Gary Dretzka
Leonard Klady
Emanuel Levy
David Poland
Doug Pratt
Ray Pride

January 27, 2005

 

SUNDANCE INSTITUTE ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF THE 2005 SUNDANCE/NHK INTERNATIONAL FILMMAKERS AWARD

Los Angeles, CA - Sundance Institute and NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) have announced the winners of the 2005 Sundance/NHK International Filmmakers Awards. This annual award supports new voices in international cinema and is presented to emerging film directors from four global regions, to support them in realizing their next project. In addition to the cash award and the broadcast guarantee, Sundance works closely with the Award recipients throughout the year by providing creative support and assistance in seeking out opportunities to finance and distribute their projects.

One winner each from Europe, Latin America, USA, and Japan-was selected by members of an international jury. Each winner receives a cash award of $10,000 and a guarantee from NHK to purchase the Japanese television broadcast rights upon completion of the project. This year's four winning filmmakers will be honored at the Sundance/NHK reception on Thursday, Jan. 27, and will accept their awards in person at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival Awards Ceremony on Saturday, Jan. 29.

The winning filmmakers and projects are: Catalin Mitulescu, HOW I SPENT THE END OF THE WORLD from Europe; Rodrigo Moreno, THE MINDER from Latin America; Richard Press, VIRTUAL LOVE from the United States; and Mipo Oh, YOYOYAMA BLUES from Japan. Each Award-winner was selected by an International Jury on the strengths of their next script and their past work (features, shorts, etc.). The International Jury members included Walter Salles (President), Antonia Bird, Stephen Gyllenhaal, Carlos Cuaron, Peter Carlton, Toshio Endo, Yoshio Kakeo and Shun'ichi Nagasaki.

"These awards are one of the significant ways in which the Sundance Institute supports distinctive new work through the Feature Film Program," said Robert Redford, Founder and President of the Sundance Institute. "This year, we're pleased to recognize a talented group of filmmakers whose inspired storytelling represent the best in independent voices from around the globe."

"We are grateful to NHK for their continuing commitment to emerging international filmmakers," Michelle Satter, Director, Sundance Institute Feature Film Program. "Their dedication to providing financial resources to them, at a crucial stage, is critical to getting their films made."

Previous Award recipients include ME AND YOU AND EVERYONE WE KNOW (Miranda July, USA) playing in the Dramatic Competition section at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, CRONICAS (Sebastian Cordero, Ecuador) playing in the World Dramatic Competition and THE MOTEL (Michael Kang, USA) playing in the American Spectrum section. Other past award recipients include: the critically acclaimed THINGS YOU CAN TELL JUST BY LOOKING AT HER (Rodrigo Garcia, USA), LIFT (DeMane Davis and Khari Streeter, USA), LA CIENAGA, (Lucrecia Martel, Argentina) LAUNDRY (Junichi Mori, Japan); EVERY STEWARDESS GOES TO HEAVEN (Daniel Burman, Argentina), THE MUDGE BOY (Michael Burke, USA), CENTRAL STATION (Walter Salles, Brazil) and SMOKE SIGNALS (Chris Eyre, USA).

"Now in its ninth year, it is immensely gratifying to see new talents that emerge from Sundance/NHK International Filmmakers Award every year," said Mr. Makoto Ueda, NHK. "I'm particularly proud the award honors filmmakers who are at the very beginning of their careers. Thanks to the support of the Sundance Institute, NHK can continue to introduce new voices from around the world to our audience in Japan as well."

The winners of the 2005 Sundance/NHK International Filmmakers Award are:

Catalin Mitulescu -- HOW I SPENT THE END OF THE WORLD (Romania)
Romanian filmmaker Catalin Mitulescu has had great success with his short films. Bucurestiwien and 17 Minutes Late were selected for the Cannes Film Festival-Cinefondation in 2001 and 2002 and were distributed theatrically in Romania. Trafic received the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year.

Set in a Bucharest suburb in the last year of Ceausescu's tyrannical rule, THE WAY I SPENT THE END OF THE WORLD is the story of a seven-year-old boy who saves the Romanian people from dictatorship.

Rodrigo Moreno -- THE MINDER (Argentina)
Rodrigo Moreno's first short film, Nosotros, won first prize at the Bilbao Film Festival. In 1998, Comrades, the last episode of Mala Epoca, was named best film at the Mar del Plata and Toulouse Film Festivals. El Descanso, which he directed in 2001, won awards at the Images du Monde in Quebec and the Buenos Aires Film Festival.

THE MINDER is about a bodyguard so committed to his profession that he loses his identity - a failing that ultimately endangers the life he would die to protect.

Richard Press -- VIRTUAL LOVE (United States)
Filmmaker Richard Press has written and directed several short films, including 2÷3, which won a jury prize at the Berlin International Film Festival. His short films Rambles and Expecting both also premiered at Berlin. He is also an artist whose op-art pieces have appeared in the New York Times, in addition to being an alumnus of the 2004 Filmmakers Lab.

VIRTUAL LOVE is the true story of National Book Award winner Paul Monette's harrowing friendship with Tony Johnson, a charismatic 15-year-old abuse survivor and cause celèbre who became one of the most important people in Paul's life - until it began to seem that maybe he didn't actually exist.

Mipo Oh -- YOYOYAMA BLUES (Japan)
Mipo Oh is from Mie and has made a number of short films. Eye, her third short, won an award at the PIA Film Festival and screened at festivals around the world, including the American Short Short Film Festival, the Audiovisual Encounters Festival in France, and the Fitzroy Short Festival in Australia. Grandmother won the Grand Prix at the Tokyo International Fantastic Film Festival.

YOMOYAMA BLUES is a humorous and bittersweet portrayal of an ordinary family dealing with the challenges of everyday life.

NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) is Japan's largest broadcaster. Since 1925, it has continued to offer fair impartial reporting and high quality programs and has earned the trust of the viewers as the sole public broadcaster. Through its five 24-hour TV channels (two terrestrial/three satellite) and three radio channels, NHK provides programs of all genres from news and education to sports and entertainment. With the latest addition of the new all-digital HDTV channel which was launched in December 2000 and is now highlighted globally, NHK serves as the central figure of visual culture. The culture and entertainment satellite channel, which was introduced in 1989, broadcasts more than 600 films of high quality from around the world each year. In hopes of contributing to the development of film culture and the promotion of cultural exchange, NHK considers it an important task to support burgeoning filmmakers who have the potential to guide the industry's future development. Along with the "Sundance/NHK International Filmmakers Award," NHK also produces the "Asian Film Festival" to offer opportunities for emerging film directors in Asia.

The Sundance/NHK International Filmmakers Award is part of the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program, a year-round series of workshops, awards, and events. The Feature Film Program is built around the June Filmmakers/Screenwriters Lab. The June Filmmakers Lab is a month-long workshop providing directors an opportunity to explore the boundaries of their work and develop their projects in a collaborative environment removed from the pressures associated with film production. During the Lab, the filmmakers work with creative advisors, professional actors, and video crews to rehearse, shoot, and edit their projects. The Feature Film Program also includes the January Screenwriters Lab, a week-long workshop which offers participating writers the opportunity to develop their work-in-progress screenplays in a community of accomplished screenwriters. Throughout the year, Sundance staff members offer ongoing creative and business assistance to Lab alumni. In many cases, the Institute has helped filmmakers find a producer, financing, and other significant resources, helping to bring these projects into production. The Feature Film Program also presents a screenplay reading series of works in progress in Los Angeles and New York.

Festival Sponsors
The 2005 Sundance Film Festival's sponsors help sustain the Sundance Institute's year-round programs to support independent artists, inspire risk-taking and encourage diversity in the arts. This year's Festival community includes: Presenting Sponsors-Entertainment Weekly, Volkswagen of America, Inc., and Hewlett-Packard Company; Leadership Sponsors-American Express, Andersen Windows and Doors, Cingular Wireless, Delta Air Lines, DirecTV, Intel Corporation, and Sundance Channel; Sustaining Sponsors-Adobe Systems Incorporated, Aquafina, Blockbuster Inc., CESAR Food for Small Dogs, Moviefone, The New York Times, Park City Visitors Bureau and Film Commission, Sony Electronics, Inc., Starbucks Coffee Company, Stella Artois, Turning Leaf Vineyards, and Utah Film Commission.

Sundance Film Festival
Long known as a celebration of the new and the unexpected, the Sundance Film Festival puts forward the best in independent film from the U.S. and from around the world. Each year, the Festival draws 30,000 people from 27 countries and presents a ten-day program of more than 200 films to an audience of directors, writers, producers, actors, film aficionados, and industry leaders. Highlights from the 2004 Sundance Film Festival were the award-winning films DIG!, Primer, Maria Full of Grace, and Down to the Bone, and the critically acclaimed films Control Room, Napoleon Dynamite, The Motorcycle Diaries, Super Size Me, Tarnation, and Garden State.

The Festival also presents a series of Panel Discussions that bring together film artists, industry representatives, critics, journalists and the public for debate and discussion of contemporary film topics. The Festival features a variety of special venues in Park City: the Filmmakers Lodge, a gathering place for both narrative and documentary filmmakers; the Music Café which showcases emerging musicians; and the Sundance Digital Center, the Festival's forum to view and learn about new filmmaking technology.

Sundance Institute
Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is dedicated to the development of artists of independent vision and the exhibition of their new work. Since its inception, the Institute has grown into an internationally recognized resource for filmmakers and other artists. Sundance Institute conducts national and international labs for filmmakers, screenwriters, composers, writers, and theatre artists. The annual Sundance Film Festival, a major program of Sundance Institute, is held each January and is considered the premier showcase for American and international independent film. The Institute supports nonfiction filmmakers through the Documentary Film Program by providing year-round support through the Sundance Documentary Fund and a series of programs that nurture their growth, encourage the exploration of innovative nonfiction storytelling, and promote the exhibition of documentary films to a broader audience. Through its various programs, the Feature Film Program supports emerging screenwriters and filmmakers as they develop new work. Through the Sundance Institute Theatre Program, the Institute is committed to invigorating the national theatre movement with original and creative work and to nurturing the diversity of artistic expression among theatre artists. The Film Music Program is dedicated to supporting and nurturing emerging film composers, as well as impacting the ways in which independent filmmakers approach music in their films. The Institute also maintains The Sundance Collection at UCLA, a unique archive of independent film.