Rezo Gigineishvili’s “Patient #1” is the 2023 winner of the annual Werner Herzog Film Award.
Set at the end of the Soviet era, the film focuses on the decline in power of Konstantin Chernenko, a Russian leader with failing health who is surrounded by a large medical team. He is old and frail, but has a tight grip on power. He is waging a war in Afghanistan, has a nuclear button and can take the entire world to the grave with him. It is convenient for both the elites and the secret services to keep the leader alive and various groups are scoring political points.
The cast includes Aleksandr Filippenko, Olga Makeeva, Inna Churikova, Igor Chernevich and Sergey Gilev. The film is produced by Archil Gelovani, Sergey Yahontov for Georgian outfit Independent Film Project.
Gigineishvili previously directed “Hostages” (2017) which premiered at the Berlinale and participated in more than 30 international film festivals including Telluride, Edinburgh, Thessaloniki, Sarajevo, Shanghai, Haifa and Cairo.
“This story came about during the lockdown. We were all staying inside, receiving hourly texts about people dying. That collective tension made me remember the days when I was taking care of my dying father. Those memories weighed heavily on me. That’s when I came across a volume by Leo Tolstoy. I re-read his short story ‘The Death of Ivan Ilyich’ centered around the character of a terminally ill high-court judge. Tolstoy’s musings on the psychology of life and death became the main inspiration for the film,” Gigineishvili said.
“The tragedy of power is a plot from the antique classics. The level of loneliness experienced by the main character still sends chills down my spine, while his near childlike infirmity makes me feel sorry for him,” Gigineishvili added.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dmitry Muratov wrote a letter of support for the film: “It deals with an extremely important and more than relevant issue of power taken at will, since for some rulers it is the ultimate value. Power, a great, coveted, and almost infernal force enslaves the dictator himself in the end, depriving him of his freedom.”
Once a year the Werner Herzog Foundation offers the Werner Herzog Film Award in cooperation with the Film Archive Munich. The award is meant for innovative works by filmmakers all around the world and is endowed with €5,000 ($5,270).
Past winners include Asghar Farhadi’s “A Hero,” Natalija Yefimkina’s “Garage People” and Chloé Zhao’s “The Rider.”
Weeks after Shoojit Sircar said he deserved the Best Actor’s award at the National Film Awards, Vicky Kaushal says that all the awards are bonuses for him.
Vicky said that he felt wonderful that his film Sardar Udham bagged several National Film Awards, and added that it felt great to see the Hindi film industry and all sorts of genres being recognized as well as appreciated at the box office. Asked if he felt disappointed about not receiving the National Award for himself, Vicky said, “No! The thing is that many times, when you get a film, and get to work with a director that you like, you think that’s where your dream has come true, which is genuinely true for Sardar Udham. I am not just saying for the heck of it. Being a Punjabi, that topic, that man, that story is very, very close to my heart.”
Vicky said that he knew Udham Singh’s story since childhood and wondered why more people don’t know about it. “We have been listening to this story since our childhood days and always used to wonder why not many people know about this. So, for me, to eventually get the opportunity was a big deal and, after that, what I got or didn’t get, everything was a bonus. For me, the story to reach the world, to get appreciated, to get resonated, that is everything. After that, for the film to get all the rewards are all bonuses. I don’t have any qualms,” he said.
Around the film’s release, Vicky Kaushal had told Hindustan Times in an interview that working on the film felt like going back to school, because of the way director Shoojit Sircar works. “I remember his one brief was ‘I want to understand the mindset of this person’. Not about his actions, but what he felt, what he had in his heart. That is what I wanted to give to our audience.”
He further said that we almost make martyrs as superheroes but Shoojit wanted a human person. It was important for Shoojit to make it very human, very achievable.” Vicky also recalled it was a “physically exhausting and emotionally numbing experience” to shoot the Jalianwala Bagh sequence for the film.
Allu Arjun bagged the National Film Award 2023 in the Best Actor category for his performance in ‘Pushpa: The Rise’. He has also become the first Telugu actor to win a National Award in this category. Allu Arjun had an emotional reaction after the announcement of the National Film Awards. He shared a long and warm hug with the director of the movie Sukumar. The rest of the film team cheered for him as the Telugu actor bagged the award. show less
The curtains closed on the 2023 Sarajevo International Film Festival on Friday night, and Elene Naveriani’s poignant Georgian drama, “Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry” won the title of Best Film. The prize includes a cash award of €16,000. This compelling film chronicles the journey of an independent woman in her forties, whose extramarital affair sparks a profound existential awakening. Alongside the Best Film award, Ekaterine Chavleishvili, the luminous star of “Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry,” was honored with the prestigious Best Actress award at the 29th Sarajevo festival awards ceremony. In the main competition, a total of eleven films competed, and Mia Wasikowska’s jury, which comprised MoMA Film Head Josh Siegel, actor Zlatko Burić, actress Danica Ćurčić, and director Juraj Lerotić, generously recognized a diverse array of talent. The coveted Best Director honor was awarded to Ukrainian filmmaker Philip Sotnychenko for “La Palisiada.” This gripping crime drama unfolds the intricate investigation of a colleague’s murder by two old friends, a police detective, and a forensic psychiatrist, set against the backdrop of western Ukraine in 1996, mere months before Ukraine’s historic signing of the European Convention on Human Rights. The festival also took a courageous stand on the pressing issue of violence against women, initiating a public discussion on artistic and media representations of this harrowing topic. This discussion unfolded on a day marked by national mourning throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, following a shocking triple-murder suicide in the town of Gradacac. The Sarajevo festival altered its regular schedule to make room for this important discussionThe coveted Best Short Film award, paving the way for consideration at the Oscars, was presented to Flóra Anna Buda’s “27.” This animated gem follows the life of a 27-year-old woman who yearns to break free from her monotonous existence while still residing with her parents.
Lukas Dhont’s Close has won the 2023 Lux European Audience Film Award, presented in Brussels on Tuesday, June 27.
Close was chosen from five nominated films, by a combination of 50% European public vote and 50% vote by members of the European Parliament. The awards platform received 45,000 public votes and 360 MEP votes.
The other nominated films were Carla Simon’s 2022 Golden Bear winner Alcarràs, Emin Alper’s Burning Days, Joao Pedro Rodrigues’ Will-o’the-Wisp and Ruben Ostlund’s 2022 Palme d’Or-winner Triangle Of Sadness.
Dhont and co-writer Angelo Tijssens accepted the award from European Parliament president Roberta Metsola.
Close depicts the friendship between two young boys, which changes as they grow older then is suddenly disrupted. The film premiered in Competition at Cannes 2022, sharing the Grand Prix with Claire Denis’ Stars At Noon; Mubi subsequently released it in multiple territories including the UK and Ireland.
“We stand by you as you. Discover who you are as you are. We think of you, we are hopeful and proud of you,” said Dhont in accepting the award.
The Lux award is presented by the European Film Academy and European Parliament, in partnership with the European Commission and Europa Cinemas. It was previously won by Quo Vadis, Aida? in 2022, and Collective in the inaugural year of 2021.
Diego Rivera-Rodriguez thinks back to 2019 when he began his journey at the University of Kansas and for the first time witnessed the theatre and dance department’s iconic season opener tradition.
His freshman self had no idea that he would graduate four years later as the recipient of an award tied to that 65-year tradition, he said.
Advertisement
Faculty and staff in KU’s Department of Theatre & Dance nominated and presented the 2023 KU graduate with the Kilty Kane Award for his “outstanding contributions” to theUniversity Theatre.
Rivera-Rodriguez, a Lawrence local who graduated in May with a degree in Theatre Performance and Film Production, said emotion overcame him when he was presented with the award at the department’s end-of-the-year banquet.
“It definitely took me very much by surprise, but also it was a pretty big moment for me,” Rivera-Rodriguez said. “I really really love the community and the family there and so when they called my name, I definitely started crying. It was a really special moment.”
Rivera-Rodriguez’s love for theatre began during his senior year at Free State High School in Lawrence. He decided to give it a try and the connection stuck, he said.
The award, named after the late Jerome Kilty, who was an American theatre actor, writer and director, the Kilty Kane Award is presented at the conclusion of every school year to a student who is leaving the program after making a lasting impact.
Kilty was the first guest artist to have a leading role in KU’s then-newly built Murphy Hall in 1957, playing Falstaff in a production of “Henry IV, Part 1,” the award webpage says. A cane was brought from Scotland to serve as his personal prop in the production, and it has since been used in his namesake to recognize the contributions students have made to the department.
Contributed photo Diego Rivera-Rodriguez holds his Kilty Kane award.
The “Kilty Kane” bears the name of every past recipient of the award. As tradition, a first-year student is selected out of the crowd at the Theatre & Dance department’s annual Rally and prompted to “tap the kane” three times on the stage, thus officially opening the new season, the webpage says.
Throughout his four years at KU, Rivera-Rodriguez performed in a variety of plays and musicals — like one of his favorites last year, “Everybody,” in which he portrayed one of many characters facing an existential crisis.
His final project in the program was “Cabaret,” and performing felt like a full-circle moment. Becoming increasingly comfortable on stage reaffirmed the path he’s on, he explained.
“There was the ‘Cabaret’ one that was last spring. It was definitely really really special being my last project and then kind of working with the same people that I worked with freshman year, but just to be able to see the growth in myself … I mean, I’d say that was probably one of my favorite projects.”
He also helped direct and edit as part of his film major.
Advertisement
“Working with actors and then also cinematographers just ends up being really fun,” Rivera-Rodriguez said. “And I mean, there’s just some sort of magic that comes alive, especially in the editing room. When something actually comes together like how you envisioned it, nothing really beats that feeling.”
Planning to move to Chicago in about a month to seek a career in acting and film production, Rivera-Rodriguez said he’s already started auditioning for jobs in the Windy City. However, his time growing up in Lawrence and then becoming a Jayhawk is not lost on him.
“I’m just super thankful for KU and all the staff, faculty and people I met there for just being some of the most fun and pleasurable people to work with,” Rivera-Rodriguez said.
Fellow KU Class of 2023 graduate Asher Suski received the Kuhlke Humanitarian Award for humanitarian service to the department, a department news release said. The award is named after KU alum William Kuhlke, who was the very first recipient of the Kilty Kane award in 1958. Including Rivera-Rodriguez and Suski, KU’s Department of Theatre & Dance recognized 59 students for academic merit and contributions to departmental performances at its banquet in May.
Visit the Department of Theatre & Dance’s website to see the full list of award recipients.
If our local journalism matters to you, please help us keep doing this work.
Don’t miss a beat … Click here to sign up for our email newsletters
Maya Hodison (she/her), equity reporter, can be reached at mhodison (at) lawrencekstimes (dot) com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
The University of Kansas Cancer Center accepted a $100 million donation from the Sunderland Foundation and secured $43 million in federal funding to build a state-of-the-art facility to advance research and treatment of cancer.
City Hall Riverfront, the building that’s home to Lawrence Municipal Court and Planning and Development Services, is closed to the public Monday because of a power outage.
The award is run by the European Parliament and the European Film Academy to celebrate diverse European filmmaking.
The winner of the LUX Audience Award 2023 will be announced later tonight from a shortlist that includes Ruben Östlund’s Palme D’Or winning Triangle of Sadness and Portuguese musical romcom Will-o’-the-Wisp.
The European Audience Film Award, better known as the LUX Audience Award after the Latin word for “light”, is an annual prize organised by the European Parliament and the European Film Academy, intended to promote cultural diversity in European cinema.
First awarded as the People’s Choice Award for Best European Film to The Full Monty in 1997, the award has been transformed multiple times over the years — first as the Jameson Award between 2002 and 2005, before it was renamed as the LUX Prize in 2007.
The Lux Prize ran from 2007 to 2019, honouring achievements in European film with its final winner as North Macedonian film God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunija. In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the award was rebranded as the LUX Audience Film Award with a more streamlined nomination process.
The nominated films are subtitled in the 24 official EU languages and free screenings were organised by the European Parliament in all 27 EU Member States during the ‘Watch, Rate and Win’ period, from 11 December 2022 until 12 June 2023.
The initiative gives the nominated films more visibility and helps them to cross borders and reach a wider audience. It allows audiences from across the European Union, and beyond, to watch films that may not have otherwise been screened in their countries.
This year’s nominees are:
Alcarràs, by Spanish director Carla Simón;
Burning Days, by Turkish director Emin Alper;
Close, by Belgian director Lukas Dhont;
Triangle of Sadness, by Swedish director Ruben Östlund;
Will-o’-the-Wisp, by Portuguese director João Pedro Rodrigues.
Nearly 45,000 rated the five nominees to find a winner. The LUX Audience Award will be announced on 27 June in the plenary room of the European Parliament in Brussels at 18:00 CEST in a livestream here.
Where: Parliament’s Anna Politkovskaya press conference room in Brussels (SPAAK 0A50) and online
When: 27 June 2023 at 19.25 CET
Participants: representative of the winning film, EP Vice-President Evelyn Regner (S&D, AT) and Honorary President of the LUX European Audience Film Award and Chair of the European Film Academy, Mike Downey
The interpretation will be provided in English, French, Dutch and Spanish.
Press seminar before the ceremony
On 27 June at 11.00, journalists are invited to a seminar featuring the representatives of the nominated films and MEPs, to discuss the issues raised by the shortlisted films, including societal divides in Europe, discrimination and diversity, and the challenges facing Europe’s creative industry.
See the programme of the press seminar here. To attend, physically, please send a mail to [email protected]. You can also follow online.
Information for the media – Use Interactio to ask questions
Both for the seminar and the press conference journalists have an opportunity to ask questions remotely by connecting via Interactio at this link https://ep.interactio.eu/66e2-hy1p-1w4u
Interactio is only supported on iPad (with the Safari browser) and Mac/Windows (with the Google Chrome browser). When connecting, enter your name and the media you are representing in the first name / last name fields. For better sound quality, use headphones and a microphone. Interpretation is only possible for interventions with video.
Journalists who have never used Interactio before are asked to connect 30 minutes before the start of the press event to perform a connection test. IT assistance can be provided if necessary. When connected, open the chat window (upper right corner) to be able to see the service messages.
The award ceremony
The ceremony will be opened at 18.00 by EP President Roberta Metsola in the Hemicycle of the European Parliament in Brussels. It will take place in the presence of Members of the European Parliament, creators and crews of the five nominated films, as well as the European audience, with almost 1400 attendees having registered.
The winner out of the shortlisted films that are first chosen by a panel of film professionals’, is selected jointly by the Members of the European Parliament and the public through ratings, each accounting for 50% of the final result. While the rating by Members of European Parliament is still ongoing, around 45 000 ratings have been received by the European citizens.Since 2020, the LUX European Audience Film Award has been awarded by the European Parliament and the European Film Academy, in partnership with the European Commission and the Europa Cinemas network to help promote and distribute European films with high artistic quality that reflect cultural diversity in Europe and beyond and that touch upon topics of common concern, such as democracy, human dignity, equality, non-discrimination, inclusion, tolerance, justice and solidarity.
Rumi Awards Recognizes The Top Ten Las Vegas Artists Of All Times:
Las Vegas is known for its vibrant nightlife, world-class entertainment, and of course, its incredible music scene. From the classic sounds of the Rat Pack to the modern-day EDM beats, Las Vegas has been home to some of the most iconic and influential artists of all time. Here are the top ten Las Vegas artists of all time:
1. Elvis Presley: The King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley, is undoubtedly the most famous Las Vegas artist of all time. His legendary performances at the Las Vegas Hilton and the International Hotel are still talked about today.
2. Frank Sinatra: The Chairman of the Board, Frank Sinatra, was a Las Vegas staple for decades. His smooth crooning and swaggering style made him a favorite among audiences.
3. Celine Dion: Celine Dion is one of the most successful Las Vegas artists of all time. Her residency at Caesars Palace was a huge success and her show was one of the most popular in the city.
4. Elton John: Elton John has been a Las Vegas favorite for years. His show at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace is one of the most popular in the city.
5. Britney Spears: Britney Spears is one of the most successful Las Vegas artists of all time. Her residency at Planet Hollywood was a huge success and her show was one of the most popular in the city.
6. Mariah Carey: Mariah Carey is one of the most successful Las Vegas artists of all time. Her residency at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace was a huge success and her show was one of the most popular in the city.
7. Jennifer Lopez: Jennifer Lopez is one of the most successful Las Vegas artists of all time. Her residency at Planet Hollywood was a huge success and her show was one of the most popular in the city.
8. Shania Twain: Shania Twain is one of the most successful Las Vegas artists of all time. Her residency at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace was a huge success and her show was one of the most popular in the city.
9. Barry Manilow: Barry Manilow is one of the most successful Las Vegas artists of all time. His residency at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino was a huge success and his show was one of the most popular in the city.
10. Donny and Marie Osmond: Donny and Marie Osmond are two of the most successful Las Vegas artists of all time. Their residency at the Flamingo Las Vegas was a huge success and their show was one of the most popular in the city.
Las Vegas has been home to some of the most iconic and influential artists of all time. From Elvis Presley to Jennifer Lopez, these top ten Las Vegas artists have made an indelible mark on the music industry and will continue to be remembered for years to come.
