11. 3., 20:00

13 krátkých filmů, 109 min

vstupné 50,-

Filmy v originálním znění s anglickými titulky

rezervace zde

Coming of Age (Kenya)

Producer: Ruby Kangethe
Director: Judy Kibinge
Editors: Ronelle Loots and Kyalo Thomas
Country: Kenya
Length: 9 min.
Co-producers: Vikes Foundation, Jan Vrijman Fund, Goethe-Institut, Berlinale Talent Campus
Produced by: Steps International

About the film

From de-colonization to dictatorship to a multi-party system: one woman’s account of Kenya’s route to democracy and her memories of growing up during this time.

This coming-of-age story depicts the three eras and stages leading to democracy as seen through the eyes of a girl growing up. The Kenyatta era, a time of great optimism and post-independence euphoria is reflected in the innocence and naivety of the young girl. As Kenya enters its next era of dictatorship under Daniel arap Moi, the gloom and confusion of oppression is reflected by teenage turmoil. Finally, our girl is all grown up and we find ourselves in Kenya’s third stage of democracy under Mwai Kibaki, wondering if democracy has managed to develop as much as the little girl.

About the director

Judy Kibinge is a writer and director. She began her career as an advertising copywriter, subsequently leaving her position as Creative Director at McCann Erickson Kenya in 1999 to pursue a career in film.
Her film credits include:
The Aftermath (MNET New Directions 2002)
Dangerous Affair (Baraka Films 2002)
Project Daddy (Baraka Films 2004)
She has directed numerous documentaries, including “A Voice in the Dark (The Story of a Whistleblower)” in 2005 and “Bless this Land” in 2005. She shot a countrywide cinematic study exploring Kenya’s land policy issues for the Kenya Human Rights Commission and has also produced numerous television adverts.
Don’t Shoot (South Africa)

Producer: Lederle Bosch
Director: Lucilla Blankenberg
Editor: Jari Heikkinen
Country: South Africa
Length: 11 min.
Co-producers: Vikes Foundation, Jan Vrijman Fund, Goethe-Institut, Berlinale Talent Campus
Produced by: Steps International

About the film

Apartheid is a thing of the past. Thirty years after starting his career on South African television, newsreader Riaan Cruywagen is still doing his job today. What has changed for him and what has stayed the same?

Riaan Cruywagen has been reading the news on television since South Africa broadcast its first evening news show in 1976. He is the longest serving Afrikaans newsreader in the world and takes great pride in his nickname, “The face of news in South Africa”. Against the backdrop of South Africa’s spectacular transformation to democracy, Riaan explains how his professional ethics have helped keep him in the news reader’s seat through all these years of upheaval.

About the Director

Lucilla Blankenberg is a Cape Town-based filmmaker and partner in the production company Idol Pictures. Over the past six years she has worked as producer, director and editor on many documentaries such as “Casa De La Musica”, which won two South African awards, and “Through My Eyes: Blanche La Guma”, “Home is Where the Music is”, “A Truly Wonderful Adventure”, “The Devil Breaks My Heart” and “Brothers in Arms”. She has also produced and directed the youth magazine show “Sex, Drugs & HIV”. Lucilla is currently developing a female boxing series called “JAB”, and has a few other drama projects in the pipeline.
Kinshasa 2.0 (DRC = Democratic Republic of Congo)

Producer: Don Edkins
Director: Teboho Edkins
Editor: Netti Kurtzbach
Country: Democratic Republic of Congo
Length: 11 min.
Co-producers: Goethe-Institut, Berlinale Talent Campus, Danida, Ford Foundation
Produced by: Steps International

About the film

A strong military presence looms over the streets of Congo’s capital city. Opponents to the government live a dangerous existence. Maire-Thérèse Nlandu and her niece communicate via the virtual world of “Second Life”.

Kinshasa 2.0 tells the story of how word about the arrest of Marie-Thérèse Nlandu, a woman from a prominent political family in the Democratic Republic of Congo, was spread via the Internet. Filmmaker Teboho Edkins visited Kinshasa to see how Marie-Thérèse’s arrest has affected the family.

His film depicts a tense Kinshasa, where the military is omnipresent, making it extremely difficult to film. He also watches his friend Carine use Second Life, a 3D virtual chat program, as a means of communicating with her aunt Marie-Thérèse, who is in exile in Belgium after being released from custody.
The film moves between the real city and the larger-than-life virtual world of Second Life accompanied by a silent observer - a wooden soldier who appears on the edge of most scenes, observing, waiting, watching…

About the Director

Teboho Edkins was born in the USA in 1980. While he was growing up, he spent most of his time in Lethoso, but he has also lived in Germany, South Africa and France. He is currently living in Berlin. He studied Art in Cape Town before going on to do a 2-year post-graduate residency at Le Fresnoy Studio National des Arts Contemporains in Lille, France. He is currently completing his studies with a post-graduate degree in Film Direction and Film Production at the dffb Film Academy in Berlin.
Famous Last Words (United Kingdom)

Producer: Bebe Evwaraye
Director: Avril Evans
Editor: Simon Thorne
Country: United Kingdom
Length: 7 min.
Co-producers: Goethe-Institut, Berlinale Talent Campus, Danida, Ford Foundation
Produced by: Steps International

About the film

Shortly after the terrorist attacks in London, a young Muslim woman is travelling on the underground, constantly watched by CCTV cameras. It is not long before everything starts to look suspicious, not only to her but to the on-lookers as well.

The director’s comment on the film: “My motivation for writing this film is to evoke debate and get viewers to face up to the assumptions they may have about Muslims especially after the 7/7 bombings in London.

The then Secretary of State, John Reid, revealed that there were thirty terror plots under surveillance in the UK. This reinforced everyone’s insecurities and helped fuel the media’s pre-occupation with terrorism. The question - if we are living in a nanny state where we as citizens of Britain are being monitored… will this help create a peaceful environment or does everyone become a suspect?

The central theme of the film is of hope. What British people know of other cultures tends to be negative especially with the media and politicians focusing on the increasing number of asylum seekers and immigrants coming to Britain.

This film therefore unravels the complex attitudes people have towards ethnic minorities and their fears of travelling on public transport since the bombings of 7/7.

It also looks at the constant surveillance that civilians accept which manifests itself into a general unease where everyone, in particularly those of Muslim descent who travel on public transport, is a suspected terrorist.”

About the Director

Avril Evans currently works as a Senior Promotions Director at Red Bee Media, formerly BBC Broadcast Ltd, where she has directed and edited a diverse range of award-winning promos for the BBC channels including BBC1, BBC2, BBC4 and CBBC/Cbeebies.

In her spare time she’s made two short films: (a) “Lip Service” - Winner of Best Short Film at IBW (Images of Black Women) Film Festival and judged by BAFTA-winning filmmaker Amma Asante, and (b) “Ralph Rules”, a 20-min. film commissioned by Southwark Council & London Development Agency, which gained her a place at the Berlinale Talent Campus.

Avril is currently working on her first feature film.
Feminin - Masculin (Iran)

Producer: Sadaf Foroughi
Director: Sadaf Foroughi
Editor: Erez Laufer and Sadaf Foroughi
Country: Iran
Length: 9 min.
Co-producers: Goethe-Institut, Berlinale Talent Campus, Danida Ford Foundation
Produced by: Steps International

About the film

A female bus driver in Tehran has got people puzzled. On her bus men have to get on at the back while women get on at the front. They start to discuss the change.

In the male-dominated society of Iran, Farahnaz Shiri, the first female bus driver in Tehran, has created her own little society on her bus. Public buses in Iran are divided into different sections for men and women. While men go through a separate entrance at the front, women have to enter the bus through the back door, and then have to sit within a restricted zone at the back of the bus, separated from the men. But in Mrs. Shiri’s bus all this is reversed. She is the governor and sole lawmaker in her little society. In her bus, men must enter through the rear entrance and sit in a restricted zone at the back of the bus. However, Mrs. Shiri struggles to prove herself in this society and must fight against a series of injustices that accompany her status as a woman in Iranian society.

About the director

Sadaf Foroughi was born in Tehran, Iran, in 1976.
She graduated with a Bachelor Degree in French Literature and continued her studies with a Masters Degree in Film Studies. She is currently studying for a PhD in Film Philosophy.
In 2004, she became a member of the Iranian Short Film Association (ISFA). In the course of her career in the film industry, she has made nine short films and worked as editor on a further four short films.

She has also worked extensively in the fields of photography and choreography. Her recent work includes the documentary produced by the Documentary and Experimental Film Centre in Iran. In 2008 she made two video installations produced by the New York Film Academy. She is currently presenting her new documentary produced by STEPS International.
Interferenze (Italy)

Producer: Amber Bordewijk
Director: Zoe D’Amaro
Editor: Marco Della Coletta
Country: Italy
Length: 12 min.
Co-producers: Goethe-Institut, Berlinale Talent Campus, Danida Produced by: Steps International

About the film

When media mogul Berlusconi became Prime Minister in 2002, the people of Italy feared that control over the country’s television network would fall into the hands of a small group of people. As a result, pirate TV channels started appearing throughout Italy.

The right to freedom of speech is a fundamental aspect of democracy. In the countries we label democratic, is there really enough freedom to fully exercise this inviolable right? Or has this right, enshrined in our constitutions, become an unattainable, utopian ideal?

In 2002, local pirate TV stations started to emerge across Italy in response to the lack of access to public television and as a statement against the oligarchic control over the most influential medium in Italy.

INTERFERENZE explores the intriguing story of what became known as the Telestreet network, developed on the basis of the personal experience of the members of Orfeo TV, the pirate station that initiated the movement.

About the director

Zoe D’Amaro is an Italian filmmaker based in Amsterdam and a partner in the production company Godmother Films.

Over the past 8 years she has worked as writer and director on several short films and documentaries.
She took part in the Script Development Program and the Directors Coaching Program at the Binger FilmLab in Amsterdam, where she developed her first feature script, “Il Dilettante”.
Maria and Osmey (Cuba)

Producer: Diego Arrendondo
Director: Diego Arrendondo
Editor: Diego Arrendondo
Country: Cuba
Length: 8 min.
Co-producers: Goethe-Institut, Berlinale Talent Campus, Ford Foundation, Danida
Produced by: Steps International

About the film

Maria has to fight her brother and the other boys in her neighbourhood to earn her place on the baseball pitch. The game is much more exciting than the news in the special announcement on the radio.

This short film tells the story of a group of Cuban kids who gather together to play a baseball game in their local neighbourhood.
Osmey and Maria make a baseball using an old deodorant can and some tape. Carlos, “the big kid”, turns up at the park with his bat and ball. He takes Osmey’s ball and hits it toward the benches. He is in charge and gets to choose the teams. Carlos decides that Maria cannot play. In the course of the match, several problems arise, which are resolved using methods that would only occur to children: Carlos’ ball breaks; Osmey finds a radio. Maria finds the original home-made ball and, as she is now the only one in possession of a ball, she is able to take charge. As she gets ready to bat, the radio at the side of the field plays a serious, official announcement, an announcement that would stop all Cubans in their tracks. But the kids, unaware of this, play on…

About the director

Diego Arredondo
Born in Mexico in 1979
Graduated with a Masters Degree from the London Film School in 2004.
In 2004, his short film “Heel” won first prize in the Straight 8 competition at Cannes. In 2005 “Tequila Chamuco” won second prize in the Straight 8 competition at Cannes and 1st prize at Cork Super 8 Fringe Festival.
He is currently working on a feature film project with a London-based production company.
He lives and works in Mexico City, directing short films, music videos and commercials.
Miss Democracy (Spain)

Producer: Virginia Romero
Director: Virginia Romero
Editor: Jaime Natche
Country: Spain
Length: 9 min.
Co-producers: Goethe-Institut, Berlinale Talent Campus, Ford Foundation Danida
Produced by: Steps International

About the film

A Miss Democracy contest: the search to find the most democratic woman from the world’s most democratic countries. And who better to judge this contest than a Greek philosopher, a famous football player, a well-known gigolo and a celebrity stylist. Democracy, good looks, money and power all come into play.

About the director

Virginia Romero comes from Madrid, took part in Talent Campus in 2005 and has directed around 20 short films, short documentaries and music videos.
My Body My Weapon (India)

Producer: Kavita Joshi
Director: Kavita Joshi
Editor: SaiKat S. Ray
Country: India
Length: 9 min.
Co-producers: VIKES Foundation, Embassy of Finland in India, Goethe-Institut, Berlinale Talent Campus
Produced by: Steps International

About the film

Irom Shamila has been on a hunger strike for the last seven years. She is protesting against the military emergency ruling in the Indian region of Manipur. Will her voice be heard?

Irom Sharmila is a young woman from Manipur who has been on a fast-unto-death for nearly seven years now, demanding the repeal of emergency law. For decades the state of Manipur in north-eastern India (bordering Myanmar) has been torn apart by riots and armed separatist movements. The Indian government has attempted to control the situation using military means, granting drastic emergency powers to the security forces. The army’s Special Forces, deployed to the region, are allowed to arrest, shoot or even kill people, based on suspicion alone. But Sharmila is willing to stake everything - even her life - to restore justice and dignity to her people.

About the director:

Kavita Joshi is an independent filmmaker based in Delhi. Her recent projects have focused on women and their struggles for justice and rights.

Her films include:
• Some Roots Grow Upwards
• Untitled: 3 Narratives
• Tales from the Margins

Her films have been awarded numerous accolades, including the Silver Remi at the World Fest in Houston in 2007, Best Film on Human Rights at the UGC CEC Awards India, as well a range of other awards at national level. Her work has been screened at the Munich DokFest, Bilbao International Festival of Documentary and Short Film in Spain, Medias Nord Sud in Geneva, Festival Dei Popoli in Florence, Vikalp and by broadcasters such as NRK Norway.

Kavita also works as a media trainer, designing and conducting workshops in audio-visual media. She is involved in the Delhi Film Archive and the anti-censorship movement, comprising independent filmmakers from across India.

Old Peter (Russia)
Producer: Andrei Golovnev
Director: Ivan Golovnev
Editor: Yuri Yatsencko
Country: Russia
Length: 8 min.
Co-producers: Goethe-Institut, Berlinale Talent Campus, Ford Foundation, Danida
Produced by: Steps International

About the film

The traditions and ways of life of the Siberian Khanty people are under threat due to the massive extraction of oil in their area. To make a stand against this, the Khanty’s last Shaman takes it upon himself to embark on the long journey to go and cast his vote.

The dialogue between people, nature and gods is based upon sacred knowledge and mythology. Only a few cultures based on myth survive in the modern world. This film takes us into the word of Old Peter, the last surviving Shaman of the Kazym River. We watch how Old Peter survives on the Siberian taiga and follow him on his journey to cast his vote.
The region of the Khanty people is the principal source of oil recovery in Russia. Some 70 percent of all Russian oil is extracted here. The oil companies actively buy huge territories in northern Siberia. Indigenous people are compelled to leave these places, which are their patrimonial territories, and thus a modern civilization gradually absorbs an ancient culture.

Old Peter votes in every election, but this has not helped halt the destruction of his culture through massive oil extraction.

About the director

Ivan graduated from the history department of Omsk State University. In 2002 he completed his undergraduate studies at Sverdlovsk Film Studio and went on to take a post-graduate course for film writers and directors in Moscow in 2002.

Filmography
2004 Tiny Katerina
2004 Guest
2006 Crossroads
On The Square (Croatia)

Producer: Vanja Jambrovic
Director: Vanja Juranic
Editor: Vanja Juranic
Country: Croatia
Length: 4 min.
Co-producers: Goethe Institut, Berlinale Talent Campus, Ford Foundation, Danida
Produced by: Steps International

About the film

Just a normal day in Ban-jelacic Square in Zagreb. That is, until a man appears with a ladder and a placard and passers-by are forced to remember their country’s past.

Croatia is a small country and a favourite holiday destination for many people. Everyone wants to forget that Croatia was once part of Yugoslavia. But someone on the town square in Zagreb reminds them.

About the director

Vanja Juranic is an independent filmmaker from Zagreb, Croatia. She is currently in the pre-production stage of her first full-length documentary, “God save Croatia”. Vanja took part in the Berlinale Talent Campus in 2007 and is a member of the European Documentary Network.
Three Blind Men (India)

Producer: Brian Tilley
Director: Kanu Behl
Editor: Narata Rao
Country: India
Length: 7 min.
Co-producers: Goethe-Institut, Berlinale Talent Campus, Danida, Ford Foundation
Produced by: Steps International

About the film

The use of Parliament Street in Delhi is reserved solely for political rallies. Various groups assemble at this spot and hold protests. On this particular day, three blind men are also taking a stroll down the street.

India is the largest democracy in the world and its capital, Delhi, has a whole street set aside for permanent protests. Each day people converge on Parliament Street to make all sorts of grand demands. In the midst of the crowds on this particular day, three blind men come across an elephant and, while the crowds rush around them shouting their demands, the men try to decide what the elephant is. They each have different ideas - one thinks it’s a buffalo, another a wall, or is it a camel? The mahout has another point of view…

About the director

Kanu Behl lives in Mumbai and has completed extensive studies in the field of film. He has a Post Graduate Diploma in Direction, Screenplay and Writing from SRFTI (Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute, Kolkata) in India, and a Masters in English Literature from Punjabi University in Patiala, India.

His first documentary was entitled “An Actor Prepares”. It was produced by SRFTI and selected for screening in the International Competition Section at the prestigious festival Cinema du Reel in 2007.
In 2007 he was selected as one of India’s up-and-coming filmmakers to participate in the Berlinale Talent Campus, part of Berlin Film Festival.
He also produced and directed a one-hour film entitled “Mila Kya?”, commissioned by the NHK in Japan. Over the past ten years, Kanu has worked as a researcher, writer and associate director on numerous fiction and non-fiction projects for reputed national channels.
For the last three years he has also worked as a DJ for Gold FM and Rainbow FM in Delhi and Kolkata.
You Cannot Hide from Allah

Producer: Petr Lom
Director: Petr Lom
Editor: Petr Lom
Country: Pakistan
Length: 12 min.
Co-producers: Goethe-Institut, Berlinale Talent Campus, Danida, Ford Foundation
Produced by: Steps International

About the film

After a huge lottery win in America, taxi driver Ihsan Khan returns to his home town in Pakistan and becomes mayor. However, the inhabitants’ opinions are divided on the “do-gooder”.

This is the story of Mr Ihsan Khan, an immigrant from a small town in Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier Province. Mr Khan was a taxi driver in Washington DC for over 20 years, and then in 2001 he won the lottery: 54 million dollars, to be exact. Four years later, he decided to put his money to good use, returned to his hometown in Pakistan and ran for mayor. And he won. This film tells the story of our lottery-winning mayor, how he deals with the never-ending complaints of corruption and his constituents’ demands that he personally solve all their problems. What is the relation between money and politics in a democracy? That is the underlying question in this film. Some allege that Mr Khan has only used his wealth in order to gain political power. His defenders say he works for free and has donated more than a million dollars of his fortune for post-earthquake disaster relief (the town was devastated by an enormous earthquake that hit Pakistan in 2005). And he says his number one aim is to fight corruption. Who is right? Democratic politics is, after all, a very messy business where everyone has the right to raise their voice, to file a complaint, to make demands, or to offer up lavish praise…

About the director
Petr Lom was born in Prague in 1968 and grew up in Canada. He has a PhD in political philosophy from Harvard and was an academic for seven years before he decided to become a full-time filmmaker in 2004. His first two films, “Bride Kidnapping in Kyrgyzstan” (2004) and “On a Tightrope” (2007), have each been broadcast in more than 20 countries and shown at many festivals around the world.
Each one of these films opens the doors for discussion on the topic of democracy, looking at it from a specific and unusual perspective. The films closely observe each country’s particular relationship with democracy, but never lose sight of the global picture. Each film connects the local with the global using a variety of methods, from investigating issues of global proportions to employing Brechtian-style parables to accentuate a point. Each film has its own place in a precisely identifiable cultural and historical environment, but at the same time remains interesting and relevant far beyond its specific setting.