Brooklyn International Film Festival BIFF June 3-12Established in 1998 for independent film makers as the ‘first international competitive film festival in New York” the BIIF has the mission to “connect film makers to distribution companies” and to “draw worldwide attention to Brooklyn as a center for the arts”. The 2005 edition presented 115 films originating in 80 countries from the about 1700 productions which had been submitted, including for the first time a one day children...
The International Film and Television Exchange Inc. (IFTE) organizes the seminar in conjunction with The Congressional Human Rights Caucus (CHRC) on THE GLOBAL POLITICAL CHALLENGE OF HIV/AIDS powered by Claus Mueller THE GLOBAL POLITICAL CHALLENGE OF HIV/AIDS: Regional Destabilization, State Collapse, Human Rights Violations - Breeding Grounds for Terrorism?Wednesday April 20, 2005 8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.Gold Room (2168) Rayburn House Office BuildingPROGRAM8:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. Breakfast ...
The Asia Society presented the third annual three-day South Asia Human Rights Festival from April 7- 9, 2005 for a receptive audience . Undoubtedly reinforcing the viewers’ concern for extensive past and present human rights violations, the organizers succeeded in selecting productions which linked South East Asian issues to problems faced by advanced industrial societies as well. Thus the productions included the first Indian feature film on HIV/AIDS, Phir MiLinge / We will meet again by R...
Berlinale .. BEYOND THE TALENT CAMPUSKosslick prefers the term broadening (breiter machen) to enlarging (vergroessern) when discussing the rapid expansion of the Berlinale and the addition of new festival components. The European Film Market (EFM) grew by thirty percent and included this year more than 200 companies and more than 810 market screenings with close to forty percent of the EFM films also shown in other sections of the Berlinale. Thus EFM’s claim to presenting upscale quality comme...
SWISSAM ‘04 - Swiss American Film Festival, New YorkThe second edition of the SWISSAM screened from November 5th through 11th fifty five productions at the Quad Cinemas, the Anthology Film Archives, and the Tribeca Cinema. As the German Swiss would say ‘small but superb’ (klein aber oho). Switzerland has made significant contributions to international film making, initially through films by Alain Tanner, Claude Coretta or Michael Spoutter but also equally important through exporting he...
The fourth edition of the festival organized by the Indo-American Arts Council (IAAC) wrapped November 7. Dedicated to showcasing filmmakers of Indian origin it had a successful four day run at Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theatre and the Anthology Film Archives. As Aaron Shivdansani, the executive director of IAAC stressed in her welcoming speech, the opening film BRIDE AND PREJUDICE by Gurinder Chandha was not meant for afficiendos interested in high culture, an observation applicable t...
Considered to be one of the most important innovations of the Berlinale, the Berlin International Film Festival, under Dieter Kosslick’s reign, the Talent Campus is expanding again. Organized for young film makers with a demonstrated track record of awards and nominations, the Talent Campus is now adding to the “Working Campus” sessions the ‘Documentary Clinic” where selected film makers can develop their ideas with experienced documentary experts. Other sections of the Working Campus ...
New York’s IFP Market Proves Central for IndependentsIndependent productions are multiplying exponentially, driven by funding from an expanding film industry, an unending number of film school graduates, the multiplication of distribution technologies and, last not lest, ever cheapening production technologies. Whereas Emanuel Levy counted only 50 independent productions in 1998 and 1000 in 1998, only six years later the number jumped to about 2000 last year with no end count in sight. I...
Abetted by his creative staff Dieter Kosslick is adding another initative to Berlin’s film repertoire: the World Cinema Fund established by the German Federal Cultural Foundation and administered by the German UNESCO Commission through 2007. Primary purpose is support for the production and distribution of film projects in Latin America, the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa with funding provided immediately. Accessible to German producers and their foreign counter parts for cooperative an...
The 42nd edition of the New York Film Festival helmed by Richard Pena opened to raving reviews affirming its unique position as an upscale intellectually oriented festnot compromising its criteria to compete with the new Tribeca film festival. Out of 25 features from 21 countries produced this year and not shown before in the United States eight were made in the U.S. but none of these films corresponded to “Hollywood fare”. Even Sam Fuller’s reconstructed 1980 studio production THE BIG RED...
New York AIDS Film Festival terminated (Sept, 17-13)Advertising the attendance of Hollywood luminaries Jack Valenti, Meryl Streep, and Mike Nichols who was supposed to receive an award for ‘Angels in America’ did not help the second edition of the New York AIDS Film Festival to stay afloat. After limping along for several days since its opening on September 17, the festival died before the final gala event took place. Rubinstein, its public relations agency, blames “logistic reasons...
The LIFT experiment is closely linked to the award winning film director Ed Radtke’s ( THE DREAM CATCHER, BOTTOM LAND) new feature film project SUPERHEROES slated for production later on this year. This focuses on New York City’s video savvy youth and the role it plays in their lives. With project assistance by other known producers like Ira Deutschman (Emerging Pictures) and Greg O’Connor (Solaris) Radtke recruited with minimal corporate sponsorship 24 New York City teens f...
VISIONFEST – the other festival June 23 – 27,New York CityOriginating as the Guerilla Film & Video Festival, Vision fest is now in its fourth annual edition providing a platform for emerging independents. It remains the sole East Coast Festival in the United States that showcases only productions made by US producers and directors. It launches independents rather than cherry picking them from the programs of other established festivals. Thus numerous productions and film makers first scre...
RIP Raw Impressions project New York, May 17 – 18, 2004Forcing established artists to produce under severe time pressures collaborative music films, resulted in several ten minute films which could compete with the best shown in short film festivals. Organized in 2001 by David Rodwin and Patrick Mellen, the non-profit Raw Impression Inc. has since produced each year art works, including brief musicals, using the pressure cooker approach. Free from commercial constraints and the weight of ...
Re-positioning the European Film Market remains the only major Berlinale task left for Dieter Kosslick. With the American Film Market moving to November to compete head on with MIFED, Kosslick has been given, in his words “a historical opportunity” to enhance the Berlinale. A minor consideration is shifting the dates for the Berlinale possibly by one week to adjust to the new February slot of the Oscars. The new guiding concept for EFM and its changes will be revealed in May during the Ca...
Re-positioning the European Film Market remains the only major Berlinale task left for Dieter Kosslick. With the American Film Market moving to November to compete head on with MIFED, Kosslick has been given, in his words “a historical opportunity” to enhance the Berlinale. A minor consideration is shifting the dates for the Berlinale possibly by one week to adjust to the new February slot of the Oscars. The new guiding concept for EFM and its changes will be revealed in May during the Ca...
