Berlin

Jonah and the Vicarious Nature of Homesickness by Bryn Chainey wins the Berlin Today Award 2010

Festival Director Dieter Kosslick, together with the heads of the Campus, Matthijs Wouter Knol and Christine Tröstrum, director Isabel Coixet and film composer Alexandre Desplat, opened the Berlinale Talent Campus 2010 on Saturday evening (13.2) in the Theater Hebbel am Ufer. Until February 18, 350 Talents from 95 countries will meet with renowned international experts at the Hebbel am Ufer for countless workshops, master classes and panels, and to exchange views and experiences on a wide array of filmmaking topics related to this year's Campus motto "Cinema Needs Talent: Looking for the Right People". For these approx. 600 guests, the event's climax was the world premiere of the five Berlin Today Award nominated short films. The Talent Campus Short Film Competition which addresses this year the theme "Straight to Cinema" is supported by the Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg.

Berlin Today Award 2010: And the winner is...
The Berlin Today Award 2010 was awarded on Sunday evening (14.2) during the festive "Dine & Shine Talents Rendezvous". After a welcome by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media Bernd Neumann and Festival Director Dieter Kosslick, the award was presented to the short film competition winner by Medienboard's managing director Kirsten Niehuus together with the three jury members Heike Makatsch, Stephen Daldry and Peter Rommel. The seventh Berlin Today Award goes to Bryn Chainey from Australia for the film "Jonah and the Vicarious Nature of Homesickness". The romantic science fiction tells the story of Jonah, who left his family and blasted-off in a homemade spaceship. The Jury was impressed by the "the truly creative inventiveness of this film. We are ... curious about what this talented filmmaker will come up with next". The film was produced by Anna Wendt Filmproduktion. A public screening of the Berlin Today Award short films will take place during the Berlinale Kinotag (Sun. 21.2) in CinemaxX 6 at 4 pm. Soon after the Berlinale 2010 comes to a close, the five finalists for the Berlin Today Award 2011 will be announced. Their short film ideas will be realised in collaboration with five production companies and address the theme "You are Leaving the Familiar Sector". More information and photos from the award ceremony at www.berlinale-talentcampus.de/berlin-today-award.

150 international experts at the 8th Berlinale Talent Campus
Until Thursday, February 18, about 150 internationally renowned filmmakers and Berlinale guests are anticipated to join the Campus during the six event days. Amongst them are director Stephen Frears (The Queen), production designer, architect and two-time Oscar® winner Sir Ken Adam, director and actor Gael García Bernal (Revolución), film composer Alexandre Desplat (The Ghost Writer, Berlinale Competition) and cinematographer Christian Berger (The White Ribbon), both nominated for an Oscar®, director Claire Denis (White Material), director Yoji Yamada (About Her Brother, Berlinale closing film), director Tom Tykwer (The International) and many more. The complete Campus programme can be found at: http://www.berlinale-talentcampus.de/. Tickets for the general public or for accredited Berlinale guests are available at the corresponding Berlinale Ticket Counters, or online at http://berlinale.de/.