EUROPEAN FILM AWARDS 2011 European Discovery - Prix FIPRESCI1 EUROPEAN FILM AWARDS 2011 European Discovery - Prix FIPRESCI2 EUROPEAN FILM AWARDS 2011 European Discovery - Prix FIPRESCI3

MICHAEL

Festival Participation/Awards:Cannes IFF 2011Moscow IFF 2011 Munich FF 2011Karlovy Vary IFF 2011 Brussels Cinédécouvertes 2011Melbourne IFF 2011: TeleScope! Award for Best 1st FilmSarajevo IFF 2011Toronto IFF 2011Miskolc IFF 2011: Grand Prix SpecialTokyo IFF 2011London BFI FF 2011Rio de Janeiro IFF 2011Haifa IFF 2011Gijon IFF 2011

Markus Schleinzer

MICHAEL describes the last five months of 10-year-old Wolfgang and 35-year-old Michael’s involuntary life together.

Director’s Statement:A society can only develop to the same extent that it is able to get to grips with its offenders.

Markus Schleinzer Born in Vienna in 1971, he worked as a casting director from 1994 to 2010. During this time he participated in over 60 feature film projects, including Jessica Hausner’s LOVELY RITA, HOTEL and LOURDES, Ulrich Seidl’s DOG DAYS, Benjamin Heisenberg’s SLEEPER and THE ROBBER, Shirin Neshat’s WOMEN WITHOUT MEN and Michael Haneke’s THE PIANO PLAYER, TIME OF THE WOLF and THE WHITE RIBBON, for which he also cast the children, coached them and worked out their scenes with them.

Austria93 min.www.michaelfilm.com

MICHAEL

Production:NGF - Geyrhalter Filmproduktion GmbH Hildebrandgasse 261180 Wien AUSTRIAtel. +43 1 40 30 162fax +43 1 40 30 162 15kitzberger@geyrhalterfilm.com

World Sales:Les Films du Losange22, avenue Pierre 1er de Serbie75116 ParisFRANCEtel. +33 1 44 43 87 28fax +33 1 49 52 06 40a.valentin@FilmsduLosange.fr

Press:NGF - Geyrhalter Filmproduktion GmbH Hildebrandgasse 26 1180 Wien AUSTRIAtel. +43 1 40 30 162fax +43 1 40 30 162 15burner@geyrhalterfilm.com

WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Markus SchleinzerPRODUCED BY: Michael Kitzberger, Wolfgang Widerhofer, Nikolaus Geyrhalter & Markus GlaserDIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Gerald KerkletzEDITOR: Wolfgang WiderhoferPRODUCTION DESIGNER: Katrin Huber, Gerhard DohrMAIN CAST: Michael Fuith (Michael), David Rauchenberger (Wolfgang), Christine Kain (mother), Ursula Strauss (sister), Viktor Tremmel (brother-in-law), Gisela Salcher (Christa)

OXYGEN

Festival Participation/Awards:Montreal World FF 2010: Grand Prix des Amériques, Ecumenic Jury Award FF Oostende 2010Netherlands FF 2010Zurich FF 2010: Variety New Talent Award Rome FF, Alice nella città: Marco Aurelio Nella Città PrizeIFF Amiens: Best Actor (Stef Aerts), Prize of the PublicSevilla European FF 2010Tallinn Black Nights FF 2010Les Arcs European FF 2010Palm Springs IFF 2011Istanbul IFF 2011Palm Beach IFF 2011

Hans Van Nuffel

Filmography:2005 THE END OF THE RIDE, short2007 F.A.L., short2009 NACHTRAVEN, short2010 ADEM

Tom and his brother Lucas are young men who suffer from cystic fybrosis, a genetic disease that slowly destroys their lungs. Tom is struggling to cope with his short life expectancy and hangs around with a gang of hoodlums. In the hospital, he meets Xavier, a young man suffering from the same illness but behaving like a top athlete. Xavier is a confirmed optimist, even when he is dumped by his girlfriend Anneleen. Tom takes in Xavier’s energy and joy of life. He roams the hospital grounds and falls for the charms of quirky Eline, who has been quarantined for months due to an infection. They are not allowed to touch and can only talk to each other over the phone. Yet, they start a romance. When Tom’s brother Lucas dies during lung transplantation surgery, Tom is inconsolable. He seeks refuge among his rough friends, avoids Xavier and breaks up with Eline. But one day, he again crosses Xavier’s path who gives him back his taste for life …Director’s Statement:The films that have made a difference in my life are those where you feel a certain necessity. Stories that are charged with an emotional truth so strong it resonates long after the credits have rolled.The main characters in OXYGEN are two young men who struggle with their mortality. They’re cystic fibrosis patients and have been pushed around a lot at a young age. One of them prefers a life in denial, rather than facing his demons head-on. The other one, arrogant and proud, constantly pushes his limits beyond his capacities. Both are fighters in their own way and their fates are forever intertwined. What interested me most was the precious balance between hope and despair, the fear of what is to come infused with the manic energy of a shortened lifespan.Commenting on my own experiences as a CF patient proved to be key element in developing the script. By polarising and staging my own inner conflicts, I made a lot of abstract fears more palpable somehow. It’s something that the cast and crew intuitively picked up on while shooting the film. Their willingness to dive into a universe so utterly unknown to them was heart-warming.I sensed we were on to something potent once we entered post-production. It felt fresh, somehow, this story about young bodies with old souls. In the end, OXYGEN proved to be a celebration of life, however ironic and unfair it might sometimes be.

Belgium/the Netherlands96 min.www.oxygenthemovie.com

ADEMOXYGEN

Production & Press:A Private ViewBegijnhof ter HoyenLange Violettestraat 2379000 GentBELGIUMtel. +32 9 240 10 00fax +32 9 240 10 09info@aprivateview.be

World Sales: Premium Films130, rue de Turenne75003 ParisFRANCEtel. +33 1 42 77 06 31fax +33 1 44 54 05 02jcm@premium-films.com

DIRECTED BY: Hans Van NuffelWRITTEN BY: Jean-Claude Van Rijckeghem & Hans Van NuffelPRODUCED BY: Dries Phlypo, Jean-Claude Van Rijckeghem, Joost De Vries, Leontine Petit & Marleen SlotDIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Ruben ImpensEDITOR: Alain DessauvagePRODUCTION DESIGNER: Steven LiegeoisORIGINAL SCORE: Spinvis & Geike ArnaertMAIN CAST: Stef Aerts (Tom), Wouter Hendrickx (Xavier), Marie Vinck (Anneleen), Anemone Valcke (Eline), Rik Verheye (Jimmy) & Maarten Mertens (Lucas)

BREATHING

Festival Participation/AwardsCannes IFF 2011: Label Europa Cinemas Award Sarajevo FF 2011: Heart of Sarajevo Award for Best Film & Best Actor, CICAE AwardBrussels Cinédécouvertes 2011: Public Award Miskolc IFF 2011: Emeric Pressburger Prize for Best Film, International Ecumenical Award, Critics Award Zurich FF 2011: Golden Eye Quebec City FF 2011: Best First Feature Film

Karl Markovics

19-year-old Roman Kogler has a chance to be released early from his young offenders’ institution. The odds are against him, however: he is an uncommunicative and solitary character without a family and doesn’t seem to be fit for re-socialisation.As a day-release prisoner he has a job at a funeral home. Of all things, it is this job dealing with death that shows him the path back to life.

Karl Markovics Born on 29 August 1963 in Vienna, he is a respected stage actor, appearing in many theatre plays and musicals. He starred as Salomon Sorowitsch in Stefan Ruzowitzky’s 2007 film THE COUNTERFEITERS, which was awarded with the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and more recently in UNKNOWN IDENTITY. BREATHING is his first feature film as a writer and director.

Austria93 min.

www.breathing-the-movie.at

ATMENBREATHING

Production:Epo-Film ProduktionsgesellschaftEdelsinnstraße 581120 WienAUSTRIAtel. +43 1 812 3718fax +43 1 813 8773office@epofilm.com

World Sales:Films Distribution 34, rue du Louvre75001 ParisFRANCEtel. +33 4 92 99 32 09info@filmsdistribution.com

Press:Thim-FilmHermang 18/51070 WienAUSTRIAtel. +43 1 236 2190office@england.co.at

WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Karl MarkovicsPRODUCED BY: Dieter Pochlatko DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Martin GschlachtEDITOR: Alarich LenzPRODUCTION DESIGNER: Isi WimmerORIGINAL SCORE: Herbert TucmandlMAIN CAST: Thomas Schubert (Roman Kogler), Karin Lischka (Margit Kogler), Gerhard Liebmann (Walter Falker), Georg Friedrich (Rudolf Kienast)

EUROPEAN FILM AWARDS 2011 European Discovery - Prix FIPRESCI4 EUROPEAN FILM AWARDS 2011 European Discovery - Prix FIPRESCI5

TILVA ROŠ

Festival Participation/Awards:Sarajevo FF 2010: Best Film, Best ActorLocarno IFF 2010Warsaw IFF 20112-in-1 IFF Moscow 2010: Best Film, Best StoryNoordelijk FF 2010: Best Film, Matad’OrFF Cottbus 2010: Spirit AwardEstoril FF 2010: Best Film, Cineuropa AwardGijon IFF 2010: Special Jury AwardBelfort IFF 2010: Best Film, Audience AwardThessaloniki IFF 2010Festival Européen Les Arcs 2010Trieste FF 2011Rotterdam IFF 2011Miami IFF 2011Buenos Aires IFF 2011San Francisco IFF 2011Transylvania IFF 2011: FIPRESCI AwardCinema City IFF 2011: Best Film, Best ScreenplayFF Sopot 2011: Best FilmMotovun FF 2011: Bauer Award

Nikola Ležaić

Filmography:2007 BOXER GOES TO HEAVEN, short2008 NYLON-DRESSED GROUND, short2008 BOR, WORKERS’ OASIS, mockumentary2010 TILVA ROŠ

Toda and Stefan are best friends, skaters, who spend their first summer after finishing high school. Stefan will go to university in Belgrade in fall while Toda will stay back home. They spend their time shooting “Jackass-like” videos and hanging out with Dunja, who has come back from France for her holidays, and get into a quiet battle for her attention. In that strange relationship of a dying friendship and rivalry they try to get ahead of each other.

Nikola LežaićNikola Ležaić is born on 6 August 1981 in Bor, Serbia. He studied film directing at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade, Serbia. He made a couple of short films before TILVA ROŠ.

Serbia95 min.www.tilvaros.com

TILVA ROŠ

Production:Film House Kiselo DeteDalmatinska 1711000 BelgradeSERBIAtel. +381 11 275 12 30office@kiselodete.com

World Sales: Visit Films89 Fifth Ave, Suite 806New York, NY 10003USAtel. +1 718 312 8210fax +1 718 362 4865info@visitfilms.com

www.europeanfilmacademy.orgwww.europeanfilmawards.eu

WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Nikola LežaićPRODUCED BY: Uroš Tomić, Mina Đukić & Nikola LežaićDIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Miloš JaćimovićEDITOR: Nikola LežaićPRODUCTION DESIGNER: Nikola BerčekMAIN CAST: Marko Todorović (Toda), Stefan Đorđević (Stefan), Dunja Kovačević (Dunja), Marko Milenković (Mare), Nenad Stanisavljević (Mekica)

24th EuropeanFilmAwards

European Discovery 2011 -Prix FIPRESCIThe Nominations

NOTHING’S ALL BAD

Festival Participation/Awards:Santo Domingo IFF 2011Glasgow FF 2011AFI Los Angeles IFF 2011Les Arcs European FF 2010London FF 2011Palm Springs IFF 2011: New Voices New Visions AwardSan Sebastian FF 2010: Special mentionStockholm IFF 2010

Mikkel Munch-Fals

We meet four people who all long for love and cross paths in unpredictable ways.We meet Ingeborg, who no longer feels attractive, and the young guy Jonas, who is so attractive that he can literally make a living of it. We meet Anna, a younger, physically disabled woman, and Anders, an older man with a mental issue. All of them are determined to fight for a better life, which causes the lives of the four people to become entwined.Director’s Statement:To understand who we are, we need to be put on display and laughed at. And to be forgiven, we need someone to defend and love us. In NOTHING’S ALL BAD, I display and defend the characters so you can laugh at them and love them a bit. I defend them tooth and nail, because second to hunger and thirst, loneliness is the toughest human condition.When we human beings are lonely, we behave undignified and amorally: We use and abuse, sell ourselves, buy others, blame ourselves, blame others, cry, and forgive. It’s all both endlessly tragic and endlessly comic.Although our loneliness can be self-inflicted, there is no limit to the lengths we will go to in order to make contact with others and find love. And that is what my film is about.

Mikkel Munch-FalsMikkel Munch-Fals holds a master’s degree in Film Studies from the Univer-sity of Copenhagen. Mikkel is an artist, illustrator and author, and has been a host and critic on the acclaimed TV programme “DR2 Premiere”. Munch-Fals’ directorial debut YNGLINGE (First Flush) was winner of Best Short Fiction Award at festivals in San Miguel de Allende (Mexico) and Tampere (Finland). His second short PARTUS won five awards – including a Robert in Denmark.

Denmark93 min.www.dfi.dk/faktaomfilm/danishfilms/dffilm.aspx?id=19551

SMUKKE MENESKERNOTHING’S ALL BAD

Production & Press:Zentropa Entertainments Filmbyen 222650 Hvidovre DENMARKtel. +45 36 86 87 88 receptionen@filmbyen.dk

World Sales:TrustNordiskFilmbyen 282650 HvidovreDENMARKtel. +45 36 86 87 88info@trustnordisk.com

WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Mikkel Munch-FalsPRODUCED BY: Meta Louise Foldager & Stine Meldgaard DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Eric KressEDITOR: Carsten SøstedPRODUCTION DESIGNER: Charlotte BechORIGINAL SCORE: Jomi MassageMAIN CAST: Bodil Jørgensen (Ingeborg), Sebastian Jessen (Jonas), Henrik Prip (Anders), Mille Hofmeyer Lehfeldt (Anna)

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