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This week we present a film of the great BuSho archive again - Absence by Ákos Mester. It was in competition in 2006 - got a Special Mention by the jury. It’s not a coincidence! The super 8 format gives the perfect atmosphere of the cute story, which has a perfect rhythm indeed. A three minutes long short by heart!

It is not the first by Ákos Mester on Daazo. A few months ago we premiered Aqua Run, which is the direct opposite of Absence - a  dark thriller. So Ákos has already proven his talent in several genres. Carry on filming, Mr. Mester!

Ákos Mester’s Filmography:

- My Short, But Tough Life (2008) - Cinematographer

- The Last Beautiful Film (2007) - Cinematographer

- Aqua-Run (2006) - Director

- Absence (2006) - Director

This week we present an action-drama about the contemporary Ireland: a teenage graffiti artist and a Chinese Tai Chi master learn to share the same beach. Push Hands is full of anger, recalling the films of the “Free Cinema” - the fresh British films from the 60’s.

Festival Awards:

Special Jury Award EuroMedCafe Film Festival 2004,

Gold Special Jury Award, WorldFest Houston, 2005,

Festival der Nationen (Austria) including UNICEF Award for best film.

About the Director:

Steph Green has Honours & Masters Degrees in Film studies. She has worked on dozens of 16mm student films & many professional 35mm shorts and features and has worked in film in both Ireland and USA, including assisting directors Ron Howard and Spike Jonze. Stephanie is currently working on short and feature film scripts and promoting Push Hands.

Filmography:

New Boy (2007)
Push Hands (2004)
Copywrite (2001)

FILMINI 2.0 is an International short film festival in Sofia, Bulgaria. It strives to expose fresh authors and new forms of cinematographic expression and thus become a center for both stylistic research and experience exchange, unearthing newperspectives on this Seventh art.

FILMINI’s primary goal is to expose our audience to new cinema through the work of international filmmakers. In addition, the Festival aims to become a platform for filmmakers and cinema fans. Finally, through its various events & workshops, FILMINI ISFF hopes to increase the awareness, knowledge and distribution of short films in Bulgaria, discover and support new Balkan voices and encourage the experimental, independent and innovative styles of today’s cinema.

The organisers (Elena and Juri) are great friends of Daazo. And the new film of the young Bulgarian director Toma Waszarow is in the competition. We can’t wait to watch ‘Anything for You’! Till that enjoy ‘The Kiss’ - just can’t get enough of it.

Since a while we are thinking about how nice it would be to produce a short fiction films. Now we are proudly inform you that we produced our first short film, directed by Balázs Simonyi. Daazo works as a co-producer in the project since the script is co-written by Zoltán Aprily, one of the founder of the site. Of course Daazo sponsored the film financial wise too.  A workshop (Celluloid Workshop) being held every year in Hungary set the technical and equipmental framework for the production. The shooting took place in Miskolc and Emőd in Hungary.

The 12 mins long comedy film “Tour” is a tale about a man who dared to dream, a tale about a surveyor and hobby-cyclist, who believes that one day he will be able to ride 183 kilometer, just as pro’s do at Tour de France.

Well, the film is in the box and ready to start its festival circle and we hope it will earn many awards.

We will let you see a short preview from the film soon. Stay tuned!

You can sense a fresh breeze in the world of Hungarian films! Recently there are two premieres: Para by Péter Fazakas and Fluke by Tamás Keményffy. And why do we mention this to you, dear European short film friends? Because both of these young directors are great friends of our site, not to mention that we premiered they short films as well.

Do you remember? Mice… This one is by Mr. Fazakas, who used to be the directors of cool ads. Just like Mr. Keményffy who’s film was shown almost a year ago on Daazo, the Lucky Man.

They career is a good example, who to become a feature film director step by step. Many quality ads, well made, professional short, than a well prepared script (the screenplay of Para won the Hartley-Merrill contest).

Para is a story of a retired cop, who was coming back from the gate of death. He worked as a security man till he broke an expensive sculpture - he needed to pay for it. His friends were obsessed in psychomancy - and tried to get help from ‘out there’…

In the tradition of “My Sweet Little Village” and “Waking Ned Devine” Fluke is a satire about a small village full of colorful characters, whose lives radically change due to a miracle. Or a simple crime.

So good luck guys in the world of long feature films! But don’t forget to make cool shorts again!

This week we present - in collaboration with Budapest Shorts - a comedy with full of adventure!”Two hunters, two high hides, two guns… but just one rabbit” - this is the basic situation in High Hide Noon, located in a green German forest.

The film was a hit in 2006 at the BuSho festival, hopefully you will enjoy it online too!

About the director:

“Alex Weimer was born in Lower Frankonia, Germany. A cinemaniac since childhood years he made his first amateur home-video at the age of 12. “Fifteen minutes” is his first feature-length film. He is a great admirer of iconoclastic filmmakers like Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg or Robert Rodriguez.” (via imdb.com) Visit his home page here!

Filmography:

# Fremdkörper (2009) (post-production)
# Herr Müller Herr Schulze (2006)
# O sole mio (2006)
# Wahrheit über das Volk der Mäuse, Die (2006)
# Schuppen von den Augen (2005) (co-director)
# Bestellung 0-0-4-9 (2005)
# The Typewriter (2004)
# The Refusal to Conform to Fashion Runs Deep (2003)
# High Hide Noon (2003)
# Fifteen Minutes (2002)
# Seeking Philip (1999)

International Short Film Festival in Clermont Ferrand is waiting for your film till the 15th of October.  The only way you are able to apply is via Shortfilmdepot. (We at Daazo are always happy to realize the tight relation between the ‘online world’ and the ‘world of shorts’.)

This film festival itself is maybe the coolest (short) film festivals, it used to say that it is the ‘Cannes of short films’. It was the world’s first International short film festival which originated in 1979. This festival which brings thousands of people every year (137.000 in 2008) to the city is the second French film Festival after Cannes in term of visitors, but the first one regarding the number of spectators (as in Cannes visitors are not allowed in theatres, reserved to professionals). This festival has revealed many young talented directors now well-known in France and even internationally such as Mathieu Kassovitz, Cédric Klapisch or Éric Zonka.

In 2009, the festival will celebrate its 31th anniversary and will present three competitions mixing film and digital medium, thus bringing greater diversity to the short film format – diversity being its basic principle, its source of uniqueness and vitality.

So apply, go there, send your stories and photos to the World of Shorts magazine!

After a successful first and second edition, the European network NISI MASA proposes to carry on for the third time the European Short Pitch project from 15th of February to the 22nd of February 2009 in Andé (France).

The aim is to develop a European production of short film through promotion of projects starting from the phase of writing, by meetings between scriptwriters/directors and producers on the European level.

Deadline for application is the 31st of October 2008.

Applications – to be sent at joanna@nisimasa.com - should include:

-a CV
-a motivation letter
-the application form filed (attached)
-a script (maximum 20 000 characters).

As the organizers say:”if you have a very good short film project you would like to develop, “European Short Pitch” is for you!

Find more info on Nisi Masa’s home page!

The winner and runners up of the 2008 TCM Classic Shorts competition will be announced at an award ceremony held as part of the Times bfi 52nd London Film Festival on London’s South Bank. A panel of judges, ranging from directors to actors, have chosen the films that they feel worthy of first, second and third prizes. These film makers will receive £5,000, £3,000 and £2,000 respectively. This year’s judging panel includes Wolfgang Petersen, Rutger Hauer, Cillian Murphy and James Franco.

The final six films, which this year include entries from across Europe, the Middle East and Africa will be screened at the award ceremony and the prize giving will follow. The nominations are (in no particular order): E Finita La Commedia directed by Jean-Julie Collette and Olivier Toller and produced by Helicotronc; The Wednesdays directed by Conor Ferguson and produced by Anne-Marie Naughton; Leaving directed by Richard Penfold and Sam Hearn and produced by Rachel Drummond-Hay; Ripple directed by Paul Gowers and produced by Richard Batty; Gone Fishing directed by Chris Jones and produced by Ivan Francis Clements and Nine-Ball directed by Nikolina Gillgren.

TCM Classic Shorts judging panel 2008
James Franco
Nick Goldsmith
Mikael Hafstrom
Rutger Hauer
Agnieszka Holland
Jason Isaacs
Garth Jennings
Cillian Murphy
Wolfgang Petersen
Darrell Roodt
Istvan Szabo
Stephen Woolley
Wendy Ide
Jason Solomons
Nev Pierce
Dan Joli

Find more info about TCM Shorts here