend you read as much as possible about this movie before watching as surely will help to enjoy more film. Unlike previous Haneke's TV movie I posted, this film has many references and analysis that you can easily find in the net.

Spontaneously film as a film bothered me a lot because editing which I found intrusive instead of explanatory, which is not at all how contemporary Haneke's films are. But film has many absolutely beautiful compositions that are truly visually stunning and yes, is a black and white film that only at the end, for a few minutes, becomes full color.

Would I be talking like the above if film was not a Haneke film? No, probably not; but it is a Haneke film and had to learn more about film before writing and yes, surely will watch film again but have to wait a while as watching two Haneke's films in one day was too much, I knew it but couldn't resist watching. Sigh.

If you enjoy Haneke's contemporary work then this film is must be seen for you but as mentioned, suggest you read about film before watching; if you enjoy classic European melodramas then I know you could also enjoy this film.

I'm still amazed that this is a made for TV movie (German TV) as definitively does not look or feel like that; film looks and feels like big screen movies from the seventies and eighties, like many films from great French, Italian, and German directors. Truly surprising as before watching these two Haneke's films perhaps the best TV related film was 1989 Dekalog miniseries; but have to admit that I haven't seen Fassbinder's made for TV movies. If you wish to see film, use the link provided in previous Haneke's made for TV movie post.

Enjoy!!!

Lemminge, Teil 1 Arkadien (Lemmings, Part 1: Arcadia)

Fascinating early work by Michael Haneke that fast will grab your attention, hold it and won't release you until the very end. Most impressive is that this was about the fourth Haneke film and is a made for TV movie! Yes a TV movie. But never before have seen a made for TV movie like this one, and have seen my good share of old TV movies from Europe.

To be brief I'll do a comparison as reference and because there has to be a relationship. This 1979 movie feels like Haneke's 1997 Funny Games as has similar storytelling style that magnificently introduces us to characters and slowly their downturn begins. It does not look like the mentioned movie as here I believe he goes darker, very darker, disturbingly darker. Not only with narrative but also with the use of light. Yes I believe this is darker than Funny Games that was strictly violent, disturbingly violent.

Written by Haneke tells a story of five teenagers, a slice of their lives that begin at one point and end at another point; nothing much is said about before and you have to imagine what follows after the end. But obviously that's not what movie is about. This is a strong exploration of post-war youth and how damaged they are thanks to living in a morally very restrictive society. As in many of Haneke's films story is set in the past but is truly impressive how current they are, even today, 33 years after first was screened on Austrian TV.

Even if is told in movie, let me share a definition of Lemmings, one that is not about the rodent: a member of any large group following an unthinking course towards mass destruction. That's exactly what movie is all about.

Never is too late to discover Michael Haneke's early work and my purpose is to eventually watch all his TV movies that seem have his very distinctive mark. This movie has a second part, Lemminge, Teil 2 Verletzungen (Lemmings, Part 2: Injuries) which obviously I'm dying to see.

If you wish to read detailed plot for both films I suggest you check an excerpt of the book Funny Frames: The Filmic Concepts of Michael Haneke by Oliver C. Speck, that you can find here.

If you enjoy the current work by master filmmaker Michael Haneke then this film is must be seen for you. Film was uploaded today here (has English subtitles) and strongly suggest you watch film in your TV, not your computer.

Big Enjoy!!!