As the hulks of multi-million-dollar stadiums around the world attest in Haruna Honcoop’s investigative doc “Olympic Halftime,” the greatest global games have also built a reputation for massive waste and deception.
“It’s always the same story,” says the director about her subject, seen this week in its world premiere screening at the Ji.hlava Intl. Documentary Film Festival – potential Olympics host cities are pitched a glorious spectacle that will also somehow be eco-friendly and bring new economic vitality to struggling districts.
“But since the 1976 Montreal Olympics,” Honcoop says, “there are always debts for the host city and they pay these debts for 20, 30 years on average. And there have been no Olympics since that have ended up in the black.”
To make her point, Honcoop traveled the world for six years, sneaking into padlocked, disused arenas and gargantuan sports facilities that once played starring roles in Olympics games in Beijing,...
“It’s always the same story,” says the director about her subject, seen this week in its world premiere screening at the Ji.hlava Intl. Documentary Film Festival – potential Olympics host cities are pitched a glorious spectacle that will also somehow be eco-friendly and bring new economic vitality to struggling districts.
“But since the 1976 Montreal Olympics,” Honcoop says, “there are always debts for the host city and they pay these debts for 20, 30 years on average. And there have been no Olympics since that have ended up in the black.”
To make her point, Honcoop traveled the world for six years, sneaking into padlocked, disused arenas and gargantuan sports facilities that once played starring roles in Olympics games in Beijing,...
- 10/24/2023
- by Will Tizard
- Variety Film + TV
“Flowers Are Not Silent,” a film about the brutal suppression of demonstrations against last year’s rigged presidential election in Belarus, will open the 25th Ji.hlava Intl. Documentary Film Festival on Tuesday. Oliver Stone will deliver a masterclass at the festival as will Russian filmmaker Vitaly Mansky.
Festival chief Marek Hovorka said that “Flowers Are Not Silent,” which plays in the main international competition section, Opus Bonum, is “a brave testimony of the state’s violent repression against peaceful protests.” He added: “It shows how brutally this last European dictatorship resists the transformation of Belarus into a freer society.” The film’s Belarusian director, Andrei Kutsila, will attend the screening.
The festival’s Contribution to World Cinema Award will be presented to Czech director Jana Ševčíková, whose films have been shown at festivals in Berlin, Rotterdam, Paris, Nyon and Leipzig, among others, and screened at Moma in the U.
Festival chief Marek Hovorka said that “Flowers Are Not Silent,” which plays in the main international competition section, Opus Bonum, is “a brave testimony of the state’s violent repression against peaceful protests.” He added: “It shows how brutally this last European dictatorship resists the transformation of Belarus into a freer society.” The film’s Belarusian director, Andrei Kutsila, will attend the screening.
The festival’s Contribution to World Cinema Award will be presented to Czech director Jana Ševčíková, whose films have been shown at festivals in Berlin, Rotterdam, Paris, Nyon and Leipzig, among others, and screened at Moma in the U.
- 10/22/2021
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Film submissions arriving mysteriously with no return address are a bit unusual, even for the Ji.hlava Intl. Documentary Film Fest – an event with its fringe street creds solidly in order – says Haruna Honcoop, a Czech-Japanese filmmaker, who was planning a special section on Hong Kong docs this year – that is, until the fest had to be reformatted overnight thanks to Covid-19 shutdowns.
Still, Honcoop managed to get into the program three docs revealing particular perspectives – including the one slipped over the transom, “Red Taxi,” a short that would be illegal to screen in Hong Kong or anywhere on mainland China.
Another doc chronicling the escalating tensions in the former British colony, where residents have been facing down brutal riot police in their demonstrations for civil rights, is Zhou Bing’s “Hong Kong Moments.” With slick production values and official support from the Chinese state, this German co-production is nevertheless...
Still, Honcoop managed to get into the program three docs revealing particular perspectives – including the one slipped over the transom, “Red Taxi,” a short that would be illegal to screen in Hong Kong or anywhere on mainland China.
Another doc chronicling the escalating tensions in the former British colony, where residents have been facing down brutal riot police in their demonstrations for civil rights, is Zhou Bing’s “Hong Kong Moments.” With slick production values and official support from the Chinese state, this German co-production is nevertheless...
- 10/30/2020
- by Will Tizard
- Variety Film + TV
This year’s edition sees the participation of four international co-productions involving France, Greece, Slovakia, Italy, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands. The 18th edition of the Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum is ready to kick off. The event, set to run from 26-28 August, is Asia’s premier project market designed to connect local filmmakers with upcoming film projects from all over the world. The gathering, first established in 2000, will take place virtually and is estimated to attract over 1,000 filmmakers and financiers from at least 35 countries. This year’s edition sees 22 projects shortlisted in the Work-in-Progress (Wip) section. All of them are looking for closing funds, post-production partners, distributors, sales agents or festivals. Among these, four are international co-productions involving European partners. The first of these four projects is Haruna Honcoop’s directorial debut Olympic Halftime, which explores the urban impact of the Olympics’ facilities. In his director’s.
The Czech cross-media project by Haruna Honcoop was featured at the Marché du Film’s recent Goes to Cannes industry event. Czech-Japanese filmmaker Haruna Honcoop is currently preparing a follow-up to her experimental film and cross-media project Built to Last – Relics of Communist-Era Architecture, entitled Olympic Halftime. She will be continuing the exploration of the topic from her previous work, reflecting on architecture and urbanism, only this time it will revolve, as the title suggests, around the Olympic Games, including stadiums and Olympic Villages. The director says her aim is to “research the Olympic legacy across the European and Asian continents”. Honcoop plans to approach the project as “a visual-cinematic and social reflection” of the topic, having already found a protagonist for the documentary – a Chinese photographer investigating ruins – alongside experts offering their insights, including the author of the book Olympic Risks, Will Jennings, and philosopher and architect...
Wip initiative will run simultaneously with the Haf main programme (August 26-28) and Filmart Online (August 26-29).
The Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum (Haf) has announced the 22 projects, including ten narrative features and 12 documentaries, which have been selected for the Work-in-Progress (Wip) section of this year’s Haf.
The Wip initiative will run simultaneously with the Haf main programme (August 26-28) and Filmart Online (August 26-29). Both events were postponed from March due to the Covid-19 pandemic and were recently forced to move online as travel restrictions are still in place across the region and in Hong Kong.
Haf will...
The Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum (Haf) has announced the 22 projects, including ten narrative features and 12 documentaries, which have been selected for the Work-in-Progress (Wip) section of this year’s Haf.
The Wip initiative will run simultaneously with the Haf main programme (August 26-28) and Filmart Online (August 26-29). Both events were postponed from March due to the Covid-19 pandemic and were recently forced to move online as travel restrictions are still in place across the region and in Hong Kong.
Haf will...
- 6/23/2020
- by 89¦Liz Shackleton¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
Haf, New Horizons, Thessaloniki and Nfdc Film Bazaar have each contributed five.
Twenty works-in-progress from four international film events have been selected for the online Marché du Film’s Goes To Cannes showcase, which runs from June 22-24.
Five titles will be presented by each of Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum (Haf); Poland’s New Horizons International Film Festival; Greece’s Thessaloniki International Film Festival (Tiff); and for the first time, India’s Nfdc Film Bazaar.
The projects will be presented during two-hour online screenings from June 22-23. Industry professionals who attend the online screenings will be able to...
Twenty works-in-progress from four international film events have been selected for the online Marché du Film’s Goes To Cannes showcase, which runs from June 22-24.
Five titles will be presented by each of Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum (Haf); Poland’s New Horizons International Film Festival; Greece’s Thessaloniki International Film Festival (Tiff); and for the first time, India’s Nfdc Film Bazaar.
The projects will be presented during two-hour online screenings from June 22-23. Industry professionals who attend the online screenings will be able to...
- 5/26/2020
- by 1101321¦Ben Dalton¦26¦
- ScreenDaily
Agnieszka Zwiefka’s “Wika!” Angeliki Antoniou’s “Green Sea” and Wong Fei-pang’s “Dear Immigrants: What Was Your First Meal?” will all feature at the Marché du Film’s 2020 Goes to Cannes, one of the highest-profile industry events at the Cannes Film Market.
This year’s Goes to Event runs June 22-23, at the beginning of the Marché du Film added to what looks like a packed schedule of screenings.
A pix-in-post showcase traditionally running the second week of Cannes and frequented by sales agents, distributors and film fest heads, this year’s Goes to Cannes, now in its eighth edition, will source five features a piece from three traditional Goes To partners: the Hong Kong – Asia Film Financing Forum (Haf), Poland’s New Horizons International Film Festival, and the Thessaloniki International Film Festival.
Joining the Goes to Lineup for the first time is Nfdc Film Bazaar, organized by India...
This year’s Goes to Event runs June 22-23, at the beginning of the Marché du Film added to what looks like a packed schedule of screenings.
A pix-in-post showcase traditionally running the second week of Cannes and frequented by sales agents, distributors and film fest heads, this year’s Goes to Cannes, now in its eighth edition, will source five features a piece from three traditional Goes To partners: the Hong Kong – Asia Film Financing Forum (Haf), Poland’s New Horizons International Film Festival, and the Thessaloniki International Film Festival.
Joining the Goes to Lineup for the first time is Nfdc Film Bazaar, organized by India...
- 5/26/2020
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
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