A massive thank you to everyone who participated in the Berlin Lift-Off Film Festival 2022. It's been absolutely fantastic having so many filmmakers involved and seeing the global support for true indie film...
The judges' votes have been counted and added to the audience's feedback. Huge congratulations to the filmmakers who screened with us! A special well done to the following films...
Festival Winners
Best Film
(next screening with Lift-Off in London 2022)
Tiny Vessels
Dir. Daphne Schmon
Synopsis: Set in late 90s Cornwall, Tiny Vessels is a dark coming-of-age thriller following three friends: Theo, his sister Hattie, and local Charlie whose respective worlds turn upside down right in front of Hattie’s beloved camcorder when the stakes of a game ratchet to dangerous heights.
Best Film
(next screening with Lift-Off in New York 2022)
Little Berlin
Dir. Kate McMullen
Synopsis: When the Iron Curtain cuts his tiny German village in half, Peter the bull gets separated from his 36 cows. Based on a true story, narrated by Christoph Waltz.
Best Film
(next screening with Lift-Off in Sydney 2022)
War Paint
Dirs. Justin Eade, Keelan Walker
Synopsis: "A young British soldier is shot and dying before the ramparts of a Pa during the 1864 Invasion of the Waikato in New Zealand. He has given up all hope and resigns himself to death, when a young Maori woman mysteriously comes to his aid. "
Season Award Nominations
The Lift-Off Season Awards is an annual event that celebrates the very best of indie film. Following each Lift-Off film festival, films that have excelled in their respective category are nominated and invited to attend the prestigious Lift-Off Season Awards, culminating at the end of the Lift-Off season. Click here for more information about the Lift-Off Season Awards.
THE OTHER ONE
Dir. Lukas Baier
Synopsis:When the physicist Walter moves into a new apartment in the 1970s, he tries to clear up the enigmatic disappearance of his previous tenant and realizes that the old man is haunting him in an eerie way - from the future.
Nominated for Best Screenplay
Call
Dir. Deniz Arora
Synopsis: A woman is taking an old elevator up to her new apartment that she has just recently moved into. The oddly old and ringing phone inside the cabin is freaking her out. Over the line she is told about nightmares that are about to become true.
Nominated for Best Art Direction
Little Berlin
Dir. Kate McMullen
Synopsis: When the Iron Curtain cuts his tiny German village in half, Peter the bull gets separated from his 36 cows. Based on a true story, narrated by Christoph Waltz.
Nominated for Best Director
Audience Choice
The Audience Choice award is given to the filmmakers whose film received the most votes during the festival. The filmmakers will be invited to join us on the Lift-Off YouTube channel for a directors commentary roundtable. Join in the conversation as we delve deeper into each film.
Liebesträume
Dir. Lucien Emile Frick
Synopsis: Sam is an average American office worker. A pandemic has forced all his coworkers to stay home. The monotony is amplified when he is left alone to run the office’s daily operations. Sam’s mind unravels as he starts down an existential path, leaving him to grapple with the question: what is most important in life?
Pitbulls
Dir. John Monahan
Synopsis: A rising boxer must hide a secret from his best friend and get out from under his cruel manager's thumb before his next big fight.
Breakfast
Dir. Suad Gara
Synopsis: As a married couple goes through their usual morning breakfast the rifts in their relationship become apparent. When the young wife voices her decision to visit her mother she finds herself testing boundaries of family hierarchies and societal norms.
Let The Music Play
Dirs. Cate Meighan, Heather Dauterive
Synopsis: A feature-length documentary by DailyBOOM Media on Covid-19's crushing impact on the music industry as seen through the eyes of artists, musicians, promoters, venue owners, merchandisers and Save Our Stages/NIVA ambassadors.
All interviews filmed from Nov. 2020 - Jan. 2021 via Zoom due to pandemic restrictions.