German World Premieres at 30th Warsaw fest

14 German films and co-productions will be shown at the 'A' festival in Warsaw this year. AGNIESZKA by Tomasz E. Rudzik (Kordes & Kordes Film Süd, Arri Film & TV - photo) will have its world premiere in the 1-2 Competition for first and second films, and the same goes for WHEN UNDER FIRE - SHOOT BACK! by Marc Wiese (Engstfeld Filmproduktion) in the Documentary Competition. KAFKA'S THE BURROW by Jochen Alexander Freydank (Mephisto Film) will have its European premiere in the Free Spirits Competition for "innovative and rebellious films".

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.

"Sophie Scholl" writer to act as ScriptEast creative advisor

German scriptwriter and author Fred Breinersdorfer, who wrote the Oscar-nominated “Sophie Scholl” is will participate in the 5th edition of ScripTeast as a Creative Advisor. Over 7 days of the workshop in Sterdyn, Poland, he will discuss the scripts submitted by the participating screenwriters at one-on-one meetings.

Educated as a lawyer and writer, Breinersdorfer wrote 12 novels and numerous theatre and radio plays before becoming a screenwriter. He’s an author of 65 screenplays, many of which were internationally recognized and awarded, including the German Film Award and Adolph Grimme Preis mit Gold - called “German Oscar”.

Breinersdorfer gained international acknowledgement as the author of "Sophie Scholl” - the shocking portrayal of one of the legendary fighters of the Nazi regime in Germany. The film was nominated to the Oscar and received 16 international awards, including two Silver Bears in Berlin - Julia Jentsch for The Best Actress and Marc Rothemund for the Best Director and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury. International recognition of the film is a double success for Breinersdorfer, who was not its screenwriter, but also the co-producer. Breinersdorfer is a member of the German film Academy. He was the President of the German Writers Association and ran for the German parliament.

ScripTeast is a training program for existing scripts from Central and Eastern Europe. One-on-one meetings with international professionals in different creative disciplines allow the authors to sharpen their objectives for the story and determine the best way to tell it. For details, visit ScripTeast.

Poland's "Strike" hits protest

According to a report in Cineuropa, Volker Schlondorff's "Strike" has hit a major snag. The film, released in Poland on February 23, is an account of the events that led up to Solidarnosc's strike that eventually brought down the Communist regime. But the film is based on the life of the union's creator, Anna Walentynowicz, and she is not happy at all. In fact, she has been fighting the project from the start and is now threatening legal action against the film. She cites numerous biographical inaccuracies and "historical untruths". Oops. Questioned about the accuracy, fellow Solidarnosc member Lech Walesa said, "It does not entirely reflect the strategy of participants in the 1980 strike but it is a good reflection of the situation up to 1970".

"Strike", written by Andreas Pflüger and Sylke Rene Meyer has been awarded with two Bavarian Film Awards, Best Actress for Katharina Thalbach and Best Cinematography for Andreas Höfer. It will be released in Germany on March 3.

Volker Schlondorff on Amazon UK
Volker Schlondorff on Amazon US

Polish cinema festival features European cinema

One of the most promising new festivals in Europe must be Poland's "Era Nowe Horyzonty/Era New Horizons" that has just kicked off on the Polish/Czech border. Over ten days, it will show some 300 largely European films. I quote: "The most important part of the festival is the competition. This section includes 18 innovative, visionary films trying to push the boundaries of conventional cinema and redefine the language of film-making. The films in competition, screened for the first time in Poland, are rated by the festival’s audience and one of them is awarded the Grand Prix. Eléonore Faucher's "Brodeuses" won the Grand Prix at 2004 Festival."

Other events include a Rainer Werner Fasssbinder retrospective, the Moviemiento short film programme and a masterclass from Andrzej Wajda.

For details, visit the Era Nowe Horyzonty website (in Polish, English and Czech).

Andrzej Wajda on Amazon US
Fassbinder on Amazon US
Fassbinder on Amazon FR
Andrzej Wajda on Amazon UK
Fassbinder on Amazon UK

Cottbus awards East-European movies

Germany's FilmFestival Cottbus, dedicated to East-European movies, just wrapped. Main prize for the Best Film in the Feature Film Competition went to "Schizo (Schiza)" by Gulshad (Guka) Omarowa, a Russian-Kazakh-French-German co-production. Sulev Keedus was awarded the Special Prize for Best Direction for the Estonian-Finnish co-production "Somnabul". The Special Prize for an outstanding artistic individual achievement went to the Croatian film "A Wonderful Night in Split (Ta Divna Splitska Noc)" by Arsen Anton Ostojic. A Special Mention was given to the Polish film "The Wedding (Wesele) by Wojtek Smarzowski. See FilmFestival Cottbus for full details in German and English.