International Competition - Foreign Participations
Citizen Sam
Happy B-day Thalidomide
Phoenix Dance
My eyes/Inden for mine øjne
Invitation to the Dance – Body and taboo
Body Memory
Stark! Doménique has the hiccups/ Stark! Doménique tickt anders
Arielle
Braindamadj'd…Take II
A shift in perception
Dreaming Sideways
Unexpected blow
Self-Preservation: the Art of Riva Lehrer
Bramblitt
Born dead
Disarmed and Dangerous
I am with you
Like a Butterfly
The Last Flight/ Le dernier evnol
Living Rights -Yoshi
Magic Night/ Taikayö
How do you eat an elephant
I Τalk to God / Man ba khoda harf mizanam
Kids reporting: Epilepsy / Kinderzeit Epilepsie
Kyra's Dream or Penguins can’t fly either/ Kyras Traum oder Pinguine können auch nicht fliegen
Citizen Sam
Joe Moulins │Canada │2006 │ 80 mins
Synopsis: An unflinching portrait of the one-of-a-kind politician Sam Sullivan who has become the face of Vancouver on the international stage. Citizen Sam, the quadriplegic city councillor in a pinstripe suit, was elected Mayor of Vancouver, Canada. With unprecedented insight, director Joe Moulins blends the rough and tumble of the campaign with intimate moments from Sullivan's daily life. A brutally frank and funny video diary counts down the days to the election.
Bio: Α founding member of ConnecTV – the only Television production program for people with disabilities in the United States. As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, she has worked with abused children, women exposed to HIV, the homeless. As a professional actress, she has performed in many Off- Broadway productions.
Awards - Recognition : Canada, Victoria, Independent Film & Video Festival 2006-7.
Happy B-day Thalidomide
Kim Flitcroft │UK │2004 │ 49 mins
Synopis: Mat Fraser, successful musician, actor, performer and television presenter, has birth defects caused by thalidomide-containing drugs administered to his pregnant mother. Fraser sets out on the fiftieth anniversary of its discovery to track down this notorious drug. His search takes him to Brazil, where it is still prescribed, and where a new generation of "thalidomide kids" is growing up. And thalidomide is enjoying an astonishing comeback even in Europe. Kim Flitcroft has for many years worked as a documentary filmmaker and director for TV plays in Great Britain.
Bio: Kim Flitcroft makes mainly documentaries, among the most recent of which are Cutting Edge: Girls Αlone and Boys Alone, two documentaries about eleven-year-old girls and boys, respectively, who live alone, Guyana Trouble in Paradise, a short series about the role of a third-world government.
Awards - Recognition: Superfest San Francisco 2005, The way we live Munich 2005, Assim Vivemos Brazil 2005 Awards: Superfest (Best of festival).
Phoenix Dance
Karina Epperlein │USA │2006 │ 16 mins
Synopsis: The film Phoenix Dance shows us the beauty and strength of one individual who defies our expectations of what it means to be “disabled.” Dancer Homer Avila had – who had been dancing with Twyla Tharp, Bill T. Jones and Mark Morris – his right leg and most of his hip amputated. The film is an intimate poem, revealing that when heart and will are joined, the impossible happens. Through interviews, studio rehearsals, and theatre performances, we witness a deeply-moving collaboration. Interdependence, trust, and the process of “strength-building” by overcoming challenges in life, come visually alive. Three years after his amputation, Homer dies. He had disclosed his decision to keep dancing and not go into treatment to only a few people. While Homer’s death did not affect the making of the film, it only made it more essential that his legacy live on.
Bio: Independent filmmaker Karina Epperlein has thirty years of experience as a theater artist, teacher and filmmaker. She developed her own poetic vision of theater directing and performing original works. She also travelled extensively with her films, leading discussions and running workshops at festivals, universities, conferences and community groups.
Awards - Recognition: San Francisco Int’l Film Festival (Golden Gate Award).
American Dance Festival Dancing for the Camera; Atlantic Film Festival (Nova Scotia); Cinedans Int’l Dance Film Festival (Amsterdam); Crossroads Film Festival; Dance Films Association Dance On Camera Festival at Lincoln Center (NY); Denver Int’l Film Festival; Flint Institute of Arts; Florida Film Festival; Heartland Film Festival; Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival; IDA DocuWeek Showcase (LA); International Ballet Festival of Miami; Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival; Mill Valley Film Festival; Nashville Film Festival; Rocky Mountain Women’s Film Festival.
My eyes/Inden for mine øjne
Erlend E. Mo │Denmark │2006 │ 19 mins
Synopsis: Katja, aged 16, and Catherine, aged 8, both have a unique relationship to music, to nature and to sensation in general. Katja and Catherine are blind, but have developed their other senses and use them more keenly than most people. The director, Erlend E. Mo, depicts the girls; interpreting their sense-based, subjective experience of the world, which is as rich as a world observed by a seeing person, just different. The film represents the intimacy and intensity of the girls’ environment in few words, thus allowing the viewer to partake in a poetic experience and perceive an old world afresh.
Bio: Erlend Mo has worked as director and producer on several documentaries. Amongst others he received awards for his feature length documentaries “Welcome to Denmark” (Odense International Film Festival 2003) and “Can You Die in Heaven” (Odense Festival 2005).
Awards - Recognition: Odense International Film Festival (2006), IDFA (Amsterdam), CPH Dox 2006 (Copenhagen), Helsinki Doc Point Doc Film Festival (2007), Docsbarcelona 2007 (Spain), ZagrebDox 2007 (Croatia), Sao Paulo It's all true Int. Doc FF, Chicago International Doc. Festival (USA), Yunnan Multi Culture Visual festival (Yunfest), Kristiansand International Children's F. F (2007) AWARDS IDFA 2006 (Silver Cub Award).
Invitation to the Dance – Body and taboo/Einladung zum Tanz - Körper und Tabus
Gerhard Schick │Germany │2006 │ 89 mins
Synopsis:The 39-year old dancer and choreographer from Cologne Gerda König suffers from muscular atrophy. Since her body doesn’t produce any muscular tissue she lives a life without power in her arms and legs. She depends on the electric wheelchair. But on stage a fascinating personality is unfolded.
The movie not only shows the artistic genesis of the dance piece “Countercircles” in Nairobi, but also offers an unusual insight into eastern African culture and way of living. Five disabled and non-disabled dancers were chosen for the performance, most of them coming from the slums of Nairobi. In addition there were two dancers of the permanent German ensemble.
Bio: Gerhard Schick has studied Film, Television and Theatre studies in Köln and Tel-Aviv. He works as film-editor and scriptwriter for documentary films.
Awards - Recognition: Handikap Filmfestival 2006, Kolding, Denmark; Dance On Camera Festival 2007, NY, USA, Picture This… Film Festival 2007, Calgary, Canada
Picture This…Film Festival [Honourable Mention, Cat.: Documentary (Over 30 min).
Body Memory/Κörpergedächtnis
Kathia Scholz │Germany │2004 │ 15 mins
Synopsis: We see Elena Wiele at her martial arts training. She has cerebral paresis. The body learns to store motion patterns by repeating sequences of movements until they are indelibly written into the muscular memory. But what if there are gaps in this memory? What if every action, every step, every movement has constantly to be called up afresh via the thinking brain? The film shows her daily battle with a "damaged" body and her battle with a non-disabled world.
Bio: Kathia Scholz completed her diploma in cultural studies in Berlin. Since 1997 she has made her own documentary short films and collaborated on low-budget film productions.
Awards - Recognition: Breaking Down Barriers Film Festival 2006 (Moscow), The other film Festival (Melbourne), Several screeings: Procap "Mal she'n", 2005 Kurzfilmfestival "wie wir leben!" (Switzerland), Filmuseum Muenchen 2004: Dokumentar-Film-und Videofest (Kassel), Opren-Air Filmfest (Weiterstadt), OpenEyes Kurzfilmfestival (Marburg), lange Nacht der Wissenschaft (Berlin).
Stark! Domenique has the hiccups/ Stark! Doménique tickt anders
Phillis Fermer │Germany │2005 │ 15 mins 01 sec
Synopsis: Domenique has Tourette Syndrome. As he says himself, it’s a bit like having hiccups in your brain. What is it like when other children make fun of him because of the faces he pulls? How does he feel when his involuntary head movements make people stare at him as though he “had a screw loose”? Inside himself Domenique feels just the same as all the other boys of his age – if it weren’t for these tics. Domenique doesn’t hide himself away. He likes company. Most important of all, he has found friends that accept him and understand him. This film was made for the children’s television series “Stark! (Strong) – children talk about themselves”.
Bio: Phillis Fermer has worked as editor
for the political press and in publishing as well as for the German radio and television. In 1995 she founded her own production company Küppers& Horn Film. Since then she has produced various documentaries for ZDF and other German broadcasters.
Awards - Recognition: Short Film Festival Muenchen "Wie wir leben" 2005, Filmfestival in India 2005 (Chennai) First Price Koelner Medienpreis 2006.
Arielle
Jean-Marc Descamps │France │2006 │ 34 mins
Synopsis: Since she was very young, Arielle has always dreamed of going on stage. Although she was born deaf, she started dancing at three, then studied acting and mime. Thanks to her determination, Arielle has learned to fulfil her dreams despite her handicap. At seventeen, she decides to take an audition for a famous dance school in New York and hopes to become a professional dancer.
Bio: Jan-Marc Descamps has studied cinematography techniques (montage, managing actors, operating multicamera, screen-play writing). He has been making short films and documentaries sing the age of eighteen. Since 1994 he has been involved with the theme of "disability and art".
Braindamadj'd…Take II
Paul Nadler │Canada │2006 │ 50 mins
Synopsis: Ten years ago, Montrealer Paul Nadler was a go-getter person. Then he was found alone on a road in Egypt, without clothes, comatose after a car accident that caused him Traumatic Brain Injury. He had been left for dead. He was only 30. Braindamadj'd…Take II documents Nadler's gutsy, manic determination to regain his previous life. It features Nadler's often sardonic comments on his progress, and the observations of key people involved in his recovery. An intensely personal account, the film traces the excruciating process of recovery, both physical and psychological, containing a startling surprise in the end.
Bio: Paul Nadler, an edgy television firebrand artist suffered severe brain damage in a near-fatal car accident. His new condition forced him to re-invent himself. Despite living with a traumatic brain injury, he returned to university to get his masters' degree; and since making the documentary has traveled the world presenting his award-winning film.
Awards - Recognition: Winner Grand Prix Japan Prize, Gemini Award (Best Biography Doc & Best Direction in a Doc), Superfest XXVI International Disabilities Film Festival (Winner Excellence Award & W. Spirit Award), The Other Film Festival (W.-Best of Festival), Yorkton Short Film & Video Festival (W.-Best Doc P.O.V.), Picture This... Festival (Best Doc by a Disabled Filmmaker). OFFICIAL SELECTION: Dallas Video Festival, Image et Sante, Frames of mind mental health Festival, Denmark Handicap Film Fest, Moscow Disability Film Festival, Docnz Film Festival, Brussels International Independent Film Festival.
A shift in perception
Dan Monceaux │Australia │2006 │ 16 mins 5 secs
Synopsis: An experimental, humanistic and informal examination of living with blindness. Conversations with three South Australian women are illustrated on film. Animation, time-lapse photography and many other methods of abstraction invite the viewer to celebrate the beauty of the women's unique perspectives. Described by Realtime OnScreen magazine as “a visual treat”.
Bio: Dan Monceaux has received awards for animation and screen-writing (Karaoke Nomad Squad, 2003 and EcoTVC: Coastal Crisis, 2004). This is his directorial and documentary debut.
Awards - Recognition: Best Professionally Produced Film Fleurieu Film Festival, SA, Australia (2007).Nominee for Best Documentary – Tirana International Film Festival, Albania (2007). Best of Show – Sound Experimental Film Festival, Texas, USA (2006). Audience Choice Award – Sound Experimental Film Festival, Texas, USA (2006). 1st Prize Jury Choice – Black Maria Film & Video Festival, New Jersey, USA (2007). Gold Award for Excellence – Park City Film Music Festival, Utah, USA (2007). Honorable Mention – United States Super8 & DV Festival, New Jersey, USA (2007). Nominated for Best Experimental Film, Best Sound Design & Emerging Producer awards (prizewinners TBA) – SA Short Screen Awards, Australia (2007).
Dreaming Sideways
Heidi Vilkman │ UK │2005 │ 21 mins 37 secs
Synopsis: Dreaming Sideways is an experimental short documentary about three unordinary ways of “seeing”. Shot entirely on super 8 and 16 mm, the film explores a world and dreams of three blind artists, by unique and evocative use of sound, images and animation. Dreaming Sideways explores the dreams and experiences of three individuals, whose primary experiences of the world are other than visual.
Bio: Heidi Vilkman studied Photography, Film, Television, and Screen Documentary (MA) in Great Britain. Her latest creations include a contribution as one of the several film-makers to the multi-media project “Dante’s Inferno”.
Awards - Recognition: B09/05 291 Gallery,Film artist event, Hackney, London.
11/05 Brief Encounters International Short Film Festival, Bristol 2005,Best of British category / Nov 05. 12/05 The Horse Hospital, London,Masters Graduation Program from Goldsmiths College, London. 02/06 Broadcast on Sky YouTV ‘Shortcutters’ program with director’s interview. 02/06 Screened at Shortcutters Film Festival, London.03/06 Ofensiva Film Festival, Wrocaw, Poland
05/06 Royal Television Society Student Awards, UK -nomination in the national, postgraduate, non-factual category. 09/06 Vilnius Film Shorts – European Film School Festival .
Unexpected blow
Suzanne Raes│ The Netherlands │2004 │ 15 mins
Synopsis: Jolieke hasn’t had it easy so far. Not only did her father die 8 years ago, she also has a chronic immune system disease. This means she has to go to the hospital every two weeks for a drip which often makes her tired. Her little sister has the same illness and together they also share their pains and frustrations. Jolieke and her sister show us that sometimes sadness and bad luck are just part of life.
Bio: Suzanne Raes (Utrecht 1969) studied Cultural History at UvA (Amsterdam University) and followed videoclasses at NYU in New York. She made various documentaries as Noise (Ruis, about communication between doctors and patients) and Pain (about the effects of chronic pain) and documentary series as World Class (on a black school in The Hague).
Awards - Recognition: Cinekid (October 2004), iDFA (Amsterdam), one World Film Festival 2005 (Prague), Sprockets Children Film Festivaln2005 (Czech Republic), Canada Buster 2005, Barcelona International TV Festival (2005), Aule de Cine 2005 (Barcelona), European Youth Film Festival Flanders 2006 (Belgium), Parnu International Film festival 2006 (estonia), Facing Children Festival 2006 (Romania) AWARDS Unicef Prize for the Best Onternatonal TV Festival 2005.
Self-Preservation: the Art of Riva Lehrer
Sharon Snyder │ USA │2005 │ 32 mins
Synopsis: Self Preservation brings to life Lehrer’s paintings of influential thinkers, artists, and activists from within the Chicago disability rights movement. As a result, viewers learn about disability as a political, social, and revolutionary identity of our times, and how a new mode of being disabled is taking shape at the beginning of the 21st century.
Bio: Sharon Snyder and David Mitchell are the creators of Brace Yourselves Productions, the first independent disability documentary film and video company in the United States. Their first film, Vital Signs: Crip Culture Talks Back, the recipient of Grand Prize at Rehabilitation International's Film Festival in Auckland, New Zealand, 1996, among other awards, has now defined the nature and mode of disability culture for two generations of disabled scholars, activists, and artists.
Awards - Recognition: Dis/This 2007 (New York), London Disability Film Festival (2005), Disability Film Fest 2004 (Melbourne). Breaking down barriers 2005 (Moscow) (Best film), Superfest 2005 (Oakland) (merit Award), Picture This 2005 (Calgary) (Honorable mention).
Bramblitt
Mika Ferris │ USA │2005 │ 13 mins 30 secs
Synopsis: “I was angry when I lost my sight. Painting seemed a way of shoving my disability right back in the face of God, or nature, or whatever. Funny how things seem to right themselves though. Through painting I found a calmness that I had not known since before my vision had gone”. Bramblitt profiles artist John Bramblitt’s refusal to let the loss of his vision restrict his ability to paint, and documents the profound emotional and physical process he goes through with each new painting.
Βιο: Mika Ferris graduated from the University of California at Santa Barbara Film Studies Department. Among other creations, he produced and directed the documentary The Free School (2000-2002).
Awards - Recognition: Angelus Student Festival. Finalist, September 2006. University Film and Video Association’s Nextframe Touring Festival of International Student Film & Video. Finalist, August 2006. Texas Filmmakers Cooperative, Denton Texas. March 2006. Hot Springs Documentary Festival, October 2005. Dallas Video Festival, August 2005. Barbara ajordan Media Award (Special Contribution-Individual).
Born dead
Jacek Blawut │Poland │2004 │ 53 mins
Synopsis: Robert Jurczyga is 23 and has been in prison since he was 15. He participates in a rehabilitation programme initiated by the prison and an institution for the mentally handicapped in Krakow. Every day, Robert works at the institution, mainly with children and adolescents. Though nervous and awkward at first, Robert soon discovers a different life from the chilly, gray-blue silence in prison. He is strict when necessary, but also sings and dances with the children, holds their hands in the game. He discovers the world of feelings and foremost the emotional thrill of human contact and communication.
Bio: Jace Blawut studied cinema in Lodz, Poland. Lecturer-Tutor of The Andrzej Wajda Master School of Film Directing. He has contributed to more than 80 documentary films as a scriptwriter, director, producer. Member of the European Film Academy.
Awards - Recognition: Crocow IDFF 2004 Poland (Bronze Hobby-Horse and the International Federation of Film Discussion Clubs Jury Award), Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival 2004 (Academic Prize), International Documentary Human Right Film Festival 2005 Budapest (II Prize) , Film Festival “You and Me” 2004 Kolobrzeg (Grand Prix) , Media Film Festival „Menaced Man” 2004 Lodz (Special Prize), dfa international Doc Film Festival Amsterdam 2004, Internationale Film Festival 2005 Melbourne, Ukrainian Context-Human Rights Doc Film Days 2006 Ukraine (Award), Handicap Film Festival 2006 Denmark (Award for the best foreign film).
Disarmed and Dangerous
Diana Naftal │ USA │2006 │ 15 mins
Synopsis: Τwo women who were born without their left arms meet over the internet and develop a kinship based on their mutual feelings of self-consciousness about their residual limbs. Both women are only comfortable when concealing their stumps. But what happens when the two women meet for the first time in New York City to challenge themselves to reveal their stumps? What ensues is a battle of body-image righteousness instead of the understanding and connection that was hoped for. In spite of these “growing pains”, a new sense of body image is established.
Bio: Diana Naftal is a founding member of ConnecTV – the only Television production program for people with disabilities in the United States. As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, she has worked with abused children, women exposed to HIV, the homeless. As a professional actress, she has performed in many Off- Broadway productions.
Awards - Recognition: Syracusee International Film & Video Festival (USA). Picture This… Film Festival (Canada) (Honorable Mention in Documentary).
I am with you
Maciej Adamek │ Poland │2005 │ 26 mins
Synopsis: This is the film about the love and devotion of people behind-the-scenes: about parents accompanying their ill children in hospitals. In hospital wards the parents spend weeks, months in very harsh conditions: sleeping in chairs, on the floor, often without dining facilities, and with no bathrooms to wash. Little does it matter to them, because all that does is that they may be by their children’s bedside all the time. The leading characters are three parents and their children: the mother of David, a cancer patient; the father of Patrycja who has had a kidney transplant and the mother of Alicja with a heart condition.
Bio: Maciej Adamek studied Polish literature at the Gdansk University and then film directing at the Polish National Film, Television and Theatre School in Lodz. Member of the European Film Academy.
Awards - Recognition: Cracaw Film Fest, Chicago International Doc Film Festival AWARDS Best doc at Doc days (Beirut), Silver Award at AlZazzera Film Fest, Grand Prix at Roshd Fil Fest (Iran), Certificate of finalist in TV New York Festivals, Best doc at the end of Pier INTFF (England).
Like a Butterfly
Ewa Pieta │ Poland │2004 │ 29 λεπτά
Synopsis: Przemek, a quadriplegic since birth, was unable to control the movements of his arms and legs and was also unable to speak. Until he was six he believed that he was the same as everyone else and that his mother understood the screeches which he considered to be his speech. The boy grew and matured, but everybody considered him stupid. To make matters worse, when he was eight years old, his mother – afflicted with a serious back problem – put him in a clinic. Przemek stayed there for another eight years, presumed to be a "vegetable". Gradually Przemek realized that nobody had any idea that mentally he was completely healthy. He tried to make contact by batting his eyelids, but it was no use. Finally, a miracle happened. Accidentally, a therapist discovered Przemek’s signaling and the boy’s life took a new turn. At the age of sixteen he began to learn Bliss, a system of pictorial symbols which enabled him to communicate with those around him for the first time. Although Przemek cannot speak, he now writes poems and songs and "shows how beautiful it is to live, despite or because of his handicap."
Bio: Ewa Pieta graduated from the Warsaw University Polish Philology Department, as well as from the Screenplay Department at the Polish Film School in Lodz and from the Film Directing Department at Silesia University in Katowice. Her work has garnered many awards.
Awards - Recognition: Paernu International Film Festival 2005. It was selected as the single Polish documentary to represent Polish Television at the 2005 INPUT conference.
The last flight / Le dernier envol
Yes Langlois | Canada |2007 |78 mins
Synopsis: Poet and novelist Claude Messier enjoyed a full life and a successful career despite a serious degenerative illness which deprived him from childhood of the use of all his limbs. The film presents the final days of this remarkable man. His battles for recognition of the right to work, to a decent life, to sexuality and to dignity in all forms. Claude Messier was one of the first Canadians to be permitted to smoke marijuana for therapeutic reasons.
Bio: Filmmaker and editor for more than 25 year, communications expert, psychosociologist and writer, Yves Langlois has distinguished himself by his films and articles on minorities and the third world nations (awarded in Canada and the US). His films have been broadcasted on television chains in divers countries.
Avant-Premiere
Living Rights -Yoshi
Duco Tellegen │ Netherlands │2004 │ 28 mins
Synopsis: What does “normal” mean? Yoshi (16) has Asperger Syndrome, a disorder related to autism. Recently he was transferred from a regular to a special school for the severely handicapped. Yoshi feels lost between two worlds. He dreams of a solution to become normal.
Bio: Besides directing and producing his own documentary films on different social issues, DIco Tellegen worked as production- and director assistant, for many film productions worldwide. His films won several international awards.
Awards - Recognition: INTERNATIONAL DOC FILM FESTIVAL AMSTERDAM (PREMIERE),Human Rights Watch (London, NY), Locarno International Film Festival, Images of the 21st century etc. 58th Locarno Film Festival (Special Mention Human Rights), Parnu filmfestival (Prize of French Ambassador), Buster Copenhagen International Film Festival for Children and Youth (Buster's doc award), Osnabruek Children Rights Award (2006), Nomination Movie Squad (Youth award), Nomination Child Right Award (Romania Signis 2006).
Magic Night/ Taikayö
Jouni Hiltunen │ Finland │2006 │ 15 mins
Synopsis: Hannes Tiira is blind. On summer evenings he takes a solitary walk into a bird grove. He wants to hear their song every night, impatient for the unique “magic night”. “Each summer is blessed with one or two magic nights. These are the twilight hours between two very hot days, when the sound world of the grove intoxicates the mind: birds, birds, birds!”
Bio: Jouni Hiltunen has directed 20 documentary films. He has worked in various fields of the film industry since 1990. His documentary film about three Russian prisoners Blatnoi Mir (2001) has been awarded at both Finnish and international festivals. Works as a producer-director for Katharsis Films in Helsinki.
Awards - Recognition: Helsinki Doc Film Festival Finland, Tampere Film Festival Finland 2007, It's all true Film Festival Mexico 2007, Kynnyskino Disability Film Festival Finland.
How do you eat an elephant
Rick Randall | Australia | 2006 | 20 mins
Synopsis: Anyone can be affected by mental illness. What if it were a workmate, a close friend or a member of your family? What if it were you? Six people living in Melbourne speak frankly and openly of their personal experience of mental illness, of the stigma of fear that people hold regarding mental illness, of the impact on the recovery when returning to work place, of bringing joy back into life.
Bio: Rick Randall is a prolific documentary and filmmaker, community artist and project director, with world-wide recognition. He has worked with unemployed young people, people with physical and intellectual disabilities, people of indigenous descent. Many projects have been innovative in their approach to communicating health messages to specific groups.
I Τalk to God / Man ba khoda harf mizanam
Kaveh Behrami Moghaddam | Iran | 2004 | 30 mins
Bio: Keveh Behrami Moghaddam He directed 12 short films (fiction, animation and documentary). Winner of the best animation prize for the film Hobab in Canada (CIAF festival 1992) and of the best documentary prize for the film I talk to God (International Short Film Festival 2004) in Tehran.
Awards - Recognition: Tehran International Shortfilm Festival 2004 (Jury Grand prix ), Kish International Documentary Film Festival (Best photo).
Kids reporting: Epilepsy / Kinderzeit Epilepsie
Anke Lehmann-Echternacht | Germany
Synopsis: An epileptic seizure is a transient sign and/or symptom due to abnormal, excessive or synchronous neuronal activity, a “thunderstorm” in the brain. A seizure has various different causes. But an epileptic seizure alone is not what we call epilepsy – not until there occurred several seizures without obvious reason.
Three young reporters spent four weeks into a children’s clinic in Bielefeld to get to know their disease and to maybe overcome it. They are reporting on their problem in their little film. Kids Reporting is a weekly series in WDR. One of the main ideas is to give children a platform to present their topics from their own point of view. While making a film for TV the kids learn to use the medium television.
Bio: Anke Lehmann-Echternatcht kives and works in Köln, Germany. Journalist, director, producer and film-author for TV and youth welfare services: she teaches children how to make films and use the media.
Kyra's Dream or Penguins can’t fly either/ Kyras Traum oder Pinguine können auch nicht fliegen
Gisa Hillesheimer | Germany | 2004 | 8 minutes
Synopsis: Kyra is 6 years old. From her birth on she’s paralysed. She’s drawing a penguin. She likes Penguins and visits them often in the zoo. She loves their waddling and their swimming and says: "I can do that too!".
Moreover she likes swinging, hopping on the springboard, stepping in puddles, riding the merry-go-round, playing handball and much more. And sometimes she’s dreaming of two Kyras. One of them is a fairy...
Bio: Studied in Film- and TV-Academy, Berlin and in Academy of Design (Photography), Offenbach. Since 1984 had many single- and group-exhibitions with photographic works, film- and sound-installations. She has directed quite a few documentary- and short films.
Awards - Recognition: Filmfest Weiterstadt 2002 (Germany).