Banking on the continued success of Latin American projects at immersive festivals and showcases across the globe, Mediamorfosis director Damian Kirzner is looking to help local creatives build stronger in-roads into the international Xr ecosystem. The founder and director of Latin America’s largest new media forum, Kirzner was at this year’s NewImages Festival to present a panel, press the flesh, and to take a victory lap of sorts as a pair of locally flavored productions claimed the top prizes.
You attended NewImages to give a presentation on partnerships between France and Latin America. What progress has been made on this front?
We have a medium-term plan established with NewImages to bridge the gap between France and Latin America. This year we started by presenting an overview of our situation and brought content from the region. We have support from the Institut Français and [are going into our second year] of a French immersive residency in Quito.
You attended NewImages to give a presentation on partnerships between France and Latin America. What progress has been made on this front?
We have a medium-term plan established with NewImages to bridge the gap between France and Latin America. This year we started by presenting an overview of our situation and brought content from the region. We have support from the Institut Français and [are going into our second year] of a French immersive residency in Quito.
- 4/8/2023
- by Ben Croll
- Variety Film + TV
The training centre will launch next summer with an annual €500,000 budget.
Veneto Film Commission is joining forces with the nation’s public film institute Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia to launch a first-of-a-kind virtual reality technology school in northern Italy.
“This the first such school in Italy, and it is ahead of the curve on a European level and will put us in the position of being able to provide supply to the demand that will be increasing for VR technology in coming years,” Veneto Film Commission director Jacopo Chessa said.
The announcement of the new immersive technology school in the...
Veneto Film Commission is joining forces with the nation’s public film institute Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia to launch a first-of-a-kind virtual reality technology school in northern Italy.
“This the first such school in Italy, and it is ahead of the curve on a European level and will put us in the position of being able to provide supply to the demand that will be increasing for VR technology in coming years,” Veneto Film Commission director Jacopo Chessa said.
The announcement of the new immersive technology school in the...
- 9/5/2022
- by Alina Trabattoni
- ScreenDaily
Marion Cotillard will star as Coco Chanel in “Rencontre(s) ,” an immersive, interactive, and multi-sensorial project that whisks participants back to Paris of the Roaring Twenties. Making its world premiere as part of the Venice Film Festival’s recently rebranded Venice Immersive showcase for new-media projects, the pop-history experience mixes live elements with 2D animation and Xr embellishments to retrace the creation of Chanel No 5. Variety debuts the teaser here (below).
Commissioned by Chanel and produced by Paris-based studio Atelier Daruma, the 15-minute immersive experience puts participants into the shoes of Ernest Beaux, the Russo-French perfumer who created the iconic elixir for the fashion icon. Voicing an animated version of Coco Chanel in both English and French, the Oscar-winning actress plays the designer at the height of her Queen of Paris fame, as a 38-year-old doyenne and magnetic pole for the city’s modernist and avant-garde scenes.
“Marion did an incredible job visualizing,...
Commissioned by Chanel and produced by Paris-based studio Atelier Daruma, the 15-minute immersive experience puts participants into the shoes of Ernest Beaux, the Russo-French perfumer who created the iconic elixir for the fashion icon. Voicing an animated version of Coco Chanel in both English and French, the Oscar-winning actress plays the designer at the height of her Queen of Paris fame, as a 38-year-old doyenne and magnetic pole for the city’s modernist and avant-garde scenes.
“Marion did an incredible job visualizing,...
- 9/1/2022
- by Ben Croll
- Variety Film + TV
“Alex Honnold: The Soloist” and “Glimpse” were awarded at Cannes Xr x VeeR Future Awards on May 22, named best VR story and best VR interactive experience respectively. The winners were announced by jurors Zhang Ziyi and Bad Robot’s Hannah Minghella, who judged 18 shortlisted VR works alongside Michel Reilhac, Vicki Dobbs Beck, Kari Skogland and Doug Chiang.
The event, marking the third year of the partnership, took place online on a shared metaverse called “Alexandria,” created by Cannes Xr and NewImages Festival.
Directed by Jonathan Griffith, two-part series “Alex Honnold: The Soloist” follows the famous rock climber and the star of “Free Solo,” using the latest VR panoramic shooting technology.
“That’s how I fell in love with VR straight away: it’s the best way to bring people into our alien world of climbing,” Griffith tells Variety about “the absolute passion project” of his career.
Also behind “Everest VR:...
The event, marking the third year of the partnership, took place online on a shared metaverse called “Alexandria,” created by Cannes Xr and NewImages Festival.
Directed by Jonathan Griffith, two-part series “Alex Honnold: The Soloist” follows the famous rock climber and the star of “Free Solo,” using the latest VR panoramic shooting technology.
“That’s how I fell in love with VR straight away: it’s the best way to bring people into our alien world of climbing,” Griffith tells Variety about “the absolute passion project” of his career.
Also behind “Everest VR:...
- 5/24/2022
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Glimpse, an interactive animated film from Swan Song writer-director Benjamin Cleary and Michael O’Connor and featuring the voices of Taron Egerton and Lucy Boynton, and a VR project following Alex Hannold, the subject of the Oscar-winning climbing documentary Free Solo, have won the prizes of the Cannes Xr program that is part of Cannes’ Marché du Film.
Glimpse, which won the VeeR Future Award – Best VR Interactive Experience, follows a heartbroken panda named Herbie (Egerton) who examines the memories of his relationship after recently breaking up with his deer girlfriend Rice (Boynton). The original score is by Julianna Barwick. The project is a co-production of Cleary and O’Connor’s Mr. Kite and Albyon, the studio branch of the Atlas V group. It is Albyon’s first co-production. Lee Harris produced for Electric Skies.
Alex Honnold: The Soloist VR won the VeeR Future Award – Best VR Story prize. Directed by Jonathan Griffith,...
Glimpse, which won the VeeR Future Award – Best VR Interactive Experience, follows a heartbroken panda named Herbie (Egerton) who examines the memories of his relationship after recently breaking up with his deer girlfriend Rice (Boynton). The original score is by Julianna Barwick. The project is a co-production of Cleary and O’Connor’s Mr. Kite and Albyon, the studio branch of the Atlas V group. It is Albyon’s first co-production. Lee Harris produced for Electric Skies.
Alex Honnold: The Soloist VR won the VeeR Future Award – Best VR Story prize. Directed by Jonathan Griffith,...
- 5/24/2022
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
There is much to be gleaned about the future of creativity from the work being made in virtual reality: From Sundance to Burning Man, the past year has offered many examples of successful large-scale virtual events in 3D. However, among the major fall film festivals, only Venice’s VR Expanded section has made room for the emerging medium, and only the most recent edition showcased a key aspect of VR’s expansion that is poised to grow prominent: the social side.
In addition to the 24 projects in Competition and a handful of others, programmers Liz Rosenthal and Michel Reilhac curated a selection of 34 user-generated worlds created in social platform VRChat. The spaces ranged from sci-fi and adventure quest themes to full-on artworks and interactive music videos, many of which were built on massive scales inconceivable for any physical festival space.
Throughout the festival, the programmers hosted special events and “world...
In addition to the 24 projects in Competition and a handful of others, programmers Liz Rosenthal and Michel Reilhac curated a selection of 34 user-generated worlds created in social platform VRChat. The spaces ranged from sci-fi and adventure quest themes to full-on artworks and interactive music videos, many of which were built on massive scales inconceivable for any physical festival space.
Throughout the festival, the programmers hosted special events and “world...
- 9/14/2021
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
As one of the oldest and most prestigious film festivals in the world, the Venice Intl. Film Festival has been launching films that have gone on to grab top awards and discoveries of emerging filmmakers, and now, after several years as a leader in the VR space, the 78th edition is poised to do the same for this cutting-edge medium.
For more than five years, the festival has recognized VR and the creatives who work with it as a powerful force that’s pushing its way into the mainstream. While standardized ways of presenting VR projects and distributing them are still evolving, the festival is keenly focused on being part of that process.
“The way VR is promoted in Venice is very special compared to any other festival, because it was an initiative that was taken in 2016 as a pilot experiment to bring a new section of the festival,” says Michel Reilhac,...
For more than five years, the festival has recognized VR and the creatives who work with it as a powerful force that’s pushing its way into the mainstream. While standardized ways of presenting VR projects and distributing them are still evolving, the festival is keenly focused on being part of that process.
“The way VR is promoted in Venice is very special compared to any other festival, because it was an initiative that was taken in 2016 as a pilot experiment to bring a new section of the festival,” says Michel Reilhac,...
- 9/4/2021
- by Karen Idelson
- Variety Film + TV
Venice works with VR platforms including Facebook-owned Oculus and Viveport, which do not allow nudity and sex, for example.
Venice VR Expanded co-creators Liz Rosenthal and Michel Reilhac have warned of freedom of expression issues threatening to stop daring and ground-breaking VR work being seen widely.
The Venice organisers need to work with the leading VR platforms, who are generally strong supporters of artists in the fast growing VR field, in order to distribute virtual-reality projects online. The hitch comes with what these platforms are allowing to be seen.
“They have a very strict moral code with very strictly defined family moral values,...
Venice VR Expanded co-creators Liz Rosenthal and Michel Reilhac have warned of freedom of expression issues threatening to stop daring and ground-breaking VR work being seen widely.
The Venice organisers need to work with the leading VR platforms, who are generally strong supporters of artists in the fast growing VR field, in order to distribute virtual-reality projects online. The hitch comes with what these platforms are allowing to be seen.
“They have a very strict moral code with very strictly defined family moral values,...
- 9/3/2021
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
Venice works with VR platforms including Facebook-owned Oculus and Viveport, which do not allow nudity and sex, for example.
Venice VR Expanded co-creators Liz Rosenthal and Michel Reilhac have warned of a creeping censorship issue threatening to stop daring and ground-breaking VR work being seen widely.
The Venice organisers need to work with platforms including Facebook-owned Oculus and Viveport, which is owned by Taiwan’s Htc, in order to distribute virtual reality projects online. The hitch comes with what these platforms are allowing to be seen.
“They have a very strict moral code with very strictly defined family moral values,...
Venice VR Expanded co-creators Liz Rosenthal and Michel Reilhac have warned of a creeping censorship issue threatening to stop daring and ground-breaking VR work being seen widely.
The Venice organisers need to work with platforms including Facebook-owned Oculus and Viveport, which is owned by Taiwan’s Htc, in order to distribute virtual reality projects online. The hitch comes with what these platforms are allowing to be seen.
“They have a very strict moral code with very strictly defined family moral values,...
- 9/3/2021
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
The Singapore International Film Festival (Sgiff) returns for its 32nd edition from 25th November to 5th December 2021, with a call for entries for Feature Films from Asian and Short Films from Southeast Asian, as well as a call for applications for the Southeast Asian Film Lab and Youth Jury & Critics Programme. For the first time ever, Sgiff will have an open call for applications for its Southeast Asian Producers Network Programme this year. Since its inception in 2017, participants were invited to be part of the Southeast Asian Producers Network.
Under Sgiff’s Film Academy, the region’s first holistic training initiative for Southeast Asian film talents, the Southeast Asian Producers Network was a by-invitation-only programme that identified producers from the region to share their wealth of knowledge and information with one another in an open exchange of ideas. The network is a platform for further dialogue and opportunities for collaboration.
Under Sgiff’s Film Academy, the region’s first holistic training initiative for Southeast Asian film talents, the Southeast Asian Producers Network was a by-invitation-only programme that identified producers from the region to share their wealth of knowledge and information with one another in an open exchange of ideas. The network is a platform for further dialogue and opportunities for collaboration.
- 5/14/2021
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSAbove: Kelly Reichardt and Michelle Williams on the set of Meek's Cutoff (2010). Kelly Reichardt and Michelle Williams will be working on a fourth project together, entitled Showing Up. The film, which goes into production this summer, follows an artist ahead of a career-changing exhibition. The Berlin Film Festival is unveiling its plans for this year's festival, beginning with its selection of six titles to premiere at the Berlinale Series that follow this year's theme: Toxic Antiheroes, Utopias of Freedom. Italian director, screenwriter, and producer Alberto Lattatuda will be the subject of the Locarno Film Festival's annual retrospective, to be held August 4-14. Following his biopic of Siegfried Sassoon, Terence Davies is set to direct an adaptation of Stefan Zweig’s post-wwi-set novel The Post Office Girl. Recommended VIEWINGThe official trailer for Beginning, the striking...
- 1/27/2021
- MUBI
New strand will include a prize for best film.
The Venice Film Festival is to introduce a new strand at its 78th edition in September, replacing its Sconfini section with a new Horizons strand.
Horizons Extra will be an extension of the competitive Horizons strand, focusing on new trends in world cinema. The section will comprise a selection of titles “less constrained by standards of length and format”, as long as they last more than 60 minutes. A jury comprising audience members will award a prize to the best film in the section, with further details of how this will work currently in discussion.
The Venice Film Festival is to introduce a new strand at its 78th edition in September, replacing its Sconfini section with a new Horizons strand.
Horizons Extra will be an extension of the competitive Horizons strand, focusing on new trends in world cinema. The section will comprise a selection of titles “less constrained by standards of length and format”, as long as they last more than 60 minutes. A jury comprising audience members will award a prize to the best film in the section, with further details of how this will work currently in discussion.
- 1/18/2021
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
The Venice Film Festival is tweaking its sections as it gears up for its upcoming 78th edition in September.
After announcing that “Parasite” director Bong Joon Ho will preside over the main jury, the Lido on Monday opened up for film submissions and said in a statement that the fest’s Sconfini section — which had been scrapped last year to free up more space for the socially-distanced screenings — is being replaced by a new section called Horizons Extra.
Horizons Extra will be an extension of Venice’s competitive Horizons (Orrizonti) section that focuses on new trends in world cinema, but will be “less constrained by standards of length and format,” the Venice statement said. The new sidebar is for “works with no limits of genre, duration and destination, as long as they last more than 60 minutes,” it added. Prizes will be decided by a jury of audience members “following criteria and procedures to be announced.
After announcing that “Parasite” director Bong Joon Ho will preside over the main jury, the Lido on Monday opened up for film submissions and said in a statement that the fest’s Sconfini section — which had been scrapped last year to free up more space for the socially-distanced screenings — is being replaced by a new section called Horizons Extra.
Horizons Extra will be an extension of Venice’s competitive Horizons (Orrizonti) section that focuses on new trends in world cinema, but will be “less constrained by standards of length and format,” the Venice statement said. The new sidebar is for “works with no limits of genre, duration and destination, as long as they last more than 60 minutes,” it added. Prizes will be decided by a jury of audience members “following criteria and procedures to be announced.
- 1/18/2021
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Responding to an online distribution landscape driven primarily by the patterns of the video game industry, organizers of the leading international VR festivals have started on a plan to carve out a niche all for themselves – and for the artistically minded project their festivals champion.
“The creative or artistic content in VR do not have an identifiable place to be hosted [online],” Venice Film Festival VR curator Michel Reilhac, an expert in interactive and immersive media, tells Variety. “We think there’s a specific audience for these kinds of pieces, but [in the current online marketplaces] this content is drowned out in a sea of games. So we felt it was time to think of a way to congregate our artistic content within an identifiable platform that would be curated with a guarantee of quality.”
And so the Venice VR curator has partnered with counterparts at festivals like Tribeca, South by Southwest and NewImages, among others,...
“The creative or artistic content in VR do not have an identifiable place to be hosted [online],” Venice Film Festival VR curator Michel Reilhac, an expert in interactive and immersive media, tells Variety. “We think there’s a specific audience for these kinds of pieces, but [in the current online marketplaces] this content is drowned out in a sea of games. So we felt it was time to think of a way to congregate our artistic content within an identifiable platform that would be curated with a guarantee of quality.”
And so the Venice VR curator has partnered with counterparts at festivals like Tribeca, South by Southwest and NewImages, among others,...
- 9/22/2020
- by Ben Croll
- Variety Film + TV
The Venice Film Festival’s Virtual Reality section is going entirely online this year, but expanding its scope via a platform and also a satellite network that will make it accessible worldwide.
In normal times the competitive sidebar launched in 2017 by co-curators Michel Reilhac and Liz Rosenthal – who put Venice ahead of the curve in the VR arena – was held on the Lazzaretto, a tiny island a stone’s throw from the Lido that was a leper colony in the 15th century. But due to the coronavirus pandemic this year it’s been rebranded Venice VR Expanded and moved to a digital platform supported by Htc Viveport, Facebook’s Oculus, VRChat and VRrOOm that will allow various types of access using a VR headset and a PC.
Venice VR Expanded will present a total of 44 projects from 24 countries, 31 of which are in competition. These include “Gnomes & Goblins,” co-directed by “The Lion King...
In normal times the competitive sidebar launched in 2017 by co-curators Michel Reilhac and Liz Rosenthal – who put Venice ahead of the curve in the VR arena – was held on the Lazzaretto, a tiny island a stone’s throw from the Lido that was a leper colony in the 15th century. But due to the coronavirus pandemic this year it’s been rebranded Venice VR Expanded and moved to a digital platform supported by Htc Viveport, Facebook’s Oculus, VRChat and VRrOOm that will allow various types of access using a VR headset and a PC.
Venice VR Expanded will present a total of 44 projects from 24 countries, 31 of which are in competition. These include “Gnomes & Goblins,” co-directed by “The Lion King...
- 8/26/2020
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
This piece is one part loving obituary and one part urgent call-to-action around the undeniable need for our independent film industry to put some sort of safety nets in place for our beloved and aging indie film leadership. Ironically, when I wrote this piece just two months ago, who could have imagined that the topic of safety nets would become so important to All Of Us given the ways in which our industry has been so dramatically halted and upended by the #Coronavirus public health pandemic?By Marc Smolowitz
30 March
For context, I am currently developing a new film as a director on these topics, and I hope to gather steam among key indie film organizations in the coming months, so we can all come together (either online or in-person when safe to do so) to create new programs and initiatives that help build safety nets for the most vulnerable in our industry.
30 March
For context, I am currently developing a new film as a director on these topics, and I hope to gather steam among key indie film organizations in the coming months, so we can all come together (either online or in-person when safe to do so) to create new programs and initiatives that help build safety nets for the most vulnerable in our industry.
- 5/5/2020
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
The festivals’s long-running Silver Screen Awards includes a nine-strong Asian feature film competition, featuring several titles by first-time directors.
The Singapore International Film Festival (Sgiff) has revealed the line-up for its 30th edition, which runs Nov 21-Dec 1.
The festivals’s long-running Silver Screen Awards includes a nine-strong Asian feature film competition, featuring several titles by first-time directors. Most of the contenders are already award winners, including Gu Xiaogang’s Dwelling In The Fuchun Mountains which earned best film and best director at First International Film Festival in Xining, Yosep Anggi Noen’s The Science Of Fictions, which received a special mention at Locarno,...
The Singapore International Film Festival (Sgiff) has revealed the line-up for its 30th edition, which runs Nov 21-Dec 1.
The festivals’s long-running Silver Screen Awards includes a nine-strong Asian feature film competition, featuring several titles by first-time directors. Most of the contenders are already award winners, including Gu Xiaogang’s Dwelling In The Fuchun Mountains which earned best film and best director at First International Film Festival in Xining, Yosep Anggi Noen’s The Science Of Fictions, which received a special mention at Locarno,...
- 10/22/2019
- by 1100978¦Silvia Wong¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
“It needs to be recognised in the way that film is recognised.”
Virtual Reality is taking hold on the Lido as Venice, the only A-list festival which has its own Vr competition, ramps up its Vr offerings yet further.
“[Vr] is a new form of storytelling and art and it needs to be recognised in the same way that film is recognised,” said Liz Rosenthal, co-programmer of Venice Vr alongside Michel Reilhac.
The Venice competition is divided into two strands. Linear and Interactive. There is also an Out of Competition/Best Of Vr section.
“What we felt was that Vr was...
Virtual Reality is taking hold on the Lido as Venice, the only A-list festival which has its own Vr competition, ramps up its Vr offerings yet further.
“[Vr] is a new form of storytelling and art and it needs to be recognised in the same way that film is recognised,” said Liz Rosenthal, co-programmer of Venice Vr alongside Michel Reilhac.
The Venice competition is divided into two strands. Linear and Interactive. There is also an Out of Competition/Best Of Vr section.
“What we felt was that Vr was...
- 8/30/2019
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
Running Aug. 29-Sept. 7, the third edition of Venice Vr will spotlight 39 unique projects, with 26 unspooling in the competition overseen by jury president Laurie Anderson and 13 more screening in the non-competitive Best of Vr section.
Once more, curators Michel Reilhac and Liz Rosenthal have divided the Venice Vr competition into two unique sections — one dedicated to 360° linear films and the other to more outwardly interactive projects.
Three of the 12 films competing in the linear category come from last year’s Grand Prize-winning studio, Atlas V.
The Paris-based production house, which took top honors with 2018’s “Spheres,” will bring a new installment of its popular series “BattleScar — Punk Was Invented by Girls.” The coming-of-age narrative is anchored by actress Rosario Dawson. It is also screening “Ex Anima Experience,” an equestrian show made in partnership with French circus artist Bartabas, and “Gloomy Eyes,” a Tim Burton-esque animated film from directors Jorge Tereso and Fernando Maldonado.
Once more, curators Michel Reilhac and Liz Rosenthal have divided the Venice Vr competition into two unique sections — one dedicated to 360° linear films and the other to more outwardly interactive projects.
Three of the 12 films competing in the linear category come from last year’s Grand Prize-winning studio, Atlas V.
The Paris-based production house, which took top honors with 2018’s “Spheres,” will bring a new installment of its popular series “BattleScar — Punk Was Invented by Girls.” The coming-of-age narrative is anchored by actress Rosario Dawson. It is also screening “Ex Anima Experience,” an equestrian show made in partnership with French circus artist Bartabas, and “Gloomy Eyes,” a Tim Burton-esque animated film from directors Jorge Tereso and Fernando Maldonado.
- 8/27/2019
- by Ben Croll
- Variety Film + TV
She was programme director of Taipei Film Festival from 2014-2018.
Kuo Ming Jung has been appointed new programme director for Singapore International Film Festival (Sgiff), stepping up from her previous role as the festival’s consultant and taking the reins from Thailand’s Pimpaka Towira.
Taiwan-born Kuo has spent much of her career in film festival management, programming and distribution. She was programme director of Taipei Film Festival from 2014-2018.
Thailand-born Pimpaka who served as programme director for the last two editions of Sgiff is also a filmmaker. She has received a government grant from the Thai Media Fund for...
Kuo Ming Jung has been appointed new programme director for Singapore International Film Festival (Sgiff), stepping up from her previous role as the festival’s consultant and taking the reins from Thailand’s Pimpaka Towira.
Taiwan-born Kuo has spent much of her career in film festival management, programming and distribution. She was programme director of Taipei Film Festival from 2014-2018.
Thailand-born Pimpaka who served as programme director for the last two editions of Sgiff is also a filmmaker. She has received a government grant from the Thai Media Fund for...
- 5/17/2019
- by Silvia Wong
- ScreenDaily
The Singapore International Film Festival has appointed Taiwanese film curator, Kuo Ming-Jung, as its new program director alongside executive director, Yuni Hadi.
A previous Consultant of Sgiff, Kuo takes over from Thai filmmaker and critic, Pimpaka Towira, to lead the festival’s film curation and programs. An experienced film industry professional, Kuo was the program director at the Taipei Film Festival from 2014 to 2018. She has also served on several juries and selection panels including at Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival, International Film Festival Rotterdam, and Locarno Film Festival.
The 30th Sgiff will run from 21 Nov. to 1 Dec. 2019
Festival organizers also announced details of the first edition of the Sgiff Film Academy (Sfa), which it describes as “the region’s first holistic training initiative to support Southeast Asian film talents and nurture film appreciation among the audience.”
Four documentary projects received funding under the new Sgiff Se Asian documentary grant scheme: “Some Women,...
A previous Consultant of Sgiff, Kuo takes over from Thai filmmaker and critic, Pimpaka Towira, to lead the festival’s film curation and programs. An experienced film industry professional, Kuo was the program director at the Taipei Film Festival from 2014 to 2018. She has also served on several juries and selection panels including at Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival, International Film Festival Rotterdam, and Locarno Film Festival.
The 30th Sgiff will run from 21 Nov. to 1 Dec. 2019
Festival organizers also announced details of the first edition of the Sgiff Film Academy (Sfa), which it describes as “the region’s first holistic training initiative to support Southeast Asian film talents and nurture film appreciation among the audience.”
Four documentary projects received funding under the new Sgiff Se Asian documentary grant scheme: “Some Women,...
- 5/17/2019
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
It’s only that the media hype has died down, Michel Reihac told the Doha audience.
Virtual Reality (Vr) remains on course to have as big an impact on our lives as the internet and smartphones even if the media hype around the new technology has died down over the past 18 months, French Vr pioneer Michel Reilhac told an industry talk at the Doha Film Institute’s Qumra event (March 15-20) this week.
“It’s not happening yet, it’s not in your pockets, nor easily available… the consensus is that it will take another four years for Vr to...
Virtual Reality (Vr) remains on course to have as big an impact on our lives as the internet and smartphones even if the media hype around the new technology has died down over the past 18 months, French Vr pioneer Michel Reilhac told an industry talk at the Doha Film Institute’s Qumra event (March 15-20) this week.
“It’s not happening yet, it’s not in your pockets, nor easily available… the consensus is that it will take another four years for Vr to...
- 3/20/2019
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
It’s only that the media hype has died down, Michel Reihac told the Doha audience.
Virtual Reality (Vr) remains on course to have as big an impact on our lives as the internet and smartphones even if the media hype around the new technology has died down over the past 18 months, French Vr pioneer Michel Reilhac told an industry talk at the Doha Film Institute’s Qumra event (March 15-20) this week.
“It’s not happening yet, it’s not in your pockets, nor easily available… the consensus is that it will take another four years for Vr to...
Virtual Reality (Vr) remains on course to have as big an impact on our lives as the internet and smartphones even if the media hype around the new technology has died down over the past 18 months, French Vr pioneer Michel Reilhac told an industry talk at the Doha Film Institute’s Qumra event (March 15-20) this week.
“It’s not happening yet, it’s not in your pockets, nor easily available… the consensus is that it will take another four years for Vr to...
- 3/20/2019
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Industry professionals will discuss 36 projects at all stages of development.
The fifth edition of Qumra, the Doha Film Institute (Dfi)’s regional talent and project development event begins in Doha today (Friday March 15).
Budding filmmakers from the region and leading international industry professionals will come together to discuss and nurture around 36 film projects at all stages of production at the six-day meeting. Qumra takes place in and around Doha’s Souq Wafiq area as well as the city’s I.M. Pei-designed Museum of Islamic Art.
“The unprecedented access for emerging talent to the world’s top leaders across all...
The fifth edition of Qumra, the Doha Film Institute (Dfi)’s regional talent and project development event begins in Doha today (Friday March 15).
Budding filmmakers from the region and leading international industry professionals will come together to discuss and nurture around 36 film projects at all stages of production at the six-day meeting. Qumra takes place in and around Doha’s Souq Wafiq area as well as the city’s I.M. Pei-designed Museum of Islamic Art.
“The unprecedented access for emerging talent to the world’s top leaders across all...
- 3/15/2019
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
If 2017 marked the birth of virtual reality on a global scale, this year’s competition roster of 30 world-premiering Vr films at Venice Film Festival shows that the medium is coming of age, with star-powered experiences such as “Spheres” and “Crow: The Legend,” and socially-minded titles like “Home After War: Returning to Fear in Fallujah,”“Borderline” and “Made This Way: Redefining Masculinity.” Vr competition at Venice runs through Sept. 8.
Vr is now luring topnotch talent. “Spheres,” an interactive journey inspired by the iconic “pale blue dot” image of planet Earth, is executive produced by Darren Aronofsky and is narrated by Jessica Chastain, Patti Smith and Millie Bobby Brown, while “Crow: The Legend,” an animated piece inspired by a Native American tale, is narrated by John Legend, Diego Luna and Oprah Winfrey, among others.
“We’re seeing that alongside the more experimental Vr experiences, there is a building trend towards experiences with...
Vr is now luring topnotch talent. “Spheres,” an interactive journey inspired by the iconic “pale blue dot” image of planet Earth, is executive produced by Darren Aronofsky and is narrated by Jessica Chastain, Patti Smith and Millie Bobby Brown, while “Crow: The Legend,” an animated piece inspired by a Native American tale, is narrated by John Legend, Diego Luna and Oprah Winfrey, among others.
“We’re seeing that alongside the more experimental Vr experiences, there is a building trend towards experiences with...
- 9/4/2018
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
London-based festival to open with Oh Lucy! with Josh Hartnett.
The 25th Raindance Film Festival (Sept 21 -Oct 2) has revealed the majority of its line-up and jury members.
The international premiere of Atsuko Hirayanagi’s Oh Lucy! (USA), starring Josh Hartnett, is the opening night film of the London-based event. The closing night film will be announced later this month.
The competition jury includes ex-bifa director Johanna Von Fischer, Spanish producer Rosa Bosch and actors Jamie Campbell Bower (Twilight), Jack O’Connell (Unbroken), Sean Bean (Game Of Thrones), Christopher Eccleston (Dr Who), Ewen Bremner (Trainspotting), Celia Imrie (Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie), Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Training Day), Nicholas Lyndhurst (Only Fools and Horses), Hakeem Kae-Kazim (Hotel Rwanda), Josh Whitehouse (Northern Soul), Neil Marshall (Game Of Thrones) and Rachel Portman (Chocolat).
They will preside over awards for a competition line-up that features the European premiere of Koichiro Miki’s Noise and the world premiere of Evald Johnson’s High & Outside: A Baseball...
The 25th Raindance Film Festival (Sept 21 -Oct 2) has revealed the majority of its line-up and jury members.
The international premiere of Atsuko Hirayanagi’s Oh Lucy! (USA), starring Josh Hartnett, is the opening night film of the London-based event. The closing night film will be announced later this month.
The competition jury includes ex-bifa director Johanna Von Fischer, Spanish producer Rosa Bosch and actors Jamie Campbell Bower (Twilight), Jack O’Connell (Unbroken), Sean Bean (Game Of Thrones), Christopher Eccleston (Dr Who), Ewen Bremner (Trainspotting), Celia Imrie (Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie), Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Training Day), Nicholas Lyndhurst (Only Fools and Horses), Hakeem Kae-Kazim (Hotel Rwanda), Josh Whitehouse (Northern Soul), Neil Marshall (Game Of Thrones) and Rachel Portman (Chocolat).
They will preside over awards for a competition line-up that features the European premiere of Koichiro Miki’s Noise and the world premiere of Evald Johnson’s High & Outside: A Baseball...
- 8/15/2017
- by orlando.parfitt@screendaily.com (Orlando Parfitt)
- ScreenDaily
Film Bazaar: Kanwal Sethi’s drama Once Again and creative documentary Buddhagram won the inaugural Facebook Awards at the close of this year’s Film Bazaar (November 20-24).
Once Again, which screened in Film Bazaar’s Work-in-Progress (Wip) Lab, stars Neeraj Kabi and Shefali Shah in the story of a romance between a widow and an ageing star.
Kabir Mehta’s Buddhagram, which was selected for the Film Bazaar Recommends section, is a mixed media verite style of documentary about flamboyant Goan cricketer Buddhadev Mangaldas. The two Facebook awards came with $10,000 of vouchers for Facebook advertising.
India’s Prasad Labs also gave out two awards, which cover the costs of each project for digital intermediate. Ridham Janve’s The Gold-Laden Sheep And The Sacred Mountain, which was filmed in the rare Pahari language, won the Prasad award for a Wip Lab project, while Sanalkumar Sasidharan’s Sexy Durga won the Prasad award in Film Bazaar Recommends.
Sexy...
Once Again, which screened in Film Bazaar’s Work-in-Progress (Wip) Lab, stars Neeraj Kabi and Shefali Shah in the story of a romance between a widow and an ageing star.
Kabir Mehta’s Buddhagram, which was selected for the Film Bazaar Recommends section, is a mixed media verite style of documentary about flamboyant Goan cricketer Buddhadev Mangaldas. The two Facebook awards came with $10,000 of vouchers for Facebook advertising.
India’s Prasad Labs also gave out two awards, which cover the costs of each project for digital intermediate. Ridham Janve’s The Gold-Laden Sheep And The Sacred Mountain, which was filmed in the rare Pahari language, won the Prasad award for a Wip Lab project, while Sanalkumar Sasidharan’s Sexy Durga won the Prasad award in Film Bazaar Recommends.
Sexy...
- 11/24/2016
- by lizshackleton@gmail.com (Liz Shackleton)
- ScreenDaily
Film Bazaar: Event also launches its new Virtual Reality Lounge with 12 international Vr projects.
Superstar composer Ar Rahman will premiere his Vande Mataram Live-in-vr Experience here at Film Bazaar today at 10 am in the new Vr Lounge.
The film – produced by Chennai-based Ym Movies — was shot in the 4K Stereoscopic format and captures Rahman’s tribute concert to the late vocalist M. S. Subbulakshmi performed at the United Nations in New York in August. Rahman’s 1997 album is India’s largest-selling non-film album.
On Wednesday, Rahman (fresh from the Global Citizen concert in Mumbai, where he appeared with Coldplay) will attend Film Bazaar to talk about the making of the Vr film in conversation with documentary filmmaker/author Nasreen Munni Kabir as part of the Knowledge Series.
Rahman’s talk is one of several Knowledge Session events dedicated to virtual reality and immersive experiences. Today at 14:45 Michel Reilhac talks about Immersive technology and its role in...
Superstar composer Ar Rahman will premiere his Vande Mataram Live-in-vr Experience here at Film Bazaar today at 10 am in the new Vr Lounge.
The film – produced by Chennai-based Ym Movies — was shot in the 4K Stereoscopic format and captures Rahman’s tribute concert to the late vocalist M. S. Subbulakshmi performed at the United Nations in New York in August. Rahman’s 1997 album is India’s largest-selling non-film album.
On Wednesday, Rahman (fresh from the Global Citizen concert in Mumbai, where he appeared with Coldplay) will attend Film Bazaar to talk about the making of the Vr film in conversation with documentary filmmaker/author Nasreen Munni Kabir as part of the Knowledge Series.
Rahman’s talk is one of several Knowledge Session events dedicated to virtual reality and immersive experiences. Today at 14:45 Michel Reilhac talks about Immersive technology and its role in...
- 11/21/2016
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
Hungarian action-comedy Kills On Wheels and Icelandic-Danish coming of age story Heartstone take top prizes at Greek festival.Scroll down for full list of winners
Hungarian director Attila Till’s Kills On Wheels (Tiszta Szivvel) has been named best film at the 57th Thessaloniki International Film Festival (Nov 3-13) winning the “Theo Angelopoulos” Golden Alexander award.
The film beat out 16 first and second films screened in this year’s competition section.
Kills On Wheels’ three leading young actors, Zoltan Fenyvesi, SzaboIcs Thuroczy and Adam Fekete were jointly awarded the Best actor trophy.
The film, arriving from the Chicago film festival where it won the Roger Ebert award, deals with three wheelchair-using young adults who decide to offer their services to the mafia in an effort to overcome their daily routines. World sales are handled by the Hungarian Film Fund.
Icelandic-Danish co-production Heartstone (Hjartasteinn) by Icelandic director Gudmundur Arnar Gudmundsson, was awarded the Special Jury Prize, Silver Alexander...
Hungarian director Attila Till’s Kills On Wheels (Tiszta Szivvel) has been named best film at the 57th Thessaloniki International Film Festival (Nov 3-13) winning the “Theo Angelopoulos” Golden Alexander award.
The film beat out 16 first and second films screened in this year’s competition section.
Kills On Wheels’ three leading young actors, Zoltan Fenyvesi, SzaboIcs Thuroczy and Adam Fekete were jointly awarded the Best actor trophy.
The film, arriving from the Chicago film festival where it won the Roger Ebert award, deals with three wheelchair-using young adults who decide to offer their services to the mafia in an effort to overcome their daily routines. World sales are handled by the Hungarian Film Fund.
Icelandic-Danish co-production Heartstone (Hjartasteinn) by Icelandic director Gudmundur Arnar Gudmundsson, was awarded the Special Jury Prize, Silver Alexander...
- 11/14/2016
- by alexisgrivas@yahoo.com (Alexis Grivas)
- ScreenDaily
French film industry to explore Vr at first edition of public festival running June 17-18 at Paris’s Forum des Image.
Claire Denis, Stéphane Brizé, Tony Gatlif and Rithy Panh will be among filmmakers exploring virtual reality at the first edition of the Paris Virtual Film Festival.
They are set to participate in a Vr Lab aimed at cinema professionals taking place within the public festival running June 17-18 at the Forum Des Images.
Michel Reilhac, the former Arte Cinema chief-turned-transmedia and Vr pioneer, initiated and is co-curating the entire festival.
He says the idea for the lab was born...
Claire Denis, Stéphane Brizé, Tony Gatlif and Rithy Panh will be among filmmakers exploring virtual reality at the first edition of the Paris Virtual Film Festival.
They are set to participate in a Vr Lab aimed at cinema professionals taking place within the public festival running June 17-18 at the Forum Des Images.
Michel Reilhac, the former Arte Cinema chief-turned-transmedia and Vr pioneer, initiated and is co-curating the entire festival.
He says the idea for the lab was born...
- 6/14/2016
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Organisers behind the Cannes Marché’s third Next event set to run from May 12-18 have lined up an expanded future of cinema showcase that places heavy emphasis on the fast-rising world of virtual reality.
For the first time Next events will take place at the entrance of the Village International on the Pantiero side – the site previously occupied by Canal+ – and will feature installations, interactive films, screenings, conferences and workshops on subjects such as big data, theatres of the future, and VOD opportunities.
The Next schedule will include 15 innovative companies that will conduct business at the Next Pavilion. Creative Wallonia and the Canadian Film Center will have their own corner. The full Next programme will be announced shortly.
Vr Days programme
The centerpiece is the Vr Days programme, a rich roster featuring work from the world’s leading exponents that takes place over May 15 and 16 and stems from a clamour by content creators to focus...
For the first time Next events will take place at the entrance of the Village International on the Pantiero side – the site previously occupied by Canal+ – and will feature installations, interactive films, screenings, conferences and workshops on subjects such as big data, theatres of the future, and VOD opportunities.
The Next schedule will include 15 innovative companies that will conduct business at the Next Pavilion. Creative Wallonia and the Canadian Film Center will have their own corner. The full Next programme will be announced shortly.
Vr Days programme
The centerpiece is the Vr Days programme, a rich roster featuring work from the world’s leading exponents that takes place over May 15 and 16 and stems from a clamour by content creators to focus...
- 4/20/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Sundance top brass celebrate the tenth anniversary of the New Frontier programme with an exhibition of new work that includes Vr projects involving Björk and Ridley Scott’s global hit The Martian.Scroll Down For Full List
The dynamic roster encompasses features, a live performance, documentary and narrative mobile virtual reality experiences and a look inside the innovations at some of world’s leading media research labs.
Tenth anniversary exhibitions will also be presented with MoMA in New York City in April, and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis as part of Northern Spark in June.
The New Frontiers line-up will take place in Park City’s Claim Jumper, The Gateway, a large-scale installation on Swede Alley by Chris Milk and a performance by Gingger Shankar at Festival Base Camp Presented by Canada Goose.
Beyond the dedicated physical exhibition spaces, audiences can experience more than 20 virtual reality pieces on mobile Vr headsets. This year’s...
The dynamic roster encompasses features, a live performance, documentary and narrative mobile virtual reality experiences and a look inside the innovations at some of world’s leading media research labs.
Tenth anniversary exhibitions will also be presented with MoMA in New York City in April, and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis as part of Northern Spark in June.
The New Frontiers line-up will take place in Park City’s Claim Jumper, The Gateway, a large-scale installation on Swede Alley by Chris Milk and a performance by Gingger Shankar at Festival Base Camp Presented by Canada Goose.
Beyond the dedicated physical exhibition spaces, audiences can experience more than 20 virtual reality pieces on mobile Vr headsets. This year’s...
- 12/3/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
The two-day finance and co-production market will take place on October 14 and 15.Scroll Down For The Full List Of Projects
Power to the Pixel has announced the 35 cross-platform projects from Europe, the USA, Canada, Australia and South America set to participate in this year’s The Pixel Market, a two-day finance and co-production market taking place during this year’s BFI London Film Festival (Oct 7-18).
Presenters at this year’s Pixel Market Finance Forum include Guy Gadney, from the Project Factory, whose digital productions include Sherlock: The Network, Alexandre Brachet of Upian, who worked on Do Not Track And Alma – A Tale Of Violence, and Christopher Sheppard from Adventure Pictures, the British company that produced Ginger & Rosa and Orlando.
From the 35 projects included, eight will compete for the Arte International Prize for The Pixel Market, which comes with a $4,500 (€4,000) award. Those involved will present to a panel of commissioning executives and financiers, with the winner...
Power to the Pixel has announced the 35 cross-platform projects from Europe, the USA, Canada, Australia and South America set to participate in this year’s The Pixel Market, a two-day finance and co-production market taking place during this year’s BFI London Film Festival (Oct 7-18).
Presenters at this year’s Pixel Market Finance Forum include Guy Gadney, from the Project Factory, whose digital productions include Sherlock: The Network, Alexandre Brachet of Upian, who worked on Do Not Track And Alma – A Tale Of Violence, and Christopher Sheppard from Adventure Pictures, the British company that produced Ginger & Rosa and Orlando.
From the 35 projects included, eight will compete for the Arte International Prize for The Pixel Market, which comes with a $4,500 (€4,000) award. Those involved will present to a panel of commissioning executives and financiers, with the winner...
- 9/9/2015
- ScreenDaily
Venice Festival artistic director Alberto Barbera has hailed the success of the Festival’s groundbreaking Biennale College - Cinema programme in nurturing new work from young filmmakers around the world.
“We have gone beyond every expectation,” Barbera said of the programme. which was launched in 2012 and has now inspired similar initiatives in music and theatre in Venice.
Barbara himself has taken a intimate role in the running of the programme. The idea is to give 12 teams of emerging film directors and producers the chance to participate in high level workshops with feature film projects. Three of the projects will be commissioned and fully financed.
The 72nd Venice Film Festival (Sept 2-12) is screening all three films greenlit last year:
grotesque, surrealistic comedy Baby Bump by Kuba Czekaj;
Blanka by Japanese director Kohki Hasei (but which was shot in the Philippines) , about a young girl who survives in Manila begging and stealing from tourists; and
Us indie drama The Fits...
“We have gone beyond every expectation,” Barbera said of the programme. which was launched in 2012 and has now inspired similar initiatives in music and theatre in Venice.
Barbara himself has taken a intimate role in the running of the programme. The idea is to give 12 teams of emerging film directors and producers the chance to participate in high level workshops with feature film projects. Three of the projects will be commissioned and fully financed.
The 72nd Venice Film Festival (Sept 2-12) is screening all three films greenlit last year:
grotesque, surrealistic comedy Baby Bump by Kuba Czekaj;
Blanka by Japanese director Kohki Hasei (but which was shot in the Philippines) , about a young girl who survives in Manila begging and stealing from tourists; and
Us indie drama The Fits...
- 9/2/2015
- by geoffrey@macnab.demon.co.uk (Geoffrey Macnab)
- ScreenDaily
Power to the Pixel’s annual Pixel Lab event will feature 32 participants.
A total of 32 international media professionals working with interactive and cross-media approaches have been selected to take part in Power to the Pixel’s annual Pixel Lab event (June 28 - July 4), taking place in Inverness, Scotland in June.
Now in its sixth year, The Pixel Lab is Power to the Pixel’s development course designed to explore how interactivity and new media tools can add value to film, TV or new media projects and engage new audiences.
Spanning 20 countries, the selected participants will take part in a training week, to develop skills and exchange ideas to create, produce and finance cross-platform properties.
Some 16 international producers will develop projects that incorporate a range of film, interactive, live event, mobile, gaming, TV, publishing or online, partnered with 16 cross-media professionals that include producers, writers, commissioning editors, financiers, story architects, games and interactive developers and designers.
This residential...
A total of 32 international media professionals working with interactive and cross-media approaches have been selected to take part in Power to the Pixel’s annual Pixel Lab event (June 28 - July 4), taking place in Inverness, Scotland in June.
Now in its sixth year, The Pixel Lab is Power to the Pixel’s development course designed to explore how interactivity and new media tools can add value to film, TV or new media projects and engage new audiences.
Spanning 20 countries, the selected participants will take part in a training week, to develop skills and exchange ideas to create, produce and finance cross-platform properties.
Some 16 international producers will develop projects that incorporate a range of film, interactive, live event, mobile, gaming, TV, publishing or online, partnered with 16 cross-media professionals that include producers, writers, commissioning editors, financiers, story architects, games and interactive developers and designers.
This residential...
- 5/27/2015
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Cross-media project market and conference unfolds June 19-20.
Actress, writer and producer Emily Corcoran [pictured] and director Annette K Olesen’s will be among the film professionals crossing over to the web to present transmedia projects at the upcoming edition of Cross Video Days (Cvd) in Paris later this month.
The cross-media market and conference event, unfolding June 19-20 in a former warehouse on the outskirts of Paris, marks its fifth edition this year.
Founder Bruno Smajda is expecting it to be the biggest edition to date.
“It’s taken off in terms of the quality of the projects and the attendance of commissioners, one feeds into another,” he says.
“Today producers and broadcasters have to conceive projects in a transmedia way, taking into account convergence and what’s happening digitally — not least due to the realities of the market and the way in which people consume content,” says Smadja.
“The wave of change is so great everyone...
Actress, writer and producer Emily Corcoran [pictured] and director Annette K Olesen’s will be among the film professionals crossing over to the web to present transmedia projects at the upcoming edition of Cross Video Days (Cvd) in Paris later this month.
The cross-media market and conference event, unfolding June 19-20 in a former warehouse on the outskirts of Paris, marks its fifth edition this year.
Founder Bruno Smajda is expecting it to be the biggest edition to date.
“It’s taken off in terms of the quality of the projects and the attendance of commissioners, one feeds into another,” he says.
“Today producers and broadcasters have to conceive projects in a transmedia way, taking into account convergence and what’s happening digitally — not least due to the realities of the market and the way in which people consume content,” says Smadja.
“The wave of change is so great everyone...
- 6/9/2014
- ScreenDaily
Power to the Pixel announces new German partner for The Pixel Lab 2014.
European funding body Medien- und Filmgesellschaft Baden-Württemberg (Mfg) is set to partner with Power to the Pixel on The Pixel Lab 2014, the annual development workshop for projects across film, TV, games, online, advertising, publishing and mobile platforms.
The Pixel Lab begins with a six-day workshop in Baden-Württemberg, supporting media professionals in developing and honing skills needed to create, produce and distribute cross-media projects.
Project-driven mentoring is provided by Michel Reilhac, head of studies at Venice Biennale College; Nuno Bernardo, CEO, beActive; Diana Elbaum, producer, Entre Chien et Loup; Thomas Howalt, games producer and writer; Adam Sigel, content strategist, writer and producer; and Inga von Staden, media architect.
Liz Rosenthal, CEO of Power to the Pixel, said: “We’re delighted that Mfg has come on board this year’s Pixel Lab to share its experience and expertise in funding innovative and commercially successful projects across different...
European funding body Medien- und Filmgesellschaft Baden-Württemberg (Mfg) is set to partner with Power to the Pixel on The Pixel Lab 2014, the annual development workshop for projects across film, TV, games, online, advertising, publishing and mobile platforms.
The Pixel Lab begins with a six-day workshop in Baden-Württemberg, supporting media professionals in developing and honing skills needed to create, produce and distribute cross-media projects.
Project-driven mentoring is provided by Michel Reilhac, head of studies at Venice Biennale College; Nuno Bernardo, CEO, beActive; Diana Elbaum, producer, Entre Chien et Loup; Thomas Howalt, games producer and writer; Adam Sigel, content strategist, writer and producer; and Inga von Staden, media architect.
Liz Rosenthal, CEO of Power to the Pixel, said: “We’re delighted that Mfg has come on board this year’s Pixel Lab to share its experience and expertise in funding innovative and commercially successful projects across different...
- 1/14/2014
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
A total of 12 projects have been selected for the second edition of Venice filmmaking scheme, the Biennale College - Cinema, a programme for training young filmmakers and producing micro-budget films.
The 12 teams, made up of directors and producers, come from Argentina, Belgium, UK, India, Iran, Italy, Lebanon, Malaysia, Romania, Hungary and the Us.
They will introduce their projects at a special session held today (October 14) in Venice introduced by president Paolo Baratta and the director of the Venice International Film Festival Alberto Barbera.
Three teams will then be chosen to take part in two further workshops to be held in December 2013 and January 2014, before going into production on their microbudget films, each of which will receive a €150,000 contribution and will be screened at the 71st Venice International Film Festival in 2014.
The sessions will be led by Michel Reilhac, Gino Ventriglia and Amy Dotson, with industry support from production and script consultants including Vincent Wang, Mike Ryan, [link...
The 12 teams, made up of directors and producers, come from Argentina, Belgium, UK, India, Iran, Italy, Lebanon, Malaysia, Romania, Hungary and the Us.
They will introduce their projects at a special session held today (October 14) in Venice introduced by president Paolo Baratta and the director of the Venice International Film Festival Alberto Barbera.
Three teams will then be chosen to take part in two further workshops to be held in December 2013 and January 2014, before going into production on their microbudget films, each of which will receive a €150,000 contribution and will be screened at the 71st Venice International Film Festival in 2014.
The sessions will be led by Michel Reilhac, Gino Ventriglia and Amy Dotson, with industry support from production and script consultants including Vincent Wang, Mike Ryan, [link...
- 10/14/2013
- by sarah.cooper@screendaily.com (Sarah Cooper)
- ScreenDaily
Power to the Pixel has selected more than 30 participants for its cross-media workshop.
A total of 16 cross-media projects from across Europe have been chosen to take part in the annual Pixel Lab, taking place in Wallonia in Belgium at the end of the month.
Now in its fourth year, it offers media professionals a six-day workshop on how to create, produce and distribute cross-media stories that can engage audiences as well as monetise.
Participants include 16 international producers showcasing projects that incorporate film, gaming, mobile, publishing, live events, interactive, TV and online as well as 15 media professionals from across the industry.
Participants attending with a project include award-winning producers Holly Elson from Hark Pictures Ltd with Moondog: The Viking of 6th Avenue (UK), Agitrop’s Martichka Bozhilova with The Cars We Drove Into Capitalism (Bulgaria) and Robert Cibis from OVALfilm GmbH with Pop the Glock! (Germany).
Each project producer will be partnered with a participant not bringing a project...
A total of 16 cross-media projects from across Europe have been chosen to take part in the annual Pixel Lab, taking place in Wallonia in Belgium at the end of the month.
Now in its fourth year, it offers media professionals a six-day workshop on how to create, produce and distribute cross-media stories that can engage audiences as well as monetise.
Participants include 16 international producers showcasing projects that incorporate film, gaming, mobile, publishing, live events, interactive, TV and online as well as 15 media professionals from across the industry.
Participants attending with a project include award-winning producers Holly Elson from Hark Pictures Ltd with Moondog: The Viking of 6th Avenue (UK), Agitrop’s Martichka Bozhilova with The Cars We Drove Into Capitalism (Bulgaria) and Robert Cibis from OVALfilm GmbH with Pop the Glock! (Germany).
Each project producer will be partnered with a participant not bringing a project...
- 6/12/2013
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Two of the events I was most looking forward to seeing this year at SXSW Interactive were Jason Brush’s talk, Filmmaking as User Experience and Michel Reilhac’s “Meet the Insiders” panel, “Storytelling + Interactive.” Brush teaches at UCLA’s Department of Film, Television and Visual Media and is Executive Vice President of Creative & Ux at Possible. Reilhac, who I have written about before at Filmmaker, is an independent transmedia director, story writer and consultant, and one of the most passionate and eloquent voices for new forms of interactive storytelling. Unfortunately, as is often the case at SXSW, once I put …...
- 3/27/2013
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
This is a very cursory look at where I spent two weeks in February. It is by no means complete, but it gives you some idea about how I spend so much of my time.
The Berlinale is an A-festival, founded in 1951 at the height of the Cold War. It accredits about 20,000 industry visitors and about 4,000 journalists each year with a total of 130 countries. It is one of the largest public festivals, selling about 300,000 tickets. The actual figure is 303,077 up 1.2% from last year’s 299,362). Aside from the Competition, it has 10 other sections and series, from children’s films to retrospectives. This year The Weimar Touch and also an homage to Claude Lanzmann were especially appealing to me. See more on the Efm website.
The Berlinale, which ran Feb. 7 to 17 includes the Festival, the European Film Market, the second largest market after Cannes, Talent Campus, Meet the Docs, The Co-Production Market and possibly other sections I am missing here. Efm registered a greater number of exhibitors than last year and they saw brisk sales for competition films including Richard Linklater’s Before Midnight, Chilean Sebastian Lelio’s Gloria (which won a Silver Bear for actress Paulina Garcia), as well as films from other sections and from the market itself. I am offering a report called Winter Rights Roundup which lists all the buying activity, not only for the Berlinale but also for Sundance. It includes links to the companies.
While around 400 films screened in thefestival (out of about 7,000 applications), 890 films screened in the market (600 were market premieres) to more than 8,000 participants from 95 countries. 1,690 of those were distributors in Berlin to buy rights from 172 international sales agents.
The Efm offered a new introduction to the market, “Shortcuts for First-Timers” on the first day of the Market, It was held in the Mirror Restaurant and 300 or 400 people attended. Thursday February 7 from 3.00 - 4.30 pm. I attended since I participate in the Cannes First-Timers event. The panelists were quite clear but I wished their names were in front of them. And I wondered who was in the audience. There is also possibly a replay of the panel but I don’t know where to find it for reference. There was a back screen which might have been used by showing a map of the market, or the names of those speaking or other graphics to help illustrate their points. They pointed out that red lights served to point out all the paths and venues used by the festival and market. That was very clever and once I knew to look for them, they helped me find new places.
They announced a new Berlinale Residency Program for writers/ directors who will have a four month stay in Berlin to work on their fiction, doc or cross-media project with the help of script consultants and industry experts from September to December. In February the residents return to present their projects at the Berlinale Co-Production Market to find further co-producers and financiers. This year 6 filmmakers were invited.
They didn’t mention the free WiFi for every registrant and the password written on the badges themselves.
I myself gave tours around the Martin Gropius Bau where most of the market takes place to participants at the Talent Campus and Deutsche Welle Akademie where I also taught about the international film business to Asian, African, Latin American and Caribbean film festival organizers. The tours are a great way to understand how the market works, who the people are, what company cultures are and how to understand them in order to operate optimally. I do the same thing for first timers in Cannes.
My partner Peter and I also had two clients there; one had his film in the market already and the other was following up with meetings with interested international sales agents. As it was their first time in Berlin, we were very pleased to see them take to it so easily.
It was only in the last two days I could actually see movies. But I caught up on lots of gossip along the way. For instance, I had not realized that Turner Broadcasting had bought a Norwegian sales agent and distributor for Scandinavia until Michael Werner who headed sales for NonStop told me that two years after their buyout they were now letting go of 400 people and Michael Werner and the international sales division were included.
I also heard about a new educational program called Making Waves. Five film schools including including the London Film School under the leadership of Ben Gibson and Columbia Film School under the leadership of Ira Deutchman brought students to Berlin and the students were making business plans for the sales and distribution of films in the market. Making Waves is a new week long distribution and marketing workshop devised by the London Film School in partnership with La fémis, the dffb, l'escac, the Romanian Film and Theatre University and New York's Columbia University of the Arts Film Department. Held in parallel to the Berlinale, 30 participants from the 6 film training institutions are immersed in all areas of the Berlinale: the European Film Market, the Festival and the Talent Campus where they work collaboratively in teams to develop creative campaigns, edit trailers, design posters and plan roll-out packages for actual independent films in the European Film Market. They are joined by experienced industry professionals working in the independent distribution sector who offer in-depth case studies. This hands-on workshop is for graduating students to gain understanding in emerging strategies in independent film distribution.
Venice seems to be working on student initiatives as well with a call for entries to the Biennale College. Unlike festivals that call for finished films, the Biennale College asked for up-and-comers to submit their ideas. The best proposals get 150,000 euros in seed money and the filmmakers are matched with some of the industry's finest practitioners who would help turn their treatments into reality, with a guaranteed screening at Venice in the summer. After narrowing it down to 15 semifinalists out of hundreds of submissions from around the globe, organizers this month announced three winners, each from a different continent. From the United States, director Tim Sutton and producer John Baker have won a spot with their yet-to-be-made film called Memphis, which follows the transformation of Ezra Jack, 'from beloved soul singer to ecstatic contemplator,' said judges in their review. From Thailand, director Nawapol Thanrongratanarit and producer Aditya Assarat won with their submission The Year of June, which follows a year in the life of an anonymous female student in Bangkok through her Twitter status. And from Italy, director Alessio Fava and producer Max Chicco won the last spot with Yuri Esposito, about a documentary film crew who follows a man who lives in a state of perennial sluggishness, whose wife all of a sudden gets pregnant. Buzz around the competition, which has the potential to launch unknowns into stardom, has been mounting for months. “To me the promise of a Venice debut is even a bigger deal than the money, because it's one thing to make a movie and quite another to have a chance for the entire international press to see it,” said San Francisco Chronicle film critic Mick Lasalle. “In fact, it's quite a big deal to make a movie, as an unknown, knowing that international exposure is guaranteed. The whole question mark - even if this turns out great, will anybody ever see it? - is eliminated”. Ensuring a fresh batch of talent, competition rules stipulated that the submission must be the applicant's first or second film endeavor. Earlier this month, semifinalists took part in a 10-day workshop with veteran filmmakers and cinema experts in Venice. “The key is that masters in cinema were present here during the workshop to help participants along,” says Paolo Baratta, president of the Biennale, the festival body that oversees the annual film fest. Organizers then narrowed it down to the three winners, who will receive funding thanks in part to Italian luxury fashion designer Gucci. In just 15 days the filmmakers will get a jumpstart on making micro-budget feature films before screening them at Venice August 28 through September 7. The winners will also get online distribution, adding to their much-needed visibility at the dawn of their careers. Organizers of the Venice Film Festival, the oldest in the world, say mixing veteran mentors with young blood is key to sustaining cinema as an art as well as keeping the festival relevant. “It is an initiative whose constant development will be continued for years to come,” Baratta says. See Variety Feb 11 – 17, 2013. You know this is in response and attests to the success of the the Berlinale Talent Campus which just completed its 11th year.
And in France, Cinefondation has brought U.S. director Barney Elliott to its six month residence program in Paris where he wrote the first draft of Oliver's Deal and later developed it at Amsterdam’s Binger Filmlab. It is now set to star Edward Burns and Spain’s Alberto Ammann. Marina Fuentes of Dreamcatches will bring the film to the market. Christine Vachon is exec producing. It will start shooting in May in New York and will travel to Lima, Peru and Huarez in the Anders.
Other notes gathered during this intense 10 day experience were Russian filmmaker Andrey Khvostov made a summer love story called Saint Petersburg which is being sold by Aktis Film International. Of course I want to see this especially because Rosskino hosted a trip last year to St. Petersburg for distributors after holding screenings of current films on offer. St. Peterburg of one of the most beautiful cities in the world; and the film has an original score by Sergei Yetushenko (The Last Station, Russian Ark).
Also Alberto Antonio Dandolo whom I met in Havana, was in his new home town Berlin continuing to sell The Cuban Wives about the wives of the Cuban 5 who are imprisoned in the United States.
Other news of interest includes The Match Factory’s Distribution 2.0 VOD initiative which will release its first film, Postcards from the Zoo. Partnering with Euro VoD platforms in France, Ireland, Switzerland, Spain, Peccadillo Pictures in U.K. and Eye Film Institute in the Netherlands, The Match Factory will coordinate marketing activities. This exploration of new marketing and distribution avenues for international arthouse features has the support of the EU’s Media Mundus.
BackUp, the Paris based financier is launching a new rights management software Movie Chainer on April 30, two weeks ahead of the Cannes Film Festival. This cloud based app enables Av rights holders to track contracts, generate exploitation and availability reports and calculate revenue splits and repayment schedules in a clear and visual style. The Cannes March’s database and networking platform Cinando will host and support the launch. The first live version of Movie Chainer will be available free to all industry professionals for a maximum of three projects and a demo version and presentation of the software is available here.
Former Arte Cinema chief Michel Reilhac has reactivated his production company Melange with a $6.7 million multi-platform project exploring the world of high endurance sport ultra-trailing. The work will revolve around six blocks or storylines, unfolding on several platforms – the web, the real world, tv. over six months in the second half of 2014.
New international sales agent out of Poland, New Europe, which picked up two Us in Progress films, Now Forager and I Used to be Darker, has also picked up Papusza, the story of the first published Romany Gypsy woman poet, whose work enraged her patriarchal community. Poland is also coming out with films by up and coming female directors two of which are in the official selection: 39 year old Malgorzata Szumowska has In the Name Of about homosexuality within the Polish Catholic Church (picked up for U.S by Film Movement) in the Main Competition, and Baby Blues, a story about teenage parents by Katarzyna Roslaniec in Generation. Izabela Kiszka, head of international relations at the Polish Film Institute, the country’s major public film funder, says both films are “daring, important, modern and up-to-date Eruopean cinema”. Both films are produced by Agnieszka Kurzydlo of Mental Disorder 4 and Szumowska is co-producer of both. Zentropa Poland is also a co-producer.
International sales agent We Pictures of China is producing a $9 million film called American Dreams in China, to be directed by Peter Ho-Sun Chan and photographed by Christopher Doyle. One of the protagonists teaches English in a Kentucky Fried Chicken store in China and invites his two other friends to partake in his “New Vision” where thousands of students wanting to go to the U.S. to follow their “American Dream” flock to the class.
David Castellanos formerly of Latido, has found success in his own international sales company, Cinema Republic. Their film The Clown was the Brazilian entry for Academy Award Nomination for Best Foreign Language Film and has wracked up 1.5 million admissions in Brazil. At Efm he is premiering Camina o Revienta which features first time director Paco Leon and stars a top Spanish TV actor and his real-life mother. It was the first day & date release in Spain and worked quite well. The Dumbass (Muro Mula) is also by a first time director and was filmed on a low $30K budget. It comes from Guaemala and features great music and is an example of the new wave of Latin American comedy. 18 Meals is the actor Luis Tozar’s first production and is directed by first timer Jorge Coira. It sold to Argentina and Japan, won for Best Director in Taorima Iff, the Audience Award and Jury Special Mention at Ourense Iff, and won Best Film and Audience Award at La Laguna Gastronomic Iff. Yummy: six seemingly unconnected stories in which food is the common demominator make up a romantic comedy set in Santiago de Compostela. It is available for viewing at Cinando as is The Clown and Carmina or Blow Up.
The Berlinale is an A-festival, founded in 1951 at the height of the Cold War. It accredits about 20,000 industry visitors and about 4,000 journalists each year with a total of 130 countries. It is one of the largest public festivals, selling about 300,000 tickets. The actual figure is 303,077 up 1.2% from last year’s 299,362). Aside from the Competition, it has 10 other sections and series, from children’s films to retrospectives. This year The Weimar Touch and also an homage to Claude Lanzmann were especially appealing to me. See more on the Efm website.
The Berlinale, which ran Feb. 7 to 17 includes the Festival, the European Film Market, the second largest market after Cannes, Talent Campus, Meet the Docs, The Co-Production Market and possibly other sections I am missing here. Efm registered a greater number of exhibitors than last year and they saw brisk sales for competition films including Richard Linklater’s Before Midnight, Chilean Sebastian Lelio’s Gloria (which won a Silver Bear for actress Paulina Garcia), as well as films from other sections and from the market itself. I am offering a report called Winter Rights Roundup which lists all the buying activity, not only for the Berlinale but also for Sundance. It includes links to the companies.
While around 400 films screened in thefestival (out of about 7,000 applications), 890 films screened in the market (600 were market premieres) to more than 8,000 participants from 95 countries. 1,690 of those were distributors in Berlin to buy rights from 172 international sales agents.
The Efm offered a new introduction to the market, “Shortcuts for First-Timers” on the first day of the Market, It was held in the Mirror Restaurant and 300 or 400 people attended. Thursday February 7 from 3.00 - 4.30 pm. I attended since I participate in the Cannes First-Timers event. The panelists were quite clear but I wished their names were in front of them. And I wondered who was in the audience. There is also possibly a replay of the panel but I don’t know where to find it for reference. There was a back screen which might have been used by showing a map of the market, or the names of those speaking or other graphics to help illustrate their points. They pointed out that red lights served to point out all the paths and venues used by the festival and market. That was very clever and once I knew to look for them, they helped me find new places.
They announced a new Berlinale Residency Program for writers/ directors who will have a four month stay in Berlin to work on their fiction, doc or cross-media project with the help of script consultants and industry experts from September to December. In February the residents return to present their projects at the Berlinale Co-Production Market to find further co-producers and financiers. This year 6 filmmakers were invited.
They didn’t mention the free WiFi for every registrant and the password written on the badges themselves.
I myself gave tours around the Martin Gropius Bau where most of the market takes place to participants at the Talent Campus and Deutsche Welle Akademie where I also taught about the international film business to Asian, African, Latin American and Caribbean film festival organizers. The tours are a great way to understand how the market works, who the people are, what company cultures are and how to understand them in order to operate optimally. I do the same thing for first timers in Cannes.
My partner Peter and I also had two clients there; one had his film in the market already and the other was following up with meetings with interested international sales agents. As it was their first time in Berlin, we were very pleased to see them take to it so easily.
It was only in the last two days I could actually see movies. But I caught up on lots of gossip along the way. For instance, I had not realized that Turner Broadcasting had bought a Norwegian sales agent and distributor for Scandinavia until Michael Werner who headed sales for NonStop told me that two years after their buyout they were now letting go of 400 people and Michael Werner and the international sales division were included.
I also heard about a new educational program called Making Waves. Five film schools including including the London Film School under the leadership of Ben Gibson and Columbia Film School under the leadership of Ira Deutchman brought students to Berlin and the students were making business plans for the sales and distribution of films in the market. Making Waves is a new week long distribution and marketing workshop devised by the London Film School in partnership with La fémis, the dffb, l'escac, the Romanian Film and Theatre University and New York's Columbia University of the Arts Film Department. Held in parallel to the Berlinale, 30 participants from the 6 film training institutions are immersed in all areas of the Berlinale: the European Film Market, the Festival and the Talent Campus where they work collaboratively in teams to develop creative campaigns, edit trailers, design posters and plan roll-out packages for actual independent films in the European Film Market. They are joined by experienced industry professionals working in the independent distribution sector who offer in-depth case studies. This hands-on workshop is for graduating students to gain understanding in emerging strategies in independent film distribution.
Venice seems to be working on student initiatives as well with a call for entries to the Biennale College. Unlike festivals that call for finished films, the Biennale College asked for up-and-comers to submit their ideas. The best proposals get 150,000 euros in seed money and the filmmakers are matched with some of the industry's finest practitioners who would help turn their treatments into reality, with a guaranteed screening at Venice in the summer. After narrowing it down to 15 semifinalists out of hundreds of submissions from around the globe, organizers this month announced three winners, each from a different continent. From the United States, director Tim Sutton and producer John Baker have won a spot with their yet-to-be-made film called Memphis, which follows the transformation of Ezra Jack, 'from beloved soul singer to ecstatic contemplator,' said judges in their review. From Thailand, director Nawapol Thanrongratanarit and producer Aditya Assarat won with their submission The Year of June, which follows a year in the life of an anonymous female student in Bangkok through her Twitter status. And from Italy, director Alessio Fava and producer Max Chicco won the last spot with Yuri Esposito, about a documentary film crew who follows a man who lives in a state of perennial sluggishness, whose wife all of a sudden gets pregnant. Buzz around the competition, which has the potential to launch unknowns into stardom, has been mounting for months. “To me the promise of a Venice debut is even a bigger deal than the money, because it's one thing to make a movie and quite another to have a chance for the entire international press to see it,” said San Francisco Chronicle film critic Mick Lasalle. “In fact, it's quite a big deal to make a movie, as an unknown, knowing that international exposure is guaranteed. The whole question mark - even if this turns out great, will anybody ever see it? - is eliminated”. Ensuring a fresh batch of talent, competition rules stipulated that the submission must be the applicant's first or second film endeavor. Earlier this month, semifinalists took part in a 10-day workshop with veteran filmmakers and cinema experts in Venice. “The key is that masters in cinema were present here during the workshop to help participants along,” says Paolo Baratta, president of the Biennale, the festival body that oversees the annual film fest. Organizers then narrowed it down to the three winners, who will receive funding thanks in part to Italian luxury fashion designer Gucci. In just 15 days the filmmakers will get a jumpstart on making micro-budget feature films before screening them at Venice August 28 through September 7. The winners will also get online distribution, adding to their much-needed visibility at the dawn of their careers. Organizers of the Venice Film Festival, the oldest in the world, say mixing veteran mentors with young blood is key to sustaining cinema as an art as well as keeping the festival relevant. “It is an initiative whose constant development will be continued for years to come,” Baratta says. See Variety Feb 11 – 17, 2013. You know this is in response and attests to the success of the the Berlinale Talent Campus which just completed its 11th year.
And in France, Cinefondation has brought U.S. director Barney Elliott to its six month residence program in Paris where he wrote the first draft of Oliver's Deal and later developed it at Amsterdam’s Binger Filmlab. It is now set to star Edward Burns and Spain’s Alberto Ammann. Marina Fuentes of Dreamcatches will bring the film to the market. Christine Vachon is exec producing. It will start shooting in May in New York and will travel to Lima, Peru and Huarez in the Anders.
Other notes gathered during this intense 10 day experience were Russian filmmaker Andrey Khvostov made a summer love story called Saint Petersburg which is being sold by Aktis Film International. Of course I want to see this especially because Rosskino hosted a trip last year to St. Petersburg for distributors after holding screenings of current films on offer. St. Peterburg of one of the most beautiful cities in the world; and the film has an original score by Sergei Yetushenko (The Last Station, Russian Ark).
Also Alberto Antonio Dandolo whom I met in Havana, was in his new home town Berlin continuing to sell The Cuban Wives about the wives of the Cuban 5 who are imprisoned in the United States.
Other news of interest includes The Match Factory’s Distribution 2.0 VOD initiative which will release its first film, Postcards from the Zoo. Partnering with Euro VoD platforms in France, Ireland, Switzerland, Spain, Peccadillo Pictures in U.K. and Eye Film Institute in the Netherlands, The Match Factory will coordinate marketing activities. This exploration of new marketing and distribution avenues for international arthouse features has the support of the EU’s Media Mundus.
BackUp, the Paris based financier is launching a new rights management software Movie Chainer on April 30, two weeks ahead of the Cannes Film Festival. This cloud based app enables Av rights holders to track contracts, generate exploitation and availability reports and calculate revenue splits and repayment schedules in a clear and visual style. The Cannes March’s database and networking platform Cinando will host and support the launch. The first live version of Movie Chainer will be available free to all industry professionals for a maximum of three projects and a demo version and presentation of the software is available here.
Former Arte Cinema chief Michel Reilhac has reactivated his production company Melange with a $6.7 million multi-platform project exploring the world of high endurance sport ultra-trailing. The work will revolve around six blocks or storylines, unfolding on several platforms – the web, the real world, tv. over six months in the second half of 2014.
New international sales agent out of Poland, New Europe, which picked up two Us in Progress films, Now Forager and I Used to be Darker, has also picked up Papusza, the story of the first published Romany Gypsy woman poet, whose work enraged her patriarchal community. Poland is also coming out with films by up and coming female directors two of which are in the official selection: 39 year old Malgorzata Szumowska has In the Name Of about homosexuality within the Polish Catholic Church (picked up for U.S by Film Movement) in the Main Competition, and Baby Blues, a story about teenage parents by Katarzyna Roslaniec in Generation. Izabela Kiszka, head of international relations at the Polish Film Institute, the country’s major public film funder, says both films are “daring, important, modern and up-to-date Eruopean cinema”. Both films are produced by Agnieszka Kurzydlo of Mental Disorder 4 and Szumowska is co-producer of both. Zentropa Poland is also a co-producer.
International sales agent We Pictures of China is producing a $9 million film called American Dreams in China, to be directed by Peter Ho-Sun Chan and photographed by Christopher Doyle. One of the protagonists teaches English in a Kentucky Fried Chicken store in China and invites his two other friends to partake in his “New Vision” where thousands of students wanting to go to the U.S. to follow their “American Dream” flock to the class.
David Castellanos formerly of Latido, has found success in his own international sales company, Cinema Republic. Their film The Clown was the Brazilian entry for Academy Award Nomination for Best Foreign Language Film and has wracked up 1.5 million admissions in Brazil. At Efm he is premiering Camina o Revienta which features first time director Paco Leon and stars a top Spanish TV actor and his real-life mother. It was the first day & date release in Spain and worked quite well. The Dumbass (Muro Mula) is also by a first time director and was filmed on a low $30K budget. It comes from Guaemala and features great music and is an example of the new wave of Latin American comedy. 18 Meals is the actor Luis Tozar’s first production and is directed by first timer Jorge Coira. It sold to Argentina and Japan, won for Best Director in Taorima Iff, the Audience Award and Jury Special Mention at Ourense Iff, and won Best Film and Audience Award at La Laguna Gastronomic Iff. Yummy: six seemingly unconnected stories in which food is the common demominator make up a romantic comedy set in Santiago de Compostela. It is available for viewing at Cinando as is The Clown and Carmina or Blow Up.
- 3/4/2013
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Midway through Independent Film Week 2012, Ifp held a closed panel titled "Reinvent: Media Arts for the 21st Century" at the Walter Reade Theater that featured seven speakers weighing in on the evolution and potential of independent film, its growing distribution options and the nature of storytelling itself. On the roster were former Apparition and FilmDistrict exec Bob Berney; National Black Programming Consortium director of programming Leslie Fields-Cruz; Film Society of Lincoln Center director of digital strategy (and Indiewire co-founder) Eugene Hernandez; Cinedigm Entertainment Group co-president Susan Margolin; Cinetic Media founder John Sloss; Arte France Cinema executive director Michel Reilhac; and storyteller extraordinaire Lance Weiler. Bookended by comments from Fslc associate program director Scott Foundas and an open debate among the 80-90 indie-film players in attendance — including Ifp executive director Joana Vicente, Sundance Institute...
- 9/25/2012
- by Jay A. Fernandez
- Indiewire
Eight projects and in the running for the prestigious Arte Pixel Pitch Prize and new prizes have been introduced as cross-media content creation and distribution grow.
Power to the Pixel(PttP) has named the 30 cross-media projects which have been selected to participate in The Pixel Market 2012, its two-day co-production market to be held in London on 17 and 18 October, during the annual Cross-Media Forum held in association with the 56th BFI London Film Festival.
Watch the Power to the Pixel Introduction here:
Of the 30 teams, eight have been selected to compete for the prestigious Arte Pixel Pitch Prize, an award of £6,000 generously sponsored by the French/German broadcaster. The eight projects in the running for this prize will be presented at The Pixel Pitch, to be judged by a panel of international commissioning executives, decision-makers and financiers who face the hard task of choosing an ultimate winner. For participants and the audience of PttP delegates who will also be in attendance, The Pixel Pitch offers a unique opportunity to hear how cross-media projects are financed, and by whom.
Liz Rosenthal, CEO & Founder of Power to the Pixel said: “Making the selection of 30 projects for this year’s market was a hard task for all the right reasons. Creators are increasingly working on the development of their story ideas and content, and as a result this year’s Pixel Market and the whole arena is growing fast. We have selected 30 projects from nearly 100 entrants, well up from 25 last year which is hugely exciting for potential international partners and investors. As a result, this year's Pixel Market is bigger and bolder, with new prizes introduced to help support projects and their creators. We’re delighted to be expanding the opportunities that The Cross-Media Forum brings to the BFI London Film Festival and to the UK creative sector as a whole.”
The eight projects in competition at The Pixel Pitch include The Super 8 Complex, a user-generated interactive archive celebrating 8mm film, by award-winning production company Spring Films, the U.K. production partner of Werner Herzog Films. Jeff Norton, a finalist at last year’s Pixel Pitch, returns with his immersive dystopia Metawars. The Austrian-Iranian filmmaker Arash Riahi also makes a return: his project, Everyday Rebellion, was developed through PttP’s European cross-media workshop The Pixel Lab in 2010.
In addition, all 30 producer-led teams at the Market stand a chance of winning one of three new prizes, backed by international sponsors: the beActive Pixel Market Comedy Prize, the Mozilla Pixel Market Prize for Non-Fiction, and the Cinekid Pixel Market Prize, for projects aimed at children aged between 4 and 14.
The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in London on 18 October.
The Pixel Market is a unique event, dedicated to financing international cross-media properties. It puts the best cross-media projects from around the world on show in front of more than 100 leading international financiers, commissioners and decision-makers from film, broadcast, games, publishing, advertising, the arts, mobile, tech and interactive media, offering producers one-to-one meetings with these experts that could be decisive in taking their projects forward. It lies at the heart of PttP’s Cross-Media Forum, now in its sixth year, which covers the latest trends in audience behaviour and new business models in the cross-media and transmedia space.
The Pixel Market is supported by the Media Programme of the European Union. Additional support from the BFI, Arts Council England, Creative Skillset's Film Skills Fund, Canada Media Fund, Arte, Creative Industries Ktn, Telefilm Canada, beActive, Cinekid, Mozilla and Tribeca Film Institute.
Costas Daskalakis, Head of Media programme unit at Eacea said: "Cross-media projects have attracted a lot of attention over the last few years. Media is happy to support events such as The Pixel Market so that they also attract funding. The Media programme has developed an overall strategy to support cross-media projects including training, financial support for development, markets and distribution."
Clare Stewart, Festival Director, BFI London Film Festival said: "The Pixel Market is an integral part of the BFI London Film Festival’s Industry programme, providing tangible opportunities for innovative cross-media projects to attract marketplace support.”
Dan Simmons, Head of Film, Creative Skillset said: "The impact of digital and new technology continues to be a funding priority for Creative Skillset under the UK's film skills strategy 'A Bigger Future 2'.
We have funded Power to the Pixel since its inception six years ago. Events such as The Pixel Lab and The Pixel Market are powerful opportunities for cross-media professionals - spanning different sectors of the creative industries - to network with leading digital pioneers; developing new business and transmedia opportunities in an international environment."
Valerie Creighton, President and CEO, Canada Media Fund said: "The Canada Media Fund is pleased to partner once again with Power to the Pixel which brings together a world of creative talents. We recognise the important role of The Pixel Market as a key event where producers share their wealth of knowledge amongst each other. The diversity of voices and projects presented here illustrate the unique opportunities that exist within the world of cross-media.”
Michel Reilhac, Executive Director of Arte France Cinéma said: "There is no better place today then the London Pixel Market to keep myself informed of the best transmedia stories in the making. It is a fast evolving new field and this is where I feel I can stay on top of what is happening creatively.”
Carolle Brabant, Telefilm Canada's Executive Director, said: "We’re excited to support Power to the Pixel for a second year running. At Telefilm, finding innovative ways to engage audiences and to stimulate demand across borders and platforms is at the centre of our priorities. This unique international forum provides trend-setting producers from Canada with an opportunity to showcase their work and to engage with leading decision-makers in this dynamic marketplace."
Jeremy Davenport, Deputy Director Creative Industries Ktn said: "Power to the Pixel is exploring the cutting edge of digital convergence, where creativity, content and technology are forging new ways of storytelling for a global audience. Ciktn is looking forward to seeing the exciting projects that are emerging this year."
Brett Gaylor, Director Mozilla Popcorn said: "We're excited at Mozilla to see how the makers chosen for this year's Pixel Market will transform the web."
Nuno Bernardo, MD beActive said: "We're very impressed with the quality of the projects submitted that make the jury decision very difficult. We are seeing an increase not only in quality but also in the diversity of the projects submitted. This year comedy-based projects are strong contenders, and we are excited about the projects that are eligible for the beActive Pixel Market Comedy Prize."
Fleur Winters, Head Cinekid for Professionals said: "I’m extremely pleased to partner with Power to the Pixel, especially with this great selection of 30 innovative projects. The new frontiers they tap into matches ours and are so important! Producers will hopefully find a perfect follow up of their children’s cross-media projects after the renowned Pixel Market at the Junior Co-production Market, here at Cinekid in Amsterdam.”
Beth Janson, Executive Director Tribeca Film Institute said: "The Pixel Market is an essential destination if you are looking for the best and the brightest independent producers in this quickly evolving space. We are thrilled to be partners with Liz Rosenthal and her team.”
Full List of The Pixel Market 2012 Participants
In Competition:
Stephan Bonnefoy & Christophe Findji, 2 Minutes & Jus de Prod, Ori&Gami! (France) Edward Dallal, Spring Films, The Super 8 Complex (U.K.) Steven Grisales & Jose Luis Rugeles, Rhayuela Cine, Buenaventura Mon Amour (Colombia) Natalia Imaz & Luisa Romeo, Parabellum Film & Frida Films, The Incredibles (Spain/Germany) Jeff Norton, Awesome Media & Entertainment, Metawars (Canada/ U.K.) Uffe Savery & Mads Damsbo, Copenhagen Phil in cooperation with Makropol, World Online Orchestra Project (Denmark) Arash & Arman T. Riahi, Golden Girls Filmproduktion & Filmservices, Everyday Rebellion (Austria) Mahyad Tousi, BoomGen Studios, Birthright (U.S.)
General Selection:
Sarah Arruda, Mary Dickie, Mike Robbins & Alex Wittholz, Helios Design Labs, Queen West - Art.Noise.Mayhem (Canada) Jakob Balslev & Petter Madegård, Nordisk Film Production, Cinema dell'Arte #3 – Thunders of Thor (Denmark) Enrica Capra, GraffitiDoc, Europe for Sale (Italy) Matthieu de Laborde & Samuel Aubin, Iskra and Rhizome, It is That Way (France) Nicolas Deprost & Julien Krizek, Whac Média, Ukiyo-e, Stories of the floating world (France) Bruno de Sa Moreira & Edouard Lussan, Normandy Productions, William the Conqueror (France) Bruno Felix, Submarine Channel, The Last Hijack (Netherlands) Marcos Ferreira, MobContent, Music.Art.Place (Brazil) Fabrizia Galvagno, Doc in Progress, Docusound (Italy) Ellin Hare & Magnus Dennison, Amber Film & Photography Collective and Meerkat Films, Between the Mud and the Farthest Star (U.K.) Annika Hellström & Petra Revenue, Anagram Produktion and Cinenic Film, Blasting Bängtssons (Sweden) Gabriela Isas, Chocolate Albino, Victor (U.S../ U.K.) Esben Kjær Ravn, Kong Orange, Let’s Dance - A Casual Game About Death (Denmark) Kristoff Leue, Sancta, ZOOks (Belgium) Zack Lieberman, Exit Strategy New Media & Max & Charlie Productions, Max & Charlie (U.S.) Michael Luda, Thomas Langhanki & Sven Sund, Saxonia Media and Experimental Game, The Slumbers - Wish Tales (Germany) Zach Niles, SodaSoap Creative, Lakou Mizik (U.S.) Lucas Ochoa & Hugh Garry, Pulse Films, In Your Voice In Your Heart (U.S./ U.K.) Lise Saxtrup, Dajana Dimovska & Trine Laier, Klassefilm & KnapNokGames, Cosmic Top Secret – Black Holes Expansion (Denmark) Kent Sobey & Catherine Tait, Farmhouse Productions/ Duopoly Canada/ Baby Cow Productions, Sos: Save Our Skins (Canada/ U.K.) Alex Steyermark & Lavinia Jones, 1m1 Trax, The 78 Project (U.S./ Canada) Juliet Tzabar & Dominic Minns, This is Pip/Plug-in Media, Ha Ha Bonk (U.K.)
For updates on the Pixel Market and more information on the Cross-Media Forum go to http://powertothepixel.com/events-and-training/pttp-events/london-forum-2012/pixel-market-1718-oct
Power to the Pixel’s clients and partners include: Arte; BAFTA; BBC, Bbh; Berlin Film Festival; BFI; Canada Media Fund; Cannes Film Festival (Marché du Film); Eave; EU Media Programme; Edinburgh International Film Festival; Ifp; Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg; Mozilla; Nordisk Film & TV Fond; Orange; Telefilm Canada; TorinoFilmLab.
www.powertothepixel.com...
Power to the Pixel(PttP) has named the 30 cross-media projects which have been selected to participate in The Pixel Market 2012, its two-day co-production market to be held in London on 17 and 18 October, during the annual Cross-Media Forum held in association with the 56th BFI London Film Festival.
Watch the Power to the Pixel Introduction here:
Of the 30 teams, eight have been selected to compete for the prestigious Arte Pixel Pitch Prize, an award of £6,000 generously sponsored by the French/German broadcaster. The eight projects in the running for this prize will be presented at The Pixel Pitch, to be judged by a panel of international commissioning executives, decision-makers and financiers who face the hard task of choosing an ultimate winner. For participants and the audience of PttP delegates who will also be in attendance, The Pixel Pitch offers a unique opportunity to hear how cross-media projects are financed, and by whom.
Liz Rosenthal, CEO & Founder of Power to the Pixel said: “Making the selection of 30 projects for this year’s market was a hard task for all the right reasons. Creators are increasingly working on the development of their story ideas and content, and as a result this year’s Pixel Market and the whole arena is growing fast. We have selected 30 projects from nearly 100 entrants, well up from 25 last year which is hugely exciting for potential international partners and investors. As a result, this year's Pixel Market is bigger and bolder, with new prizes introduced to help support projects and their creators. We’re delighted to be expanding the opportunities that The Cross-Media Forum brings to the BFI London Film Festival and to the UK creative sector as a whole.”
The eight projects in competition at The Pixel Pitch include The Super 8 Complex, a user-generated interactive archive celebrating 8mm film, by award-winning production company Spring Films, the U.K. production partner of Werner Herzog Films. Jeff Norton, a finalist at last year’s Pixel Pitch, returns with his immersive dystopia Metawars. The Austrian-Iranian filmmaker Arash Riahi also makes a return: his project, Everyday Rebellion, was developed through PttP’s European cross-media workshop The Pixel Lab in 2010.
In addition, all 30 producer-led teams at the Market stand a chance of winning one of three new prizes, backed by international sponsors: the beActive Pixel Market Comedy Prize, the Mozilla Pixel Market Prize for Non-Fiction, and the Cinekid Pixel Market Prize, for projects aimed at children aged between 4 and 14.
The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in London on 18 October.
The Pixel Market is a unique event, dedicated to financing international cross-media properties. It puts the best cross-media projects from around the world on show in front of more than 100 leading international financiers, commissioners and decision-makers from film, broadcast, games, publishing, advertising, the arts, mobile, tech and interactive media, offering producers one-to-one meetings with these experts that could be decisive in taking their projects forward. It lies at the heart of PttP’s Cross-Media Forum, now in its sixth year, which covers the latest trends in audience behaviour and new business models in the cross-media and transmedia space.
The Pixel Market is supported by the Media Programme of the European Union. Additional support from the BFI, Arts Council England, Creative Skillset's Film Skills Fund, Canada Media Fund, Arte, Creative Industries Ktn, Telefilm Canada, beActive, Cinekid, Mozilla and Tribeca Film Institute.
Costas Daskalakis, Head of Media programme unit at Eacea said: "Cross-media projects have attracted a lot of attention over the last few years. Media is happy to support events such as The Pixel Market so that they also attract funding. The Media programme has developed an overall strategy to support cross-media projects including training, financial support for development, markets and distribution."
Clare Stewart, Festival Director, BFI London Film Festival said: "The Pixel Market is an integral part of the BFI London Film Festival’s Industry programme, providing tangible opportunities for innovative cross-media projects to attract marketplace support.”
Dan Simmons, Head of Film, Creative Skillset said: "The impact of digital and new technology continues to be a funding priority for Creative Skillset under the UK's film skills strategy 'A Bigger Future 2'.
We have funded Power to the Pixel since its inception six years ago. Events such as The Pixel Lab and The Pixel Market are powerful opportunities for cross-media professionals - spanning different sectors of the creative industries - to network with leading digital pioneers; developing new business and transmedia opportunities in an international environment."
Valerie Creighton, President and CEO, Canada Media Fund said: "The Canada Media Fund is pleased to partner once again with Power to the Pixel which brings together a world of creative talents. We recognise the important role of The Pixel Market as a key event where producers share their wealth of knowledge amongst each other. The diversity of voices and projects presented here illustrate the unique opportunities that exist within the world of cross-media.”
Michel Reilhac, Executive Director of Arte France Cinéma said: "There is no better place today then the London Pixel Market to keep myself informed of the best transmedia stories in the making. It is a fast evolving new field and this is where I feel I can stay on top of what is happening creatively.”
Carolle Brabant, Telefilm Canada's Executive Director, said: "We’re excited to support Power to the Pixel for a second year running. At Telefilm, finding innovative ways to engage audiences and to stimulate demand across borders and platforms is at the centre of our priorities. This unique international forum provides trend-setting producers from Canada with an opportunity to showcase their work and to engage with leading decision-makers in this dynamic marketplace."
Jeremy Davenport, Deputy Director Creative Industries Ktn said: "Power to the Pixel is exploring the cutting edge of digital convergence, where creativity, content and technology are forging new ways of storytelling for a global audience. Ciktn is looking forward to seeing the exciting projects that are emerging this year."
Brett Gaylor, Director Mozilla Popcorn said: "We're excited at Mozilla to see how the makers chosen for this year's Pixel Market will transform the web."
Nuno Bernardo, MD beActive said: "We're very impressed with the quality of the projects submitted that make the jury decision very difficult. We are seeing an increase not only in quality but also in the diversity of the projects submitted. This year comedy-based projects are strong contenders, and we are excited about the projects that are eligible for the beActive Pixel Market Comedy Prize."
Fleur Winters, Head Cinekid for Professionals said: "I’m extremely pleased to partner with Power to the Pixel, especially with this great selection of 30 innovative projects. The new frontiers they tap into matches ours and are so important! Producers will hopefully find a perfect follow up of their children’s cross-media projects after the renowned Pixel Market at the Junior Co-production Market, here at Cinekid in Amsterdam.”
Beth Janson, Executive Director Tribeca Film Institute said: "The Pixel Market is an essential destination if you are looking for the best and the brightest independent producers in this quickly evolving space. We are thrilled to be partners with Liz Rosenthal and her team.”
Full List of The Pixel Market 2012 Participants
In Competition:
Stephan Bonnefoy & Christophe Findji, 2 Minutes & Jus de Prod, Ori&Gami! (France) Edward Dallal, Spring Films, The Super 8 Complex (U.K.) Steven Grisales & Jose Luis Rugeles, Rhayuela Cine, Buenaventura Mon Amour (Colombia) Natalia Imaz & Luisa Romeo, Parabellum Film & Frida Films, The Incredibles (Spain/Germany) Jeff Norton, Awesome Media & Entertainment, Metawars (Canada/ U.K.) Uffe Savery & Mads Damsbo, Copenhagen Phil in cooperation with Makropol, World Online Orchestra Project (Denmark) Arash & Arman T. Riahi, Golden Girls Filmproduktion & Filmservices, Everyday Rebellion (Austria) Mahyad Tousi, BoomGen Studios, Birthright (U.S.)
General Selection:
Sarah Arruda, Mary Dickie, Mike Robbins & Alex Wittholz, Helios Design Labs, Queen West - Art.Noise.Mayhem (Canada) Jakob Balslev & Petter Madegård, Nordisk Film Production, Cinema dell'Arte #3 – Thunders of Thor (Denmark) Enrica Capra, GraffitiDoc, Europe for Sale (Italy) Matthieu de Laborde & Samuel Aubin, Iskra and Rhizome, It is That Way (France) Nicolas Deprost & Julien Krizek, Whac Média, Ukiyo-e, Stories of the floating world (France) Bruno de Sa Moreira & Edouard Lussan, Normandy Productions, William the Conqueror (France) Bruno Felix, Submarine Channel, The Last Hijack (Netherlands) Marcos Ferreira, MobContent, Music.Art.Place (Brazil) Fabrizia Galvagno, Doc in Progress, Docusound (Italy) Ellin Hare & Magnus Dennison, Amber Film & Photography Collective and Meerkat Films, Between the Mud and the Farthest Star (U.K.) Annika Hellström & Petra Revenue, Anagram Produktion and Cinenic Film, Blasting Bängtssons (Sweden) Gabriela Isas, Chocolate Albino, Victor (U.S../ U.K.) Esben Kjær Ravn, Kong Orange, Let’s Dance - A Casual Game About Death (Denmark) Kristoff Leue, Sancta, ZOOks (Belgium) Zack Lieberman, Exit Strategy New Media & Max & Charlie Productions, Max & Charlie (U.S.) Michael Luda, Thomas Langhanki & Sven Sund, Saxonia Media and Experimental Game, The Slumbers - Wish Tales (Germany) Zach Niles, SodaSoap Creative, Lakou Mizik (U.S.) Lucas Ochoa & Hugh Garry, Pulse Films, In Your Voice In Your Heart (U.S./ U.K.) Lise Saxtrup, Dajana Dimovska & Trine Laier, Klassefilm & KnapNokGames, Cosmic Top Secret – Black Holes Expansion (Denmark) Kent Sobey & Catherine Tait, Farmhouse Productions/ Duopoly Canada/ Baby Cow Productions, Sos: Save Our Skins (Canada/ U.K.) Alex Steyermark & Lavinia Jones, 1m1 Trax, The 78 Project (U.S./ Canada) Juliet Tzabar & Dominic Minns, This is Pip/Plug-in Media, Ha Ha Bonk (U.K.)
For updates on the Pixel Market and more information on the Cross-Media Forum go to http://powertothepixel.com/events-and-training/pttp-events/london-forum-2012/pixel-market-1718-oct
Power to the Pixel’s clients and partners include: Arte; BAFTA; BBC, Bbh; Berlin Film Festival; BFI; Canada Media Fund; Cannes Film Festival (Marché du Film); Eave; EU Media Programme; Edinburgh International Film Festival; Ifp; Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg; Mozilla; Nordisk Film & TV Fond; Orange; Telefilm Canada; TorinoFilmLab.
www.powertothepixel.com...
- 9/20/2012
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Keynote speeches from Ifp’s Filmmaker Conference–taking place during Independent Film Week–will be premiering on Ifp’s new YouTube channel. The live video stream can be accessed here.
Keynotes streamed live include:
James Schamus (CEO of Focus Features) & Christine Vachon (Producer, Killer Films) – Sunday, September 16th @ 4Pmet
Jc Chandor (Director, Margin Call) – Monday, September 17th @ 10Am Et
Michel Reilhac (Transmedia Producer) – Wednesday, September 19th @ 10Am Et
Orlando Bagwell (the Ford Foundation) – Thursday, September 20th @ 10Am Et
To get reminders of these events, as well as new videos about filmmaking every Tuesday and Thursday, subscribe to Ifp Digital.… Read the rest...
Keynotes streamed live include:
James Schamus (CEO of Focus Features) & Christine Vachon (Producer, Killer Films) – Sunday, September 16th @ 4Pmet
Jc Chandor (Director, Margin Call) – Monday, September 17th @ 10Am Et
Michel Reilhac (Transmedia Producer) – Wednesday, September 19th @ 10Am Et
Orlando Bagwell (the Ford Foundation) – Thursday, September 20th @ 10Am Et
To get reminders of these events, as well as new videos about filmmaking every Tuesday and Thursday, subscribe to Ifp Digital.… Read the rest...
- 9/17/2012
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Locarno Film Festival Artistic Director Olivier Pere is leaving his job after just three years in order to take over as the general director of Paris-based Arte France Cinema. The very sudden and unexpected event left Locarno Festival organizers desperate to find a replacement. In the past, Locarno artistic directors have stayed for at least four years. Today Hollywood Reporter announced the replacement with Carlo Chatrain, an Italian journalist, a 10 year veteran of Locarno who has worked under 4 directors, and who came in with Irene Bignardi, also an Italian journalist who preceded Marco Mueller who is now heading the Rome Festival after leaving Venice.
Arte France Cinema, a content producer, and a part of UniFrance is based in Paris, where Pere lives most of the year. Pere will replace Michel Reilhac, who will leave the post as of December 1 in order to work on “personal projects.” His sudden departure, according to some rumors, comes as a result of having taken some unhappy steps that displeased his higher-ups, particularly at the Jerusalem Film Festival. The Jerusalem Film Festival is also under the new leadership of Sundance veteran, Alesia Weston.
The next and 66th edition of the lakeside Swiss festival is scheduled to open August 6, 2013, which means that if a successor is named in September, he or she would have around 11 months to pull together the next edition of the event. That is more than what recent appointed first-year artistic directors have for example in nearby Italy. New Venice artistic director Albero Barbera and new International Rome Film Festival head Marco Mueller were both named just eight months before their respective events, and new Taormina Film Festival director Mario Sesti had only 40 days to pull this year’s festival together. However in Locarno, changes are usually more deliberate: Pere was named more than 16 months before his fist edition opened, while predecessor Frederic Mare was still on the job overseeing the final festival of his mandate. The last edition of the Locarno festival, acclaimed by many as the best under Pere, finished August 11. Recently Pere said he “loved” the job in Locarno and was looking forward to future editions. It is not clear where Pere’s departure leaves the “mini” version of the Locarno festival scheduled to take place in March, as announced by festival president Marco Solari at Locarno’s close. Pere was to be given full rein to organize the three-day event, set to start March 24. Solari said Pere’s only instructions were to “explore the connection between cinema and literature, between imagination and art.” In a brief statement issued by the festival, Solari said, “I wish to thank Olivier Pere for his work and major achievements over the last three years, that have consolidated Locarno’s position in the international arena, and I am delighted for him at this next step in his brilliant career.” In the same statement, Pere is quoted as saying, “I am very sad to be leaving the Festival but am also immensely satisfied with what has been achieved.”...
Arte France Cinema, a content producer, and a part of UniFrance is based in Paris, where Pere lives most of the year. Pere will replace Michel Reilhac, who will leave the post as of December 1 in order to work on “personal projects.” His sudden departure, according to some rumors, comes as a result of having taken some unhappy steps that displeased his higher-ups, particularly at the Jerusalem Film Festival. The Jerusalem Film Festival is also under the new leadership of Sundance veteran, Alesia Weston.
The next and 66th edition of the lakeside Swiss festival is scheduled to open August 6, 2013, which means that if a successor is named in September, he or she would have around 11 months to pull together the next edition of the event. That is more than what recent appointed first-year artistic directors have for example in nearby Italy. New Venice artistic director Albero Barbera and new International Rome Film Festival head Marco Mueller were both named just eight months before their respective events, and new Taormina Film Festival director Mario Sesti had only 40 days to pull this year’s festival together. However in Locarno, changes are usually more deliberate: Pere was named more than 16 months before his fist edition opened, while predecessor Frederic Mare was still on the job overseeing the final festival of his mandate. The last edition of the Locarno festival, acclaimed by many as the best under Pere, finished August 11. Recently Pere said he “loved” the job in Locarno and was looking forward to future editions. It is not clear where Pere’s departure leaves the “mini” version of the Locarno festival scheduled to take place in March, as announced by festival president Marco Solari at Locarno’s close. Pere was to be given full rein to organize the three-day event, set to start March 24. Solari said Pere’s only instructions were to “explore the connection between cinema and literature, between imagination and art.” In a brief statement issued by the festival, Solari said, “I wish to thank Olivier Pere for his work and major achievements over the last three years, that have consolidated Locarno’s position in the international arena, and I am delighted for him at this next step in his brilliant career.” In the same statement, Pere is quoted as saying, “I am very sad to be leaving the Festival but am also immensely satisfied with what has been achieved.”...
- 9/4/2012
- by Peter Belsito
- Sydney's Buzz
The Berlin Film Festival is not just about watching films that have already been made: it also invests in the future of cinema by nurturing new talent. The Berlinale Talent Campus, now in its 9th year, is a week-long series of events, taking place in parallel with the festival. It is intended to guide and inspire people at the beginning of their cinema careers: actors, directors, screenwriters, cinematographers, composers, producers and even journalists can apply. The 350 applicants who are selected to take part in the Talent Campus attend talks by industry professionals, and take part in workshops and hands-on studio sessions.
The Talent Campus model has proved successful, offering good networking opportunities: film careers and projects have started here, and the results have been screened at the Berlinale in subsequent years. The ‘Talent Project Market’ also gives some participants in the Talent Campus an opportunity to present their work to producers.
The Talent Campus model has proved successful, offering good networking opportunities: film careers and projects have started here, and the results have been screened at the Berlinale in subsequent years. The ‘Talent Project Market’ also gives some participants in the Talent Campus an opportunity to present their work to producers.
- 2/15/2011
- by Alison Frank
- The Moving Arts Journal
The 'Imaging Asia' Festival organized by Netpac – Cii will be held in New Delhi from 18 - 22 August 2010. Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (Netpac) India and Confederation of Indian Industry (Cii) are organizing this five-day International Conference and a series of cinema-related events in New Delhi to broaden the scope and vision of Asian Cinema.
Symposia, screenings, workshops, cultural events will mark this event during which 30 films will be screened across multiple venues in Delhi. With a Girl of Black Soil directed by Jeon Soo-ii, Korea (90 mins.) will open the festival.
50 plus film personalities from Asian countries will attend the festival. Among them will be luminaries like Charles Musser, head of the film department at Yale University; Michel Reilhac head of Arte Cinema, France; distinguished film makers like Xie Fei from China, Nick Deocampo from Manila, Jocelyn Saab from Lebanon, Garin Nugroho from Indonesia; festival directors, film producers, scholars like Jeannette Paulson Hereniko,...
Symposia, screenings, workshops, cultural events will mark this event during which 30 films will be screened across multiple venues in Delhi. With a Girl of Black Soil directed by Jeon Soo-ii, Korea (90 mins.) will open the festival.
50 plus film personalities from Asian countries will attend the festival. Among them will be luminaries like Charles Musser, head of the film department at Yale University; Michel Reilhac head of Arte Cinema, France; distinguished film makers like Xie Fei from China, Nick Deocampo from Manila, Jocelyn Saab from Lebanon, Garin Nugroho from Indonesia; festival directors, film producers, scholars like Jeannette Paulson Hereniko,...
- 5/31/2010
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
Congratulations to filmmaker, new media creator, and Filmmaker contributor Lance Weiler, who was awarded the Arte France Cinrma prize here at this year's Rotterdam Cinemart. In his remarks when presenting the award, Arte's Michel Reilhac said that the award acknowledged the visionary nature of Weiler's project and noted that it speaks towards the type of new thinking about audience and...
- 1/29/2009
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
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