Day 1
IN THE PALACE International Short Film Festival
Programme:
2
24. 6. 2017 Stone Hall 11.00 - 11.30
Press Conference
15.00 - 16.30
International Competition vol.1
16.30
Q&A Session & Discussions
17.00 - 18.30
International Competition vol.2
18.30
Q&A Session & Discussions
Open air 18.30 - 00.00 Radio NULA IN THE PALACE official party vol. 1, DJ Woo- D 00.00 - 1.30 On Focus
Hazerfen Film Galeri, Turkey
Movie screenings
3
DESIGN THINKING, fiction, Canada BACK AND FORWARD INC., fiction, Germany THE RAVENS, fiction, Australia YULYA, fiction, Portugal SEPTEMBER, fiction, Bulgaria, Portugal STRINGS, animation, Spain JOURNEY BIRDS, documentarz, Israel THE SLED, fiction, Italy CHILD DREAM, animation, France FAITH, documentary, Australia PEDRO, fiction, Portugal THE LAST ACT OF DYING HORSE, fiction, Australia
4
1 2 16
15
Stone Hall 4
13
14 3 11
12
10
6
Open Air
7
5
8 9
1
Villa Arc
9
Corona Restaurant
2
The Silver Well
10
The Seamstress Room
3
The Prince Nikolay Villa
11
The Quiet Nest Villa (The Palace)
4
Office Building of Cultural Centre “The Palace” and Garden of St. Martin
12
The Alley of Centuries
5
The Temple of Water
13
Villa Gutman
6
The Chapel “Assumption of Virgin Mary”
14
Villa Suita
7
Villa Moara
15
Villa Izbunda
8
Villa “Queen’s Reception Room”
16
Villa Sunset
5
The history of the IN THE PALACE International Short Film Festival From a student´s idea to an international event 2003 was the year when the short film festival named IN THE PALACE took place for the first time. Since then, the festival became popular and unique to Bulgaria. This year, the 14th edition of the festival is happening in 4 Bulgarian cities with the main event in Balchik. The festival evolved from a student´s idea to the largest short film festival in Bulgaria and a prestigious event for not just the domestic public.
“When I was a student of film, I created a movie at the university. It got attention in Macedonia and my movie was supposed to be shown in one festival there in the competitive program. I was happy, untill the moment I got to know that I wasn´t allowed to go there. The rights of the movie belonged to the academy where I created it and the dean of the school went there instead of me. I was very dissapointed.
The more complicated decision was where to organize the event. It was supposed to be held in a smaller city to activate culture where it was declining, but also in a city with a developed infrastructure and a nice In the beginning, there were a environment. After all, Velinlot of obstacles and long prepagrad, a city close to Sofia with rations were needed. The demineral water springs, became cision of when to organize the the place where the first edition festival was easy. It should take of the IN THE PALACE Internaplace during the holidays, so tional Short Film Festival was people would be able to come born. and be part of it. So that is why I decided at first to organize a film festival especially and only for students and it happened,” says the creator of the In the Palace festival, Tsanko Vasilev.
6 From it´s first edition, the festival was unique, for in Bulgaria there was no similar event. The idea from the very beginning was not just to show movies but also to provide the place for the audience to meet the authors. The idea which was developed was to offer a fusion of films, music, educational programs and industry meetings. From it´s first year, the festival was international, especially with film makers from other Balkan countries being invited. More recently the festival has been presenting short films from all over the world. In the first year, just film makers, jury and trainers were a part of the festival. After the first edition, a documentary with the Bulgarian National Television about the festival was shot and it gained the necessary publicity. The Bulgarian ministry of culture proposed to move the festival to the Black Sea town of Balchik. And the main purpose of the festival remains the same – bringing emotions and fun, making people “live through” the festival. In the last years, the festival has developed and has a more
The second year of the festival was held in Balchik and it´s gardens. During its first few years, the festival was already succesful and after it´s 4th edition it changed from being an event for students to a public festival. The popularity of the festival was growing and after it´s 10th edition it spread to more cities, being held simultaniously in Balchik and Varna. This year, it The whole event is supporthas taken place in four cities ed by governmental and local help. Municipalities are helping already – Sofia, Veliko Tarnonot just with finance but also vo, Varna and Balchik. with logistics and promotion etc. On the top of that, every In spite of each year of the festival being different, there year there are a lot of volunis always a similar structure. teers coming from all over Europe to help with the organization and to be part of this international event. stable structure. Movies made by students and professionals are awarded in two main categories – the international and national competitions. The audience can see four kinds of short films showing at the screenings – fiction, documentary, animation and experimental, all under 27 minutes in length.
7
IN THE PALACE International Short Film Festival IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER!
Come to the Botanical gardens this Saturday to meet and greet us at the Press Conference that will be held in the Stone Hall at 11:00 AM. Later during the day you will be warmly awaited here, to see some of the best short films in action, on the big screen. Likewise, you are encouraged to engage in Q&A sessions in the afternoon, 4:30 and 6:30 PM, to hear out the people that work behind all the scenes of a film and meet their makers as well. For the curious minds we have prepared the Educational programme Filmer Fordge, whereas all the kids and kids-in-heart are invited to the Film Campus, to explore the world of cinema on their own. And last, but not the least – in the end of the day, Woo D & Adrian Bijan will be there, at Balchik Palace, waiting for you, to bring on-stage the Grand Opening of In The Palace International Short Film Festival 2017, through the sound and beat of music and heart! That’s it for a day, but not for the festival, because the best is only about to begin. Don’t wonder too much – come and see by yourself!
8
Movie Reviews THE LAST ACT OF A DYING HORSE Australia, 2016 This movie is a strong message about embracing your solitude when most of the people around you seems so drawn to a commitment. It displays a typical struggle in relationships that is often visible in today’s society of millennials; a dilemma between wanting to be alone and desire to be together with someone and, somewhere under all of this, eternal attempts to find your own self. It is a seven-minute manifest of young love and solitude, lust and rejection, surrender and getting your head above water once again. The director Imogen McCluskey has created a very profound, artistic tape where every single least detail is drawn into the very center of attention. This indie-themed film is for everyone that carves aesthetic approach and is willing to dig deeper beneath the surface, where all the questions about finding the right people to surround yourself with, as well your own place in the world, are longing for an answer.
CHILD DREAM France, 2015 Water is the animated character that permeates this delicate, tearful short story. There are no words in it because no words could ever tell this story. Everything starts as a dream, whit a child flying above his bed; he’s flying as children usually dream to fly: swimming in the air like the whole room is filled with water. Rain is the only sound coming from
the outside and the striped carpet is a river for a little toy-boat. Imagination floats freely above the drawings, where we recognise games and nightmares from our own childhood. The young mother seems thoughtful, a pot is sinking in the drain, and they are late for schooltime. The audience is carried through the images by the elegant touch of the director’s eye: Christophe Gérard plays with our most silent feelings and fears, creating ten minutes of dark magic that slowly bring a deeper truth to the surface and eventually leave us speechless. This little masterpiece is a rare pearl of bittersweet sadness that only memories mixed up with fantasies can bring to life. Thankfully we will soon have the chance to see how such a tasteful and elegant director will deal with his first feature-length film - entitled “Par-delà les plaines” – and we are truly looking forward to it.
9
DESIGN THINKING Spain, 2016 The animated short film Design thinking is a part of a larger project, including also a book. The film gives useful advice to the viewer how to get organised and achieve good results. The use of the problem-solving protocol can guarantee success in any business or profession. Some very interesting examples are given to illustrate the method and amuse the audience. Stop motion and texture are used to make the film more realistic. Besides, the filmmakers have depicted the real participants in the project in order to enhance the effect. The most important to be remembered is that innovation is a combination of viability, desirability and feasibility. The final solution can be reached after going through the five crucial steps – emphasising, defining, ideating, prototyping and testing.
FAITH Australia, 2016 In 1994 Faith was tortured and raped, 22 years later she has emerged a strong woman, ready to talk about her experience – a man trapped and attempted to murder her on Main Beach, Byron Bay. By reconstructing Faith’s true story, this documentary short film portraits the result of a rape culture that assumes that you can take what you want without consent and opens up for discussion – Who’s
the one to blame? How to deal with the community? Why should I feel ashamed if I’m a victim of a crime? From an activist point of view, the movie has the purpose of make other victims to understand that even though it can be a very shaming experience they are not to blame. Also, alerts for the importance of creating communities where people can go and talk about what happened to them in order to fight a still massive problem of under-reporting.
10
JOURNEY BIRDS Israel, 2015 Journey birds is a short film that focuses on the subject of immigrants, presenting the touching stories of some immigrants, forced to leave their birthplaces and get used to life in another country, its language and culture. Watching the film, the viewer is introduced to the immigrants’ inner world, the difficulties they have passed through, their memories and dreams. It raises the questions about the meaning of home and how do people choose their home. The interviews of the immigrants are accompanied by a special kind of animations. The characters are illustrated as birds, a romantic representation of humans. Similarly to the migrating birds, flying to the warm countries, the immigrants travel with the expectation to find a new home. The decision to combine printed videos with animations aims to create a contrast between the characters and their environment. Are the immigrants happy with the choices they have made? Do they feel nostalgic about their past and the places where they were born? Journey Birds has received positive responses and awards from many film festivals throughout the world.
SEPTEMBER Portugal\Bolgaria, 2016 September is a month, often associated with a new beginning, the end of the summer and the coming of the autumn. Autumn symbolises change and mystery, reminding about the impermanence of life and unpredictability of each and every day. This explains the choice of the title of the film, in which the main characters are Tiago and his mother, returning to their country after many years spent abroad.
The first scene shows them in a train, on their way home. The narrator is the mother, her monologue reveals much about the hard times they have had, the mistakes she has made, her fears and hopes. Tiago, on the other hand, remains mostly silent, but his feelings can be understood through his actions. They arrive, searching for a new beginning, unaware where fate will take them. The plot follows two stories – Tiago’s attempts to find his father and resurrect their relationship and the mother, seeking the possibility of love in the face of a man from her past. The film also focuses on the strong bond between a mother and a son and their ability to preserve it despite all the disappointments and failures.
11
THE SLED Italy, 2016 Alfred is a kid that lives on mountains with his parents. His father is a strong figure that teach to him to stay away to the community of the near village and from the people who live there, that he define as criminal and immigrants. Alfred understand what is father is teaching to him, but also would like to go for play with others kids in the local square. Something keep pushing him to go into the woods and explore. Following this instinct Alfred go outside and in the woods find a sled. He try to used it but another guy, foreign, it’s claiming the propriety of the sled. Alfred use all of his discriminatory knowledges to hurt the other guy, but the answer is violente. In the end the two kids decide to work together for fix the sled and play together. The solving of a little and concrete obstacole help to fix a bigger social issue that’s an everyday problem in Italy. The theme of immigration is really heavy in the country and also controversial because the friendly attitude typical of italians is often invalidated because of fear about this pretty new phenomenon of massive immigrations. This kind of changes are creating a paradoxical situation in a special way little villages: because is where is unusual the insertion of foreign people but also the territories where the best relationships can born. This kind of contrast is well represented in this short movie: in this little village Alfred find warm and good times spending his time in the cold snow with a foreign of the same age, and it’s not a case that when they are going down with the sled Alfred relive the happiest memories about his father. Father that had become discriminatory just for protect his kid, but his kid is now going to explain to him that is wrong. BACK AND FORWARD INC. Germany, 2014 A dystopian, wordless, icy atmosphere. A man, sitting in an bare office, types too fast. He never moves from his chair, but his mind sometimes floats – in a forest, in a dream, in and out his own body. Reality seems weak, something fades and something looks even too real to accept. This clever short movie embraces some of the main themes of the
sci-fi genre: alienation, eugenic, mind control are well balanced to create a simple, staggering plot that doesn’t give rest to the audience, leading us through a continuous swinging of tension between a nightmare and insomnia. As in the most clever works of the genre, a strong critic to society is quite easy to recognize: the Back and Forward Inc will cure the faults of humanity, such as old age, fatigue, imperfection; all you need to do is having faith, as they care for you - and they do it by any means necessary. The director, Martin Demmer, clearly knows how to build up a disturbing, impersonal scenario worthy of the classic science fiction movies with a focus on its rhythm, skillfully using the sound effects. When a work is so gracefully sewn, there is only one thing left to say: just enjoy it!
12 PEDRO Portugal, 2016 The silence that fills the scene is the sound of loneliness, a kind of loneliness that only young people can feel with the deepest intensity. That kind of lonelines paints everything in pale colours, makes words feel heavy and meaningless at the same time, turns time into an endless rush of bitter breaths. Pedro is just a young man trying to ease the pain and get through the day. We don’t get to know if there is any reason behind his behaviour, we can just imagine his past, but it might be good for a curious audience to take a step back – a step into their souls and memories - and consider that, maybe, there is no real need for more details to understand why the young man does what he does and, more importantly, feels how he feels. The smoke of his cigarettes matches the look in his eyes: it floats above his own body without touching anything and fades away, getting lost in the air. The two authors and directors have made an amazing work to catch our attention. They manage to open a window in the main character’s life and let us take a close look of just one single blue day. When the scene moves to the seaside, every frame turns into a painting and the game of looks becomes clearer: Pedro is looked at by someone he doesn’t care about but secretly, desperately seeks the eyes of someone who doesn’t really pays attention to him, someone who sadly misunderstands the whole game of looks. STRINGS Spain, 2014 This movie has already won the Goya award for ‘The Best Spanish Short Film Animation’. This is the story of a disabled child who starts attending a new school. Everybody avoids him except for a little girl called Maria who innocently helps the discriminated student. She arranges games with him, mostly involving the use of a rope, which helps the movement of the disabled child.
The rope represents not only the central idea of the movie, the bond, but is also used in a creative way. It is used by Maria to arrange game with her friend and him. There are both touching and funny moments. The ending is really sad and moving but inspiring at the same time. Eventually, this experience shapes the background of the character Maria who decides to become a teacher. The film is in Spanish but the images are too intense and emotive that you don’t need to understand Spanish to appreciate its deep meaning. This masterpiece represents also the society. Mostly, neither adults nor children are able to understand diversity. In fact nobody is able to understand Maria’s feelings and her strong relationship with the unfortunate boy. The animation is really is bright and well produced. The director’s previous experience in the video game world clearly helped him to bring this world to life. A strong personal inspiration lies behind the movie. This makes the work really deep and honest. The movie should be screened in schools, for students and teachers, in order to explain the difficulty and the loneliness of these unfortunate children, their families and friends are often still discriminated. The director is conscious of the importance for schools and education to go beyond prejudice.
13 THE RAVENS Australia, 2015 Embrace again your long gone parent is every child’s dream, but for the young girl of this movie things are not that easy. When Ruby’s father comes back from war there is nothing but joy in the house, things seem to have returned like they were: running on the bike holding tight to dad’s waist through the same wood that scares the little girl so much when she crosses it alone while singing a song to keep fear under control. Her father is not only her favourite playmate, but her hero, her savior and her guardian: he teaches her to always look at the ravens’ nest that she has to pass by every day, keep her eyes on those black feathered sentinels that watch out for their babies, in order not to be attacked. Ruby does her best but isn’t the ravens’ behavior a sign of something wrong? We are slowly caught into the elegant directing style of this short movie while its atmosphere becomes darker and more troubled: the absence that sometimes fills the soldier’s eyes is a wide emptiness compared to the love that he shows when he looks at his daughter. His moves and thoughts sometimes seem to break down and explode into violence, into pain and fear. In only a few minutes three characters come to life in front of our eyes and tell us a story, filled with suspense and emotions, in few words, a story worth telling.
YULYA Portugal, 2015 In a land where usually nothing happens, a gate opens letting a car in. Three men aggressively pull out a girl from the car, her hands are tied. From the wilderness of a land into the wilderness of the human soul, we start an emotional journey, through the eyes of a kidnapped young girl, Yulya. André Marques masterly uses camera movements to help us empa-
thise with the main character. With Yulya we run into endless fields; we shiver in the forest’s darkness and cold; we don’t know any longer whom to trust. We fear. The transitional scenes give us time to breath and reflect on their meaning: herds of animals running freely in the fields and a girl running in the same direction with the tied hands. How arduous is freedom for a tired fragile girl, who is scared of the entire human race? Joana de Verona, in the role of Yulya, expresses herself brilliantly. Following Yulya into this sensorial journey, we start to understand that the ordeal of kidnapped women is not always the incapacity of forgetting but the perpetual insecurity and the difficulty to connect again with people. For Yulya the hardest thing seems to be to approach the strangers she meets in her journey. As the nature of the wild land she entered, all the strangers in the movie fight fiercely for their small territories and the little fragile certainty they have. However, even when we don`t expect anything, the emotional journey of the sweet, brave Yulya, will surprise us with kindness and hope leaving a lasting impression on the viewer.
14
HEZARFEN FILM GALERI Turkish cinema is a significant part of Turkish culture, and has flourished over the past few decades, gaining popularity among audiences in many European countries, and more recently prospering in the Arab World. The short films, directed in Turkey, play an important role for the overall development and future of the Turkish national cinema. The productivity of Turkish cinema, more particularly short film production, was positively influenced by the increase of government support, improvement of festival screenings’ conditions and reforms of the arrangements in order to increase the sponsorship initiatives. The 14th edition of the ĂŒnternational short film festival In the palace displays 6 short films,
produced and directed in Turkey. It is open to different ideas and genres – fiction, thrillers and animations. For example, 7 centimeters is a Turkish fiction, focused on the story of a teenage guy, going to high school and the way he deals with the dilemma whether to please his parents and principle or the girl he has feelings for. No fries, please, The translator and Two pieces are also short fiction films, included in the programme of the festival. Watching No fries, please, the audience will find out what kind of issues are caused by the contemporary society, while The translator reveals in suspense the destiny of a refugee boy and how he chooses to use his newfound power. In contrast, Two pieces is a film about
the fate of two men, finding themselves deep into a forest. The animation Rabbit blood, made by the 3D artist Yagmur Altan is a movie, that is intriguing for both children and adults. Watching it, they meet some Turkish residents and observe their extraordinary way to brew tea. Besides, Black ring is a Turkish thriller, aiming to show a bizarre photoshoot event, exposing the plot in a very creative way. Apart from being an entertaining experience, the variety of genres and ideas, displayed by the film festival In the palace give the viewers a chance to become more familiar with Turkish cinema.
15
DJ WOO-D – RADIO NULA When : 24 JUNE, 18.30 Where : IN THE PALACE Open Air
The International Short Film Festival is not only about movies: art is a huge unique melting pot of different forms of expression and music is one of them, one of the most ancient and also one of the most international… That is why, along with the film program, there will be a very busy MUSIC program lead by the popular RADIO NULA. So, after the screenings, save some energy for the evening because nobody 9here in Balchik - especially the volunteers working on the project - likes wasting a great chance to party!!! For the great opening of the Festival Radio Nula - that will be in charge of the musical program EVERY DAY SINCE 18.30 until MIDNIGHT in the Open Air area – and Dj Woo-D will entertain all the guests and the people who will join them! Don’t miss this extraordinary appointment and let the sound of jazz, hip-hop, soul, funk and disco guide you to an amazing evening! Only for tonight’s opening party we will be entertained by Dj Woo-D, who likes describing himself as a bar, club and bboy battle dj. His work already brought him around the world in Europe, ex-Yugoslavia, Russia and USA. His styles are mostly funk, soul, jazz, latin, but also rap, afro, funky breakbeat and ex-Yugoslavian 60s, 70s and 80s classics. Stay tuned and don’t miss the fun!
НАЦИОНАЛЕН ИНСТИТУТ ЗА КУЛТУРНИ ИЗСЛЕДВАНИЯ И ПОЛИТИКИ
EMBAJADA DE ESPAÑA EN BULGARIA
bg
Online Bulgarian Network
Информационна агенция
C
M
Y
K
95
0
10
0
0
100
82
24
18
0
45
100
bg
bg