Berlinale Short films with Latin American flavour

Compiled by Latin American Film blog from dearcinema.com

Selected from over 2600 short film entries, 25 films from 15 countries will be presented in five programmes, and compete for a Golden Bear, a Nomination for the European Film Academy Short Film 2010, and a DAAD grant in Berlinale Shorts in the 60th edition of Berlianle. Out of competition, Japanese director Akihito Izuhara’s Akai Mori no Uta (The Song of Red Forest) will also be screened: an animated work featuring two mystic beings singing about the state of the world.

Alongside films from, for example, Peru, South Africa, Italy, and Korea, Romania is contributing an impressive range of productions. And Croatia, another country from Eastern Europe, will be participating for the first time, with Zvonimir Jurićs film Žuti mjesec (Yellow Moon).

Nicolas Provost from Belgium is participating with Long Live the New Flesh; parallel to the Berlinale, he will also be exhibiting works at the Haunch of Venison gallery in Berlin. Shelly Silver is presenting her experimental film 5 Lessons and 9 Questions about Chinatown.

Screenwriter and filmmaker Daniel Nocke explores the very core of a relationship in 12 Jahre. In the documentary Geliebt, Jan Soldat focuses on the question of what role animals can play when a person is incapable of loving another person.

In 2010, the Berlinale Shorts will provide an opportunity to discuss the challenging films in this section for the first time: during “Berlinale Shorts goes Arsenal”, a series of discussions will be held on three days in Cinema Arsenal.

Within the scope of the Retrospective Play It Again …! – which has been put together for the Berlinale’s 60th anniversary – Berlinale Shorts will present two short film programmes: Play It … Short! |1 and Play It … Short! |2.

Jury

The members of this year’s International Short Film Jury are Brazilian festival director and producer Zita Carvalhosa, author and chief editor of Spex Max Dax and Polish director Xawery Żuławksi. The Berlinale Shorts award ceremony will be held in CinemaxX 3 on February 16.

Zita Carvalhosa / Brazil

Founder and director of the São Paulo International Short Film Festival, Zita Carvalhosa is also a successful producer. As managing director of the Brazilian company Superfilmes, she has brought many films to the screen, including the drama A Casa de Alice (Alice’s House, Panorama 2007). In 2009 she organized and staged the Festival de Video Tela Digital, a short film competition for film, TV and new media. Zita Carvalhosa is also active as film curator and publisher.

Max Dax / Germany

As chief editor of Spex, a German magazine for pop culture, Max Dax is an expert on youth and pop cultures. For several years he was chief editor of the interview magazine Alert and has also authored a number of books. His publications include a biography of Nick Cave and the story of the band Einstürzende Neubauten. Max Dax also produced the CD compilation “Il Canto di Malavita – La Musica della Mafia”.

Xawery Żuławksi / Poland

A graduate of the National Film School in Lodz, Xawery Żuławksi won the award for Best Debut Director in 2006 at the Polish Film Festival in Gdynia for his debut film Chaos. His next film, Wojna polsko-ruska (Snow White and Russian Red), was a big box-office hit in Poland. Xawery Żuławski, who is the son of master director Andrej Żuławski, has come to be regarded as an important voice in new Polish cinema.