[press release from The Lantern Group]
Mary and Max will screen alongside five Australian shorts at the 59th Berlin International Film Festival in February.
Mary and Max, the animated feature by the Oscar winning team of writer/director Adam Elliot and producer Melanie Coombs will screen as part of the 14plus Competition program of Generation.
Two short films are also featuring as part of the Generation 14plus program, Tomorrow (d: Simon Portus) and Summer Breaks (d: Sean Kruck).
Tomorrow explores the story of Kristen and Laura as they discover a connection that runs deeper than their differences.
Summer Breaks won the Rouben Mamoulian Award at the 20th annual Dendy Awards for Australian short films in 2008. It was recently selected for the 2009 Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival.
The Generation Kplus section, a competition for feature and short films aimed at children from the age of four years and over, will screen Ali & the Ball (d: Alex Holmes), Netherland Dwarf (d: David Michôd) and Jerrycan (d: Julius Avery).
Ali & the Ball is the story about life behind razor wire, told through the eyes of a child. The film has had much success domestically winning the 2008 Dendy Award for Best Short Fiction and was also selected for the 2008 Melbourne International Film Festival.
Netherland Dwarf will screen in Berlin following its outing in the shorts competition at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.
Jerrycan screens in Berlin following the film’s official selection at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, where it was awarded the Jury Prize – Short Film.
Films selected for the Generation section will compete for the Crystal Bear Awards, which are awarded to the best feature and short film in the Kplus and 14plus sections.
The Berlin International Film Festival runs 5 – 15 February 2009. The complete program will be finalised by 27 January 2009.