This is Why Cinema and Inna Payán’s Animal de Luz Films have licensed drama “Todo el silencio” (“All the Silence”) to Prime Video. This follows that of Animal de Luz’s licensing of Katina Medina Mora’s “Latido” (“Heartbeat”) to the giant platform.
“All the Silence” marks the debut feature of award-winning theater director Diego del Rio, based on a screenplay by “La Jaula de Oro” writer, Lucia Carreras.
The drama centers on Miriam whose life is a testament to her love of sign language. In the mornings, she dedicates herself to teaching it, and in the afternoons, she immerses herself in the world of theater. Her girlfriend, Lola, as well as her parents and numerous friends, are all members of the deaf community. However, her world is shattered when she discovers that she, too, is losing her hearing. Faced with this harsh reality, Miriam refuses to accept her fate.
“All the Silence” marks the debut feature of award-winning theater director Diego del Rio, based on a screenplay by “La Jaula de Oro” writer, Lucia Carreras.
The drama centers on Miriam whose life is a testament to her love of sign language. In the mornings, she dedicates herself to teaching it, and in the afternoons, she immerses herself in the world of theater. Her girlfriend, Lola, as well as her parents and numerous friends, are all members of the deaf community. However, her world is shattered when she discovers that she, too, is losing her hearing. Faced with this harsh reality, Miriam refuses to accept her fate.
- 10/6/2023
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Prime Video Latin America has snapped up streaming rights to Katina Medina Mora’s latest film “Latido” (“Heartbeat”), starring Oscar-nominated Marina de Tavira (“Roma”).
This is the third feature from Medina Mora, whose credits include episodes of Netflix hit “Emily in Paris,” Apple TV+’s “Swagger” and romantic drama, “LuTo,” her debut feature picked up by Netflix. Its trailer debuts exclusively on Variety.
“Latido,” which has its world premiere at the Mill Valley Film Festival and its Mexican premiere at the Morelia Film Festival, turns on 45-year-old Leonor, played by De Tavira, who works for an Ngo that supports young athletes. Leonor has struggled for years to conceive. She meets 16-year-old Emilia, a gifted ballet dancer, played by Camila Calónico, who aces her audition but whose world falls apart when she finds out she is pregnant. Leonor and Emilia make a pact to share the pregnancy process. What starts as...
This is the third feature from Medina Mora, whose credits include episodes of Netflix hit “Emily in Paris,” Apple TV+’s “Swagger” and romantic drama, “LuTo,” her debut feature picked up by Netflix. Its trailer debuts exclusively on Variety.
“Latido,” which has its world premiere at the Mill Valley Film Festival and its Mexican premiere at the Morelia Film Festival, turns on 45-year-old Leonor, played by De Tavira, who works for an Ngo that supports young athletes. Leonor has struggled for years to conceive. She meets 16-year-old Emilia, a gifted ballet dancer, played by Camila Calónico, who aces her audition but whose world falls apart when she finds out she is pregnant. Leonor and Emilia make a pact to share the pregnancy process. What starts as...
- 9/22/2023
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
In her impressive narrative feature debut, Mexican actor-filmmaker Ángeles Cruz examines the impact of migration and the difficulties women face in a small village in the Mexican state of Oaxaca.
Set in the fictional village of San Mateo (in reality Cruz’s hometown of Villa Guadalupe Victoria), “Nudo Mixteco” (or “Mixtecan Knot”) weaves together the stories of three indigenous women dealing with love, sex, the struggle for empowerment and the legacy of child abuse in a community largely dominated by chauvinistic traditions.
Cruz, who also wrote and produced the film via Madrecine, the company she runs with partners Lucía Carreras and Lola Ovando, spoke to Variety about the pic, which features a mixed cast of professional and non-professional actors. “Nudo Mixteco” screens in the International Film Festival Rotterdam’s Harbour section.
The project initially began as three female monologues that reflected the experiences of people who return to their communities...
Set in the fictional village of San Mateo (in reality Cruz’s hometown of Villa Guadalupe Victoria), “Nudo Mixteco” (or “Mixtecan Knot”) weaves together the stories of three indigenous women dealing with love, sex, the struggle for empowerment and the legacy of child abuse in a community largely dominated by chauvinistic traditions.
Cruz, who also wrote and produced the film via Madrecine, the company she runs with partners Lucía Carreras and Lola Ovando, spoke to Variety about the pic, which features a mixed cast of professional and non-professional actors. “Nudo Mixteco” screens in the International Film Festival Rotterdam’s Harbour section.
The project initially began as three female monologues that reflected the experiences of people who return to their communities...
- 6/5/2021
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
San Sebastian — Ángeles Cruz, one of Mexico’s highest-profile indigenous cineasts, screened for the first time a nearly-finished version of her feature debut “Nudo Mixteco” at the San Sebastian Films in Progress sidebar.
Having won two Mexican Academy Ariel Awards for her first two shorts, “Nudo Mixteco” arrived in Spain buzzing. It deftly intertwines three stories which overlap in a small village in Oaxaca’s Mixteca region during the celebrations of San Mateo.
María, a young woman working as a housekeeper in Mexico City, Esteban, a laborer who left three years ago looking for seasonal work in the north, and Toña, who now sells odds and ends in a foot-traffic underpass are all natives of the village, and head home for different reasons.
María, back for her mother’s funeral is shunned by her family for being a lesbian; only her childhood girlfriend Piedad will take her in. Esteban, a violent drunk,...
Having won two Mexican Academy Ariel Awards for her first two shorts, “Nudo Mixteco” arrived in Spain buzzing. It deftly intertwines three stories which overlap in a small village in Oaxaca’s Mixteca region during the celebrations of San Mateo.
María, a young woman working as a housekeeper in Mexico City, Esteban, a laborer who left three years ago looking for seasonal work in the north, and Toña, who now sells odds and ends in a foot-traffic underpass are all natives of the village, and head home for different reasons.
María, back for her mother’s funeral is shunned by her family for being a lesbian; only her childhood girlfriend Piedad will take her in. Esteban, a violent drunk,...
- 9/24/2019
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Madrid — Mauricio Osaki’s “The Paths of My Father,” Angeles Cruz’s “Nudo Mixteco” and Joan Gómez Endara’s “The Red Tree” will screen at San Sebastian’s Films in Progress, in a 36th edition which drinks from the seemingly bottomless well of directorial new talent in Latin America – all six of the pix-in-post are first features.
Sourced from Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Panama and Uruguay , the titles, which will seek completion finances, sales agents and distribution at San Sebastian, also draw a telling portrait of Latin America and beyond – paradoxically both the ever more connected globalized structures of its film financing and story telling and a world ravaged by broken families and a desperate need to reunite.
Maybe the most telling case in point is “The Paths of My Father. It is produced by Brazil’s Dezenove Som e Imagens, whose Sara Silveira has indefatigably supported new talent, and Poland’s Kraków Film Claster,...
Sourced from Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Panama and Uruguay , the titles, which will seek completion finances, sales agents and distribution at San Sebastian, also draw a telling portrait of Latin America and beyond – paradoxically both the ever more connected globalized structures of its film financing and story telling and a world ravaged by broken families and a desperate need to reunite.
Maybe the most telling case in point is “The Paths of My Father. It is produced by Brazil’s Dezenove Som e Imagens, whose Sara Silveira has indefatigably supported new talent, and Poland’s Kraków Film Claster,...
- 8/14/2019
- by John Hopewell and Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Ernesto Contreras’s Sundance audience award winner I Dream In Another Language among roster in Mexico.
Top brass at the festival in Jalisco, Mexico, announced on Wednesday the programme.
Selections include José Permar and Omar Robles’ short and Berlin 2016 premiere Aurelia And Pedro, and David Pablos’s The Chosen Ones, which screened in Un Certain Regard section in Cannes 2015.
Highlights of the ArteCareyes Film & Arts Festival include a day-long music festival and a contemporary art programme that features a public art trail, in lieu of traditional galleries, and solo artist exhibitions.
In addition, ArteCareyes will host ‘Acting For Film’ labs to be led by the following directors: Lucía Carreras, Ana Cristina Barragán, Catalina Aguilar, Diego Ros, Daniel Castro, Pablos, Anwar Safa and actors Karla Souza, Irene Azuela, Darío Yazbek, Fernando Alvarez Rebeil, and José María Yazpik.
The festival was founded in 2010 to showcase contemporary Mexican talent in film, music and contemporary art and runs from March 22-26.
Top brass at the festival in Jalisco, Mexico, announced on Wednesday the programme.
Selections include José Permar and Omar Robles’ short and Berlin 2016 premiere Aurelia And Pedro, and David Pablos’s The Chosen Ones, which screened in Un Certain Regard section in Cannes 2015.
Highlights of the ArteCareyes Film & Arts Festival include a day-long music festival and a contemporary art programme that features a public art trail, in lieu of traditional galleries, and solo artist exhibitions.
In addition, ArteCareyes will host ‘Acting For Film’ labs to be led by the following directors: Lucía Carreras, Ana Cristina Barragán, Catalina Aguilar, Diego Ros, Daniel Castro, Pablos, Anwar Safa and actors Karla Souza, Irene Azuela, Darío Yazbek, Fernando Alvarez Rebeil, and José María Yazpik.
The festival was founded in 2010 to showcase contemporary Mexican talent in film, music and contemporary art and runs from March 22-26.
- 3/22/2017
- ScreenDaily
A sensitively told tale of female loneliness and vulnerability in the backstreets of Mexico City, Lucia Carreras’ Tamara and the Ladybug is a tale of against-the-odds female solidarity, which successfully rounds it out into something more than pure miserabilism. Driven by a masterful central performance from Angeles Cruz and a script which focuses on quiet emotional truths, Ladybug does have dramatic defects, and its intentions are not always matched by its execution. But such flaws have not stood in the way of success on its recent festival outings, with more foreseeably on the way for this third feature from a...
- 12/4/2016
- by Jonathan Holland
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Amat Escalante’s The Untamed (pictured) and Andrea Arnold’s American Honey will compete for the Cinemax Award for the best competition film at the Mexican festival, set to run from November 9-13.
The other selections in the Competencia Los Cabos main competition strand are: Antonio Campos’ Christine, Kristopher Avedisian’s Donald Cried, Matt Johnson’s Operation Avalanche, Gabe Klinger’s Porto, Rafi Pitts’ Soy Nero, Joey Klein’s The Other Half and Kim Nguyen’s Two Lovers And A Bear.
Competing for top honours in Mexico Primero are: Maria José Cuevas’ Beauties Of The Night, Sebastián Hiriart’s Carroña, Rodrigo Cervantes’ Los Paisages, Lucía Carreras’ Tamara y La Catarina, Ricardo Silva and Omar Guzmán’s William, The New Judo Master, and Juan Andrés Arango’s X500.
Festival heads said most of the Mexico Primero entries came through the festival’s Gabriel Figueroa Film Fund.
The winners of the Cinemax Award for best film in the Competencia...
The other selections in the Competencia Los Cabos main competition strand are: Antonio Campos’ Christine, Kristopher Avedisian’s Donald Cried, Matt Johnson’s Operation Avalanche, Gabe Klinger’s Porto, Rafi Pitts’ Soy Nero, Joey Klein’s The Other Half and Kim Nguyen’s Two Lovers And A Bear.
Competing for top honours in Mexico Primero are: Maria José Cuevas’ Beauties Of The Night, Sebastián Hiriart’s Carroña, Rodrigo Cervantes’ Los Paisages, Lucía Carreras’ Tamara y La Catarina, Ricardo Silva and Omar Guzmán’s William, The New Judo Master, and Juan Andrés Arango’s X500.
Festival heads said most of the Mexico Primero entries came through the festival’s Gabriel Figueroa Film Fund.
The winners of the Cinemax Award for best film in the Competencia...
- 10/11/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
European premieres for Peter Berg’s Deepwater Horizon and Garth Davis’ Lion are among highlights.
The Zurich Film Festival, which has revealed its full line-up today, will screen a total of 172 productions from 36 countries, including 43 debut works, 17 world premieres and a record number of Swiss films.
Among the highlights of this year’s festival are the European premieres of Garth Davis’ Lion starring Slumdog Millionaire’s Dev Patel alongside Rooney Mara and Nicole Kidman, which will open festival on Sept. 22; Peter Berg’s real-life oil catastrophe story Deepwater Horizon; and Lbj, Rob Reiner’s political biopic starring Woody Harrelson as the former Us president Lyndon Baines Johnson.
Among actors set to attend are Hugh Grant, Daniel Radcliffe, Woody Harrelson and Shailene Woodley while French director Olivier Assayas will be honored with a retrospective.
Deepwater Horizon producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura will also be honored with Zurich’s Golden Eye award for his life’s work. Regular guest Harvey Weinstein...
The Zurich Film Festival, which has revealed its full line-up today, will screen a total of 172 productions from 36 countries, including 43 debut works, 17 world premieres and a record number of Swiss films.
Among the highlights of this year’s festival are the European premieres of Garth Davis’ Lion starring Slumdog Millionaire’s Dev Patel alongside Rooney Mara and Nicole Kidman, which will open festival on Sept. 22; Peter Berg’s real-life oil catastrophe story Deepwater Horizon; and Lbj, Rob Reiner’s political biopic starring Woody Harrelson as the former Us president Lyndon Baines Johnson.
Among actors set to attend are Hugh Grant, Daniel Radcliffe, Woody Harrelson and Shailene Woodley while French director Olivier Assayas will be honored with a retrospective.
Deepwater Horizon producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura will also be honored with Zurich’s Golden Eye award for his life’s work. Regular guest Harvey Weinstein...
- 9/8/2016
- ScreenDaily
Nigerian metropolis Lagos is the focus of the eighth City To City showcase at the Toronto International Film Festival (Tiff) as top brass anoint two international Rising Stars.
Tiff’s latest line-up announcement also featured extra selections in Galas and Special Presentations, among them Walter Hill’s (Re)Assignment, Philippe Falardeau’s The Bleeder, David Leveaux’ The Exception (pictured), Ken Loach’s Palme d’Or winner I, Daniel Blake and Terry George’s drama The Promise.
A vibrant crop of Contemporary World Cinema entries includes Kleber Mendonça Filho’s Aquarius, Danis Tanović’s Death In Sarajevo, Marie Noëlle’s Marie Curie, The Courage Of Knowledge and Akin Omotoso’s Vaya.
Hirokazu Kore-eda brings After The Storm to the Masters showcase, alongside Marco Bellocchio’s Sweet Dreams, Pedro Almodóvar’s Julieta, Cristian Mungiu’s Graduation, Gianfranco Rosi’s Berlin Golden Bear winner Fire At Sea and Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s Once Again.
Rounding out the...
Tiff’s latest line-up announcement also featured extra selections in Galas and Special Presentations, among them Walter Hill’s (Re)Assignment, Philippe Falardeau’s The Bleeder, David Leveaux’ The Exception (pictured), Ken Loach’s Palme d’Or winner I, Daniel Blake and Terry George’s drama The Promise.
A vibrant crop of Contemporary World Cinema entries includes Kleber Mendonça Filho’s Aquarius, Danis Tanović’s Death In Sarajevo, Marie Noëlle’s Marie Curie, The Courage Of Knowledge and Akin Omotoso’s Vaya.
Hirokazu Kore-eda brings After The Storm to the Masters showcase, alongside Marco Bellocchio’s Sweet Dreams, Pedro Almodóvar’s Julieta, Cristian Mungiu’s Graduation, Gianfranco Rosi’s Berlin Golden Bear winner Fire At Sea and Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s Once Again.
Rounding out the...
- 8/16/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Nigerian capital Lagos is the focus of the eighth City To City showcase at the Toronto International Film Festival (Tiff) as top brass anoint two international Rising Stars.
Tiff’s latest line-up announcement also featured extra selections in Galas and Special Presentations, among them Walter Hill’s (Re)Assignment, Philippe Falardeau’s The Bleeder, David Leveaux’ The Exception (pictured), Ken Loach’s Palme d’Or winner I, Daniel Blake and Terry George’s drama The Promise.
A vibrant crop of Contemporary World Cinema entries includes Kleber Mendonça Filho’s Aquarius, Danis Tanović’s Death In Sarajevo, Marie Noëlle’s Marie Curie, The Courage Of Knowledge and Akin Omotoso’s Vaya.
Hirokazu Kore-eda brings After The Storm to the Masters showcase, alongside Marco Bellocchio’s Sweet Dreams, Pedro Almodóvar’s Julieta, Cristian Mungiu’s Graduation, Gianfranco Rosi’s Berlin Golden Bear winner Fire At Sea and Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s Once Again.
Rounding out the...
Tiff’s latest line-up announcement also featured extra selections in Galas and Special Presentations, among them Walter Hill’s (Re)Assignment, Philippe Falardeau’s The Bleeder, David Leveaux’ The Exception (pictured), Ken Loach’s Palme d’Or winner I, Daniel Blake and Terry George’s drama The Promise.
A vibrant crop of Contemporary World Cinema entries includes Kleber Mendonça Filho’s Aquarius, Danis Tanović’s Death In Sarajevo, Marie Noëlle’s Marie Curie, The Courage Of Knowledge and Akin Omotoso’s Vaya.
Hirokazu Kore-eda brings After The Storm to the Masters showcase, alongside Marco Bellocchio’s Sweet Dreams, Pedro Almodóvar’s Julieta, Cristian Mungiu’s Graduation, Gianfranco Rosi’s Berlin Golden Bear winner Fire At Sea and Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s Once Again.
Rounding out the...
- 8/16/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
The Toronto International Film Festival is mere weeks from kicking off, yet the annual fall fest is showing zero sign of slowing down when it comes to announcing the titles that will round out this year’s event. Today’s announcement brings with it a number of Cannes favorites, including Ken Loach’s Palme d’Or-winning “I, Daniel Blake,” Olivier Assayas’ divisive Kristen Stewart-starring “Personal Shopper” and Pedro Almodovar’s “Julieta.”
Read More: Tiff Reveals First Slate of 2016 Titles, Including ‘Magnificent Seven,’ ‘American Honey,’ ‘La La Land’ and ‘Birth of A Nation’
The slate will also play home to the Dardenne Brothers’ latest, “The Unknown Girl,” which has reportedly been through an edit since it debuted at Cannes earlier this year. Other standouts from Cannes include Kleber Mendonça Filho’s “Aquarius,” Boo Junfeng’s “Apprentice,” Cristian Mungiu’s “Graduation,” Brillante Ma Mendoza’s “Ma’ Rosa” and Cristi Puiu’s “Sieranevada.
Read More: Tiff Reveals First Slate of 2016 Titles, Including ‘Magnificent Seven,’ ‘American Honey,’ ‘La La Land’ and ‘Birth of A Nation’
The slate will also play home to the Dardenne Brothers’ latest, “The Unknown Girl,” which has reportedly been through an edit since it debuted at Cannes earlier this year. Other standouts from Cannes include Kleber Mendonça Filho’s “Aquarius,” Boo Junfeng’s “Apprentice,” Cristian Mungiu’s “Graduation,” Brillante Ma Mendoza’s “Ma’ Rosa” and Cristi Puiu’s “Sieranevada.
- 8/16/2016
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
The third annual Ajyal Youth Film Festival presented by the Doha Film Institute (November 29 to December 5) showcases feature films from 20 countries and a series of short film programs in Katara, Qatar.
Fatma Al Remaihi, Festival Director and CEO of the Doha Film Institute, says: “By providing young people with access to international cinema, filmmakers from around the world, and the space to discuss their ideas and develop critical thinking, Ajyal empowers the youngest members of our community and develops their understanding of the world around them.”
Academy Award nominated director, Hany Abu-Assad and Arab Idol champion Mohammed Assaf, whose life story "The Idol" is based on, will attend the Opening Night and will participate in a special ‘In Conversation’ session about bringing Assaf’s life story to the big screen and highlight the power of combining music and cinema and the challenges facing Arab artists today.
Read more about "The Idol" and an interview with Hany Abu-Assad at its debut at Tiff 2015.
Aside from the daily public screenings of local and international films other events are the popular "Made in Qatar"; Sony Cinema Under the Stars; Family Weekend; the Doha Giffoni Youth Media Summit ; special events and exhibitions; the Sandbox interactive digital playground; school screenings; and the Ajyal Competition, where hundreds of young jurors between the ages of 8 and 21 will watch and discuss shorts and features and decide on the winning films. competition line-up.
The popular "Made in Qatar" section features 17 films -- nine narrative shorts and eight documentaries by local talent.
More than 500 young people from the ages of 8 to 21 make up the Ajyal Competition Jury which will watch and analyze a dynamic program of films in three competitive sections followed by discussions and events including panels, workshops and Q&A sessions with filmmakers.
Each of the three Ajyal Juries are made of 24 international jurors from 12 countries including Australia, Bahrain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iraq, Italy, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Serbia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. The jury awards a Best Film prize to their favorite short and feature-length film, for a total of six awards. The directors of the winning films are awarded funding toward their next film, so jurors are empowered to support and promote future content that is relevant and important to them in a proactive way.
Mohaq means ‘New Moon’ in Arabic, and these are Ajyal’s youngest jurors, aged 8 to 12. These jurors will watch one program of short films and four feature-length films, marking the first year that competitive feature films are included in this category. They are: "Celestial Camel" (Russia) by Yury Feting about a young sheepherder living in the desolate Kalmyk Steppe, who sets off on an epic journey after his father is forced to sell the family’s beloved camel calf; "The Greatest House in the World" (Guatemala, Mexico) by Ana V. Bojórquez and Lucía Carreras - a film about the never-ending circle of life told through the story of a young girl in the isolated highlands of Guatemala; "Paper Planes"(Australia) by Robert Connolly - a tale of friendship, creativity and the bonds of family which centers around an 11-year-old boy with an exceptional talent for creating paper airplanes; and "Phantom Boy" by Jean-Loup Felicioli, Alain Gagnol (France, Belgium) an animated film about an 11-year-old boy whose illness allows him to have out-of-body experiences and mysterious powers.
Ajyal’s jurors aged 13 to 17 are the Hilal jury – the term means ‘Crescent Moon’ in Arabic. Five feature films and a program of shorts make up this jury’s film selection. The feature films competing in this section are: "Lamb" (France, Ethiopia, Germany, Norway, Qatar) by Yared Zeleke, a portrait of a young Ethiopian boy trying to find his way in the world; "Landfill Harmonic" (U.S.) directed by Brad Allgood and Graham Townsley and recent audience award winning documentary at Napa Valley Film Festival, that tracks the astounding rise of a Paraguayan youth orchestra whose members live next to one of South America's largest landfills and make their instruments from recycled materials; "Mina Walking" (Canada, Afghanistan), a multiple award winning documentary by Yosef Baraki, a powerful tale of a 12-year-old girl in war-torn Afghanistan struggling to make ends meet for her family; "Scarecrow " (The Philippines) by Zig Madamba Dulay which explores the complicated relationship of social injustice and familial expectations through the story of a young mother in a rural town; and " Wolf Totem" (China, France) by Jean-Jacques Annaud. Set against the backdrop of the Chinese Cultural Revolution 1967, it is the story of a two young Chinese students who are sent on a research assignment with the nomadic herdsmen of Inner Mongolia and become fascinated by the wolves that roam the plains.
The most mature of Ajyal’s juries, Bader (Arabic for ‘Full Moon’) jurors are aged 18 to 21 and will select their favorite films from five features and two programs of short films. The feature films vying for top honors in this section are: "An" (Japan, France, Germany) by Naomi Kawase is a drama about a lonely baker whose life is reinvigorated when he hires an elderly woman with a special culinary skill; "The Second Mother " (Brazil's submission for Oscar nomination) by Anna Muylaert which is an exploration of the bond between mothers and their children told through the story of a housekeeper in Sao Paulo (Read review and interview with director Anna Muylaert here); "Taxi" (Iran), winner of Fipresci and Golden Bear Awards in Berlin 2015, by Jafar Panahi in which the celebrated Iranian director places himself in the driver’s seat of a cab, taking fares to their destinations in a wonderful portrait of contemporary Iran; "Very Big Shot" (Lebanon, Qatar), a bold and insightful dark comedy by Mir-Jean Bou Chaaya that skewers political corruption and the media circus that goes with it; and "Walls" (Spain) - a documentary by Pablo Iraburu and Migueltxo Molina that follows several subjects on both sides of three contemporary international borders, demonstrating that the people on each side of the barriers are not as different as they may believe.
In addition to the three competitive sections, the Festival’s youngest audiences under the age of 8 years will also vote for their favorite film with the help of their parents who will determine the Parents’ Choice Award in the Bariq program. Bariq films are selected to satisfy the excitement and curiosity of young children and are suitable for the whole family. This year’s program features a collection of eight short films and will also include a special outdoor cine-concert on the Katara esplanade by the Festival Tout-Petits Cinéma from Paris, with four films accompanied by live music by pianist Anthony Boulc’h and saxophonist Fanch Minous.
A senior jury of three eminent figures from the local and regional industry will determine the winners of the competitive section comprising feature films from 20 countries and a series of short film program with two awards being presented for Best Short Narrative Film and Best Short Documentary Film. The 2015 jury members are film producer Bassam Al Ibrahim (Qatar), who is the CEO of Innovation Films and co-founder of ILoveQatar.net; film actress, director and producer, Ahd (Saudi Arabia), internationally renowned for her performance in Haifaa al-Mansour’s " Wadjda;" and respected veteran journalist and media personality, Marcel Ghanem (Lebanon).
Fatma Al Remaihi said: “It has been another productive and inspiring year for filmmaking in Qatar and this year’s Made in Qatar selection indicates the rapid growth and diversity that we are witnessing in the Qatari film industry."
The films in the 2015 Ajyal Youth Film Festival Made in Qatar section are:
Made in Qatar Program 1, Wednesday 2nd December
"To My Mother" by Amina Al Bloshi
"Light Sounds" by Karem Kamel
"Her Majlis" by Najla Al Khulaifi, Dana Al Mesnad and Nayla Al Thani
"The Palm Tree" by Jassim Al-Rumaihi
"Yellow Nights" by Abdulla al Mulla
"If They Only Knew" by Sana Al-Ansari
"Heart of the House" by Gabrielle Sol
"The Notebook" by Amna Albinali
Made in Qatar Program 2, Friday 4th December
"Charlie" by Ali Ali
"Immortalizing Memories" by Mostafa Sheshtawy
"Asfoora" by Mayar Hamdan
"Good as New" by Jaser Alagha
"I Choose Islam" by Noor Al-Tamimi, Silma Suba and Zac J. Hollo
"Mariam" by Zainab Ayon
"Time" by Yassine Ouahrani
"Man of the House" by Khalifa AlMarri
"Veganize It!" by Khalid Salim
Closing night will be the world premiere of animated feature film "Bilal" (UAE/2015), a new animated feature film made with funding from the Doha Film Institute and produced by Dubai-based Barajoun Studios. Involving creative talents from 22 countries, "Bilal " by Directors Ayman Jamal and Khurram Alavi is an inspiring adventure story of faith, hope and self-discovery. Inspired by the real-life story of Bilal Bin Rabah, the film's cutting edge animation technology, impeccable research and high production values will resonate with audiences across generations. The cast and crew of the film will be in attendance for the premiere including the directors of the film and cast members Andre Robinson ("Despicable Me 2") and Adewale Akinnuoye Agbaje ("Lost", "The Bourne Identity", "Game of Thrones") who voice the young and adult Bilal respectively.
The Ajyal Family Weekend will feature the regional premiere of Marking the Un International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Ajyal 2015 will present in a regional first, an inclusive cinema experience specially ‘transadapted’ to suit audiences with different abilities, a special screening of Al Rayyan Productions animated short "Hero and the Message" (Qatar/2012). Guests will be able to view the film through sound alone, with special subtitles for people who have difficulty understanding speech. This inclusive version of the film has been developed with the support of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, and is the result of a collaboration between the Doha Film Institute and the Translation and Interpreting Institute at Hamad Bin Khalifa University who are spearheading the development of transadapted content in the Gulf region.
Fatma Al Remaihi, “Since our first edition, animated films have formed a core part of the Ajyal program and I am delighted that this year, we will premiere three incredibly diverse examples of the artform... from three corners of the globe.”
"Bilal" (UAE/2015) In a dreamlike vision, mysterious dark riders mounted on demonic black horses bear down upon a village. Nearby, little Bilal dreams of being a great warrior as he gallops along on his hobbyhorse. The riders come closer – are they real? Or are they just a figment of the youngster’s extraordinary imagination? Suddenly, Bilal’s dream becomes a nightmare. The men on horseback kill his mother and take him captive along with Ghufaira, his sister, and they are soon sold as slaves to Umayya, the wealthiest merchant in all of Arabia. Bilal never forgets this terrible day, which haunts his sleep for years to come. But the echoes of his mother’s gentle voice stay with him, a constant reminder that to break free of the chains that enslave him, he must forge his own destiny.
"The Good Dinosaur" (USA/2015), the latest feature from the award-winning Pixar Animation Studios and the team behind beloved Pixar classics "Finding Nemo" and "Inside Out" and will feature a special ‘kids red carpet’ for all families and young people from the community to participate and to be transported to a world where dinosaurs walk the Earth. Directed by Peter Sohn, the film screens on December 4th and presents an alternate history where the asteroids that wiped out these ancient reptiles never hit our planet.
"Hero and the Message" (Qatar/2012) tells the fantastic tale of a Qatari brother and sister who travel back in time to witness the founding events of the State of Qatar. Produced by Al Rayyan Productions, the top-notch animated short directed by Pawel Borowski was created to celebrate Qatar’s National Day in 2012, and screens on December 3rd.
"When Marnie Was There" (Japan/2014), screening on December 4 is one of the final anime sensations from Ghibli Studios and is based on the novel When Marnie Was There by Joan G. Robinson. Directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi, the film is about a young girl Anna who explores a long- abandoned villa and meets a mysterious blonde girl only she can see.
Fatma Al Remaihi, Festival Director and CEO of the Doha Film Institute, says: “By providing young people with access to international cinema, filmmakers from around the world, and the space to discuss their ideas and develop critical thinking, Ajyal empowers the youngest members of our community and develops their understanding of the world around them.”
Academy Award nominated director, Hany Abu-Assad and Arab Idol champion Mohammed Assaf, whose life story "The Idol" is based on, will attend the Opening Night and will participate in a special ‘In Conversation’ session about bringing Assaf’s life story to the big screen and highlight the power of combining music and cinema and the challenges facing Arab artists today.
Read more about "The Idol" and an interview with Hany Abu-Assad at its debut at Tiff 2015.
Aside from the daily public screenings of local and international films other events are the popular "Made in Qatar"; Sony Cinema Under the Stars; Family Weekend; the Doha Giffoni Youth Media Summit ; special events and exhibitions; the Sandbox interactive digital playground; school screenings; and the Ajyal Competition, where hundreds of young jurors between the ages of 8 and 21 will watch and discuss shorts and features and decide on the winning films. competition line-up.
The popular "Made in Qatar" section features 17 films -- nine narrative shorts and eight documentaries by local talent.
More than 500 young people from the ages of 8 to 21 make up the Ajyal Competition Jury which will watch and analyze a dynamic program of films in three competitive sections followed by discussions and events including panels, workshops and Q&A sessions with filmmakers.
Each of the three Ajyal Juries are made of 24 international jurors from 12 countries including Australia, Bahrain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iraq, Italy, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Serbia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. The jury awards a Best Film prize to their favorite short and feature-length film, for a total of six awards. The directors of the winning films are awarded funding toward their next film, so jurors are empowered to support and promote future content that is relevant and important to them in a proactive way.
Mohaq means ‘New Moon’ in Arabic, and these are Ajyal’s youngest jurors, aged 8 to 12. These jurors will watch one program of short films and four feature-length films, marking the first year that competitive feature films are included in this category. They are: "Celestial Camel" (Russia) by Yury Feting about a young sheepherder living in the desolate Kalmyk Steppe, who sets off on an epic journey after his father is forced to sell the family’s beloved camel calf; "The Greatest House in the World" (Guatemala, Mexico) by Ana V. Bojórquez and Lucía Carreras - a film about the never-ending circle of life told through the story of a young girl in the isolated highlands of Guatemala; "Paper Planes"(Australia) by Robert Connolly - a tale of friendship, creativity and the bonds of family which centers around an 11-year-old boy with an exceptional talent for creating paper airplanes; and "Phantom Boy" by Jean-Loup Felicioli, Alain Gagnol (France, Belgium) an animated film about an 11-year-old boy whose illness allows him to have out-of-body experiences and mysterious powers.
Ajyal’s jurors aged 13 to 17 are the Hilal jury – the term means ‘Crescent Moon’ in Arabic. Five feature films and a program of shorts make up this jury’s film selection. The feature films competing in this section are: "Lamb" (France, Ethiopia, Germany, Norway, Qatar) by Yared Zeleke, a portrait of a young Ethiopian boy trying to find his way in the world; "Landfill Harmonic" (U.S.) directed by Brad Allgood and Graham Townsley and recent audience award winning documentary at Napa Valley Film Festival, that tracks the astounding rise of a Paraguayan youth orchestra whose members live next to one of South America's largest landfills and make their instruments from recycled materials; "Mina Walking" (Canada, Afghanistan), a multiple award winning documentary by Yosef Baraki, a powerful tale of a 12-year-old girl in war-torn Afghanistan struggling to make ends meet for her family; "Scarecrow " (The Philippines) by Zig Madamba Dulay which explores the complicated relationship of social injustice and familial expectations through the story of a young mother in a rural town; and " Wolf Totem" (China, France) by Jean-Jacques Annaud. Set against the backdrop of the Chinese Cultural Revolution 1967, it is the story of a two young Chinese students who are sent on a research assignment with the nomadic herdsmen of Inner Mongolia and become fascinated by the wolves that roam the plains.
The most mature of Ajyal’s juries, Bader (Arabic for ‘Full Moon’) jurors are aged 18 to 21 and will select their favorite films from five features and two programs of short films. The feature films vying for top honors in this section are: "An" (Japan, France, Germany) by Naomi Kawase is a drama about a lonely baker whose life is reinvigorated when he hires an elderly woman with a special culinary skill; "The Second Mother " (Brazil's submission for Oscar nomination) by Anna Muylaert which is an exploration of the bond between mothers and their children told through the story of a housekeeper in Sao Paulo (Read review and interview with director Anna Muylaert here); "Taxi" (Iran), winner of Fipresci and Golden Bear Awards in Berlin 2015, by Jafar Panahi in which the celebrated Iranian director places himself in the driver’s seat of a cab, taking fares to their destinations in a wonderful portrait of contemporary Iran; "Very Big Shot" (Lebanon, Qatar), a bold and insightful dark comedy by Mir-Jean Bou Chaaya that skewers political corruption and the media circus that goes with it; and "Walls" (Spain) - a documentary by Pablo Iraburu and Migueltxo Molina that follows several subjects on both sides of three contemporary international borders, demonstrating that the people on each side of the barriers are not as different as they may believe.
In addition to the three competitive sections, the Festival’s youngest audiences under the age of 8 years will also vote for their favorite film with the help of their parents who will determine the Parents’ Choice Award in the Bariq program. Bariq films are selected to satisfy the excitement and curiosity of young children and are suitable for the whole family. This year’s program features a collection of eight short films and will also include a special outdoor cine-concert on the Katara esplanade by the Festival Tout-Petits Cinéma from Paris, with four films accompanied by live music by pianist Anthony Boulc’h and saxophonist Fanch Minous.
A senior jury of three eminent figures from the local and regional industry will determine the winners of the competitive section comprising feature films from 20 countries and a series of short film program with two awards being presented for Best Short Narrative Film and Best Short Documentary Film. The 2015 jury members are film producer Bassam Al Ibrahim (Qatar), who is the CEO of Innovation Films and co-founder of ILoveQatar.net; film actress, director and producer, Ahd (Saudi Arabia), internationally renowned for her performance in Haifaa al-Mansour’s " Wadjda;" and respected veteran journalist and media personality, Marcel Ghanem (Lebanon).
Fatma Al Remaihi said: “It has been another productive and inspiring year for filmmaking in Qatar and this year’s Made in Qatar selection indicates the rapid growth and diversity that we are witnessing in the Qatari film industry."
The films in the 2015 Ajyal Youth Film Festival Made in Qatar section are:
Made in Qatar Program 1, Wednesday 2nd December
"To My Mother" by Amina Al Bloshi
"Light Sounds" by Karem Kamel
"Her Majlis" by Najla Al Khulaifi, Dana Al Mesnad and Nayla Al Thani
"The Palm Tree" by Jassim Al-Rumaihi
"Yellow Nights" by Abdulla al Mulla
"If They Only Knew" by Sana Al-Ansari
"Heart of the House" by Gabrielle Sol
"The Notebook" by Amna Albinali
Made in Qatar Program 2, Friday 4th December
"Charlie" by Ali Ali
"Immortalizing Memories" by Mostafa Sheshtawy
"Asfoora" by Mayar Hamdan
"Good as New" by Jaser Alagha
"I Choose Islam" by Noor Al-Tamimi, Silma Suba and Zac J. Hollo
"Mariam" by Zainab Ayon
"Time" by Yassine Ouahrani
"Man of the House" by Khalifa AlMarri
"Veganize It!" by Khalid Salim
Closing night will be the world premiere of animated feature film "Bilal" (UAE/2015), a new animated feature film made with funding from the Doha Film Institute and produced by Dubai-based Barajoun Studios. Involving creative talents from 22 countries, "Bilal " by Directors Ayman Jamal and Khurram Alavi is an inspiring adventure story of faith, hope and self-discovery. Inspired by the real-life story of Bilal Bin Rabah, the film's cutting edge animation technology, impeccable research and high production values will resonate with audiences across generations. The cast and crew of the film will be in attendance for the premiere including the directors of the film and cast members Andre Robinson ("Despicable Me 2") and Adewale Akinnuoye Agbaje ("Lost", "The Bourne Identity", "Game of Thrones") who voice the young and adult Bilal respectively.
The Ajyal Family Weekend will feature the regional premiere of Marking the Un International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Ajyal 2015 will present in a regional first, an inclusive cinema experience specially ‘transadapted’ to suit audiences with different abilities, a special screening of Al Rayyan Productions animated short "Hero and the Message" (Qatar/2012). Guests will be able to view the film through sound alone, with special subtitles for people who have difficulty understanding speech. This inclusive version of the film has been developed with the support of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, and is the result of a collaboration between the Doha Film Institute and the Translation and Interpreting Institute at Hamad Bin Khalifa University who are spearheading the development of transadapted content in the Gulf region.
Fatma Al Remaihi, “Since our first edition, animated films have formed a core part of the Ajyal program and I am delighted that this year, we will premiere three incredibly diverse examples of the artform... from three corners of the globe.”
"Bilal" (UAE/2015) In a dreamlike vision, mysterious dark riders mounted on demonic black horses bear down upon a village. Nearby, little Bilal dreams of being a great warrior as he gallops along on his hobbyhorse. The riders come closer – are they real? Or are they just a figment of the youngster’s extraordinary imagination? Suddenly, Bilal’s dream becomes a nightmare. The men on horseback kill his mother and take him captive along with Ghufaira, his sister, and they are soon sold as slaves to Umayya, the wealthiest merchant in all of Arabia. Bilal never forgets this terrible day, which haunts his sleep for years to come. But the echoes of his mother’s gentle voice stay with him, a constant reminder that to break free of the chains that enslave him, he must forge his own destiny.
"The Good Dinosaur" (USA/2015), the latest feature from the award-winning Pixar Animation Studios and the team behind beloved Pixar classics "Finding Nemo" and "Inside Out" and will feature a special ‘kids red carpet’ for all families and young people from the community to participate and to be transported to a world where dinosaurs walk the Earth. Directed by Peter Sohn, the film screens on December 4th and presents an alternate history where the asteroids that wiped out these ancient reptiles never hit our planet.
"Hero and the Message" (Qatar/2012) tells the fantastic tale of a Qatari brother and sister who travel back in time to witness the founding events of the State of Qatar. Produced by Al Rayyan Productions, the top-notch animated short directed by Pawel Borowski was created to celebrate Qatar’s National Day in 2012, and screens on December 3rd.
"When Marnie Was There" (Japan/2014), screening on December 4 is one of the final anime sensations from Ghibli Studios and is based on the novel When Marnie Was There by Joan G. Robinson. Directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi, the film is about a young girl Anna who explores a long- abandoned villa and meets a mysterious blonde girl only she can see.
- 11/21/2015
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
I met Alexander Albrecht at the new recently held Mexican Residency Program "Pueblo Magico." Typical of the diversity at this workshop for eight to ten first and second time filmmakers from all over the globe, he was born and raised in Switzerland and resides in Mexico, Berlin and Zurich. He graduated from the European Film Actors School Zurich, trained at the Susan Batson Studio in New York and trained with Larry Moss. He is fluent in German, French, English and Italian. He has worked in several theater, TV and cinema productions. Albrecht wrote his first film in 2013, in which he starred, namely the short "La Boda De Baba" directed by Lucia Carreras and produced by Machete Producciones and the Mexican Film Institute.
He is currently writing and rehearsing an adaptation of the famous Novel White Nights written by the young Dostoyevsky, directed by Lioudmila Babkina Meier, which will be performed on several Zurich stages. For the past two years, alongside Alexandra Edmondson from Australia, he has been writing his first feature film "Brooklyn Treehouse".
"Brooklyn Treehouse" is about four young creative types who come from various places to New York and end up sharing an apartment with an eccentic French artist. Once there, they are pushed to make decisions about their own lives.
"Brooklyn Treehouse" is being produced by Machete Productions in Mexico, one of the new interesting young production companies there now, that produced "La Jaula de oro" and "Leap Year" ("Ano besieto").
He is currently writing and rehearsing an adaptation of the famous Novel White Nights written by the young Dostoyevsky, directed by Lioudmila Babkina Meier, which will be performed on several Zurich stages. For the past two years, alongside Alexandra Edmondson from Australia, he has been writing his first feature film "Brooklyn Treehouse".
"Brooklyn Treehouse" is about four young creative types who come from various places to New York and end up sharing an apartment with an eccentic French artist. Once there, they are pushed to make decisions about their own lives.
"Brooklyn Treehouse" is being produced by Machete Productions in Mexico, one of the new interesting young production companies there now, that produced "La Jaula de oro" and "Leap Year" ("Ano besieto").
- 11/15/2015
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Titles in competition include animation Phantom Boy [pictured], Ethiopian drama Lamb, Brazilian Oscar submission The Second Mother and Jafar Panahi’s Berlinale winner Taxi Tehran.
The Doha Film Institute has announced the competition line-up for the third edition of the Ajyal Youth Film Festival (Nov 29 - Dec 5), comprising feature films from 20 countries as well as a series of short film programmes.
The jury will be made up of more than 500 young people, aged 8-21, who will watch a programme of films under three competitive sections - Mohaq, Hilal, and Bader - followed by discussions and events including panels, workshops and Q&A sessions with filmmakers.
Each of the three Ajyal Juries will award a Best Film prize to their favourite short and feature-length films, for a total of six awards. The directors of the winning films are awarded funding toward their next film.
The jury includes 24 international jurors who will travel to Doha for the event from 12 countries...
The Doha Film Institute has announced the competition line-up for the third edition of the Ajyal Youth Film Festival (Nov 29 - Dec 5), comprising feature films from 20 countries as well as a series of short film programmes.
The jury will be made up of more than 500 young people, aged 8-21, who will watch a programme of films under three competitive sections - Mohaq, Hilal, and Bader - followed by discussions and events including panels, workshops and Q&A sessions with filmmakers.
Each of the three Ajyal Juries will award a Best Film prize to their favourite short and feature-length films, for a total of six awards. The directors of the winning films are awarded funding toward their next film.
The jury includes 24 international jurors who will travel to Doha for the event from 12 countries...
- 11/9/2015
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Israel Cárdenas and Laura Amelia Guzmán romance from the Dominican Republic won the Best Fiction Feature prize at the 2015 trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff) awards ceremony.
Best Documentary Feature went to Aleksandra Maciuszek’s Casa Blanca, which also earned a special mention for artistic merit from the Amnesty International Human Rights Prize jury.
In the Trinidad and Tobago film categories, Sean Hodgkinson’s Trafficked took Best Fiction Feature, while Kim Johnson’s Re-percussions: An African Odyssey won Best Documentary Feature.
The People’s Choice Award for Best Narrative Feature went to Joanne Johnson’s local title Sally’s Way as Antigua’s Vanishing Sail by Alexis Andrews took corresponding documentary honours.
The prize for best project at the first ever Caribbean Film Mart went to Kidnapping Inc from Haiti by Gaethan Chancy, Bruno Mourral and Raoul Peck. The festival ran from September 15-29.
Full list of award winners:
Best Fiction Feature: Sand Dollars, (Dominican Republic-Mexico-Argentina...
Best Documentary Feature went to Aleksandra Maciuszek’s Casa Blanca, which also earned a special mention for artistic merit from the Amnesty International Human Rights Prize jury.
In the Trinidad and Tobago film categories, Sean Hodgkinson’s Trafficked took Best Fiction Feature, while Kim Johnson’s Re-percussions: An African Odyssey won Best Documentary Feature.
The People’s Choice Award for Best Narrative Feature went to Joanne Johnson’s local title Sally’s Way as Antigua’s Vanishing Sail by Alexis Andrews took corresponding documentary honours.
The prize for best project at the first ever Caribbean Film Mart went to Kidnapping Inc from Haiti by Gaethan Chancy, Bruno Mourral and Raoul Peck. The festival ran from September 15-29.
Full list of award winners:
Best Fiction Feature: Sand Dollars, (Dominican Republic-Mexico-Argentina...
- 9/28/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Asif Kapadia’s Amy, Anna Muylaert’s The Second Mother, Abderrahmane Sissako’s Timbuktu, John Maclean’s Slow West and Céline Sciamma’s Girlhood are among the fiction and documentary line-up.
The fiction selections are: Chus Gutiérrez’s Ciudad Deliro (Colombia); Chaitanya Tamhane’s Court (India); Miguel Llansó’s Crumbs (Ethiopia-Spain); Girlhood (France), Mario Crespo’s Gone With The River (Venezuela); Ana V. Bojórquez, Lucía Carreras’ The Greatest House In The World (Guatemala-Mexico); Alonso Ruizpalacios’ Güeros (Mexico); Rebecca Johnson’s Honeytrap (UK); Shonali Bose’s Margarita, With A Straw (India); Jean-Paul Civeyrac’s My Friend Victoria (France); and Carolina Borrero, Pinky Mon, Luis Franco, Abner Benaim and Pituka Ortega Heilbron’s Panama Canal Stories (Panama).
The section continues with: Nagesh Kukunoor’s Rainbow (India); Debbie Tucker Green’s Second Coming (UK); The Second Mother (Brazil, pictured); Walter Tournier’s Selkirk, The Real Robinson Crusoe (Uruguay-Argentina-Chile-Spain); John Maclean’s Slow West (UK-New Zealand); Jim Chuchu’s Stories Of Our Lives (Kenya-South...
The fiction selections are: Chus Gutiérrez’s Ciudad Deliro (Colombia); Chaitanya Tamhane’s Court (India); Miguel Llansó’s Crumbs (Ethiopia-Spain); Girlhood (France), Mario Crespo’s Gone With The River (Venezuela); Ana V. Bojórquez, Lucía Carreras’ The Greatest House In The World (Guatemala-Mexico); Alonso Ruizpalacios’ Güeros (Mexico); Rebecca Johnson’s Honeytrap (UK); Shonali Bose’s Margarita, With A Straw (India); Jean-Paul Civeyrac’s My Friend Victoria (France); and Carolina Borrero, Pinky Mon, Luis Franco, Abner Benaim and Pituka Ortega Heilbron’s Panama Canal Stories (Panama).
The section continues with: Nagesh Kukunoor’s Rainbow (India); Debbie Tucker Green’s Second Coming (UK); The Second Mother (Brazil, pictured); Walter Tournier’s Selkirk, The Real Robinson Crusoe (Uruguay-Argentina-Chile-Spain); John Maclean’s Slow West (UK-New Zealand); Jim Chuchu’s Stories Of Our Lives (Kenya-South...
- 8/19/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
The 17th edition of the International Film Festival of Kerala (Iffk) has announced its lineup. The festival will run from 7th to 14th December, 2012 in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
Some of the highlights of the lineup are festival favourites of the year Amour, Chitrangada, Samhita, The Sapphires, Drapchi, Miss Lovely, Me and You, Celluloid Man, and Baandhon.
Fourteen films will screen in the Competition section while seven contemporary films will be screened in “Indian Cinema Now” section.
Complete list of films:
Competition Films
Fourteen feature films from Asia, Africa and Latin America will compete for the coveted “Suvarna Chakoram” (Golden Crow Pheasant) and other awards.
Always Brando by Ridha Behi (Tunisia)
Inheritors of the Earth by T V Chandran (India)
A Terminal Trust by by Masayuki Suo (Japan)
Shutter by Joy Mathew (India)
Today by Alain Gomis (Senegal-France)
The Repentant by Merzak Allouache (Algeria)
Sta. Niña by Manny Palo (Philippines)
Present Tense...
Some of the highlights of the lineup are festival favourites of the year Amour, Chitrangada, Samhita, The Sapphires, Drapchi, Miss Lovely, Me and You, Celluloid Man, and Baandhon.
Fourteen films will screen in the Competition section while seven contemporary films will be screened in “Indian Cinema Now” section.
Complete list of films:
Competition Films
Fourteen feature films from Asia, Africa and Latin America will compete for the coveted “Suvarna Chakoram” (Golden Crow Pheasant) and other awards.
Always Brando by Ridha Behi (Tunisia)
Inheritors of the Earth by T V Chandran (India)
A Terminal Trust by by Masayuki Suo (Japan)
Shutter by Joy Mathew (India)
Today by Alain Gomis (Senegal-France)
The Repentant by Merzak Allouache (Algeria)
Sta. Niña by Manny Palo (Philippines)
Present Tense...
- 11/2/2012
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
Writers: Lucia Carreras, Michael Rowe
Director: Michael Rowe
Cast: Monica del Carmen, Gustavo Sánchez Parra, Armando Hernández
Loneliness may be the single worst thing a human being can feel. As humans, we strive for interaction between one another, be that lengthy conversations or the most brief of Facebook-style interchanges about the most banal of subjects. That very concept is at the root of the new film from first time filmmaker and Cannes Film Festival award winner (Camera d’Or, 2011), Michael Rowe. Entitled Ano Bisieto (or Leap Year as it is called stateside), this film festival hit is an intriguing study of isolation, both conceptually and creatively.
Read more on Theatrical Review: Leap Year...
Director: Michael Rowe
Cast: Monica del Carmen, Gustavo Sánchez Parra, Armando Hernández
Loneliness may be the single worst thing a human being can feel. As humans, we strive for interaction between one another, be that lengthy conversations or the most brief of Facebook-style interchanges about the most banal of subjects. That very concept is at the root of the new film from first time filmmaker and Cannes Film Festival award winner (Camera d’Or, 2011), Michael Rowe. Entitled Ano Bisieto (or Leap Year as it is called stateside), this film festival hit is an intriguing study of isolation, both conceptually and creatively.
Read more on Theatrical Review: Leap Year...
- 6/30/2011
- by Joshua Brunsting
- GordonandtheWhale
Leap Year ( Ano Bisiesto)
Stars: Monica Del Carmen, Gustavo Sanchez Parra | Written by Lucia Carreras, Michael Rowe | Directed by Michael Rowe
Laura (Del Carmen) is a young woman living by herself in an apartment in Mexico City, who is counting down the days until the 29th of February. She is clearly bored, lonely and in mourning. Through the day, she works a little, spies on her neighbours and exaggerates the extent of her social life to her family. By night, she heads out into the city and returns with strangers to sleep with in what appears to be an effort to quell her grief.
Set entirely, except for an introductory scene in a supermarket, in Laura’s flat, Aussie director Michael Rowe expertly conjures a pervading air of desperation, sadness and bittersweet humour. Del Carmen is amazing and gives a truly standout performance as a woman turning to increasingly dangerous sex as a release.
Stars: Monica Del Carmen, Gustavo Sanchez Parra | Written by Lucia Carreras, Michael Rowe | Directed by Michael Rowe
Laura (Del Carmen) is a young woman living by herself in an apartment in Mexico City, who is counting down the days until the 29th of February. She is clearly bored, lonely and in mourning. Through the day, she works a little, spies on her neighbours and exaggerates the extent of her social life to her family. By night, she heads out into the city and returns with strangers to sleep with in what appears to be an effort to quell her grief.
Set entirely, except for an introductory scene in a supermarket, in Laura’s flat, Aussie director Michael Rowe expertly conjures a pervading air of desperation, sadness and bittersweet humour. Del Carmen is amazing and gives a truly standout performance as a woman turning to increasingly dangerous sex as a release.
- 10/16/2010
- by Jack Kirby
- Nerdly
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