The Internationals: How Small Stories Become Big

With: Kornél Mundruzcó, Dorothee Wenner, Abderrahmane Sissako, Claudia Llosa
Topics: #Central Europe #Storytelling #Directing

The most powerful stories emerge from the reality one is most engaged in. They are linked to the place(s) you come from, situations you’ve experienced and reflect issues that deeply move and interest you. In the words of award-winning filmmaker and producer Abderrahmane Sissako, “When you work as a filmmaker, you have an intense desire to express yourself and I think that the best way to do so is to speak about oneself or one's experiences”. But how does one transform small, unique stories into compelling narratives that appeals to international audiences? On stage with Abderrahmane Sissako, whose sharply political films such as BAMAKO and LIFE ON EARTH are fitting critiques of globalisation, colonisation and social justice, is critically acclaimed filmmaker Claudia Llosa, who won the 2009 Golden Bear and an Academy Award nomination for THE MILK OF SORROW, and Hungarian director and 2003 Campus alumnus Kornél Mundruczó, whose TENDER SON – THE FRANKENSTEIN PROJECT screened in competition at Cannes in 2010, his current project features in the 2011 Berlinale Co-Production Market. The noted filmmakers, whose films are deeply grounded in stories from their own backyard and have received tremendous international recognition, will elaborate on how they decide which stories to develop into films and what makes a local film an international one. They will discuss the significance of support at a national and regional level, particularly if one is keen on working and distributing films internationally.

Kornél Mundruzcó

Hungarian director, actor and writer. He won, among others, the Fipresci prize for the film DELTA at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. His film PLEASANT DAYS won a Silver Leopard at the Locarno Film Festival in 2002. He returned to the Co-Production Market with his project THE FLYING MAN in 2011.

Dorothee Wenner

Dorothee Wenner is a filmmaker, film curator and writer based in Berlin. She serves as delegate to Berlin International Film Festival for the Subsahara-Africa region, as external curator at Humboldt Forum for film/cinema and others. Since inception in 2005, Dorothee belongs to the jury of Lagos based African Movie Academy Awards. Her latest work as a filmmaker was the web-series "Kinshasa Collection".

Abderrahmane Sissako

Filmmaker who has worked in Mali and France. His WAITING FOR HAPPINESS won the Fipresci Prize at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. Sissako was a member of the international Jury at the Berlinale and at Cannes. In 2008, he contributed the segment DIGNI TY to the international project Stories on Human Rights.

Claudia Llosa

Peruvian filmmaker, who began her career in advertising before starting her own production company. Her first feature MADEINUSA was released in 2006. Three years later, the WCF-funded film THE MILK OF SORROW was a selection in the Berlinale Competition and went on to win the Golden Bear and the FIPRESCI Award. The film was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. In 2012, her short film LOXORO was a selection in the Berlinale Shorts programme and won the Teddy Award. Her English-language film debut ALOFT screened in Competition in 2014 and as a Sundance Spotlight 2015. Claudia is a member of this year's Berlinale International Jury.