TEAM PREMIERE "MONDKIND" AND "AD LUNAM"
On 20.01.2024 at 7 pm Leonard Grobien and Mohammad Naser Hasan will present their films "Mondkind" and "Ad Lunam" at the Ifs cinema in Cologne. Kim Moquenco will accompany the evening. Get your ticket now
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IMPULSE PAPER ON THE PORTRAYAL OF GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE
On the occasion of the International Day to End Violence against Women, the MaLisa Foundation, in cooperation with WIFT, BFFS and BVK, has published an impulse paper on the representation of gender-based violence. Sara Sommerfeldt from RISING GAZE was also involved in it's creation. Link to pdf (in German)
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SEJAD ADEMAJ WINS GERMAN COMPETITION AT INTER FILM FESTIVAL
Sejad Ademaj has won the first prize in the German competition at Inter Film Festival in Berlin with his short "15 minutes". Sejad wrote and directed the film. It was produced as part of his studies at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg.
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RISING GAZE AT THE "STICHWORT DREHBUCH" PODCAST
"Stichwort Drehbuch" is the podcast of the German Screenwriters Association - hosted by Oliver Schütte and Frank Zellner. In the new episode, Sara Sommerfeldt introduces the work of RISING GAZE and talks to screenwriter Robert Hummel about his script "Die Jägerin - Gegen die Angst". For this she was supported by Leonard Grobien and Sejad Ademaj, who shared their expertise with her as they could not be present for the recording. The interview can be heard here from October 26 on: Link to Screenwriter's Association
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SEJAD ADEMAJ'S NEW FILM AT HOFER FILMFESTIVAL
Sejad Ademaj's new film DEUTSCHE SPRACHE SCHWERE SPRACHE will be screened at the 57th International Hofer Filmfestival from 26 - 29 October 2023. The short film is about Theo, the lead singer of a Nazi band, who is about to play the most important concert of his career. But after a serious car accident, he is diagnosed with a particularly severe form of "foreign language accent syndrome" - he can suddenly only speak Arabic. Click here for the website of the Hofer Filmfestival
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SARA SOMMERFELDT AT "INNOVATION CAMP"
From 19. - 21. October 2023 the "Innovation Camp" by the Competence Center of the Cultural and Creative Industries in cooperation with German Dream and MUT:Republik took place in Hannover. In a 2.5-day idea sprint with many intense and emotional discussions and empowering keynote speeches, prototypes were developed that offered not only solutions for "attracting skilled workers", but also ideas for an overall socially equal coexistence.
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"15 MINUTES" AT THE AKE DIKHEA FESTIVAL IN BERLIN
Sejad Ademaj's film "15 minutes" will be screened at the 7th International Roma Film Festival AKE DIKHEA in Berlin. The festival will take place from October 23 - 29, 2023 at Kino Babylon. Link to the website of the festival
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SEJAD ADEMAJ WINS AUDIENCE AWARD AT FILMFEST OSNABRÜCK
Sejad Ademaj has won the audience award for the best student short film at Filmfest Osnabrück with "15 Minutes". Sejad wrote and directed the film. It was produced as part of his studies at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. Link to Instagram
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SEX AND POWER - DOCUMENTARY ABOUT ABUSE OF POWER
On 11.10.2023 at 20:15 the documentary "Sex und Macht" by Birgit Bonk and Edith Dietrich will be shown on ZDF info, for which Sara Sommerfeldt from RISING GAZE was also interviewed. Link to the film in the ZDF Mediathek
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SARA SOMMERFELDT ON THE SHERO PODCAST
Why is it important to tell stories from new perspectives? Sara Sommerfeldt gave an interview for SHERO MAGAZINE and the podcast of the same name. Link to SHERO MAGAZINE Link to SPOTIFY Link to APPLE PODCAST
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THINK TANK "GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE IN CINEMA, TV AND STREAMING"
On 9/13/2023, Sara Sommerfeldt of RISING GAZE participated in the Think Tank "Gender-based Violence in Cinema, TV and Streaming - Our Responsibility in Storytelling and Staging" organized by MaLisa Foundation together with WIFT Germany, the business network for women in the film and TV industry, the German Federal Association of Acting (BFFS) and the Professional Association of Cinematography (BVK). Just like at the first Think Tank on the topic "And please! Mehr Frauen ab 50 in Kino, Streaming und Fernsehen" (More women over 50 in cinema, streaming and television), an impulse paper with check questions for story development and casting is to emerge from this.
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN: HOW CAN STORYTELLING BE PART OF THE SOLUTION?
Ending violence against women and girls has been the goal of the MaLisa Foundation since its inception in 2016, and now the foundation has compiled helpful tips on what filmmakers should consider when portraying gender-based violence to be part of the solution. Click here to go to the Malisa Foundation Website
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PANEL INCLUSION - WHAT GERMANY CAN LEARN FROM OTHER COUNTRIES
How can inclusion be implemented sustainably in the German film industry? And what needs to be done to ensure that more actors with disabilities are cast in films? After a keynote by Jonas Karpa (Board of Directors Diversity in Film, journalist) and best practice examples from other countries, Leonard Grobien (filmmaker, screenwriter), Fatih Abay (Euopean Film Academy), Kaite O'Reilly (writer, theater maker, dramaturg, UK), Sasha Bühler (Netflix) and Inga Becker (MOIN Filmförderung) will discuss innovative approaches and measures for policy and funding at Filmfest München. Moderation: Jan Kampmann, concept: Tina Thiele. Here you can find the video on Youtube
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BACKLASH - THE NEW VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
The U.S. Supreme Court bans the right to abortion, police report a sharp increase in domestic violence, on TikTok fantasies of killing women become a trend. The thesis: this backlash is a reaction to increasing equality. The new book by Susanne Kaiser will be published on 18.2.2023. Learn more about the book
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ARTIST LAB "FAIR ART FUNDING"
How does the current heterogeneous funding landscape influence the work of freelance artists? Which social discrimination or exclusion factors are reproduced in it and which changes in the system can counteract this? At the invitation of Helena Kontoudakis, Sara Sommerfeldt of Rising Gaze participated in the Artist Lab "Promoting Art Justly", which was funded by the Fonds Darstellende Künste and presented at B.A.L.L. (Nationwide Artist Lab of Labs) at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele. Read the results here
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PORTRAYAL OF GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE ON GERMAN TV
The media shape our perception of reality and thus have a special responsibility. This is all the more true for a socially pressing issue such as gender-based violence. A study sponsored by the MaLisa Foundation and UFA GmbH provides the first representative overview of how audiovisual media portray this delicate topic. Click here for the study
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OPEN LETTER FROM THE "FAIR SHARE!" ALLIANCE
13 organizations and initiatives from the creative industries have joined forces across sectors to call for a gender-equal distribution of government funding in the arts and media - including Pro Quote Film, Pro Quote Stage, Writing with CARE/RAGE, Theaterautor:innen-Netzwerk, More Mothers for the Arts and Dramaturgie-Netzwerk. They also demand to finally make it easier for parents and care-takers to re-enter the workforce.
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Open letter to government-financed funding agencies (PDF)
Women artists with children demand: New funding models - now!
Unfair funding structures - Open letter of the "Fair share!" alliance (Comacon Magazine)
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PODCAST ON THE TOPIC OF #METOO
Abuse of power exists not only in the film industry, but also in the textile industry, for example in factories in Asia. Why everyone has the same problem - and how it could be solved - are discussed by actress Leslie Malton (Chair of BFFS), Sara Sommerfeldt (Rising Gaze Productions) and Julia Thimm (Head of Human Rights at Tchibo). Listen to podcast
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RISING GAZE AT THE GREEN ACTORS LOUNGE
"#metoo - Fashion and Movie - Do German actors and Asian seamstresses have the same problems?" Panel with Dr. Hajo Schumacher (Moderation), Sara Sommerfeldt (Rising Gaze Productions), Leslie Malton (BFFS) and Julia Thimm (Head of Human Rights Tchibo). Watch the video here
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The identity debate is changing the art of acting. That also brings problems. A very interesting ZEIT essay by Susanne Kaiser. Read the article here​
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AMAZON STUDIOS IS COMMITTED TO GREATER DIVERSITY
Amazon Studios has released an Inclusion Policy and Playbook to expand the company's commitment to diversity and equality. More about the Amazon Playbook here​
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DOES THE CASTING COUCH REALLY EXIST?
Dr. Mark Benecke interviewed Sara Sommerfeldt and Helena Kontoudakis on the occasion of their open letter to the lawyers of Dieter Wedel. A conversation about abuse of power in the film industry, rape myths and whether acting has something to do with lying. View here
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FEMICIDES ON TV: YOUNG, FEMALE, DEAD
A normal week on German television from SOKO Stuttgart, Laim to Basque crime shows: Our mass media culture is downright obsessed with female murder victims. Women who emancipate themselves and go their own way are constantly being killed in crime novels. A comment by Susanne Kaiser for Deutschlandfunk Kultur. Listen here
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HUNDREDS OF STAGE AND FILM CREATORS SIGN OPEN LETTER
"It is an encouraging kind of German premiere," writes EMMA about our open letter. “Over 500 filmmakers criticize Dieter Wedel's three defense lawyers.” Reason: “They spread“ rape myths from the moth box ”by making the alleged victim unbelievable before the trial began”. The Süddeutsche Zeitung even speaks of the "biggest possible accident in the field of ligitation PR", because "what was probably planned as a clever move" has become "a boomerang". So far, more than 600 people have signed, including well-known theater and filmmakers such as Anika Decker, Carolin Kebekus, Jasmin Tabatabai, Claudia Michelsen, Julia von Heinz, Bibiana Beglau, Connie Walther, Isabel Kleefeld, Peter Lohmeyer, Johann von Bülow, Simon Verhoeven, Anne Tismer, Tom Lass, Jochen Schropp, Marie Schleef, Stefan Otteni, Elias Perrig, David Rott, Jan Bosse, Maren Kroymann and many more. Thank you all for your tremendous support!
SPIEGEL: Hundreds of stage and filmmakers criticize statements by Wedel's lawyers
EMMA: Is the woman lying again?
RND: Dieter Wedel - Hundreds of filmmakers criticize his lawyers
WDR 1: Filmmakers criticize Wedel's lawyers
Süddeutsche: Justizia hears pretty well
BAD BLOG OF MUSICK: Rape Myths and Dieter Wedel
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OPEN LETTER TO DIETER WEDEL'S LAWYERS
RAPE MYTHS FROM THE MOTH BOX - a reply by Sara Sommerfeldt, Helena Kontoudakis, Angelika Zacek, Eva Jankowski and France-Elena Damian. Click here for the open letter
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