The 65th Festival del film Locarno salutes Johnnie To with a Pardo alla carriera for his exceptional contribution to cinema as a director and producer. The presentation will be accompanied by the European Premiere screening on the Piazza Grande of Motorway (Che sau), To's latest production, directed by Soi Cheang.
Johnnie To, key figure in Asian cinema, has directed over fifty films and has as many to his credit as a producer. Born in Hong Kong in 1955, To began his career in television, and in 1980 co-directed his first theatrical feature The Enigmatic Case (Bik seoi hon saan dyut meng gam, with Yeung-Wah Kam). He came to wider attention in 1989 with All About Ah-Long (Aa long di gu si), starring Chow Yun-Fat, an actor with whom he made two further big box-office hits. In 1996 To founded, along with Wai Ka-Fai, Milkyway Image, an independent production company that became a flagship for Hong Kong cinema, especially its noir side. From 2000 onwards, Johnnie To has found international acclaim on the festival circuit, with films he directed and produced such as The Mission (Cheung fo, 1999) and PTU (2003), screened at Berlin, and Breaking News (Dai si gin, 2004) and Election (Hak se wui, 2005), shown at Cannes.
To mark Johnnie To's tribute, the Locarno Festival will screen a number of the producer-director's films, including his latest production, Media Asia and Milkyway Image's Motorway (Che sau), directed by Soi Cheang - whose film Accident (Yi ngoi, 2009) was selected for competition at Venice - and stars Anthony Wong Chau-Sang and Shawn Yue. This crime thriller will be on the Piazza Grande during the upcoming Festival del film Locarno and will be released in Hong Kong and China on 21 June.
«We are delighted to welcome major director and producer Johnnie To to Locarno. Each of his films is a love letter to his native city, urban poems that never tire of celebrating the nocturnal settings, artificial beauty and vital buzz of Hong Kong», comments Olivier Père, the Festival's Artistic director.
The full article is available on Olivier Père's personal blog at:
http://olivierpere.wordpress.com
The 65th Festival del film Locarno will take place 1 - 11 August 2012.
Press Office
65th Festival del film Locarno
1-11 | 8 | 2012
Via Ciseri 23 | CH-6601 Locarno
tel +41 91 756 21 21 | fax +41 91 756 21 49
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Award-winning films from the world's most prestigious festivals, Oscar nominees, exclusive premieres of critically acclaimed pictures, the latest in Slovak cinema, Asian blockbusters, even tributes to revered celebrities of the silver screen - all this and more awaits audiences at the 20th anniversary of Art Film Fest, running from 16 to 23 June in Trenčianske Teplice and Trenčín.
A likely contender for this year's prize catch is Woody Allen's brand new comedy To Rome with Love. Art Film Fest's exclusive screening will be the first to follow the film's world premiere in its titular Italian city. In the legendary director's latest discovery of a European metropolis, American tourists and Italian locals get caught up in a web of awkward misadventures, romantic and otherwise.
Art Film Fest 2012's programme will be divided into 13 sections, including tributes to this year's award winners, altogether comprising 159 films of which 88 are features and 71 are shorts. In the International Competition of Feature Films, the Blue Angel will go to one of 12 pictures bearing awards from top international festivals such as Sundance, Locarno and the Berlinale. 37 shorts from around the world, including several Oscar nominees, will vie for the Blue Angel for Best Short Film in the International Competition of Short Films.
Around the World will offer film connoisseurs globe-trotting cinematic treats in their exclusive Slovak premieres. One of the section's most anticipated entries is the directorial debut of Hollywood star Angelina Jolie - In the Land of Blood and Honey. Lauded by critics everywhere and nominated for a Golden Globe, the powerful film tells the story of star-crossed lovers torn tragically apart by the Yugoslav Wars.
Winner of the Golden Bear at the 2012 Berlinale, the Taviani brothers' Caesar Must Die is among the highlights of this year's European Corner section. Still directing well into their eighties, the veteran filmmakers capture a distinctly unusual production of Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar", cast entirely by convicts in a maximum-security prison.
Slovak Season will offer viewers sneak previews of the latest home-grown productions, including Marek Ťapák's Dancing on Broken Glass and Bells of Happiness, Marek Šulík and Jana Bučková's remarkable documentary on two unique members of a Roma community. Two cinematic portraits of artists will fill out the section - Arnold Kojnok's Fair Play, surveying the career of academic painter Július Koller, and Tibor Huszár's Comeback from Miro Remo, part of a series on Slovak photographers. Documentary fans hungry for more need look no further than Czech Joy, a hand-picked selection of the best contemporary Czech documentaries including Slovak premieres of the latest work from respected filmmakers like Jan Gogola Jnr, Vít Janeček and Martin Mareček.
This year's array of fascinating films won't stop there either, continuing with tantalizing sections like Love and Anarchy, Eastern Promises, Focus: New British Cinema and Late Night Show.
The icing on Art Film Fest's 20th birthday cake will be provided by Leaving the Cinema, a celebration of the cinema venue itself as well as a retrospective on the development of film screening. The section is an homage to the classic cinemas and 35 mm celluloid projectors that, with the rapid adoption of digital technology, will be history before we know it.
Art Film Fest 2012 will also feature activities and workshops for film professionals. In its third year in Trenčianske Teplice, the screenwriting workshop MidPoint is offered to students of selected international film schools, and for the first time a workshop has been organized for professional screenwriters as well. Returning visitors will also remember Forum, a series of lectures and courses focused on the international promotion of upcoming Slovak films.
In addition to films, audiences can look forward to an abundant variety of musical performances. As in previous years, Trenčianske Teplice's Kursalon, the festival's official café, will feature live music every evening, hosted by versatile musician Oskar Rózsa. The list of performers will include Czech sensation Lenka Dusilová, recipient of multiple Angel Awards. Festival screenings will be held in Trenčianske Teplice at Prameň Cinema, the Cinema Tent and the Spa Hall, as well as in Trenčín at ArtKino Metro, two auditoriums at Cinemax and the Cinematograph on the city's main square.
Art Film Fest 2012 - the 20th
International Trenčianske Teplice/Trenčín Film Festival
The festival is held under the auspices of
Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic Robert Fico.
Organizers: ART FILM, n.o.,
FORZA, a.s.
Co-organizers: The Town of Trenčianske Teplice,
the City of Trenčín, Kúpele Trenčianske Teplice
Financial Support: The Audiovisual Fund
General Sponsors: KOOPERATIVA
poisťovňa Vienna Insurance Group, Privatbanka
Main Sponsors: Omnia Holding
SE, Slovnaft, AquaCity Poprad, Hydrotour Travel Agency
Official Transport Provider: Lancia
Logistics Sponsor: DHL
Student cinepasses for only
€5 provided by Prvá stavebná sporiteľňa, a. s.
Sponsors: TIPOS, Slovak
Telekom, Penzión Baske, Cinemax, Forza CZ, Omnia Motors, Omnia 2000, DOMO
Omnia, Omnia KLF
Official Suppliers: značka Moët, Hotel
Pax - the festival spa hotel, NAY Elektrodom, Esterle&Esterle, MF team,
LampART, Stredná odborná škola polygrafická
Main Media Sponsors: Slovak Radio and Television, Pravda, Rádio FM,
zoznam.sk
Media Sponsors: TA 3, TV JOJ, Film Europe Channel, Central Europe Television,
Rádio Europa 2, .týždeň, Eurotelevízia, Pardon, OK!, Kinečko, Kam do mesta,
Focus, GONG SK, Boomerang Media, SITA News Agency, Pay-Per Vision Media,
euroAWK, Bittner-print, moviemania.sk, filmneweurope.com
Partners: The Trenčín Self-governing Region, the European Commission
Representation in Slovakia, the Slovak Film Institute, the Embassy of Israel in
Slovakia, CzechTourism, Celtima SK, Hotel Flóra, KURSALON, versity, the
Bratislava Culture and Information Centre, Hollywood Classic Entertainment,
Niagara, Magic Box Slovakia, the Italian Cultural Institute in Bratislava,
Istituto Luce - Cinecittá, Character - Film Development Association
For acclaimed Palme d'Or winners to be screened at a Slovak film festival literally days after Cannes's conclusion used to be a rarity. But last year Art Film Fest managed to do just that, acquiring several films freshly awarded at the prestigious French festival - and this year they've done it all over again, embellishing the festival programme with exclusive Slovak premieres of seven hot new releases straight from the Riviera.
First and foremost is Love, the winner of this year's Palme d'Or, the second such honour for director Michael Haneke. With his latest film, the controversial and highly regarded Austrian director tells the story of a retired couple whose relationship is put to the test when a stroke leaves their daughter paralyzed. The picture is made all the more powerful by its impeccable cast, including Emmanuelle Riva, Jean-Louis Trintignant and Isabelle Huppert, who won Art Film Fest's Actor's Mission Award in 2007.
Winner of the 2007 Palme d'Or and chair of Art Film Fest's main jury in 2008, Romanian director Cristian Mungiu has done it again with Beyond the Hills. The film was awarded at Cannes for best screenplay and best actress, shared by its two female stars for their portrayal of an unusual love triangle, whose third component is God himself.
David Cronenberg's devoted cult following will no doubt rejoice at the news that Art Film Fest is featuring his latest picture Cosmopolis, fresh from Cannes's main competition. This time around the Canadian provocateur has set his sights on a truly worthy target - Wall Street, taking viewers on a 24-hour limousine ride through a Manhattan that has erupted into chaos. As investment banker Eric Packer's paranoia mounts, he gets closer and closer to uncovering a terrifying secret.
A very different, but no less exciting journey is the subject of Argentinean director Alejandro Fadel's The Wild Ones, awarded at Cannes's Critics' Week and scheduled to compete for Art Film Fest's Blue Angel. After making a violent getaway from a reform school, five teenagers embark on an exodus across one hundred kilometres of unforgiving wilderness, turning into a mystical fable of courage and grace.
Seven respected directors, including Benicio Del Toro, Pablo Trapero, Gaspar Noé, Julio Medem and Laurent Cantet, present seven perspectives on a Cuban metropolis in 7 Days in Havana, capturing the uniqueness of this forward-looking city full of life, energy and vitality.
Laced with a divine mystique, Holy Motors is the latest film from Leos Carax, the undisputed enfant terrible of French cinema. In his own words, "The film is...a form of science fiction, in which humans, beasts and machines are on the verge of extinction - ‘sacred motors' linked together by a common fate and solidarity, slaves to an increasingly virtual world."
The subject of heated debates at Cannes, Ulrich Seidl's Paradise: Love may be this year's most controversial film yet, taking an unflinching look at "sugar mamas" - middle-aged European women who frequent Kenya's beautiful seaside resorts in search of young African lovers.
Art Film Fest 2012 - the 20th International Trenčianske Teplice/Trenčín Film Festival
The
festival is held under the auspices of Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic
Robert Fico.
Organizers: ART FILM, n.o., FORZA, a.s.
Co-organizers: The Town of Trenčianske Teplice,
the City of Trenčín, Kúpele Trenčianske Teplice
Financial Support: The Audiovisual Fund
General Sponsors: KOOPERATIVA poisťovňa Vienna Insurance Group,
Privatbanka
Main Sponsors: Omnia Holding SE, Slovnaft, AquaCity Poprad, Hydrotour
Travel Agency
Official Transport Provider: Lancia
Logistics Sponsor: DHL
Student cinepasses for only €5 provided by Prvá stavebná sporiteľňa, a.
s.
Sponsors: TIPOS, Slovak Telekom, Penzión Baske, Cinemax, Forza CZ,
Omnia Motors, Omnia 2000, DOMO Omnia, Omnia KLF
Official Suppliers: značka Moët, Hotel
Pax - the festival spa hotel, NAY Elektrodom, Esterle&Esterle, MF team,
LampART, Stredná odborná škola polygrafická
Main Media Sponsors: Slovak Radio and
Television, Pravda, Rádio FM, zoznam.sk
Media Sponsors: TA 3, TV JOJ, Film Europe Channel, Central Europe Television,
Rádio Europa 2, .týždeň, Eurotelevízia, Pardon, OK!, Kinečko, Kam do mesta,
Focus, GONG SK, Boomerang Media, SITA News Agency, Pay-Per Vision Media,
euroAWK, Bittner-print, moviemania.sk, filmneweurope.com
Partners: The Trenčín Self-governing Region, the European Commission
Representation in Slovakia, the Slovak Film
Institute, the Embassy of Israel in Slovakia, CzechTourism, Celtima SK, Hotel Flóra, KURSALON, versity, the Bratislava Culture and Information
Centre, Hollywood Classic
Entertainment, Niagara, Magic Box Slovakia, the Italian Cultural Institute in Bratislava, Istituto
Luce - Cinecittá, Character - Film Development Association
Famous faces etched in viewers' minds and famous names behind major cinematic oeuvres are set to pay a visit to the 20th Art Film Fest, running from 16 to 23 June in Trenčianske Teplice and Trenčín.
As in previous years, Art Film Fest is honouring Slovak and international performers for their extraordinary contributions to film acting with the Actor's Mission Award. In the festival park, each recipient will personally place a brass plaque bearing their name: Oscar laureate Ben Kingsley, French film star Emmanuelle Béart and beloved Czech actor Miroslav Donutil.
This year Art Film Fest's Golden Camera will go to three film professionals for their significant contributions to cinema: Andrei Mikhalkov-Konchalovsky, one of the most distinguished directors in Russia (and Hollywood for that matter), notable Slovak cinematographer Dodo Šimončič and influential Slovak dramaturge and director Rudolf Urc.
Béart, Konchalovsky and Šimončič will accept their awards at Art Film Fest's opening, and Kingsley, Donutil and Urc will do so at its closing.
MADE IN ASH
47th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival announced its Competition Programme, and we are happy to have the World Premiere of the film MADE IN ASH as the opening film of the EAST OF THE WEST Competition.
MADE IN ASH (orig. Až do mesta Aš, SK - CZ 2012, 84 min., aka Town of Ash) is a debut feature film by young Slovak filmmaker Iveta Grofová, as taken from KV IFF website:
Noteworthy social drama about a Romany girl named Dorota, who leaves her native Slovakia after graduating from high school for a job in the Western Bohemian town of Aš. Thanks to authentic shots and the use of non-actors, the director achieves marked rawness and maximum punch.
World Premiere of the film / Opening of East of the West Competition: Saturday, June 30 - 4:30 p.m - PUPP Cinema
THE SUN IN A NET
In addition, we are happy to announce a very special screening of one of the treasures of the Slovak cinema, THE SUN IN A NET by Štefan Uher, to commemorate the film´s 50th anniversary. The gala premiere of the film in a digitally restored copy/DCP will be part of the section Out of the Past dedicated to bringing the best classic films to contemporary audiences.
Premiere of the restored version of the film: Sunday, July 1 - 4:30 p.m. - PUPP Cinema
THE SUN IN A NET (orig. Slnko v sieti, CS 1962), written by Alfonz Bednár, directed by Štefan Uher, with the excellent cinematography of Stanislav Szomolányi, is considered the beginning of the New Wave in Slovak and Czech cinema and is a breakthrough pioneering achievement for Slovak, and the Czechoslovak cinema. In the period of a relative relaxation of the Communist regime, the film brought a new way of film narration (breaking up the traditional linear story narration into smaller episodes and motifs), a new, analytical view of reality focusing on people and their emotions as well as on the historical and social backgrounds. The film was restored by the Slovak Film Institute (National Film Archive) within the Project of the Systematic Restoration of Audiovisual Heritage, and will be presented from a DCP.
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Within the INDUSTRY DAYS of the festival, new platform for films in development from Slovakia and the Czech Republic will be introduced, with project presentation schedule for Tuesday, July 3, 10:30 at "Becherova Villa", provided in partnership with Barrandov Studios. More information will follow.
More information to Slovak participation at the festival will follow shortly, and we hope to meet with many of you in Karlovy Vary and enjoy and celebrate the Slovak presence there.
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The Haapsalu Horror and Fantasy Film Festival (HOFF, www.hoff.ee), the exclusive genre film festival in the Baltics has become the latest member of the European Fantastic Film Festivals Federation (EFFFF). Following the announcement by the Federation Board, HOFF will assume the duties as Adherent Member of the Federation as of next edition in April 2013.
The European Fantastic Film Festivals Federation (EFFFF) is a network of more than 20 film festivals in 16 countries dedicated to promote the originality and creativity of the European fantasy film industry and annually gathers the audience of over 600 000 spectators. HOFF, now in its 8th edition, held in the city of Haapsalu, Estonia, once a renown summer retreat of the Russian Czars, now a picturesque town on the western coast of the Baltic sea, will be standing in line with established genre events such as Sitges, Brussels and Neuchatel. The regional members of the Federation include respected events in Lund (Sweden) and Espoo (Finland). The goal of the EFFFF is to introduce and nourish European fantasy, sci-fi and horror cinema in the world dominated by US genre films. For doing so, all members of the Federation present an international competition program, the Méliès d'Argent. The nominees run for the competition for the most remarkable European Fantastic and Short Film, the Méliès d'Or - Best European Fantastic Film, awarded at the annual gala presently held in Sitges.
"Joining the Méliès' federation could be compared to the Michelin star rating of the haute cuisine testifying to the high level of organization and programming of HOFF that we have been dedicated for years. Méliès' membership is not exclusively tied to the budget nor the audience numbers, as besides cutting edge programming and execution, the festival has to serve as a gateway to the region as well as contribute to the federation by industry and territorial expertise - and I'm happy that HOFF fills this role perfectly", comments the founding Festival Director Sten Saluveer
"The rapid increase in international publicity and trust from the industry that goes along with Méliès helps to ensure that Haapsalu would host greater genre stars and films, an attractive competition and the prize laden audience award. We are determined that the fans of HOFF and filmmakers will be delighted by a new chance for the films to run for the award of best European fantastic film", comments the just inaugurated Fest head Maria Reinup.
"We are very happy to include Haapsalu Intl. Horror and Fantasy Film Festival as an adherent member of the European Fantastic Film Festivals Federation. They will be a great addition to our team of festivals and will play an important part in promoting European genre films in the Baltic region", said Christian Hallman, coordinator of the European Fantastic Film Festivals Federation.
The 2012 edition of HOFF presented 19 features with the audience record of over 2800 visitors. The highlights of the program, IRON SKY (Finland, 2012) and SLEEP TIGHT (Spain, 2011) are contenders to the Méliès d'Or Award for the Best European Fantastic Feature Film 2012.
Note to editors:
The Haapsalu Horror & Fantasy Film Festival (HÕFF, www.hoff.ee) is an international genre film festival organized by Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (NGO Pimedate Ööde Filmifestival or PÖFF, www.poff.ee ) - one of the largest and most known art house film festivals and organizations in North-Eastern European region, the city of Haapsalu and Haapsalu Culture Center.
Press inquiries and clarifications:
Maria Reinup
Festival Director
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Helmut Jänes
Press and Publicity
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The new short film by Rudolf Smid, ‘The
Chronicle of Oldrich S.", has been selected for the
prestigious American
documentary film festival SilverDocs in Silver Spring, Maryland. This is
a
great honor for a Czech animated documentary, which only started screening
at international
festivals in February 2012.
SilverDocs Documentary
Film Festival is organized by the American Film Institute and the
Discovery
Channel. It is the largest documentary event of the year in the
United States with over 27,000 visitors
and industry professionals each year,
showcasing more than two hundred new documentaries from
around the world,
(including films from Central and Eastern Europe). This makes Silverdocs the
best
festival for the North American premiere of ‘The Chronicle of Oldrich
S.'
Because of its connection to the Discovery Channel the festival has
had guests such as Jonathan
Demme, Al Gore, Alex Gibney, and Martin Scorsese.
The special guests for this year's festival will be
the American filmmakers
Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky.
And don't forget, ‘The Chronicle of
Oldrich S.' is a hit on the international festival scene. It was
nominated
for Silver Eye ,Jihlava 2011; selected for the SXSW Film Festival 2012 in
Austin,
Texas; received the special jury award at the Docudays festival in
Kiev; received the IFAF AniFest
main prize for short film; selected for the
Trickfilm Festival Stuttgart; selected for the DOXA festival
Vancouver;
andselected for the DocAviv festival in Tel Aviv, 2012.
In the upcoming
months, the film will be screened at the 52nd Krakow Film Festival in Poland,
the Huesca
Film Festival in Spain and as mentioned above, the Silverdocs
festival in June.
‘The Chronicle of Oldrich S.' was produced by Anima and
AniFest.
Contact: Jakub Hora/AniFest
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ARISTOTELES WORKSHOP (AW) is a HDTV training and development center dedicated to
foster a new generation of creative documentary filmmakers in Central and Eastern Europe. Documentaries
produced within AW have won awards at major film festivals such as Cannes, Locarno,
Leipzig and Nyon, among many others. Over the years, professional training was provided by
preeminent leaders in the field: Thierry Garrel, Rafi Pitts, Nino Kirtadze, Jennifer Fox, John Appel,
Jeroun Berkvens, Simon Brook, Marijke Rawie, Michal Bregant, Niels Pagh Anderson, Martichka
Bozhilova, and commissioning editors from ARTE/France. AW is supported by ARTE,
Romanian Cultural Institute (ICR) and the National Center of Cinematography (CNC)
THE BENEFITS
● you'll spend five weeks in a beautiful mountain resort with filmmakers from all over Europe
● you'll be part of one of the four teams of three, as either director, cinematographer, or editor
● film industry professionals guide your team every step of the way, from pitch to final cut
● you'll have access to every necessary production and post production equipment
● your resulting film, if worthy, will join a network of festivals across the world.
ICR will award the best film 2000
CONDITIONS
● Fluency in English
● Previous experience with one of the following: directing, cinematography, editing.
CONTACT
You can apply directly at www.aworkshop.org or get in touch with us at:
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or you may visit these sites
www.facebook.com/AristotelesWorkshopAssociation
www.vimeo.com/aworkshop
