Julian Rosefeldt’s “Euphoria” opens the 19th edition of Ballinare, while Joshua Oppenheimer’s “The End” closes the program.
The festival will add a new competition category, Best Indonesian Short Tapestry, dedicated to local short story storytelling.
Indonesia’s only Academy Awards festival will screen 94 films from 38 countries. The four titles participating in the narrative feature competition are the Tunisian drama “Mon Ami” directed by Mohamed Zuran, the Egyptian film “Aisha Can’t Fly Away” directed by Morad Mostafa, “Death Drive” directed by South Korean director Park Orgul, and “Sound of Falling” directed by German director Marcia Silinski.
The documentary feature competition includes Divya, a Polish-Ukrainian-Dutch co-production directed by Dmytro Hreshko. Leigh-Anne Beverly’s American production “The Madness of Moonlight.” Two pieces are in Spanish: “The Rain Won’t Let Us Fly” by Ignacio Marín and Rubén Díez and “The Designer Is Dead” by Gonzalo Elgueta.
The short story section features eight films, including “Psychopomp,” starring “Game of Thrones” actor Kit Harington, and Amir Zaza’s Dutch production “Close Your Eyes Hind.” Ali, directed by Adnan Al Rajeev, is a Bangladeshi-Philippine co-production, and Jasmine, Home, Mother, directed by Ugne Skonsmanaite. Spanning Lithuania, the UK and the US Rounding out this section are Diane Ways’ French-South African co-production Vulture, French-Hungarian director Balint Kenyere’s The Spectacle, Britain’s Kat Butterfield and Daniel Audrit co-directed Life Goes On, and South Korean director Ahn Kwang-sik’s Lip Balm.
The short documentary competition will feature Oppenheimer’s Revolution Against Death, Andreas Grützner’s German film I Didn’t Want to Stay Long, Pawel Chorczepa’s Polish film The Tuners, and British co-directors Alexander Kiel and Mischa Novak’s Grappling Grace.
The short animation section includes the Croatian-French-Romanian co-production “The Magician” by Bogdan Muresanu. Jailbirds is a Belgian-French collaboration directed by Thomas Villepoux. “Lifetime Guarantee” for Chilean coach Daniel Lobos. Daniel Kreizberg’s “Anyone Lived in a Pretty How Town” was produced in Lithuania, Monaco, and the United States. South Korean entry “White Hare” (Gee In-gyu) French collaboration “Cher Fin” directed by Kehma Cousin, Liane Frankel, Laola Le Boursicot, Alisande Masson, Josephine Meurnier and Clément Sadin.
The Best Short Film award, which qualifies for an Academy Award, is drawn from winners in the Short Story, Short Documentary, and Animated Short Film categories. Oppenheimer also oversees “The End,” a multinational closing night selection from Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the United Kingdom, Sweden and the United States.
A jury of 10 judges the contest. Indonesian representatives include filmmaker, producer and screenwriter Josep Angi Noen, filmmaker, cinematographer and lecturer I Made Denny Krisna Putra, actor Marcela Zaryanti, actor and singer Anissa Nurul Shanti Kusuma Wardani Helyadi, and filmmaker and producer Niralta Basu Diwankara. The international jury includes New Zealand filmmaker Joseph Zhu Taylor, Italian network executive Dennis Castelli, American documentary filmmaker Eros Chao, Australian documentary filmmaker Richard Todd, and Australian researcher David Hannan. Donna Smith and Dr. Lawrence Blair will serve as jury advisors.
Institutional support comes from the Indonesian Ministry of Culture’s Dana Indonesiana and the LPDP Education Fund. The industry platform Bali Film Forum runs parallel to the main program, with a community arm, Cinema by the Sea.
Established in 2007 by Bali Film Center, the 19th edition will be held in Sanur from June 1 to 7.
