By Maria Ruiz
On May 20, the Guanajuato International Film Festival announced in Cannes the filmmaker scholarship winners of the Guanajuato-Berlin Artistic Residence. They are the Mexican Samuel Kishi and the German Gregory Oke who will work on their respective projects «Alondra dejó el nido» (Alondra Left the Nest) and «Milk is Sweet.”
The Guanajuato-Berlin 24/7 Artistic Residency is an initiative promoted by GIFF since 2014 in partnership with the Medienboard Berlin Brandenburg and the Goethe-Institut Mexico. Through this scholarship, Mexican and German filmmakers will have the opportunity to work for two months in Germany and Guanajuato, respectively, in order to seek support for their films and establish a possible co-production between Mexico and Germany.
Kishi has excelled as a director and screenwriter worldwide at more than 300 film festivals. Among many achievements, his first feature film “Somos Mari Pepa” was presented at the Berlinale Generation 14plus of the Berlin International Film Festival in 2014. His second feature film “Los Lobos” (2020) won the Generation International Grand Jury Prize Kplus and the Peace Film Award at the Berlinale. He also represented Mexico at the 2022 Goya Awards in the category of Best Ibero-American Film.
Oke is a multidisciplinary artist and filmmaker who has so far written and directed two short films: «Été» and «Alice.» He recently stood out worldwide for his work as Director of Photography on the film «Aftersun» by director Charlotte Wells which put Oke in the world film industry spotlight.
It is important to mention that as a result of the Guanajuato-Berlin 24/7 Artistic Residency, films such as «Pólvora y Gloria» by the German Viktor Jakovleski and «Bruma» by the Mexican Max Zunino have been released. The residency has also contributed to the development of “Maquinaria Panamericana” by the Mexican Joaquín del Paso and “Zurück in Den Westen” by the German Jan Zabeil.
Through this artistic residency, GIFF continues working with international alliances to support emerging filmmakers and Mexican directors.
