The selected films are:
Dissonnance, Till Nowak, Germany
E.T.E.R.N.I.T., Giovanni Aloi, France
Field Study, Eva Weber, Great Britain
Kung Fury, David Sandberg, Sweden
Listen, Hamy Ramezan, Rungano Nyoni, Denmark/Finland
Our Body, Dane Komljen, Serbia/Bosnia and Herzegovina/Germany
Over, Jorn Threlfall, Great Britain
Smile and the World Will Smile Back, Yoav Gross, Ehab Tarabieh, obitelj Al Hadad, Israel/Palestine
Son of Wolf, Lola Quivoron, France
Symbolic Threats, Matthias Wermke, Mischa Leinkauf, Lutz Henke, Germany
The Runner, José Luis Montesinos, Spain
The Translator, Emre Kayiş, Great Britain/Turkey
This Place We Call Our Home, Thora Lorentzen, Sybilla Marie Wester Tuxen, Denmark
Washingtonia, Konstantina Kotzamani, Greece
DISSONANCE DIRECTOR: Till Nowak A genius musician lives a lonely life in a surreal, floating world. He plays the piano every day in a gigantic concert hall, but there is nobody to listen. One day his animated world collapses and he must face reality. He only has one wish: to share his music with his daughter, but her mother doesn’t allow it. Till Nowak (1980) is a digital artist, designer and filmmaker and has been working as a professional computer graphics artist. Till graduated in 2005 in Media Design from the University of Applied Sciences in Mainz. 2015 17'18'' Germany EFA nomination Berlinale 2015 |
E.T.E.R.N.I.T. DIRECTOR: Giovanni Aloi Italy, during the year 2015. Ali, a Tunisian immigrant working in asbestos removal, receives the visa which will allow his wife and daughter to join him. To get ready to welcome his family, he must make a radical decision. Giovanni Aloi (1984) studied Film History and Criticism at the University of Bologna and “arts plastiques” at the Université Paris VIII. After graduating he worked as a writer and camera operator. He made several documentaries, a feature and two short films. 2015 14’32’’ France EFA nomination Venice Film Festival 2015 |
FIELD STUDY DIRECTOR: Eva Weber PRODUCERS: Julia Godzinskaya, Sophie Vickers A story about the latent poisons in power, knowledge and innocence, Field Study tells the story of a young, shy student on a field trip to post-communist Poland who very abruptly comes of age when he makes the choice to withhold a truth. Eva Weber is a London-based filmmaker working in both documentary and fiction. Her film The Solitary Life of Cranes was selected as one of the top five films of the year in Sight & Sound’s annual film review. 2014 21' UK EFA nomination Cork Film Festival 2014 |
KUNG FURY DIRECTOR: David Sandberg Miami Police Department detective and martial artist Kung Fury time travels from the 1980s to World War II to kill Adolf Hitler, a.k.a. “Kung Führer”, and revenge his friend’s death at the hands of the Nazi leader. An error in the time machine sends him further back to the Viking Age. David Sandberg is a Swedish filmmaker with years of experience in directing television commercials and music videos. In 2012, he quit the commercial directing business and focused on Kung Fury. 2015 31'08'' Sweden EFA nomination Curtas Vila do Conde 2015 |
LISTEN (Kuuntele) DIRECTORS: Hamy Ramezan, Rungano Nyoni A foreign woman in a burqa brings her young son to a Copenhagen police station to get away from her abusive husband, yet the translator assigned to her seems unwilling to convey the true meaning of her words to the police, thus corrupting the truth of her terrible situation. Hamy Ramezan is currently developing his first feature, Motel of a Thousand Roses. Rungano Nyoni’s short Mwansa The Great was nominated for an African Academy Award and a BAFTA. In 2013, she was selected for Cannes Cinefondation Residency for her first feature film, I Am Not a Witch. 2014 13'39'' Denmark, Finland EFA nomination Tampere Film Festival 2015 |
OUR BODY (Naše telo) DIRECTOR: Dane Komljen PRODUCERS: Nataša Damnjanović, Vladimir Vidić, Zoran Galić Dane Komljen (1986) studied Film Directing at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade. He is currently on a master’s programme at Le Fresnoy in France. His films have been shown at the Festival de Cannes, Locarno, Rotterdam, Marseille and Sarajevo. He is working on his first feature Before Enmity. 2015 14'47'' Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Germany EFA nomination International Film Festival Rotterdam 2015 |
OVER DIRECTOR: Jörn Threlfall Over presents a crime scene. During the course of nine wide shots, told in reverse order, we witness an intriguing story unfold. What has happened in this quiet neighbourhood? A murder, a hit-and-run, an accident? The reality is profound, and deeply unexpected. Jörn Threlfall studied film and theatre in Berlin, and went on to work for The Discovery Channel and Channel 4 in London. He is developing a feature-length project through his London-based company Lenaray Films. He has been selected as one of the BFI/Screen International’s “Stars of Tomorrow 2015”. 2015 14'03'' UK EFA nomination Encounters Short Film and Animation Festival Bristol 2015 |
SMILE AND THE WORLD WILL SMILE BACK (Im tekhayekh, ha’olam yekhayekh elekha) DIRECTORS: Yoav Gross, Ehab Tarabieh, family Al Haddad One cold December night, Israeli soldiers come up to the al-Haddad family home in a Palestinian neighbourhood of Hebron and knock on the door. They’ve come to search the house. Diaa, the teenage son, reaches for the family’s video camera. As the search unfolds, a strange power struggle evolves, pitting gun against camera. Al-Haddad's are a Palestinian family from Hebron, West Bank. They are filming human rights violations in Hebron as part of B’Tselem Camera Project since 2008. Yoav Gross studied film in Tel Aviv University. He is a filmmaker and video activist. Ehab Tarabieh graduated from the Sam Spiegel Film & TV School, Jerusalem in 2012. 2014, 20'09'', Israel Palestine |
SON OF THE WOLF (Fils du loup) DIRECTOR: Lola Quivoron PRODUCER: Margaux Juvénal Lola Quivoron (1989) holds a Masters in Cinema. In 2012, she entered the Film Directing Department at La Fémis. She also practices photography. She has directed two narrative short films and a short documentary in the school. 2015 23'21'', France EFA nominationa Festival del film Locarno 2015 |
SYMBOLIC THREATS PRODUCER: Mischa Leinkauf, Lutz Henke, Matthias Wermke Inspired by the heated debate over the two “White American Flags” that suddenly appeared on the towers of iconic Brooklyn Bridge, the film asks what kind of societal scope art has in the present day. What happens when threatened freedom reinstates art with the element of danger? Are we safe in the city? Mischa Leinkauf, Lutz Henke and Matthias Wermke grew up in Berlin in the 1990s when they learnt to value and utilise the city’s possibilities. A shared enthusiasm for re-purposing urban spaces brought the three together early on. 2015 17'30'' Germany EFA nomination Norwegian International Short Film Festival 2015 |
THE RUNNER (El Corredor) DIRECTOR: José Luis Montesinos PRODUCER: Arturo Méndiz, José María Torres Five years ago the boss closed the company and fired 300 workers. The first day that he goes out to run he meets one of them. José Luis Montesinos is an engineer, director and screenwriter. Director for Catalunya Television. Director of several short films: Final (2003), Matagatos (2009) and La Historia de Siempre (2010). Currently works as director and screenwriter on several feature films, commercials and for television. 2014 13'5'' Spain EFA nomination Valladolid International Film Festival (SEMINCI) 2014 |
THE TRANSLATOR (Çevirmen) DIRECTOR: Emre Kayiş PRODUCER: Oytun Kal Yusuf, a Syrian refugee boy who lives in an exile in a remote Turkish border town is chosen for his newfound power but he has to experience how to use it, at the cost of his innocence. Emre Kayis (1984) graduated from the London Film School in 2014 with his final project The Translator. He aims to tell human stories that have a social relevance. Currently he is developing his first feature film titled Leopard. 2015 13'15'' UK, Turkey |
THIS PLACE WE CALL OUR HOME DIRECTOR: Thora Lorentzen, Sybilla Marie Wester Tuxen Film depicts the conflict in Ukraine, and how it affects everyday life of those who stay at home; of those who is waiting. Thora Lorentzen (1986) and Sybilla Marie Wester Tuxen (1990) study documentary filmmaking at the National Film School of Denmark (2013—2017). 2014, 30'12'', Denmark EFA nomination Krakow Film Festival 2015 |
WASHINGTONIA DIRECTOR: Konstantina Kotzamani PRODUCER: Konstantina Kotzamani Washingtonia is an alternative name for Athens, a place where people, like animals, fall into summertime sadness because of the heat. Washingtonia is the only palm tree that its heart is not devoured by the red beetle. Because it’s heart is small and dry and no one likes small and dry hearts. Konstantina Kotzamani is a graduate student of the Film Department of Fine Arts of Thessaloniki. In 2012, she was a participant of the Berlinale Talent Campus and Sarajevo Talent Campus. 2014 24'19'' Greece EFA nomination Film Fest Gent 2015 |