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Festival Reports

38th Warsaw International Film Festival

Mrudula Saturday November 12, 2022

 

A still from the award winning film Ademoka - Adilkhan Yerzhanov (Kazakhstan,France)
A still from the award winning film Ademoka - Adilkhan Yerzhanov (Kazakhstan,France)

 

The NETPAC Award Jury for the 38th Warsaw International Film Festival consisted of two members, Viera Langerova (Czech Republic) and Panagiotis Kotzathanasis (Greece), since the third member never appeared, for reasons we are not sure of. We watched the films in the two venues of the festival, Multikino and Atlantic, from the 14th to the 21st of October.

The competing films varied significantly, as they included both documentaries and fiction, and from regions that ranged from Palestine to Australia, and essentially, everything between. One Chinese film, “Where Nothing Grows” was pulled at the last minute from screening at the competition, for unknown reasons, although it had previously screened in Busan. The only country that was represented with more than one film was Japan, with “New Religion” and “The City”. 

The films eligible for the NETPAC prize were as follows: 

Carbon - Niobe Thompson (Australia,Canada)

Wait For Me - Sari Azoulay Turgeman (Israel)

Ademoka - Adilkhan Yerzhanov (Kazakhstan,France)

Till Love Do Us Part - Ran Li (China)

The City - Katsuki Kuroyanagi (Japan)

Fury - Shlomo Slutzky, Tomer Slutzky (Israel, Argentina) 

Trio - Battumur Dorj (Mongolia) 

New Religion - Keishi Kondo (Japan)

Mediterranean Fever - Maha Haj (France, Germany, Palestine, Cyprus)

New - Normal Jung Bum-shik (South Korea)

Feast - Brillante Ma Mendoza (Hong Kong SAR China, Philippines)

A number of movies left an impression, although for different reasons. Katsuki Kuroyanagi in “The City” tried to experiment with form and immersed his narrative in tension, in a title, though, that was quite difficult to follow. Keishi Kondo in “New Religion” tried to reinvigorate the J-horror genre by including symbolism and intense imagery. In “Trio”, Battumur Dorj tried to combine the issues people with Down Syndrome face with the ancient death rituals of the country that are gradually disappearing. In “New Normal”, Jung Bum-shik incorporated ironic and rather smart humor in order to make a number of pointed social comments. 

A still from the film Mediterranean Fever - Maha Haj (France, Germany, Palestine, Cyprus)
A still from the film Mediterranean Fever - Maha Haj (France, Germany, Palestine, Cyprus)

 

The two films that truly stood out for both of us, however, were Maha Haj’s “Mediterranean Fever” and Adilkhan Yerzhanov’s “Ademoka”. The first one because of its intelligent sense of humor that was highlighted through the differences of two quite different men who end up becoming friends, and for its impressive transition from comedy to drama and vice versa, including a rather shocking end. The latter, which got the award in the end, also featured a very smart and even self-deprecating sense of humor, but also exhibited an astonishing minimalism, particularly in the set design, which also became part of the narrative. The antithesis of the titular character (played by the director’s niece, while the woman who plays her mother is her actual mother) who barely speaks, and Ahab, who never stops talking, also worked excellently.  It is easy to say that “Ademoka” is a masterclass on how to shoot with no budget, even in lockdown circumstances.  Our citation, which had to be one sentence, was as follows: “For its intelligent satire and the rather artful visual and narrative approach rooted in local culture, we present the NETPAC award to Adilkhan Yerzhanov’s Ademoka’s Education” In general, and although our choice in the end was relatively easy, the selection was on a very high level, both in terms of quality and diversity.  To conclude with a personal comment, I have to say that it was a pleasure watching films in cinemas with the audience once again, particularly since the venues of the festival were top-notch. Hospitality was excellent, and the crew of employees and volunteers took care of our every need. In general, the whole thing was a very pleasant and rewarding experience, also because I got to know Viera. 

By Panagiotis Kotzathanasis (Greece) – NETPAC Member

47th Toronto International Film Festival

Mrudula Thursday October 13, 2022

Jub Clerc Director Headshot  

The NETPAC Award Jury for the 47th annual Toronto International Film Festival consisted of two members who worked online throughout the festival’s September 8-18, 2022, run: movie producer, mediamaking mentor, and Bastau International Film Festival Director Diana Ashimova (Kazakhstan), and cinema studies scholar Ida Yoshinaga (Hawai‘i/Atlanta, Georgia) who served as jury chair. 

In recent decades, TIFF has undoubtedly come to represent one of the most industry-driven festivals in the world, with diversely themed sections and a huge audience. NETPAC’s candidates for consideration were drawn from two of TIFF’s more international programs, “Contemporary World Cinema” and “Discovery,” selected largely based on the cultural and/or ethnic backgrounds of the nominated directors reflecting an individual Asian or Pacific origin. 

The 14 scripted films under consideration were from Palestine, New Zealand, Iran, Indonesia, Japan, Turkey, Australia, Syria, Canada, Israel, and Cambodia, including two co-productions with Britain and France and at least three Indigenous Pasifika-made projects. 

The films eligible for the NETPAC prize were as follows: 

  • A Gaza weekend by Basil Khalil, Alam (The flag) by Firas Khoury
  • Autobiography by Makbul Mubarak
  • Beyond the wall by Vahid Jalivand
  • Muru by Tearepa Kahi
  • Plan 75 by Chie Hayakawa
  • Snow and the bear by Selcen Ergun
  • Sweet as by Jub Clerc
  • The taste of apples is red by Ehab Tarabieh
  • Valeria is getting married by Michal Vinik
  • Return to Seoul by Davy Chou
  • We are still here by Beck Cole, Danielle MacLean, Dena Curtis, Tim Worrall, Richard Curtis, Miki Magasiva, Mario Gaoa, Chantelle Burgoyne, Tracey Rigney, and Renae Maihi
  • This place by V.T. Nayani, and
  • Zwigato by Nandita Das. 

This wide-ranging program was dynamic and intensive—with cinematic tales from first-, second-, and third-time feature directors touching upon such deep and complicated social, economic, and political issues as the COVID-19 era, Indigenous resistance to colonization and related adaptation efforts, life in occupied or embattled territories, family and peer-youth relationships, micro and macro histories of place, the struggle for various self-identities, exploring various people’s roots/rebellions, and communities’ survival and violence.

Many films were really brave, sharp, experimental, ambitious, humorous, and quite innovative, demonstrating a high level of technical excellence. Solid cinematic talent was evident, with many scenes shot in breathtaking locations as the ideal background against which to feature a great cast in convincing performances. Most candidates exhibited strong narration, so the real treasure of TIFF was our pleasing audio-visual experience of discovering the problems of people who live so far from our parts of the world. 

Of the above 14 movies, the NETPAC TIFF Jury unanimously decided to award a debut film, SWEET AS, by Jub Clerc (Australia), with the following citation:

“A model road film with great locations and a strong cast that convincingly tells the story of an Indigenous girl on a youth-therapy bus tour dealing with family, friendship, inspiration, and self-identity.”

The unpretentiously focused, confident film presented deep content through a well-edited and technically gorgeous story bolstered by engaging performances that felt natural and unforced. Clerc’s creative approach to fictionalizing her own life experience took viewers along on this youth group's journey with a good sense of humorwhile also depicting the real pain of growing up in unsafe families or communities. We found it a masterful first feature for an assured visual auteur with superb storytelling instincts.

We were also happy to recognize this outstanding (and Aboriginal themed) coming-of-age film as one of several Indigenous-director-helmed entries including the dazzling multi-protagonist, multi-genre feature, We are still here. Ten Native directors from different regions colonized by the United Kingdom (including Samoa, Australia, and New Zealand) inventively recalled the past, interrogated the present, and envisioned the future, of the 250-year legacy of Captain James Cook’s arrival in their lands, in this delightfully intertwined anthology. We also enjoyed Muru, a “Black Lives Matter”-era cop thriller directed by Tearepa Kahi (Aotearoa) that blended resistance history with thrilling action sequences, as his story pitted Native Māori community policing against British Commonwealth settler-colonial policing.

Also worth mentioning was the noticeable presence of gifted female filmmakers whose works earned our admiration—beyond Clerc and 6 out of We are still here’s 10 co-directors, women’s cinematic vision characterized an additional 5 of the 14 narratives we considered for TIFF’s NETPAC award. Impressive female-directed entries were Chie Hayakawa’s science-fictional critique of ageism, Plan 75 (Japan); Selcen Ergun’s fairytale-like murder mystery Snow and the bear (Turkey); Michal Vinik’s feminist sisterhood melodrama Valeria is getting married (Israel); V.T. Nayani’s multiracial/transnational lesbian romance This place (Canada); and Nandita Das’s class-conscious satire set in the gig economy, Zwigato (India).

Special thanks go to writer, editor, and expert film curator Aaditya Aggarwal, coordinator of TIFF programming, who facilitated our jury’s decision-making process. 

 

Report co-authored by

Ida Yoshinaga (USA/Hawaii)

Diana Ashimova (Kazakhstan) 

 

 

 

18th Cinemalaya International Film Festival - 2022

System Administrator Friday September 2, 2022
Cinemalaya 18, titled “ Breaking through the noise” , actually offered 11 feature films, and twelve short films , all eagerly awaited by the mainly young audience. Apart from the CCP, all the films are also shown for a week in regular Manila malls ( Ayala and SM only) and will be shown in selected cities in the province, including Dapitan (Zamboanga) for the first time. Also online until October 31.

International Film Festival of Kerala 2022 - A Report

System Administrator Monday April 18, 2022
Kerala is not just the most literate state in India but also, probably, the most cinema-literate one. One of the best organized film festivals in India, the IFFK, held from 18 – 25 March 2022, not only had audiences filled to capacity in the inaugural and closing ceremonies, but also in the many lively discussions with filmmakers, seminars, open forums and cultural events.

Interview

Supriya Suri's Interview with Muhiddin Muzaffar

Director Muhiddin Muzaffar (1) 2 Min

1. I entered the cinema through the theatre. I was an actor in our local theatre called Kanibadam, named after Tuhfa Fozilova. After working for five years, I decided to do a theatre director course. I graduated with honors and became a director. We successfully staged performances at international festivals.

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