Competition programme

Vilnius International Film Festival “Kino Pavasaris” competition programme “New Europe – New Names” was inaugurated in 2009. The films for the competition are selected according to their geography (Eastern and Central Europe and the Balkan region) and the experience of the filmmakers (each submitted film has to be the first or the second film production by the selected filmmaker).

The films are assessed by the international jury of the cinema industry professionals: actors, directors, programme directors, cinematographers and producers. The jury will select the best film of the festival and award it with two special prizes.

2013 competition programme “New Europe – New Names” films



Jury

Ali Suliman

Ali Suliman (Palestina, b. 1977) is a Palestinian film and theater actor. In 2000 he graduated from prestigious "Yoram Levinishtain Acting School" in Tel-Aviv. At the end of his studies he joined the "Commedia Dell'Arte", Masks Theater group in London. Ali decided to broaden his horizons within the boundaries of drama by taking a position at the Negev community center as an acting teacher. After time spent at Negev Ali went on to star in such award winning films as "Paradise Now" (Best Foreign film winner at Golden Globes, and Best Foreign film nominee - Academy Awards), and "The Syrian Bride". He also starred opposite Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Garner in the critically acclaimed action thriller "The Kingdom". Moreover he was among the cast of "The Lemon Tree" by the acclaimed Israeli director Eran Riklis and political thriller "Body of Lies" by legendary director Ridley Scott.

Ada Condeescu

Ada Condeescu (Romania, b. 1988) is a Romanian actress. She studied acting at the National University of Theatre and Film in Bucharest. She made her debut in Florin Serban's award-winning “If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle” (Eu cand vreau sa fluier, fluier) which premiered at the Berlinale in 2010. Shortly afterwards followed another two leading roles: in Cătălin Mitulescu's second film “Loverboy”, which was shown at Cannes' Un Certain Regard section in 2011, and recently - in Bogdan Mustata's film “Wolf” (“Lupu”) which should be released in 2013. For her part in “Loverboy”, Ada Condeescu received in 2011 the “Heart of Sarajevo” best actress award. Ada Condeescu became engaged in the project “SHOOTING STARS”, a unique pan-European initiative which puts a spotlight on Europe's best young actors. She was a member of jury at the Sarajevo Film Festival in 2012.

Yeşim Ustaoğlu

Yeşim Ustaoglu (Turkey, b. 1960) is a Turkish film director and screenwriter. After studying architecture she worked as an architect, journalist and film critic. Before her feature film debut The Trace (Iz) in 1994 she had made several award-winning short films. Ustaoğlu received international recognition for her next film, „Journey to the Sun” (Güneşe Yolculuk) which told a story of a friendship between a Turk and a Kurd. Her fourth film „Pandora’s Box“ (Pandora'nın Kutusu) won The Best Film and The Best Actress award at San Sebastian Film Festival and is Ustaoğlu's biggest international success to date. Yesim Ustaoğlu was a jury member for the Venice Film Festival in 2002.

Giovanni Ottone

Giovanni Ottone (Italy, b. 1954) is a professional Italian film critic and curator of festival film programmes. His spezialisation is Latin American, Spanish, Scandinavian, Turkish and Romanian Cinema. Giovanni Ottone has conceived and implemented 14 festival programmes and retrospectives; published a number of books and essays mostly on Latin American cinema. Since 1990 he has been writing film critics for film magazines and every year he attends the major Film Festivals (Rotterdam, Berlin, Cannes, Istanbul, Locarno, Venice, San Sebastian, London, etc.). He is a member of FIPRESCI’s, an International film critic association. He is also an advisor and a curator of film programmes for the International Festivals: “Mostra del Nuovo Cinema di Pesaro” and “Asiatica Film Mediale di Roma” in Italy. Besides he is an artistic director of the Mostra del Cinema Ibero Americano di Roma festival in Italy.

Leon Lučev

Leon Lučev (Croatia, b. 1970) is a Croatian actor. Before enrolling at the Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1994 he was engaged in independent theatre group’s "MontazStroj" in Zagreb activity. To international audiences he is probably best known for his roles in films by Vinko Bresan: “Witnesses” and “How the war started on my little island”. Since then he has frequently appeared in a number of Croatian and Bosnian films including Jasmila Zbanic’s Berlin award winner “Gbravica” and “On the Path”. He also played roles in Hans Christian Schmid’s “Storm”, and Srdan Golubovic’s "Circles" winning a Special jury award at Sundance film festival and Ecumenical award at Berlin film festival. Leon Lučev also works extensively in TV and theater. Four years ago he founded his own production company ZIVA that organizes various workshops and produces theatre performances and films.

Read also: CICAE Art Cinema Award
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