Two German co-productions on OSCAR short list

The German co-productions AMOUR (LIEBE) by Michael Haneke (FR/AT/DE, X-Filme Creative Pool) and A ROYAL AFFAIR (DIE KÖNIGIN UND DER LEIBARZT) by Nikolaj
Arcel (DK/SE/CZ/DE, Zentropa Entertainment Berlin) are on the short list of the final nine films for the 85th Oscar® in the category for the Best Foreign Language Feature Film. This was announced by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) on 21 December. AMOUR is in the Oscar race for Austria and A ROYAL AFFAIR for Denmark.

On 10 January, 2013, the Academy will select five films from the nine of the short list, and these titles will be part of the final selection competing for the OSCAR in this category. Altogether, 71 countries submitted their films.

Michael Haneke's Film AMOUR received awards at the beginning of December at the European Film Awards as Best Film, Best Direction as well as Best Lead Actress and Best Lead Actor. AMOUR was released in American cinemas by Sony Pictures Classics on 21 December, 2012.

A ROYAL AFFAIR won two Silver Bears at the 2012 Berlinale.

The OSCAR awards ceremony takes place on 24 February, 2013 in the newly named Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.

The other films on the short list are WAR WITCH by Kim Nguyen for Canada, NO by Pablo Larrain for Chile, THE INTOUCHABLES (INTOUCHABLE) by Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano for France, SISTER by Ursula Meier for Switzerland, THE DEEP by Baltasar Kormákur for Iceland, BEYOND THE HILLS by Cristian Mungiu for Romania and KON-TIKI by Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg for Norway.

Sweden's "Bloody Boys" win brussels script award

The Best Screenplay Award went to Sweden's "Bloody Boys/JÄVLA POJKAR), written and directed by Shaker K. Tahrer. The films traces three families going through rupture and turmoil. More here.

The full list of awards is as follows:

• GOLDEN IRIS AWARD for best film + Cineuropa Award DEATH FOR SALE by Faouzi Bensaïdi (France/Belgique/Maroc)  
• WHITE IRIS AWARD for best first film CLIP (KLIP) by Maja Miloš (Serbia)  
• AUDIENCE AWARD ITALY LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT by Gustav Hofer and Luca Ragazzi (Italy/Germany)   
• FEDEX CINEPHILE AWARD KAUWBOY by Boudewijn Koole (Netherlands) 
• RTBF TV AWARD QUAND JE SERAI PETIT by Jean-Paul Rouve (France)   
• Be TV AWARD NO REST FOR THE WICKED (NO HABRÁ PAZ PARA LOS MALVADOS) by Enrique Urbizu (Spain)  
• PRIME TV AWARD THE DEEP BLUE SEA by Terence Davies (USA/UK)   
• BEST SHORT FILM AWARDS: A NEW OLD STORY by Antoine Cuypers (Belgium) LE CRI DU HOMARD de Nicolas Guyot (Belgium) and ROBYN O. by Cecilia Verheyden (Belgium).

For more informtion, visit the Brussels Film festival.

THOMAS BIDEGAIN TO GIVE MASTERCLASS AT BRUSSELS FILM FEST

Thomas Bidegain

The 10th edition of the Brussels Film Festival is about to kick off on June 8, 2012. The festival has historically favoured first films from European directors. This year's event will have special Polish, Italian, Spanish and Walloon (the French-speaking half of Belgium) evenings.

The festival also has a series of masterclasses lined up that include Peter Aalbaek, the producer of Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg (director of "The Hunt"), Jean-Michel Bernard (Michel Gondry's composer) and directors Peter Greenaway and Lucas Belvaux. Scriptwriters should block June 10, as Thomas Bidegain, writer of two exceptional films at this year's Cannes - "De Rouille et d'Os" (Rust & Bone) by Jacques Audiard and "A perdre la raison" by Joachim Lafosse, will be giving a 4-hour masterclass from 2pm at the Flagey centre.

The official competition features 12 European films competing for a total amount of €45,500, among which €10,000 for the Golden Iris Award for best film. The jury is composed of Frédéric Fonteyne (director), Tania Garbarski (actress), Peter Greenaway (director), Edouard Molinaro (director), Koen Mortier (director), Mireille Perrier (actress) and Bernard Yerles (actor).

For details, visit Brussels Film Festival.  List of films in competition.

Raindance scriptwriting course in Brussels

The Raindance Festival's Elliot Grove will be running his masterclass "Write and Sell the Hot Script" in Brussels on May 3 & 4, 2012. Grove has been running the class for years, and has also produced a good book with the same name (see below). The course is suitable for everyone interested in the entire story process from idea to script to screen.

Roger Corman: titles as pitches

To tie in with a horror exhibition at the EMP Museum in Seattle, horror maestro Roger Corman gave some background into the success of "Dinocroc" and the ludicrous "Sharktapus". Bad news for all of us scriptwriters that sweat over spec scripts for five years: all these films came from brainstorming sessions around titles! The rest was filled in by the team.

I've sat in on these sort of projects and nearly got a horror story set in Pyrenees going because of one. Before you rush around saying, "I could do that", remember that in these cases it's not what is being said that makes the difference, it's who is saying it and to whom!

PS: if anyone is interested in a low-budget slash movie set in the Pyrenees or Europe's first car tuning movie, you know who to contact.

Daerden Brothers pick up European screenplay award

At its 24th awards ceremony in Berlin, the European Film Academy handed out its awards for 2011. As is often the case, their choice of films is strictly - almost fanatically - art-house, with Lars Von Trier's "Melancholia" picking up Best Film and "Le gamin au vélo/The Kid With the Bike" the rather unusual choice for the screenplay award. Mads Mikkelsen, Stephen Frears and Michel Piccoli were also given awards.
Von Trier skipped the event, sending his wife to pick up the award instead. The academy has 2,500 members.

• EUROPEAN FILM 2011: MELANCHOLIA, Denmark/Sweden/France/Germany WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Lars von Trier PRODUCED BY: Meta Louise Foldager & Louise Vesth 
• EUROPEAN DIRECTOR 2011: Susanne Bier for HÆVNEN (In a Better World) 
• EUROPEAN ACTRESS 2011: Tilda Swinton in WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN 
• EUROPEAN ACTOR 2011: Colin Firth in THE KING’S SPEECH 
• EUROPEAN SCREENWRITER 2011: Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne for LE GAMIN AU VELO (The Kid with a Bike) 
• CARLO DI PALMA EUROPEAN CINEMATOGRAPHER AWARD 2011: Manuel Alberto Claro for MELANCHOLIA 
• EUROPEAN EDITOR 2011: Tariq Anwar for THE KING’S SPEECH EUROPEAN 
• PRODUCTION DESIGNER 2011: Jette Lehmann for MELANCHOLIA EUROPEAN COMPOSER 2011: Ludovic Bource for THE ARTIST 
• EUROPEAN DISCOVERY 2011: ADEM (Oxygen) by Hans Van Nuffel, Belgium/theNetherlands 
• EUROPEAN FILM ACADEMY DOCUMENTARY 2011 - Prix ARTE: PINA by Wim Wenders, Germany EUROPEAN FILM ACADEMY ANIMATED FEATURE FILM 2011: CHICO & RITA by Tono Errando, Javier Mariscal & Fernando Trueba 
• EUROPEAN FILM ACADEMY SHORT FILM 2011: THE WHOLLY FAMILY by Terry Gilliam, Italy EUROPEAN CO-PRODUCTION AWARD 2011 - Prix EURIMAGES: Mariela Besuievsky, Spain 
• EUROPEAN ACHIEVEMENT IN WORLD CINEMA 2011: Mads Mikkelsen, Denmark 
• EUROPEAN FILM ACADEMY LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: Stephen Frears, UK 
• EUROPEAN FILM ACADEMY SPECIAL HONORARY AWARD: Michel Piccoli, France 
• THE PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD 2011: THE KING’S SPEECH by Tom Hooper, UK

More info: European Film Awards

Who would you have voted for as Best European Screenplay  in 2011?

GERMAN FILMS AND CO-PRODUCTIONS AT MIFF 2011

The 60th Melbourne International Film Festivals (21 July – 7 August 2011) will showcase a large number of German productions and co-productions this year.


International Panorama

DREI (THREE) by Tom Tykwer, X Filme Creative Pool
THE FUTURE by Miranda July, Razor Filmproduktion (DE/US)
IM ALTER VON ELLEN (AT ELLEN’S AGE) by Pia Marais, Pandora Filmproduktion
INNOCENT SATURDAY by Alexander Mindadze, Bavaria Pictures (RU/DE/UA)
JEAN GENTIL by Laura Guzmán, Bärbel Mauch Film (MX/DE)
LE HAVRE by Aki Kaurismäki, Pandora Filmproduktion (FR/DE/FI)
MELANCHOLIA by Lars von Trier, Zentropa International (DK/SE/FR/DE)


Prime Time

DREILEBEN – EINE MINUTE DUNKEL (DREILEBEN – ONE MINUTE OF DARKNESS) by Christoph Hochhäusler, Heimatfilm
DREILEBEN – ETWAS BESSERES ALS DEN TOD (DREILEBEN – BEATS BEING DEAD) by Christian Petzold, Schramm Film Koerner & Weber
DREILEBEN – KOMM MIR NICHT NACH (DREILEBEN – DON’T FOLLOW ME AROUND) by Dominik Graf, BurkertBareiss


Accent on Asia

BI, DON’T BE AFRAID by Phan Dang Di, TR9 Film (VN/FR/DE)


Documentaries

CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS by Werner Herzog, Werner Herzog Filmproduktion (US/FR/DE)
EL BULLI: COOKING IN PROGRESS by Gereon Wetzel, if productions
KHODORKOVSKY by Cyril Tuschi, Lala Films


TeleScope

SCHLAFKRANKHEIT (SLEEPING SICKNESS) by Ulrich Köhler, Komplizen Film (DE/FR/NL)


Backbeat

MICHEL PETRUCCIANI by Michael Radford, Looks Film (FR/DE/IT)


Next Gen

WINTERTOCHTER by Johannes Schmid, schlichtundergreifend (DE/PL)


Documentary Shorts

LEONIDS STORY by Rainer Ludwigs (DE/UA)


Our Space

RUHR by James Benning


See Your Music

CYMASONICS – MATRIX OPTIMIZER 1.0.1


The Light Kinetic

LIQUID/LIGHT/FLOW

TEMPUS.RUHR



Networked

MEDIANERAS by Gustavo Taretto, Pandora Filmproduktion (AR/DE/ES)


The Natural World

DARWIN AND HIS FABULOUS ORCHIDS by Ralph Heinsohn, Tilt


MIFF 60th Retrospective

CLASS RELATIONS by Jean-Marie Straub, Danièle Huillet