With less than a month to FEST 2019, we take one more step to a truly remarkable line-up of activities and speakers for this year's Industry Program.
This time, we present an elite group of speakers for Training Ground, and also a panel of some of the most impressive Portuguese directors of the new generation, that will be integrated into Directors Hub.
We start by announcing Nancy Bishop. As a worldwide respected Casting Director, with more than 60 credits both in big and small Film and TV productions, Nancy worked in a truly diverse set of films such as The Avengers (2012), Snowpiercer (2013), Don't Breed (2016) and recently Medieval (2019) starring Ben Foster, Sophie Lowe and Michael Caine (currently in Post-Production). Her work in the Mini-Series Anne Frank: The Whole Story starring Ben Kingsley and Hannah Taylor Gordon earned her a nomination for the Primetime Emmy, for Outstanding Casting for a Miniseries, Movie or Special. She will be presenting a FEST - Training Ground Workshop regarding "Strategies for Screen-Casting and Screen-Acting Techniques".
Also, coming straight from the Soho District in London to FEST, are David Turner and Ross Baker. Representing our partners at Halo Post Production, they will be presenting a Training Ground Masterclass about the topic. With an amazing resume, Ross Baker is known as one of the hottest creatives on London’s post-production scene. He has been nominated for three Royal Television Society awards and, in 2015, he ranked 3rd place on the Televisual Top 20 colourist. As a Senior Colorist, his credits include Doctor Thorne (2016), The Driver (2014), Inside the Human Body (2011) amongst other films, music videos, and commercials. David Turner is Head of Film at Halo and has 28 years of experience in film and broadcast post-production. He has recently overseen the post-production on many high profile productions, such as Ghost Stories (full post), Paddington 2 (sound mix), The Danish Girl (sound mix), The Nice Guys (sound mix) and Les Miserables (sound mix).
Regarding Directors Hub, the big news is that we are glad to present is the completion of the “Portuguese New Wave” panel, that will be graced with five of the most promising names in the contemporary Portuguese film scene. Duarte Coimbra, Miguel Gonçalves Mendes, Pedro Cabeleira, Pedro Pinho and Bernardo Lopes will be challenged to discuss their accomplishments in the industry and how they are revolutionizing cinema in Portugal.
Duarte Coimbra, having finished school just in 2018, went straight to the International Critics' Week in Cannes with his Amor, Avenidas Novas (2018), after premiering at IndieLisboa. The movie tells the tale of a new Lisbon, lost between the housing dramas and the eternal romanticism of youth. A love story that is enrichened with the performances of Primeira Dama, inspired by Lena D’Água, a Portuguese music icon.
Miguel Gonçalves Mendes is a director, screenwriter, and producer. He directed the documentary about José Saramago José y Pilar (2010) which was co-produced by Pedro e Augustín Almodóvar and Fernando Meirelles. In 2011, after a year filled with touring the international film festival circuits with huge praise, the film raised Portugal’s spirits and generated a debate, that ended up in a petition with more than a million signatures, and that drove the documentary’s campaign for an Oscar submission in Los Angeles and New York. Currently, Miguel is filming his new documentary, O Sentido da Vida, produced by Fernando Meirelles, and that portrays worldwide distinct personalities.
Pedro Cabeleira's debut feature, Verão Danado (2017), had the honour of premiering in Locarno. In the film, we can get a glimpse of a young and agitated Lisbon. A film that came to life despite being made almost without a budget, it is the perfect reflection of an eager generation of newly-graduated youngsters, anxious to dive into the industry.
Pedro Pinho, on his turn, has a long and successful path. His first documentary, Bab Sebta (co-directed with Frederico Lobo) premiered at the FID Marseille in 2008, where it won the Marseille Esperance award. Um Fim do Mundo, a fiction film, premiered at Berlinale in 2013 and was awarded the Caminhos do Cinema Português and nominated for the Portuguese Gold Globe awards. His documentary As Cidades e as Trocas (co-directed with Luisa Homem) premiered in 2014 at FID Marseille and was screened at the Art of The Real do Lincoln Center in NY and at DocLisboa. In 2017 he premiered at the Director’s Fortnight in Cannes A Fábrica do Nada, his first feature that won hin the FIPRESCI award. Since then, A Fábrica do Nada has collected over 20 awards all around the world.
Bernardo Lopes is a director and producer at Promenade. Getting his start in television as a member of the Sport TV production team for the coverage of UEFA's Champion League in Lisbon, cinema was always a big part of his life, considering that when he was 13, he was asked to be a juror at the 39th edition of Giffoni Film Festival. He directed Yuan Yuan, a short-film documentary that takes place in China for the international project Looking China 2015, that premiered at the Chinese American Film Festival in California. Ivan, his second short film, premiered at the Tânger International Film Festival and collected many awards, including Best Director at the Chelsea Film Festival in New York.
With an Industry Program that promises to be the best to date, this is surely a line-up you will not want to miss. Make sure you secure your place and guarantee your accreditation for the celebration 15 years of FEST, from the 24th of June to the 1st of July in Espinho, Portugal.