Our omnibus film ‘Letters From the Ends of the World” is screening in Mexico in May as part of A vida não é um filme: Vol. 2 - and our Marta Hernaiz Pidal and Gustavo Vega will be there for discussions.
This interesting collection of work was curated by film.factory colleague Chrystyan Romero - thanks so much for including us!
Stefan Malešević will be one of the three members of the jury that awards the CICAE Arthouse Cinema prize in the Forum section of this year's edition of Berlinale.
CICAE (International Confederation of Art Cinemas) is the first international association of its kind: founded in 1955, today it represents 4,400 screens in 45 countries in Europe, Latin America, USA and Africa. Its mission is to promote quality motion pictures on wide screens and to advocate for cultural diversity.
De Balie cultural center in Amsterdam, where Stefan is the Head of Cinema, is a member of the CICAE network.
Emma Rozanski's 3-channel video installation Walden [verb] continues its journey this month with screenings at these festivals/galleries:
FIC Autor, Guadalajara Jalisco – Mexico, October 2023
and
Festival Les Instants Vidéo, Marseille and Aix en Provence, France October 2023 – January 2024
https://www.instantsvideo.com/blog/video/walden-verb/
Their videopoetics friendships will also screen the work internationally at these places/dates:
October, 20 -> 25 : Aknoon art Gallery & Safavi Museum, Ispahan (Iran) for 2 exhibitions
October (date to be confirmed): screening with Cairo Video Festival (Egypte)
October, 18 -> 1er November : [.BOX] Videoart project space in Milan (Italy) for a screening-installation
October, 18 -> 21 November: Visualcontainer TV (Italy) for a screening program available 24h/24
November, 2 (6.30pm) : MMAG Foundation (Amman) and Medearts association (Irbid) (Jordanie) for two screening programs followed by a conversation
November 6 : French Institute in Palestine for a screening in the frame of Digital November: Gaza and Ramallah.
Earlier thsi year Walden [verb] also screened in these festivals [we forgot to post the news!]
March 2023: Ribalta Experimental Film Festival, Modena – Italy
April 2023: Wide Open Film Festival, Oklahoma – USA
Pilar Palomero is in Colombia this month to accompany her latest film LA MATERNAL - Our Bogota Bistrik7 residents, Gonzalo Escobar Mora and Emma Rozanski, are crazy excited to welcome her and have some long overdue catching up!
https://cinematecadebogota.gov.co/pelicula/maternal-0
With support of the Spanish Embassy in Colombia: https://ccecolombia.com/la-maternal/
Sinopsis: A los 14 años, Carla es una adolescente salvaje y rebelde. Vive en un modesto restaurante a las afueras de la ciudad con su joven madre soltera, falta a clase y pasa el tiempo con su amigo Efraín. Cuando una trabajadora social se da cuenta de que Carla está embarazada de cinco meses, la llevan a "La Maternal", un centro para madres adolescentes, para que viva con otras jóvenes como ella. Junto a sus bebés, aprenderán a enfrentarse a esta nueva vida adulta para la que no han tenido tiempo de prepararse.
2022 - España - 122 mins
Directed by Kaori Oda and Produced by Marta Herzaiz Pidal and Cine Vendeval tour their film Cenote - Screenings of "Cenote" in Yucatan, Mexico, from 4/8 to 4/24, the film will tour 14 municipalities and villages where filming locations. Entirely shot underwater in Yucatán’s Ts’onots/Cenotes
Kaori will be there! BUT, is only staying for about 10 days, so I they can attend about 12 places. Everyday they will strive to attend a different screening!
Outdoor screenings (free) after sunset.
Cada vez más cerca del estreno de 'Ts'onot (Cenote)' y nuestro no cabe de emoción. ¡Nos vemos pronto!
Tour Cine Móvil Toto en la península de Yucatán y Campeche, del 8 al 24 de abril.
Estreno en Cineteca NacionalCineteca Nacional, 28 de abril.
On Thursday, a comprehensive retrospective dedicated to the work of André Gil Mata begins at Batalha Centro de Cinema, with the national preview of "Patio do Carrasco"!
Notes from the cinema on the retrospective:
The notion of home while fundamental, life and death, childhood and old age, representation and memory are some of the recurring concerns in Gil Mata's cinema. In his films, usually dark and melancholic, he stands out a way of "carving time" that affirms him as an odd director in the national context.
In addition to his full filmography, this retrospective integrates a director’s pick — Aleksandar Petrović’s “Tri,” — and a special session on Cinema Trindade where the first publication dedicated to his film practice will be released.
Na quinta-feira, damos início à retrospetiva integral dedicada à obra de André Gil Mata, com a antestreia nacional de “Pátio do Carrasco”!
A noção de casa enquanto reduto fundamental, a vida e a morte, a infância e a velhice, a representação e a memória são algumas das preocupações recorrentes no cinema de Gil Mata. Nos seus filmes, por norma sombrios e melancólicos, sobressai um modo de “esculpir o tempo” que o afirma como um realizador ímpar no contexto nacional.
Para além da sua filmografia completa, esta retrospetiva integra uma escolha do realizador — “Tri”, de Aleksandar Petrović — e uma sessão especial no Cinema Trindade, onde será lançada a primeira publicação dedicada à sua prática fílmica.
We here at Bistrik7 do not always diligently post our news (sometimes you might find a more thorough collection on our Facebook page), but here is an incomplete collection of some of our most recent news…..
Gonzalo Escobar Mora screened his Sarajevo short film POOL VERSION at the Bogota (Colombia) Cinemateca in October as part of the programme ‘Franja Local: Voces en espiral‘ : https://cinematecadebogota.gov.co/pelicula/franja-local-voces-en-espiral
Fernando Nogari directed two new music videos:
for @luisasonza ! Saiu o videoclipe da @luisasonza ‘Cachorrinhas’ / Produzido por: @iconoclastbrasil : WATCH! https://youtu.be/__ur8Ykcivw
and
for @pabllovittar & @gloriagroove / Produzido por: WATCH! @iconoclastbrasil : https://youtu.be/KjO_lzhe7Fs
Ghazi Alqudcy curated A Peek at Time for The Substation in Singapore, whcih included works by Bistrik7’s Lea Triboulet, Patrick Marshall, Aleksandra Niemczyk, Pilar Palomero, Marta Hernaiz Pidal and Gonzalo Escobar Mora: https://septfest2022-apeekattime.peatix.com/view
Marta Hernaiz Pidal and CineVendaval was invited to pitch ”La Balada del Fenix” en Annecy ! Cinema Fantasma #Mifapitches2022 - https://www.annecy.org/the-mifa/mifa-pitches-presentation/projects-pitched/projects
Lea Triboulet was invited with her co-writer to feature film development residency Pustnik, with their project "I WILL DRINK WITH THE BEES" https://www.pustnik.com/
Emma Rozanski started pre-production on her second feature film ‘EL VAQUERO’, shooting in Dec and Jan in Cundinamarca, Colombia. It is her first Spanish-language production.
Pilar Palomero premiered her second feature film #LaMaternal at the San Sebastian Film Festival - the film has been successfully traveling film festivals since then and has won many awards!
Congratulations to all and we cannot wait for what comes next for everyone!
Bringing together documentaries and short films from Japan, India and Myanmar, represented by filmmakers Kaori Oda, Payal Kapadia and filmmaker-curator Moe Myat May Zarchi, RADICAL WHISPERS explores how whispers—in the form of love letters, secret conversations, journal entries and hearsay— are amplified and transformed into potent sources of political action in film. Through a diverse range of ephemera and story-telling devices, including iphone footage of strangers, 16mm family videos and text messages between friends, the clandestine is made communal, allowing access into the deeply intimate subjectivities of filmmakers and the communities they are part of. Stories of lost love and intergenerational trauma become intertwined with social movements and transnational connections. The boundaries of private and public, solitude and solidarity, secret and overt are re-negotiated. The films offer a provocation into the role of film in disseminating and organising, in connecting and healing.
This week, the short film that Gonzalo Escobar Mora made in Chicago during the first lockdown, screens in BOGOSHORTS, Colombia’s largest short film festival and market.
Festival Website: https://festival.bogoshorts.com
Pilar Palomero recently directed a chapter of Spanish TV series, VENGA JUAN. This week the series premiered on HBO Max - check it out! #vengajuan
https://serielistas.lasexta.com/noticias/venga-juan-noviembre-hbo-max_0_526147386.html
Aleksandra Niemczyk ‘s experimental short film"Fantoccini" (silent director's cut of "Polka-Dot") is premiering at Festival Internacional de Cine Silente México - FIC Silente MX
Made in collaboration with Marta Hernaiz Pidal, Graeme Cole, Tina Keserovic and Thomas Steyaert
Screening at the Cinemateca Luis Buñuel Puebla in November 2021
It is our honor to share with you that LETTERS FROM THE ENDS OF THE WORLD - a new omnibus by Bistrik Seven - will be one of the two opening films for SARAJEVO FILM FESTIVAL. This is the National Premiere of the film that was completed two weeks ago!
With films by:
Ghazi Alqudcy, Graeme Cole, Gonzalo Escobar Mora, Grant Gulczynski, Marta Hernaiz Pidal, Namsuk Kim, Bianca Lucas, Stefan Malešević, Patrick Marshall, Aleksandra Niemczyk, Pilar Palomero, Emma Rozanski & Gustavo Vega - all from Bistrik7
Our mentor Bela Tarr is the Executive Producer.
Some of our Bistrik7 members will be flying from all over the world to present the film.
Shout out to Ghazi who designer our official poster!
Stay tuned for more news soon…
Pilar Palomero recently participated in Berlinale Talents Script Station with her new feature screenplay in development- La Maternal - Drama, Spain, 100 min
https://www.berlinale-talents.de/bt/talent/pilar-palomero/profile
Shot during the Covid-19 lockdown in Chicago in 2020, with 3 flatmates being the only cast and crew - our Gonzalo Escobar Mora and Emma Rozanski among them - ‘Enthusiasts’ is an interesting examination of ‘making plans’ amidst uncertainty - reflected through the eyes of two artists who are coping with the added uncertainty of making art and sustaining themselves financially into the future, while living in an ultra-consumer-capitalist world. Can you ‘buy’ your way out of the ‘system’?
Film listing: https://cinemaunbound.org/events/enthusiasts/
Synopsis: Uncertainty transpires as a couple navigates their future plans.
Directed by Gonzalo Escobar Mora
United States | 2020
Hybrid, Drama
Screening online Fri, March 5 – Sun, March 14
This short film screens as part of Shorts Block 1
Festival Website: https://nwfilm.org/festivals/44th-portland-international-film-festival/
Kaori Oda's magical film CENOTE, set in Mexico and also co-produced by our Marta Hernaiz-Pidal (along with Bistrik7 collaborator and friend Jorge Bolado), is now playing on MUBI for a limited time as part of their Rotterdam Film Festival selection. If you have yet to see it now is your chance!
WATCH HERE: https://mubi.com/films/cenote
Aleksandra Niemczyk’s new short film "Polka-Dot" is premiering now at festival RENCONTRES INTERNATIONALES MONDE and streaming online from today until 6th of December. In the section: "Cinema-Therapy". Cinematography and co-production by our Marta Hernaiz Pidal and Graeme Cole
Starring Tina Keserovic and Thomas Steyaert
Watch here.
An impressionistic emotional struggle between a girl with a prefabricated heart and a mysterious puppet-master. Inspired by the chapter "The Girl with the Pre-Fabricated Heart" from the surrealist film "Dreams That Money Can Buy" (1947) by avant-gardist and dada artist Hans Richter.
Watch the new trailer for Pilar Palomero's debut feature film, Las niñas, here.
RTVE.es estrena el tráiler de Las niñas, la ópera prima de la cineasta Pilar Palomero: una historia de muchas de las mujeres de hoy, dibujada a través de la educación que recibieron a principios de los 90 en España. Protagonizada por Andrea Fandos y Natalia de Molina.
Las niñas premiered in the 2020 Berlinale.
Ágora de la Ciudad, an initiative in collaboration with Ex Convento Betlehemita Centro Cultural in Vera Cruz, Mexico, has been creating an exciting and diverse online screening series, complete with filmmaker interviews, throughout this summer. Many Bistrik7 Films have screened thus far (curated by Gustavo Vega) and there are many more to come throughout the rest of 2020! Other esteemed BIstrik7 colleagues from Film.Factory Sarajevo have also screened.
Keep up to date with the programme here: https://www.facebook.com/AgoraXalapa/
and via @AgoraXalapa
Next up is Gonzalo Escobar Mora’s 2019 Colombian short film, ‘Economia Social’, screening on Friday 14th August, 2020 (details here)
via CineEuropa:
BERLINALE 2020: With sensitivity, Pilar Palomero’s first work recreates the repressive atmosphere which far too many Spanish girls grew up within towards the end of the 20th century
For those more familiar with showy and ultra-fast commercial cinema, Schoolgirls might prove a disappointing watch: the action is minimal, depicting the characters’ day-to-day activities, such as doing homework, painting their lips for the first time or playing during breaktime. But there’s a subtext behind the description of this routine; a background and an intent which reveal a contradictory country which has continued to teach its future women to accept acquired machismo, sexual repression and all-important conformism.
Celia, the film’s protagonist (the magnificent acting revelation Andrea Fandos), is the daughter of a single mother (played by Natalia de Molina). She’s growing up and at the very moment her body begins to change, doubts of every kind start to alter her thinking. She’s no longer comfortable with the lies and silences her mother metes out every time she asks questions, about her origins, for example. The times are changing too, even if her environment – especially the convent school where she’s studying – seems to be doing everything possible to stave off the inevitable. But a new friend will breathe fresh air into her personal prison.
Schoolgirls opens with a magnificent scene, and its closing shot contrasts perfectly with the first. Between the two, we accompany this young woman in her insomnia, doubts and anxieties, with the camera ever glued to Celia’s gaze. And it won’t be hard for those who grew up in the eighties and nineties to recognise themselves or their friends, sisters or neighbours in Schoolgirls’ various scenes.
As we watch the film, titles such as Carlos Saura’s legendary film Cría cuervos or the recent Ojos Negros [+], by the duo Marta Lallana and Ivet Castelo, spring to mind; works which display the same freshness, talent and authenticity as Palomero’s offering. But above all, this director’s first full-length film underscores the crucial point that, much like the course taken by her central character, it has only been through individual rebellion that a generation of women have been able to fully fulfil themselves, and that they are now in a position to question that time which is thankfully in the past.
Schoolgirls is an Inicia Films, BTeam Prods and Las Niñas Majicas A.I.E. production. International sales are entrusted to Film Factory Entertainment.
Next Sat the 1st of February at 8pm, Gonzalo Escobar Mora’s latest film, ‘Social Economies’, plays at the famous Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago as part of the annual Panorama LatinX Festival.
Gonzalo will be there in person for the Q&A along with the other directors.
Synopsis:
2019, Gonzalo Escobar Mora, Colombia 22:00 min.
A bag of used clothes. Three women. Their longings, uncertainties, fictions, and realities.
Filmmakers in person!
The Gene Siskel Film Center’s Panorama Latinx programming and outreach initiative is pleased to announce the second edition of our short film showcase. This year’s edition introduces the works of Chicago-based filmmakers representing Brazil, Colombia, Nicaragua, Peru, Haiti, Puerto Rico and Mexico. Addressing the complexities of our time through different genres and methods of storytelling, the films guide us over the nuances of identity and collectivity in the 21st century. From ecology to social dynamics, the directors present a manifold of practices that point to the relevance of imagination in today’s world. In Spanish and English with English subtitles. DCP and ProRes digital.
Marcela Fuentes: Associate Professor at Northwestern University and author of Performance Constellations: Networks of Protest and Activism in Latin America
Alan Medina: Co-founder of filmfront and Inga.
Marina Resende: artist, researcher and critic for Hyperallergic and THE SEEN, among others.
Directors Carol Bedoy, Sol y Chaski, Sofia Alfaro, Gonzalo Escobar Mora, Nat Pyper, Milton Guillén, Gustavo Jardim are scheduled to appear for audience discussion