The Tribeca Film Institute (TFI) announced the winners of the 10th Annual Tribeca All Access (TAA) Creative Promise Awards presented by the Time Warner Foundation at a ceremony earlier tonight. The narrative The Lobbyists and the documentary (T)ERROR were selected from 11 projects based on the strength of their vision and filmmaking promise. Each project received $10,000 to help bring their films to completion. The Institute also announced this year’s TAA alumni grants and fellowships during the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival. The grants, all presented at tonight’s event, total over $90,000 in funds.
Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, TAA was created to help foster and nurture relationships between film industry executives and filmmakers from traditionally underrepresented communities. Since its founding in 2003, TAA has championed 227 films and over 500 filmmakers who identify as members of a minority group. Past TAA-supported films have gone on to premiere at film festivals around the country, received distribution deals and garnered critical acclaim.
The 2013 TAA Creative Promise narrative jurors were Ruben Blades, John Forte and Tea Leoni. The award’s documentary jurors were Shola Lynch, Sol Guy and Rachel Dratch.
“The hundreds of filmmakers who have participated in our Tribeca All Access program over the past ten years make up a very strong community of artists,” said Beth Janson, Executive Director of TFI. “We are grateful to all of our partners for helping us continue our support of these diverse voices and help bring stories of their communities to life.”
This year’s Tribeca All Access Creative Promise winners were:
Narrative Award Winner:
The Lobbyists
A conman with no past and a former CIA agent join forces to “lobby” politicians by blackmailing them into voting for progressive legislation.
Directed by Terence Nance; Produced by Chanelle Pearson and Andrew Corkin
Documentary Award Winner:
(T)ERROR
(T)ERROR captures the spectacular unraveling of an active FBI counterterrorism sting operation, and the dramatic aftermath that occurs when the target of the investigation realizes that a government informant is setting him up.
Directed & Produced by Lyric R Cabral and David F Sutcliffe
Special Jury Mention (Documentary):
Time is Illmatic
Time Is Illmatic is a feature length documentary film, told through the lens of rapper NAS and his bluesman father OLU DARA, which deconstructs
Nas’ indelible rap album Illmatic and the socio-economic and cultural conditions that inspired it.
Directed and Produced by One9; Produced by Erik Parker
TAA’s programming and support for alumni this year included grants and fellowships for past TAA projects in development or new works by program alumni. The following grant recipients were announced:
TAA Alumni Documentary Grants
Support made possible by The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation for TAA alumni that display a palpable creative vision in the execution of their story, and undertake a riveting journalistic approach in their film’s subject matter.
· Turn it Around
· Despite the odds being stacked against them, Joe, Deprece, and Sergio undertake the arduous process of becoming classroom teachers with grace and courage by enrolling in an ambitious experiment in public education in California. Hoping to revitalize a system and a society that has only ever failed them, Joe, Deprece, and Sergio seek to break the cycle of high teacher turnover and outsider teachers in their communities’ schools.
· Produced and Directed by Dawn Valadez; Produced by Katherine Saviskas
· Untitled Colorado Documentary
· The film follows a landmark case in Colorado, where a 6-year-old male-to-female transgender girl is banned from using the girls’ bathroom at her elementary school.
· Produced and Directed by Eric Juhola; Produced by Jeremy and Randy Stulberg; Edited by Jeremy Stulberg
·
TAA Alumni Feature Narrative Awards
Grants to support TAA alumni that display creative vision in the execution of their scripted story and undertake a compelling cinematic, stylized, or dramatic approach to their characters.
· A Pebble of Love in the Shoe of My Life
An anti-coming of age drama about a young couple figuring out love and loyalty as they organize a rally in support of immigrant rights.
Written and Directed by Hossein Keshavarz; Produced by Chad Burris
· Untitled Colombia Project
A story following three women whose interlocking stories shed light on the horrific reality of sexual assault in the context of Colombia’s decades long armed conflict.
Written and Directed by Paola Mendoza; Written by Gloria La Morte; Produced by Joseph La Morte and Liz Manne
TAA On-Track Grants
Grants to further assist TAA alumni with the completion of their past TAA project or further the development of a new work-in-progress.
· Evolution of a Criminal (Documentary)
· Ten years after robbing a Bank of America, filmmaker Darius Monroe returns home to examine how his actions affected the lives of family, friends… and victims.
Directed by Darius Clark Monroe; Produced by Jen Gatien; Executive Produced by Spike Lee
· Los Valientes (Narrative)
Struggling to find work and recover from a break-up, Felix, a gay and undocumented Mexican, leaves San Francisco for a small town in Pennsylvania where his undocumented sister promises steady work and the comfort of family. Once there, alienated by the town’s newly proposed anti-immigration law and forced into silence around his sexuality, Felix finds unexpected solace in the company of one person, his sister’s husband.
Directed and written by Aurora Guerrero
TAA Adrienne Shelly Foundation Filmmaker Grant
A grant to aid in the advancement of talented women filmmakers to further their projects towards completion or distribution.
Afia Nathaniel – Director/Writer/Producer
Dukhtar (based on her TAA screenplay formerly “Neither the Veil nor the Four Walls”)
A mother goes on an extraordinary journey to save her ten year old daughter from an arranged marriage.
TAA Marketing & Web Fellowship
A collaboration between TAA and Push Creative, a full service branding agency, to encourage audience development – including a newly-designed website.
Oscar’s Comeback
Through the lens of an annual mom-and-pop film festival in rural South Dakota –beleaguered amidst escalating racial and economic tensions — witness an 8-year behind-the-scenes chronicle of how worlds collide for a motley band of dreamers, as their dwindling all-white small-town champions their unsung black ‘native son’: early 1900s homesteader-turned-unlikely-film-pioneer, Oscar Micheaux — known to some as the “Godfather of Independent Cinema.”
Directed and Produced by Lisa Collins and Mark Schwartzburt
Tribeca Hacks TAA/Games 4 Change
Tribeca Hacks Games
In partnership with Games 4 Change, TAA filmmakers will be selected to participate in a special game-design workshop during the Games for Change Festival in June as part of the Tribeca Hacks initiative.
TAA Packaging the Pitch Grants
Grants to support alumni who need assistance developing a visual-based pitch for their project (i.e. trailer, location shooting, sample scene).
· The Odyssey of Al Sharpton (Documentary)
· Al Sharpton tells his story and takes us on a journey through his colorful life – and through that journey, the viewer experiences the shifting river of American race relations and how racial politics have transformed.
Produced and Directed by Yoruba Richen
· Hound Dog (Narrative)
A 50’s heartthrob plays Russian Roulette, killing himself and the crossover dreams of R&B mogul Don Robey. Police investigate the tragedy exposing adultery, betrayal, libel, larceny and other vices leaving the police and fans asking, “who killed Johnny Ace?”
Written and Directed by Crayton Robey; Written and Produced by Letitia Guillory
During this year’s Tribeca Film Festival (April 17-28), TFI filmmakers from TAA participated in one-on-one industry meetings on Tuesday, April 23 and Wednesday, April 24 to network with film industry executives, potential investors, development executives, producers and agents.
The TAA Creative Promise Awards and the alumni grants were presented at an evening reception at MEGU in Manhattan on April 24, 2013.
TAA is made possible with major support from the Time Warner Foundation and additional support from, Heineken, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA), New York State council on the Arts (NYSCA), The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and The National Endowment forthe Arts.
Sugarcane has been hip to Flutronix for a while. We love music here and found Flutronix to be refreshing mix of pop and classical music played on the instruments most girls want to play ( at least I did- but I ended up playing the clarinet) and makes it just as appealing as a saxophone. We had a chance to speak to the pair as they gear up to release their next album ” 2.0″.
How did you get started? What brought you together to create this interesting mix of classical music and hip hop?(Allison) When Nathalie and I meet, which was over 5 years ago, because we discovered one others music. We had a lot in common in terms of our experience and the various types of music that we like….that kind of brought us together.
What made you decide to mix all of the genres together?(Nathalie) Both Allison and I really grew up with a fondness for wide array of music, so although we grew up and were trained in classical flutists, hip and jazz and electronic music ….it natural progression to start incorporating some of those styles and techniques into our older style, which now we’re calling it urban Art Pop.
What inspires you?(Allison) Outside of music, we’re drawn to an aesthetic ….that’s finer and also a little bit more gritty. It’s the aesthetic we are inspired by both in music and art, fashion. It’s a theme that crosses over, it’s been influential that we do.
What is on your nightstand? What are you reading?(Allison) My favorite issue of Paper Magazine. They have a wonderful of forecasting who to watch.( Nathalie) I read he New Yorker in the morning and various magazines.
Who are you listening to?( Nathalie) My latest it group is Empress Of, I think she is a solo act. I recently discovered her on a music blog.I’m really loving her EP. The latest Lupe Fiasco record is very good. I’ve been getting more into Kendrick Lamar; but I’ve been visiting his older stuff now that he’s so popular. ( Allison) I always have a bit of a throw back. I’m always listening to new music …but someone introduced me to the “Cocktail Twins” They’re incredible. I’ve listened to a few of their records in my most recent playlist .
What’s next for you?We just finished mixing our next record which will be out in late August. The plan is to do a larger and ambitious tour…. As we promote the next record, really get out there and go international this time.
If you think this snippet was interesting, listen to their latest track:
The Tribeca Film Institute (TFI) announced the award winners for the TFI Latin America Media Arts Fund, Heineken VOCES and TFI/WorldView Partnership grants at a celebration for Latin American filmmakers during the Tribeca Film Festival. The funds, totaling $130,000, support innovative Latin American film and video artists to help them explore stories reflecting diverse cultures and gain exposure in the film industry. In addition, Bloomberg, the new presenting sponsor of the TFI Latin America Media Arts Fund, will award grants and mentorship to the inaugural group of three Bloomberg Fellows to aid in the development of their projects.
The TFI Latin America Media Arts Fund awards $10,000 grants to animation, documentary, or hybrid feature-length films in advanced development, production or post-production from filmmakers living and working in the Caribbean, Mexico, Central and South America. Grantees also receive exclusive guidance from TFI to ensure that each film reaches completion and enters the U.S. marketplace from the best possible vantage point.
As the new presenting sponsor, Bloomberg will provide support that furthers TFI’s commitment to champion Latin American filmmakers. The partnership will launch in the summer of 2013 with a series of multi-day workshops in Sao Paulo, Brazil; Mexico City, Mexico; and Santiago, Chile. Each workshop will be aimed at educating, assisting and aiding five emerging filmmakers in each region with the development of their feature documentary or hybrid works, as well as focusing on pitch training and international funding. The three Bloomberg Fellows, one from each region, will be awarded a $12,000 grant and an invitation to participate in one of the workshops. The TFI Latin America Media Arts Fund is also sponsored by Moviecity and CANACINE.
“Bloomberg’s commitment as presenting sponsor allows us to provide in-depth, hands-on support to talented artists living and working in Latin America. It is an exciting time for Latin American filmmaking and thanks to Bloomberg we will be able to help introduce these creative and refreshing stories to audiences around the globe.” said Ryan Harrington, Director of Documentary Programming for TFI. “The VOCES grant allows us to invest in and cultivate Latin American talent working in the United States and provides American audiences with dynamic and diverse film experiences. We are thankful for the generous support from Bloomberg and Heineken.”
Each of the winning films were selected by a jury of industry professionals including producer, Leonardo Zimbron; award-winning filmmaker, Julia Bacha; and co-founding director of Cinema Tropical, Carlos A. Gutiérrez.
The following three filmmakers and project have been selected as the 2013 Bloomberg Fellows:
· Children/Los Ninos (Chile), Directed by Maite Alberdi Soto; Produced by Clara Taricco – A group of friends with Down’s Syndrome face a new stage in life. They feel unprepared to grow old. Parents die, they are left alone, and they suffer diseases of the elderly, like Alzheimer’s.
· The City Where I’m Getting Old (Brazil), Directed by Marilia Rocha; Produced by Luana Melgaço – At a moment when the Portuguese government publicly recommends that the country’s citizens seek work abroad, a young Portuguese woman, Teresa Pestana heads for the city of Belo Horizonte, one of the major Brazilian state capitals.
· Someone Else’s Secret (Mexico), Written and Directed by Hector Barrios; Written and Produced by Denisse Quintero – Through a Private Detective’s life and work, Someone Else’s Secret follows a real case of distrust and portraits the honest communication crisis prevailing in modern societies. On a double espionage, the documentary reveals the Detective’s secrets.
“We are excited to begin this new partnership with the TFI Latin America Media Arts Fund and to award our first Bloomberg Fellows,” said Erana Stennett, Bloomberg. “In addition to the Fellows honored at this year’s Festival, the strong industry support TFI will provide all of the filmmakers participating in the workshops in Sao Paulo, Mexico City and Santiago will be invaluable.”
The following four films are winners of this year’s TFI Latin America Media Arts Fund:
The Girl Behind the Camera (Argentina), Directed and Produced by Paula Schargorodsky – A 35 year old woman has chronicled the last10 years of her life on film. Five boyfriends and two wedding proposals later she remains single. The Girl Behind the Camera is a humorous, intimate investigation on a generation of unsettled women that poses a question about the choices we make (or don’t make) in life.
· Missed Days/Los Dias No Vuelven (Mexico), Produced and Directed by Raul Cuesta; Written by Fernando del Razo – Disappointed over a premature retirement from professional tennis and never fulfilling his deceased father’s dreams, Enrique hopes the birth of his first child will bring him redemption.
· The Naptime (Mexico), Written, Produced and Directed by Carolina Platt – A visual elegy through the eyes of the director that follows how families learn to live with the loss of a child
· Solitude Square/Plaza de la Soledad (Mexico), Directed by Maya Goded; Produced by Martha Sosa Elizondo; Co-Produced by Iris Lammertsma – Two aged prostitutes see themselves forced to contemplate their lives and confront their issues so they can live out the remainder of their days with dignity and hope.
As part of the Latin America Media Arts Fund, the Heineken VOCES Award is granted to one documentary and one narrative project annually. Launched in 2012, the awards are granted to Latino filmmakers 21 and older living in the United States and working on feature-length narrative or documentary films that offer new perspectives on their cultural experiences.
“This is Heineken’s second year offering a VOCES grant and we are thrilled to continue to help establish the foundation for the next generation of Latino filmmakers,” said Pattie Falch, Brand Director, Heineken Sponsorships. “We are committed to supporting young Latinos so they can pursue their creative journeys, perfect their crafts in the film industry and realize their full potential.”
The winners of the Heineken VOCES grants are:
· Heineken VOCES Award for Documentary
Man of the Monkey, Directed by David Romberg – Intrigued by the tale of a scary man living in isolation with his chimpanzee wife, David Romberg travels to his childhood home on Ilha Grande, Brazil to find him, only to discover that the tale pales in comparison to what he uncovers.
Heineken VOCES Award for Narrative
Nobody is Watching, Written, Directed, Co-Produced by Julia Solomonoff, Written by Martina Broner, Co-Produced by Maria Arida – Guille, an out of work actor who knew success in Argentina, navigates life as an immigrant on the fringes of New York and wrestles to find a place he can call home.
An additional three development grants of $10,000 will be awarded to filmmaking teams based in Latin America and the Caribbean through the TFI/WorldView Partnership, a collaboration between the Tribeca Film Institute and CBA WorldView.
The winners of the TFI/WorldView Partnership grants are:
Growing in Oil (Venezuela), Written and Directed by Anabel Rodríguez Ríos – A story following the children of Congo Mirador as they survive the disappearance of their village, which is located in Lake Maracaibo, the largest oil field of Latin America. As a consequence of the oil industry, soil levels are changing and the village will turn into a swamp.
Night Inside Me (Bolivia), Directed by Sergio Estrada; Produced by Valeria Ponce – Primo is the leader of one of the most effective and experienced mining crews, yet not one of the luckiest. The crew’s routine changes the day Primo’s son decides to join them. When night falls in the mine… Everyone is left inside.
Swimming on Dry Land (Jamaica), Produced and Directed by Michelle Serieux – Jamaica is a land of many contradictions. The country that created Bob Marley and gave the world Rastafari, Reggae Music and “One Love,” has also produced a culture that is very intolerant of diversity.
Heineken USA, the world’s leading international brewer, and the Tribeca Film Institute® (TFI) announced the winner of the inaugural Heineken Affinity Award. The award, given to an African-American filmmaker (age 21 and over) to empower and encourage them to continue to craft stories through film, was awarded to Ava DuVernay. In addition to a $20,000 cash prize awarded at an event tonight, DuVernay will receive year round support and professional development from TFI for her future projects.
DuVernay, of Los Angeles, won the Best Director Award at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival for her second feature film, Middle of Nowhere. A writer, director and distributor of independent film, her directorial work also includes the critically-acclaimed dramatic feature I Will Follow, as well as the music documentaries This is the Life and My Mic Sounds Nice. Her upcoming project Part of the Sky, is currently in development. She is also the founder of the African-American Film Festival Releasing Movement (AFFRM). DuVernay was chosen as the winner by public vote on a website dedicated to the Heineken Affinity Award. Hundreds of thousands of visitors cast their votes from January 15 to March 31, 2013.
“We could not be more pleased to name such a talented and dedicated filmmaker as the winner of the first ever Heineken Affinity Award,” said Pattie Falch, Brand Director, Sponsorships and Events. “Heineken offers exceptional and unique experiences to our consumers and Ava does the same with her creative vision. We know she will go far with the funding and support we are able to provide along with the Tribeca Film Institute.”
The filmmakers were nominated for the award by a survey of industry executives. From the list of submissions, Heineken and TFI invited ten finalists to apply for the award based on their prior work and the amount they’ll benefit from extra exposure and resources. Submissions were reviewed on how well they fulfilled the mission of the Tribeca Film Institute, the quality and strength of the proposal, the potential for international and US distribution, as well as the filmmakers’ previous body of work.
In addition to DuVernay, the finalists were Andrew Dosunmu, Cheryl Dunye, Nelson George, Kahlil Joseph, Victoria Mahoney, Terence Nance, Akosua Adoma Owuso, Yvonne Welbon, and Ross Williams. Each of the filmmakers will receive a $1,000 grant.
“Our partnership with Heineken on the Affinity Award allows TFI to broaden our support of working filmmakers from communities that are underrepresented in the film industry,” said Beth Janson, Executive Director, TFI. “We were excited to see such an incredible range of talent and diverse voices in this inaugural group of filmmakers. We look forward to supporting many more artists in the years to come and we thank Heineken for their dedication to the field.”
For more information about the Heineken Affinity Award please visit www.tribecafilminstitute.org, or follow Heineken on Twitter at @Heineken_US.
Akosua Adoma Owusu, Ghanaian director and writer of the acclaimed short film Kwaku Ananse, is thrilled to have her first narrative short nominated by the Africa Movie Academy Awards. “At its inception, I struggled to find a Ghanaian audience that would value our traditional story in contemporary cinema. It’s truly humbling Kwaku Ananse received the AMAA nomination for my first fiction short film. “
Kwaku Ananse was commissioned by Focus Features, as part of their prestigious Africa First Award Program, and supported by the Sarah Jacobson Grant, Art Matters grant, and a well-received IndieGogo Campaign. The short film is a re-telling of the classic West African fable with a semi-autobiographical twist, featuring Ghana’s legendary palm wine musician, Koo Nimo as Kwaku Ananse. Owusu received this award after gaining international attention with her short films, Drexciya and Me Broni Ba, as well as from her work within the art world at the famed Studio Museum in Harlem. Me Broni Ba, specifically, screened at over 80 international film festivals and was later acquired for distribution by The Cinema Guild.
Combined with the unique co-production efforts of acclaimed Mexican producer, Julio Chavezmontes (Sundance New Frontier “Halley”) and Lisa Cortes (Executive Producer for Academy Award Winning “Precious”), Kwaku Ananse premiered in competition at the prestigious Berlinale Film Festival, as part of the Golden Bear competition, and was met with rave reviews. Says the Guardian Nigeria, “If Nollywood was absent at the Berlinale, Ghana was not. Akosua Adoma Owusu gave Ghana something to cheer about at the Berlinale” View trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-t6bYip32W8
Between travelling internationally to screen her acclaimed works, and hustling to acquire the funding needed to propel everything forward, Owusu is working hard to both further her own dreams and inspire other African filmmakers that they, too, can do the same. Recently awarded the Most Promising Filmmaker prize at Ann Arbor Film Festival and named in the Huffington Post of “Top 30 Black Contemporary Artists Under 40”, she’s certainly paving the way to do both and is thrilled that Kwaku Ananse, is preserving a piece of Ghanaian mythology and is being so well-received by international audiences.
“I had been sold and I had no will of my own and I could not look after my body and health… that I am a slave and would therefore come and complain.” With these words, Abina Mansah described to an unsympathetic courtroom her experiences and her reasons for bringing charges against her former master. The important men in the courtroom may not have listened to her, but her words were recorded so that we can hear them today. In this book, the silencing of so many young, enslaved girls is challenged through the courageous actions and bold declarations of Abina Mansah, and contextualized for use in the classroom or the education of the individual reader. “-Publisher
Slavery is stain on global society that can never be healed. For the African Diaspora, it is a permanent that tattoo that we are still trying to deal with: do we celebrate our resilience like our Jewish brothers and sisters or do we try to forget it happened like some diaspora communities do. Or do we take on the attitude that some Europeans take and act as if this not such a “big deal” because it happened in the past. What ever we choose, it will not change that slavery happened and in some parts of the world, is still a modern day occurrence. The book Abina and the Important Men: A Graphic Novel documents a true story of a slave held in what is now Ghana. It is is the story of a woman fighting for what was her birthright and the audacity to have to not only fight for it, but to have to fight a panel of white men to do so. This novel gives a break down of not only the case, but the sometimes sticky circumstance of the British Kingdom’s true stance on slavery. This is an interesting way of telling the story the African Holocaust and an effective way of teaching youth by using a medium that even reluctant readers can understand. Get your copy here.
Ghana native Selasi has worked with an impressive roster of artists : Kandi Burruss, Idris Elba, Akon, Nas, Pimp C, Jagged Edge, Ying Yang Twins, Trey Songz, Keyshia Cole, Rasheeda, Killer Mike, Devyne Stephens, Petey Pablo, Boys in Da Hood, Bobby Valentino and Yung Joc to name a few. However, despite his prowess in working the boards in Atlanta’s most well known recording studios, nothing is like making his own music. Making his mark on the world with his musical talent is the reason why he moved to the U.S. to attend university and secretly build his own music career while satisfying his parent’s desire to see his degree on their wall with his name on it. Sugarcane had the opportunity to speak with Selasi AKA the African Kid about his influences and his EP Shades of Grey, a blend of African,Caribbean and Pop Music ( plus, he’ll be on Bravo’s ” The Kandi Factory” with Kandi Burruss on April 9th )
Sugarcane: Who were your musical influences while you were on the continent (Africa)
Selasi :Gospel Music and some American music. African music from Kanda Bongo Man, Bob Marley and I like Reggae.
Sugarcane:What made you decide to do your own music after working with the best in the industry?
Selasi: It wasn’t ever a time that I didn’t work on my music.
Sugarcane: You have your EP Shades of Grey out now, What are you looking to do in the future?
Selasi: My focus for now is the EP and pushing the music.After that, there are other fields I wouldn’t mind venturing into. I have the reality show with Kandi Burruss, I was in an African movie last year and I wouldn’t mind doing some more of that.
Sugarcane: I have to ask you about your upcoming show, “The Kandi Factory”. What can we expect this season?
Selasi: It was crazy, we had a lot of fun on it. We have 16 artists and we have 2 artists per episode. We have 5 days to turn regular people, people who sing in the bathroom, everyday singers into onstage professionals. So, it’s real crazy…. it makes for drama. It’s fun.
Want a taste of Selasi ( follow him here) the artist: Check out his video Call the Police below:
The International Madrid Documentary Festival, DOCUMENTA MADRID, will celebrate next May a new edition directed by Mikel Olaciregui (former director of San Sebastian Film Festival) and the new team of CINETECA (the Spanish theatre devoted to the “non-fiction” cinema, in charge of the festival).
With an absolutely different focus, the festival reducesthe number of sections and reinforces the international presence. Furthermore, DOCUMENTA MADRID keeps loyal to its aim of developing, enhancing and spreading the audiovisual panorama of documentary genre, “cinema of the real”, as long as it understands to be a reflection of the different social, political, cultural, economic, artistic and environmental realities that exist in the world.
Celebrating its 10th anniversary, DOCUMENTA MADRID renews the competition by concentrating on a single Official Selection made up of two competitive sections that will show the best worldwide productions of the year unreleased in Spain. The selection approach will focus on the quality of the films, regardless of their country of origin.
The competition will be divided into two categories: Feature length documentary films (more than 60 minutes) whose character privileges the narrative point of view, the information and/or the social interest about the current situation of the world; and Short length documentary films (no longer than 30 minutes and which do not take part of a serial).
An International Jury will give next awards to each category:
First Award (provided with 10.000 Euro for length films & 4.000 Euro for short films)
Second Award (5.000 Euro for length films & 2.000 Euro for short films)
Special Jury Award, a special mention, carrying a diploma & highlighting the reasons of this honor.
An Audience Award, provided with 3,000 Euros for length films & 1.000 Euros for short films, will be also given.
The composition of the juries will be announced some weeks after closing the selection process.
The festival will also offer two non-competitive sections dedicated, in this case, to Spanish production:
- Panorama: Overview of the Spanish Documentaries of the Year. A selection of the most highlighted titles produced in our country throughout the past months and not yet released in Madrid
- Retrospective: Spanish cinema during the Transition: a journey to one of the richest and most passionate phases of the Spanish documentary history, the years of the Transition. This cycle will enable the viewer to go through the essential titles as well as to discover new proposals and points of view of this era.
CINETECA will be the official venue of the festival, hosting the screenings of the Official Selection and Panorama, the Overview of the Spanish Documentary of the Year.
Moreover, DOCUMENTA MADRID collaborates with other venues extending the screenings of the Retrospective “Spanish cinema during the Transition” to Cine Doré (Spanish National Film Library). The festival will also host in its program the special programming by Casa Arabe during the festival and a cycle organized by Casa America about the Mexican Documentary: “Carta Blanca a Elena Fortes”, (a selection made by the Director of the Ambulante Festival).
New York, New York, April 2, 2013—The French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF), New York’s premier French cultural center, today announces the full program for the fifth edition of its World Nomads Festival, which returns this May to explore the rich arts and culture of Tunisia just two years after the Arab Spring. Conceived as a forum for dialogue between cultures, World Nomads is FIAF’s biennial celebration of 21st-century transculturalism in the Francophone world. Tickets will go on sale in early April.
Geographically situated at the epicenter of the European, Maghreb, and African worlds, Tunisia has served as an essential point of passage for people and ideas since ancient times. Today, following the events of January 2011, a groundswell of artistic innovation and experimentation permeates the country, anchoring it as a hub for intellectual and artistic dialogue reaching far beyond the Mediterranean region.
In the protests leading to the overthrow of President Ben Ali, Tunisian artists took to the streets by the thousands. Today, artists continue to play an essential role in defending freedom of expression in the nascent democracy. World Nomads Tunisia brings some of the most influential contemporary artistic figures active in Tunisia today to New York, including dynamic female leaders who are re-energizing Tunisia. Co-presented with leading Tunisian and U.S. cultural institutions, the festival is dedicated to advancing critical thinking about this vibrant country as it carves out a new identity post-revolution.
“In this critical period of transition for Tunisia, FIAF proudly supports and celebrates the phenomenal artistic creativity that has emerged on the heels of the Arab Spring,” said Marie-Monique Steckel, President of FIAF. “We’re thrilled to present this extraordinary opportunity for leading Tunisian artists to visit New York, and for New Yorkers to discover the richness and diversity of Tunisian culture through an exciting array of cultural events.”
World Nomads Tunisia opens with a special concert featuring Sonia M’Barek, a leading voice in the Arab world. Renowned for her exquisite renderings of maluf (Tunisian court music traditionally performed by men), she will be joined by the Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture ensemble for an evening of mellifluous music inspired by the Arab-Andalusian repertoire and the Mediterranean.
One of Tunisia’s most exciting and eclectic musical talents, singer Ghalia Benali has become renowned across the Middle East for her fluid voice and hypnotic compositions fusing Arabic folk and jazz traditions, contemporary chillout, and Indian classical music. Following her performance, the evening continues at CATCH’s rooftop bar where DJs Zinga, Raouf, and Ogra of the Tunis-based electronic music collective Waveform will keep the dance floor grooving to their free-flowing synthetic beats with a Tunisian twist.
Banned from the Tunisian airwaves, singer-songwriter Emel Mathlouthi’s protest songs became viral sensations, whose fiery lyrics were adapted as anthems for the Tunisian revolution. In a rare concert at FIAF, Mathlouthi will perform songs from her latest album Kelmti Horra (My Word is Free).
Performing alongside his Tunisian-born father, Tsvi Bokaer, internationally renowned dancer and choreographer Jonah Bokaer presents the U.S. premiere of The Ullysses Syndrome, a powerful meditation on the legacy of his ancestors in Tunisia, and on the psychic and emotional effects of immigration and displacement.
In his moving solo piece Sous leurs pieds, le paradis, also a U.S. premiere, Tunisian dancer Radhouane El Meddeb challenges traditional gender roles in the Maghreb, paying tribute to the “heroines, mothers, and sisters” in his life as he explores his own sensual side. And in Laaroussa, choreographers and siblings Selma and Sofiane Ouissi create a dance inspired by the time-honored rhythms and gestures of traditional women potters in rural Tunisia, captured in an immersive video installation that is at once abstract and sensual.
World Nomads invites New Yorkers to meet some of Tunisia and North Africa’s most dynamic women leaders in a series of engaging talks on the country’s artistic, social, and political transformation since the events of January 2011. Speakers will include Yamina Benguigui, French Minister of Francophonie; Amna Guellali, Director of Human Rights Watch Tunisia; model and blogger Kenza Fourati; Lina Lazaar Jameel, International Art Specialist at Sotheby’s; Tunisian contemporary arts specialist Leila Souissi; Dora Bouchoucha, film producer and founder of Nomadis Images; writer Hélé Béji; and El Iza Mohamedou, Chief Political Analyst at the African Development Bank.
Recreating a traditional Tunisian craft market, or Souk, FIAF brings the sights, sounds, and sensations of the Arab world’s legendary bazaars to Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Guests can sample delicate pastries and mint tea and browse handmade crafts reflecting Tunisia’s rich traditions.
In The After Revolution, curated by Leila Souissi, FIAF presents a trio of unprecedented exhibitions and events exploring the extraordinary role that visual artists have played, both in documenting the events of the Arab Spring and in galvanizing public discourse as the country emerges from the shadow of dictatorship. In Lower Manhattan at contemporary art space White Box, World Nomads Tunisia presents the work of Héla Ammar, Amine Boussoffara, Wassim Ghozlani, Amine Landoulsi, Zied Ben Romdhane, Rim Temimi, and Patricia Triki, seven Tunisian photographers who captured the tumultuous events of the country’s revolution. At FIAF’s Gallery, five leading contemporary Tunisian artists, Héla Ammar, Amel Ben Attia, Nicène Kossentini, Mouna Jemal Siala, and Mohamed Ben Slama present paintings, photographs, and video work addressing important social and political issues and the challenges faced by women in Tunisia today.
Strictly forbidden under Ben Ali, graffiti art has emerged as a powerful form of free expression in Tunisia post-revolution. World Nomads has invited Tunisian graffiti writers eL Seed and Jaye to create original works in venues throughout New York City, including at the New Museum’s IDEAS CITY festival, and the international “graffiti mecca” 5Pointz in Queens.
In a special CinémaTuesdays series, FIAF presents Tunisia in Film, curated by renowned Tunisian film producer Dora Bouchoucha. Featuring a selection of remarkable films by Moufida Tlati, Raja Amari, and other celebrated Tunisian directors, the series explores the place of women in Tunisian society, both before and after the events of January 2011.
World Nomads Tunisia is presented under the direction of:
Marie-Monique Steckel, President of FIAF; Lili Chopra, Artistic Director of FIAF; Antoine Guerrero, Director of Visual Arts at FIAF; Elizabeth Krief Manardo, Advisor and President of the World Nomads Tunisia Committee; Leila Souissi, Curator of Visual Arts; and Karim Maatoug, Programming Advisor. For more information on venues and times, visit http://www.fiaf.org/
Sugarcane Media
Spring Special!
Be a part of Sugarcane Magazine’s upcoming re-design!
Advertise with us for our 90 day/ $90 special!
Advertise your business to 10,000 unique visitors a week!
That’s just a $1 a day !!!!
