“Founded by Abe Abraham, Abanar is a dance company formed for the purpose of expanding perceptions of movement through film. Inspired by what the camera can both hide and reveal, Abanar’s films expose a world of details that would go unnoticed in a live dance performance. Film techniques such as showing multiple perspectives, moving forward and backward in time, isolating body parts, and framing space sets the groundwork for new ways of creating and perceiving movement. For Abanar, film becomes a partner in the creation of dance from the outset: a process designed to discover how these two media can challenge each other to create a novel vision.“
Director Biography – Abe Abraham
Abe Abraham is the artistic director of Abanar. Mr. Abraham recieved his BFA in Dance form the Tisch School for the Arts at New York University. Mr. Abraham’s work features dancers from some of the leading dance companies in the world, including New York City Ballet, Alvin Ailey, Complexions. Dutch National Ballet, and Les Grand Ballet Canadiens. His films have been presented by the Dance Films Association, The Perfrorming Arts Library (Lincoln Center), and the Makor /Steinhardt Center of the 92nd Street Y. In December 2006, Mr. Abraham curated “An Evening of Short Films” at the Makor/Steindhart Center which featured works by Samuel Beckett form the “Beckett on Film” project. Mr. Abraham’s film “Wind and Tree” has been presented at Symphony Space, Theater 80, Tribeca Screening Room, and Jack in Brooklyn. In October 2013, The New York Times called Abraham’s “Wind and Tree” a renaissance painting filled with “elegant shadowy shots of fragmented body parts and twisted limbs paired with eerie seismographic recordings of the earth’s vibration.”. Mr. Abraham’s new film series “Salt Water”, featuring Desmond Richardson, will premiere at Symphony Space in November 2017.
The movie is listed 2 times in competition for the 2018 PAMA for :
– Best Web Series / New Media
– Best Editor PITCH : The Cell is a french web serie from the creator of Metal Hurlant Chronicles. This 10×10 minutes Sci-Fi comedy tells the story of Gaspard, an average insurance guy who’s framed and sent to prison. Things turns odd when his cell starts to travel through space and time.
The movie is listed in competition for the 2018 PAMA for :
– Best Documentary
PITCH :
Britain’s music street ‘Tin Pan Alley’ has resided in London’s Denmark Street since Francis, Day & Hunter the first music publishers moved-in back in 1906.
It was home to songwriters, music venues, recording studios, rehearsal spaces, demo studios and music instruments shops, as well as being the birthplace of British Silent Cinema, before becoming London’s ‘Little Tokyo’ until World War 2.
London’s Tin Pan Alley remains unparalleled.
30 people who worked in this legendary music street take us on a 110-year journey through Tin Pan Alley, aided by British broadcaster-authors Dan Cruikshank, Paul French, Joshua Levene and Will Self.
Contributors include singer Dame Vera Lynn, ‘Skiffler’ Chas McDevitt, The Small Faces’ drummer Kenney Jones, David Bowie’s bassist Herbie Flowers, Sex Pistols’ bassist Glen Matlock, Damned guitarist Captain Sensible, Beta Band’s Steve Mason, soul singer Linda Lewis, Tom Jones songwriter Barry Mason, Eurovision hit songwriter Bill Martin, Music Industry Legend Eric Hall,
Acid Jazz’s Eddie Piller and Guardian journalist Simon Usbourne, among others
Redevelopment now threatens the future livelihood of music-based artisans in this historic street.
This documentary concludes by illustrating how London is losing this creative hub to gentrification. Britain’s birthplace of popular music and song Tin Pan Alley aka Denmark Street remains London’s only street of musical instrument shops.
The loss and destruction of areas of cultural heritage is naturally of international concern.
This is the first full length documentary to highlight this pressing matter.
Festival’s appreciation :
“TALES FROM TIN PAN ALLEY is a wonderful journey into music and love for music. Full of anecdotes, it invites you to the real place to be, which is not Abbey Road…“
HIGHLIGHT :
Henry Scott-IrvinePunk Attitude (2005) and The Elton John Story (2003) are among his work. He also wrote the book The Ghosts of a Whiter Shade Of Pale, including forewords from Martin Scorsese and Sir Alan Parker.
“Tales From Tin Pan Alley is told by key people who worked in London’s Denmark Street. The interviews were given in the wake of music being threatened in Tin Pan Alley/Denmark Street.
The true ‘unsung heroes’ of Tin Pan Alley are the musicians, the songwriters, the music publishers, the technicians and the people from behind-the-scenes who have come out of the woodwork, out of history and out of retirement to approach us. Individuals that would be very hard to find in any other circumstance have come forward from across the globe, saying, ‘We want to be in this special documentary film!’
We have them here now. This is their story – a contemporary urban Canterbury Tale – a vital testament from over 30 musicians, broadcasters and historians.
In 2018 Tin Pan Alley’s 110 year old music legacy is currently in peril due to ensuing gentrification, leading to upcoming penthouse flats, hotels, restaurants and a shopping mall.
The legacy of those who worked in the street is our testament to Denmark Street’s unique place in international cultural history.
The struggle for those remaining, continues …”
Director Biography – Henry Scott-Irvine
Background as TV Archive Producer on over 150 Music Arts Documentaries since 1987; including, Status Quo – The Party Ain’t Over Yet (2006) Punk Attitude (2005) The Elton John Story (2003) Pop On The Box (2003) The South Bank Show – Bernie Taupin (2002) Classic Albums – Elvis (2002) Classic Albums – Transformer (2002) Classic Albums – Never Mind The Bollocks (2001) Classic Albums – Goodbye Yellow Brick Rd (2001) John Lennon The Early Years (2001)
Author of The Ghosts of a Whiter Shade Of Pale with Forewords from Martin Scorsese and Sir Alan Parker (Omnibus Press) Features writer for Record Collector Magazine (2011-2015) and Radio Producer and Presenter of 400 radio shows at Resonance 104.4 fm London (2009 – 2016)
Founder-Chairman of The Save Denmark St Campaign (2014-2018), which has 36,000 change.org subscribers, linked into campaign sites at www.savetpa.tk and www.tinpanalleytales.co.uk with The Save Tin Pan Alley petition https://www.change.org/p/don-t-bin-tin-pan-alley
This led to his Save Denmark St TV spots (2014-2016) on The One Show, The Sunday Politics, BBC News, ITV News and London Live, following on from campaign achieved Grade 2 Star Listings of 3 buildings in Denmark St in conjunction with Historic England, English Heritage and Sex Pistol Glen Matlock.
Produced by Emmanuel Hamon, Jonathan Delerue and Guillaume Enard
CAST :
Pascal Greggory as “Mort-Lieu”
Anne Charrier as “Alienor”
Jonas Bloquet as “Hargrold”
Eric Savin as “Gerbert”
François-David Cardonnel as “The Knight”
FRANCE
The movie is listed 2 times in competition for the 2018 PAMA for :
– Best French Short
– Best Director of Photography
PITCH :Once a ruthless war lord who won his land by his sword, Mort-Lieu is now a sick old man. A mysterious knight appears ; Mort-Lieu believes the stranger is Death himself coming to get him. Facing his own end, Mort-Lieu has to confront his legacy.discover her inner strength.
“As filmmakers we are fascinated with The Dark Ages. Back then, human life was worthless, social and politic life were based on inequality and absolutely devoid of ethics and morals as we understand them today. The right to be, to bear your name and to breath to the venerable age of 40 are the main rewards of a daily fight. Death, also known as La Carnade in France, is one reality that everyone share : Peasants, Kings, Soldiers, Men of God and Heretics as well. The weakest fights a losing battle while the strongest finds in Death a way to rise socially. Our main character, the Lord of Mort-Lieu is one of the latter. Born an illegitimate child, he won his name and his land by his sword. Angry and revengeful, resolved to prove his worth, Mort-Lieu is a man of his time, a ruthless man. Until now…
The lord of war is now a sick old man. As he stares into Death’s eyes he learns about fear. A mysterious knight appears and Mort-Lieu believes he is the grim Reaper himself coming to get him. In the fading twilight of his life Mort-Lieu picks his ultimate and already lost fight, and feels the need to look back at what he has accomplished. What is his legacy ? His castle built on a rocky spear ? His legitimate and despicable son who never experienced the rush of fighting and bloodshed ? The bastard emblems that cover his coat of arms ? Facing none other than himself, it is now with his last duel that Mort-Lieu understands the value of life.
To capture our vision of the Dark Ages on film and increase Mort-Lieu’s distress, we think of PAR LE SANG as a medieval western. Scenography and weaponry of this time allow us to enhance our story’s themes with a strong visual signature, they extend our characters’ psychological depth to the point where violence is the way of showing how they feel. PAR LE SANG is a touching and universal tale which allows us to show how the awareness of death encourage us to live. It’s about the end of an era, Heredity and Redemption, and the final stand off is the metaphoric resolution for the eternal father and son conflict.
Because Mort-Lieu is a cornered man we keep him caught between a rock and a hard place, stuck in his armor and entrapped in the frame. It is significant to us that the audience embraces our hero’s realization : he can not hide away from his fate. With the idea of strengthening Mort-Lieu’s suffering, the mysterious knight is always seen from his point of view, as an enigma that we will solve with him throughout the film. Mort-Lieu’s last journey is the guiding thread that links all of our narrative and artistic choices.
We are not women and men of the Dark Ages ; nevertheless, there is a bit of Mort-Lieu in each of us.”
Director Biography – Guillaume Enard
Born in Paris, Guillaume studies filmmaking at the Ecole Supérieure de Réalisation Audiovisuelle, where he directs his first short Correction starring the famous French actor Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu.
After graduating, he spends the next 10 years working as editor and sound editor on several TV series and feature films such as L’Affaire Dreyfus, Jean Moulin, Dieu Que les Femmes Sont Amoureuses or Una Pura Formalita, collaborating with such famous French directors as Yves Boisset, Magali Clement or Guiseppe Tornatore.
In 2004, Guillaume becomes a full time script writer. He writes, adapts for the screen and supervises the writing of many TV properties such as Marvel’s Iron Man, Casper, Spirou et Fantasio, Invisible Man, Le Marsupilami, Baskup Tony Parker, Trolls of Troy, Plankton Invasion, Mini Ninjas, My Giant Friend, etc.
Meanwhile he directs Brumes, awarded at the L.A. Screamfest Horror Film Festival and the Ravenna Nightmare Film Festival, and broadcasted many times on Universal’s network 13ème Rue. Then, Guillaume writes several feature films such as the monster movie Unleashed and the animated feature Kitty. Then, Guillaume develops the dystopian TV Series Asile – Le Monde d’Après with Room 237, the supernatural adventure drama Desolacion with producer Michel Ruben and director Gonzalo Lopez-Gallego. Following that, Guillaume also adapts as a TV Series the English thriller best-seller Until You’re Mine for the production company Banijay.
Presently, Guillaume is finishing writing the comedy En Vert et Contre Tous for Tigerfish production company. Now that his new short Par le Sang is completed, he’s beginning to develop his feature film projects with his co-director Jonathan Delerue.
Director Biography – Jonathan Delerue
Graduate of the Emile Cohl School of Art in 2004, Jonathan hones his skills as a storyboard artist working for the most part on the “French Frayeurs” film collection such as Frontière(s), Mutants, La Traque and Vertiges.
Rapidly, Jonathan lends his pen and talent to prestigious French production companies, working frequently with Luc Besson’s EuropaCorp (Colombiana, Taken 2, Taken 3, 3 Days to Kill, and the forthcoming Koursk…), Dimitri Rassam’s Chapter 2 (Gibraltar, Paradise Lost), academy award winner Thomas Langman (Vanikoro), Alain Goldman’s Légende Films (La French, HHhH), Jericho Films (Radin, Rémi Sans Famille), and also Why Not Productions’ Jackie… He just completed storyboarding Alain Chabat’s Santa & Cie, and Jean-François Richet’s L’Empereur de Paris…
Currently, Jonathan is moving on to making films with his short Par le Sang, which is the spearhead project to be followed with feature films with his co-writer and co-director Guillaume Enard.
The movie is listed 3 times in competition for the 2018 PAMA for :
– Best Director of Photography
– Best Editor
– Best Actress
PITCH : A prisoner within her own body, Adelina feels the weight of the Ballet world suppress her as she is tortured by injury. Behind Barres follows fragile Adelina and her battle to succeed as she begins to detach from reality. Slipping in and out of her subconscious mind and the real world, she must learn to fight her demons in order to discover her inner strength.
Festival’s appreciation :
“BEHIND BARRES is a beautiful journey in the heart and doubts of a ballerina, directed as a narrative with a clear and smart mix of experimental dreams. You could see some “Black Swan” and “Requiem for a Dream” in this, but only with no violence at all except the fear the character has in herself.”
HIGHLIGHT :
Behind Barres is a film about a dancer. It is a full narrative with a script and a cast. We strongly felt the choregraphy is part of the narrative but the point is the character, not the dance. It happens the character is a ballerina, but the movie is more than that.
This is why the film is nominated to 3 other categories but does not compete to the dance film category.
“Behind Barres is primarily inspired from my own experience of moving away from home and studying full time Ballet throughout my teenage and early adult years. As the gruelling world of Ballet began to overcome me, I found myself crippled with injuries while I watched my dreams disintegrate. I am extremely passionate to share my story through this film. I dedicate it to all the young dancers suffering through injury, who must find their inner strength in order to succeed.
Pursuing the study of Dance Film, for the past three years at the Victorian College of the Arts, I have been developing my own unique style of combining the genres of Drama and Dance on screen. The intention of the film was to combine the real world in juxtaposition with the subconscious in an abstract way.
I aimed to capture the raw moments of vulnerability that I had once endured through my injuries. In order to express this authenticity from my past and translate it to the screen, I began the gruelling process of digging through the vaults of five years of journal entries. This is where the writing process began. I wanted to take the dreams and metaphors that I had felt and combine them into the real world in an abstract way. For example, by using the glass cube as the metaphor for being stuck and unable to break free.
These Journal entries also became a key part of my choreographic process, with Tizana Saunders. Being Tizana’s debut to the screen, we used the Journal entries through improvisation tasks to organically assist her to connect with the role of Adelina.
“To be a prisoner within one’s body is perhaps the cruellest kind of suffering” Behind Barres is a film dedicated to all dancers who cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel. A film to inspire and remind dancers that ‘you are not going through this alone’.”
Director Biography – Sophia Bender
Sophia Bender is an Australian Dance Film Maker.
Leaving Tasmania at the age of 16, Sophia moved to Sydney to pursue her passion for dance, studying full time ballet for two years at The McDonald College. She then studied at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) for three years where she completed an Advanced Diploma of Dance (Elite Performance). While studying at WAAPA Sophia endured many injures and this is where she discovered her passion for Dance Film Making; using this medium as a creative outlet.
Completing her Bachelor of Fine Arts at The Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) in 2017, Behind Barres is Sophia’s Graduating Film. Her Second Year film I’m Not Hearing You, was in the Official Selection of Newport Beach Film Festival, North Hollywood CineFest (Nomination for Best Student Film) and was given an award of recognition for Cinematography, Experimental Short and Lead Actress at the Hollywood International Moving Pictures Film Festival, in 2017. Sophia aims to be a pioneer for Dance Film Makers in Australia.
“Being hugely passionate in this niche area of film making, I would love to see it expand in Australia.”
Directed by Van Chriqui
Produced by Van Chriqui vand Ekaterina Bourindine.
CAST :
Alan godying, Yam wolczak, Maor Maman, Jonah kozlovsky, Amit elimelech, Ben mizrahi (Brick Models Agency).
CREW :
Ekaterina Bourindine : cinematographer.
Eliran Nargassi : fashion
ISRAEL
The movie is listed 2 times in competition for the 2018 PAMA for :
– Best Visual Art in Motion
– Best Director of Photography
PITCH : “Uno sense“ is a story about a child that was born with a significant role in a mysterious sect.
The story follows the child’s life , reveals the ambivalence of being a child with such a heavy role on his shoulders, so protected, sacred and loved, but paying the price of solitude and isolation.
Choreographer/movement director and a professional Dancer.
Van is a former dancer at the “Nadine Animato Theatre Dance Company “. Also costume designer, former owner of the active wear brand “Tender Black- Fabric & Motion“.
She choreographed fashion shows, among them for the brand Each x Other in Paris in 2017.
“Uno sense “ is her first film as a director, collaborating and creating it with Ekaterina Bourindine.
The movie is listed 2 times in competition for the 2018 PAMA for :
– Best Animated Film
– Best Director
PITCH :
A girl at the zoo forms a connection with a caged panther and sees how it would be if the animal was free in its own environement. The film is inspired by the poem “Der Panther” by Rainer Maria Rilke.
Festival’s appreciation :
“The movie is so aestheticaly beautiful it is the first time an animated film is nominated as best director at the PAMA. It’s a moment, a polaroïd, a memory or a fantasy. For everyone’s inner child.”
HIGHLIGHT :
First time female filmmaker and student directorial debut.
I was born in Valdagno, a town in the north-east of Italy. After studying classical leterature in highschool I decided to follow my passion for art and attend the Academy of Fine Arts of Verona where I studied set design for theatre. During my exchange program at the Marmara University of Istanbul I decided to pursue a career as 2D animator. I graduated magna cum laude bringing a traditionally animated film as my final project. In 2017 I attended the classical animation program at Vancouver Film School from which I graduated the same year, bringing the short film The Panther as my final project.
Produced by Anthony James Faure, Antony Renault and Florent Larriven
CAST :
Robin Betchen as “Arno”
Andrew Tisba as “Mo”
Cyril Durel as “Le Vairon”
Éric Chantelauze as “Ratjev”
FRANCE
The movie is listed 3 times in competition for the 2018 PAMA for :
– Best Feature Film
– Best Actor Éric Chantelauze
– Best Production
PITCH : Two nobodies find their ticket to the Parisian Golden Youth parties in the form of a bag filled with drugs, leading them in the mayhem of a rough police investigation.
Festival’s appreciation :
“It’s a character’s quest, it’s a fight, it’s a journey for these kids to rise from the dark side of the Paris’ pavement to try and reach their dreams. Through bad choices, luck and reality, the directors tell a story of freedom in their own way. A directorial debut to watch.”
HIGHLIGHT :
It’s not the Gorillaz song but it could be. Producer / director Anthony Faure jumped from short film to his feature directorial debut on his own. A couple of friends, a crowdfunding campaign, and a lot of energy to show his abilities to make a full length film. Independent, new players in the game, KID WITH GUNS’ team is to keep an eye on, for sure.
Anthony James Faure is a French film director and producer. Born in Venezuela, he shared his life between South America (Venezuela, Chile) and Paris (France) where he lived for 15 years. Passionate about music and theater, he finally chose Film: he graduated in Film Studies and Screenwriting/Producing/Directing at the University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and at the Conservatoire Libre du Cinéma Français (CLCF) as an Assistant Director. After producing and directing many short films and his first feature film “Kids with Guns”, he decided to move to New York during the post production of the film. In the US, he worked on several short films, music videos and feature films as Assistant Director, Producer or Director, while attending a One Year Filmmaking Program at the New York Film Academy.
The movie is listed 2 times in competition for the 2018 PAMA for :
– Best French Short
– Best Actor Jean-Pierre Kalfon
PITCH : A cult director post French New Wave meets a young trendy actress who has become famous thanks to television. The meeting does not go as planned…
Festival’s appreciation :
“What you’re about to see is not what you expect. Short film, yes, but also a clever script and a smart visual exercise to confront us with our modern world made of images. At the end of the day the message may be dark and sarcastic, but this almost experimental film is always entertaining and quite surprising.”
HIGHLIGHT :
Jean-Pierre Kalfon, César nominee for best supporting actor in Le Cri du Hibou (1988), leads this short film with his very special performance style.
