Bolzano – Bozen’s directorial debut “Hochwald” by Evi Romen is the absolute favorite for the Austrian Film Prize, which will be awarded on July 8th, with nine nominations. These include the royal categories of “Best Feature Film” and “Best Actor”, for which the actor Thomas Prenn from Pusteria is nominated. Most of the drama was shot in South Tyrol and the production was supported by IDM Südtirol with funds from the South Tyrolean Film Fund. At one of the most important German festivals for the documentary film DOK.fest Munich, on the other hand, Lukas Ladner’s Eva-Maria is running in the competition. And the documentaries “The Red House” by Francesco Catarinolo, “My Upside Down World” by Elena Goatelli and “Luca + Silvana” by the South Tyrolean Stefano Lisci are currently being screened at the Trento Film Festival. In June, “The Human Factor” by Castelrotto Ronny Trocker will be shown in the “Panorama” series of the Berlinale. These five films were also funded by IDM.
Evi Romen’s debut film as a director is causing a sensation. The production of AMOUR FOU Vienna from Vienna not only ran at the Viennale, the Torino Film Festival and the top-class Tallinn Black Nights Festival, but also won the “Golden Eye” for the “Best Film” at the Zurich Film Festival in 2020. Now the drama is the film with the most nominations for the Austrian Film Award. “Hochwald” is not only a candidate for the best feature film and leading actor, but also for the “Best Screenplay”, which the director Evi Romen wrote herself, for the “Best Cinematography” and the “Best Editing”. There are also nominations for the “Best Make-Up”, “Best Score” and “Best Costume” prizes, which the South Tyrolean costume designer Cinzia Cioffi could receive. The drama about the young, sensitive Mario and his difficult coming-out will celebrate its South Tyrol premiere in a small South Tyrolean village on May 6th at the Bolzano Film Club. Evi Romen, who lives in Vienna, will be present.
Lukas Ladner, the director of the documentary “Eva-Maria”, is currently looking forward to the decision of a festival jury. His sensitive portrait of a woman who has been in a wheelchair since childhood due to polio and who is now facing her desire to have children is part of the DOK.fest Munich competition. The festival will take place digitally from May 5th to 23rd. Golden Girls Filmproduktion & Filmservices Wien produced the project in coproduction with Daniel Dlouhy – Bunny Beach Film eU Aldrans; large parts of the post-production were carried out in South Tyrol. The protagonists of the documentary are Eva Maria Prossegger and Renate Prossegger.
Another IDM-supported documentary will be shown in the competition of the Trento Film Festival, which will take place in hybrid form until mid-May: The documentary “The Red House” follows the well-known South Tyrolean adventurer Robert Peroni to Greenland, where he after numerous dangerous expeditions with an endangered tribe of the Inuit settled down and founded the contact point “The Red House” for those in need. Tekla from Turin produced together with VIDICOM Media from Hamburg, directed by Francesco Catarinolo. The film project was supported by IDM not only in production, but also in preparation for production.
The documentary biopic “My upside down World”, which runs in the “Alp & Ism” series of the festival, focuses on the life and career of the extreme athlete and world champion in ice climbing Angelika Rainer from Merano. The Bolzano Albolina Film produced, the Bolzano-born Elena Goatelli directed. The film was shot in 2019 and 2020, locations in South Tyrol were among others Merano, in the Wipptal and in the Dolomites. In the “Orizzonti Vicini” series, a third film with South Tyrol funding can be seen in Trento: “Luca + Silvana” tells the story of a Bolzano couple with Down’s syndrome whose greatest wish is to get married. The director is the South Tyrolean by choice and ZeLIG graduate Stefano Lisci. The documentary was shot in 2018 and 2019 by the production company Cooperativa 19 from Bozen, largely in Bozen and the surrounding area.
The Berlinale in June, on the other hand, is the next stop for “The Human Factor” by Ronny Trocker. The film revolves around a dramatic event that all members of a wealthy family experience differently; this brings conflicts and secrets to light. After the drama celebrated its world premiere in January at the renowned Sundance Film Festival – the most important international festival for independent films – in the World Dramatic Competition, it will now be shown in Berlin in the “Panorama” series. The organizers will decide whether in front of an audience or virtually. The film is a co-production of the German Zischlermann Filmproduktion, the South Tyrolean Bagarrefilm and the Danish Snowglobe.
“The fact that numerous films that we support are selected for festivals and prestigious prizes underscores the careful work we have done in the selection of the funded projects,” says Vera Leonardelli, Business Development Director at IDM. For South Tyrol as a film location, it is very important that really good and high-quality films are made here. That shows impressively how well the local film industry has developed and what level it has now reached. “Even if we have to forego the funding date in May due to the difficult situation caused by the pandemic, the film industry is and will remain an important sector for South Tyrol, for which IDM continues to be very committed,” said Leonardelli. “I keep my fingers crossed for all nominated productions!”
From: luk
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