ORF-Interspot presentation a joy, but sad to learn of lions' fate

Nils Klingohr, Managing Director, Interspot, (from left), Franz Fuchs, Commissioning Editor, ORF Universum; Dr. Heinrich Mayer-Moroni, Managing Director and Executive Producer, Interspot; Andrew Solomon, Executive Producer, ORF; Lee Gluckman, Chairman, US International Film & Video Festival; Johannes Ratheiser (back) Music Composer;  Roman Landauer, Senior Finance Manager, ORF; Roman Kariolou, Music Composer, and Dr. Alexander Wrabetz, Director General, ORF

·     

Mayer-Moroni of Interspot (left) and

Solomon of ORF are hands-on with statues

      Lee Gluckman traveled to Vienna the week of Aug. 27 to present awards for "Vanishing Kings - Lions of the Namib,"  done by Interspot Film GmbH, Vienna for ORF, the national public service broadcaster based in Vienna. The film features wildlife filmmakers Will and Lianne Steenkamp, and Dr. Flip Stander’s Desert Lion Conservation project. It followed the lives of five young male lions trying to survive and help repopulate a dwindling group of lions in the Namibian desert.

“It was a great honor for me to present both the Best of Festival / Grand Prix Award in Documentary Productions and the Gold Camera Award (First Place) with special focus on the Music track for: "Vanishing Kings - Lions of the Namib" to ORF and Heinrich Mayer of Interspot Films," said Lee Gluckman. "I was saddened, however, to learn that since the film was made four of the young males have died because of confrontations with the human population."

“Such quality programs are crucial to expanding the public's knowledge of the strain on nature, and  I am grateful for ORF's ongoing commitment to produce such stories," he added.

Gluckman also presented a Certificate for Creative Excellence to Interspot's “Africa’s Wild West – Stallions of the Namib Desert” film. The horses are descendants of  German and South African war-horses brought in 1918, and when no longer needed, were released into the burning Namibian desert. The animals spend most of their time in search of water. 

Dr. Heinrich Mayer-Moroni, Managing Director, Interspot Film GmbH, and executive producer on the film, expressed pride in having won the “Best of Festival” Award from "your prestigious festival."

You can learn more information about the lion project and their fate from the Steenkamps' blog posting at http://blog.arkive.org/2016/08/guest-blog-will-lianne-steenkamp and at http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/08/wildlife-namibia-desert-lions-poisoned/

Visit www.filmfestawards.com for full winner information.

Great visit to COLAS in Paris to deliver awards

The COLAS winning group, from right, are: Sophie Sadeler, Corporate Communications Director ;

Louis Gabanna, Managing Director North America; Thierry Méline, Managing Director France;

Jean-Charles Broizat, Wattway by Colas Manager; Hervé Le Bouc, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer;

Lee Gluckman of FilmFest; Didier Clerens, Arizona Films, producer; Patrick Vanderbroeck, Arizona Films, film director, and Magdalena Dulac, Audiovisual communication.

Lee Gluckman was in Paris today visiting the creative minds behind “Wattway – Solar Road,” which highlights a French experiment using solar panels on a roadway to generate electricity. The film won a First Place Gold Camera and Best of Festival award in the 2016 competition.
It also received the One World Awards, to be presented later this year at a gathering of the award's sponsor, International Quorum of Motion Picture Producers (IQ).

Join us in congratulating the team that made "Wattway" possible. The production company was Arizona Films, Brussels. Didier Clerens, Arizona Films producer, and Patrick Vanderbroeck, Arizona Films, film director, were on hand for the presentation. Many thanks to Magdalena for getting photos to us so quickly.

Austrian filmmakers capture animal life, tourism with winning works

"Africa's Wild West – Stallions of the Namib Desert"

"Giraffe: Up High and Personal"

Austrian films won 10 awards, including two first places and a Best of Festival, in the 2016 U.S. International Film & Video Festival. Nine of the awards were related to travel and tourism.

"Vanishing Kings – Lions of the Namib"

InterSpot Film Gmbh, Vienna, won Best of Festival and a First Place Golden Camera award in Documentary "Vanishing Kings – Lions of the Namib." The film follows a cohort of five male lion cubs as they learn to hunt, survive and rule a kingdom of sun, sand and dust in the Namib desert.  Directors were Will and Lianne Steenkamp; Cinematographer was Lianne Steenkamp with Alan Miller as editor and sound by Roman Kariolou and Johannes Ratheiser.

InterSpot Film also earned a Certificate for Creative Excellence in Documentary for "Africa's Wild West – Stallions of the Namib Desert." Producer was Heinrich Mayer-Moroni; Director: Franz Leopold Schmelzer; and Cinematographer: Lianne Steenkamp.

Terra Mater Factual Studios, Vienna, captured a first place Gold Camera Award for "Wild Weather With Richard Hammond – Episode 1: WIND - THE INVISIBLE FORCE" in Documentary: Feature. The entry also was a nominee for Best of Festival-Documentary. Hammond and meterorlogist Reed Timmer take their Dominator research vehicle into a live tornado and attempt to fire a research probe into its heart. The film also takes the viewer into The Wind Engineering, Energy and Environment Research Institute in London, Ontario, Canada, one of the few facilities in the world capable of generating a real tornado. An additional trip to Mount Washington, New Hampshire, exposes the crew to -50 degrees F. Producer/Director was Graham Booth; Editors were Rama Bowley and Sam Rogers; Composer was Oliver Ledbury, and sound was by Sean Millar and Ashley Charlton. The film was done in conjunction with Oxford Scientific Films.

Terra Mater earned a Second Place Silver Screen Award for "Giraffe: Up High and Personal" and a Certificate for Creative Excellence for "Sri Lanka – Precious Isle," both in Documentary: Features. "Giraffe," done with National Geographic Channel, presents a fresh look at giraffes in the savannah of Kenya, the South African grasslands and the desert of Namibia. Director/Writer was Herbert Ostwald; editor was Christian Stoppacher. Music was by Andy Baum. The film "Sri Lanka," a co-production with airline NDR, is a one-hour trip to the lush locale, whose name means "resplendent island." Aerial Photography was by Simon Werry; sound by Andreas Hagemann; editing and graphics by Christian Stoppacher and music by Paul Movahedi.

The Austrian National Tourist Office, Vienna, received a Silver Screen Award in Corporate: Tourism Films for "Back to Your Own Time: Holidays in Austria," produced by Gebhardt Productions, Mödling. Producer was Jürgen Eckstein, and director was Johannes Grebert with cinematography by Matthias Pötsch and sound by Karuan Marouf.

Also capturing a Silver Screen Award, in Corporate: Specialty Productions, was Plan B Film & Media, Vienna, for its entry "More Than Partnership." The film, done for client Plasser & Theurer Export von Bahnbaumaschinen Gesellschaft m.b.H., Vienna, depicts how the company fosters partnerships for its railway track and construction machinery business in 109 countries. 

Winning Certificates for Creative Excellence in Corporate were Stadtgemeinde Kapfenberg, Kapfenberg, for "Biggest Lipdub Ever," done for client TIQA Werbe-und Marketing GmbH, Leoben, and Vienna Tourist Board for "Vienna/Now."  Piwi Media GmbH produced “Biggest Lipdub Ever,” and Slash produced “Vienna/Now.”