May 15th, 2014
Ecumenical Jury in Cannes Celebrates 40th Anniversary
(Louisiane Arnera, Cannes) The Ecumenical Jury of INTERFILM and SIGNIS at the Festival de Cannes celebrate its 40th anniversary this year. In accordance with then festival president Robert Fabre Lebret OCIC (today SIGNIS, Catholic) and INTERFILM (Protestant) in 1974 decided to build an Ecumenical Jury “in order to look in the same direction”.
“In the time of 40 years, the ecumenical jury has become a tradition of the festival. Thus, it confirms the power of cinema to bring people together”, today’s festival president Gilles Jacob comments. In fact, the ecumenical jury has a specific look on films. It awards films of directors whose artistic talent allows us to appreciate human behaviour and actions which correspond with the Scriptures, or make audiences senstive to spiritual, social, and ethical values.
On the occasion of the anniversary, SIGNIS and INTERFILM will honour the Belgian directors Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne with a Special Award. The films of the Brothers Dardenne are marked by a profound humanity which is guiding the choices of the ecumenical jury as well. The presentation of the award will take place on May 22nd.
TV station France 2, in its series “Présence protestante” and “Le Jour de Seigneur”, will join the celebration of the anniversary. A broadcast straight from the Croisette pays tribute to the ecumenical jury on Sunday, May 25th, 10.00 to 11.00 hrs. By highlighting the function and the proceedings of the jury it will try to explain the Christian commitment to the art of film.
A brochure (in French and English) published on the occasion of the anniversary has a greeting of longtime festival president Gilles Jacob, a list of the award winners since 1974, memories and considerations of several represantatives of INTERFILM and SIGNIS, as well as an interview with the Brothers Dardenne. The publication can be downloaded here: 40 ans de Jury œcuménique au Festival de Cannes.
As usual, a number of regular events around the jury will take place: meetings at the stand of the Ecumenical Jury at the film market, the Sunday services devoted to the festival an the ecumenical apéro afterwards, and an ecumenical service on Wednesday, May 21st. Anybody who is not in Cannes can pursue the events on the jury website, http://cannes.juryoecumenique.org.
(Translation: Karsten Visarius)
TV Broadcast to 40 years Ecumenical Jury at Cannes (in French)
October 18, 2013
Film Director Stefan Kaspar Passed Away
Stuttgart/Bern, 19.10.13 (Bernd Wolpert/Hans Hodel) The Swiss born film director and producer Stefan Kaspar, living and working in Lima, passed away surprisingly on October 12 in Bogota. According to the Peruvian online-news larepublika.pe, Stefan Kaspar participated at the alternative film festival “Ojo al sancocho” where he actually had given a speech.
Stefan Kaspar, born in 1948, studied communication in Biel and Bern (Switzerland), where he also worked as an independent journalist and filmmaker till 1978. With a film project about migration from the land to the cities he travelled to Peru, where he fell in love with the country and the people and stayed to create a collective of independent filmmakers called “Grupo Chaski” (1982).
With “Chaski” he produced, realized and distributed films from 1982 to 1990. These are 14 documentaries and two long feature films: Gregorio in 1985 and Juliana in 1989, both accomplished with the participation of street children from Lima. These films won more than 20 prizes at international film festivals, among them the “UNICEF” award for Juliana at the Berlinale in 1990. The Chaski films were successful in the national as well as the international distribution, with 3rd places in the theatrical box office of the year in Peru and world sales to more than 25 countries. They where also distributed in Germany by Matthias-Film and EZEF and in Switzerland by ZOOM.
During several years Kaspar was vice president of the Peruvian Filmmakers Association (ACDP) and worked in a group of specialists to elaborate the new Peruvian film law. In 1992 Kaspar founded the new company “Casablanca Production & Distribution” and other audiovisual companies like “Guarango Cine & Video” (production and postproduction of videos); “Garabato” (distribution and exhibition of educational videos); “Casablanca World Sales” (International distribution of Peruvian and Latin American films) and “Euroamerica Films” (distribution of independent films for the Peruvian market – theatrical, video and TV). He was also executive producer for several Casablanca feature films.
Since 1996 Kaspar organized for many years the Latin American section of the “International Coproduction Meetings” at the film festival Mannheim-Heidelberg, Germany. In this coproduction market producers from Latin American countries met producers from European countries. From 1999 onwards he was also runnning his own movie theatre for independent films in Lima and worked as adviser of the new “Encuentro Latinoamericano de Cine” in Lima. In 2004, representing INTERFILM and WACC, he participated at the Ecumenical Jury in Cannes.
As a pioneer he recently applied the experience Grupo Chaski had made with the distribution of their films in the area of the new digital media. With the Red de Microcines, a network of "small cinemas", Stefan Kaspar had initiated a movement that allowed screenings throughout Peru - and especially in remote regions - of films primarily from their homeland, but also from other Latin American countries. "Cine, Cultura y Desarrollo" - Cinema, Culture and Development - was the motto and principle of this successful grassroots movement.
June 10, 2013
Julia Helmke new INTERFILM president
Julia Helmke follows the Swiss reverend Hans Hodel, president of INTERFILM since 2004, who did not stand for another period. He continues however to organise the church festvial juries as INTERFILM’s jury coordinator, an office he holds since 1989. In Hannover the World Catholic Association for Communication SIGNIS, INTERFILM’s partner organisation at numerous festivals, appreciated his merits for ecumenical film acitivities by an Honorary Award. It was presented by Jos Horemans, president of SIGNIS Europe, who attended the INTERFILM meeting as guest.of honour.
The ceremonial climax of INTERFILM’s General Assembly was a reception by the Church of Hannover to appreciate Hans Werner Dannowski, Honorary President of the film organisation who will celebrate his 80th birthday in the next few days. Dannowski has been Hannover’s City Superintendent and Film Commissioner of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD). Bishop Ralf Meister, an INTERFILM member himself, and Petra Bahr, Commissioner for Cultural Affairs of the EKD, both confessed to feel themselves as pupils of the preacher Hans Werner Dannowski who is gifted to relate art – the art of film in particular – and Gospel in a manner matched by only a few. His articles, speeches and film sermons witness his art of exegesis in exploring both, their contrasts and their affinities. Thus, Hans Werner Dannowski has given impulses to join church and culture which will remain.
March 11, 2013
Swiss Documentary "Forbidden Voices" Wins WACC-SIGNIS Human Rights Film Award
The WACC-SIGNIS Human Rights Award for 2012 has been given to the Swiss documentary Forbidden Voices directed by Barbara Miller. The film, endorsed by Reporters Without Borders, portrays three female bloggers - Yoani Sánchez in Cuba, Zeng Jinyan in China, and Farnaz Seifi in Iran - who challenge the state censorship in their countries.
The WACC-SIGNIS Human Rights Award has been launched in 2010. It is given to documentaries that seek to throw light on questions of human rights reflecting the values and priorities of WACC, the World Association for Christian Communication, and SIGNIS, the World Catholic Association for Communication.
November 26, 2012
"Almost 18" Wins Film Award of the Finnish Church
At the 31st Oulu International Children's and Youth Festival (19.-25.11.2012) director Maarit Lalli's film Kohta 18 (Almost 18, Finland 2012) won the the Church Media Foundation Award 2012.
The Media Foundation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland grants the Katso minuun... Award of 1500 € to a new Finnish feature or short film for children or young people. The award is intended to support Finnish films for children and young people and encourage film makers to examine Christian responsibility and values. This year the winning film was chosen by Pirkko Frank-Arkimies, who works as a producer at the Finnish Broadcasting Company and is a board member of the Church Media Foundation.
"The youths are now in the spotlight, the subject matter could not be more topical", Ms. Frank-Arkimies said.. "Maarit Lalli's background as a documentary director is positively visible in the film. Her protagonists are like the boys next door whose side the viewer takes during the many conflicts. The amateur actors cast as the youths reach the lives of the boys whose roles they play in a touching way. Look at me, see me, gimme some time. This is what the youths cry out for. This is the film's message. At its best Almost 18 can challenge youths, their parents and other people close to them to actually contact and interact with each other."
Almost 18 is a story of five young men standing on the threshold of adulthood and their challenging relationships with their parents. The episodic movie depicts the growth stories of young men in Helsinki both separately and as a group. The movie is tied together by the characters’ true friendship and their problematic family relations. Reaching the age of majority means both freedom to do what they want and finding their own place in the world. At the same time it brings them new responsibilities and also things unexpected.
Almost 18 is director Maarit Lalli's first feature film. Lalli wrote the film’s script with his son Henrik Mäki-Tanila, who plays one of the movie’s leading roles.
"I thank the Church's Media Foundation for the award," the director said. "The script of Almost 18 was born of problems at home, of a mother's responsibility for her child, of being grounded, of a boy's love for his parents and of work done and time spent together. The making of the film was begun at a risk with no funding in sight. It would not have been created without people close to us, a son, a mother, friends and finally strangers having faith in the subject and hoping to finish what had been begun, nor would it have been possible without the endless love that we have been able to experience during the filming. The youth and I wanted to give hope to families, and I am happy if we can succeed in it."
Television producer Pirkko Frank-Arkimies chooses the film to receive the Katso minuun... Award from the Media Foundation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. Frank-Arkimies has been a member of the board of the Media Foundation since 2007. She has worked on YLE TV2’s documentaries as a journalist, director and producer between 1976 and 2009. Pirkko Frank-Arkimies has received several national and international awards for her documentaries.
July 13, 2012
Armenian Church awards prize to Russian film maker Alexander Sokurov
(ENInews/Kristine Greenaway)--The Armenian Apostolic Church named Russian filmmaker Alexander Sokurov as the first recipient of its "Let There be Light" award on 12 July in a ceremony held at Gevorkian Theological Seminary near the Armenian capital, Yerevan. The ceremony was part of the Golden Apricot Film Festival running from 8 July to 15 July.
"Film making is an art of light. It is addressed to the souls of people living in dark and dangerous times," said Archbishop Nathan Hovhannisian in presenting the award. "The voice of one man can have great significance."
The head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, His Holiness Karekin II, presided over the ceremony, which was attended by approximately 150 people.
Organizers of the event say the church's award is intended to honor a "significant contribution to global cinematography" and promote spiritual, cultural and humanitarian values.
In accepting the award, Sokurov told the church leaders he never thought this would happen. "I sometimes think of quitting because what I do is not considered significant," he said. "We humanists are sometimes on the side of failure."
The cinematographer, known for artistically innovative and thematically complex films, has been honored at film festivals including those in Cannes, Berlin, Moscow and Toronto. In 2011, his film "Faust" was awarded the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. The film is the fourth in a series of studies of men in positions of power and their relation to evil. The first three films focus on Adolf Hitler, Vladimir Lenin and Emperor Hirohito.
Bishop Gevork Saroyan, a member of the selection committee that recommended Sokurov for the award, said the world-renowned film maker was being honored for the ensemble of his work rather than for any individual film.
The Golden Apricot Film Festival concludes with a ceremony to announce the recipients of prizes awarded by the festival's several juries. Members of the Ecumenical Jury, representing Protestant and Catholic film organizations and the Armenian Apostolic Church, will award its prize to the director of the film that best combines artistic merit with insight into human challenges, values and beliefs.
Published with permission of ENInews
The awards of the Ecumenical Jury are published in the festival section, see here
March 20, 2011
Children and Youth Festival Malmö 2011
Swedish Church Award
The winner of the Swedish Church Award at the BUFF Children and Youth Film Festival Malmö 2011 (March 15-19) is
Spork by J. B. Ghuman Jr., USA 2010
The award is endowed with a prize money of 50.000 SEK donated by the Swedish Church.
Motivation: Welcome to Spork’s tough, twisted world. This fast-paced, cocky and colorful film plays mercilessly with our prejudices and celebrates the right to be different. Everyone is equally different – just as it should be!
Synopsis: Spork is 14 and trying to navigate through school and everyday life. She has her own style with messy hair and big glasses. Everyone knows that she is a hermaphrodite which makes it difficult for her to blend in with the crowd. The only ones that let Spork in are the cool black girls. The girls take on the seemingly impossible task: to teach Spork how to dance. “Spork” is a charming and wacky comedy about being different and fitting in. It contains a lot of dancing and rap music. (Festival information)
A Scene From "Spork" from Alex & Peter Knegt on Vimeo
(Extraits)
(vis) The International Interchurch Film Organisation INTERFILM has a new president. At their General Assembly in Hannover last weekend the INTERFILM members elected reverend Julia Helmke, Commissioner for Art and Cultural Affairs of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Hannover, to this office. She is the first woman to direct the organisation since its foundation in 1955. INTERFILM represents the Protestant churches by either its own, ecumenical or interreligious juries at international film festivals as Cannes, Berlin or Venice among many others. Julia Helmke has been jury member for several times, and has written her PhD on the development of the festival commitment by the churches. In her analysis of the motivations, aims and foundations of these initiatives she highlighted in particular the ecumenical cooperation between Protestant and Catholic film organisations which started with the first ecumenical jury in Locarno in 1973 (Photo: © Claudia Becker).
