COLD LANDS
Italy | 24’ |2017
Director: Iratxe Fresneda
Producer: Iratxe Fresneda, Txelu Medina Arbide
Synopsis
Cold Lands makes a personal journey through the images and cinema, guided by filmmakers and artist like, Theo Angelopoulos, Bego Vicario, Wim Wenders or Rut Hillarp among others. In this non-fictional road-movie their vision of what cinema is, of what is hidden behind the images, intersects with the world of beekeeping, architecture and the human landscape. Cinema within cinema and film locations that acquire new meanings when revisited by the contemporary gaze. From the landscapes of the interior, burnt by the sun, passing through the blue light of the northern lands, the film reflects on cinematographic archives, their validity and their importance as a cultural treasure. At the same time, it gives filmic archaeology a new meaning by making it interact with images of the present. “Cold Lands” is a journey through the meanings acquired by what is offstage in the landscapes appropriated by cinema, through the questioning of nature by the filmmaker’s romantic gaze. Cinema and real life are confused with each other, in the knowledge that living is in itself a work of art.
BIO
Iratxe Fresneda (Bilbao, 1974) is a PhD in Audiovisual Communication and lecturer in the Department of Audiovisual Communication at the UPV / EHU since 2004, where she teaches (Gender, image and identity and Script II nonfiction). Her doctoral thesis "Stereotypes of women in the cinematographic work of Lars von Trier" won a scholarship from the Department of Research and Scientific Policy of the Basque Government. Visiting researcher at the University of Nevada (USA), at the Film Studies of Lund University (Sweden) and at the Framespa laboratory of the Université de Toulouse II - Le Mirail (France), she has been IP of the BROEN research project on the audiovisual Scandinavian and currently belongs to the IKERFESTS project of the UPV / EHU. Writer and film critic, linked to EITB from her professional beginnings, collaborates with different media and international cultural institutions performing programming tasks and film divulgation. She has participated in different programs such as "Sunday in the country" organized by the European Film Academy in 2016, Cervantes Institute Prague, International Dramaturgy Workshop Beckett of Barcelona, Loraldia, Azkuna Zentroa- Alhóndiga Bilbao etc. Irrintziaren Oihartzunak (2016), her debut as a director, has participated in different international festivals such as The 64th San Sebastian Film Festival, The 27th Spanish Film Festival in Nantes, 48th International Film Festival Nyon Doc Outlook International Market, the 25th Mostra Internacional de Films de Dones de Barcelona, the 5th Movecinearte festival in Sao Paulo or the 9th Invisible International Film Festival of Bilbao (winner of the best Basque production) among many others. After his debut with Irrintziaren Oihartzunak (2016), he continues working on "The registration trilogy" Lurralde Hotzak-Cold Lands (2018) and Tetuán-Begiak (2020).
LETTRE À INGER - LETTER TO INGER
França| 76’ |2018
Director: Maria Lucia Castrillon
Producer: Townsend Laura
Synopsis
This is the story of Inger Servolin, one of the first women documentary producers in France. She started in the cinema in the wake of May 68, when next to Chris Marker and others, founded the cooperative Slon (Society for the launching of new works), became Iskra (Image, sound, kinescope, production, audiovisual) in 1973, one of the rare production houses of the time that still exists. Between film excerpts, letters addressed to Chris Marker and testimonials from his fellow travelers, this documentary traces the path of the producer and explores her quest to make possible films that should not exist. Today, they constitute an essential part of the French documentary heritage.
BIO
Born in Medellin, Colombia, she has always worked in audiovisual media in a multidisciplinary way between production, production, cultural management and pedagogy.
She was Director of Communications and Director of the weekly cultural magazine Gaceta, for the Ministry of Culture, and Director of the Television Production Center of the University of Antioquia.
Founding member and editorial board of the Kinetoscopio film review and author of articles, she also collaborated in the Boletín Cultural y Bibliográfico of the Bank of the Republic.
Since 1997, she has been living in Paris where she has been responsible for the development and animation of training courses in the production of fiction and documentary films at the CEFPF (European Film Production Training Center).
She has also taught at several universities in France and Colombia.
She has directed several documentaries:
The Presidia of Nature in Andalusia, (52 min 2005), FCA, Ushuaia TV. From Quién? (22 min 2003), production Incult, Barcelona. De los pitos, chinchorros, vinchucas y barbeiros, (24 min, 2000), SFRS co-production, Nicolas Hulot Foundation, Doctors Without Borders, Videomed Tucuman Prize, Filmóbidos 2001, Obidos, Portugal. Treasures of the Centena, (27 min 1992), Prize of the Center of Research in Social Sciences 1994, Pontificia Bolivariana University, Medellin, Colombia. Born in Medellin, Colombia, she has always worked in the audiovisual sector alternating between production, production, cultural management and pedagogy.
She was Director of Communications and Director of the weekly cultural magazine Gaceta, for the Ministry of Culture, and Director of the Television Production Center of the University of Antioquia.
Founding member of the Kinetoscopio film magazine, member of the editorial board and author of articles. She has also taught at several universities in France and Colombia.
She has directed several documentaries, including "The Treasures of Centenary", (27 min 1992), Prize of the Center for Research in Social Sciences 1994, University Pontificia Bolivariana, Medellin, Colombia. And "De los pitos, chinchorros, vinchucas and barbeiros", (24 min, 2000), co-produced Videomed Tucuman Prize, Filmóbidos 2001, Obidos, Portugal. "Letter to Inger" is his first feature film.
A FEMININE BODY
Brasil | 20’ | 2018
Director: Thais Fernandes
Producer: Jéssica Luz, Fabiano Florez
Synopsis
When we name a thing, does it lose or make sense? "A female body" proposes a seemingly simple game - it asks for women of different generations the definition of something that in theory unifies them. Part of a transmedia project, the film is the gateway to a narrative that has many points of view and no right answer.
BIO
THAIS FERNANDES holds a degree in journalism from PUCRS. He works with cinema (script, direction and editing), theater (dramaturgy and direction) and research the hybrid narrative (cinema, theater and internet). From 2007 to 2009 she coordinated the finalization of the RBSTV's Special Programs Nucleus, and in 2008 she participated in the EICTV documentaries workshop, Cuba. In 2009 she worked as assistant assembly at the Casa de Cinema in Porto Alegre, participating in the series "Fantasias de uma Casa do Homem" and "Familia Brasil", both exhibited in the RBSTV, and "What Exploitation Is This?" Channel Futura. Still in 2009 she produced and curated the "Santiago Álvarez - The Eye of the Revolution" film show, which brought to Porto Alegre some of the cinematographic works of Cuban filmmaker Santiago Álvarez. In 2011 he won an IBERMEDIA full scholarship to participate in the "IV Diploma in Documental de Creación" in Cali, Colombia. In 2012 he signed the documentary series "Sonho de Guri", and short documentaries "Redesigned Cities" and "Felizardo, a half-tone portrait", all directed by Liliana Sulzbach. In 2013 it launches the transmissible performance "Passport to Exile", contemplated with the prize Collective Creative. Still in 2013 is selected for the 8th TALENT CAMPUS BUENOS AIRES, and in 2014 for BERLINALE TALENTS. Also in 2014, he launches the interactive webdocumentarium "THE INVENTED CITY" - in which he signs executive production and video editing - and premieres "In what are you thinking?", A theatrical spectacle contemplated with the FUNARTE Prize of Theater Myriam Muniz 2013, of which playwright, director and video designer. In 2016, her first interactive documentary as a director - "A FEMALE BODY" - was selected for IDW / INTERACTIVE DOCUMENTARY WORKSHOP - Visions Du Réel 2016. In the same year she also started the research of "AFINAL, WHO'S GOD?" - a documentary series for children's audiences approved in the PRODAV 12/2015 public TV document, of which she is a screenwriter and director. She signs directing and editing of the short films "Window", "Love Contract", "Navegantes", "The Last Shot" (result of the Canon Short Film Competition) and "A female body".
MAIDEN'S’ TOWER
Brasil | 90’ | 2018
Director: Susana Líra
Producer: Nuno Godolphim
Synopsis
There are desires that not even the torture or imprisonment can restrain, freedom and justice. There are reasons that keep us in the righteous path even in circumstances of extreme pain and humiliation, the friendship and solidarity. MAIDEN’S TOWER brings surprising never seen before accounts from former president Dilma Rousseff and her former cellmates from Tiradentes prison in São Paulo. They were imprisoned together in the 70’s at the Maiden’s Tower, name used to refer to the female cells in the prison. The film recreates from fragments of memory of each one of them, a film set that resembles the space in which they were incarcerated together. In this environment they reunite 45 years afterwards in order to break the silence and the fear in talking about the horrors of living under a violent dictatorship. Maiden’s Tower is a collective memory exercise done by women that believe that to resist is the only way to be free.
BIO
Susanna Lira is a filmmaker graduated in International Law and Human Rights. Throughout her career she has directed over 10 documentaries that were showcased in several international film festivals. She has directed and wrote TV series for channels such as HBO, TV Globo, Al Jazeera, among others. As her most significant films, we can list "Não Saia Hoje" (2016) has won a silver medal at The New York Film Festival, "Clara Estrela" (2017) showcased at Lisbon's MUVI festival, "Samba Ladies"(2015) showcased in the Brazilian Film Festival in Russia, Festival Autres Brésils in France, and many others.
EN MI PIEL
Espanha| 26’’04 | 2018
Director: Anna Sanmartí
Synopsis
N/A
BIO
ANNA SANMARTÍ Anna Sanmartí Baró was born in Barcelona in 1981. She graduated in Audiovisual Communication from Pompeu Fabra University (2004). He has worked as a personal assistant with directors like Joaquin Jordá, Victor Kossakovsky and Ventura Durall ("The two lives of Andrés Rabadán
YOU WON’T SILENCE ME
Brasil | 15’24’’ |2018
Director: Barbara Cunha
Synopsis
Lisbon; March 2018. At the Women's March, wage inequality, gentrification, xenophobia, gender violence and feminicide are underway. Adelaide (36), poet, and Naire (68), retired lawyer march together for change, as they unravel the generational differences in their struggles. Six days later, in Brazil, Marielle Franco is murdered. We will not shut up.
A short feminist essay.
BIO
Barbara Cunha holds a postgraduated degree in Studies of Image and Contemporary Culture. She began her career in cinema in 2000 and in 2007 she founded the 99 Produções with the aim of producing audiovisual works that have technical and artistic quality for the national and international market
FREE OUR BODIES!
Brazil | 01’25’00’ | 2018
Director: Theresa Jessouroun
Producer: Theresa Jessouroun
Synopsis
Free Our Bodies! is a documentary on the history of the liberation of Brazilian women’s body and their fight against objectification. ‘Thinking beyond both categories - documentary and fiction - the film looks for an unconventional form, mixing both film languages by incorporating the drama of Marcos’ a reporter who, while researching the topic, makes a startling discovery about his past. As he watches the interviews and examines the materials gathered for this film, in an exercise of metalanguage, Marcos begins to reflect on male chauvinism, race and class discrimination that’s present within him and Brazilian society. The film mixes interviews, fictional scenes, and archival images that illustrate the factors that have contributed to female liberation, and further proposes a debate on feminism through the deconstruction of masculine concepts.
BIO
Born in Rio de Janeiro, and graduated as a geographer in 1981, Theresa initiated working in brazilian feature films as still photographer, going through many other positions in the crew as script girl, editor assistant, producer assistant and director assistant. In 1985, Thereza worked,for two years, as editor in Germinal Video Productions, an independent video production company in Barcelona, Spain. In 1989 studied Screenplay Techniques Course at the International School of Cinema and TV of Cuba. Since 1990 she has dedicated herself exclusively to documentaries production, beginning as assistant and producer to the prize brazilian documentary filmaker Eduardo Coutinho (for 6 years), as to the documentary filmmakers Helena Solberg, Silvio Tendler, having produced also many documentaries shot in Brazil, for foreign TV channels as National Geographic Television, Channel 4, ZDF/ARTE, BBC. Since 1996 she has produced her own documentaries, as one of the partners of the independent production company Kinofilmes.
GIRLS OF UCHITUU
Colombial | 28’ | 2016
Director: Helena Salguero Vélez
Producer: Brilly Cáceres, Felipe Solarte, Helena Salguero
Synopsis
Sonia and Yelitza are two indigenous girls that grow under the influence of a foreign world that threatens the permanence of their ancestral wayuu traditions.
BIO
Born in Colombia in 1982. Professional in Audiovisual Media and Cinema. Interested in social and cultural topics, studied Scriptwriting for Short Films in Colombia and Creative Documentary in Barcelona. Between 2010 -2011 participated as researcher and filmmaker in the documentary series “Being a Human Being: wayuu chapter in Colombia”, produced by the EICTV (Cuba). She has worked as researcher and director in other series and audiovisuals focused in human rights and education with indigenous and rural communities. At this moment, she is part of Entre Paréntesis Foundation, where she has developed cultural projects and offered workshops in audiovisual.
MISS BLACK GERMANY
Germany| 12’19 | 2018
Director: Elisha Smith-Leverock
Synopsis
"Being German doesn't equal being white."
What does it feel like to grow up in a society whose beauty standards are so different from your own? Challenging what it means to be beautiful in the Western world, Miss Black Germany documents the stories, hopes, dreams and fears of four contestants participating in the first Miss Black Germany pageant.
BIO
Splitting her time between London and Berlin, Free The Bid ambassador Elisha’s background is practically speaking just as diverse as her work. Elisha started her career in photography before going on to produce an award winning body of work covering everything from fashion film to music video and of course commercials for a diverse range of well known brands. Elisha’s passion for film is marked by a desire to explore. She’s developed a talent for transforming even the seemingly most ordinary of subject matter into a transportive experience that feels both aesthetically accomplished and alive. Her work’s defined by a sense of nuance and detail, blending a deep seated conceptual understanding of a subject with a stylish knack for visuals often venturing into the ever-so-slightly stylised or surreal. These are films steeped in colour: graphic, modern and bold. Never afraid to speak their mind but at the same time, charmingly human in their subtle sense of humour and ever present warmth. Drawing from her own personality and background, Elisha’s always worked to champion diversity in everything she does, able to being a fresh, contemporary perspective to a project that more often than not will make a film unique.
未來無恙 | TURNING 18
Taiwan | 86’14’’ |2018
Director: Chao-ti HO
Synopsis
Two girls in the bloom of youth meet at a vocational training program. Afterwards, their lives move in completely different directions. They are both growing up in broken homes. Pei searches for hope in love, while Chen struggles to avoid her parents' fate. As they approach the age of 18, the undercurrents of their lives surface, nearly overwhelming them. This is a story of abandonment, but also of love and courage. Although the story comes from a remote area of Taiwan, it asks a question pondered the world over: how can an unloved life find a strength of her own?
BIO
HO, Chao-ti is a producer and director of documentary films. For several years she has made motion pictures centered on marginalized communities and non-mainstream issues, such as the impact of globalization and contemporary cultural hybridity. In addition to her work as an independent filmmaker, she was production director for the Taipei office of CNEX Foundation. HO is board member in Taiwan Film Institute and Taiwan Women’s Film Association. Distinguished by a unique vision, HO, Chao-ti’s works have been featured in international film festivals in Europe, North America and Asia, receiving numerous awards. Her rich and complex cinematic vocabulary stirs the heart with an approach that is both gentle and trenchant. In recognition of her works’ artistic nature, one of her films has been screened at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. In recent years she has released a series of documentaries on international issues, to wide acclaim.
