DAY 3, Feb. 11th

IN THE SWIM OF THINGS, AND MORE, DL-STYLE

Tonight’s brand [DL8] round-up includes special guest Simon Ellis (GB), a young filmmaker who has garnered a lot of attention since walking off with the Sundance International Jury Prize and the British Independent Film Award and 35 others for his unsettling and thought-provoking short “Soft”, which will be in the program along with a cross-section of his widely varying celluloid offerings. It’s all rounded up under the title “Swimming in Pictures and Sound”, and expect to do just that… and chat with Mr. Ellis himself. The rest of the evening is no slouch, either: DL Selection III has H.D. Motyl (US) in attendance, presenting “Nudes Descending a Staircase, #2” in Europe for the first time, as well as Alexandra Staples (GB) with “Static Cardiac Rhythms”, two of sixteen (!) premieres tonight. Lorenzo Karasz (AT) will be there in person with his and Florian Kogler’s “Fassadendialog” and George Groshkov (BG) with “Breakfast: Always on time”, too. The evening begins with a surprise program at 18:00 (6:00 p.m.) and Ost West Achse (pt II) providing Balkan Bond Blues” as live diversion starting at midnight. At Naherholung Sternchen, behind Kino International. If that doesn’t sound like something….!

                                                                              KT/Team DL

DAY 2, Feb 10

DOORS WIDE OPEN TO MEDIA, MATRYOSHKA MUSCLE AND MEOWS

A Glimpse into tonights screenings

Ophir Ben Shimon IL A Man Asleep 15 min 40 s 2011

An overwhelmed groom is making casual last arrangements in preparation for his expected wedding in the evening. Distracted and disturbed, his car hits a child crossing the highway. His search for a way out raises crucial questions regarding his social belonging.

If you want to know how a tango can be bitter or what happens when you follow your skin, make your way to [DL8] tonight, and find out… the Berlin International Directors Lounge Film Festival (in its eighth year) brings you such enigmatic subjects from a global crew of filmmakers. All in short films (from two to fifteen minutes), among them seven German, two European and six World Premieres… when were you last able to say you’d attended fifteen premieres in one night? “Irma” (Charles Fairbanks, US/MX) will provide an intriguing look at the former women’s pro wrestling world champion in what IndieLisboa’s Carlos Ramos describes as “a portrait built like a Russian matryoshka: surprise after surprise, revelation after revelation.” Maurizio von Trapp (GB) will be in attendance, world-premiering “Miss Mia Meows”, as native talent Claudia Guilino will be doing with thoughtful Buddhas in “Stony Sleep”. “Media In Motion” gets us going at 18:00, then two blocks of DL selection shorts get underway at 20:00, bringing Israel within reach of Italy and India next to Ireland, with much more thrown in… not a night you’ll want to miss. Screenings within spitting distance of the bar. Of course, at Naherholung Sternchen, behind Kino International.

                                                                KT/Team DL

Maurizio Von Trapp GB Miss Mia Meows 11 min 50s 2011

Miss Mia meows, purrs, entangles her body amongst your legs; she also scratches and bites, and when bored or satisfied, Miss Mia leaves on the lookout for new adventures. She is adored by the bohemian masses that fill the gutters of the city when the sun goes down, all the bats and cats and rats that can’t expose themselves to daylight. Their HQ can be found at Madame Big Mo, a bar that houses a mixture of aristocrats, artists, tramps, whores and transexuals. Miss Mia’s journey is one of discovery, a path she has chosen for life: one that is neverending.

In this short film, we see her desperation through colourful lenses, in a world of technicolor that brings melancholy to a higher, comedic ground. Her surroundings build a world of timelessness, of erotic and mystic undertones.

Will Miss Mia continue on her path of uncertainty, or will she choose to settle down?

about Maurizio von Trapp:

Maurizio Von Trapp was born in Brazil in 1987. From Chilean and Italian descent, he now lives in the UK. In 2011, he completed his Film and TV BA (Hons) studies at the University of the Arts London, having worked in a number of different sectors of the UK film industry throughout his years as a student. His first short film, 1 or 2 Things I Don’t Know About Him, was selected for exhibition at the 2008 edition of the Raindance Film Festival in London. He is currently developing a number of projects, varying from music videos to video installations to short films.

IRMA by Charles Fairbanks US/MX 12 min 2010

Produced in Mexico / USA
Camera, Sound, Edit: Charles Fairbanks
Starring, and featuring music by: Irma Gonzalez

Irma is an intimate musical portrait of Irma Gonzalez, the former world champion of women’s professional wrestling. Filmed in Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl – a notorious district of Mexico City – Irma contradicts everything we have come to expect from stories reported from Mexico. Featuring music written and performed by Ms. Gonzalez, Irma’s story surges with love and deceit, masculine strength, feminine charms, and an extraordinary sense of humor.
“A portrait built like a Russian matryoshka: surprise after surprise, revelation after revelation.” – Carlos Ramos / IndieLisboa –

pictured: still from Irma

Select Screenings: Slamdance, CPH:DOX, Festival dei Popoli, Black Maria Film Festival, Images Festival, Festival de Cine Cero Latitud, Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, International Short Film Festival Hamburg, FLEX: the Florida Experimental Film Festival, PLAY-DOC, Independent Film Festival of Boston, Full Frame, IndieLisboa, Athens International Film & Video Fest, London International Doc Fest, DokuFest Kosovo, Chicago Underground Film Fest, Edindocs, Frameline, Festival de Cinema de Huesca, Dallas Video Fest, VideoDumbo, Antimatter, Silverdocs, Anthology Film Archives

Awards:
SHORT:DOX Prize at CPH:DOX
Best Documentary –– Honorable Mention at Carolina Video Festival Special Mention of the Jury at VIDEOMEDEJA in Novi Sad, Serbia about the cinéaste:

Charles Fairbanks is a wrestler and filmmaker from rural Nebraska, who studied Art and The History of Science at Stanford. His recent work focuses on pro wrestling in Mexico, where the artist fought as the One-Eyed Cat with a camera built into his mask. In 2010 Werner Herzog selected him to take part in the first Rogue Film School, and in 2011 Anthology Film Archives hosted Tender Muscles, a retrospective of Fairbanks’ five short films. The artist continues wrestling and filming toward his first feature.

www.charlesfairbanks.info

IRMA will be screened tonight as part of the DL SELECTION I on Fri 10 8pm

MATADOR by Maurizio von Trapp | World Premiere

in attendance

Matador takes an extreme and experimental approach to a subject so dear to cinema – voyeurism – whilst extending it to a wider context.
The film drives a parallel between pornography and bullfighting in a disjointed narrative reminiscent of dreams. As we watch a bullfighter seductively working the stage in a mixture of dance and sport, we are brought to a parallel underground world, where four women watch a couple having sex. An analogy is created between the spectacles of pornography and bullfighting, raising questions on the audience that is captivated by the entertainment being provided.
The sense of ceremony is widespread, as a nod to humanity’s need to assert themselves as intelligent, thinking things. The film, however, searches for something that goes beyond external exuberance to explore that which we all share: our animalistic instincts. Humans are, after all, an integrant part of the animal kingdom.

about Maurizio von Trapp:

Maurizio Von Trapp was born in Brazil in 1987. From Chilean and Italian descent, he now lives in the UK. In 2011, he completed his Film and TV BA (Hons) studies at the University of the Arts London, having worked in a number of different sectors of the UK film industry throughout his years as a student. His first short film, 1 or 2 Things I Don’t Know About Him, was selected for exhibition at the 2008 edition of the Raindance Film Festival in London. He is currently developing a number of projects, varying from music videos to video installations to short films.

MATADOR will be shown in World Premiere as part of the The Opening Mix II, Thurs 9 10:30pm, in attendance of Maurizio von Trapp

MISS MIA MEOWS by Maurizio von Trapp, another World Premiere, will be screened on Fri 10 10pm (DL Selection II)

Festivals United | The Official Festiwelt Party | Wed. Feb 15.

The 8th Berlin International Directors Lounge will be an ongoing, eleven days in a row, cinedalic party. But we are going to top it off by celebrating with all the Berlin Film Festivals. Wednesday, 15th, will be the night to party with all the movers and shakers of the Berlin Film universe. Enough Festivals to kill a Rhino. Party starts at 9pm, free admission till 10pm.

Fritz Stolberg´s Of This, Men Shall Know Nothing! awarded Best Experimental Film at the 9th London Short Film Festival.

‘The film combined fantastic surrealistic imagery and intriguing symbolism, which evinced a unique aesthetic vision’. London Short Film Festival 2012

compliments, well deserved.

Of This, Men Shall Know Nothing! will be screened as part of The 8th Berlin International Directors Lounge,

(via London Short Film Festival 2012)