MFDB

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  Salvo wins Grand Prix & Prix Révélation at La Semaine de la Critique

  The French - Italian coproduction Salvo, by F. Grassadonia & A. Piazza has been awarded with the Nespresso Grand Prize for la Semaine de la Critique and the France 4 Discovery Award. Salvo is the story of a Sicilian Mafia hitman who becomes linked with a young blind girl, after sparing her life. Both will be haunted by the world they belong to. The film has had a MEDIA contribution of 103,238.77€ from the Development, i2i and Sales Agents suport schemes. 

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  13 MEDIA films selected at Cannes Film Festival

  13 films produced with the support of the MEDIA program have been selected to attend Cannes Film Festival:

  Official Competition: Michael Kohlhaas,  by Arnaud des Pallières; Le Passé, by Asghar Farhadi; Only Lovers Left Alive, by Jim Jarmusch; Jeune et Jolie, by François Ozon; La Grande Bellezza, by Paolo Sorrentino; Borgman, by Alex Van Warmerdam, and Only God Forgives, by Nicolas Winding Refn.

  Un Certain Regard: L'Image Manquante, by Rithy Panh.

  La Quinzaine des Realisateurs: Le Congrès, by Ari Folman; Henri, by Yolande Moreau; Last Days on Mars, by Ruairi Robinson, and Tip Top, by Serge Bozon.

  Semaine de la Critique: Salvo, by Fabio Grassadonia and Antonio Piazza.

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  Oscar triumph for MEDIA-backed films Amour and Searching for Sugar Man

  European Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou has paid tribute to the makers of EU-backed films Amour and Searching for Sugar Man after their success at last night's 85th Academy Awards in Hollywood. Austrian director Michael Haneke scooped the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film with Amour, a moving portrayal of an elderly couple as they approach the end of their lives. Searching for Sugar Man, the true story of rock guitarist Sixto Rodríguez, who vanished into obscurity in the mid-70s only to be re-rediscovered working as a labourer, won Best Documentary Feature. The two winners were among six nominated films supported by the MEDIA programme for cinema, which have received € 2 million in EU funding to date.

   

  The six MEDIA-backed films in contention for the Oscars were (with funding received to date):

  - Amour by Michael Haneke (France, Austria, Germany) nominated for Best Picture, Best Actress, Directing, Best Foreign Language Film and Best Original Screenplay - awarded. €1 million from the MEDIA programme for distribution.
  - A Royal Affair (En Kongelig Affaere) by Nikolaj Arcel (Denmark) nominated for Best Foreign Language Film (€ 850 000).
  - Kon-Tiki by Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg (Norway/Sweden/Denmark/UK) nominated for Best Foreign Language Film (€ 150 000).
  - The Impossible by Juan Antonio Bayona (Spain) nominated for Best Actress (Naomi Watts) (€ 65 000).
  - Searching for Sugar Man by Malik Bendjelloul (Sweden/UK) nominated for Best Documentary Feature (€ 20 000).
  - The Gatekeepers by Dror Moreh (France/Israel) nominated for Best Documentary Feature (€ 110 000). 

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  Berlinale 2013: "Child's Pose" wins the Golden Bear; "Layla Fourie", "The Act of Killing" and "Krugovi" also awarded

  The MEDIA supported film Poziţia Copilului (Child's Pose), by Cälin Peter Netzer has received the 63 Golden Bear for the Best Film, in a quasi-documentary style movie which portrays a mother consumed by self-love in her struggle to save her lost son, providing insights into the moral malaise of Romania’s bourgeoisie and throwing into sharp relief the state of societal institutions such as the police and the judiciary. Another three MEDIA-backed titles also received prizes. Layla Fourie by Pia Marais, was awarded with the Special Mention, a political thriller which takes the audience into the paranoia, fear and mistrust of a society that is still profoundly affected by racial conflict. The Act of Killing, by Joshua Oppenheimer and Christine Cynn, a documentary based on the 1965 purges in Indonesia, won the Panorma Audience Award and Ecumenical Jury Prize, and Krugovi (Circles) by Srdan Golubović, about a Serbian soldier who risks his life to protect a Muslim civilian during the Bosnian war, was also honoured by the Ecumenical Jury.

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  9 Spanish Goya Awards to MEDIA supported films

  The Impossible, Tad, the Lost Explorer and Intouchable won 9 Goya Awards from the Spanish Film Academy last Sunday, February 17th. Please, find the complete list of nominations and awards here.

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  Amour and Searching for Sugar Man win 3 BAFTA awards

  Amour by Michael Haneke has won the BAFTA to the Best Film Not in the English Language and Best Leading Actress, to Emmanuelle Riva. Searching for Sugar Man has won the award to the Best Documentary. 

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  4 MEDIA supported films win 10 Catalan Gaudí Awards

  The Catalan Gaudí Awards were announced during last Sunday's gala in Barcelona. 4 MEDIA supported films including J.A. Bayona's international success The Impossible, Oscar Aibar's El Bosc, the TV movie Tornarem (selected at Monte-Carlo and nominated for the Prix Europa 2012) and the animated feature Tad, the Lost Explorer (the first Spanish animated film to be released in Xina and box office hit in Spain). Awards included Best European Film for The Impossible, Best Animated Film for Tad and Best TV Movie for Tornarem. Please, find here all the MEDIA nominated and awarded titles.

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  17 MEDIA supported films will premiere at Berlin Film Festival

  The Spirit of '45 at Berlinale Special; Elle s'en va (On My Way), La Religieuse (Die Nonne), Layla Fouri, Paradies: Hoffnung (Paradies: Hope), Pozitia Copilului (Child's Pose) at Berlinale Competition; Night Train to Lisbon (Nachtzug nach Lissabon) at Berlinale Out of Competition; Slow Food Story at Culinary Cinema Selection; Krugovi (Circles), The Plague (La Plaga), Materia Oscura (Dark Matter), Shriley - Visions of Reality, The Weight of Elephants at Forum, Nono Het Zigzag Kind (The Zigzag Kid) at Generation Plus, Boven is het stil (It's All So Quiet) at Panorama; Belleville Baby and The Act of Killing at Panorama Documentary.

   

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  10 MEDIA supported films nominated to the French Cesar Awards

  Amour, De Rouille et d'Os, Dans la maison, Holy Motors, Populaire, Ernest et Celéstine, Quelques heures de printemps, Les Saveurs du Palais, L'enfant d'en haut and Augustine have received almost 50 nominations to the Cesar Awards. Winners will be announced during the 38th Gala on February 22nd.

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  6 awards for MEDIA titles on the Austrian Film Prize Ceremony

  The Austrian Film Academy awarded this week three MEDIA supported productions: Measuring the World (Best Costume Design) More Than Honey (Best Sound Design) and Paradise: Love (Best Fiction Feature, Best Director, Best Femanle Performance). Congratulations!