Laura Amelia Guzmán and Israel Cárdenas' film Jean Gentil (2010) is the story of a Haitian immigrant living in the Dominican Republic and his daily life as he struggles to survive alone in the world of hard work and increasing solitude. The film uses Cinema Novo/Neo Realism reminiscent style of on location shooting, hand held camera and a barrenness of stripped production as its advantage to give increasing sense of the isolation, poverty and many times hopeless feelings of the main c...
‘Periferic ‘is a dark story about a woman named Matilda (played by actress Ana Ularu) who has only 24 hours release from after two years in prison, after which she must return back to serve another three years. In that 24hours she plans to escape with money promised to her by her ex-boyfriend and to find her son, Toma. She visits her brother and her ex-boyfriend and then goes in search of her son, but just when everything appears like it's going to work out all goes terribly wrong...
‘SON OF BABYLON' (2010) is a fiction film based on reality about three weeks following the 2003 US invasion of Iraq and the beginning of the Iraq War. Writer/director Mohamed Al-Daradji spent seven years on this poetic masterpiece that touches on the timely and hypersensitive subject of the Iraq War and the country now trying to pick itself up from devastation and ruin. This is a story not of war, however, but of the broken family and a lost civilization. It is a dark road movie followin...
Apichatpong Weerasethakul: Vanessa McMahon interviews Apichatpong Weerasethakul
INTERVIEW WITH Apichatpong Weerasethakul.
During the 51st Thessaloniki Film Festival, I had the grand pleasure to speak at length with Mr. Apichatpong
Weerasethakul, or ‘Joe' as he likes to be called. This was a one-of-a-ki...
Last night on December 11, 2010, the 51st Thessaloniki Film Festival awarded its prizes for audience and jury awards to their pick for the best films in competition at the festival. And Romania took most of the awards. Between Bogdan George Apretri's 'Periferic' and Marian Crisan's 'Morgen', they took so many awards home their hands weren't enough to hold them all! Find the list of the winners below: STAY TUNED FOR PICTURES AND INTERVIEWS LATER COMING SOON!!! 51st Thessaloniki Internatio...
MASTERCLASS APICHATPONG WEERASETHAKUL This year's winner of the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, Apichatpong Weerasethakul delivered a masterclass on Wednesday, December 8th at John Cassavetes Theater, within the framework of the 51st Thessaloniki International Film Festival and presented his entire body of work as a filmmaker, as well as a short film and multimedia project artist. The Thessaloniki International Film Festival Director, Mr. Dimitris Eipides welcomed the artist and expres...
51st TIFF: Mohamed Al-Daradji press conference (12/9/2010) MOHAMED AL-DARADJI PRESS CONFERENCE Mohamed Al-Daradji, a member of the International Jury, as well as a guest of honour of the 51st Thessaloniki International Film Festival, gave a press conference on Thursday, December 9th. The Thessaloniki International Film Festival Director, Mr. Dimitris Eipides welcomed the awarded director. “The greatest satisfaction one can receive from holdi...
Last night at TIFF 2010, Dorota Kedzierzawska was awarded the prestigious Golden Alexander award just before her screening of her film 'Time to Die' (2007). "Dorota Kedzierzawska holds a place as one of the most original Polish filmmakers to emerge after the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe. Unflinching in her commitment, she has quietly amassed an oeuvre that is cohesive and faithful to its worldview and its distinct visual aesthetics, largely created through her later colla...
Today, December 10, 2010 marks the last day of screenings for the films in competition at the 51st Thessaloniki Film Festival. Films in competition are:1) David Michod's Animal Kingdom (2010) - Australia"Where do you fit? Where's your place and where do you belong? For J. Cody, the task of answering these questions will mean making the hardest decisions of his life." 2) Ari Bafalouka's Apnea (2010) - Greece"Everything’s quiet when you’re in the water. No ...
On December 08, 2010, the films screened for competition at Thessaloniki FF were: 1) Morgen (2010) is a Romania, France and Hungary co-produced film (2010) by director Marian Crisan. Summary: Nelu is a security guard at the supermarket in Salonta, a town on the Romanian-Hungarian border where illegal immigrants attempt to cross to Western Europe. Nelu’s passion is fishing in the mornings; after work, he returns home to his ill-tempered wife. One morning, while fishing, Nelu finds ...
This year at the 51st Salonica film festival, The Match Factory represented film Cirkus Columbia (2010) makes a stop in the 'Balkan Survey' category. This film has now toured all the major festivals this year, proving a favorite of filmgoers everywhere. Below is my interview with main actress from the film, Jelena Stupljanin. Actress Jelena Stupljanin speaks about her new film Cirkus Columbia, a Bosian film by Bosnian Oscar winner director Danis Tanovic, set in the former Yugoslavi...
Egypt's exemplary avant-garde director Ahmad Abdalla's new film Micriphone (2010) runs in International Competition this year at the 51st Thessaloniki Film Festival.
Below is the latest from the makers of Microphone:
Almost the same bunch of independent film makers and fighters against the local commercial loud scene...creators of "Heliopolis" (2009) made "Microphone" (2010) which is touring festivals worldwide th...
Tom Tykwer, Drei and Salonica 2010 In the 'Special Screenings' category at the 51st Salonica Film Festival 2010, Drei screened on December 7th and 8th to packed Greek audiences. The new German film by celebrated director Tom Tykwer, Drei (2010), the story of a threesome that is a twosome in three ways. Dining with Tykwer and speaking to him after seeing the film, all I could say was: 'Wow!'. Images of ancient androgynous symbols together with remembrances of breakthrough concepts by Jung crowd...
December 06, 2010 at the 51st Thessaloniki Film Festival (3-12.12-10) marked the grand event of its Agora Market Awards to independent Balkan filmmakers headed by Marie-Pierre Macia. The International Jury, consisting of Alex Baciu, screenwriter (Romania), Panos Iossifelis, screenwriter (Greece), Richard Kwietniowski, screenwriter/director, (UK/ Poland) 1) The jury of the 8th Balkan Script Development Fund awards 3 development grants of 7.000 euros each (out of 10 projects): SEPTEMBER, ...
December 07, 2010 51st Thessaloniki Film Festival presented films in competition: 1) Zephyr (2010) Turkish film by director Belma Bas. Summary: "Zephyr, a strong-minded and somewhat peculiar 11-year-old girl, lives with her grandparents in their home in the countryside. She has no father and her activist mother is absent for long periods of time, imbuing Zephyr's outlook on life with an enduring sense of loss, a skewed sense of the future and a rebellious, almost cruel streak. When...
