Film
Welcome to the Madrid & Tenerife International Film Festival DEDICATED TO THE BUSINESS OF FILM
THE MAGAZINE
FILM: THE MAGAZINE /JULY 2015
www.madridinternationalfilmfestival.com
LONDON
ST. TROPEZ
MADRID
BERLIN
MILAN
Welcome to the Madrid & Tenerife International Film Festival 2015 Dear Filmmaker, Firstly, congratulations and thank you for your continued support of all of our International Film Festivals over the past few years, we hope you have a wonderful time with us in Madrid and we look forward to meeting up with all of you! The next 18-months see’s a huge step forward for us. Not only will we be launching our 1st International Film Festival in Milan but we are also delighted to announce that we will be opening our brand new festival in Berlin for September 2016!
We continue to have such an amazing growth in entries from filmmakers all over the World that it seemed a natural next step in our progression, Festival President, Carl Tooney remarked “Of course it’s not just about the number of entries but the quality of filmmaking on show at all of our Festivals – it really is quite breathtaking – and a brand new festival in Germany was a perfect choice for us, we’re very excited by the addition of both of these festivals to our portfolio and when it comes to building on new and existing partnerships it gives us great pleasure to announce the following”.
The Film Industry Network will be launching at the Madrid & Tenerife International Film Festival
intricate and complicated industry – ‘we know how it works, and we know how to work it’ says Ray Davies of TFIN.
“I’m extremely proud to launch this unique service at the Madrid Int’l Film Festival.” Ray Davies
Carl Tooney Publisher publishing@filmthemagazine.com
Steve Grossmith Marketing Director steve@filmthemagazine.com
Stephen Mina Graphic Designer/Illustrator stephen@filmthemagazine.com
All Festival images courtesy of Stuart Watson spot252@mac.com filmmakerfestival.com italyinternationalfilmfestival.com madridinternationalfilmfestival.com sttropezinternationalfilmfestival.com All articles, including all editorial used in this publication (whether printed or digital) do not necessarily represent the views of any of the International Filmmaker Festivals representatives, staff or associates. No part of this magazine, whether printed or electronic may be reproduced, stored or copied without the express prior written consent of the publisher. Requests for permission should be directed to: publishing@filmthemagazine.com
The MADRID & TENERIFE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (July 2015) sees the launch of The Film Industry Network (TFIN), an exclusive membership and advisory service created specifically for filmmakers seeking difficult to find expert advice such as film structure, production set up, film finance, worldwide sales and distribution and more. Co-founded by Ray Davies and backed by a group of advisors from various areas of film and television expertise, TFIN will provide a unique support service that simply doesn’t exist currently outside of a handful of producer representatives worldwide. ‘IT’S NOT WHAT YOU KNOW – IT’S WHO YOU KNOW THAT MATTERS’ Totally true of this industry and TFIN exists because they have a strong and proven working knowledge of this We can give advice and support with: * Sales structure * Distribution options * Production structure * Financial structure
‘We are extremely proud to have available to our members unique access to an extensive list of dedicated services and resources essential to satisfy the various and often complicated steps required for any project to reach fruition’. ‘These in-house services and Go-To relationships built by our team over many decades - complete the necessary stages of process and development ordinarily outside the scope of knowledge and certainly beyond normal access of anyone without extensive experience and contacts’. The Film Industry Network has extensive in-house skills and experience and solid associate agreements in place with leading global resources specifically to ensure every base is covered with total confidence in order to help its members… whatever their requirement. Members can contact TFIN at any stage of a project for advice and support at any level of development, or simply to educate themselves on ‘the next step’ and what to expect in order to move a project forward. Membership surprisingly costs just $149 annually and provides privileged access to film industry mentors with the knowledge, experience (and industry connections) to guide you from the pit-falls and costly mistakes that can spoil or even terminally damage what could have been a great opportunity.
‘We don’t promise miracles and not every project of course will become an overnight success’, says Ray Davies earnestly, ‘but we do promise to look diligently at every project we receive and to give our members genuine and honest feedback, advice and support’. For further information please visit our website: www.thefilmindustrynetwork.com Attending the Madrid & Tenerife Film Festival: ray@thefilmindustrynetwork.com
Although we make every effort to ensure all of the information in this publication is up to date and accurate the publisher takes no responsibility for any omissions or errors.
FILM: THE MAGAZINE /JULY 2015
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WILD IN BLUE By Writer, Director and Producer Matthew Berkowitz
Cinema is a dream machine. People purchase tickets and walk into a dark room. They sit quietly in their chairs, next to strangers. The ticket represents our entranceway into this new world, into the dream machine, a world where reality fades as the theatres lights go out; and a new story appears as light is projected onto the screen, and the image is projected onto their minds. So begins the film…
The opening lines of “Wild in Blue” are “A man once said there is no such thing as a film, the film does not exist. All that exists is the documentary on the making of a movie”. Behind every film there is a great story. When we set out to make “Wild in Blue”, we wanted to make a film that grabbed people’s attention, a film that stood outside the box. Our first goal was simple: Write a visceral screenplay. We decided, “The audience cannot be ambivalent about ‘Wild in Blue’. They have to love it or hate it, but the audience needs to have an opinion.” The worse thing for a movie is if nobody cares that it exists. We all agree that was our code and from there I began writing the script. While writing the script my Producer and mentor Robert Ferretti told me to watch every horror/thriller film of the genre; whether good or bad he told me
I had to watch everything. We did our research because you can always pick up little things, even from other peoples mistakes; what to do; what works, what doesn’t work; it doesn’t have to be from a masterpiece. Robert told me “Research comes from everything”. We sent each other every book, interview and article on serial killers and true crime stories. I absorbed the words of killers like the Iceman, Charles Manson and Ted Bundy. Robert even sent me a DVD with over 10,000 murder photos; he warned me that I’d have to watch cartoons after looking at the DVD, but I didn’t listen and wound up having a panic attack at 3am, on more than one occasion. Wild in Blue is about love, the love of cinema, the love of pain, power, violence but most of all the love of a woman. But love is never simple; it’s complicated just like the characters. When I wrote Charlie I wanted to design a ‘complex’ character. To me a complex character is someone who has two beliefs: What they think they want and what they really want. These two ideas are always in direct opposition of one another, and to me that creates internal conflict. Charlie thinks he want’s to murder women, but he really wants to be loved by a woman. So began Charlie. I wrote the script, but Charlie only comes to life when you find the right actor. Enter Frank Cermak Jr. Countless hours were spent between he and I rehearsing lines and getting to know one another. A character is only as good as the person playing him, and Frank dedicated himself to the role. We took pieces of Frank and incorporated them into Charlie because there must be a unity and a bond between the ‘man’ and the ‘character’. We even came up with exercises for the role like, “Stalk people on the street”; “ become the voyeur that Charlie is”. I put cameras around his house, and he would rehearse while looking at himself from every angle. I made him a mix tape of old punk music (The Cramps, The Damned, etc.), and his job was to listened to it over and over again, and I actually had Frank listening to the tape as he was falling asleep. So, Frank became Charlie as Charlie became Frank.
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SCREENSHOTS FROM THE FILM: WILD IN BLUE
REFLECTIONS ON
Behind the dream, are dozens of men and women bringing in lights, cameras, makeup, buckets of fake blood, people yelling jargon which would make no sense: “C-47”,”On the day”, “Sound”, “anyone have eyes on”, these words have no meaning to the outside world; but this is the language that creates the dream. These people are willing to break the rules, determined to do what it takes to get the shot off; stuck in a time warp of sleepless nights and a cycle where day and night are interchangeable. On set nothing matters but the film. The actors take their place, the PA’s hide near crafties, and the DP holds the camera. They go for the take until the director yells, “CUT” and everybody switches gears like some robotic machine.
We wanted to shoot the film in several formats to enhance the narrative and character of Charlie. We decided: Red Epic, Hi-8, VHS, and Super 8mm. Each format served a different purpose: Red Epic - reality, Hi-8 - home videos, VHS his alter ego, and Super 8 - Love. It was the first day of production; I grabbed the VHS camera my parents filmed my baby videos with and brought it to set. The camera was from 1984 and it was half broken. In the middle of a take I started jamming a butter knife inside the VHS camera to scratch the tape head. I brought the tape to our DIT, he captured the footage and told me there was a problem and the footage was unusable, it was distorted, wavy and full of static. That’s exactly what I wanted; I wanted the VHS to feel like the ugly, distorted side of Charlie. I had my first cut done, and Felix, Robert and myself watched. We were all enthused. We threw around a couple ideas for re-structuring the film, and we wanted to try and edit that was completely non-linear. Robert mentioned an old school editing technique called ‘storyboard editing’. We printed a frame from every scene; took the printed screenshots and stuck them on my wall. We started moving them around to so our imagination could piece together a non-linear edit without making any actual changes to the cut. Soon enough we realized we all knew too much about the film and it was inhibiting our ability to make un-influenced decisions; therefore changing the ‘random’ non-linear feeling we wanted. A great idea: Take all the screenshots throw them in a garbage bag and pull them out one by one; Now that’s random. We promised ourselves we would edit the film as the garbage bag demanded; and out came a version of the movie we coined the “Garbage bag” edit. It was a completely different film, and it didn’t all work, but the sense of randomness and chaos gave us some incredible insight, and some of the “garbage bag” edits were even included in the final cut of “Wild in Blue”.
The sound was a crucial element, sound tells its own story whether it is in silence or noise. I chose scenes to limit the sound, so the audience could focus on the dialogue. But in creating this design we also wanted to build tension. Marcello Dubaz the (Supervising sound editor), and I would use low frequency drones that created an uncomfortable anxiety in the scene. When I was 18 years old I read Bernand Hermann’s theory on music. He explained that tension was built as music grows to a climax. But, right as it the music is about to peak, it starts over, creating
repetition and anticipation of climax. However, the anticipation never reaches a climax. I wanted to take this theory and apply it to sound design, where the drones, drums and sporadic thuds keep the audience on the edge of their seat. We spun in different directions, finding new influences even shoving microphones inside various tape machines searching for the sound we had never heard before. In this search we found some of the most beautiful effects that were used in the romantic scenes of the film.
Looking back, I wish I had documented the whole process, from writing to pre-production, filming, and editing. That’s the amazing part of making a movie. It exists in our memories forever! Almost three years after filming, the Cast, Producers, and crew from “Wild in Blue”, still sit around and reminisce about the funny and crazy evens that occurred on set. This is the same for all movies and filmmakers, as one of the most wonderful things about filmmaking is the story behind the movie and memories we treasure forever. www.wildinbluemovie.com Run Time: 88 Mins. FILM: THE MAGAZINE /JULY 2015
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KATHERINE CARLOS DUNN’S
Writer: Carlos Dunn Director: Charles W. Bailey
A sadistic serial killer who is a member of a secret cell of the Vatican takes a contract to kill a young woman, the only problem is the girl’s new boyfriend is in the way and he is not about to let anything happen to the woman he has fallen in love with. Mankind must never be allowed to know of their existence.
Carlos plans for “Katherine” to be the first of many films for his new production company: Vampires2 FILMS LLC which has studios in Colima, Mexico and in Atlanta, Georgia. Next up, says Carlos are: “I Thought You Were a Nice Man.” (October 2015) and “The Positronic Girl.” (Early 2016) CARLOS: “This is what I want to do in my retirement years. And we are off to a pretty dad-burn good start with “Katherine.” Several members of my extended film family have already stated publically that it is like watching an old John Carpenter film. That is a bit flattering but I sort of get what they saying. I wanted to create that Dark Brooding feel, like those horror films you saw at the drive in movie theaters back in the 1960s and I think we came fairly close to doing that with Katherine.” “Carlos Dunn’s Katherine” is based on a short story he wrote back in 2005 while visiting Machu Picchu in Peru called “When Pedro Met Vanessa.” It was published in Man’s Story 2 pulp-fiction Anthology in the winter of 2005. CARLOS: “There are no words to express how you feel when you first look out at the ancient city of Machu Picchu. It is a magical (Sacred) place. The whole time you are there you feel like something wonderful is going to happen. There was a young man and girl on the tour with us and he had traveled all the way from Spain to meet her and she had traveled
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from Ecuador to meet him. Believe it or not, they had met on the internet. That was before all of those dating websites. Anyway, my wife Hortencia and I had the pleasure of spending the day with them and watching two young people from different parts of the world fall in love. That night I could not get them out of my mind. I kept waking up and making notes on a little pad I had by the nightstand (A technique I call dream catching) It drives my wife nuts, but as the sun came up the next morning, I had the outline and before lunch I had a first draft. In 2013, that short story became the screenplay: “Carlos Dunn’s Katherine.” The film was directed by Mr. Charles W. Bailey. Line Producer was Penny Shaw and Michele Mulkey did the SFX. The movie was filmed on location in Colima, Mexico, Atlanta, Georgia and Akron, Ohio.
We were really fortunate to have been able to cast well known Indie Actress Mel Heflin who has been in more than 35 Indie films to play Sandra, a blind mutilated psychic vampire with only one fang. And get this, Mel practiced for several weeks before the shoot washing dishes, making beds and taking out the trash blindfolded to get ready for her intense role. Several days of the shoot she wore Prosthetics over her eyes and was blind more than 10 hours a day. Mel’s an amazing actress and her performance is stunning. Tina Grimm played Katherine, Andrew Schaefer played John and Christa Johnston played Andrea. Other cast members: Denny Castiglione, Ashleigh Morghan, Chris McCail, Tempast Wulf, Kristoph Wulf, Aaron Green, Benny Benzino, Helen Heggedus and John Riddlebaugh. Shortly after filming was completed, the actor who played Rooney passed away. Carlos Dunn’s Katherine is dedicated to and in loving memory of Michael Heggedus (1969-2015) So that we do not spoil the storyline, I can only tell you that the movie Carlos Dunn’s Katherine explores the observation that it is mankind who are the true monsters of this planet.
/Katherine @Vampires2.com www.CarlosDunnsKatherine.com Run Time: 88 Mins.
FEATURING STILLS FROM THE MOVIE AND THE VAMPIRES 2 LOGO
Back in the early 1970s, film producer Carlos Dunn was a back stage musician at Nashville, Tennessee’s Grand ole Opera. He was a bluegrass musician and played acoustic bass and 5 string-banjo and toured with Legends like the late Bill Monroe, James Monroe, Ralph Stanley, The Osborn Brothers, Jim and Jesse, Mac Wiseman and quite a few other Nashville greats including He-Haw legend Archie Campbell. While all of this was going on, he was often in the back of the bus writing pulp fiction stories, in fact over the last 50 years, he has written and sold more than 70 pulp fiction stories and published several novels. Now he has turned his vivid imagination and storytelling capabilities to making Independent films.
MANA Writer/Director: Gabriel Fernandez
A Full-Length Feature Produced by The Philippines’ De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde
THIS IS NOT YOUR TYPICAL FILIPINO FILM There are no scenes set in the slums, no families dying of hunger. No repugnant shots of squalor or deprivation. No innocent youths forced onto lives of crime and deprivation. Neither are there hapless victims fleeing some vague war nor romantic couples pursuing their love while they travel through captivating landscapes, exquisite beaches or enchantingly beautiful tropical forests. MANA (INHERITANCE) eschews the two simplistic formulas for which Philippine cinema has become internationally known for, even criticallypraised for, in the past few decades: the glorification of poverty porn and the romanticism of third-world exotica. Featuring seven of the Philippines’ most renowned veteran actors, MANA is a rare film that tackles the lives of the elite Filipino ruling class. It portrays the members of a once-powerful political family, unadorned of the usual stereotypical characterizations, in a truly realistic fashion as they struggle to deal with the impending death of their matriarch.
But their family struggle, as with most things in the Philippines, lie rooted in tradition, age-old beliefs, and most of all in the Villareals’ case, folklore.
Even as a film production it is extremely innovative. The film is not produced by a movie company but rather by an educational institution: De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde.
AS PART OF THE SYNOPSIS READS:
Benilde, whose focus is on non-traditional, forward-thinking undergraduate courses, grew to become one of the most soughtafter colleges in the Philippines after only 25 years of existence. Game Design, Animation, Multimedia Arts, Digital Filmmaking, Production Design for
“It is a familiar tale. After all, every family has its story. And to each one, its own deserved secrets.” 6
FILM: THE MAGAZINE /JULY 2015
Theater and Film are just some of the many academic programs that the school has pioneered in. It is this same pioneering spirit that led Benilde to this experiment in educational innovation: an intensive industry collaboration between the academe and some of the most outstanding film practitioners in the country. www.benilde.edu.ph Run Time 102 Mins
THE CHOSEN ONE
Then, by the end of ’89, ESCU popped out of nowhere to tell him his wonderful world had been made up for him by the ”fellowship”, so the comrades were now asking for payback: a murder, for a start.
Director: Cristian Comeaga
By the time of his high-school graduation, back in the 80s, Mr. X was set to become a model citizen. He then met ESCU, the future designer, planner and destroyer of his life.
He had no choice but to do it, but the comrades didn’t like his hesitation. Officially, Mr. “X” died in France, in a car crash. He actually continued living in Belgium, under a new identity, away from his family and anyone he had ever known.
The man introduced himself as the representative of a “comrades’ fellowship” having decided to fulfill the teenager’s dream by getting him out of the communist country. So he got sent out of Romania rather than escaping it.
During the following twenty years, his life shrunk so as to fit into one day a week, the Sunday that he always spent traveling to France to watch from a distance his daughter growing up. It was enough to keep him afloat. It just didn’t last.
He got through the refugee camp, jumped across Europe from one job to another and finally settled in France. In a short while, he got all that he ever dreamed of: a successful career, a growing company, a staggering house, a loving wife and a beautiful daughter.
That day, he made his choice: having left his country in search of freedom, he was to go back to find it. That’s what Mr. “X” thinks whilst driving across a country that is no longer his, on the first mission he has ever given to himself. www.dominofilm.ro Run Time: 123 Mins.
IMAGE STILLS FROM THE FILM
Recently, ESCU resurfaced only to let him know he will not see his daughter anymore. The “comrades’ fellowship” had become even more powerful and influential than in communist times, while his daughter grew up to be one of theirs; she had been trained and was ready to move into an important position by the EU.
THE SECRET LIFE OF BALLOONS Writer: Nina Graham Directors: Nina Graham & Lauren Graham
Nina wrote the original monologue as a dramatic piece of creative writing for a school assessment on the topic of love and loss. The sisters then adapted the piece into a short film project that was undertaken during the School holidays as they waited for external exam results. Together they managed to raise and utilise a small budget, recruit a great team of friends to help shoot, compose the music, edit and perform the work. The end result has been an exciting journey and taken them in a very different direction from the original work. The finished work has both surprised and delighted them and from an initial idea of loss and despair they have manFilmed in Northern Ireland Helens Bay County Down Summer 2014. aged to capture an uplifting film Run Time: 10 Mins. of loss and love.
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TOP: HOLLY HANAWAY - BOTTOM: CHRIS GRANT
The Secret Life of Balloons explores the parallel journeys of a boy and his girlfriend at very different stages of existence. Left lost and believing they’ll never connect again, this uplifting short film asks questions about the boundaries of love, life and letting go. This is the first short film undertaken by sisters Lauren (18) and Nina (16) Graham. Inspired by the Australian Theatre for Young People’s Fresh Ink playwriting development programme, which collects the best new monologues together to be performed as The Voices Project.
THE MAChINe stops all of the people Written and Directed by JC Pratt
COMING FALL 2015
11dbentertainment.com
AIRPORT 2012 The genesis of the short film AIRPORT 2012 is political. I was very (naively) happy about Barack Obama’s election in 2008. I felt hopeful, even giddy. Like many Americans, I’d of course grown up with many moments of disillusion regarding the political process but I always continued to vote, feeling increasingly unsure, however, if it mattered. During Obama’s first term a very strong feeling came over me which I can only describe as either a “waking up and smelling the coffee” (very late!) or an all-at-once feeling of despair that to me was so overwhelming I began looking around, wondering how many other people were feeling this marked uptick in their sense of futility. Whether this was something everybody else had pretty much felt already and with
which I was just getting up to speed, or this was a rather dire overreaction in the direction of cynicism didn’t matter to me. The point was I felt it-- a feeling that was downright vertiginous in its torque and I wanted to make a short film that addressed that feeling in an unorthodox way: by dealing with a sexual theme and drawing a parallel so that the sexual and the political elements would cross-pollinate. As one is exercising a democratic freedom in the act of voting, and so it is an act that should feel free and liberating in a word, “happy”; likewise, two couples who have agreed to swap partners are clearly exercising a freedom to do what they want, free of societal constraints, so that situation-- the “swap” situation, is one that should also feel “happy”. But what if a spin were put on all of this so-called “happy” activity that made it come off feeling depressing, alienating, and futile? And so I began.
TRAFFICKING is the third feature in a trilogy that started with Martin Scorsese’s AFTER HOURS, continued with VAMPIRE’S KISS starring Nicolas Cage and for its denouement moved to the City of Angels. kinderkamackroad.com Run Time: 22 Mins.
TOP RIGHT: TRAFFICKING FILM POSTER
Director/Producer: Joseph Minion
SWEET & SOUR SALSA Gustavo Cuervo Rubio Alice Billman Egon Stephan Jr.
With Cuba finally rising after 65 years, what perfect timing to release Sweet & Sour Salsa. A unique documentary honoring the stories, music and journeys of Peter Pan immigrants, Kung Fu masters, Bay of Pigs descendants and renown musical legends whose power and influence are still felt today on an international scale. No matter who you are or where you’re from, you’ll be compelled to dance alongside the lush orchestrations of the musical style known as Son Montuno executed by the acclaimed and well seasoned,“Conjunto Impacto”. The international appeal of this music is felt as strongly in Germany as it is in Hong Kong, spanning not only cultures, but age groups, which is noteworthy. Producer, Director Gustavo Cuervo Rubio crafts an intriguing tale as grandson of Cuba’s former Vice President and Secretary of State.
Other contributors include, Co-Director Egon Stephan of Cinetech and Co-Producer Alice Billman of Heroes. Winning Best Foreign Language Documentary at London’s 7th International Filmakers Festival it has also received 17 nominations throughout Europe for Best; Editing, Production, Feature Documentary, Music, Producer, Director and Soundtrack . We are well positioned for large scale distribution and marketing packages to impact an eager international audience. In the words of Master Perez “anyone who has any blood in their veins will move when they hear a good Son Montuno”. Come, dance along to our sweet and sour story.
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/SweetSourSalsa @SweetSourSalsa
RagnarockProd@gmail.com Run Time: 80 Mins.
TOP: THE BAND - MIDDLE: FILM LOGO - BOTTOM LEFT: KUNG FU MASTER BOTTOM RIGHT: ARSENIO RODRIGUEZ - GODFATHER OF SON MONTUNO
Producer/Director: Co-Producer: Co-Director:
Writer/Director/Producer: Andrea Praxmarer
Prax Production is a young team, consisting only of two people, Andrea Praxmarer and her brother Johannes. Both of them have a strategic and simple plan: “Changing the world” Why? “Because the People who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.” - Think Different. Prax Production was founded 2013 by Andrea and Johannes Praxmarer and is based in Innsbruck/Austria. After several years of study, hard work and learning by “doing” Andrea and her brother decided to establish their own production company. Since 2013 Prax Production have
“Cry for Help” is a short documentary about a mysterious disease in South Sudan. The disease is known as “Nodding Disease” and exists only in Tanzania, North Uganda and South Sudan. Scientists are struggling to find a solution and this syndrome is a mentally and physically disabling disease that only affects children between 5 and 15 years of age. The film was shot in South Sudan in September 2013 in co-operation with the World Health Organisation. Unfortunately “Nodding Disease” still remains a mystery and to date there is still no cure. Over 8,000 children are affected in South Sudan alone and sadly, once the child has contracted this disease it is certain that they will not survive.
/praxproduction www.praxproduction.com Run Time: 14 Mins.
A STORK STORY Director: Javier Enrique
Javier Enrique has an enviable career in filmmaking, here as the writer, producer and director behind “A Stork Story” he tells Film the Magazine a few details about how this film came to be made.
PLEASE CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THE CASTING FOR “A STORK STORY”? I did the first audition with the kids (with the mum and dad’s it was pretty easy) about three months before shooting and the first kid that was going to be the original lead, we had a few problems getting hold of his parents for the second audition. Then I had a referral for another child to play the lead but ironically although he was great felt that maybe he was too old! So anyway after a few other problems we were like let’s just try one more time with the original choice and that night – it was about 6 or 7pm with a morning start – and sure enough they picked up and it all worked out perfectly! And it was kind of like a rollercoaster, he was really good on set and because he was a kid it was really easy to give him directions.
DID YOU HAVE ANY DOUBTS ABOUT MAKING “A STORK STORY”? Well you see so many short stories and you think well there’s no plot to it, so I really wanted to develop a really rounded script. And you’re limited because it’s a short story and because it’s the story of a kid I wanted to explain it easily, I think there is nothing worse than when you’re a filmmaker and people just don’t understand your film. But, I love the experience of when people watch it in the theatre, there’s just a different energy to it.
WHAT MADE YOU CHOOSE THIS STORY? I remembered that question from my childhood; I asked my mum the same question and when I grew up I thought you know what, I’m going to write a short story about this and I went with that and that’s how I got to the story.
LOOKING BACK, WOULD YOU CHANGE ANYTHING? That’s a good question because I think I would have had a different answer when I was in the editing room. Now the short is doing so well.... maybe I could have shot it quicker but I’m happy with the whole process, you might have doubts in the middle of it but the end result, I think it worked perfectly!
SO WAS IT SOMETHING THAT HAD STUCK IN YOUR MIND? Absolutely! I basically wrote the script in my head and it was very quick, I wrote the story – with all of the revisions – in a week.
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Run Time: 13 Mins.
TOP RIGHT: INFECTED CHILD IN TORE WANDI - MIDDLE RIGHT: JOHANNES PRAXMARER MEETING WITH THE VILLAGERS IN TORE WANDI - BOTTOM RIGHT: IN COOPERATION WITH THE UN - BOTTOM LEFT: WAY FROM THE MAIN CAPITAL JUBA TO MUNDRI CITY
CRY FOR HELP
created high quality journalism together with investigative facts. They are producing global stories and want to give a voice to unknown topics with the power of documentary films.
Writer/Director: Lior Babadost
HOW FAR DO YOU GO FOR YOUR SUCCESS? Martina Lisec, the producer behind “Manie” tells us about her involvement in her latest film.
This short film is about a 60 year old painter who tries to be successful for his whole life. For his last exhibition he gives all of his passion and energy in his work but all his attempts are in vain. He falls into depression and self-pity. In his desperation he has an idea; he wants to create his very last painting with his suicide. He isn’t aware of his own limits which he then exceeds and so becomes a murderer. “When I was reading the script of the director Lior Babadost for the first time I was really fascinated by his story. I’m also a writer too and about to finish my first script soon and the way he has created the screenplay kind of reminded me of my own writing so I could really identify myself with it and said let’s bring this story to the screen. That’s how everything
We were shooting at 5 different locations spread across Vienna. For me the most exciting one was at the art history museum where we shot Peter’s dream scene. I will never forget this moment when you are next to all of these famous and expensive paintings and you always try to keep an eye on the whole set so that nothing will happen with the camera or the lighting set up. But our crew was very professional and reliable so we never had a doubt and everything worked out perfectly. The film was shot on a Red camera and also in 4K so we could really get some very beautiful slow motion pictures. There is also one very interesting part about the main actor Peter Mai. It is Peter’s first appearance in a film as an actor. He never acted before and had no previous experiences. In real life he is a very talented painter based in Vienna. All the paintings you see in our movie are originally made by him. Of course we used copies of them because he destroys them out of despair in the film. Lior knew him before and created this unique story inspired by Peter and also by the subject of how far somebody will go to achieve fame and success. He believed in his acting talent from the first time that they met and convinced him to be the main character in his film. When we had our first rehearsals,
he just slipped into his role like he had never done anything else before and proved to us his hidden acting skills. After we did the casting to find the right supporting actors, we decided to choose Eva Holzapfel, who is now nominated for the best supporting actress of a foreign language film at the Madrid International Film festival, to play Peter’s mother Gertrud. She was very convincing to us and well prepared especially on set when we shot the scene with her in a park. She was so focused the whole time even though when we had a break she was still in her role and never lost her concentration.
Run Time: 38 Mins.
IMAGE STILLS TAKEN FROM THE FILM
MANIA
started in December 2013. As a producer it was also a financial challenge for me as well because we didn’t have any sponsors so I tried to keep it low budget and me and Lior managed almost everything by ourselves to start with this great project. It was my first production in my home country; I’m the only one in my family who is interested in film. I always loved to come up with ideas and developed stories and thought about how this might look on screen.
I WAS BORN IN 1985 Writer/Director: Kevin Victor
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
‘I was born in 1985’ was shot over a period of about a year, on weekends and in the evenings after work. None of the cast or crew were paid and the small budget there was came out of my pocket. At the time I had before me three scripts which I had written, and was trying to decide which one to put into production. I chose to undertake ‘1985’ because it was not only the strongest of the three, I felt, but also presented me with the most challenges from a logistical and production perspective. I felt that if I could produce a film of quality from this script, which was essentially a ‘two header’, I would then have the confidence and experience to embrace further challenges, and look at developing some of my other ideas that would involve larger casts, crews and
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FILM: THE MAGAZINE /JULY 2015
budgets. I think we have succeeded in delivering a work of very high quality, considering the modest budget and the circumstances under which production was undertaken. Much of the credit for this must go to the cast, my ‘two heads’ if you will, Kate Mulqueen and Dominic Pedlar. It is their performances that really help to elevate the film beyond its budgetary constraints. A special mention must also go to the contribution of Sound Designer Takuya Katsu, who imbues the film with a naturalistic ambience and beauty that perfectly complements the images. Run Time: 16 Mins.
TOP RIGHT: I WAS BORN IN 1985 - MIDDLE: KATE MULQUEEN - BOTTOM LEFT: DOMINIC PEDLAR ALL IN SCENES FROM THE FILM: I WAS BORN IN 1985
SYNOPSIS Two lovers who met in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 reunite a decade later with the death of Osama Bin Laden. Our couple find themselves in a limbo of indifference, each questioning their motives for the reunion. One character muses over the lasting cultural legacy of the late 20th century and comparative vapidity of contemporary life. In the end, the old adage ‘You can’t go home again’ proves all too tragically true.
JIM
Writer/Director Rod McCall tells Film the Magazine how his latest movie “Jim” came to be made:
COULD YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR BACKGROUND? RM: I grew up in California, the Bay area. I studied architecture at The University of Oregon and in Japan. Architecture gave me a visual foundation. It taught me how to “look” at stuff, to tell stories visually, to create a visual narrative, which is what movies are. When I was in school, I made animations of various architectural projects. I like to say, ‘I learned filmmaking “frame-by-frame.“’ In my 20s, I worked with “Sesame Street” & “Electric Company,” and the famous cartoonist, R.O. Blechman. I then started directing TV commercials. I’ve done over 200 TV commercials, and been nominated for nineteen “Clio’s” * and won one. During this time, I also produced and design film clips for “Saturday Night, Live!” Eventually, I walked away from the world of advertising to become an independent filmmaker. I always wanted to make longer, character driven movies. To date I’ve made seven films, two of which have premiered at “Sundance.” Most of my films have been shot in New Mexico, because, like any artist, I found my “place,” my “theme.“ It’s like finding the perfect rose. I had a place in the Hollywood Hills and I came to visit some friends in New Mexico. I fell in love with the desert and bought a 125 year-old Hacienda as a “vacation home.” A year later, I sold my place in Hollywood and moved to New Mexico full time! The mysterious and beautiful landscape of New Mexico is always a “character” in my movies.
a single mini-van. It’s amazing. Using light-weight equipment also lets me spend more time working with actors, which I love. We improvised a lot, especially with Gabriel, who really learned how to (at least subtly) “mime” when shooting “Jim.” The film was shot in three tiny New Mexican villages south of Las Cruces, just north of the Mexico/US border. The villagers acted as extras. They were generous…and fantastic! FINALLY, WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE FILM AND HOW DID IT AFFECT YOU? RM: 2001 A Space Odyssey. I saw it as a kid. I walked out of the theatre asking myself “What the hell did I just see? Whatever it was, I want to do that”!? I’ve always loved Sci-Fi. But “weirder” Sci-Fi. And I also love “character-driven” stories. About faces. Inter-personal conflict turns me on. “Jim” has that. As a matter of fact, a writer friend of mine observed about “Jim:” “It’s like Igmar Bergman made a SciFi movie!”
WHAT IS “JIM” ABOUT?” RM: “The power of innocence.” In “Jim” a mysterious young stranger comes to a small border town. Having no idea where he is from, what he is doing, or why is there, various townspeople become suspicious of Jim. His secret is ultimately revealed, but I don’t want to be a spoiler, and tell you what that is here. In the meantime, the suspicion around Jim creates racism, gun violence and immigration fear and anxiety in the small community.
TELLS US ABOUT SHOOTING “JIM.” RM: When we shot Jim we had a small crew of fifteen people; very mobile, with small high-rez cameras, portable lights and light weight sound equipment. I love digital filmmaking because it affords you to move locations and change shots quickly. Years back, when I started making films, we use to bring in huge semi trucks filled with heavy equipment that lined the streets of a location shoot. Now I can shoot an entire movie out of
* The Clio Awards is an annual award program that recognizes innovation and creative excellence in advertising, design and communication.
www.blowinghat.com Run Time 88 Mins
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FILM: THE MAGAZINE /JULY 2015
ALL PHOTOGRAPHS WERE TAKEN BY STERLING TRANTHAM
WHAT WAS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGING IN MAKING “JIM”? RM: Definitely finding the lead character. Because everything revolves around Jim, I needed an actor with serious charisma…because he doesn’t speak a single word of dialogue. We found a handsome young man, Gabriel Chavira, from Juarez, Mexico, who had never acted before. He is remarkable in the film (he has been nominated by MIFF as “Best Actor” in the festival). Jim is truly a “Chaplinesque” character; silent, funny and…obsessively curious.
SCREENING TIMES THURSDAY
2nd July
Screening Room 1
17:20 Effloresce Directed by Kathleen Davison
30 mins
19:30 Football In The Valley Directed by Roy Krispel
45 mins
18:10 If The Trees Could Talk Directed by Michael Weinstein
24 mins
10:30 Ballet 422 Directed by Jody Lee Lipes
18:10 Something About You Aint Right Directed by Alisa Daglio 18:20 Idyllwild Directed by Aisha Porter-Christie
Screening Room 2 10:30 Gloria Directed by Luis Hernandez de la P.
28 mins
11:45 Love Is Now Directed by Jim Loundsbury
17 mins
23 mins
13:25 Hopscotch Directed by Shomshuklla Das
18:50 The Soldier Directed by Jacques Straus & Will Hanke
10:50 Nostalgia Directed by Daniel Tolleson
19 mins
19:40 Riding My Way Back Directed by Robin Fryday , Peter Rosenbaum
28 mins
15:20 Greed Directed by Joel Lamangan
19:05 Four Tails Directed by Christopher Villiers
11:15 Virgile Sleeps Directed by Jean Seban
20:10 Take A Stand Directed by Austin Fickman
17:15 Seven Things To Do Before You Die Directed by Kwun Wan Ho
19:35 Afterparty Directed by David Adam
11:40 The Second Room Directed by Sarvnaz Alambeigi
19:00 Kyra Kyralina Directed by Dan Pita
19:55 The Last Night Directed by David Strong
12:00
7 mins
105 mins
20:15 All Things Chicken Directed by Julius J. Galacki
12:10 Powerful Medicine : Simply Magic Directed by Mwita Chacha
12:15 Southern Fried Fencing Directed by Michele Kim Carter
72 mins
97 mins
86 mins
110 mins
96 mins
95 mins
THURSDAY
3 mins
22 mins
9 mins
24 mins
2nd July
10:30 Never Stop Searching Directed by Mohammed Mamdouh
10 mins
29 mins
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
3rd July
20 mins
14 mins
12 mins
17 mins
Screening Room 2
2nd July
Hollygrove - The True Story Of Montserrat
Directed by Carlos Hurtado
18:40 My Pilot, Whale Directed by Alexander and Nicole Gratovsky 19:15 The Debt Directed by Silvia Carvalho
5 mins
FRIDAY
3rd July Screening Room 3
10:30 WAX - We Are The X Directed by Lorenzo Corvino
22 mins
66 mins
12:35 Castor Directed by Alon Juwal
13:25 Death On A Rock Directed by Scott Ballard
14 mins
85 mins
10:45 Strangers Directed by Eric D. Howell
10:30 Peanut Gallery Directed by Molly Gandour
12:50 Ideas Are That Grand Directed by José Enrique Rivera Rivera
5 mins
14:55 Three Shirts And A Bra Directed by Ignacio Albistu
21 mins
11:10 Hyena’s Blood Directed by Nicolas Caicoya
12:05 Schnitzel Directed by Asaf Epsten
12:55 The Confrontation Directed by Sabina Jacobsson
15 mins
16:00 Milk Directed by Noemi Weis
90 mins
11:45 The Last Post Directed by Adam Preston
12:35 Betuchini Directed by Ivan Marcos
13:10 Maria Directed by David Fejzuli
10 mins
17:35 Summer of Tom Directed by David Lueza
29 mins
12:05 Dating Eliza Directed by Simon Allen
13:10 Sweet and Sour Salsa Directed by Gustavo Cuervo Rubio
13:20 Returning Home Directed by Thomas Wood
13 mins
18:10 Whirl Directed by Ben Keelini
30 mins
12:20 Plundering Tibet Directed by Michael Buckley
15:30 Ryan and I Directed by Sambit Banerjee
15:00 Carry on Directed by Yatao Li
19:00 Teenkahom (Three Obsessions) Directed by Bauddhayan Mukherji
12:45 Cacaro Directed by Jacqueline Aboumrad
17:05 Oh My Princess Directed by Heewook SA
15:20 Trio Directed by Dae Eol Yoo
20 mins
29 mins
16 mins
13 mins
25 mins
27 mins
Screening Room 3
93 mins
22 mins
30 mins
89 mins
29 mins
17 mins
15 mins
17 mins
124 mins
SATURDAY
4th July
Screening Room 1
13:15 Demise Of Sugar Directed by Dana Plays
17:25 Without Wings Directed by Ben Chace
15:40 Code Oakland Directed by Kelly Amis
22 mins
79 mins
14:00 Soulies Of Milgarden Directed by Kent Butterworth
19:00
16:05 Daghwah Directed by Moe Najate
11:55 Dog Men Directed by Mirko & Dario Bischofberger
30 mins
13 mins
14:20 The escapist Directed by Jon Plant
28 mins
90 mins
Children Of War – Nine Months To Freedom
Directed by Mrityunjay Devvrat
158 mins
FRIDAY
3rd July
10:30 The Winds That Scatter Directed by Christopher Jason Bell
11 mins
73 mins
16:20 Nostalgic Directed by Ronald Eltanal
13:15 Felix Austria! Directed by Christine Beebe
11 mins
77 mins
14:55 Theme Song Rebel Directed by Luke Patton
10:30 National Dream Directed by Olallo Rubio
16:35 Leaving Stockholm Directed by Zein Kurdi
20 mins
15:20 From Seoul To Jakarta Directed by Damien Dematra
120 mins
16:10 Valiant Directed by Robin Phillips
12:50 Young Couples Directed Marc Di Domenico
17:00 My Bonnie Directed by Hannah Quinn
13 mins
17:25 The Preppie Connection Directed by Joseph Castelo
100 mins
16:45 Borderline Directed by Luca Tobia Forcignano Serri
14:15 The Algerian Directed by Giovanni Zelko
17:15 The Fallen Phoenix Directed by Gwen Barriac, Heather Larkin
19:10 A Tangled Web Directed by JP Thomas
17:00 Cleaning The Fish Directed by Myrna Paramita
18:30 The Sea Turtles Of Lamu Directed by D. David Morin
17:25 Once Upon A Time In A Cinema Directed by Kwok Yat Choi
20 mins
29 mins
10 mins
15 mins
18
Madrid & Tenerife International Film Festival
FILM: THE MAGAZINE /JULY 2015
Screening Room 1
106 mins
76 mins
100 mins
52 mins
6 mins
13 mins
114 mins
SCREENING TIMES SATURDAY
4th July
Screening Room 2
Madrid & Tenerife International Film Festival
SUNDAY
12:30 Jim Directed by Rod McCall
5th July Screening Room 3
88 mins
10:30 Sophie Directed by Alex Lombard
14:05 The Firefly Directed by Ana Maria Hermida
10:30 A Ghost and the Boy Directed by Philip Blue
10:45 Blind Date Directed by Maria Askedal
16:30
13 mins
89 mins
72 mins
19:55 A Gringo Honeymoon Directed by Alexandra Debricon
22 mins
20:30 Gloria Directed by Luis Hernandez de la P.
17 mins
15 mins
96 mins
Directed by Nikola Vukcevic
11:55 The Bit Player Directed by Jeffrey Jeturian
11:05 Indian Roots of Tibetan Buddhism Directed by Benoy Krishen Behl
18:10 Stones From The Desert Directed by Bruno Jubin, Max Olivier Jubin
13:15 Run Free – Caballo Blanco Directed by Sterling Noren
92 mins
96 mins
11:40 As The Tree And The Hurricane Directed by Claudia Fischer
19:45 ALLOT (A Lot List Of Things) Directed by John Sanborn
15:30 Primrose Lane Directed by Kathleen Davison
12:10 Hacker’s Game (T) Directed by Cyril Morin
30 mins
70 mins
13:00 The Morning After Directed by Shanra Kehl
The Kids From The Marx And Engels Street
89 mins
90 mins
SUNDAY
78 mins
5th July Screening Room 2
15:00 Directed by Alexander Ugrinski
10:30 Times Like These Directed by Lorena Gordon
16:40 Gazelle – The love Issue Directed by Cesar Terranova
10:50 Pollen Directed by Guillaume Baldy
Uncle Tony, Three Fools And The Secret Service
87 mins
93 mins
15 mins
13 mins
MONDAY
6th July
71 mins
Screening Room 3 10:30 Fish In The Sky (T) Directed by Erica Fan
89 mins
88 mins
17:05 The Sentimentalists Directed by Nicholas Triandafyllidis
13:45 The Cocksure Lads Movie (T) Directed by Murray Foster
94 mins
93 mins
18:45 Adrenaline Directed by Omar Rouge
15:00 Decoding Baqtun Directed by Elizabeth Ligia Thieriot
91 mins
110 mins
MONDAY
6th July Screening Room 1
16:40 The Chosen One Directed by Cristian Comeaga
123 mins
18:15 Songs Of The Bards of Bengal Directed by Monalisa Dasgupta
11:10 Shadows : Saving The Rain Forest Directed by Isaac Kerlow
10:30 Beer Runners Directed by Justin Wirtalla
69 mins
73 mins
19:05 The Empty Classroom Directed by Mariana Chenillo
11:25 Jordanne Directed by Zak Razvi
12:45 Nowitzki, The Perfect Shot Directed by Sebastian Dehnhardt
20:10 Hopscotch (T) Directed by Shomshuklla Das
11:50 Two And A Quarter Minutes Directed by Oshua Ovalle
14:35 Bob and the Sex Pistachios
7 mins
82 mins
10:30 West 4th Street: Portrait of a Park Directed by Simeon Soffer
12:00 Net Positiva Directed by Peter Cambor
16:30 Garden of Dream Directed by Alejo Yael
76 mins
107 mins
12:00 Redemption Trail Directed by Britta Sjorgren
12:15 The Visit Directed by Mohammed Karim
17:50 Generation 89 Directed by Anke Ertner
72 mins
12:25 Highway to Dhampus Directed by Rick McFarland
100 mins
13:35 Magic Train
Directed by Joe Chang, Zhang Zhenxing, Shen Yifan Ete
12:35 Awkward Expressions of Love Directed by Trilby Glover
19:10 The Birdman Directed by Alexandru Mavrodineanu
14:10 State Of Play (T) Directed by Steven Dhoedt
15:45 Gemini Directed by Ato Bautista
12:50 Pearl Directed by Amy Sedgwick
17:15 The Break In Directed by Marcus Ovnell
13:10 Border Traficking Directed by Peter Rautek
Screening Room 2 10:30 Three Shirts And A Bra Directed by Ignacio Albistu
21 mins
93 mins
18:40 Mia Directed by Joseph McCarthy
13:30 Caring For The Recently Deceased Directed by Henry Davies
10:55 Curious Worlds: David Beck (T) Directed by Olympia Stone
57 mins
19:05 Carlos Dunn’s Katherine Directed by Carlos Dunn
88 mins
18:55 Romance in NYC Directed by Tristan Pope
14:00 A Tale With Christ And Jesus Directed by Oldren Romero
11:55 The Undertaker (T) Directed by Andrea Capranico
20:30 Q&A PANEL
19:20 Lost Cause Directed by Victoria Lord
15:30 Lee Scratch Perry’s Vision Of Paradise Directed by Volker Schaner
13:20 Arde Lucus (T) Directed by Oscar Brais Revaldria Prieto
45 mins
107 mins
SATURDAY
4th July
Screening Room 3
85 mins
91 mins
87 mins
83 mins
82 mins
10 mins
18 mins
15 mins
19:40 Jaya Directed by Puja Maewal
19 mins
SUNDAY
5th July Screening Room 1
10:30 Seven Lucky Gods Directed by Jamil Delhavi
112 mins
12 mins
6 mins
11 mins
15 mins
10 mins
14 mins
16 mins
30 mins
30 mins
95 mins
105 mins
Directed by Yves Matthey & Tiziana Caminada
86 mins
TUESDAY
7th July
Screening Room 1 10:30 Buddha In a Traffic Jam Directed by Vivek Agnihotri
77 mins
MONDAY
18:50 Komatose Directed by Mark Boucher
6th July
85 mins
15:40 The Amateur Directed by Carlton Sugarman
95 mins
17:25 The Age of Reason Directed by Philip Marlatt
82 mins
60 mins
TUESDAY
7th July
Screening Room 2
17:35 My Mermaid, My Lorelei Directed by Maria Flerko
15:00 Jonny’s Sweet Revenge (T) Directed by Mark David
98 mins
22 mins
19:00 Inheritance Directed by Gabriel Fernandez
16:45 Love Is Now (T) Directed by Jim Lounsbury
10:55 The Secret life of Balloons Directed by Colin Grahams
80 mins
102 mins
10:30 Airport 2012 Directed by Joseph Minion
97 mins
10 mins
18:30 The Morning After (T) Directed by Shanra Kehl
11:05 Keep In Touch Directed by Sam Kretchmar
78 mins
105 mins
FILM: THE MAGAZINE /JULY 2015
19
SCREENING TIMES
Madrid & Tenerife International Film Festival
13:00 Is This The Real World Directed by Martin McKenna
19:55 All Of The People Directed by JC Pratt
16:25 When The Dog Barks (T) Directed by Rafael Farina Issas
13:25 Buskin’ Blues Directed by Erin Derham
14:30 How To Time Travel Directed by Samuel Sheffield
20:00 The Black Butterflies Directed by Antoine Blanchet
16:45 I’m In The Corner With The Bluebells (T) Directed by Ako Mitchell
14:30 A Reason (T) Directed by Dominique Schilling
17:00 Luna de Cigarras Directed by Jorge Diaz de Bedoya
20:20 Fawkes Directed by Kate Malugina
17:05 Alekto (T) Directed by Michael Mehring
16:30 The Intruder Directed by Shariff Korver
18:30
20:50 The Way Things Are Directed by Guy Nemesh
17:35 The Theatre Of Memories (T) Directed by Paolo Monaci Freguglia
18:05 It’s Not You, It’s Me (T) Directed by Nathan Ives
90 mins
91 mins
82 mins
Between the Mountains and the Oceans
Directed by Masaaki Miyasawa
89 mins
20:30 Q&A PANEL
3 mins
18 mins
28 mins
27 mins
WEDNESDAY 8th July Screening Room 2 10:30 …If We Are Mortals (T) Directed by Keith Bisset
15 mins
23 mins
15 mins
17:55 The Sound Of Belgium (T) Directed by Steven Dhoet
85 mins
61 mins
113 mins
87 mins
88 mins
THURSDAY
9th July
Screening Room 2
19:25 Awkward Expressions Of Love (T) Directed by Trilby Glover
10:30 Sundown Directed by Sinem Cezayirli
10:45 I Was Born In 1985 (T) Directed by Kevin Victor
19:40 Carry On (T) Directed by Yatao Li
10:50 Hiroshima (T) Directed by Chandan Roy Sanyal
12:00 Little People Big Dreams Directed by Chun Kit Mak
11:05 Till Jail Do Us Part (T) Directed by Rafael Emmanueli
20:05 Dr Luciana Show – Aging and Falling (T) Directed by Luciana Lagana
11:00 Smithston (T) Directed by Craig Melville
13:35 iWitness Directed by Steve Rainbow
11:25 A Stork Story (T) Directed by Javier Enrique Perez
20:15 Caring For The Recently Deceased (T) Directed by Henry Davies
11:10 Bernice Directed by Kristina Sorge
15:30 M Cream Directed by Agneya Singh
11:45 The Adept (T) Directed by Adam Stern
17:30 Lords of BSV Directed by Maria Soccor
12:00 The Line (T) Directed by Ali Nikkhouy
Screening Room 3 10:30 John Of God The Movie (T) Directed by Selé M’Poko
12:25 Salome (T) Directed by Kevin Bisbangian
20:30 Q&A PANEL
12:05 Sin Matador (T) Directed by Raul Torres
12:00 Dive (T) Directed by Elisa Fernanda Pirir Ruiz
12:45 Las Pequeñas Cosas Directed by Samuel Reynold & Max Moya
12:25 Awake (T) Directed by Michael Achtman
13:20 A Candle Lights The Heart (T) Directed by Shinji Kondo
13:15 Cheese Dog: The Movie Directed by Justin Ulloa, Jamie Dwyer
10:30 Gazelle – The Love Issue (T) Directed by Cesar Terranova
12:50 Maria (T) Directed by David Fejzuli
14:50 Ideas Are That Grand (T) Directed by Quique Rivera
14:35 Doorbijten Directed by Iman de Vries
12:10 Short Supply Directed by Kevin Molony
13:05 My Pilot, Whale (T) Directed by Alexander & Nicole Gratovsky
15:50 As The Tree Under The Hurricane (T) Directed by Claudia Fischer
15:00 B-flat Directed by Mariana Youssef
13:15 Another’s Evil (T) Directed by Anna Troyanskaya
13:45 Scarecrow (T) Directed by Mohammed Salman
17:05 The Sniffer (T) Directed by Anastasiya Verlinskaya
15:30 Thanksgiving Dinner Directed by Brian Seibert
14:45 Love Between The Covers Directed by Laurie Kahn
14:05 Daghwah (T) Directed by Mohammed Njati
18:00 Wild in Blue Directed by Matthew Berkowitz
15:55 Francesca Directed by Gaëna Da Sylva
16:20 Nocturne Directed by Saul Pincus
14:20 Nostalgic (T) Directed by Ronald Ethanal
19:35 Doeville (T) Directed by Kathryn Pasternak
16:05 Eye Level Directed by Alisa Daglio
17:50 Football In The Valley (T) Directed by Roy Krispel
14:35 The Visit (T) Directed by Mohammed Karim
21:10 Aidiyet (T) Directed by Serkan Ertekin
16:15 My Stuffed Granny Directed by Effie Pappa
18:40 Diwali Dream Garage Directed by Johnny Pik
14:55 The Secret Life Of Balloons (T) Directed by Colin Grahams
TUESDAY
7th July
Screening Room 3 10:30 The Undertaker Directed by Andrea Capranico
81 mins
88 mins
73 mins
113 mins
79 mins
10 mins
17 mins
14 mins
13 mins
9 mins
3 mins
15 mins
WEDNESDAY 8th July Screening Room 1
93 mins
57 mins
87 mins
83 mins
82 mins
45 mins
17 mins
22 mins
10 mins
28 mins
15 mins
11 mins
11 mins
15 mins
10 mins
10 mins
17 mins
6 mins
10 mins
30 mins
WEDNESDAY 8th July
87 mins
75 mins
85 mins
6 mins
70 mins
51 mins
88 mins
97 mins
30 mins
THURSDAY
16 mins
9th July
Screening Room 1
8 mins
30 mins
12:10 Tick Tock (T) Directed by Zeynep Kocak
9 mins
15 mins
23 mins
15 mins
21 mins
24 mins
18 mins
4 mins
4 mins
10 mins
16:30 Marie Directed by Alfredo Tanaka
12 mins
19:00 Hiding Blame Directed by Scott Ballard
15:45 Unplugging Aunt Vera Directed by Dave McGlone
10:30 In The Game Directed by Maria Finitzo
16:55 The Perfect Drug Directed by Artem Makarevich
19:25 Cairo Year Zero Directed by Niko Volonakis
16:10 Shadows – Saving the Rainforest (T) Directed by Isaac Kerlow
11:50 Flowerman (T) Directed by Rob Burrows
17:00 Last Dance on the Main Directed by Aristofanis Soulikias
18 mins
22 mins
20
15 mins
FILM: THE MAGAZINE /JULY 2015
20 mins
12 mins
73 mins
94 mins
5 mins
3 mins
SCREENING TIMES
Madrid & Tenerife International Film Festival
17:05 A Little Farther Directed by Nikan Nezami
13:10 Endless Corridor (T) Directed by Aleksandras Brokas
11:05 Cry For Help Directed by Andrea Praxmarer
18:05 On The Couch Directed by Miguel Duarte Costa
17:40 One Armed Man Directed by Tim Guinee
14:50 Mexico Pelagico (T) Directed by Jeronimo Prieto
11:25 An Angel At Christmas Directed by Niav Padelis
18:40 Domino Falling Directed by Siavash Farahani
18:10 Mania Directed by Lior Babadost
16:05 What Am I Afraid Of (T) Directed by Yulia Shcherbina
12:00 I Married My Family’s Killer Directed by Emily Kassie
19:00 Rebeldia Directed by Hernan Rocha
18:55 Henry Toy Directed by Anthony Engelken
17:05 Dead River Directed by Jason DeBoer
12:35 Sweet And Sour Salsa Directed by Gustavo Cuervo Rubio
19:15 Burden Of Peace Directed by Joey Boint
19:20 Sabre Dance Directed by Ilya Rozhkov
18:40 Energizing Our World (T) Directed by Susan Sember
14:00 Sweet And Vicious Directed by Juan Paulo Laserna Arias
20:35 Sanctuary Of Collell Directed by Boris Thompson-Roylance
15:40 Jaysin Voxx “Hands On Me” Directed by Carlos Hurtado
20:50 When The Sun Falls Directed by Yuji Kakizaki
10:00 Mother’s heart Directed by Diego Barrios
15:45 Rain Directed by Rehab Elewaly
21:35 Baby Crazy Directed by Haroula Rose
10:15 I Was Born In 1985 Directed by Kevin Victor
16:05 On Eyed Girl Directed by Nick Matthews
10:45 The Tree Of Numbers Directed by Isis Kiwen
17:50 The Lingerie Show Directed by Laura Harrison
30 mins
27 mins
70 mins
38 mins
20 mins
14 mins
19:35 Trafficker Directed by Larry Smith
70 mins
52 mins
10th July Screening Room 1
9th July
Screening Room 3 10:00 Moviestar (T) Directed by Charles Berg
87 mins
11:35 Sweethearts Of The Gridiron (T) Directed by Chip Hale
89 mins
53 mins
FRIDAY
88 mins
THURSDAY
52 mins
13 mins
17 mins
15 mins
14 mins
30 mins
30 mins
80 mins
88 mins
3 mins
14 mins
26 mins
15 mins
12 mins
75 mins
12 mins
39 mins
16 mins
101 mins
8 mins
Coming Soon ! Berlin September 2016
FILM: THE MAGAZINE /JULY 2015
21
Writers/Directors: Justin Ulloa & Jamie Dwyer
SYNOPSIS
This just isn’t Wendy-Lou’s day. Things aren’t going so well at her dull job behind the counter at a fast-food chain, and she really needs a break. Disenchanted, she escapes to a colourful food dimension where she dreams of big-league success. As exciting new opportunities come into focus, does Wendy-Lou have what it takes to follow her dreams? Join Wendy-Lou on an epic one-night journey in this animated inspirational fast-food fantasy!
“WE WANTED TO CREATE SOMETHING FUN, FLAVOURFUL, INSPIRATIONAL AND TOTALLY UNLIKE ANYTHING WE’VE EVER SEEN BEFORE.”
Combining years of experience in the advertising/branding industry with their fascination with fast food and American consumer culture, directors Justin Ulloa and Jamie Dwyer have made a heart-warming story about a young woman who dreams of succeeding in a brand-saturated world. The creators discuss “Cheese Dog: The Movie” and their leading lady, Wendy-Lou Destiny: Wendy-Lou made a short appearance in our first animated movie, “White Widow: A Psychological Thriller”. Her minor role garnered so much positive attention that we decided to expand her character into a champion protagonist, someone who embodies our own personal characteristics, as well as those of the viewer. Imaginative, vulnerable yet resilient, Wendy-Lou exudes an enviable and unbreakable drive for achievement.
Music and score were really important to us in bringing this new universe to life. Our long-time collaborator, White Widow (Carla Patullo), delivered an extraordinary score that is fun, fresh and whimsical. Her music is a driving force throughout. She’s been doing incredible work in film and TV, and we were so lucky to have her on board.
“Cheese Dog: The Movie” was a passion project from the ground up and we hope that our sincerity, sense of humour and methodical attention to atmosphere will resonate with the audience. There’s nothing more rewarding than sharing our work and putting smiles on faces. www.cheesedogmovie.com Run Time: 15 Mins.
WHIRL Director: Ben Keeline
After winning Best Student Film three years in a row at the Sundial Film Festival in Redding, California for their movie Whirl, Cottonwood Creek Charter School’s Graphic Arts Program under the direction of Ben Keeline won Best Animation Film for Kids at the 2015 International Kids Film Festival in Madrid, Spain.
Ben Keeline who has a degree in Cinema Television from the University of Southern California and a Masters in Business from CSU Chico, teaches the Graphic Design classes at Cottonwood Creek Charter School. “When I got the job at CCCS five years ago, I had a vision of creating a mini PIXAR with kids. I didn’t know how much the kids were capable of, so I just started having the kids experiment with different animation softwares along with teaching classic movie making techniques. Their abilities and enthusiasm have surpassed my expectations. Since kids are consuming so much of this genre, they let me know pretty quick when something isn’t working or isn’t funny!”
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Ninety-five middle school students aged nine to fourteen, pre-visualized, storyboarded, animated, and edited the thirty minute original fairytale Whirl working together as a team. Whirl started out as a two-semester project and ended up taking three years to complete. “We got into the story, were having so much fun and learning so much that I decided to make it a trilogy. I thought, “If Peter Jackson can do it, why can’t we?” This animated fantasy is a coming of age piece about a boy cursed by the wicked Fowler whose curse turned him into a frog. Will he and his friend Stasia with the help of their animal and robot friends be able to reverse the terrible curse before the Fowler and the mad scientist Gloria Wisemind destroy their kingdom forever?
SEE MORE OF COTTONWOOD CREEK CHARTERS SCHOOL’S PRODUCTIONS, INCLUDING THE MAKING OF “WHIRL”. Run Time: 30 Mins.
TOP: SNAXTIME FAST-FOOD RESTAURANT EXTERIOR BOTTOM LEFT: WENDY-LOU DESTINY AT WORK - MIDDLE: CHEESE DOG AT BAR
CHEESE DOG:THE MOVIE
Writer/Director: Rob Burrows
Here the Writer & Director Rob Burrows gives us some fascinating background into his career leading up to his latest film “Flowerman”.
HOW DID YOU GET INTO FILMMAKING?
On leaving school I went into general nursing before training in psychiatry and psychotherapy. I found I was daydreaming when listening to clients and decided that was not such a good thing! So I got a prescribing licence and went into A&E work gaining a BSc 1st in Specialist Clinical Practice to work as an Emergency Nurse Practitioner. It has been interesting and I like working with people. However the studying involved a lot of academic writing and I thought that when this was over I should write something different for a change. So after I finished my degree I wrote my first screenplay “Dead Frequency.” I originally sent the script to the BBC but did not hear anything back for a few months. I decided to take it back (I found out later that they can take a while longer than that to decide). Anyway I looked around to see how I could get it made but it turned out be really difficult - I mean it was like a “glass ceiling” you just can’t do these things as a normal person. So I formed the company Solarus Films Ltd and made it. Just after its completion in the fall of 2010 “Dead Frequency” was selected by the Stepping Stone Film Festival in India. At first I was going to pull it as I had wanted it to be a 2011 film. I soon realised how difficult it is to get a film selected and left it alone! I was impressed by the dynamics between two of the actors in Dead Frequency; sisters Faye & Amy Ormston. Seeing how they acted inspired me to write my next film “Entwinement.” This was awarded a Best Drama nomination by the Portobello Film Festival in London. It was also seen in the cinema in the North East of England and on TV in Spain. Seeing how two of the actors (Jason Savin & Amy Ormston) worked together in “Entwinement” gave me the idea for “Flowerman”. This was quite a harrowing story-line involving a mother being taken from her family so I discussed it with Amy first as I wanted her to play Sarah the mother. She was keen to go ahead so I wrote it but made her Assistant Director both to give her a sense of control and in recognition of her creative thinking. As a team we had fun making it – something that may seem strange to the audience. We were honoured by “Entwinement” receiving four nominations at the Madrid International Film Festival last year and now “Flowerman” has done even better with seven. It is great for the team to receive recognition for all their effort and skill in making it.
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It’s a nightmare. The frustrating thing is knowing the extent to which you have had to compromise - knowing so much more could be achieved with just a bit more money. Also we would use our time to a much greater effect. We work with a model where people work for next to nothing and then you try and pay people on the distribution from previous films but that’s been severely hit by (movie) piracy.
WHAT’S YOUR VIEW ON FILM PIRACY?
It’s killing us. It’s the same with every independent film-maker who has to work on a tight budget in the first place. What we have had to do is wind it down a bit for now – amateur dramatics is a parallel: People will do what they want to do for little reward other than the satisfaction they get. It really relies on a dedicated team being prepared to put a lot of effort and not because they are going to make any money. Film piracy is theft that involves organised crime yet the public don’t realise this and seem to think it is benign. Another thing that’s really frustrating: In UK there is a lot of talk about funding films while in practice the money is not available to independent film makers like us, or is only offered as a loan that could well be ruinous. Films are ambassadors for their country and they bring visitors and therefore money to the area. A little investment would bring a big return.
TOP: FILM POSTER - MIDDLE: ELLIE ORMSTON - AMY ORMSTON - MARK BURROWS - IAN ROBINSON - BOTTOM: MARK BURROWS
FLOWERMAN
HOW DIFFICULT IS IT TO RAISE THE FINANCE?
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU OFFER TO SOMEONE WHO WANTED TO START A CAREER IN FILMMAKING?
I would have to tell them that they are unlikely to be financially rewarded. They have to be prepared to do it for the intrinsic satisfaction alone. Also there are no promises: Many films do not get released or something prevents them from being completed in the first place. In fact that is the norm. So far we have completed everything that we started. It is good on that score because it’s not the usual practice. I always tell people that it’s a very risky business in terms of results. As we have had a result each time it can lead to a false sense of security. I feel that it is important to keep our team members’ feet on the ground. The next stage for us would be for our films to be shown on TV. Achieving that is partly about getting work seen by the right people. I’m hoping that our festival screening may help with that.
WHEN YOU FINISHED MAKING THE FILM, WAS THERE ANYTHING YOU WOULD HAVE CHANGED?
Looking at “Flowerman” there was a scene I would like to have shot. It was a Christmas scene - an “Alice in Wonderland” type sequence with the children looking at clocks with different size faces on them. We had set target dates to shoot in within a three week window. This was while the Christmas lights and decorations were on the City of Durham. It is a really beautiful place and would have looked magical on screen. We just couldn’t do it and I was really disappointed. It would have just given it an extra element. “Flowerman” was about showing an idyllic family and this scene would have epitomised that.
WHAT ARE YOU THINKING ABOUT WHEN YOU SHOW YOUR COMPLETED FILM TO AN AUDIENCE FOR THE FIRST TIME? Well the first time it’s shown is on a test audience and I like watching them. I want to find out what I may have missed, or what could be hard to understand from the story. I do like to see their reactions and one thing that is really useful indicator is if they don’t notice the time passing. Perhaps the greatest fear when people watch a film would be to see them get bored. And the next thing is will they follow the story or miss a crucial aspect of it? You can illustrate the story by making it more obvious. However if you make it too explicit this also dumbs it down and that in itself can be frustrating for an audience. On the other hand making it too complex could result in the story going to go over their heads, so getting it right is really a balancing act.
TOP: ELLIE ORMSTON - MIDDLE: ROB BURROWS - BOTTOM: JASON SAVIN
I don’t get too anxious about it. I know the people watching it and know that that test audiences give constructive criticism that is invaluable: You know that they are going to give it to you straight so it is a bit like a moment of judgement. I’m eternally grateful to them as what they do is as important as the crew and actors in getting the film ready for release.
WHAT WAS THE HIGHLIGHT OF MAKING THE FILM?
To me it is seeing the way that people respond. It’s a similar moment to putting a poster or the trailer out and seeing the response from the people who follow us on social media. I love seeing their excitement: It shows you that you have been on the right track as their response to the film helps me to know that it connected to them and touched them in a positive way.
solarusfilms.com/films/flowerman Run Time 94 Mins FILM: THE MAGAZINE /JULY 2015
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MAGIC TRAIN The story of Magic Train was based on a girl called Lin Lin, who was an American Born Chinese and was brought up overseas. During her trip China on a traveling train, she had experienced a series of amazing things from what she had seen in China. The film was particularly concerned about different aspects of artistic levels. From the unique style and technique of animation, the film had shown the humanistic feelings from the combination of Chinese traditional cultural and modern life. It also had a lot of entertainment and artistic affection as well. The whole film consists of ten different small stories show in sequence and is 87 minutes in total. The dialogue is sparingly used and the music was adapted from Chinese traditional wellknown musical scores. The audio-visual feeling of the film was like a song, a picture, a poem and a dream. These could touch deep through the heart of different the different age groups in all audiences. Executive Producers Joe Chang Production Managers Zhang Zhenxing Shen Yifan Music Artists Sun Jianguo Chen Shaoqing Art Consultants He Shuifa George Johnson Karin Lee Original Story Directed by Joe Chang
Run Time: 87 Mins.
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Zhang Zhenxing Yu Jin Fang Jianguo Qian Bohong Zheng Fangxiao Shen Yifan Xu Xinguo Jin Yu Zeng Qingqing Xu Haiyi as Linlin Sound Editor and Cut -Artist Huang Yining Filming Supervisor Ho Wen-Shing Hwang Ouchul
FEATURING STILLS TAKEN FROM THE FEATURE FILM
Joe Chang is an award-winning director, producer and animator. He studied at Lu-Xun Academy of Fine Arts in Shenyang, China and Tama Art University in Tokyo, Japan and the animated short the Chinese Violin (2000) was his first animated film with the National Film Board of Canada. His most recent work is the animated feature film The Magic Train (2015). Currently, Joe is an artist and independent filmmaker, and he also working at the School of Art, Zhejiang University of Technology as a Dean and professor in Hangzhou, China.
SCHNITZEL
THE STORY OF A BOY, A GIRL, A SPACEALIEN AND...FRIED CHICKEN
Obese teenage boy Kobi is persuaded by the beautiful Maya to buy some beer for her birthday party. His nerves shaken, Kobi ventures into the store and soon makes an enemy of the bullying and bored security guard. However... these problems will turn out to be minor. For inside the supermarket... our hero is destined to make a new friend - an alien life form like no other. The two will bond and fight together to escape safely without losing life, limb or liquor.
*Note for the concerned: the film in NO WAY encourages or endorses the consumption of alcohol by minors.
DIRECTOR’S NOTES
Schnitzel had three main influences: · My wish to tell a story that paid homage to Spielberg’s E.T. – a film that was an important part of my childhood – but with my own twist on the friendship between a boy and a space-alien. · A class trip I took as a young boy in which a friend and I imagined a very unique alien appearing before us during our lunch break. · The universal theme of the awkwardness of youth, along with the pressure of wanting to be accepted and respected in spite of one’s physical imperfections.
ARDE LUCUS 1700 years ago the wall of Lucus Augusti watched over the end of the so called World, in the present the descendants of the Roman and Celtic people that lived in the area, recreate the most important festival about the Roman Era in the World.
That day with the representatives from Unesco only some associations were attending the event, but today all of the city becomes a little part of the old Rome, with more than 1000 amateur actors going on to the streets bringing back Gladiators fighting for their lives at the Circus. With Gods and mythological creatures running all over the city chasing every human that gets in their way and the Soldiers and Praetorians looking to keep safe the Emperor Cesar Augusto.
In June 2000, the rampart of Lucus Augusti was proclaimed a World Heritage site, the only rampart in the whole World that is completed and the citizens from Lugo can use daily to run and enjoy the landscape of the area.
This documentary shows a piece of the rich past and the culture that the Galician people have, all descendants of the last Roman legions and the Celtic tribes that lived in the north-west of Spain from the first century.
Director: Brais Revalderia
In spite of the title and subject matter, this film was made by a vegetarian.
/Schnitzel.Movie Run Time: 22 Mins.
Spain is a country with a huge cultural diversity, from north to south the language and the features of the people change in so many ways, Galicia is well known for having the best food and some of the most beautiful landscapes you can find in Europe, adding all of this to an experience back in time from 2000 years ago, makes Lugo the place to go every third weekend of June to enjoy and share. Documentary has got more than 18 awards and 32 official selections at international film festivals from all over the world. Run Time: 60 Mins.
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TOP RIGHT: GALA NIGHT AWARDS AT ST. TROPEZ FILM FESTIVAL BOTTOM LEFT: ASSOCIATION FROM ARDE LUCUS GETTING READY FOR BATTLE
SYNOPSIS
TOP: KOBI - TOP RIGHT: SIMON - BOTTOM RIGHT: SHRAGA THE GUARD - BOTTOM LEFT: MAYA
Writer/Producer/Director: Asaf Epstein
DESIGNED BY FILM: THE MAGAZINE
DESIGNED BY FILM: THE MAGAZINE
A TALE WITH CHRIST AND JESUS Writer/Director: Oldren Romeo
“A Tale with Christ and Jesus” is a beautifully filmed commentary on the best and worst of humankind. In contemporary Cuba, two men fall passionately in love and commit to being together forever.
The story is by turns tragic and comedic, desolate and jubilant, despairing and hopeful. It illuminates the elevating powers of unquestioning acceptance and love, and the destructive powers of intolerance and hatred. As if that were not enough, the film soundly condemns the lowest of human behaviors, including the sexual abuse of children, while honoring the internal strength of those who suffer life-long pains inflicted upon them by others.
His elegant film integrates religious symbols, romantic poetry, renaissance paintings, music, and the art of photography to reveal a unique cinematic experience. “Anyone who carries the burdens of chronic suffering,” according to Oldren Romero, “is a Christ.”
Oldren Romero (“Bad Luck”), a talented director, writer, actor and producer, tells his tale of Christ and Jesus through the hard realities of life in Cuba and through idyllic fantasies.
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/OldrenAngel /OManProductions
Featuring: Hector Medina (Boleto al Paraíso / Ticket to Paradise), Dayron Moreno (Los Desastres de la Guerra / The Disasters of War), and a special performance by Laura de la Uz (Vestido de Novia / The Bride’s Dress).
Mr. Romero can be contacted at oldrencillo@yahoo.com By Genevieve K. Howe
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Yet, the guts of this densely-packed homage to the arts are an unflinching attack on societal intolerance’s, and the absence of humanity wherever they lead to vilification or rejection of people who are different for any reason at all.
Run Time: 30 Mins.
SHORT SUPPLY Writer/Director: Kevin Molony
Glaswegian dentist, Philip Black, approaches his 50th birthday with trepidation. Fate lends a hand in the shape of a polish ventriloquist who slumps dead in his chair during a routine extraction. Seizing the moment Black appropriates the man’s identity and throws himself into the unknown. Armed with the deceased’s passport, air tickets and huge trunk containing the dummy, Black lands in Poland. However he finds that the least of his problems are being neither aventriloquist nor speaking one word of Polish. Enter Ludek, a manic-depressive midget providing a possible route to salvation.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
I am lying prostrate, a light shining into my face, staring at a masked stranger who is chattering incessantly. My mouth is numb and clamps prevent any attempt at a coherent response. Unperturbed my inquisitor continues to pepper me with questions. I give up gargling and grunting and run a roll-call of recent film ideas through my mind. There’s a documentary about the relationship between ventriloquists and their dummies. Or the lingering fascination with people who disappear, just walk out of their lives - “He just went for a packet of cigarettes and was never seen again.” Then there’s the doppelganger theme. Would we know them if we met them? Would it be like when you unexpectedly see your reflection or hear your voice recorded; surprise and ultimate disappointment? I am haunted by Kurt Vonnegut’s warning. You are what you pretend to be…..or was it what people think you are? What about ‘Identity theft’? How absurd is that? We seem to have become nothing but consumers, our whole being reduced to our credit card details and a password. Has it really come to this? How can we really inhabit another person’s life? Their memories, hopes, fears. To say nothing of the capricious quirks of genes and nature. These disparate ideas are still pinging around in my brain when I am brought up to a sitting position and the light is averted from my eyes.
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The dentist lowers his mask and gives a smile of triumph. A smile framed by a luxuriant, no, make that a resplendent, handle-bar moustache. And I have it. I have the glue. The glue that just might bind these ill-formed pieces of the jigsaw together. The Dentist will be my main character and he will walk out of his life. He will steal someone’s identity. He, Philip Black, will steal the identity of one of his clients, Malcolm Redman, who by the way is his near physical double. But wait, as noted, that’s absurd. So let’s take the absurdity to the extreme. We’ll give him something that he is the most ill equipped to deal with. The identity of a polish speaking ventriloquist who is en route for a tour in Poland. There is of course a trigger to this flight into the unknown (‘the inciting incident’ in script-writing speak).
We will examine and have our own interpretation of his motives. Not least of course the fact that his patient is lying slumped dead in the chair due to his professional negligence. His situation? Dressed in blue scrubs and trapped in a miserable tiny surgery with bars on the windows he already resembles a prisoner. Spending your life looking into people’s mouths? That alone could be reason enough. (Apparently dentists rate very highly in occupations prone to suicide). Or has he really gone to these extreme measures to escape his birthday party like he himself claims? When I first met Garry Stewart, who plays our hero, in a pub in Glasgow many years ago the only definite thing I was sure of was that it is not the story of a man on the run. It is about a man struggling to make sense of his life. Sure his circumstances lubricate his decision but perhaps more important is that existential jolt that gives the moment the momentum.
KEVIN MOLONY - WRITER/DIRECTOR
The realisation that identity is and can be fluid and you can follow a deviation off the mapthat you thought life had planned for you.
From 1989 he concentrated on commercials and has won numerous awards (Clios/One Show/ London International Advertising awards/ BTAA/D&AD/ Epica/etc. ) in the UK , US and Europe. Major jobs include The UK National Lottery launch, Nike, BMW, Heineken, Toyota, Lion Bar, Sony Playstation, Michelin, Heineken and O2.
ALL IMAGES ARE STILLS TAKEN FROM THE FILM: SHORT SUPPLY
And at the end when the music of the male duet from The Pearl Fishers swells up I hope that you the viewer will see that he has indeed found his true shared destiny.
Kevin Molony graduated in 1982 with a First Class Honours Degree in Film &TV. He has directed pop promos for the likes of CHAKA KHAN, A-HA and SWING OUT SISTER , as well as title sequences for BBC programmes ‘Top of the Pops’ and ‘The Lenny Henry Show’.
He directed a 90 minute improvised comedy drama- ”There’s no Business” in 1995. Among the cast were well known British comedians such as Alexander Armstrong, Mark Benton, Steve Frost ,Mark Arden, Roland Rivron and Jonathan Ross. He wrote and directed a 20 min drama “SYLVESTER,” which was completed in 2002 and won the Kodak award at the Los Angeles International Film Festival and also Best Cinematography at the 8th International Film Festival in Granada. It was also ‘Highly Commended’ at the London Film Festival in the TCM competition. His screenplay for ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’ was made into a feature film by Film 4 and released in 2005 starring Ian Holm as Napoleon.
‘Short Supply’ a 56 minute drama was completed in February 2015. It was shot on locations in Poland and Scotland.
Run Time 56 Mins FILM: THE MAGAZINE /JULY 2015
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UMI YAMA AIDA IN BETWEEN MOUNTAINS AND OCEANS Director: Masaaki Miyazawa Japan’s mysterious ceremony that has been held every 20 years for more than 1300 years could give us a hint of how to solve the environmental problems that we face in our society today.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT “The deity makes an equal treatment for everyone and everything”. It is my starting point of the journey when I heard this comment from a Shinto priest at Ise Grand Shrine. I have found that my country has two thousand years of history where people have lived together with the forest through cyclic regeneration. This documentary is a compilation of my ten-year journey of seeking the deep root of our culture. (Masaaki Miyazawa) DIRECTOR’S BIO Masaaki Miyazawa: Photographer. Born in Tokyo in 1960. Graduated from the Faculty of Arts at Nihon University. “Ten Nights of Dreams” made by using infrared photography won NY ICP’s first rookie of the year.”Ise Grand Shrine”, “Butterfly”. “Umi Yama Aida” is his first film. Shinnyo Kawai (Shinto Priest of Ise Grand Shrine) Kengo Kuma (world-acclaimed Architect; models and drawings of his major works is permanent collection at MOMA) Mitsuo Ogawa (Master of Carpenter) Takeshi Kitano (world-acclaimed Filmmaker; “Fireworks”, “Zatoichi”, “Sonatine”) Katsuhiko Kurata (Forest Manager of Ise) Soju Ikeda (Kiso timber company Owner) Genmyo Ono (Chief Abbot of Horyuji Temple; Horyuji is the World Heritage, one of the oldest wooden buildings in the world) Masaru Tanaka (Professor Emeritus in Kyoto University) Tsutomu Ohashi (Neuroscientist and Music Composer of the movie “AKIRA”) Shigeatsu Hatakeyama (Oyster Fisherman; chosen by the United Nations as one of the winners of the Forest Heroes Awards) Akira Miyawaki (Ecologist; contributed to forest regeneration by planting over 40 million native trees around the world) Yoshihiro Narisawa (Chef; won the Sustainability Award at the World’s 50 Best Restaurants) Japanese Language - English Subtitles
Website: umiyamaaida.jp email: info@umiyamaaida.jp
Run Time: 79 Mins.
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FEATURING FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: HATAKEYAMA - IKEDA - KAWAI - KITANO - KUMA - KURATA - MIYAWAKI - NARISAWA - OGAWA - OOHASHI - OONO - TANAKA PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL IMAGES ARE SUBJECT TO COPYRIGHT: SUSTAINABLE INVESTOR/MASAAKI MIYAZAWA
ABOUT THIS MOVIE Masaaki Miyazawa, one of the most prestigious photographers in Japan, has been taking photos of temples for over 10 years. During this time he encountered a sacred ceremony called Shikinen Sengu, that is held once every 20 years for over 1300 years in Ise, about 450km south west of Tokyo. Moved by his experience, Miyazawa decided to take a journey across Japan to discover why this event has been sustained since ancient times. His journey took him deep into sacred forests, mountains and beautiful coasts as he interviewed 12 wise characters along the way. The characters include an oyster fisherman who has fought to protect forests, a neuroscientist who studies the hyper-sonic sound of forests, an ecologist who has planted more than forty million trees around the world, a legendary carpenter, world-class chef Yoshihiro Narisawa and even the acclaimed filmmaker Takeshi Kitano. This documentary is a beautiful journey that seeks the memory of the Japanese who live between the mountains and oceans and in harmony with nature.
TRAFFICKER Writer/Director: Larry Smith
In a continuation of the interview from the last issue, Larry Smith the filmmaker behind “Trafficker” continues with some insight into his extraordinary life.
HOW DID YOU GET INTO FILMMAKING IN THE FIRST INSTANCE?
LS: It was really by default, I didn’t know what I wanted to do when I left school and I went through these various phases and an opportunity arose one day to work on a film at Shepperton Studios which I went onto with a group of other people. In those days you could have waves of people on them because the films (then) were all in-house and they would be making six, seven or eight movies at a time. So that’s a lot of labour in all of the departments across the board. So if you suddenly have two or three films start up you might need three or four hundred people in different capacities so I got a job in the studio with a lot of other people. And then I basically sat around for the 1st week doing nothing and then I got really bored with that so I used to walk on-set or go up into the gantry and then just look around and in the end I just found it boring and I was busy doing other things in my life so I decided I didn’t want to do the second week – and then not long after that maybe six or eight months, a lot of the studios started to close. With the advent of that a lot of the small companies were starting up as freelance companies so very raw, commercials were beginning to take off and so
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directors, camera crews and support were also very raw. So you got in at a time when it was very exciting but also the unknown, it was like the new frontier of filmmaking in a way. And with that wave a door opened, I got in and I tried to understand it and I’ve been in it ever since – I think I was 20-years of age then!
YOU COULDN’T IMAGINE THAT NOW?
LS: Yes you couldn’t do that now - it’s not open – I wouldn’t get a job now the way that I got a job all those years ago.
SO RIGHT NOW, WOULD YOU SAY IT’S EASIER TO GET INTO THE BUSINESS OR STAY IN THE BUSINESS OF FILMMAKING?
LS: It’s a double edged sword really, in a way it’s easier to get in. In the sense that anyone can pick a camera up and anyone can make a cheap film. Whether that gets you another job or into mainstream filmmaking is debateable. It’s like people that are on the “X-Factor” or “Britain’s got Talent”, people want to be famous tomorrow, people want to leave school now, this morning and be famous tonight. So people might say I want to be a cameraman or director - so that in itself makes it open – anyone can pick up a digital camera.
They couldn’t do that in film because they wouldn’t have the expertise and the skill to do that. Now pushing that on a bit further would that enable them to get into the mainstream proper? There are so many people now chasing so many jobs, whether they come from film school or a variety of backgrounds so I would say it’s easier in one way but there are so many people that want to be in this business. The reality is that whenever you start a movie there is no shortage of trainees but I can tell you there are thousands and thousands of people that want to do that so in that sense I would say that it is more difficult and now there is less volume of work around so that makes it more difficult.
IS THAT BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE LESS WILLING TO TAKE THE RISK NOW?
LS: Yes in a way, but also take for instance the training grounds obviously through TV and commercials and documentaries, mostly these documentaries are commissioned or production companies make them for broadcasters. Whereas years ago there was a lot more work done in-house and equally there was many more production companies out there shooting commercials. Now of course these commercials are globalized, they make one commercial to be shown around the world so it’s all been streamlined down and budgets have been cut. OK so you still have the big budgets for the top 5 per-cent but other than that budgets have been cut to the bone and so personnel have been cut and with the advent of digital filmmaking, without being derogatory, it can be accomplished by less skilful people than when it was on film.
AND ON THAT NOTE, IF SOMEONE SAID TO YOU - A FAMILY MEMBER OR A FRIEND - THAT THEY WANTED TO GET INTO FILMMAKING, WHAT WOULD YOUR RESPONSE BE? LS: The first thing I would say is, get yourself a good education, get yourself to university if you can but study the right subjects and the right course. I mean it could be in the sciences or accounting and then go into filmmaking. Because then if it doesn’t work for you for one reason or another you then have that to fall back on, if you do it the other way around its much more difficult then.
HOW MUCH TIME IS ACTUALLY SPENT HANGING AROUND ON SET?
LS: On a low budget film (and on television) there is very little time wasted, there’s no hanging around, you literally don’t stop from the moment you get in so that doesn’t apply unless there is a technical malfunction. On a big budget film that’s why there big budget films, there’s a lot of hanging around so it could be lots of “green screen” or lots of technical stuff or special effects so they take a lot of time to set up.
WHAT WAS THE HARDEST PART ABOUT MAKING TRAFFICKER? LS: Not enough time and everything was on the edge in terms of expertise and location and so on. And when you are working like that when you do get a technical malfunction, so on one of the night shoots on the “B-Camera” some of the material was out of focus, some very tricky stuff and some of the people found it very hard to deal with the camera and so there were some shots there that we just couldn’t use. Also, the special effects on the boat, the shootout just didn’t work. That in turn meant that I had to go back and re-shoot in a night where I didn’t have enough time in the 1st place and that gave me a problem where I would liked to have finessed the film in the editing of what shots I could use and shots that I couldn’t. But that was the nature of the film we were trying to make and it’s just always a possibility and as it happens the areas that I thought that we might get a problem I never did because I kept on top of them!
AND FINALLY, ARE YOU BOMBARDED WITH SCRIPTS? LS: Yes I am, but more as a director of photography!
traffickerthemovie.com Run Time 88 Mins FILM: THE MAGAZINE /JULY 2015
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HOPSCOTCH
For the first time I shot the whole film through the camera lenses and controlled the actors each and every movement. It was stunning, that this kind of exercise can happen, that the actor can take such instructions while acting.
Writer/Director: Shomshuklla Das
The fascinating filmmaker Shomshuklla Das, explains how her latest film “Hopscotch” was created
It is my third feature, and as a filmmaker, I feel each new project needs to be different, otherwise the creative journey can get boring. It is written by me and directed. I was on a flight between Delhi and Mumbai and was restless to write something. I wrote the script in a 2 hour flight! That itself was a challenge. Thus the film started with challenges which are of course lovingly created. One solo actor, experimental with sounds and effects. But I loved the journey as a creative person because it was so tough. Not only that we shot the film in two days from 8am to 8pm. It was an intoxicating experience. Everyone in the team was energized. Sohini mukherjee, the actor is from the stage, thus she could perform without a break, though I kept on feeding honey and dry apricot to keep her sugar levels up, so that she doesn’t collapse. We remember at the end of the shoot the whole team was so exhausted we all collapsed on the floor.
Here, Claudia Fischer, the documentary maker behind “As the tree under the Hurricane” describes how she came to make this thought provoking film.
Two years ago, Ati and Mindhiva were guided my way by a friend in common. Ati and Mindhiva are sisters, and part of the Arhuaca tribe, a culturally rich tribe indigenous to Colombia. The sisters asked me to help them achieve their dreams of higher education. You see, the sisters wanted to achieve a college degree that would allow them to give back to the culture and the people they love so much. But a series of obstacles had rendered it impossible for the girls to attend the National University.
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FILM: THE MAGAZINE /JULY 2015
www.cuttocut.com Run Time: 86 Mins.
AS THE TREE UNDER THE HURRICANE
While I wasn’t able to find a way to help them into the University, I was really impressed by their drive, compassion, and determination. These girls were literally fighting to learn, to be educated, so that they could give back to the people around them while still maintaining the tribes bountiful culture. I tried to make the media and press aware of these two women and their fight for knowledge, but not a word was broadcast nor a sentence printed regarding their struggle... I never got an answer from the press or media. This only fueled my passion for the sister’s battle and I became inspired to tell the story of these two sisters on my own. I wanted to share their journey in order to create support for the Arhuaca women of the Sierra, women who want to achieve a higher level of
education to contribute to their people and help them preserve their culture.
I obtained the permission from Ati, Mindhiva and their relatives to record them with a small HD camera. I recorded them for a year, accompanying them through the good and bad. After that I taught myself how to edit and edited the footage for almost a year.
“A beautiful look inside an indigenous culture in Colombia. No car chases here. Just plenty of humanity, beauty, and desire for education and service. Well done.“ Libba Jackson, Journalist. Run Time: 70 Mins.
LEFT: ATTENDING MEDICAL CONSULTATION - RIGHT: MINDHIVA IN BOGOTA
Writer/Director: Claudia Fischer
As it is a psychological horror, thus I used props like soft toys and added elements like ankle bells, without the sound of the bells and top. To create a sense of eeriness, I introduced the hat to be used in a very unique way as well as the mirror. I am highly influenced by European films and I just wanted to create something that I have learnt all of these years.
“OK, let’s make a movie, just tell me it doesn’t have zombies in it...” Thus spake Director Henry Davies’ Executive Producer and longtime friend Martin Payne. Luckily, the script was funny and decent enough to carry the concept and garner the interest of a supremely talented cast: one member of the Royle Family, a Pirate of the Caribbean, a 24 veteran, a Gavin & Stacey alum, an Inbetweener, a Tim Burton favourite and -- if you look carefully -- even a Miss Moneypenny. The idea for Caring for the Recently Deceased came to director Henry Davies while he was waiting outside the supermarket, watching the older couples accepting their roles: the woman in charge, knowing where everything they needed was, the man, perhaps recently retired, pushing the cart, reaching the goods on the top shelf, occasionally presenting his wallet when they came to the till. “It dawned on me that retirement can lead to a reversal in the power dynamic of a relationship. When the husband retires he enters a phase where he has no role. He doesn’t know how the house runs, where to buy the groceries, where to find the best deals, what kind of polish or soap or dishcloths they use. He’s best at reaching high shelves, opening jar lids and killing
Henry, Martin, Chris, and Lisa are decadesold friends. We love film. We love great stories. We believe that film has power: the power to make people laugh, to make people cry, to make people forget about where they are or what they’re worried about for just a little while. We dreamt up Stick & Rudder Films to create original, exciting, and, on occasion, outrageous content for a worldwide audience. A highflying goal, but what else would you expect from a company with a name like ours?
Caring for the Recently Deceased is our first movie and we are very proud of it. spiders. He becomes a resource to be exploited.” So what happens to the other side of that equation when the wife finds herself in command? In Caring for the Recently Deceased, we push it to a logical -- if somewhat grim and definitely absurd -conclusion.
STICK AND RUDDER FILMS
PRESENTS
“CARING FOR THE RECENTLY DECEASED”
SUE JOHNSTON MELANIE WALTERS ABIGAIL THAW ALEX FERNS WRITTEN BY
CARING FOR THE RECENTLY DECEASED Runtime: 29 minutes GENRE: COMEDY COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: UNITED KINGDOM WEBSITE: TILLDEATHDOESITSPART.COM
WITH
DAVID SCHOFIELD PHILIP PHILMAR AND
AS GLYNN
MUSIC DIRECTOR OF HENRY DAVIES & LISA PAYNE EDITEDBY MICHAEL TODD PRODUCTION DESIGNER ALANA HALLETT BY ANDREW HARRIS PHOTOGRAPHY MORGAN LOWNDES EXECUTIVE PRODUCED DIRECTED PRODUCERS MARTIN & LISA PAYNE BY CHRIS BURNS & HENRY DAVIES BY HENRY DAVIES
Abigail Thaw
Alex Ferns
T ILL D EATH D OES I TS P ART . COM
THE RED SEAL WHAT IS THE VALUE OF A SOUL? Writer: Jose Atiles Director: Tuan Hong
Pope Sylvester II was renowned for his extraordinary intelligence, General Moulton accumulated a vast amount of wealth and the violin virtuoso “Nicolo Paganini” was heralded as one of the greatest violinists ever to play. What these men have in common is that they were accused of selling their souls to the devil for their success and prosperity. Stories of people who sold their souls, have intrigued us for centuries. This was our starting premise for “The Red Seal”, a short supernatural thriller heavily influenced by neo noir films like “Seven” and “Angel Heart”.
The film is about a down and out detective, Sam Kunishige (Jun Matsuo) who takes on a job from a priest, Father Urbain (Alain Roy) to investigate the meaning behind the contents of a mysterious folder. Realising the esoteric nature of the case, Sam calls upon occult specialist Simon (Benjamin Beardsley) for help. Sam makes a decision that leads to a sudden descent into the supernatural as he discovers the horrifying truth of his investigation. We shot the film entirely in Japan, although you wouldn’t know it from the locations we chose. We wanted the look of the film to not be specific to one region. We used black and white intimate shots to evoke a dream like quality,
enhanced further by this detachment from a recognisable setting. The film was shot in four days and we had to pull in a lot of favours to keep within the tight budget.
Run Time: 14 Mins.
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FILM: THE MAGAZINE /JULY 2015
FEATURING STILLS TAKEN FROM THE FILM: THE RED SEAL
The biggest challenge in the film was to get the finale to work. The film centres on Urbain Grandier, who was a real priest convicted of witchcraft and punished severely for his supposed crime. He has been the subject and inspiration of many writers and artists from Aldous Huxley to Ken Russell. There is a scene near the end of the film that has divided the audience. We stood our ground to keep it as we felt it was true to the original source.