All posts by cilly

TEDDY TALKS & PANELS

All events will be streamed live on
teddyaward.tv/live

Friday 11 Feb 2022  – 6pm cet
a TEDDY Jury Reception: 
The traditional introduction to our TEDDY AWARD Jury as Online talk
Zsombor Bobák in conversation with this year’s TEDDY jury members Robert Moussa, Joanna Ostrowska, Faridah Gbadamosi & Pepe Ruiloba about their festivals, the TEDDY jury’s work and what a Queer Film Prize means to them.
  
 
Saturday 12 Feb 2022  – 4pm cet
TEDDY Talk: The TEDDY Winners Path through a Pandemic 
Samuel Girma in conversation with Eliane Raheb & John Greyson  
A conversation between the winners of the past TEDDY AWARDS and how winning the TEDDY AWARD during the pandemic influenced their films path, plus what that path looked like during the second year of this ongoing pandemic. After the first online edition of the TEDDY, film programmer Samuel Girma will talk through what challenges and surprises confronted these filmmakers and their award winning films over the course of their festival tour.  

Sunday 13 Feb.2022  – 4pm  cet
TEDDY Talk: Evolving Experimentation  
Toby Ashraf in conversation with Liz Rosenfeld, Mohammad Shawky Hassan & Gustavo Vinagre 
For filmmakers who challenge the norm, not just in story, but also in form; we speak with three filmmakers whose works will be presented within Forum and Forum Expanded on the importance of experimentation within Queer Cinema. From the development process to story dictating the form or vice versa. Moreover, the struggles involved in evolving this art form in storytelling.  
 
Sunday 13 Feb 2022  – 6pm  cet
DIRECTORS EXCHANGE: Motivations  
Nastaran Tajeri-Foumani in conversation with Idan Haguel, Alli Haapasalo & Antonio Marziale 
Three directors whose works screen within the 72nd Edition of the Berlinale meet and discuss the different motivations behind their respective films. From development through to post production, what role can hot topic issues play in a storyline and a characters motivation? How difficult is it to create complex characters within a socially critical work? 

 
Monday 14 Feb 2022  – 6pm cet

Queer Your Program: Online Speedy Film Pitches –
(on pre-registration only)
Moderator: Bartholomew Sammut 
Around 25 Filmmakers whose films are ready for distribution will present their projects within two-minute pitches to programmers, distributors and sales agents. Join in to find potentially your next opening night film. 
 
Monday 14 Feb 2022  – 8pm cet
Queer Industry Reception goes Online 
(on pre-registration only)
Moderator: Bartholomew Sammut 
Introduction: Michael Stütz 
The annual gathering of industry professionals from the Queer Film Industry, from filmmakers to programmers, to distributors and sales agents. What normally happens in person with a wine in hand and scribbled nametags on shirts, will happen once more online. We shall continue to come together as a community, connect and network, chat about the year we had, the films we look forward to and also to have a little drink and some much needed time together.  

All events will be streamed live on
teddyaward.tv/live

THE TEDDY AWARD WINNERS 2021

The moment we’ve all been waiting for has finally arrived. Our jury has chosen the winners of this year’s TEDDY awards! We’re incredibly happy to present you the following films. And for all those who missed the livestream, here is the ceremony as video on demand

BEST FEATURE LENGTH FILM

MIGUEL’S WAR, Director: Eliane Raheb, Lebanon / Germany/ Spain, 2021

TEDDY AWARD CEREMONY, Winner FEATURE LENGTH FILM, MIGUEL'S WAR, Director: Eliane Raheb, Foto: Brigitter Dummer
Winner TEDDY BEST FEATURE LENGTH FILM;
Eliane Raheb, Foto: Brigitte Dummer

Jury Statement:
This creative documentary is the story of a gay man, Miguel, exiled from Lebanon to Spain in the ’80. The strong emotional impact of the film is provoked by the alchemy of both the sharpness of the filmmaker and the genuinity of the protagonist. The excellence of the editing, made of multiple layers – formal and narrative – is an impressive art of the language of cinema to investigate recollection of a gay man who faced traumas, caused by war, xenophobia and homophobia. The extra-ordinary form empowers the storytelling to shine out as an honest self-confrontation with a strong universality regarding being queer, feeling guilty, family, love, migration and self-exile. The whole becomes a mutual experience to share: we are reminded of the power in longing for a queer redemption. If you want to tell a story, tell it like Miguel’s War. You can watch the interview with Eliane Raheb below:

Interview with Eliane Raheb

TEDDY JURY AWARD

INSTRUCTIONS FOR SURVIVAL, Director: Yana Ugrekhelidze, Germany 2021

Winner TEDDY JURY AWARD, Yana Ugrekhelidze, Foto: Brigitte Dummer
Winner TEDDY JURY AWARD, Yana Ugrekhelidze, Foto: m.s

Jury Statement: This immersive documentary highlights a dramatic situation, which would have stayed untold: the one of Alexander (a Trans man) and his wife Mari in Georgia. The narrative focused on the project of the young couple to escape the oppressive and repressive social and political context. For its intricate way of bringing the urgencies of the Georgian queer community though a personal journey, Instructions for Survival offers both the subjectivity of queer kinship and the cost of being oneself in world that demands your sacrifice rather than letting you be who you are. It shines out not just for its importance for the queer community in Georgia as being a simple and strong survival story, but also with its rather conventional but strikingly direct structure, a sensitive aesthetic and a consistent approach. It is an eyeful success that the camera follows the daily life of the couple very closely over the years by not being intrusive. The film is an essential act of militancy that reminds us with power, that personal is political. The jury hopes that the journey of both Alex and Marie and the film itself be with more and more achievements. You can watch the interview with the director
Yana Ugrekhelidze below:


Interview with Yana Ugrekhelidze, Director INSTRUCTIONS FOR SURVIVAL

BEST SHORT FILM

INTERNATIONAL DAWN CHORUS DAYRegie John Greyson, Canada, 2021

Winner BEST SHORT FILM John Greyson, Foto: Brigitte Dummer
Winner BEST SHORT FILM John Greyson, Foto: Brigitte Dummer

Jury Statement: For its unique and poetic approach to filmmaking during a global crisis, International Dawn Chorus Day reminds us that film, as medium, perhaps is the best way to document the past, the present and
the future. Made of trivial video shootings material and a terrific creative idea, the film succeeds in being highly militant and shaking the audience. It raises unique voices to express the common political issues of queer people via the most popular communication tool during a pandemic. Using a surprising and original dramaturgy, that leads the audience to an unexpected point, this short film is a pure masterpiece. It represents a creative, fun and beautifully crafted way of making us remember those who continue to pay the highest price for queer people’s freedom. You can watch the interview with the director below:

Interview with John Greyson

The SPECIAL TEDDY AWARD goes to JENNI OLSON

SPECIAL TEDDY AWARD 2021 goes to JENNI OLSON
SPECIAL TEDDY AWARD 2021 goes to JENNI OLSON

In addition to the awards for current films, the TEDDY Foundation also presents the Special TEDDY AWARD for outstanding achievement and long-term service to a figure from the creative industries whose work has made an exceptional contribution to a wide-scale public perception and reception of queer perspectives in art, culture and the media. Previous winners of the Special TEDDY AWARD include Tilda Swinton, Werner Schroeter, Ulrike Ottinger, Monika Treut, John Hurt, Udo Kier, Christine Vachon, Joe Dallesandro, Evita Bezuidenhout, Rosa von Praunheim and Elfi Mikesch.

This year’s Special TEDDY AWARD goes to the film curator, archivist, filmmaker, writer and LGBT film historian Jenni Olson for her decades of bridge-building work with which she has made queer film history visible and tangible.

Jenni Olson’s enthusiasm for the medium of film manifests itself in innumerable ways. She always finds the right instrument with which to put her curiosity and fascination into practice. She fights for the preservation and distribution of cinematic legacies and orphaned film copies, promotes emerging talents and has created her own cinematic oeuvre. She draws on a queer film network she herself has strengthened and expanded over the decades with her collaborations and influence. Jenni Olson embodies, lives and creates queer film culture.

About Jenni Olson

TEDDY TODAY: Friday, June 18

We’re starting the tenth day of the Berlinale Summer Special with endless energy and positive vibes as a much-awaited day has finally arrived!! The 35th TEDDY AWARD CEREMONY is happening TODAY, the 18th of June 2021, at 7 PM!! This year, due to pandemic restrictions, the ceremony will be streamed live as an online event from our TEDDY studio. Catch our amazing jury – Esma Akyel, Samuel Girma and Sylvie Cachin – in action as they award the best LGBTQ*-related films of the year! Access the link below to attend:

Don’t miss the TEDDY AWARD Ceremony im livestream at
19h live at teddyaward.tv/live

TEDDY TODAY: Thursday, June 17

NORTH BY CURRENT, Director: Angelo Madsen Minax, USA, 2021
PREMIERE, 21:45h Freiluftkino Kreuzberg

Sparked by a tragic event in his life, artist and filmmaker Angelo Madsen Minax reconnects with his family after a long time in a highly personal documentary film – NORTH BY CURRENT. The chronology of their meetings is enriched by home video footage and voiceover dialogues. Through an intimate story, the film negotiates the topics of depression, domestic violence, motherhood and transgender masculinity in what turns out to be cathartic family therapy.

Today’s ReScreenings

GUZEN TO SOZO, Regie: Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Japan, 2021
22:00h Frischluftkino@Studentendorf

GENDERATION, Director: Monika Treut, Deutschland, 2021
P21:45h, Freiluftkino Biesdorf