Guests
Coming to Isola Cinema 2011
Piergiorgio Gay, No Fear (Italy, 2010), director
Born in 1959, Gay started his film career as an assistant director with Maurizio Zaccaro, Ermanno Olmi and Michele Placido. In 1982, he became one of the first members of the Ipotesi Cinema film school. With Three Stories (1998), he won the Nestle Award at the Torino International Festival of Young Cinema, he was nominated for the Golden Lion Award for The Power of Past (2002) at the Venice Film Festival, and was also nominated for the David at David di Donatello Awards.
Mauro Andrizzi, In the Future (Argentina, 2010), director
Born in Argentina in 1980, Mauro Andrizzi made some short films during his scriptwriting studies and following graduation, showing three documentaries (Color and Pixel (2006), Mono (2007) and Iraqui Short Films (2008)) at important international film festivals. In the future is his first full-length feature, which won him the Queer Lion prize at last year's Venice Film Festival.
Eduardo del Llano, Nicanor: Pas de quatre, Aché, Pravda, Exit (Cuba, 2010), director
'He is one of the big shots in Cuban film, having written screenplays for Fernando Pérez, Gerardo Chijona and Daniel Díaz Torres. But not only is he a screenwriter, he is also head of the literature and theater group Nos y Otros and used to teach Art History at the University of Havana. On top of that, his novels and short stories are very popular all over Cuba, some of them even having been published in Europe. And now he even is a director. So, definitely a big shot. / ... / I was with him in Havana when the first of the Nicanor short films, Monte Rouge (2005) – a comedy about officers coming to a man’s (Nicanor’s) house and telling him that they will install microphones to make sure they hear all his anti-government statements – had just been finished and had mysteriously distributed itself among the Cuban underground (within a few days, it had even made it all the way to Miami!). It was Eduardo’s first film as a director and he was kind of nervous about it. He quickly relaxed, though: whichever street he walked, there were always people who had seen the film – strangers or acquaintances – addressing him, congratulating him, showing him deep respect for his work. And for his courage and talent. After ten Nicanor shorts, Eduardo is now making his first feature-length film. Way to go, big shot!' (Evelin Stark, Assistant Director, International Film Festival Innsbruck)
Daniel Diaz Torres, Lisanka (Cuba, Russia, 2010), director
'Daniel Díaz Torres is one of the most important Cuban filmmakers since the triumph of the Castro Revolution. He has a different manner of filmmaking compared to his colleagues, most of whom were more allied with the socialist system while others made films that were not about revolutionary themes. Daniel was in between. He made comedies like Alicia en el pueblo de maravillas (Alice in Wonderland) and Tropicanita (both written by Eduardo del Llano, a well-known Cuban writer and filmmaker), which criticized the system in a funny and crazy way. He was never against Castro, yet he has made films that have criticised the Cuban way of life and the lack of possibilities of getting answers to actual questions. With Alicia, he became famous worldwide because the film was not screened in Cuba, save some individual screenings. Nobody abroad understood what had happened, but the government felt insulted by the film and wouldn't mention why. This was the beginning of the international career of DDT. For me, DDT is the best example from inside the Cuban Revolution of being creative in a critical way. He has inspired many young filmmakers who did not have the experience of Cuba’s revolutionary avant-gardists.'
(Helmut Groschup, Director of International Film Festival Innsbruck, Kino Otok Programme Board Member)
Marcin Wrona, The Christening (Poland, 2010), director
Marcin Wrona was born in Tarnow (Poland) in 1973. He studied film in several Polish establishments and at the Netherlands’Binger Film Institute. His 2001 short Magnet Man (Czlowiek magnes) won numerous prizes at film festivals; this was followed by several more short films and TV work, plus theatre plays. He made his feature-film debut with My Flesh My Blood (Moja krew, 2009). Wrona lives in Warsaw, lectures on film in Katowice, supports the Wisla Krakow football team, and stands just under two meters tall.
Desiree Reyes Peña, Jean Gentil (Dominican Republic, Mexico, Germany, 2010), producer
Aleksei Fedorčenko, Silent Souls (Russia, 2010), director
Born in 1966 in the Siberian town of Sol Iletski, Fedorchenko worked as a factory engineer on space defence projects in Ekaterinburg which might have been the original inspiration for his mockumentary about a 1930s Soviet landing on the moon (First on the Moon, 2005). After having been the director of Sverdlovsk Studio – in which he produced over 80 films – for fifteen years, Fedorchenko started making his own films. Silent Souls is his third feature film.
Ferdinand Lapuz, Sampaguita, National Flower (Philippines, 2010), producer and world sales
Francis Xavier Pasion, Sampaguita, National Flower (Philippines, 2010), director
Francis Pasion was born in Manila, Philippines, and graduated cum laude with a major in Communication at the Ateneo de Manila, where he founded the university's first film organization: the Loyola Film Circle. He is currently teaching Independent Film at the university. Sampaguita, National Flower is his second film. The film won the Special Jury Prize at the Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival in the Philippines in 2010.
Prasanna Jayakody, Karma (Sri Lanka, 2010) and Introspection (Sri Lanka, 2006), director
Born in 1968 in an artistic family, which was strongly rooted in traditional Sinhala values, and he grew up in a Buddhist environment. This became a major inspiration for his productions. When he was 21 he made his debut with the stage drama Shadows and Men, which was a critical success. He then started directing television dramas that were loved by the masses and won him numerous television awards. He shot his first full-length feature Sankara in 2006, Karma is his second feature.
Lawrence Tooley, Headshots (Austria, Germany, 2010)
Born in Shiner, Texas. Studied philosophy and communication at university. Fulbright scholarship to Hamburg, Germany. Studied at the University of Fine Arts of Hamburg in 2000. Exhibitions of video art and photography at various galleries. Worked as a film editor, writer, and commissioning editor in various capacities while studying film direction at the German Academy of TV & Film in Berlin. Headshots is his debut feature film.
Pang Ho-cheung, Love in a Puff (Hong Kong, 2010)
Born in 1973 in Hong Kong, a versatile artist made his first short films at the age of fifteen. Later, he worked as a playwright and a film critic. Johnnie To made a film based on his novel entitled Fulltime Killer from 1997. In 2001, Pang Ho-cheung debuted with his first full-length film You Shoot, I Shoot. With Isabella (2006), he wins the Silver Bear for Best Film Music at the Berlin International Film Festival. Love in A Puff is his ninth full-length film.
Nikola Ležaić, Tilva Roš (Serbia, 2010)
Nikola Ležaić was born in 1981 in Serbia. He graduated in film directing from the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade. He is the co-founder of the comics group Smog and a member of the literary movement Metasinkrizam. Ležaić is also the author of numerous award-winning documentaries and short films. In 2010, he made his feature debut, which was presented the Heart of Sarajevo award and the prize for the Best Lead Actor at the Sarajevo Film Festival.
Amanda Langlet, Rohmer's Pauline in Pauline at the Beach
On Thursday, at 15.00, at Kino Odeon, you will get a chance to meet and spend an hour in the presence of Rohmer’s muse and the festival’s special guest Amanda Langlet. Talking with the unforgettable Pauline at the Beach and Margot from A Summer’s Tale will be Jože Dolmark, who attended Rohmer’s lectures at the Sorbonne. This is an exceptional opportunity to get to know Rohmer first-hand and up-close. And perhaps to find out why his men and women attract us so. In addition to the talk, we will screen a few clips with Amanda Langlet, but above all she will be available for all your questions.
Piergiorgio Gay, No Fear (Italy, 2010), director
Born in 1959, Gay started his film career as an assistant director with Maurizio Zaccaro, Ermanno Olmi and Michele Placido. In 1982, he became one of the first members of the Ipotesi Cinema film school. With Three Stories (1998), he won the Nestle Award at the Torino International Festival of Young Cinema, he was nominated for the Golden Lion Award for The Power of Past (2002) at the Venice Film Festival, and was also nominated for the David at David di Donatello Awards.
Mauro Andrizzi, In the Future (Argentina, 2010), director
Born in Argentina in 1980, Mauro Andrizzi made some short films during his scriptwriting studies and following graduation, showing three documentaries (Color and Pixel (2006), Mono (2007) and Iraqui Short Films (2008)) at important international film festivals. In the future is his first full-length feature, which won him the Queer Lion prize at last year's Venice Film Festival.
Eduardo del Llano, Nicanor: Pas de quatre, Aché, Pravda, Exit (Cuba, 2010), director
'He is one of the big shots in Cuban film, having written screenplays for Fernando Pérez, Gerardo Chijona and Daniel Díaz Torres. But not only is he a screenwriter, he is also head of the literature and theater group Nos y Otros and used to teach Art History at the University of Havana. On top of that, his novels and short stories are very popular all over Cuba, some of them even having been published in Europe. And now he even is a director. So, definitely a big shot. / ... / I was with him in Havana when the first of the Nicanor short films, Monte Rouge (2005) – a comedy about officers coming to a man’s (Nicanor’s) house and telling him that they will install microphones to make sure they hear all his anti-government statements – had just been finished and had mysteriously distributed itself among the Cuban underground (within a few days, it had even made it all the way to Miami!). It was Eduardo’s first film as a director and he was kind of nervous about it. He quickly relaxed, though: whichever street he walked, there were always people who had seen the film – strangers or acquaintances – addressing him, congratulating him, showing him deep respect for his work. And for his courage and talent. After ten Nicanor shorts, Eduardo is now making his first feature-length film. Way to go, big shot!' (Evelin Stark, Assistant Director, International Film Festival Innsbruck)
Daniel Diaz Torres, Lisanka (Cuba, Russia, 2010), director
'Daniel Díaz Torres is one of the most important Cuban filmmakers since the triumph of the Castro Revolution. He has a different manner of filmmaking compared to his colleagues, most of whom were more allied with the socialist system while others made films that were not about revolutionary themes. Daniel was in between. He made comedies like Alicia en el pueblo de maravillas (Alice in Wonderland) and Tropicanita (both written by Eduardo del Llano, a well-known Cuban writer and filmmaker), which criticized the system in a funny and crazy way. He was never against Castro, yet he has made films that have criticised the Cuban way of life and the lack of possibilities of getting answers to actual questions. With Alicia, he became famous worldwide because the film was not screened in Cuba, save some individual screenings. Nobody abroad understood what had happened, but the government felt insulted by the film and wouldn't mention why. This was the beginning of the international career of DDT. For me, DDT is the best example from inside the Cuban Revolution of being creative in a critical way. He has inspired many young filmmakers who did not have the experience of Cuba’s revolutionary avant-gardists.'
(Helmut Groschup, Director of International Film Festival Innsbruck, Kino Otok Programme Board Member)
Marcin Wrona, The Christening (Poland, 2010), director
Marcin Wrona was born in Tarnow (Poland) in 1973. He studied film in several Polish establishments and at the Netherlands’Binger Film Institute. His 2001 short Magnet Man (Czlowiek magnes) won numerous prizes at film festivals; this was followed by several more short films and TV work, plus theatre plays. He made his feature-film debut with My Flesh My Blood (Moja krew, 2009). Wrona lives in Warsaw, lectures on film in Katowice, supports the Wisla Krakow football team, and stands just under two meters tall.
Desiree Reyes Peña, Jean Gentil (Dominican Republic, Mexico, Germany, 2010), producer
Aleksei Fedorčenko, Silent Souls (Russia, 2010), director
Born in 1966 in the Siberian town of Sol Iletski, Fedorchenko worked as a factory engineer on space defence projects in Ekaterinburg which might have been the original inspiration for his mockumentary about a 1930s Soviet landing on the moon (First on the Moon, 2005). After having been the director of Sverdlovsk Studio – in which he produced over 80 films – for fifteen years, Fedorchenko started making his own films. Silent Souls is his third feature film.
Ferdinand Lapuz, Sampaguita, National Flower (Philippines, 2010), producer and world sales
Francis Xavier Pasion, Sampaguita, National Flower (Philippines, 2010), director
Francis Pasion was born in Manila, Philippines, and graduated cum laude with a major in Communication at the Ateneo de Manila, where he founded the university's first film organization: the Loyola Film Circle. He is currently teaching Independent Film at the university. Sampaguita, National Flower is his second film. The film won the Special Jury Prize at the Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival in the Philippines in 2010.
Prasanna Jayakody, Karma (Sri Lanka, 2010) and Introspection (Sri Lanka, 2006), director
Born in 1968 in an artistic family, which was strongly rooted in traditional Sinhala values, and he grew up in a Buddhist environment. This became a major inspiration for his productions. When he was 21 he made his debut with the stage drama Shadows and Men, which was a critical success. He then started directing television dramas that were loved by the masses and won him numerous television awards. He shot his first full-length feature Sankara in 2006, Karma is his second feature.
Lawrence Tooley, Headshots (Austria, Germany, 2010)
Born in Shiner, Texas. Studied philosophy and communication at university. Fulbright scholarship to Hamburg, Germany. Studied at the University of Fine Arts of Hamburg in 2000. Exhibitions of video art and photography at various galleries. Worked as a film editor, writer, and commissioning editor in various capacities while studying film direction at the German Academy of TV & Film in Berlin. Headshots is his debut feature film.
Pang Ho-cheung, Love in a Puff (Hong Kong, 2010)
Born in 1973 in Hong Kong, a versatile artist made his first short films at the age of fifteen. Later, he worked as a playwright and a film critic. Johnnie To made a film based on his novel entitled Fulltime Killer from 1997. In 2001, Pang Ho-cheung debuted with his first full-length film You Shoot, I Shoot. With Isabella (2006), he wins the Silver Bear for Best Film Music at the Berlin International Film Festival. Love in A Puff is his ninth full-length film.
Nikola Ležaić, Tilva Roš (Serbia, 2010)
Nikola Ležaić was born in 1981 in Serbia. He graduated in film directing from the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade. He is the co-founder of the comics group Smog and a member of the literary movement Metasinkrizam. Ležaić is also the author of numerous award-winning documentaries and short films. In 2010, he made his feature debut, which was presented the Heart of Sarajevo award and the prize for the Best Lead Actor at the Sarajevo Film Festival.
Amanda Langlet, Rohmer's Pauline in Pauline at the Beach
On Thursday, at 15.00, at Kino Odeon, you will get a chance to meet and spend an hour in the presence of Rohmer’s muse and the festival’s special guest Amanda Langlet. Talking with the unforgettable Pauline at the Beach and Margot from A Summer’s Tale will be Jože Dolmark, who attended Rohmer’s lectures at the Sorbonne. This is an exceptional opportunity to get to know Rohmer first-hand and up-close. And perhaps to find out why his men and women attract us so. In addition to the talk, we will screen a few clips with Amanda Langlet, but above all she will be available for all your questions.
