Berlinale Camera To Honour German Director Edgar Reitz
Since 1986, the Berlin International Film Festival, aka Berlinale, has awarded the Berlinale Camera to honour personalities and institutions who have made a special contribution to filmmaking and with whom the festival feels closely connected. At the 74th Berlin International Film Festival, the German director and author, Edgar Reitz, will be honoured with the Berlinale Camera. “Edgar Reitz is one of the most influential filmmakers of his generation; he has created an oeuvre that will forever remain a milestone in the history of cinema. At 91, Reitz is still willing to question who we are and where we come from. In his latest work, Filmstunde 23, he succeeds in transposing the idea of home – as both a real and an imaginary place of longing – to the cinema. We are delighted to welcome his new film to the festival and to award him this much-deserved recognition,” said Executive Director, Mariëtte Rissenbeek and Artistic Director Carlo Chatrian on the tribute to Edgar Reitz. The Berlinale Camera will be awarded to Edgar Reitz on Thursday, February 22, at 3 pm in the Haus der Berliner Festspiele. The world premiere of Edgar Reitz’s latest work, Filmstunde 23, will be screened after the award ceremony as part of Berlinale Special. Reitz has received numerous awards, including the German Film Award several times, a Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival, the Luchino Visconti Prize at the Italian David di Donatello Film Awards, as well as a BAFTA Television Award and several Grimme Awards.

His filmography comprises more than 50 works – including feature films, documentaries, experimental films and works for TV. In addition to directing, he is also a producer and an author. Among other things, he has published many books and texts on film theory and aesthetics. His autobiography, Filmzeit, Lebenszeit. Erinnerungen, was published in 2022. Reitz began his cinematic work as early as the mid-1950s. He was one of those who prepared and signed the Oberhausen Manifesto, which called for a “new German film” at Short Film Festival Oberhausen in 1962, following the motto “Papa’s cinema is dead”. This marked the birth of the German auteur film. In 1967, Reitz’s feature film debut, Mahlzeiten, premiered at the Venice Film Festival and received an award as Best First Film. The Berlinale showed the film in the 2002 Retrospective. His widely-known works include Cardillac (1968/69), Geschichten vom Kübelkind (1969/71), which screened in the Berlinale Forum in 1971, Die Reise nach Wien (1973), and the world-famous Heimat trilogy (1984-2004), which was shown in cinemas, at festivals and on television.

Last Date For Entries For iREP International Documentary Festival 2024
ORGANISERS of the Irep International Documentary Film Festival have announced call for entries for the 2024 edition, which will hold under the theme: ‘Righting The Future’. Co-founder and Executive Director of the festival, Femi Odugbemi, disclosed that entries opened on December 19, 2023 and will close on January 31, 2024. “Calling all documentary filmmakers to share your impactful stories with the world. Submit your films now and be part of our documentary film festival in 2024,” Odugbemi said, adding that guidelines on entry submission can be found at: www.freefilmway.com/irepfilmfestival. This edition, the 14th, is scheduled to hold in the festival traditional month of March and it is dedicated to the celebration of Nobel Laurette Professor Wole Soyinka at 90.

Nomination Announced For 17th Asian Film Award
THE Asian Film Awards Academy (AFA Academy or AFAA) has announced the nominations for the 17th Asian Film Awards (AFA17) and the Jury President for this year in Hong Kong. Thirty-five films from 24 countries and regions have been shortlisted to compete for 16 awards at the AFA17, which celebrates artistic and technical achievements in Asian cinema. The prestigious lineup of nominees from around Asia includes seven Japanese films: Evil Does Not Exist (Director: Hamaguchi Ryusuke, the third consecutive year he has been nominated), Perfect Days (Wim Wenders), Monster (Kore-eda Hirokazu), Yoko (Kumakiri Kazuyoshi), Kubi (Kitano Takeshi), Godzilla Minus One (Yamazaki Takashi, 36th Tokyo International Film Festival’s Closing Film) and Last Shadow at First Light (Nicole Midori Woodford). Evil Does Not Exist received six nominations, making it one of the most nominated films in this year’s competition. Already awarded the Grand Jury Prize at the Venice International Film Festival, it will compete for Best Film with German auteur Wim Wenders’ Japan-based drama and 36th TIFF’s Opening Film, Perfect Days, 12.12: The Day (KIM Sung-soo, Korea), which also received six nominations, the Sri Lanka-India co-production Paradise (Prasanna Vithanage) and China’s Snow Leopard (Pema Tseden), which won the 36th TIFF’s Grand Prix. These five distinctive Asian films from different regions are in the tight race for the highest honor of Best Film at AFA17. The AFA17, presented by the AFAA, will continue to be held in Hong Kong. With the support of CreateHK and the Film Development Fund, the AFA Ceremony will take place at the Xiqu Centre in the West Kowloon Cultural District on March 10, 2024. The prestigious event will also be streamed live on the AFAA’s official YouTube Channel (youtube.com/@AsianFilmAwardsAcademy).