The 7th edition of Beyond Borders announces its line-up
- A total of 30 films will compete for prizes at the international documentary film festival focused on historical and cross-cultural events, trends and acclaimed personalities
Starting off seven years ago, the Beyond Borders International Documentary Festival, is returning to Castellorizo, the idyllic island on the edge of the Aegean Sea. Running from 21 to 28 August, the "boutique" documentary festival is aiming to celebrate the excellence in cinematographic storytelling centered on history and society. The opening ceremony will be dedicated to the 100 years of the Asia Minor Disaster where Radiograph of a Family [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Firouzeh Khosrovani will be screened.
A record-breaking number of 790 films have been submitted this year, with a total of 30 documentaries hailing from 25 countries – 8 feature length films, 6 medium length films, and 16 short length films – being selected. In detail, the feature length films include Chronis Botsoglou “I Was There Too and I Was Treated With a Plate of Lentil Soup …” by Freddy Vianellis (Greece), Meeting Point by Roberto Baeza (Chile), Τhe Other Half [+see also:
film review
film profile] by George Moutafis (Greece), The Poet's Wife by Helke Misselwitz (Germany), Reconstruction of the Occupation [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Jan Šikl (Czech Republic/Slovakia), Scrap by Stacey Tenenbaum (Canada), Village of Women [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Tamara Stepanyan (Armenia/France), and Zero by Kazuhiro Soda (Japan/USA). This year, μicro category, a second competition stage of screenings is introduced where eight short documentary films of experienced as well as new, up-and-coming creators participate. Three of them will receive the awards sponsored by the German state channel PHOENIX.
A five-member international jury will decide on the winners of this edition. Chaired by Peter Arens, head of the "History and Science" department of the German public television organisation ZDF, it also comprises Phaedra Vokali, director of the Hellenic Film Academy; director and producer Marco Gastine; director and cinematographer and winner of the Best Socio-Political Documentary Award at last year’s Beyond Borders, Danae Elon; and Uri Cohen, assistant professor of Hebrew and Italian Literature at Tel Aviv University.
The jury will award the following prizes: Best Historical Documentary, Best Socio-Political Documentary, and Best Short Length Documentary — all of them supported by the Hellenic Parliament, Best Greek Documentary offered by the Greek Film Centre (GFC), the Special Award of Mediterranean Friendship by the National Centre of Audiovisual Media and Communication (EKOME) and the Special Award of Odyssey courtesy of the General Secretariat of Greeks Abroad and Public Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From this year, a FIPRESCI Award will be given and will be decided by a three-member jury of the International Federation of Film Critics.
Beyond Borders continues its collaboration with highly respected institutions which contribute to the evolution and promotion of documentaries and culture around the world and the Porter institute for Poetics and Semiotics of Tel Aviv University is the Academic Partner of Honour. Furthermore, the German public documentary channel PHOENIX is the Media Partner of Honour and the Chania Film Festival will be awarded as the Honoured Festival.
The 7th Beyond Borders International Documentary Festival is organised by the Hellenic History Foundation (IDISME), in co-organisation with the Paris-based association Ecrans des Mondes and it will be held for another year under the patronage of H.E. the President of the Hellenic Republic Ms. Katerina Sakellaropoulou. The festival is supported and endorsed by the Hellenic Ministry of Foreign Affairs / General Secretariat for Greeks Abroad and Public Diplomacy, the Hellenic Ministry of National Defence, the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports, the Ministry of Interior, the Hellenic Parliament, the Municipality of Megisti, the embassy of Australia in Athens, the U.S. embassy in Athens, the embassy of Spain in Athens, the Czech Centre, the National Centre of Audiovisual Media and Communication, the Greek Film Center, and the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation.