2 scriptwriting events in Berlin

Quick news about two scriptwritng events in Berlin over the next few days: 

 
The "Short form" seminar with Thomas Frick places the emphasis on short films and commercials. In an information event , you will learn about our Full-time programs from August 2014.

The workshop will deal mostly with the basics of the screenwriting craft and the dramaturgy of short narrative structures such as commercials and short films. Parallel to the mediation of the theoretical foundations, each participant will develop his or her own, reference-enabled script in practical writing and film exercise.

New: The short form
Instructor: Thomas Frick
27-29/06/14 - Friday from 19: 00 to 21:30 - Saturday from 10 am to 6 pm - Sunday from 10.00 to 16.00
Price €249
Berlin


INVITATION TO THE EVENT INFO!
Training for authors of film & TV
The dramaturge and lecturer training
Writing for daily SOAPs & telenovelas

 If you are interested in participating in a full-time film / TV Academy programmes of the master school from August 2014, an information event is being held on Monday, the 30/06/14 at 6 pm in the seminar room master school film / TV Academy, Zossener str 41, 10961 Berlin: 

 
You can get to know the organisers personally during a question session.

The full-time programmes are based on three pillars:
1. the comprehensive mediation of the dramaturgical know-how teachers experienced over 10 years of practice
2. own material development of participants with individual advice by the instructors
3. a strong and honest market reference by working with production companies, additional industry guests, the pitching the finished script.

To participate in the information event, send a message to info@film-tv-autor.de .

Formore information about script training in Berlin, visit Master Schül Drehbuch. 

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.

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

“Three” to open KINO!2011 at MoMA in New York

German Films will be presenting the 32nd edition of KINO!2011: New Cinema from Germany from 27 April-2 May 2011 as part of the annual film season curated by program founder Laurence Kardish (Senior Curator, Department of Film) at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York.

A total of seven new films and TV productions will be shown in the presence of numerous German artists. KINO!2011 will open with THREE (DREI) by Tom Tykwer, who will personally introduce his film which has been nominated for six German Film Awards. The US distributor, Strand Releasing, will release the film in US cinemas later in the year.

Also showing in the program: the Regina Ziegler-produced TV mini-series THE WEISSENSEE SAGA: A BERLIN LOVE STORY (WEISSENSEE) by Friedemann Fromm. The prize-winning screenwriter Annette Hess and other crew members will travel to New York for the presentation along with the director and producer. In addition, there will be screenings of the two documentaries HOW TO MAKE A BOOK WITH STEIDL by Gereon Wetzel in the presence of the director and producer Ingo Fliess, as well as DANCING DREAMS (TANZTRÄUME) by Anne Linsel. Three screenings will be dedicated to Germany’s up-and-coming generation: German Films’ short film program NEXT GENERATION 2010, as well as the German Film Award-nominated film THE DAY I WAS NOT BORN (DAS LIED IN MIR) by Florian Cossen and PICCO by Philip Koch. The Goethe-Institut New York will also be organizing a workshop with Philip Koch and Florian Cossen about their work as filmmakers.

Details at Goethe New York.

15th Festival of German Films to open in Paris

The 15th Festival of German Films will be held in Paris from 29 September to 5 October, 2010. A total of eleven new feature films, six shorts and the NEXT GENERATION 2010 program of shorts will be presented in the Cinéma L’Arlequin.

The festival will open with Pia Marais’ AT ELLEN’S AGE (IM ALTER VON ELLEN) which was enthusiastically received at the international festival in Locarno. Members of the cast and crew will be present.

Other new German films to screen include: THE ALBANIAN (DER ALBANER, Johannes Naber), ALL MY FATHERS (ALLE MEINE VAETER, Jan Raiber), BERLIN `36 (Kaspar Heidelbach), IN THE SHADOWS (IM SCHATTEN, Thomas Arslan), THE LAST EMPLOYEE (DER LETZTE ANGESTELLTE, Alexander Adolph), MY WORDS, MY LIES – MY LOVE (LILA LILA, Alain Gsponer), RUN IF YOU CAN (RENN, WENN DU KANNST, Dietrich Brueggemann), GRAVITY (SCHWERKRAFT, Maximilian Erlenwein), DANCING DREAMS (TANZTRAEUME, Anne Linsel, Rainer Hoffmann) and VINCENT WANTS TO SEA (VINCENT WILL MEER, Ralf Huettner). Some of the directors will be travelling to Paris to present their films in person.

EVERYONE ELSE (ALLE ANDEREN) by Maren Ade, THE ROBBER (DER RÄUBER) by Benjamin Heisenberg and THE CITY BELOW (UNTER DIR DIE STADT) by Christoph Hochhaeusler will be shown in the "Nouvelle Vague allemande" sidebar being programmed by the Goethe Institut.

Full details: Festival du Cinéma Allemand

"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.

"John Rabe" picks up Germany's Lola Award

Director/writer Florian Gallenberger's "John Rabe" picked up the awards for Best Film, Best Actor, Best Production Design and Best Costume Design at Germany's Lola Awards last Friday. "John Rabe" is being hailed as "China's Schindler", as it tells the tale of a German manager of Siemens that tries to save Chinese civilians during the Japanese invasion of Shanghai during the Second World War.

Özgür Yildirim’s "Chiko" picked up the Best Screenplay Award.

Complete list of winners:
Golden Lola for Best Film: John Rabe by Florian Gallenberger
Silver Lola for Best Film: A Year Ago In Winter by Caroline Link
Bronze Lola for Best Film: Cloud 9 by Andreas Dresen
Best Documentary: Nobody's Perfect by Niko von Glasow
Best Children’s Film: Nothing Else Matters by Julia von Heinz
Best Screenplay: Özgür Yildirim for Chiko
Best Director: Andreas Dresen for Cloud 9
Best Actress in a Leading Role: Ursula Werner in Cloud 9
Best Actor in a Leading Role: Ulrich Tukur in John Rabe
Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Sophie Rois in The Architect
Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Andreas Schmidt in Fleisch ist mein Gemüse
Best Cinematography: Kolja Brandt for North Face
Best Editing: Sebastian Thümler for Chiko
Best Production Design: Tu Ju Hua for John Rabe
Best Costume Design: Lisy Christl for John Rabe
Best Score: Niki Reiser for A Year Ago In Winter Best Sound: Christian Bischoff, Tschangis Chahrokh, Heinz Ebner and Guido Zettier for North Face

"Il Divo" opens in Germany

Paolo Sorrentino's explosive account of Italian prime minister Giulio Andreotti opens in Germany. The film takes a look at the secrets behind power in Italy during Andreotti's successive spells as the Prime Minister. Andreotti was known as the untouchable, with possible links to the Masonic lodge and the Sicilian mafia. Not surprisingly, Sorentino's film had a hard time finding financing and sponsors in Italy but made a deep impression at Cannes, where it won the Prix du Jury. "Il Divo" is also currently playing in Belgium. Official site.

Germany boasts two nominations for foreign Oscars

The complexity of international co-productions means that Germany has two different nominations in the best foreign film slot at the Oscars. I'm only half surprised that the same company is behind both.

Constantin Film are a remarkable company that made such an impact with the incredible "Der Untergang/Downfall" last year. This year, they will be saving money on the flight to Hollywood with nominations for "The Baader-Meinhoff Complex" (already 2 million spectators in Germany) and "Waltz With Bashir", an Israeli's account of the Lebanese war.

German shorts go on the road

I just received an e-mail from German Film.de about German shorts that are going on the road (there's a pun there that I will resist!).

The 41st Sitges Film Festival (02.-12.10.2008) is showing FULL EMPLOYMENT (ARBEIT FUER ALLE) by Thomas Oberlies and Matthias Vogel and KINGZ by Benni Diez and Marinko Spahic in the Official Fantstic Shorts competition. A6/A9 by Johannes Schiehsl and FREQUENCY MORPHOGENESIS by Onni Pohl were invited to screen in the section entitled Animat Shorts.

THE GIRL WITH THE YELLOW STOCKINGS (DAS MAEDCHEN MIT DEN GELBEN STRUEMPFEN) by Grzegorz Muskala, SEA DOG'S DEVOTION (SEEMANNSTREUE) by Anna Kalus and A SUNDAY IN WINTER (EIN SONNTAG IM WINTER) by Hella Wenders are competing in the short films competition of the 37th Festival Nouveau Cinéma Montreal
(08.-19.10.2008). MY HAPPY END by Milen Vitanov, A SUNNY DAY (EIN SONNIGER
TAG) by Gil Alkabetz and VIDEO 3000 by Joerg Edelmann, Joern Grohans, Jochen Haussecker and Marc Schleiss can be seen in the childrens programmes. EXIT by Jochen Kuhn is screening in Prsentation Spcial, the programme Temps/Nouvelles Images will be showing DESCENDANTS
(NACHKOMMEN) by Heiko van der Scherm.

BROTHER, BROTHER (BRUDER, BRUDER) by Lars Kreyig and ILLUSION by Burhan Qurbani were invited to the student films competition of the 2nd Middle East International Film Festival Abu Dhabi (10.-19.10.2008).

The 53rd Cork Film Festival (12.-19.10.2008) will be showing ON THE LINE (AUF DER STRECKE) by Reto Caffi (DE/CH), JOURNEY TO THE FOREST (REISE ZUM WALD) by Joern Staeger and SUNRISE DA CAPO by Nina Poppe in the International Shorts competition. MY HAPPY END by Milen Vitanov can be seen in the section for Family Screenings.

The 52nd London Film Festival (15.-30.10.2008) has selected five German shorts. 7 MORE MINUTES by Izabela Plucinska (DE/PL), ON THE LINE (AUF DER STRECKE) by Reto Caffi (DE/CH) and W. by The Vikings will screen in Short Cuts & Animation. REMOTE INTIMACY (FERNE INTIMITT) by Sylvia Schedelbauer and PNEUMA MONOXYD by Thomas Koener (DE/RS) will be shown in the Experimenta sidebar.

The 46th Viennale (17.-29.10.2008) has invited 2 ODER 3 VERSUCHE, EINE IDEE UMZUSETZEN by Jan Peters and Marie-Catherine Theiler (DE/CH), MONA by Agnes Rossa (EG/DE), PIANOFORTE by Christoph Girardet and SCOPE and TEACHING THE ALPHABET by Volker Schreiner to its short film sections.

ON THE LINE (AUF DER STRECKE) by Reto Caffi (DE/CH), TOMORROW-YEAH! by Daniela Abke and WHEN WE ARE IN HEAVEN (UND WENN WIR DANN IM HIMMEL SIND) by Daniela Risch will be running In Competition at the 27th International Short Film Festival Uppsala (20.-26.10.2008). A SUNNY DAY (EIN SONNIGER TAG) by Gil Alkabetz and WHITE (WEISS) by Florian Grolig can be seen as Childrens Films.

HASTINGS by Nikolas Jger will be shown in the sidebar Brick Film Fest, while 40 SQUARE METERS (40 QUADRATMETER LEBEN) by Eva Thron is being shown in the programme of Gay/Lesbian: At Home and Out and About. AMIN by David Dusa (FR/DE/NL) is part of Short Matters.

ENERGY! (ENERGIE!) by Thorsten Fleisch and SUPER SMILE by Effi Wu are invited to the Shorts Competition of the 22nd AFI Fest Los Angeles (30.10.-09.11.2008).

Die Fälscher (The Counterfeiters) picks up main award at Ghent festival

The Ghent Film festival has just wrapped up, with the main award going to the German movie "Die Fälscher (The Counterfeiters)". Directed and adapted from a book by Stefan Ruzowitzky, the film details one of the biggest counterfeit schemes in history. Germany used Jewish counterfeits during the war to churn out Allied currency in an attempt to sabotage their economies. Inevitably, the suckers doing the counterfeiting had some choices to make: living relatively well while working for the Germans or dying. If you think about it, that's not much of a choice really. In fact, it's not a choice at all. It's only later that it might be perceived as an issue.

The film is based on the memoirs of Adolf Burger, "Des Teufels Werkstatt/The Devil’s Workshop". In a comment on European-Films.net, another author, Lawrence Malkin, makes some interesting comments about the choices being made by these people at the time.

"Die Fälscher" was released in the UK on October 12. It received four stars from Empire.

Cannes 2007: Script award for Fatih Akin

Already one of the darlings of Germany's new cinema, Fatih Akin has picked up the screenplay award at Cannes for "The Edge of Heaven/Auf der anderen seite/Yasamin kiyisinda" as well as picking up the award from the Ecumenical Jury. Why three titles? Because Fatih Akin is a German of Turkish descent who has taken another look at the lives of people affected by the two countries. His first film, "Head On", was already an uncompromising quest for identity. He followed it with "Crossing the Bridge", a commendable documentary about musicians in Istanbul. He says of the characters in "The Edge of Heaven", that "they reflect a part of me, something that changes every day, because I change my mind every day. And I was inspired by the people I met during my trip to Turkey for 'Crossing the Bridge', people who are trying to change the world with music. Activism and political passion can be very sexy."

For the full interview, see Cineuropa. For the official site of "The Edge of Heaven" (in Turkish).

"Grave Decisions" picks up German script award

Germany has just dished out its Lola awards for local movies. The country has been on an upward swing for 10 years, when "Run, Lola, Run" opened a series of remarkable movies including "Goodbye Lenin" and more recently "Downfall" and "Other People's Lives". Perhaps not coincidentally, the awards are called Lolas, and in the latest ceremony "Grave Decisions" picked up awards for the best direction (Marcus H . Rosenmueller) and best screenplay (Marcus H . Rosenmueller and Christian Lerch) as well as picking up a joint Silver Lola with "Perfume: The Story of a Murderer".

"Grave Decisions/Wer früher stirbt, ist länger tot" is a comedy produced by Roxy Film in Bavaria, following a young boy whose mother died at his birth. When he later realises this, he tries to find a new wife for his father. It works, except that the new love is already married.

Interestingly, this is a first feature for both Rosenmueller and Lerch (who is also a noted sound designer). Check the official site in German.

The full list of Lolas:

Best Film - Gold Lola:
Four Minutes by Chris Kraus

Best Film – Silver Lola:
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Tom Tykwer and Grave Decisions by Marcus H . Rosenmueller

Best Children's Film:
Hands Off Mississippi by Detlev Buck

Best Documentary Director:
Workingman's Death by Michael Glawogger

Best Actress:
Monica Bleibtreu (Four Minutes)

Best Actor:
Josef Bierbichler (Winter Journey)

Best Supporting Actress:
Hannah Herzsprung (Life Actually)

Best Supporting Actor:
Devid Striesow (The Counterfeiter)

Lifetime Achievement: Armin Mueller-Stahl

Best Director:
Marcus H . Rosenmueller (Grave Decisions)

Best Screenplay:
Christian Lerch, Marcus H. Rosenmueller (Grave Decisions)

Best Cinematography:
Frank Griebe (Perfume: The Story of a Murderer)

Best Editing:
Alexander Brenner (Perfume: The Story of a Murderer)

Best Production Design:
Uli Hanisch (Perfume: The Story of a Murderer)

Best Costume Design:
Pierre-Yves Gayraud (Perfume: The Story of a Murderer)

Best Score:
Gerd Baumann (Grave Decisions)

Best Sound Design:
Stefan Busch, Dirk Jacob, Michael Kranz, Frank Kruse, Matthias Lempert, Hanse Warns, Roland Winke (Perfume: The Story of a Murderer)

Crossing Europe awards

The Austrian festival that features a strong East European slant gave its awards this weekend. Director Pia Marais picked up the European Competition with "Die Unerzogenen/The Unpolished" (Germany 2007) co-written with Horst Markgraf. The audience voted for "Avril/April" by Gérald Hustache-Mathieu for the Ray Audience Prize. The CROSSING EUROPE Award Local Artist was split for the first time, going to Libertad Hackl for "Bleiben will ich, wo ich nie gewesen bin" and to Lukas Marxt and Michael Petri for "Nach der Eishöhle". The jury distinguished the work "Fatsy" by Oliver Stang and Christian Tod with an Honourable Mention. Visit the blog here.

"Man from the Embassy" picks up writing award

Argentina's 22nd Mar del Plata Film Festival, closed on March 18 with a record attendance of 190,000 spectators. The jury, led by American director Charles Burnett, proved particularly appreciative of the European entries. Best writing award went to Dito Tsintzade's "The Man from the Embassy", about a disillusioned German embassy official in Georgia whose life changes when a local boy tries to rob him.

Full award list:

Golden Astor
Fiction, by Cesc Gay (Spain)

Special Jury Prize
Gardens in Autumn, by Otar Iosseliani (France/Italy/Russia)

Silver Astor for best director (ex aequo)
Marina Spada for As the Shadow (Italy) and Hong Sang-soo for Woman On The Beach (South Korea)

Silver Astor for best actress
Sandra Hueller for Madonnas (Germany)

Silver Astor for best actor
Carlos Resta for La Peli (Argentina)

Silver Astor for best screenplay
Zaza Rusadze and Dito Tsintsadze for The Man From The Embassy (Germany/Georgia)

Special Mention
The Greatest Love in the World, by Carlos Diegues (Brazil)

Ernesto Che Guevara Award for the best film at the Latin American competition
M, by Nicolas Prividera (Argentina)

Special mentions
Suely In The Sky, by Karim Aïnouz (Brazil)
Red Land, by Ramiro Gomez (Paraguay)

FIPRESCI Award
M, by Nicolas Prividera (Argentina)

FIPRESCI Award for best Latin American film of 2006
Suely In The Sky

Cinecolor Audience Award
Ciudad En Celo, by Hernan Gaffet (Argentina)

Signis Award
Fiction

791 Prize for artistic innovation
It Happened Just Before, by Anja Salomonowitz (Austria)

For full details, visit the Mar del Plata festival.

Piaf biopic to premiere at the Berlinale

One of the season's big events will doubtless be the new bio-pic of the classic chanteuse Edith Piaf, called "La môme" or, for English speakers, "La vie en rose", which will premiere at the upcoming Berlinale festival. I saw a long trailer of this at Cannes, and the least you can say is that it looks lush. Olivier Dahan is credited as both writer and director. If bells are ringing, this is probably because he is the director of the spectacular "Crimson Rivers II". So we can reasonably expect a pretty big movie experience, not least because the cast includes Gerard Depardieu, Sylvie Testud and Jean-Paul Rouve. The singer herself is played by the suitably waif-like Marion Cotillard (with Jil Aigrot some of the actual singing).

"La vie en rose" will open in France and Germany in February, with other European countries later (and the UK in the autumn). To see the short trailer and more details en français, visit TFM distribution.

Edith Piaf on iTunes UK:


Edith Piaf on iTunes US:

Screenplay Europe: Search by theme

Just a note about a new function on Screenplay Europe. I have been spending time re-organising the posts over the past two years to make it easier to find items. If you're only interested in German cinema, or would like an overview of festivals news, you can find them by clicking on the relevant tabs on an article. I still have to classify about half of the news items. You can find the most popular ones below. Happy hunting.

German film picks up European Film Award

I have been out of the loop for a few days, and so missed discussing the European Film Awards 2006 held in Poland recently. To save time, I suggest that you simply visit the Cineuropa page about the event.

Here's the executive summary:

European Film 2006
The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen) by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, Germany

European Director 2006
Pedro Almodóvar for Volver, Spain

European Actress 2006
Penélope Cruz for Volver by Pedro Almodóvar, Spain

European Actor 2006
Ulrich Mühe for The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen) by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, Germany

European Discovery 2006
13 Tzameti by Gela Babluani, France, Georgia

European Screenwriter 2006
Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck for The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen), Germany

European Cinematographer 2006
José Luis Alcaine for Volver by Pedro Pedro Almodóvar, Spain
Barry Ackroyd for The Wind That Shakes the Barley by Ken Loach, UK, Ireland, Germany, Italy, Spain

European Composer 2006
Alberto Iglesias for Volver by Pedro Almodóvar, Spain

EFA Lifetime Achievement Award 2006
Roman Polański, Poland

European Achievement in World Cinema 2006
Jeremy Thomas, UK

EFA Award for An Artistic Contribution 2006
Pierre Pell and Stéphane Rozenbaum for The Science of Sleep (La science des rêves ) by Michel Gondry, France

People’s Choice Award Best European Film 2006
Volver by Pedro Almodóvar, Spain

Fipresci Award 2006
Regulars Lovers (Les Amants réguliers) by Philippe Garrel, France

ARTE award, EFA Documentary 2006
Into Great Silence (Die Grosse Stille) by Philip Groning, Germany

UIP Award, Short Film 2006
Before Dawn by Bálint Kenyeres, Hungary

UPDATE DEC 14: "The Lives of Others" has just picked up a nomination from the (Hollywood Foreign Press Association) for the "Best Foreign Language Film Golden Globe Award".The last German nomination was for "Goodybe Lenin".

"Warchild" wins Best Screenplay Award in Montreal

"Warchild", the second of a German-language Balkan trilogy by Christian Wagner (left), picked up the best Screenplay Award at the 30th Montreal World Film Festival. Written by Edin Hadzimahovic and Stefan Daehnert, "Warchild" is the tale of a Bosnian mother who discovers her long-lost daughter is still alive and well - with a family in Germany. The film, based on a true story, had already picked up the Special Jury Prize at the Bavarian Film Award. While the festival was still underway, "Warchild" was invited to screen at the Hamptons Film Festival which is held from 18th to 22nd October. For more news about Warchild, visit the official Warchild site. UPDATE: "Warchild" has just picked up the Audience Award at the 9th Festival Slovenskega Filma, held in the Slovenian town of Portorož from September 14 - 17.

In other German festival news, co-production "Khadak" by Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth was awarded the Lion of the Future Premio Venezia Opera Prima "Luigi de LAURENTIIS" at the 2006 Venice Film Festival for the Best Feature Film Debut. This award is open to all of the film debuts participating in the program sections of the Venice Film Festival and has a purse of Euros 100,000.

The Best of Short Films Festival in La Ciotat distinguishes the best shorts shown at international festivals for the year. Maximilian Engert was pleased with the award for his short "With a Flower (Durch die Blume)" as the third best short.

Germany's Scriptforum announces conference programme

The Scriptforum Conference in Berlin in October is one of the Europe's foremost scriptwriting events. In addition to the conference itself, a series of workshops are being organised in English and/or German. These include "Eroticism in Screenplays", "Creativity Access: Diving into Story" and "Action – Writing for a Successful Genre”.

For details, see the Scriptforum website.