HEARTOF THETIGER photo: Felix Kalkman
43rd International Film Festival Rotterdam #5 Monday 27 January 2014
Peter Buckingham (left) of SampoMedia addresses yesterday’s launch summit for IFFR Live!, an initiative that aims to link up global audiences to events such as film premieres at IFFR. Other speakers at the event included IFFR artistic director Rutger Wolfson, who is recovering from illness.
Space for shorts Shorts are an integral part of IFFR, and have their own competition, the Tiger Awards Competition for Short Films, which, like the Hivos Tiger Awards Competition for feature-length fare, annually imparts three awards for films up to 60 minutes. Laya Maheshwari reports
Every year, the International Film Festival Rotterdam’s extensive line-up comprises not just feature-length presentations, but mid-length and short films too, either brought together in compilation screenings or screening ahead of features. As usual this year, there is also a competition category for films with a runtime not exceeding 60 minutes. At this 43rd edition of the festival, 24 films from around the world were nominated for the Tiger Awards Competition for Short Films. Unlike their full-length brethren, Tiger Shorts Award nominees need not be debut or second films. One of the winners is also nominated for a European Film Award. Scope
This diverse selection received the scrutiny of a jury consisting of Mati Diop (France), herself a two-time winner of a Tiger Award for Short Films (Atlantiques, 2010, and Big in Vietnam, 2012); art historian
taken by the maker towards the story or subject matter, and the ambition to celebrate the power of the cinema in personal, thorough or witty ways. And most importantly, in an uncompromised way. Nevertheless, all three winning films were outstanding in their craftsmanship, either in storytelling, montage, soundtrack – or even by bringing a language to the foreground that we as a jury have never experienced before.” New audience
and visual arts curator at the Amsterdam Stedelijk Museum, Bart Rutten (Netherlands) and filmmaker and visual artist Mika Taanila (Finland). After examining the short films, the Jury commented: “The jury was very pleased by the scope of cinematic approach demonstrated throughout the nominees for the Tiger Awards for Short Films. The selection of 24 nominated shorts celebrates the richness of this domain in a wonderful way. Here we can see glimpses of newer forms of cinema that will enrich the language in many ways.” Uncompromised
However, some films have to be picked as winners, and the jury justified their selection thus: “All of the winners were outstanding productions in the search for new ways of narration. Although we were not necessary looking for craftsmanship in the way the shorts were executed, but rather at the approach
Filmmaker Salla Tykkä says that bringing her film to Rotterdam is a “good chance to address a new and wider audience”. On what receiving a Tiger Award for Short Films would mean to her and her crew, she said, “It would be a reward for a lot of work”. The jury described her film, Giant, as: “A very focused and pure portrait of a place and a political history in one. The brilliant editing and sound design push the seemingly distant observations to a thrilling friction between dehumanisation and man’s quest for beauty and grace.” Next step
French director Adan Jodorowsky’s short The Voice Thief also competed in the Tiger Shorts competition. The director says: “I am very honored to be in the competition, I gave all my soul in this film, so it’s a nice present ... To be part of such a beautiful festival is a caress to my humble ego.” When questioned about his thoughts on what the selection means for him and his career, he reveals: “For the film, it would be very
prestigious, people are always more attentive to your work […], so it would maybe help me to start a feature film. This is the next step.” Second home
Filmmakers often come back to Rotterdam with new work, and director Sergio Caballero is an example of this. After winning a Tiger Award in 2011 for his debut feature Finisterrae, he returns this year with his second feature La distancia and the short Ancha es Castilla/N’importe quoi, which competes in the Tiger Shorts competition. Caballero says, “Rotterdam was the first International festival I attended. I feel that IFFR is like a second home. It was an honour to be included in the competition. It means a lot to me, as IFFR is possibly the greatest stage for my films.” Winners
At the awards ceremony last night, the Canon Tiger Awards for Short Films 2014 were accorded to Sebastian Buerkner’s The Chimera of M. (United Kingdom); Salla Tykkä’s Giant (Finland/Romania) and La isla by Dominga Sotomayor and Katarzyna Klimkiewicz (Chile/Poland/Denmark). The award brings each recipient a cash prize of €3,000 and a Canon video camera. Along with this, The Chimera of M. was also nominated to compete in the short film category of the annual European Film Awards (EFA).
Short Special Tonight, a film and live performance by Swedish artist and composer Erik Bünger who ingeniously, humorously employs found footage to bring lost voices back to life and make unexpected connections. Co-production with Stichting Impakt. See also Spectrum Shorts. 20:00 hrs, LantarenVenster 3, €11, €8 with discount.
The Chimera of M.
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Giant
international film festival rotterdam
La Isla
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PRESS & INDUSTRY SCREENINGS MONDAY 27 JANUARY Admission with P&I accreditation only
Artful strategies For the third consecutive year, the Art:Film initiative is part of the Rotterdam CineMart, taking film projects further by exploring distribution opportunities. As the name suggests, it draws attention to the existing link between the art world and the film industry and, in the words of curator Tobias Pausinger, is “trying to find what can be applied from one field to the other.” Sometimes a film project will need something more than a cinema screening, with part of it being exhibited in an alternative space, for example. Art:Film is all about finding the proper venue for hard-sell films, involving art world professionals and film market professionals in their distribution. As Art:Film representative Jacobine van der Vloed puts it, “Organizing Art:Film involves a lot of taking suggestions, of asking around the art network; networking is an important part of the process. It gives participants an opportunity to meet that they might not have had in other circumstances.” Van der Vloed says that choosing projects is done by scouting for them, while Pausinger points out they are also picked from the CineMart selection – indeed, this year’s festival selection includes former Art:Film participants Sergio Caballero’s La distancia (CineMart 2013, now
screening in Bright Future) and Ben Rivers’ & Ben Russell’s A Spell to Ward Off the Darkness (CineMart 2011, also in Bright Future). A very limited number of projects from CineMart are chosen, however. Pausinger explains: “At the moment, we are looking for projects by directors who preferably already have leverage in the art world. It’s not that we are snobbish about it – but we are developing new methods, trying to investigate, and we need a reputation to rely on; we can’t start from scratch.” This year’s three Art:Film projects are Fierté nationale by Sven Augustijnen (Belgium, director of Spectres, 2011); Invention by Mark Lewis (UK, Backstory, 2009) and Tarda primavera by Michelangelo Frammartiono (Italy, Le quattro volte 2010). Today’s Art:Film panel is curated by Van der Vloed and Pausinger together with IFFR representatives Rutger Wolfson and Bianca Taal and CPH:DOX representatives Rine Fischer and Daniella Eversby and involves numerous industry professionals. The audience will have the opportunity to get involved in the discussion, give feedback and suggestions. Asked whether Art:Film changes strategies from year to year, Van der Vloed and Pausinger reply: “From event to event, even. From project to project.” Irina Trocan
de Doelen Jurriaanse Zaal 09:00 Casa Grande [wp]
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Alain-Pascal Housiaux/Patrick Dechesne, Belgium/ Germany, 2014, DCP, 90 min, Amharic/French, e.s.
Jean (17) is growing up in the elite district of Rio, with its private schools, drivers and housekeepers. While he tries to escape from his over-protective parents, they keep their approaching bankruptcy secret. This beautifully played coming-of-age film provides a clear picture of class differences and racism.
The horrors of war cast young fisherman Adisu adrift in vast Ethiopia. Forty years later, he is a taxi driver in a Northern European city, dreaming every night of his lost love. Surprising debut is dreamlike yet authentic, with no hint of false sentimentality.
11:15 Piccola patria [ip]
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Superb fiction debut from an experienced documentary maker shows a small community in northern Italy, where city and countryside merge, like a patchwork quilt unravelling under pressure from the crisis, migration and decadence. In the stultifying summer heat, two women pursue their escapist dreams - and create nightmares.
Ali returns to Arwad in Syria after the death of his mother. One night, Ali mysteriously drowns at sea. Both his wife and mistress struggle: accident or suicide? Ali’s identity crisis as an immigrant only makes the quest more complex. Moving drama about loss, escape and exile.
13:30 Obvious Child [ip]
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Alessandro Rossetto, Italy, 2013, DCP, 111 min, Italian, e.s.
Samer Najari/Dominique Chila, Canada, 2013, DCP, 105 min, French, e.s.
13:30 Blood in Bahia’s Hot [wp]
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Gillian Robespierre, USA, 2014, DCP, 83 min, English
Aurelio Grimaldi, Italy/Brazil, 2014, DCP, 75 min, Portuguese, e.s.
Stand-up comedian Donna is dumped by her cheating boyfriend, loses her job, gets blind drunk and becomes pregnant from a one-night stand. She considers an abortion, then gets to know the father. Romance, quirky humour and irresistible characters. Nominated for The Big Screen Award.
Grimaldi makes unusual films that reveal his admiration for Pier Paolo Pasolini, among them Le buttane or Rosa Fonseca. The authentic and youthful energy also jumps out at you from the screen in this simple love story based on true facts and set in the favelas of Bahia, the most hotblooded city in Brazil.
15:15 Once Upon a Time in Shanghai [ip] SP
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Wong Ching Po, Hong Kong, 2014, DCP, 96 min, Mandarin, e.s.
17:15 Another Year [wp]
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Cinerama 3
He’s an unemployed guy who earns some money by giving lifts to strangers. She’s a graphic designer who just got her first job. The film tracks their relationship - and the way it gradually melts away - throughout a year. A subtle, moving portrait of an immature love that breaks down easily. Nominated for The Big Screen Award.
22:15 Helium [wp]
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Near the Catalan village of Argelaguer, Garrell spent 45 years building spectacular jungle structures, tree houses, waterfalls and labyrinths with his bare hands. In the meantime, he made Tarzan films with local kids. An ode to the creative urge and compulsion.
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10:45 Leave It for Tomorrow, for Night Has Fallen [ip]
A world-weary gangster boss is forced to retreat to a wintry, deserted Dutch island. Here, he feels a peace and quiet he has never known before. It deeply affects him. An atmospheric, almost contemplative crime film, with more thinking and looking than shooting.
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Jet Leyco, Philippines, 2013, DCP, 100 min, Filipino, e.s.
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13:00 About Sarah [wp]
Compellingly staged and bursting with big emotions, this is the long-anticipated first feature from Cavalcante: the passion, desire and despair of three women of different ages in a village deep in the searing landscape of Pernambuco, in northeastern Brazil.
11:30 Mancanza-Inferno [wp]
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Elisa Miller, Mexico/United Kingdom, 2014, DCP, 76 min, English/Spanish, e.s.
Fascinating portrait of Sarah Lucas, who together with Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin conquered the art world as a controversial Young British Artist. Now almost 50, the artist is working on a solo show in Mexico, while smoking, drinking and reflecting on life and work.
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14:45 Oilfields Mines Hurricanes [wp]
Stefano Odoardi, Italy/Netherlands, 2014, DCP, 71 min, Italian, e.s.
While an angel flies around, 20 doomed prisoners are sitting in the hell of L’Aquila, the city where there was a horrific earthquake in 2009. Visionary and stylised, by the maker of A White Ballad (IFFR 2007). Inspired by Rilke’s Elegies of Duino; beautiful music by Andrea Manzoli.
13:00 Secretly Greatly [ep]
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Fabian Altenried, Germany/Iceland, 2014, Video, 122 min, English/German/Icelandic, e.s.
Based on John Cage’s centuries-long organ piece As SLow aS Possible, this portmanteau road movie follows the meanderings of Salpa, a man with a fish on his chin. The quest for his own identity is carried on ad absurdum.
25
22:45 After the Rain [ip]
Jang Cheol-Soo, South Korea, 2013, DCP, 123 min, Korean, e.s.
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Jarkko T. Laine/J-P Passi, Finland, 2013, DCP, 62 min, Finnish, e.s.
When romance develops between a driver at the racecourse and his pupil, he has to choose: her, or his wife? But decision-making is not his strong point. This love story is set during those long Finnish summer days on which men work on cars and melancholy lurks everywhere.
12:45 The Songs of Rice [wp]
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In Thailand, a hymn to rice need not always be sung. A dance, or spectacular homemade fireworks can say the same thing. As can a film, as is convincingly demonstrated by this lyrical, beautifully filmed homage to this essential staple food.
14:30 Little Crushes [wp]
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Two girls clean places after somebody dies there. Sometimes they sell the belongings of the dead at a flea market. When they meet an odd guy who has a passion for boxes, a strange game unfolds. An unconventional love story about the oddity of ordinary things. Eccentric and natural at once.
22:15 The Iranian Film [wp]
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Yassine el Idrissi, Morocco/Netherlands/ Egypt, 2014, DCP, 67 min, Arabic, e.s.
Creative documentary about filmmaking in Morocco, by a filmmaker inspired by Iranian masters. He sets out to get his own film off the ground. On the way, he faces incomprehension, corruption and self-censorship. An ode to cinema, Iranian above all.
Cinerama 5
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09:15 Ping Pong Summer [ip]
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Michael Tully, USA, 2013, DCP, 90 min, English
A family holiday in Ocean City turns the life of 13-year-old Rad upside down. He falls in love for the first time, has to deal with bullies, makes a new best friend and is able to play ping-pong to his heart’s content. Great ode to the 1980s teenager film, with oldskool hip-hop beats.
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When filmmaker Johannes returns from a lecture one evening, he finds the house in mourning and terror: his wife has killed their baby. A meditation on the limits of human law and the infinite possibilities of kindness and understanding, and a Protestant melodrama on the subject of grace.
13:30 The Disobedient [ep]
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Mina Djukic, Serbia, 2014, DCP, 112 min, Serbian, e.s.
As children, they were best friends. After many years abroad, Lazar returns to the village where Leni stayed behind. Bored, they set out on a summer bike trip. In playful sketches, a wonderful, romantic, comic tale about soul mates, growing up and youthful disobedience unfolds.
22:30 Bella Vista [wp]
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Vera Brunner-Sung, USA, 2014, Video, 80 min, English
An English teacher feels isolated in a small town in the American West. Pressured by circumstances beyond her control, she searches the local landscape for answers in long, time-stopping shots; the sound of tires on an unseen highway haunts every frame.
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Cláudio Marques/Marília Hughes, Brazil, 2013, DCP, 95 min, Portuguese, e.s.
A strange mix of genres as only the Koreans can. North Korean spies infiltrate the South pretending to be a village idiot, musician and student. When they receive a text message that the mission is aborted and they have to commit suicide, the crazy comedy turns into a full-blooded action thriller.
11:15 The Driver [ip]
Nils Malmros, Denmark, 2013, DCP, 107 min, Danish, e.s.
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Camilo Cavalcante, Brazil, 2014, DCP, 118 min, Portuguese, e.s.
An omnibus film about how immigrant Chinese in Southeast Asia cling to their traditional customs, language and habits - even after centuries in a different country. Made by filmmakers with a Chinese background who have individually been regular guests in Rotterdam.
11:15 Sorrow and Joy
The years under dictator Marcos (1965-1986) were a time of great suffering for the Philippines. This filmmaker was born after the dictatorship, but felt its ongoing effect on his family. Searchingly, Leyco brings fragments from that confusing time back to life.
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Jordi Morató, Spain, 2014, DCP, 77 min, Catalan, e.s.
Eché Janga, Netherlands, 2014, DCP, 79 min, Dutch, e.s.
Pathé 3
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09:00 The Creator of the Jungle [wp]
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09:00 The History of Eternity [wp]
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Zoé is young and alone, on the road, clearly running away. From a painful past? From herself? She drifts aimlessly but deliberately, leaving the people and places she encounters. Her sorrow does not dissipate until a stranger offers her a cherry pie, on a desolate beach.
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Various directors, China/Malaysia/Thailand/ Singapore/Myanmar, 2013, DCP, 105 min, Mandarin/Thai/Taiwanese/Burmese/Cantonese, e.s.
Aleksandra Gowin/Ireneusz Grzyb, Poland, 2014, DCP, 78 min, Polish, e.s.
Lorenz Merz, Switzerland, 2013, DCP, 85 min, French/Russian/English, e.s.
Oxana Bychkova, Russia, 2014, DCP, 107 min, Russian, e.s.
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09:00 Letters from the South [ep]
Uruphong Raksasad, Thailand, 2014, DCP, 75 min, Thai, e.s.
21:45 Cherry Pie [ip]
A Hong Kong ode to pre-war Shanghai. The legendary city of pulsating nightclubs, Japanese spies and dandy gangsters, summed up in stylish black-and-white Kung Fu films. A poor boy from the country fights his way to the top in a film that can compete with the best of them.
the fi lm tells the tale of Ariel, a politically engaged student who returns home to inherit his recently deceased father’s farm. Sergio Caballero, meanwhile, follows up Finisterrae (2010) with La distancia, a playful reworking of the heist fi lm genre. This absurdly comic, multilingual work plays fast and loose with genre conventions, boasting a memorable soundtrack and a narrative structure that in some ways resembles musical composition more than any fi lmic precedent. Other directors vary in experience. See No Evil, a Dutch-Belgian co-production, is former fi lm critic Jos de Putter’s seventh feature-length documentary. It is a study of three apes who have been subjected to various treatments and conditioning, from starring in Tarzan fi lms to harmful testing. Obvious Child, on the other hand, is the feature debut of New York fi lmmaker Gillian Robespierre. The fi lm depicts the travails of Donna, a stand-up comedian who, recently ditched by her boyfriend, drinks away bad news and becomes pregnant from a one-night fling. Serious issues, the fi lm reminds us, are never beyond comic treatments. Completing the Big Screen Award line-up are Another Year (Oxana Bychkova); It’s Us (Nick Reding); Jacky in Women’s Kingdom (Riad Sattouf); R100 (Matsumoto Hitoshi); Reimon (Rodrigo Moreno) and To Kill a Man (Alejandro Fernández Almendras). Michael Pattison
Cinerama 4
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09:15 L’éclat furtif de l’ombre [wp]
Fellipe Barbosa, Brazil, 2014, DCP, 107 min, Portuguese, e.s.
11:15 Arwad [ip]
Ten to watch Following last year’s inaugural edition, IFFR’s Big Screen Award Competition returns with ten fresh discoveries. The selected titles, chosen from the Spectrum and Bright Future sections, compete for two prizes. Each prize has its own jury. An audience jury composed of cinephiles decides one prize, while the other is awarded by the Association of Dutch Film Critics (KNF). The latter prize, known as the KNF Award, has been a part of IFFR since 1983. Past winners include Jim Jarmusch’s Stranger Than Paradise; Claire Denis’ Beau Travail and Alexey Balabanov’s Cargo 200. Five critics make up the KNF Award jury: Kees Driessen (Vrij Nederland); Jelle Schot (cinema.nl and VPRO Gids); Nienke Huitenga (de Filmkrant); Quirijn Foeken (biosagenda. nl) and Paul van Es (TrosKompas / TV Krant). Headed by Driessen, the jury can – in exceptional circumstances – award a fi lm selected from outside the ten Big Screen Award nominees, as long as it is without Dutch distribution. At the time of invitation, none of the ten nominees had distribution deals for the Benelux region. This year, IFFR is awarding €10,000 to support distribution and publicity costs within the Netherlands for the winning fi lm. There are two previous Tiger Award winners among the competition. Manolo Nieto, of Uruguay, returns to IFFR with The Militant, following success with The Dog Pound in 2006. Set during Uruguay’s economic and political crisis in 2002,
Pathé 5
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Fresh, punky microcosmic drama about the first school council elections after the end of the Brazilian dictatorship, held simultaneously with the first democratic Presidential elections. Sixteenyear-old Caio and Fernanda are caught up in young love and emerging political consciousness.
LantarenVenster 2 10:00 DINAMO P&I Screenings 4
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Compilation Programme, 79 min
DINAMO (Distribution Network of Artists’ Moving Image Organizations) distributors show recently acquired work.
PRESS & INDUSTRY SCREENINGS MONDAY 27 JANUARY Admission with P&I accreditation only 09.00
10.00
Grande de Doelen Casa Fellipe Barbosa 09:00
11.00
Jurriaanse Zaal
09:00
11:15
TG
12.00
13.00
TG Arwad Samer Najari, Dominique Chila
107’
The History of Eternity
09:15
Pathé 5
11:30
BF
Pathé 3 Camilo Cavalcante
118’
BF L’ éclat furtif de l’ombre 90’ A. Housiaux, P. Dechesne
11:15
MancanzaInferno Stefano Odoardi
13:30
14.00
15.00
Obvious Child Gillian Robespierre
105’
83’
Secretly Greatly Jang Cheol-Soo
HS
SP 13:00 71’
Piccola patria Alessandro Rossetto
15:15
BF
16.00
Once Upon a Time in Shanghai Wong Ching Po
17.00 17:15
SP
18.00
Another Year Oxana Bychkova
96’
19.00
20.00
21.00
24.00 BF
107’
90’
111’
Blood in Bahia’s Hot Aurelio Grimaldi
SP 75’
21:45
Cherry Pie Lorenz Merz
BF 85’
The Creator Cinerama 3 of the Jungle Jordi Morató 09:00
10:45
BF 74’
Letters from the South Cinerama 4 various directors 09:00
09:15
Ping Pong Summer Michael Tully
Leave It for Tomorrow, for Night Has Fallen Jet Leyco
SP
11:15
The Driver Jarkko T. Laine, J-P Passi
11:15
Sorrow and Joy Nils Malmros
105’
SP 90’
10:00
LantarenVenster 2
23.00
Helium Eché Janga
123’
13:30
SP
Pathé 6
Cinerama 5
22.00 22:15
SP
DINAMO P&I Screenings 4
13:00
BF
About Sarah Elisa Miller
100’
12:45
BF 62’
14:45
BF
Oilfields Mines Hurricanes Fabian Altenried
76’
The Songs of Rice Uruphong Raksasad 13:30
NM 107’
122’
14:30
BF 75’
22:45
BF
Little Crushes Aleksandra Gowin, Ireneusz Grzyb
The Disobedient Mina Djukic
22:15
BF 78’
The Iranian Film Yassine el Idrissi 22:30
BF 112’
After the Rain Cláudio Marques, Marília Hughes
BF 95’
BF 67’
Bella Vista Vera Brunner-Sung
BF 80’
SH 87’
INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM
13