The second edition of the Film O’Clock International Festival is about to begin. The Festival will take place from the1st to 6th of March 2022 in selected cinemas and venues from the 25th meridian east, in the participating countries Lithuania (Cinema Skalvija, Vilnius), Romania (Cinema Muzeul Taranului, Bucharest), Bulgaria (Dom na kinoto, Sofia), Greece (Studio New Art Cinema, Athens), Egypt (AUC – Tahrir Cultural Center) and South Africa (Labia Theatre, Cape Town).
As previously announced, the board of the festival has chosen 12 titles for the short film competition. These are:
Bella by Thelyia Petraki, 24 min, documentary, GR, 2020
Digital Voodoo by Antanas Skučas Julius Zubavičius, 2 min, animation, LT/UK, 2020
Five Tiger by Nomawonga Khumalo, 11 min, fiction, SA, 2020
Love Stories on the Move by Carina Gabriela Dașoveanu, 21 min, fiction, Romania, 2021
Nexting by Karina Logothetis, 11 min, fiction, GR/USA, 2021
Once Upon a Time in the Café by Noha Adel, 16 min, fiction, EG, 2021
Ruby & Roach by Erentia Bedeker, 9 min, animation, SA, 2020
Santiago by Andrey Koulev, 16 min, animation, BG, 2021
The deer hunting by Andrei Olănescu, 22 min, fiction, RO, 2020
The Interrogation by Urtė Sabutytė, 14 min, fiction, LT, 2021
We Come One by One and We Leave at One’s Time by Mihnea Toma, 20 min, documentary, RO, 2020
What We Don’t Know About Mariam by Morad Mostafa, 25 min, fiction, EG, 2021
The organizers will give two awards – the 800 Euro prize for the Audience Award, and 600 Euro prize for the Jury Award.
The President of the Jury is Vassilis Vafeas, the remarkable Greek film and theatre director. Born in Egypt in 1944, he studied chemistry at the universities of Athens and Paris and film in Athens. He has made 9 feature films (from 1979 to 2016), 8 short films (from 1973 to 2020) and 3 multishows (from 1991 to 2020). He has directed 11 theatrical plays (from 1988 to 2006).
He is the president of the Organization for the Collective Management and Rights’ Protection of Motion Pictures Producers “Ermias” in Greece. From April 2019 to July 2019 he was president of the Board of Directors of the Greek Film Centre. His film Day Off was presented in the first edition Film O’Clock International Festival in the Classics Section.
The Romanian producer Ada Solomon is the founder of Hi Film Productions and Micro Film. She has produced films presented and awarded in the most prestigious festivals such as Cannes, Berlin, Locarno, Venice and Sundance. Her credits include Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn (Radu Jude, 2021, Golden Bear), Aferim! (Radu Jude, 2015, Silver Bear), Child’s Pose (Calin Netzer, 2013, Golden Bear).
She is the Executive President of the European Women’s Audiovisual Network, the Romanian National Coordinator of EAVE, member of the executive board of ACE, and member of the board of the European Film Academy.
Ludi Kraus is the founder and owner of South Africa’s longest running independent cinema, an iconic landmark in Cape Town – Labia Theater. Ludi’s passion for film dates back to his childhood, when his love of cinema evolved from the elegant venue in Windhoek that his parents ran. After studying law in Cape Town, Ludi soon realized that his heart was still in cinema and in 1988 he found the perfect location to bring his dream to life.
Tharaa Goubail is an Egyptian actress and writer who played several roles in television, cinema, and theater. She graduated from the High Cinema Institute in Cairo with a diploma in scriptwriting 2013. Tharaa received the award for Best Actress from the National Egyptian Theatre Festival in 2014. In her early career years, she worked as a journalist and tv hostess. Lately, Tharaa has been teaching film analysis and acting for the camera in Arab Film School.
The screenings will be followed by inspiring discussions with members of the creative teams of the films presented online in the festival. For the Classics Section, the names confirmed until now are the Greek film director Pantelis Voulgaris, the Romanian film directors Nicolae Mărgineanu and the Egyptian director Tahani Rached.
Other special guests and speakers also have announced their participation in the online conferences moderated by the Romanian film critic Cristi Mărculescu, and joined by the festival curatorial team, on heritage and opportunities of collaboration with a focus on the festivals’ scene: Iliana Zakopoulou (Public Relations & Film Festivals at the Greek Film Centre), Markos Holevas (the president of the Board of directors at the Greek Film Centre), Maria Komninos (the president of the Greek Film Archive), Andrei Rus (film critic and curator, Active Archive, Romania), Bogdan Movileanu (National Films Archive, Romania), Claudia Droc (International Relations, Transilvania International Film Festival), Tudorita Soldanescu (International Relations, One World Romania), Yannis Zachopolous (Festival Director TiSFF, Greece), Nora Angelova (Early Bird International Film Festival, Bulgaria).
Apart from the film projections, the Festival organizes two industry events online.
Unveiling Cinematic Heritage will take place Wednesday, March 2, 2022, at 17:00 – 18:30 (UTC/GMT +2).
What does our cinematic heritage consist of? How to carefully preserve it and how to find new approaches in order for the viewer to pay attention? We will discuss about how we can increase the audience’s appetite for “old” movies when having access to them is limited. The organizers hope for a fruitful conversation around all these questions in an ongoing effort to keep the dialogue regarding heritage films alive. If you want to be part of this event, please register on the link: https://bit.ly/3oyEi8u
Opportunities of collaboration on the 25th meridian East – the festivals’ landscape, will take place Friday, March 4, 2022, at 17:00 – 18:30 (UTC/GMT +2).
Our guests will come up with practical solutions based on their experience in organizing festivals in their respective countries. Beyond the film festivals circuit, that has more or less offered a path for art films to reach their audiences, film production incentives, creative residencies, and workshops foster collaborations between creative minds. The first step is to be informed, therefore join our talk, signing in on the link: https://bit.ly/3oxbvkI
The festival is an annual, competitive, and non-specialized event, and the second edition of the festival is organized and produced by Creatrix Fama and the ABI Foundation.
Parteners: DACIN SARA, UCIN, Lithuanian Film Centre, Greek Film Centre, Muzeul Național al Țăranului Român, Cinema Muzeul Țăranului, Skalvija Cinema, Dom na kinoto, Labia Theatre, Studio new star art cinema, AUC – Tahrir Cultural Center, Asociatia Culturala Romano-Elena Arta si Cultura Doremi, Cineuropa, Modern Times Review.