Location | Berlin, Germany |
---|---|
Founded | 2009 |
Language | International |
Website | www |
Berlin Independent Film Festival (BIFF) is a film festival with a special emphasis on independent films, which annually takes place in Berlin, Germany. It screens German and international films and awards them in various categories. It screens at the historic Kino Babylon, and offers jury awards in many categories as well as two audience awards.
The festival is independent of, but runs concurrently with, the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) in the city, along with the European Film Market.
The festival was founded in 2009 [1] [2] and takes place at the same time as Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale), but is a separate event, independent from the Berlinale. The European Film Market takes place at the same time, providing an opportunity to market films. The festival takes place at the historic Kino Babylon cinema in Berlin Mitte. [3]
Besides short and feature films of any genre, [4] the festival also exhibits music videos and documentary films. [5] [6] After many screenings, the festival organises question-and-answer panels with the filmmakers. [7] One special emphasis of the festival are features that are the director's first or second film, but it also showcases other independent features. [8] All films are screened with English subtitles, as the audience is international. [9]
As of 2022 [update] BIFF offers jury awards in the following categories for films: [1]
There are also four awards for screenplay: [1]
Audiences get to vote for Best Feature and Best Short.
Among many others, the festival has screened the following notable films:
The Sarajevo Film Festival is the premier and largest film festival in Southeast Europe, and is one of the largest film festivals in Europe. It was founded in Sarajevo in 1995 during the siege of Sarajevo in the Bosnian War, and brings international and local celebrities to Sarajevo every year. It is held in August and showcases an extensive variety of feature and short films from around the world. The current director of the festival is Jovan Marjanović.
The cinema of Russia, popularity known as Mollywood, refers to the film industry in Russia, engaged in production of motion pictures in Russian language. The popular term Mollywood is a portmanteau of "Moscow" and "Hollywood".
Michael Koch is a Swiss film director and screenwriter.
The Berlin International Film Festival, usually called the Berlinale, is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europe's "Big Three" film festivals alongside the Venice Film Festival held in Italy and the Cannes Film Festival held in France. Furthermore, it is one of the "Big Five", the most prestigious film festivals in the world. The festival regularly draws tens of thousands of visitors each year.
Joseph Israel Laban was a Filipino journalist, independent filmmaker, playwright, and a Fulbright Scholar.
Ursula Meier is a French-Swiss film director and screenwriter.
Miriam Dehne , is a German film director and screenwriter.
Denis Côté is an independent filmmaker and producer living in Quebec, of Brayon origin. His experimental films have been shown at major film festivals around the world.
The UK Film Festival, founded in 2011, is a film festival held annually in Soho, London, in November. The festival aims to discover new filmmakers but always mixes established filmmakers into their screening programmes.
The Look of Silence is a 2014 internationally co-produced documentary film directed by Joshua Oppenheimer about the Indonesian mass killings of 1965–66. The film is a companion piece to his 2012 documentary The Act of Killing. Executive producers were Werner Herzog, Errol Morris, and Andre Singer. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 88th Academy Awards.
Aleksei Alekseivich German is a Russian film director. His last name is pronounced with a hard "g" and in English is sometimes spelled Guerman or Gherman to avoid confusion.
Radu Jude is a Romanian film director and screenwriter.
The 66th Berlin International Film Festival was held from 11 to 21 February 2016, with American actress Meryl Streep as the President of the Jury. The Honorary Golden Bear for lifetime achievement was presented to German cinematographer Michael Ballhaus. Hail, Caesar!, directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, was selected to open the festival. The Golden Bear was awarded to the Italian documentary Fire at Sea, directed by Gianfranco Rosi, which also serves as closing night film.
Boddinale is an international Film Festival for Berlin-based directors that takes place every year starting on the second Thursday of February.
The 67th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 9 to 18 February 2017 with Dutch filmmaker Paul Verhoeven as President of the Jury. Django, directed by Etienne Comar, opened the festival. The Golden Bear was awarded to the Hungarian film On Body and Soul directed by Ildikó Enyedi, which also served as closing film of the festival.
Berlinale Talents, formerly Berlinale Talent Campus, is the talent development programme of the Berlin International Film Festival. An annual summit and networking platform for 200 outstanding creatives from the fields of film and drama series, the events take place in February at the three venues of HAU Hebbel am Ufer Theatre in Berlin-Kreuzberg. Berlinale Talents is organized and directed by Florian Weghorn and Nikola Joetze as project manager.
The 69th annual Berlin International Film Festival took place from 7 to 17 February 2019. French actress Juliette Binoche served as the Jury President. Lone Scherfig's drama film The Kindness of Strangers opened the festival. The Golden Bear was won by Israeli-French drama Synonyms directed by Nadav Lapid, which also served as the closing film of the festival.
The 70th annual Berlin International Film Festival took place from 20 February to 1 March 2020. It was the first under the leadership of new Berlin Film Festival heads, business administration director Mariette Rissenbeek and artistic director Carlo Chatrian. The festival opened with the opening gala presented by actor Samuel Finzi followed by the world premiere of the film My Salinger Year which was selected for the Berlinale Special section. The Golden Bear was awarded to the Iranian film There Is No Evil, directed by Mohammad Rasoulof.
The 72nd annual Berlin International Film Festival, usually called the Berlinale, took place from 10 to 20 February 2022 in person. On 15 December 2021 the first film of the festival was announced. The festival opened with François Ozon's drama film Peter von Kant. Isabelle Huppert was awarded Honorary Golden Bear for lifetime achievement on 15 February 2022 at the Berlinale Palast award ceremony. Her film by Laurent Larivière, À propos de Joan was also screened.
The 73rd annual Berlin International Film Festival, usually called the Berlinale, took place from 16 to 26 February 2023. It was the first completely in-person Berlinale since the 70th in 2020. The festival added a new competition section for television series.