The organising team of the Luxembourg City Film Festival is delighted to announce the artistic content of the fifth festival edition , which will take place from 26 February to 8 March 2015 in the City of Luxembourg at CINÉ UTOPIA, the CINÉMATHÈQUE DE LA VILLE DE LUXEMBOURG, UTOPOLIS-KIRCHBERG, CERCLE CITÉ and many cultural partner institutions in Luxembourg.

A NEW IDENTITY 

Born as Discovery Zone – Luxembourg City Film Festival in 2011, Luxembourg's official film festival has chosen to shorten and simplify its denomination to give it a better international visibility. The new graphic design has been entrusted to the Michel Welfringer agency, responsible among other things for the logo of the Cannes Directors' Fortnight.

TIM BURTON TO OPEN, DONATO ROTUNNO TO CLOSE 

BIG EYES (Tim Burton) and BABY(A)LONE (Donato Rotunno) will bookend the festival, emphasizing its two primary aspirations : offering a panorama of contemporary cinema and promoting the Luxembourg cinema.

OFFICIAL COMPETITION: HEADLINE TITLES 

In a difficult international context with festivals fighting tooth and nail for the hottest new films– the Artistic Committee in charge of the festival's programme is particularly proud to have secured some most recent and emblematic films of contemporary cinema. Thus,WHILE WE'RE YOUNG, directed by Noah Baumbach (FRANCES HA), combines a Hollywood A-list cast (Ben Stiller, Naomi Watts…) with an innovative screenplay. After showing CLOSED CURTAIN two years ago, the Festival remains faithful to the banned Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi, who is directing himself as a TAXI driver, his latest refreshing film, which will make its international début in Luxembourg a few days after the world première in Berlin. Central and Eastern Europe is particularly well represented this year, with the Kosovar Oscar-candidate THREE WINDOWS AND A HANGING, the astonishing animation project by the Latvian Signe Baumane, ROCKS IN MY POCKETS, and the Bulgarian THE LESSON (Kristina Grozeva, Peter Valchanov), which is currently winning acclaim on the festival circuit. Still further to the east, TEST bears witness to the strong visual power of current Russian cinema. From territories more regularly covered by the festival comes the Argentinian Chicago Prize winner REFUGIADO (Diego Lehrman), the highly original BLIND by Norwegian director Eskil Vogt and the smashing Greek film A BLAST whose director Syllas Tzoumerkas and main actress Angeliki Papoulia will make the journey to Luxembourg, The latest entry, German-Swiss production DORA OR THE SEXUAL NEUROSES OF OUR PARENTS (Stina Werenfels), will add a touch of spice to the competition.

THE DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION 

Two years ago, THE ACT OF KILLING drew you into a whirlwind of emotions. It was thus logical for this year's festival to welcome THE LOOK OF SILENCE, the second chapter in Joshua Oppenheimer's exploration of the anti-Communist purge that led to hundreds of thousands of deaths in Indonesia. A prize-winner at Sundance just a few days ago, PERVERT PARK examines the lives of a handful of Americans condemned for sex crimes. The same country is home to Joe Arpaio, the most controversial sheriff in the United States. THE JOE SHOW (Randy Murray) is entirely devoted to this iconoclastic figure. Graphic artists who have chosen to make their mark on the façades of Sao Paulo's buildings, the PIXADORES (Amir Arsames Escandari) follows these unruly daredevils from the favelas….to Berlin. In the disturbing WAR OF LIES, Mathias Bittner, puts the blame for the American-Iraqi conflict on one single man, whereas Alexander Nanau draws a powerful and bigger than life portrait of the children of a Roma family in TOTO AND HIS SISTERS.

AWARDS 

Two awards, the GRAND PRIX - BY ORANGE, worth €10,000, and the DOCUMENTARY AWARD - BY BGL BNP PARIBAS, worth €5,000, will be unveiled together with the YOUTH JURY PRIZE at the festival closing ceremony on 7 March (Utopolis, Kirchberg). For the first time, the Luxembourg film critics' association will award their own CRITICS' AWARD.

THE JURIES 

The Franco-Luxembourg journalist, radio host,and TV writer-director STEPHANE BERN has agreed to be part of the jury, alongside DESIRÉE NOSBUSCH, actress, presenter and director from Luxembourg. After showing his magnificent first film, MOURNING at the festival in 2012, the Iranian director MORTEZA FARSHBAF – who has just completed his second feature – will be back this time as a member of the jury. Co-starring with Jean Dujardin in OSS 117: RIO NE RÉPOND PLUS (OSS 117: LOST IN RIO), and known for her role in LES PETITS MOUCHOIRS (LITTLE WHITE LIES) by Guillaume Canet, LOUISE MONOT will return to Luxembourg, where she filmed PLAN DE TABLE. The jury will be completed by Ireland’s EITHNE O’NEIL, the experienced filmcritic of the renowned French film magazine POSITIF and SAÏD TAGHMAOUI, Actor. The Film LA HAINE earned him a César Award nomination for Most Promising Actor. He has since pursued an international career.
 

THE DOCUMENTARY JURY 

The French documentary producer ALAIN ESMERY will work together with the Belgian producer WILLY PERELSZTEJN and the producer, director and ex-manager of the Institut européen de cinéma et de l'audiovisuel (European cinema and audiovisual institute) in Nancy, REGIS LATOUCHE to select the best documentary film. They will be joined by NIELS VAN KOEVORDEN and SABINE LUBBE BAKKER, the directors of NE ME QUITTE PAS, which won the documentary competition last year.
 

OFFICIAL SELECTION – OUT OF COMPETITION 

A host of films chosen for their inventiveness, originality or importance in the contemporary cinema will complete the programme. 52 TUESDAYS bridges the gap between the young audiences programme and the general programme. An Iranian art-house tour de force, A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT follows a vampire in a chador in her terrifying nocturnal wanderings. The Luxembourg actress Vicky Krieps can be seen as THE CHAMBERMAID LYNN for which she has already received several acting awards. After a satirical comedy about a black students’ activism (DEAR WHITE PEOPLE), drone warfare (GOOD KILL), prepare for shudders with the latest release from Tetsuya Nakashima (THE WORLD OF KANAKO) and hold on to your seat at a film that won two awards last weekend at the Gérardmer fantasy film festival, GOODNIGHT MOMMY.

ENCOUNTERS WITH AUDIENCES AND FILM PROFESSIONALS 

We will be making the most of Morteza Farshbaf's presence in the jury and invite him to a conversation about Iranian cinema, followed by a screening of the Persian thriller MELBOURNE. We will also have the honour of collaborating for the first time with the United Nations and present a film of their CINE-ONU programme, THE SUPREME PRICE, which examines the situation of women in Nigeria. The Academy Award winner production designer ALLAN STARSKI (“Schindler’s List”) will show Polanski’s OLIVER TWIST after his masterclass. And you mustn’t miss the conference on transmedia storytelling with a case study of the prize-winning SOUNDHUNTERS (A-Bahn) nor the 9th NISI MASA EUROPEAN SHORT PITCH co-production forum.
 

FILMS FROM LUXEMBOURG 

Apart from Donato Rotunno’s BABY(A)LONE that will close the festival, films from Luxembourg are well represented this year. BLACK HARVEST (Jean-Louis Schuller, Sean Clark) is a documentary on fracking and the human migration it causes. Academy Award Nominee D'MELODIE VUM MIER (Tomm Moore), nominated has its Luxembourgish-language première. Another animation film produced by Mélusine, EXTRAORDINARY TALES (Raul Garcia) will finally be unveiled in its complete version. Having opened the recent MAX OPHÜLS festival, LES BRIGANDS (Frank Hoffmann, Pol Cruchten) will have its Luxembourg première in the presence of the directors and actor Tchéky Karyo. The highly acclaimed MELODY (Bernard Bellefroid), the touching OOOPS! DE NOAH ASS FORT… (Toby Genkel, Sean McCormack) and the family film SECRETS OF WAR (Dennis Bots) complete the Made in Luxembourg programme which also includes the eagerly awaited SHORT FILMS NIGHT.
 

AT THE HEADQUARTERS AND OUTSIDE THE WALLS 

The "Ratskeller" exhibition space at Cercle Cité in the heart of Luxembourg-City will become an ideal meeting place inbetween screenings, hosting the URBAN "POP-UP" BAR. Here you can admire the exhibition MELANCHOLIC DISLOCATION by Martine Feipel and Jean Bechameil, produced jointly by LUXEMBOURG CITY FILM FESTIVAL and CERCLE CITE.

The festival also extends OUTSIDE THE WALLS. 

The CARRÉROTONDES will welcome TRAINS OF THOUGHTS, a CinéLive event with the Austrian group SOFA SURFERS, as well as the 20TH ANNIVERSARY PARTY of TARANTULA. The CASINO LUXEMBOURG – FORUM D’ART CONTEMPORAIN will come to CINÉ UTOPIA to present THE SCORPION’S STING, an artistic short film project inspired by LUIS BUNUEL's L’ÂGE D’OR. NEIMËNSTER will host the screening of I AM FEMEN, a documentary by Alain Margot about the militant feminist group, in the presence of Oksana Shachko, one of its founders. MUDAM invites you to a screening of EPISODE OF THE SEA, an astonishing documentary film by two artists, Lonnie van Brummelen and Siebren de Haan, who examine the lives of the population of a peninsula undergoing a profound transformation.
 

YOUNG AUDIENCES 

We have already received over 4,000 school registrations for the Young Audiences films and workshops. The festival has always made young audiences one of its main priorities, and there was a massive response from schools.
 

SPONSORS 

The event's major institutional sponsors are the Ministry of Culture and the City of Luxembourg. The main private sponsor of the festival is the UTOPIA S.A. group. The Centre national de l'audiovisuel, the Cinémathèque de la Ville de Luxembourg, Film Fund Luxembourg and several associations of film professionals are all jointly supporting this fifth festival edition. 

The festival is also proud to renew its partnerships with its official sponsors ORANGE Luxembourg and BGL BNP PARIBAS and happy to be able to rely on its historic supporters, the CHAMBRE DE COMMERCE, MERCEDES-BENZ LUXEMBOURG, LUXAIR, Imprimerie FABER and CERCLE CITÉ.
 

Stay in touch via our official website and the social networks to make sure you don't miss any news, schedule changes or guest announcements.

https://www.facebook.com/LuxFilmFestival
https://twitter.com/luxfilmfest

In May Porto opens its doors to the monochromatic aesthetics. The Black & White - International Audiovisual Festival, which receives video, audio and photographs in black and white, will take into competition works from all over the world.
With unique worldwide characteristics this initiative grew from the need to answer to the audience's growing sensitivity to black & white specificity, leaving behind the prejudice that relates this aesthetics with works of early cinema.
But the festival shows more than videos and photos in two colours, it also encourages the creation of sound environments referring to the black and white.
Over four days, several activities related to the audiovisual world will be carried out in addition to the competitions: artist talks, screenings and extensions from other international festivals. The nights will also be exciting with a broad cultural program.

The Real Film Festival is a three-day community, arts and Industry event showcasing documentaries, independent short and feature films based on true stories. The Program comprises of film screenings, Industry workshops, panel discussions, networking events and film competitions for filmmakers of all ages and experience. Festival Program The Festival will be held in Newcastle, NSW from November 7-9, 2014 across a number of venues within the CBD, including Tower Cinemas, Newcastle Museum, The Lock-Up, Newcastle Film & Media School, The Production Hub, Limelight Studios & Civic Park. The Festival Program includes a variety of entertainment including the Opening Night Gala held at Tower Cinemas with a party to follow at one of Newcastle's unique venues, The Lock-Up. The Festival will also deliver an Open Air Cinema in Civic Park, film screenings at Tower Cinema and short film screenings at Newcastle Museum and a variety of other locations as well as a number of networking events. The festival will also screen a series of short films throughout the weekend as part of the City Evolutions projections program. The educational component of the Real Film Festival will see innovative Film Industry development workshops and talks held at the Lock-Up and other locations across the weekend. On Friday 7 November we will be holding 8 Industry Development workshops aimed at emerging film makers followed up on the Saturday with 2 further industry workshops, talks and industry panel discussion. Through networking events the Festival will continue to connect inbound and local filmmakers with the established arts community and businesses based in the region. Website www.realfilmfestival.com.au

A 5000 capacity music and arts festival set in rural Herefordshire, West Midlands UK. Nine-stages of music and performance art with dedicated 3-day cinema. Cinema currently curated by MASH Cinema. Previous programmes provided by: Encounters Festival in Bristol, London-based innovators onedotzero, Manchester-based northern Exposures, quality stalwarts BBC Film Network and by Nozstock The Hidden Valley. And live performances from: The Light Surgeons, Max Hattler, Scanone and Modulate.

This is a non-competitive, free to submit festival.

A Complexion Change
Transnational & Intercultural Diplomacy
An International Media Project (UNESCO)

http://www.blackinternationalcinema.de/BIC14/bic_14.htm
XXIX. 2014
Black International Cinema Berlin
May 7-11

"Pathways to Enlightenment / Wege zur Erkenntnis"

"Footprints in the Sand?" Exhibition
July 1 - August 31, 2014

Venue: Rathaus Schöneberg (city hall), John-F.-Kennedy-Platz,
10825 Berlin/Germany

 

Kurdistan covers in big parts the region of former Mesopotamia. Being one of the oldest cultures in the world, Mesopotamia is widely considered as the cradle of civilisation, where writing was invented and the origins of philosophy can be traced back to. With its ancient, highly developed and socially complex states it had a profound impact on the development of the western civilisation and culture.

The Duhok International Film Festival wishes to return a cultural identity to this region, so that it is perceived again as a place of development instead of a place of political conflict. The fertile land that Mesopotamia once presented is now the land that can breathe quality, cinema and epic stories, growing to new strength.

The festival aims to showcase innovative films of high artistic value with a notable handwriting made throughout the world. It shall work as a pinnacle point for all wishing to learn more about the possibilities the Kurdish regions have to offer. Duhok IFF wishes to create an atmosphere of exchange between different cultures and human values. The city becomes an encounter of civilisations, where ancient culture connects with modern culture and the Kurdish film landscape with world cinema. Unique film experiences can be made and people can share their thirst for new discoveries and a passion for cinema in all its diversity.

A major task of the festival is to build a bridge between Kurdish film production and worldwide filmmaking. It wishes to create a launch platform for films from Kurdistan, taking the pulse of new tendencies and offering the opportunity to explore a terrain opening up in contemporary filmmaking. As a unique festival in this region, it understands itself as a forge for new talents and meeting place for up and coming filmmakers.

The programme does not only present a wide selection of international productions from all over the world, it also aims to spotlight Kurdish film in the world’s film landscape. It focusses both on new films from the four parts of Kurdistan (Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey), as well as on films from abroad including films made by Kurdish filmmakers who live in Diaspora.

It is time to open ourselves to the thoughts, images, myths and stories of Kurdistan, to its culture, to its films. Welcome to Duhok!

The Duhok International Film Festival is organised by the General Directorate of Culture, Arts, Sports and Youth of Duhok City and by the Cinema Directorate Duhok in cooperation with mîtosfilm Berlin.