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OPENING FILM
SOULLESS
DIRECTOR ROMAN PRYGUNOV, RUSSIA, 100’, 2012
(Sergei Minayev’s book “Soulless” adaptation)
The movie is based on one of the most controversial bestseller books. The story takes action in modern Moscow and it truly says it all: fancy clubs, top class office buildings, prestige cars, VIP-parties. On the menu of utmost fashionable night life are gorgeous model-like girls, men from Forbes list, champagne, caviar and cocaine… Max, 30-year-old businessman, is an integral part of this dolce vita. Handsome and successful, he is a real hero of his generation. However, life takes an unexpected turn when he meets Julia, a girl who is destined to break this painfully sweet course of a carefree life…
ROMAN PRYGUNOV. Born on May 26, 1969 in Moscow in the family of a prominent actor Lev Prygunov. Directed music videos for many well-known Russian musicians, as well as prize-winning commercials. The debut movie “Loneliness of Blood” participated in Competition at the 24th Moscow Film Festival. In 2008 his second movie “Indigo” was released.
MAIN COMPETITION
80 MILLIONÓW /80 MILLIONS
DIRECTOR WALDEMAR KRZYSTEK, POLAND, 110’, 2011
A film about the struggle against communism in Wrocław, 1981. The events depicted in the film took place ten days before martial law was introduced in Poland. Władysław Frasyniuk, then leader of the regional Solidarity, along with four colleagues, withdrew 80 million of the organization's money out of the bank. The money was later used to build the underground resistance movement.
WALDEMAR KRZYSTEK . Born in 1953 in Swobnicy. Graduated in Film Directing from the Radio and Television Department of the University of Silesia and directed documentary films and teleplays. The most famous films: W zawieszeniu (1986), Zwolnieni z zycia (1992), Mala Moskwa (2008) that won the People’s Choice Award at the 31st Moscow International Film Festival.
MAGNIFICA PRESENZA/ MAGNIFICENT PRESENCE
DIRECTOR: FERZAN OZPETEK, ITALY, 105’, 2012
Twenty eight year old Pietro, a lonely soul who works nightshifts in a bakery, has just moved to Rome into a beautiful apartment which is badly in need of repair but crucially has low rent. He soon starts noticing objects have been moved and there are strange noises coming from empty rooms. It becomes clear that he is not living alone. His initial reaction is to ignore the seven and a half annoying residents, then he tries everything he can to get rid of them, to no avail. Over time, their forced cohabitation falls into a pattern of domestic intimacy and Pietro realises that he is no longer lonely.
FERZAN OZPETEK. Born in 1959, Turkey. In 1976, he came to Rome to study the history of film, art history and drama at the Sapienza University of Rome. He completed his education attending art history and costume design classes at the Rome Academy of Fine Arts. He also attended film-directing classes at the Silvio D'Amico National Academy of Dramatic Art. After receiving stage experience with Julian Beck’s Living Theatre, he moved to the cinema landscape, by working as a director assistant to Massimo Troisi, Maurizio Ponzi, Ricky Tognazzi, Sergio Citti and Francesco Nuti. His directorial debut was with «Hamam», an Italian, Spanish and Turkish co-production. The movie, released in 1997, was presented at the 50th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in the Quinzaine des Realisateurs (Director's fortnight) session. The movie was presented in other international festivals and was sold for distribution in more than 20 countries around the world. In 2003, he had a well-deserved and unqualified success with his movie «Facing Windows» («La finestra di fronte»). The film won multiple awards including: five David di Donatello, four Ciak d’Oro and three Globi d’Oro awards. In 2008, the Museum of Modern Art in New York City dedicated a retrospective on him, screening all of his movies. He has been one of the few Italian directors to be given this honour. In October 2008, Ferzan Ozpetek was honored with the Italian Solidarity Merit Medal received from the Italian government for his outstanding works.
RITA'S LAST FAIRY TALE
WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY RENATA LITVINOVA, RUSSIA, 100’, 2012
The contemporary fairy tale about universal themes of love, hate and search for love portrays life of three women.
RENATA LITVINOVA. Scriptwriter, director, producer, actress. Graduated from Moscow Film Institute(VGIK). Among her works as an actress and scriptwriter : “Non-love”(dir. Valery Rubinchik), “Sky. Plane.Girl” (dir. Vera Storozheva), “The Tulse Luper Suitcases”(dir.Peter Greenaway), “Dead Man’s Bluff”, “It Doesn’t Hurt Me”(both - dir. Alexey Balabanov), “Vokaldy Paralelder” (dir. Rustam Khamdamov), “Hearts’ Boomerang”(dir. Nikolay Khomeriki), “Passions”, «Three Stories”, «The Tuner”, “Two in One”, «Melody for Barrel-Organ”, “Eternal Return”(all – dir.Kira Muratova). Director of films “No Death for Me”, “Green Theatre in Zemfira», “The Goddess”. RITA'S LAST FAIRY TALE is her second feature as a director. Film is produced by Zemfira Ramazanova.
FECHA DE CADUCIDAD /Expiration Date
Director: Kenya Marquez, Mexico, 111’, 2011
Ramona’s only son has gone missing. She desperately searches for him all over Guadalajara. Her neighbor seems to know what has happened to him, but the neighbor is more concerned with her own problems. Ramona runs into Genaro, a strange character who spends most of his time hanging out at the local coroner’s office. He has a knack for forensics and takes special interest in Ramona’s particular case. The film’s murder mystery becomes increasingly intriguing, once the story gets divided into three different perspectives. As the puzzle of the whereabouts of Ramona’s son comes together, it becomes apparent that things were never what they seemed in the first place.
KENYA MARQUEZ. Born in 1972, México. Producer, writer and director. She worked as director for the Guadalajara International Film Festival between 2002 and 2005. It took her 11 years to bring her first feature «Expiration Date» to the big screen.
JUNKHEARTS
DIRECTOR: TINGE KRISHNAN, UK, 99’, 2011
The main character is Frank, an ex-soldier who lives on his own, an alcoholic subject to anxiety attacks and post-traumatic stress disorder. Perhaps to find some redemption, or simply to relieve loneliness, he takes in a homeless teen runaway Lynette and for a while they develop a touching friendship. But Lynette has a sinister boyfriend, and there is a strange ambiguity: is Lynette complicit in a manipulative scheme to exploit Frank's council flat? Or has she simply failed to understand how other people plan to manipulate her?
TINGE KRISHNAN. Graduated with a Bachelor in Medicine in 1993 and practiced as a hospital doctor until 1996 when she left to take a post graduate degree in film at NYU. She set up her own company «Disruptive Element Films» in 1995 and her first film «Groove On A Stanley Knife» garnered international critical acclaim, won several awards including the Silver Spire at the San Francisco International Film Festival, «Best European Film» at Cineffable Film Festival and the Immaginaria award at the Bologna Film Festival in 1998. She then wrote and directed «Shadowscan» which won a BAFTA for the best short film in 2001. “Junkhearts” is her debut feature .
A.C.A.B.
DIRECTOR: STEFANO SOLLIMA, ITALY, 90, 2012
The film is inspired by the book “ACAB” by Carlo Bonini, which tells a true story. ACAB stands for «All Cops Are Bastards», a slogan first used in England in the 1970's by skinheads and which quickly become a universal call to urban guerrillas, both in the stadiums and in the streets. Cobra, Nero and Mazinga are three "bastard riot cops" who, confronting violence on a daily basis, have learned to be targets. The violence, in which they are immersed, mirrors a chaotic society ruled by hate. Their only aim is to restore social order and make people respect rules, even if through the use of force. In the most difficult moment of their own private lives, they meet the young recruit Adriano, who's just joined their unit and needs to be trained. Educating him on legality and order and even on violent law enforcement becomes a means to telling the stories of the controversial riot cops unit, as seen from the inside, set against the background of several of the most shocking episodes of urban violence in contemporary Italian society, from the death of a protestor at the G8 Summit in Genoa in 2001, to the death of a soccer fan, by a police officer's gun, in 2007.
STEFANO SOLLIMA. Born in 1966, Romе. «ACAB» is the director’s first full-length film. His previous work includes working as a cameraman for CNN, NBC and CBS, the making of war documentaries and then the 2005 Canale 5 TV series «Ho sposato un calciatore» and the 2008 Sky TV series «Romanzo Criminale».
ROUTEDAN DAR BAD/GROWING IN THE WIND
DIRECTOR: RAHBAR GHANBARI , Iran, 84’, 2012
This film narrates the story of a teenager named Aslan. Aslan and his family encounter some obstacles in the migration route.
RAHBAR GHANBARI . Born in 1961, Ardebil. Graduated from Islamic filmmaking Educational Center with BA in film directing. Known for «Llittle Bird Freak (2002, a Special International Jury Prize at the 14th Cairo International Film Festival for Children) and «He» (2004, the Best Feature Film Award at the 9th Religion Today Film Festival in the Vatican City). Among his other works are short films «Like Voice of Soil», «An Iranian Bazaar», «Nowruz Goli» («New Year's Flowers»), documentary «Unread Papers» and TV series «Martyr Mohammad».
GULF STREAM UNDER THE ICEBERG
DIRECTOR: YEVGENY PASHKEVICH, LATVIA, RUSSIA 2011, 122'
Adam’S first wife Lilith is mentioned in the ancient Oriental legends, in Talmud and Kabbalah. According to these sources, she was not created from Adam's rib like Eve but from clay like he himself. Nevertheless Lilith was not recognized by Adam as his equal and left him after a quarrel heading for Babylon where pre-Adamians lived. She did not taste from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Therefore she is immortal and sinless in a sense. Lilith assumes different names, can change her appearance, and takes possession of men against their will. Once it's accomplished, she leaves her victims forever, marking them for either spiritual, or physical death. Whatever she does it is neither Good nor Evil. She is made of an altogether different matter. The story consists of three interrelated short stories: 1664 - Europe. East. Mid17th century; 1883 - Russian Empire. France. End of the 19th century; 1990 - Latvia. Riga. Palmira. Present.
YEVGENY PASHKEVICH. Born November 1, 1948, Latvia. Graduated from Institute of Cinematography (VGIK), Film Directing Department in 1978, Moscow. Worked at Riga Film Studio since 1969. In 2000 founded Nida Filma Company. Directed 2 fiction and 36 documentary films and wrote scripts for 11 fiction and documentary films.
HORDE
DIRECTOR: ANDREI PROSHKIN, RUSSIA, 128’, 2011
It is the word "horde" that had meant, for many countries and nations, bloody raids and being under humilating contribution for centuries – a strange and scary world with its own rules and customs. To be or not to be for Rus (Ruthenia ), that is the price of the one-man mission as he is departing to this world to accomplish a feat.
ANDREI PROSHKIN . Born in 1969. Film director, scriptwriter, actor, chairman of alternative Kinosoyuz. Graduated from the Journalism Department of the Moscow State University and Higher courses of film writers and directors institute (class of Marlen Khutsiyev). Worked on TV, worked as an assistant director with Karen Shakhnazarov and Alexander Proshkin. Was awarded “Golden eagle” 2003 as the best new-director for the film “Spartacus & Kalashnikov”. Andrei Proshkin has shot “Orange juice” (2010), “Minnesota” (2009) and other films. His last work "Horde" was found to have a social significance and got a government subsidy from the Federal Foundation for Social and Economic Support of the National Cinematography.
O APÓSTOLO
DIRECTOR: FERNANDO CORTIZO, SPAIN, 80’, 2012
A convict who escaped from jail takes off to a remote village to recover an old loot that was hidden years earlier. But what he finds there involves him in a fate much worse than the one he had been doomed to. Sinister old people, odd disappearances, spirits, a strange parish priest and even the archpriest of Santiago de Compostela will all meet in a tale full of terror, humour, and fantasy. ‘O Apóstolo’ is a 3-D suspense and mystery animation thriller.
FERNANDO CORTIZO. Born in 1973 in Santiago de Compostela, A Coruña, Galicia, Spain. The film “O Apóstolo” is a directorial debut of Fernando Cortizo. ‘O Apostolo’ is the first Spanish digital extravaganza shot in the technique of 3D stop motion animation.
KRAPETZ/JULY
DIRECTOR: KIRIL STANKOV,BULGARIA, 110’,2012
Three lonely women meet in Krapetz, a village on the Black Sea coast, trying to escape the arrogance and the triteness of “modern” post-communist society. The idyll continues for several days, but is soon destroyed. Crime, violence and corruption reach the three women even in this far, deserted place. "This is a film about people who in 1989 were 20 years old and during the so-called "transition years" lost themselves. After two decades of timelessness they need to find themselves, to return to friendship and regain their dignity," said the director, Kiril Stankov.
KIRIL STANKOV.Born in 1969, Sofia. He has a BFA from the Department of Film and Television, University of Tel Aviv, Israel. Between 1998 and 2000, he was the co-owner and creative director of Pepper Production Ltd. (Israel) – a production and post-production film company, involved in the creation and release of several documentary and educational movies. Since 2003, he has lived and worked in Bulgaria and Canada. He directed his first short fiction «The Demolition» in 1994 and presented it at the Munich film festival '94. The debut fiction was followed by several documentaries: «The Transfer» (1995), «Falafel – Bulgarian Cheese» (1998), «Heepvention» (2000), and «Play it Again, Moshe» (2002). «July” is the director’s full-length feature debut.
A CHERRY ON A POMEGRANATE TREE
DIRECTOR: CHEN LI, CHINA, 89’, 2012
Guanzhuang Village’s Kong Fanhua will stop at nothing to maintain her position as Village Head. First she orders her husband back from his job in a coastal city to visibly support her in the upcoming elections. Then she visits the village's power brokers and young upstarts one-by-one so as to keep them under her control by fair means or foul. But when a villager goes missing - a woman who broke the family planning policy when she became pregnant with a third child - the chaos that ensues transforms the power dynamics in the village and creates the opportunity for a new candidate to emerge. Kong meets her greatest challenge yet in the form of Meng Xiaohong, the young woman whom Kong trained up and once considered her successor. Meng proves herself a worthy competitor by coming up with innovative solutions to the many complex issues facing the village.
CHEN LI. The feature debut of theatre director Chen Li, this light-hearted black comedy the film is based on Li Er’s controversial novel of the same name which has sold 100,000 copies in Germany and won a literature award at the 1st Chinese Book Media Award in Chinа, 2004. German Chancellor Angela Merkel gave the book to the Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao as a Christmas gift in 2008.
ÜKSIK SAAR/LONELY ISLAND
DIRECTOR: PEETER SIMM, ESTONIA, BELARUS, LATVIA, 117’, 2012
Personal life in a big city contains a lot of mysteries. A literature professor cannot understand his son – engine driver. The relations of a young teacher and a high-school pupil – son of an Estonian taxi-driver and Belarusian stewardess – are also difficult. Two friends, former sailors, are in love with one and the same woman and all the three have been unable to get out of the love triangle for many years. A little wheelchair ridden ballet dancer blames her mother for her misfortune… The protagonists find it difficult to solve the complicated personal problems and the only thing that can help them is the desire to forgive and understand themselves and people around them.
PEETER SIMM. Born in 1953, Kiviõli (Estonia). Began his life in cinema in 1976, graduating cum claude from the Film Directing Department of the Moscow State Institute of Cinematography (VGIK). Since then, Simm has directed 12 feature films and 11 documentaries, and has also worked as a theatre director. In 2002, production company «Studija F.O.R.M.A.» (Latvia) has successfully collaborated with the Estonian director on «Good Hands» («Head käed»). The film received several international awards, including the Manfred Salzgeber Prize at Berlinale 2002. His previous film «Georg» released in 2007 is a national box-office hit.
VUOSAARI /NAKED HARBOUR
DIRECTOR: AKU LOUHIMIES ,FINLAND, 122’, 2012
«Naked Harbour» is a story of people yearning to be loved, to be seen and to be touched, at any price. Both children and adults are left without love in a world where expectations, hopes and people do not meet. But when life falls apart, the fear of abandonment drives them to acts that can only partly be fixed. Who is the next one to be eliminated in this life?
AKU LOUHIMIES. Born in 1968, Helsinki. Studied in University of Helsinki and in University of Art and Design, Helsinki. Directed seven feature-length films including FROZEN LAND (Special Jury Prize, MIFF, 2005) He has also directed short films, TV-series and commercials since 1995.
AZ AJTÓ/ THE DOOR
DIRECTOR ISTVAN SZABO, HUNGARY, 98', 2012
The film is based on the novel by Magda Szabo which has been translated into 36 languages and won France’s Femina Literary Prize in 2003. It sets in Hungary in the 1960s and centres on a young, emerging novelist and her housekeeper, an old woman named Emerence, who is no ordinary home-help. Silent and uncompromising, she turns out to have extraordinary energy and numerous strange habits. Nobody knows anything about her private life or has ever been inside her house. It’s not until tragedy strikes the young writer that Emerence decides to reveal fragments of her traumatic past, which shed light on her peculiar behaviour.
ISTVAN SZABO is one of the most critically acclaimed Hungarian film directors of the past few decades. In the 1960s and '70s he directed auteur films in Hungarian, which explore his own generation's experiences and recent Hungarian history. For the public beyond art house cinema, his signature film trilogy consists of «Mephisto» (1981, winner of an Academy Award for the Best Foreign Language Film), «Colonel Redl» (1984, winner of a Jury Prize at the Cannes Festival) and «Hanussen» (1988). He made a switch to English-language films with «Meeting Venus» (1991), «Sunshine» (1999), «Taking Sides» (2001), and «Being Julia» (2004). In 1996, he was awarded with the Hungarian Pulitzer Memory Prize for his TV documentary series "The hundred years of cinema".
LJUDOZDER VEGETARIJANAC/ CANIBAL VEGETARIAN
DIRECTOR: BRANKO SCHMIDT, CROATIA, 85’, 2012
Danko Babic is an ambitious and amoral gynaecologist at Croatia’s leading fertility clinic. When his colleague Bantic is appointed as head of the clinic, Babic starts a secret war to overthrow his rival. Distracted by his ruthless campaign he makes series of fatal mistakes that result in the death of a patient. A crooked coroner and a corrupt police officer cover up his misdeeds, while Babic grows increasingly dependent on drugs and alcohol. He begins performing illegal abortions on prostitutes who work for Jedinko, a gangster who controls the local drug and sex trade. When a prostitute dies following a botched abortion, the police become suspicious but Babic's dodgy contacts save him once again by destroying evidence. He forges test results to discredit his hated rival Bantic; and replaces him as chief of staff at the clinic. Now that he finally has what he wants, our protagonist wants to cut his ties with the criminal underworld. But his ‘friends’ ask him for one more favour: an abortion for a woman who is heavily pregnant...
BRANKO SCHMIDT . Born in 1957, Osijek. In 1981 graduated from the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Zagreb, film and television directing. The next year, he did a drama for television “Hildegard” which was declared the best TV drama on the Yugoslavian State area. In 1988, he directed his first feature-length film “Sokol ga nije volio” (“Sokol did not love him”) following the play by Filip Šovagović, and won the debutant of the year award at the Pula Film Festival. In the course of his career he has done a lot of plays, documentary films and also TV series for children. He was a member of the International in 2004. His previous film “Metastases” (31st Film Festival , Moscow , 2009) was widely distributed in Russia.
FIRE IN HELL/JIWOOKHWA
DIRECTOR: LEE SANG-WOO, SOUTH KOREA, PHILIPPINES 99’, 2012
Ji-Wol, a Buddhist monk, is banished from his temple after an inappropriate affair with a female fellow believer. He rapes and kills another woman and leaves with her ashes for the Philippines where her family lives. However, there he falls in love with her twin sister. - A shocking interpretation of karma.
LEE SANG-WOO Born in 1971. Upon graduating from UC Berkeley with the degree in cinema photography, Lee worked at the San Francisco Korean Film Festival and Student Film Festivals in USA. He returned to Korea and worked as a camera crew member of «Breath» by Kim Ki-Duk and a member of directing team of «Time». Then he made his own films, including «Mother is a Whore» (2009) and «Days of hell» (2009), «Father is a Dog» (2010), etc. These features were made with ultra-low budget and paint break-up of family relationship and communication breakdown in allegorical manner. As these films were introduced, Lee obtained a nickname of «Ogre of Independent Cinema».
PERSPECTIVES Competition
SPECIAL SCREENING
THE FOURTH DIMENSION
DIRECTOR: ALEXEY FEDORCHENKO, HARMONY KORINE, JAN KWIECINSKI, RUSSIA, USA, POLAND,105’, 2012
Created under a “manifesto” whose directives would make Lars von Trier shudder, this three-part film might look on paper like an exercise in forced hipness. Fortunately, its directors—Harmony Korine (USA), Alexsei Fedorchenko (Russia) and Jan Kwiecinski (Poland)—prove innovative and just insane enough to make the trilogy an exhilarating experiment. Working under orders tall, whimsical (according to the manifesto, a stuffed animal must make an appearance no matter what) and surreal, Korine’s «Lotus Community Workshop» drops Val Kilmer in an alternate-universe existence as a BMX-riding motivational speaker with a fanny pack. Fedorchenko’s Russia-set «Chronoeye» spins the tale of a grumpy inventor whose noisy neighbor interrupts his time-travel experiments. And Kwiecinski's eerily beautiful «Fawns» follows a quartet of friends as they prance through an empty Polish town seemingly unconcerned about the deadly flood about to overtake them. The result is three wildly diverse settings and scenarios, and three excitingly creative filmmakers on the rise.
ALEXEY FEDORCHENKO. Born in 1966. Graduated from VGIK (The Russian State University of Cinematography, Department of Additional Education) in 2000 as scenarist. He made his debut as a director by pseudo-documentary «Pervye na Lune» (meaning «the first ones at the Moon») that won the Venice Horizons Documentary Award in 2005. His next picture «Ovsyanki» (2010) that was characterized by one of its critics as «a heathen poem of extraordinary emotional power» received several prizes at the same festival, including FIPRESCI Award and «Golden Osella» for the outstanding cinematography (director of photography Mikhail Krichman).
HARMONY KORINE. Born in Bolinas, California, in 1973. At the age of 19, he wrote the critically acclaimed screenplay «Kids» (1995, nominated for the Film Independent Spirit Award) for director Larry Clark. At the time of release of «Gummo» (1997, FIPRESCI Awards at the Venice and Rotterdam International Film Festivals), he was currently at work writing a new feature and a 10-part decalogue called "Jokes". Later, he wrote and directed «Julien Donkey-Boy» (1999), «Mister Lonely» (2007), «Trash Humpers» (2009), step by step straying from what one of the unforgettable “Gummo” critics called a “white trash”.
JAN KWIECINSKI. Born in 1985. He is a graduate of MA in Filmmaking at the London Film School, of Andrzej Wajda’s Master School of Directing and has an MA in Theatre Studies from the Theatre Academy in Warsaw. His work experience includes directing short movies, documentaries, commercials and music videos as well as producing short movies and working on several film sets (e.g. Steven Spielberg’s “Munich”, Andrzej Wajda’s “Katyn”).
отбор кинофестиваля “NFF” в Лэувардене (Нидерланды).
BEBOP
DIRECTOR: THIJS GLOGER, NETHERLANDS, 72’, 2011
“Bebop” is a Dutch film. Bebop is a style of jazz music, and it is both the style and the substance of this Dutch film. The film is a fairy tale about a young girl and the creeps that surround her. It shows her journey from aggressive city life to something that could be described as Zen Buddhism. Being an exploration of male sexuality, of anger and violence, “Bebop” is about how teenagers interact in the Netherlands.
THIJS GLOGER. Born in Assen, Netherlands in 1986. He was among the participants of the Berlinale Talent Campus and worked as a writer and cinematographer on several feature films, including “Die Welt” (2011) and “Buitenlanders/Foreigners/Ausländer” (2011). In 2009, Thijs Gloger directed his feature debut “Holland” that was selected at the Noordelijk Film Festival in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands.
DR.KETEL
DIRECTOR LINUS DE PAOLI, GERMANY, 80’, 2011
The black and white film that looks like a neo-noir is about a life-and-death struggle in the asphalt jungle of Berlin district Neu Koln. The actor Ketel Weber served as a prototype of the main character, and his life has been inspired Linus de Paoli to make a story about a personal struggle for one’s own way. However, we deal with a fiction, a SF film of a kind from the nearest future: a doctor is treating sick people including even those with no medical insurance.
LINUS DE PAOLI. Director, scriptwriter and musician Linus de Paoli was born in 1982 in Hamburg, Germany. Dr. Ketel is his debut film that became the final project as the director graduated from a film school.
IF ONLY EVERYONE
DIRECTOR: NATALYA BELYAUSKENE, ARMENIA, 94’, 2012
The film is devoted to the 20th anniversary of the state independence and the army. The actions in the film also take place 20 years after the war, when a Russian girl comes to Armenia to find his father’s tomb. He was killed during the Artsakh war, when defending the motherland of his beloved wife. Twenty years later his daughter has come to plant a tree on her father's grave to fulfill his last wish, but finds the grave is on the other side of the border.
NATALYA BELYAUSKENE. Born in 1966. Graduated from Higher courses of film writers and directors institute (class of V.Khotinenko and P.Finn as well as class of A.Gerasimov). Selected filmography: «Orange» (2002, short), «Fishery» (2004, short), «The Alternative Instinct» (2005), «The Color of the Sky» (2006), «Treasure» (2007). “If only everyone…” is the outcome of the Armenian-Russian joint production (the idea of the film belongs to Michael Poghosyan). It was produced under the high auspices of the President of Armenia and by the support of the President of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and the Ministries of Defense and Culture of Armenia.
THE WRECKERS
DIRECTOR: D.R. HOOD, UNITED KINGDOM, 85’, 2011
A married couple move back to his childhood village to start a family but a surprise visit from the husband's brother ignites sibling rivalry and exposes the lies embedded in the couple's relationship.
D.R. HOOD. Also known as Dictynna Hood, she has directed several award winning short films including «The Other Man and Journey Man» (2006). She also directs for theatre, most recently «Breaking the Silence» with Somali refugees at Hampstead and Soho Theatres. As writer, she has co-written «The Bird Can’t Fly», which premiered at San Sebastian, 2007, starring Barbara Hershey. Dictynna also teaches, and is the inventor of the “Pudovkin game” for use with directing and writing students. «The Wreckers” is her feature debut
TIAN BIAN/HORIZON
DIRECTOR: NUOMING HUARI, CHINA, 91’, 2011
The film is a narrative of human emotion. However, this is not just an emotional family drama, but an artistic representation of the impact of «economic reformation» in China in 1980s, on the people living a simple life in the countryside in a simple manner. The powerful emotional attachment of the characters depicted in the bilingual movie (Mongolian and Mandarin), «Tian Bian» («Horizon»), leads viewers to confront some questions related to development and the resulting change in social structure. Such questions do not have any concrete answers, like the horizon does not have any ‘end’.
RUOMING HUARI is the most popular Chinese actress to ever hail from Inner Mongolia, and as China’s best-known minority filmmaker, she has stared in several hit television Chinese dramas (some continue to air daily) and numerous notable foreign projects as well.
NUOMING HUARI. Graduated from the People's Liberation Army Institute of the Arts. Besides being a director, an actress and a producer, NuoMing Huari possesses superior skills as a professional dancer and guitarist. As the most popular Chinese actress to ever hail from Inner Mongolia, and as China’s best-known minority filmmaker, she has stared in several hit television Chinese dramas (some continue to air daily) and numerous notable foreign projects as well. «Horizon» got the critics’ award of the FIPRESCI (Fiat the 12th Dhaka International Film Festival organised by Rainbow Film Society) and won a best new director prize at the 8th Annual San Diego International Children's Film Festival (SDICFF).
ANA DILIM NEREDE /WHERE IS MY MOTHER TONGUE?
DIRECTOR: VELI KAHRAMAN, TURKEY, 61’, 2012
Elderly Mustafa learns that his mother tongue is facing with extinction and he sees himself responsible for the extinction as he couldn’t teach this language to his children. In the period that he needs to rest because of his illness, while obligated to confront the idea of getting end of his life, he decides to record his language which dies on the vine as far as he remembers. Documentary based “Where is my mother tongue?” is an alienation and isolation story which is portrayed by real characters and real places.
VELI KAHRAMAN. Born in 1967, Ankara, he studied scenery and visual arts at the MSÜ Faculty of Fine Arts. He also worked as an assistant at the same department for 3 years and got his master degree at the same ground. He made caricature, graphic design and scenery design works. He still continues to work as an art director. Since 1998 he has made a numerous films, including “Cars of Revolution” (2008). For this film he was awarded as the best art director at the Ankara International Film Festival. “Where is my mother tongue?” is his directorial debut
170 Hz
DIRECTOR: JOOST VAN GINKEL, NETHERLANDS, 85’, 2012
170 Hz is a film about unconditional love and the freedom that goes with it. Nick and Evy are two adolescents who fall hopelessly in love with each other. Their love has no voice or sound as they are both deaf-mute. They have their own ways of communicating with each other, so while being in love already makes them stand apart from the rest of the world; in the splendid isolation of their soundless love they distance themselves from their surroundings even more. When they sense that their parents do not fully agree with them being together, they develop an audacious plan: they will flee and hide in a special place, where Evy will become pregnant and have a baby - they are convinced that once they have a child together nothing and nobody will be able to keep them apart. Nick takes the initiative and drives off with Evy to the hiding place he has meticulously prepared, the wreck of a former Soviet submarine in a distant part of the harbour. Within that metal casing full of sounds and tremors they cannot hear, but with their strongly developed remaining senses, can feel all the more. They concentrate on their baby project. But in that cage of happiness Evy slowly discovers that Nick had another reason to disappear.
JOOST VAN GINKEL (1971, The Netherlands) produced his first short film SAND (2008) by himself. “ Sand” was selected for the 2008 Venice Film Festival, won 13 international awards and was the Dutch submission for the Academy Award Best Live Action Short. His second short film “Kiss” (2009) was selected for the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival. His first feature film, 170 HZ, won the YouthMovieSquad Award and the Public’s Choice Award at the 2011 Netherlands Film Festival. 170 HZ was also selected for the 2011 Busan International Film Festival.
AMARO AMORE
DIRECTOR: FRANCESCO HENDERSON PEPE, ITALY, 96', 2012
Love is a bitter story of formation and growth, discovery of the world, and self-discovery. Camille and André, who are brother and sister from France, arrive to Sicilia, a native land of their mother. They make a stay at Salina, one of the Aeolian Islands known as the seven pearls of the Mediterranean. At the island, Camille and André grapple with existential confusion and look for solid points of reference – this way there comes love, fearless yet reprehensible in the eyes of others, surrounded by the sea which memorizes antique traditions, legends, rumors, and atavistic prejudices.
FRANCESCO HENDERSON PEPE born in Rome. Graduated from the Nuova Università del cinema e della television( in 1998 and from the University of Architecture in 2005. In 2002, he made his debut with the short film «French fries» which was screened at many film festivals worldwide and won the Dreamvision Award. In 2003, he directed and produced the short «Dream» (2003). At the present time, he is a director and a producer of the film company «Third Corporation Dreams» which he founded in 2004. «Amaro Amore» is his first full-length feature.
ANA-BANA
DIRECTOR: EDUARD OGANESYAN, RUSSIA, 93', 2012
"Ana-Bana" – a situation comedy, that is made in the style of classical Italian cinema, as well as of Georgian comedy films of the seventies. It is a modern story of the seven days in the life of a Georgian Yard in old Tbilisi, in which people of different generations and nationalities live together. The film shows a colorful scene from the life of a large Georgian family. The main hero is Niko, a ten - year old boy from a large Georgian family. His Great Grandma Aznif is 104 years old, Grandpa Armik – is a founder of the family business, mother Kate - a housewife, who loves her children, his uncle Roman is a creative person in search of creative possibilities to realize his dreams, but in fact he is a hereditary shoemaker, Aunt Inga and three sisters, whom knows all of Tbilisi.
EDUARD OGANESYAN graduated from the workshop of VGIK (State Institute of Cinematography), course by I.F.Maslennikov in 2011. He worked as production designer of the following films: "Wolfhound," "Grandma Ada," " The hoe of destiny ", "Brigada.Naslednik." "Ana-Bana" is his feature debut.
CITY OF CHILDREN
DIRECTOR: YORGOS GKIKAPEPPA, GREECE, 100', 2011
Athens 2010. After her husband’s arrest, a young Iraqi immigrant is left alone in her appartement on the day she is due to give birth. Her stalker, a lonely Greek living next door will be the only one to finally attend to her. A true story of an agonizing labor unfolding against three different pregnancy stories in Athens of economic crisis. Conflicts, repressed violence and immaturity across a story of silence, where two strangers rewrite the adventure of birth in a city that balances between insanity and hope.
YORGOS GKIKAPEPPA born in Athens. Studied cinema at Stavrakos School of Cinema. Directed short films, theatre plays and TV series. Was granted the National Price at the Young Theatrical Authors’ competition. Has also directed trailers, commercials, video clips and events. The “City of Children” is his first feature film.
GARBAGE
DIRECTOR: PHIL VOLKEN, USA, 88', 2011
Two best friends, garbage truck drivers in Hollywood become celebrities overnight after they find Cuba Gooding Jr.'s Best Supporting Actor Oscar for "Jerry Maguire" in the trash and suddenly their lives go topsy-turvy. The film premiered at the Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles and won two Gold Remy Awards at the 45th International Independent Film Festival in Houston (Worldfest) in the comedy and best actor (Jed Rees) nominations.
PHIL VOLKEN graduated from California State University-Northridge in 2002. The short comedy «Great Venice Robbery» (2007) made him internationally known. «Garbage» is his debut in the full-length cinema.
EVERYBODY'S GONE
DIRECTOR: GEORGY PARADZHANOV, RUSSIA, GEORGIA, CZECH 120', 2012
We all come from the childhood. Childhood memories of the main character are in the centre of the plot of the film. Many years on, he returns to his native town. Everything feels alien and strange. Our hero comes back to recover his memories, the good ones and the bad ones, the pleasant ones and the painful ones. Will the old fortune-teller Nina, a well-known dream gatherer in the city, be able to set an already grownup man free of the chains of the past, which had become unbearable by that time? Or will the hero called Garry alleviate her life by discovering his freedom...
GEORGY PARADZHANOV born in 1963 in Tbilisi. Graduated Theatre Institute in Tbilisi (1983), then VGIK (1994). In 2000 his documentary film “I’m A Seagull” participated in the 57th Venice Film Festival. It was awarded of the “Golden Medal of the Lumiere brothers” and got into the list of 20 best European documentaries in 2000. One of his next film “In Died in Childhood” premiered in the 57th Cannes Film and then received the prize “Golden Apricot” in Yerevan Film Festival. In 2005 his documentary “Let Our Days Be Long ” was screened in the 62nd Venice Film Festival. Other films by Paradzhanov: “Adam’s Children” (2007), “Valerik” - feature short film in the cinema almanac “Moscow Stories” - (2009), “Prima” (2010).
MIFF President
NIKITA MIKHALKOV
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KIRILL RAZLOGOV
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