LUCAS – International Festival for Young Film Lovers, announced the winning films of the festival in an award ceremony in Frankfurt, Germany.
Lucas International Film Festival For Young Film Lovers started on September 19th and concluded on September 26th. This year for the second time Cinema Without Borders offered award it’s GoE Bridging The Borders Award sponsored by Go Energistics at this festival.
At the award ceremony on September 26th after greetings and opening remarks, Yeganeh Taheri, CWB German Editor and a jury member, read the jury statement: “This year, our jury had a very difficult time choosing the winner of the GoE Bridging the Borders Award among seven amazing and beautiful films that were nominated by festival programers and reviewed by the Cinema Without Borders jury. These films represent the best in social impact cinema. They each inspire us to look beyond the divisions of race, religion, gender, color or creed, and instead they portray universal stories of human struggle, resilience, and everything in between. This year’s films represent the authentic experience of what it means to be human. They ignite in viewers a deep sense of common compassion for our fellow brothers and sisters, neighbors and strangers, and through that compassion they seek to bridge Humanity’s conscious and unconscious divides.
The GoE Bridging the Borders Honorable Mention goes to a powerful Brazilian documentary that captures the rage of a generation fighting a future of diminishing opportunities, while hoping to open horizons to a better world. The 2019 GoE Bridging the Borders Honorable Mention goes to ‘Your Turn’ directed by Eliza Capai”
Next Adam B. Shepherd, President & CEO of Go Energistics, the sponsor of GoE Bridging The Borders Award announced the winner in a video message and then the award acceptance speech of Priya Ramasubban, director of CHUSKIT was played. Please watch award announcement and the award acceptance speech in this video report:
CHUSKIT
India, 2018. Director: Priya Ramasubban.
The nine-year-old Chuskit lives with her family in an isolated Tibetan mountain village and has been wheelchair bound since an accident. It is clear to her grandfather that the girl is destined to live at home, but Chuskit cannot accept this at all. She wants to go to school and tries everything to change her family’s mind. Based on a true story, the gripping Indian film shows the resoluteness and strength of a girl who takes her future into her own hands and overcomes all resistance. (HA)
Winner “Amnesty International Prize”, 48. Giffoni FF (Italy); “Golden Gateway Award” in the section “Half Ticket”, 19. Mumbai FF (India); “Global Zoom Prize”, 13. Children’s FF Seattle (USA)
YOUR TURN, ESPERO TUA (RE)VOLTA
Brazil 2019. Director: Eliza Capai. 93 min. Documentary.
Winner “Amnesty International Film Prize” and “Peace Film Award”, Berlin International Film Festival 2019
Brazil, the year before the 2014 FIFA World Cup. On a massive scale young people are protesting against social grievances and for their right to education. This is where the collectively produced documentary film by director Eliza Capai begins, continuing to the present day of state repression. Using authentic film footage, Capai assembles a document of the passionate protest actions and shows the harsh measures taken by the police. A highly topical plea for freedom of speech and civil resistance. (CS)
CWB Jury members for GoE Bridging the Borders Award were:
Keely Badger
Keely Badger is Executive Director of Neda Nobari Foundation (NNF), a philanthropic organization promoting social and environmental justice through arts and education. Based in Los Angeles, CA, Keely leads the foundation’s strategic grant making, programs and community engagements, working with a range of nonprofit organizations in the local, national and international advocacy space. As a millennial expert and advocate on international human rights and development issues, Keely pioneers’ durable solutions for underrepresented voices, communities and causes in alignment with the foundation’s focus areas: Holistic Education, Innovative Arts, Transparent Media, Earth Advocacy, and Social Impact Cinema.
Sylvie Boliol
Sylvie Bolioli has worked in the entertainment industry for many years, practicing her skills in various disciplines.
She made her screen directing debuts in advertising, with TV commercials for Mexican television. She had previously written, directed and produced a series of radio commercials for a number of brands including Pepsi Cola.
Her short film GAS, based on a Hitchcock story written in 1919 and never brought to the screen before, starring Tony Hadley (Spandau Ballet), received extensive international coverage from the press, including a news piece on ITN, articles in The Hollywood Reporter, in the BAFTA magazine,… and a mention in Hitchcock’s latest biography written by Quentin Falk.
‘LAW & DISORDER: the Insanity Defense’, a documentary about the criminal responsibility of the mentally ill is her first feature film.
Her most notable work however is an ident for the Oslo World Cinema Foundation in which she directed Martin Scorsese.
Her acting career began as a child with ‘Le Jeune Theatre du Soleil’ in France. After studying at RADA Sylvie appeared in commercials on Mexican and European television. Her credits also include playing Sister Françoise for NBC Universal TV series ‘You, Me and the Apocalypse. She recently played Rose Montefiore in the British independent movie ‘Leave Now’.
Sylvie is the Founder and Director of the Ramsgate International Film Festival, of which Brenda Blethyn is the Patron.
Sandra Seeling Lipski
Sandra Seeling Lipski: Born in Berlin and raised in Mallorca Spain, is the founder and director of the Evolution! Mallorca International Film Festival (EMIFF), located in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. She is an accomplished actress with notable credits such as CSI NY, Borat (Sasha Baron Cohen) and Jane the Virgin (CW). Sandra splits her time between Mallorca and Los Angeles. After having produced, directed and acted in several award winning short films, Sandra is currently preparing the 8th edition of EMIFF and in development of her first feature film as a producer and actress. Sandra holds an AA in dramatic arts from the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute in New York City (2004) and graduated from the Los Angeles Film School with a degree in Filmmaking (2011). Sandra has recently been invited to speak on a panel organized by the SCL (Society of Composers and Lyricists) together with the AFI (American Film Institute) and enjoyed being a jury member of several film festivals incl. 2017 Mammoth Lakes Film Festival, 2017 Los Angeles Music Video Festival, 2018 SEEFest and 2018 Cinema without Borders Section at Palms Springs international Film Festival in California.
Mojtaba Mirtahmasb
Mojtaba Mirtahmasb is a renowned Iranian documentary filmmakers. Having graduated with a BA in Craft Design from the Art University, he started making films in 1990. He has conducted research, scriptwriting, directing and producing for more than 40 documentary films, including Touran Khanom, Six Centuries Six Years, This Is Not a Film, Lady of the Roses, Off Beat, Back Vocal, The River Still Has Fish and The Banner. This Is Not a Film was the outcome of a directorial and production partnership with Jafar Panahi. It was first premiered at the 64th Cannes Film Festival (Official Selection) and was on the short list for the best documentary for the 2012 Oscar.
Mirtahmasb has won many prizes including the Crystal Simorgh (Phoenix) and the Jury Award at the Fajr International Film Festival, the Special Jury Award at the Cinéma Vérité Film Festival, Best Documentary Film Award from the Grand Ceremony of the House of Cinema, the NETPAC Award, UNESCO Award for Best Documentary Film, and the Best Experimental Documentary Film award from the US National Society of Film Critics.
Mirtahmasb was Member of the Board of Directors of the Iranian Documentary Filmmakers Association (IRDFA) for six years, serving two years as its chairperson. He is one of the founding members of Tehran Province Documentary Filmmakers’ Guild. In recent years, alongside researching and directing his own films, he has been conceiving and producing film projects, chief among them the Karestan Documentary Film Series.
Bo Mirrosseini
Bo started his film career interning at MTV in New York where he got hands on experience working closely with SuChin Pak in MTV News. Bo begin making skate videos in LA which led him to enter the world of music video.
From there he directed a commercial for Virgin Mobile that was nominated at the Cannes Young Director Showcase. Since then, Bo has worked with a wide range of global brands including Samsung, Mercedes-Benz and Ray-Ban amongst many others. More recently, Bo has just wrapped Uber’s first ever commercial campaign and a brand-new campaign for the NFL.
His work has been featured in numerous festivals worldwide and has garnered numerous accolades, including several Vimeo Staff Picks. Bo’s music video for “Disclosure” was voted one of the top 10 best music videos of 2015 by Rolling Stones, Buzzfeed and the Huffington Post.
Bo has recently sold a script to Warner Brothers and is in prep on his first feature film. He continues to go hard directing content that is co
Yeganeh Taheri
Yeganeh Taheri, a graduated as a film editor from School of Television and Cinema in 1980 and left Iran for Germany in 1989 where she started her career as a stage actress. Yeganeh’s first performance on stage was with Farhad Majedabadi in A House in a suitcase. This was followed by a few puppet shows for kids in TV with Nargess Vafadar (The stories of Ghandi and his Mother & Jewel Box) and two other acting performance directed by Nilufar Beyzaee (Marjan, Mani and a few small problems & Face to face at the threshold of the cold season).
Yeganeh Taheri approached photography starting a decade ago and her photos shows her keen eyes for picking interesting subjects and compositions. She has covered many different subjects in her photos, including photos from theater performances.
Yeganeh Taheri still lives in Germany and beside photography spends her time on translation of children stories between two languages of Farsi and German.
Bijan Tehrani
Bijan Tehrani a film director, film critic and writer, works as Editor in Chief of Cinema Without Borders while teaching Language & History of film workshops and organizes film screening events and festivals. Bijan has won several awards in international film festivals and book fairs for his short films and children’s books.
For the tenth anniversary of Cinema Without Borders, Bijan has received Ambassador of International Cinema Award from South east European Film Festival, Friend of the Festival Award from Polish Film Festival, LA and Gateway to International Cinema Award from Hungarian Film festival. Bijan Tehrani is recently working on a book of his memoir from Cinema in Iran and a docufiction based on 19th century photographs by Sevruguin, the Russian photographer.