Internationales Festival Zeichen der Nacht - Berlin - International Festival Signs of the Night |
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9. Internationales Festival Zeichen der Nacht / Berlin Edition
22th International Festival Signs of the Night / Worldwide
December 10 - 15, 2024
Kino & Bar in der Königsstadt - - - Straßburger Straße 55 - - - 10405 Berlin (Prenzelberg) |
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La Gran Obra |
Alex Lora |
Spain, USA / 2024 / 0:20:05 |
Leo and Diana, a rich couple, bring a broken TV to a recycle point. They meet Salif and his son, two scrap dealers. Diana asks them to come to their house to get more objects. Once there, Leo looks at them collecting objects with mistrust, until they see the scrap dealers have something they want.
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JURY DECLARATION
The film Masterpiece is really a masterpiece itself It tells in just this short time the old incompatibility of the world of white and colored and poor and rich people. What is the garage for some is the entire living space for others. And no artificial Good-Man preciousness will help here. The paint comes off very quickly when it comes to money. Alex Lora plays a virtuos game with the viewers expectations and fears full of tensions. Like a virtuoso juggler, he a keeps them high in the air... even beyond the movie.
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SIGNS AWARD
The Signs Award honors films, which treat an important subject in an original and convincing way
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Sebastian Arancibia |
Chile / 2022 / 0:15:00 |
Alex (25), is a young Haitian man living in Chile who is undocumented and does not speak Spanish. After a car accident he is helped and translated by Daniela (50), a passerby with whom he is going to live what could be his last 15 minutes of life.
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JURY DECLARATION
Set entirely within the confined space of an ambulance, this gripping film captures a powerful dialogue between an accident victim and a stranger who becomes his voice through translation. Having escaped death in his homeland of Haiti, he now faces the unknown once more, encountering death as a stranger in a foreign land. Through its tense, single-location setting, the film confronts us with the fragility of life and provokes a profound reflection on destiny and survival in an often unforgiving world.
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NIGHT AWARD
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The Night Award honors films, which are able to balance ambiguity and complexity characterized by enigmatic mysteriousness and subtleness,
which keeps mind and consideration moving
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Erenik Beqiri |
Albania / 2023 / 0:17:16 |
Klodi and Mira, a young Albanian couple, decide to marry Mira to a Frenchman for 5 years in exchange for money, in order to obtain French nationality. They will then have to choose the right husband for her, and learn to detach themselves from each other.
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JURY DECLARATION
The film masterfully employs a realistic yet enigmatic approach to explore the darker facets of human nature, revealing the lengths one will go to escape home in search of a normal life. Its striking visual composition, marked by a thoughtful interplay of indoor and outdoor lighting, powerfully illuminates the protagonists' repressed emotions as they confront an uncertain fate.
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JURY AWARD FOR SOLIDARITY IN LONELINESS
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Adieu Tortue |
Selin Öksüzoglu |
France, Turkey / 2024 / 0:24:00 |
Inci’s mother died during the night. The five-year-old wanders alone through the vast hilly landscape by the Black Sea. She meets a young woman in a red sweater and is fascinated by her. Zeynep, who grew up here as well, has returned after many years away. Her luggage is heavy and the journey is long. Together, they walk through the sunshine and the clouds, from one father to another, from dawn until darkness.
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JURY DECLARATION
A poignant road movie that explores themes of loss and the profound human desire to find family in strangers. Set against vast, sweeping landscapes, the film's visual composition emphasizes the protagonists' smallness in a boundless world, with wide and long shots that evoke both isolation and wonder. The thoughtful use of red and blue hues, combined with moments of humor and an uplifting musical score, creates a rich emotional journey that is both tender and hopeful.
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The Man Who Couldn´t Stay Silent
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Nebojša Slijcecic |
Croatia, France, Bulgaria, / 2024 / 0:14:00 |
February 27, 1993, Strpci, Bosnia and Herzegovina. A passenger train from Belgrade to Bar is stopped by paramilitary forces in an ethnic cleansing operation. As they haul off innocent civilians, only one man out of 500 passengers dares to stand up to them. This is the true story of a man who could not remain silent.
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JURY DECLARATION
Getting to observe unjust behavior is something we all have experienced . Not all of us has the moral courage to take action. Assisting a victim, defending a victim is different then involvig in the situation and risking to be attacked. Here the movie makes it’s big point, which is by the way performed excellently.
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MENTION FOR THE SIGNS AWARD
The Signs Award honors films, which treat an important subject in an original and convincing way
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Jochem de Vries |
Netherlands / 2023 / 0:17:19 |
The short film 'Bus from Adana' tells the story of the Dutch Aïsha (20) who has escaped from Daesh (IS). With her three-year-old daughter she makes an uncertain journey towards Istanbul, where she has difficulties finding her way.
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JURY DECLARATION
Although the film is called "The Bus from Adana", it is much more about WHERE the bus takes the mother and her little "princess" .....But these existential questions are told very skillfully by this film only in orbit The director circles around the drama, but she doesn't rush into it... So this short film leaves room to imagine the actual catastrophe and not to serve it up. The movie in the viewer's head is still the most coherent movie.
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