Bali International Film Festival (Balinale) will hold its 18th edition of the festival, at Official Venue Partner, Icon Bali Mall, from Sunday, 1 June to Saturday, 7 June 2025. The festival transforms Sanur into a gathering of global creativity, further positioning Bali as a vibrant center of local and international culture. As Indonesia’s first and only Oscar®-Qualifying Film Festival, Balinale expands its global influence and celebrates nearly two decades of bringing outstanding cinema to Indonesia. Balinale supports and encourages the growth of independent cinema and promotes distinctive voices and creative talents. The seven-day event will present over 72 films from 32 countries, including 8 World, 25 Asian, and 16 International Premieres and includes 23 Indonesian films. Opening the Festival is 2025 Academy® Award Winning feature animation Flow directed by Gints Zilbalodis (Latvia). Closing Night will feature two IMAX movies filmed in Indonesia — Under The Sea by Howard Hall and Born To Be Wild by David Lickley (USA).

From 1 March to 15 July 2023, the Résidence of the Festival de Cannes hosted six directors who, for four and a half months, received personalized support in writing their screenplays for their first or second feature film. They were present in Cannes from 16 to 22 May.

In 2023, the Festival de Cannes reaffirmed its mission to support the creations of younger generations and to transmit its passionate interest in films. The Résidence is one of the foremost projects under the new “Cinéma de Demain” banner.

Since its creation in 2000, the Résidence has assisted more than 250 filmmakers with their screenplays. Many of these directors have gone on to achieve international success, including László Nemes with Son of Saul (Grand Prix at the 2015 Festival de Cannes, Oscar and Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film in 2016), Lukas Dhont with Girl (Caméra d’Or at the 2019 Festival de Cannes), and more recently Carla Simón with Alcarràs (Golden Bear at the 2022 Berlin International Film Festival).

TFL Next is a professional development program by TorinoFilmLab consisting of carefully designed workshops aimed at helping audiovisual professionals move forward with their projects or their careers within the industry.

The program offers participants a unique opportunity to enhance, share, and test ideas with peers and high-level tutors from around the world. Through script sessions, meetings with industry representatives, and a series of special online events, participants are encouraged to exchange skills and build productive collaborations.

Thanks to TFL Next’s global experience and international focus, the program also enables participants to develop a strong professional network that extends beyond the workshops themselves, supporting long-term creative and industry connections.

A PLACE FAR FROM HOME, directed by Diana Mashanova, will have its West Coast Premiere at the Mammoth Lakes Film Festival 2025 in California.

The international narrative feature — a poignant tale centered on a young boy named Olezhka living in a Siberian orphanage — is scheduled to screen with the short film MAD on Thursday, May 22 at 2:00 PM in the Sierra Center Screening Room. The film is presented with English subtitles and runs approximately 71 minutes.

Set against the stark surroundings of life in an orphanage, A PLACE FAR FROM HOME follows Olezhka, a nine‑year‑old boy whose sole aspiration is to be adopted despite his indifference to those around him. His presence quietly affects those he encounters, revealing emotional depths and human longing.

The Mammoth Lakes Film Festival — a five‑day celebration of independent cinema held annually in the Eastern Sierra — showcases feature films, shorts, and premieres from around the world

Jurors: Lacinea McBride, Filmmaker; Noah Clement, Cinematographer and Gaffer; Samuel Laubscher, Cinematographer.

Prize: • Trophy • $60,000 camera rental in-kind donation from Panavision • $30,000 post services in-kind donation from Light Iron.

Jury Statement: We chose as our winner a film whose style is unique but never showy, and in which every shot counts and every frame speaks. The patience of the camera, unfailingly waiting for the perfect shot, leaves time and room for the young performers not to portray characters but to simply behave, fixing its story in place with devastating authenticity.

Best Cinematography Winner — A PLACE FAR FROM HOME, dir. Diana Mashanova. Cinematography by Grigory Maykov.

I Miglior Fotografia al Festival di Atlanta 2025
Best Cinematography at Atlanta Film Festival 2025

Italiano:

Nel suo orfanotrofio vicino al lago Bajkal, il piccolo Olejka sogna una vera famiglia. Più fragile dei coetanei e protetto dalla matrona, trova conforto solo nell'amicizia con Clara, un'adolescente introversa. Con il passare dell'estate, però, il ragazzo diventa il fulcro di una dolorosa spirale di abusi.

English:

In his orphanage near Lake Baikal, young Olejka dreams of a real family. Smaller than his peers and favored by the matron, he finds comfort only in his friendship with Clara, a withdrawn teenager. As summer unfolds, however, he becomes the focus of a painful spiral of abuse.

Date & Time: 24 September, 17:00

Venue: Cinema Centrale

Now in its fourth decade, the Atlanta Film Festival (ATLFF)—one of only two-dozen Academy Award® qualifying festivals in the U.S.—is the area’s preeminent celebration of cinema. ATLFF is one of the largest and longest-running festivals in the country, welcoming an audience of over 28,000 to discover hundreds of new independent, international, animated, documentary, and short films, selected from 8000+ submissions from all over the world. It is also the most distinguished event in its class, recognized as Best Film Festival by Creative Loafing, Sunday Paper, 10Best, and Atlanta Magazine.

“We’re thrilled to present another edition of the Atlanta Film Festival, filled with bold, thought-provoking, and truly entertaining films. As always, our selection process is guided by a passion for discovering what’s next in cinema—films that will shape the future of storytelling,” said Jon Kieran, Programming Director, ATLFF. “This year’s lineup promises to leave audiences inspired, with a renewed sense of excitement for where the medium is headed.”

Nestled in the misty mountains and woodlands surrounding Lake Baikal, Olejka’s rural Russian orphanage seems like a wholesome enough place for a boy to live. At 9 years old he’s smaller than most of his tough-guy friends and submits both to their teasing and to his uneasy role as the pet of the orphanage’s matron. Dreaming of a home with real parents, his only protector is Clara, a sullen older girl. As the summer wears on, Olejka becomes the center of a desperate tangle of abuse.

With its precise cinematography and natural performances, director Diana Mashanova’s debut feature adds a daring and delicately-voiced entry to the cinema of houses of forgotten children, from Zero for Conduct to The Tribe. A Place Far From Home weaves a potent atmosphere of latent brutality, sweeping its internalized violence to the corners of sunny classrooms and hazy summer vistas.

— Jonathan Kieran

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