Cinema Without Borders has announced its jury members to decide on the winner of 2025 Bridging The Borders Award at the LUCAS International Festival for Young Film Lover in Germany. LUCAS programmers have also announced the nominees for the Cinema Without Borders’ Bridging The Borders Award sponsored by 360 Media.
Cinema Without Borders presents its Bridging The Borders Award, sponsored by 360 MEDIA Consulting, for the 5th time at LUCAS International Festival for Young Film Lovers. The jury members include:
Keely Badger is the Founder and Chief Marketing Officer of 360 MEDIA Consulting; a woman-owned, woman-led digital marketing agency for storytellers, changemakers, and brands working on the frontlines of social impact and innovation. Her high-performance multimedia campaigns have attracted influential clients such as The Sundance Institute, The Redford Center, Human Rights Watch, KPJR Films, and over 50 award-winning indie films.
Developing a love for the transformative potential of documentary film to bridge communities and awaken critical consciousness, Keely has worked in the public and private sector over the past 15 years, using social impact cinema as a tool to inspire audiences to meaningful action. With a background in helping produce, brand and market films by providing strategic audience engagement models, impactful multimedia campaigns and community partnership-building, Keely has successfully helped independent filmmakers galvanize social change in both grassroots and international arenas.
360 MEDIA is proud to serve as a presenting sponsor of the 2024 Bridging The Borders Award.
Rodrigo Garcia – Born in Colombia and raised in Mexico City, Rodrigo Garcia is a celebrated WGA Award-winning screenwriter, Emmy-nominated director, Golden Globe-nominated producer, and author. A consistent figure in independent film for over 20 years, Rodrigo has directed the multiple Academy Award-nominated film Albert Nobbs, starring Glenn Close, Mother and Child, starring Annette Bening, Naomi Watts, and Samuel L. Jackson, Apple TV+’s Raymond & Ray, starring Ethan Hawke and Ewan McGregor, Nine Lives, and most recently Netflix’s Familia, starring Daniel Giménez Cacho and Maribel Verdú. Garcia has also written and directed several films which have attracted critical acclaim, such as his first, Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her, which won the Un Certain Regard Award at Cannes Film Festival in 2000, and his sophomore film, Nine Lives, for which he received Independent Spirit Award nominations for both directing and screenwriting in 2006. Last Days in the Desert, starring Ewan McGregor, and Four Good Days, starring Glenn Close and Mila Kunis, each earned Sundance premieres in 2015 and 2020, respectively.
In addition to his distinguished career in film, Garcia has worked on several television shows including The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, The Affair, and Big Love, for which he directed the pilot episode and was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series. In 2008, he developed, showran, and directed HBO’s American adaptation of In Treatment, which earned him a WGA Award, an Emmy and Golden Globe nomination for Outstanding Drama Series, and an AFI Award for TV Program of the Year in 2009. In 2022, Garcia directed, and executive produced two limited series: News of a Kidnapping, an adaptation of his father Gabriel García Márquez’s book, for Amazon Prime Video, and Santa Evitafor Star+/Hulu. In 2024, he and his brother, Gonzalo García Barcha, executive produced the on-screen adaptation of their father’s best-selling and Nobel Prize-winning novel One Hundred Years of Solitude for Netflix, which was met with praise for its faithful rendering of the beloved novel. His memoir, A Farewell to Gabo and Mercedes: A Son’s Memoir of Gabriel García Márquez and Mercedes Barcha, was published in July 2021 by HarperCollin’s HarperVia and was an Autobiography finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Awards.
Chale Nafus was born in Dallas during World War II, he attended public schools, spent summers on his sister’s ranch in Comanche County in the 1950s, learned Spanish from schoolmates, and dreamed of getting out of Dallas. After getting through freshman year at SMU, he worked at Texas Instruments before realizing he really needed a college education. After attending the University of Texas at Arlington (B.A., English), La Universidad Autónoma de México, and UT Austin (M.A., English/RTF), he began a long college teaching career at Texas Southmost College (Brownsville), La Universidad de Puerto Rico at Mayaguez, Borough of Manhattan Community College, Kingsborough Community College (Brooklyn), and finally Austin Community College (1973-1998). At the latter, he founded the Department of Radio-TV-Film, taught classes in film studies, and for seven years served as Chair of Humanities (Northridge Campus). Retiring in 1998, Chale spent 4 years traveling and writing before joining the staff of Austin Film Society as Director of Programming (2002-2015). He is now totally retired and happily serving on the boards of Austin Film Society and OUTsider Fest as well as the advisory committees of IndieMeme (South Asian film organization) and Cine Las Americas.
Shirin Sohani, is an Iranian animation artist and an Academy Award winner. Shirin Sohani was born on September 8, 1986 in Tehran, Iran and after completing an M.A. in animation directing (Tehran University of Art) she started her professional career in 2012 and has worked as a Concept artist, Background artist, Script writer & Production manager.
“In the Shadow of the Cypress” (2023) co-directed with Hossein Molayemi received the 97th Academy Award for Best Animated Short film. Her graduation animated film, “The Fan” (2014) won both national & international awards.
Bijan Tehrani founder and Editor in Chief of Cinema Without Borders (CWB) online- publication and Cinema Without Borders Foundation is an award-winning author of children’s books and short films. Tehrani has been a passionate advocate of human rights, which he has actively pursued as a filmmaker, historian, and -critic over the past five decades.
Bijan Tehrani has organized a numerus cultural events dealing with international cinema and social justice. The ongoing ELAC International Animation Day is an annual festival showcasing international animation and I, Immigrant International On-line Film Festival portrays the positive impact of immigrants in their new societies. Bijan is also the creator of the Bridging the Borders Award that is offered in ten international film festival in US, UK, and Australia. Bridging the Borders Award goes to the films that help bring people of the world closer together. Bijan Tehrani has won several awards and has been recognized by several film festivals and cultural institutes as Ambassador of International Cinema because of his services to the world film community through 15 years of publishing Cinema Without Borders.
Terry George, Academy winner and director of Hotel Rwanda, had this to say on the 10th anniversary of CWB:” At a time when media consolidation is threatening diverse and unique voices, Cinema Without Borders provides a forum for underrepresented perspectives and stories. Now more than ever, we need to reach across cultural, political, and national lines. Cinema Without Borders is part of this critical work.”
Abbas Yari is an Iranian journalist and film critic born in Arak in 1951. He graduated from the School of Television and Cinema in 1975. Yari began his journalism career at Sobh e Emrouz, Tehran Mosavvar, and Kayhan, before co-founding Film magazine, which he directed until 2021. He launched Film Emrooz in 2021 after Massoud Mehrabi’s passing. Mr. Yari currently is Editor in Chief of Cinemaye Bedoon Marz a new Iranian online film publication. Yari also helped establish the Iranian cinema museum in Tehran and the foundation of art critics and writers about Iranian cinema. He is also notable for organizing cultural events in Arak.
Hammad Zaidi founded The Lonely Seal Company Group , Lonely Seal Releasing and The Lonely Seal International Film, Screenplay, and Music Festival. Lonely Seal Streaming is launching in 2024. Zaidi also founded Hourglass24 . In addition, Hammad is an early investor/co- owner of Designware.io . Most recently, he accepted a position to serve on the Board of Directors of Cinema Without Borders.
Zaidi is an award-winning creator. He is a member of The Producers Guild of America, and he served as a member of the Video Game Caucus for the Writers Guild of America.
Hammad has produced and written filmed content; executive produced 29 video games, 200 plus episodes of Limping On Cloud 9 , a podcast, and 300+ articles on Going Bionic , his film distribution and career strategy column.
Zaidi has been a jury member, filmmaker advisor, curator, panelist, advisory board member, and world cinema screener at several major film festivals, such as Sundance, SXSW, Slamdance, and many more. Hammad has served as an adjunct professor, guest lecturer, and panelist at several universities, including but not limited to his alma mater UCLA, USC, Vanderbilt, Chapman, Avila, The Watkins Film School (acquired by Belmont University), San Diego State, The University of Kansas, The University of Missouri, and numerous others. Hammad Zaidi received his Master of Fine Arts from the UCLA School of Theatre, Film, and Television in 1994.
Nominees for Bridging the Borders Award:
GIRLS DON’T CRY a documentary film by Sigrid Klausmann and Lina Luzyte (co-directors) follows girls around the world in their everyday lives. An encouraging, inspiring film that conveys the message of empowerment to the big screen in the best possible way.
What does it mean to be a girl? And what connects girls worldwide? GIRLS DON’T CRY seeks answers to these questions. Nancy, Nina, Sheelan, Sinai, Selenna and Paige live in different countries under very different conditions. So Sheelan fled with her family from Iran and starts a new life in Germany. Nancy lives in a shelter in Tanzania to defend her right to her own body. Sinai struggles with ideals of beauty and the pressure to perform in South Korea. Six stories about courage, self-determination and the fight against discrimination – and about the search for one’s own place in the world. An episodic documentary for all identities. (SoS)
HOW DARE YOU?
Mipo O is a Japanese-Korean director and screenwriter. THE LIGHT SHINES ONLY THERE was Japan’s entry for the Oscars. Her multi-award-winning film work is dedicated to quiet, powerful observations of everyday life. In HOW DARE YOU? she explores interactions between parents and children — and discovers astonishing parallels between her world and that of adults.
Charmingly dynamic primary school trio declares war on climate fatigue.
Yuishi loves catching insects after school and runs the creature club. He is secretly in love with his classmate Kokoa who is committed to environmental issues. Together with the troublemaker Haruto they launch protest actions: Flyers are distributed, posters are put up and fireworks are even fired at a butcher’s shop. This calls the police and school management into action. HOW DARE YOU? makes climate injustice visible through the eyes of those who have to live with the consequences. Director Mipo O wanted to create a film that appeals to children and adults alike and promotes dialog between generations. And yet the film poses the question: isn’t it often the children who matter when it comes to changing the world? (LGR)
OLIVIA AND THE INVISIBLE EARTHQUAKE
Irene Iborra Rizo, director of OLIVIA AND THE INVISIBLE EARTHQUAKE is a film director, screenwriter and stop-motion animator from Spain. Her award-winning films combine poetic imagery with social commitment. Her latest film is based on the novel “The Film of Life” by Maite Carranza, Irene’s co-screenwriter. “We all have a superpower: the choice of how we react to life,” says the director.
We can’t always control what happens to us, but we can control how we deal with it.
When the police turn up at the door, everything changes for twelve-year-old Olivia, her little brother Tim and their mother: they are suddenly thrown out of their apartment. To protect Tim from the harsh reality, Olivia passes the situation off as a movie shoot with him in the lead role. In the new neighborhood, the mother falls into deep mourning and Olivia suddenly has to take responsibility. The stop-motion film, animated from plasticine, sensitively captures both sad and light-hearted moments. A touching story about poverty, emotional crises and the courage to be there for each other – and a strong plea for solidarity and hope in difficult times. (LGR)
SLACKERS
Sorina Gajewski director of SLACKERS works as a freelance writer and director. After studying film in Buenos Aires, she has been studying directing at the DFFB since 2018. Her films move between fiction and documentary and focus on social inequality and feminism. SLACKERS is her first feature-length film: “Our film counters the gravity of the future with tenderness and friendship.”
Snotty road movie on foot in the vibrant Berlin heat – in search of a bird and a just future
Summer in Berlin: the concrete shimmers. Ramona and Nico are best friends, but responsibility? Not really their thing. They’d rather chill out, hang out and get up to mischief. But when first the neighbor’s bird and then Ramona’s little brother run away, they have no choice but to plunge headlong into Berlin’s urban jungle. On their chaotic road trip on foot, they encounter climate protests, strange people and their own fears. SLACKERS tells the story of a friendship that has to prove itself in a crisis with humor, heart and without any flat coming-of-age clichés. An approachable snapshot of a Gen Z – somewhere between anger, hope and the normal feeling of being lost. (LGR)
WILD FOXES
Valéry Carnoy director of WILD FOXES is a director from Belgium. His graduation film MY PLANET won several awards. WILD FOXES is his first feature film. In it, he tells the story of a teenager who is forced to confront his own vulnerability after an accident – “the same person who spent his entire youth turning his body into a weapon”, says Valéry.
It’s not about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.” (Rocky Balboa)
Camille is a talented young boxer at a sports boarding school: someone who could one day become a champion. But the pressure is high. To switch off, he roams the woods with his best friend Matteo, where they watch foxes – until an accident changes everything. Matteo saves him and Camille gets off lightly, but something inside him starts to waver. He is scared and loses interest in training. The fact that the coaches continue to rely on him is not well received by his classmates. His friendship with Matteo also begins to crumble. As the conflicts come to a head, the camera stays close to the characters and sensitively captures the tense atmosphere between the young people. A movie full of violence and tenderness. (SAC)
LIVE A LITTLE
Fanny Ovesen director of LIVE A LITTLE is a screenwriter and director from Sweden. Her short film SHE-PACK screened at the Berlinale and won intermore than 15 awards nationally. Her feature film debut is based on the experiences of a friend with whom Fanny traveled through Australia at the age of 19: “My film tells the story of how young woman try to meet the many expectations toexpectations and at the same time be the mainfigure of their lives.”Interrail. Couchsurfing. Memory gaps.
Laura wakes up one morning hungover in a strange bed. A used condom lies on the floor next to her. Fragments of the previous night emerge: a party, lots of alcohol, her best friend Alex, a couchsurfer. What began as a carefree Interrail trip becomes a search for answers for Laura. With each stage, new fragments of memory come together. Laura begins to doubt whether the night was consensual. Was she even capable of it? Director Fanny Ovesen’s unsparing and gripping film is not just about the question of whether Laura was raped or not. Rather, she shows the development that Laura goes through as she tries to regain control over her body, her sexuality and her autonomy. (LGR)
I SHALL SEE
Mercedes Stalenhoef director of I SHALL SEE is a director from the Netherlands. She celebrated her international breakthrough with CARMEN MEETS BORAT. For almost twenty years, Mercedes has been dealing with social issues in her work – and in doing so, she asks what moves people deep down: “I am interested in what remains when everything external disappears – and who the person is then.”When 17-year-old Lot goes blind, her entire life plan threatens to come to an end.
17-year-old Lot has so many plans: she wants to travel, study underwater archaeology and spend as much time as possible with her boyfriend Casper diving. But then she loses her sight in an accident. At a rehabilitation center, she is supposed to learn to lead an independent life as a blind person. But Lot doesn’t want any help. She doesn’t want to be a “disabled”. She just wants to sleep, because she can still see in her dreams. Her anger and frustration take self-destructive traits. In doing so, Lot hurts the people around her. But then she begins to accept her new life reality and to find hope again. Inspired by a true story, the film tells powerfully, how Lot learns to welcome her new life. (KT)
READY OR NOT
Claire Frances Byrne director of READY OR NOT is a director and screenwriter from Dublin. In her films, she explores female perspectives, youth culture and friendship. In READY OR NOT, Claire Frances’ feature film debut, in her own words, she sheds light on the “uneven playing field between boys and girls that first appears at Katie’s age and takes her from Steo away and closer to the girls”.Everyone around Katie is talking about sex. Then boundaries are crossed. And there are no words.
Katie knows what’s going on. After all, at 13 she is no longer a small child. But in the summer more In 1998 – the summer of change – Katie is suddenly no longer so sure of herself. Her best friend Steo has known her since earliestearliest childhood. Maybe they even have a little crush on each other. Would it be a bad thing to kiss when justjust all talk about kissing and sex? After lunch with Steo behind the church Katie says that everything is okay. But her eyes speak a different language. In the summer, the boys in the Dublin suburb are crossing boundaries – and the girls are struggle with the question of how to deal with this should. An increasingly serious movie about a time for curiosity, but without consent. (SST)
