Chinese film wins cinematography award in Berlin

Mark Lee Ping-Bing (second from left, cameraman of Crosscurrent awarded Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution), Xin Zhi Lei (third from left), director Yang Chao (third from right) attending the red carpet before the closing ceremony during the 66th Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin, Germany on Feb 20, 2016


Gianfranco Rosi's documentary film Fire at Sea, about the refugee crisis in the Mediterranean off the Italian island of Lampedusa, won the Golden Bear prize for best film at the Berlin International Film Festival on Saturday. The cinematography award went to Mark Lee Ping-Bing for his camera work for the Chinese film Crosscurrent, directed by Yang Chao.

 Gianfranco Rosi's documentary film Fire at Sea, about the refugee crisis in the Mediterranean off the Italian island of Lampedusa, won the Golden Bear prize for best film at the Berlin International Film Festival on Saturday.

The cinematography award went to Mark Lee Ping-Bing for his camera work for the Chinese film Crosscurrent, directed by Yang Chao.

It was a fitting end for a festival that went out of its way to make refugees welcome by giving them free tickets.

Rosi paid tribute to those who risked their lives to escape war and poverty, and to the people of Lampedusa who welcomed them.

"Of course now at this moment my deeper thoughts go to all the people that never arrived to Lampudusa on these journeys of hope," Rosi said in his acceptance speech on stage at Berlin's cinema palace for the glittering awards ceremony.

Rosi, who won the top prize for another documentary in Venice in 2013, in this film shows daily life on the small island, mostly through the eyes of a young boy named Samuele
who makes slingshots to shoot at birds and cactuses.

   Mark Lee Ping-Bing receives the Silver Bear award for Outstanding Artistic Contribution for the cinematography inChang Jiang Tu(Crosscurrent) during the awards ceremony at the 66th Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin, Germany, Feb 20, 2016.

In the sea nearby, the Italian navy searches for overloaded boats full of refugees dying of suffocation and asphyxiation by diesel fumes and brings survivors back to Lampedusa for treatment and for transport to refugee centres.

"I want to dedicate this award to the people of Lampedusa who were always extremely open to accept people arriving there," Rosi said.

He noted that the flood of refugees that has made headlines recently began some 30 years ago for the island just off the coast of North Africa.

Rosi said he had asked Pietro Bartolo, a physician on Lampedusa who treats refugees and appears in the film, why the island welcomes the tens of thousands of people who land there.

"He told me Lampedusa is a place of fishermen, we are fishermen, and fishermen, they all accept always, anything that comes from the sea. So this may be a lesson that (we) should learn to accept anything that comes from the sea," Rosi said.

 Director Gianfranco Rosi sits next to the Golden Bear award for the Best Film at a news conference after the awards ceremony of the 66th Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin, Germany Feb 20, 2016.

The Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize went to Death in Sarajevoand its director Danis Tanovic. The best director award went to France's Mia Hansen-Love for her film Things to Come.

The best actor award went to Majd Mastoura for his role in the Tunisian fimInhebbek Hedi, while Trine Dyrholm took best actress for her role in the Danish film The Commune.

The best script award went to Polish director andscreenwriter Tomasz Wasilewski forUnited States of Love.

An award for a film that opens new perspectives was given to the eight-hour Filipino filmA Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery, directed by LavDiaz.

Festival director Dieter Kosslick said that watching Diaz's film was a unique experience, not just for its length, but also because the premiere started quite early in the morning

  Mark Lee Ping-Bing (left, cameraman ofChang Jiang Tuawarded Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution), Xin Zhilei and Director Yang Chao attending the the red carpet before the closing ceremony during the 66th Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin,

Director Danis Tanovic receives the Silver Bear award, the Jury Grand Prix for the movie Death in Sarajevoduring the awards ceremony at the 66th Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin, Germany, February 20, 2016
 

 Author and director Mia Hansen-Love receives the Silver Bear award for Best Director in the movie Things to come during the awards ceremony at the 66th Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin, Germany, February 20, 2016.
Monday,  23 February 2016

London mayor says to support Brexit in EU referendum

   London Mayor Boris Johnson speaks to the media in front of his home in London, Britain February 21, 2016. Britain will hold a referendum on European Union membership on June 23

LONDON - London Mayor Boris Johnson, a heavyweight conservative, announced Sunday that he will back the call for Britain to leave the European Union in a national referendum on the country's EU membership.

The announcement was regarded by the British media as a blow to Prime Minister David Cameron's efforts to keep Britain in the EU as Johnson was an eloquent speaker and popular among voters.

Cameron announced Saturday that Britain wouldhold a referendum on June 23 to decide whether to stay or leave the European Union and recommended British people to choose remaining inside the EU, following a deal with leaders of other EU countries which gives UK a"special status" in the community.

Johnson, who Cameron had sought strongly for support, said that he came to his decision after a"great deal of heartache" and he wanted "a betterdeal for the people of this country".

He said that the prime minister had done"fantastically well" to reach agreement with otherEU leaders, but no one "could realistically claim that this is fundamental reform of the EU".

"I will be advocating Vote Leave ... because I want a better deal for the people of this country to save them money and to take back control," Johnson said.

Cameron is scheduled to speak in the British parliament Monday to kick off the campaigns before the referendum.

Opinion polls have shownthat the British public is almost evenly divided while many ruling Tory politicians, including six cabinet members, will side with the so-called"Brexit" camp.
Monday,  22 February 2016

Syria: Dozens killed in Homs and Damascus

Syuria - ISIS has claimed responsibility for multiple attacks in strongholds of the Syrian regime Sunday that killed at least 122 people and scores of others injured, according to Syria's state-run SANA news agency.

The separate car bomb and suicide attacks happened in Homs and southern Damascus, Syrian state media reported, citing local officials and security sources.

The deadliest attacks were on the southern outskirts of Damascus, where three bombers struck in the Sayyidah Zaynab district.

The blasts detonated near the revered "Lady Zeynab" Shia Muslim shrine, SANA reported. At least 83 were killed and 178 others injured there, according to SANA, citing its reporter on the scene and local sources.

Thirty-nine people were killed when two car bomb explosions struck a pro-regime neighborhood in central Homs, SANA reported.

The London-based monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights gave the death toll as 46, with more than100 people wounded.

The observatory reported that the Damascus attacks were carried out via a suicide car bomb and by two suicide bombers.

ISIS claimed responsibility for the Sayyidah Zaynab and Homs attacks via the Telegram messaging app.

The U.N. Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, condemned the attack, saying that children were among the victims.

 Alawite neighborhood targeted in HomsHoms Gov.

Talal al-Barazi told SANA that two cars packed with "huge amounts of explosives" were detonated near a bus stop in central Homs in the first attacks Sunday.

The blasts targeted students and government employees heading to work, the state-run TV station al Ikhbaria reported.

Images from the site of the blast showed dozens of destroyed vehicles and severe damage to nearby buildings.

The bombings took place in the al-Zahraa district, a regime-controlled neighborhood that is predominantly home to members of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's Alawite sect.Al-Barazi said the attacks were aimed at the support base of the Syrian government, as the country's army made gains against rebels around the country.

Fourth bombing in neighborhood since DecemberThe Homs neighborhood has been struck by three similar bombings in the past three months.

At least 24 people were killed and 100 injured in a coordinated car bombing and suicide bombing on January 26.

Twin bombings also struck the neighborhood on December 28 and December 12.

ISIS claimed responsibility for all three previous attacks

Violence has continued to rage in recent days in spite of hopes to implement a "cessation of hostilities.

" More than a dozen countries agreed to the ceasefire at talks in Munich, Germany, earlier this month, but the agreement seems to have had little impact on the ground.

But at a press conference in Jordan on Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said a ceasefire was still"possible.

""We are closer to a ceasefire today than we have been, andI take nothing for granted about this," he told reporters at a joint press conference with Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh.

Kerry had a telephone conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Sunday in which they"continued to discuss the modalities" of the truce, Russian state news agency Sputnik reported, citing the Russian Foreign Ministry.

More than 250,000 people have been killed, more than 1 million injured, and more than half of Syrians displaced since the country's civil war began in 2011, according to the United Nations..
 Monda, 22 February 2016

China's hottest film ever is about mermaids

A goofy comedy about mermaids has become China's highest-grossing movie ever made.

Directed by Hong Kong's Stephen Chow, "The Mermaid," has raked in 2.47 billion yuan ($379 million) over just 12 days at the box office, the official Chinese state news agency Xinhua said.

The success of the film, which tells the story ofa mermaid who falls in love with a businessman she is sent to assassinate, is thelatest sign of China's growing might at the box office.

Chinese ticket sales surged 49% last year to reach 44.1 billion yuan, Xinhua reported, and China had its best day at the box office ever February 8 -- the first day of the Lunar New Year, a festive time when many Chinese are back home for a week-long holiday.

China's white-hot growth contrasts with the North American market -- comprising the U.S. and Canada, which grew around 7% to $11.1 billion over the same period, according to Rentrak, a firm that monitors movie viewing.

Related: China box office hits new record for a single day

Homegrown movies are challenging Hollywood's traditional dominance at China's box office, and foreign film makers are adding Chinese stars to their movie line-up in order to boost their appeal.

2014 comedy, "Monster Hunt," was previously China's biggest box office hit. It took in 2.44 billion yuan last year, knocking Hollywood car chase movie "Furious 7" off the top spot.

The Chinese government limits the number of foreign films that can be shown in Chinese theatres each year.

 Approved films face the heavy hand of government censors, who cut anything the Communist Party considers offensive or subversive. And industry regulators give domestic movies favorable release times, such as public holidays.

For those in the U.S. who want to see what the fuss is about, Sony Pictures released the film in select U.S. theatres last Friday, the companysaid in a statement.
Monday, 22 February 2016

London Mayor Boris Johnson to push for Brexit

London - The charismatic, Conservative mayor of London Boris Johnson has announced he's backing calls for Britain to leave the European Union.

Johnson's support for the "Vote Leave" campaign presents a serious headache for Conservative leader and British Prime Minister David Cameron.

Cameron has been pushing for Britain to stay in the EU, and only last week struck a deal with the bloc's leaders to give the UK "special status." He's expected to address the House of Commons, the lower house of Parliament, on Monday, the first day of the formal referendum campaigning period.

The vote Britons will vote in an "in or out" referendum on June 23. Cameron argues the British economy will suffer if the country opts out.In a 2,000-word opinion piece in the Telegraph on Sunday,Johnson said leaving was a "once-in-a-lifetime chance tovote for real change.

""This is a moment to be brave, to reach out -- not to hug the skirts of Nurse in Brussels, and refer all decisions to someone else," he wrote.In a press conference Sunday, Johnson said his decision to defy the prime minister's view caused "a huge amount of heartache.

"The last thing I wanted was to go against David Cameron or the Government," he said.

"I will be advocating Vote Leave or whatever the team is called -- I understand there are many of them -- because Iwant a better deal for the people of this country, to save them money and to take back control.

"Prime Minister: Let us stayBefore Johnson showed his hand, Cameron appeared on Sunday morning television to push for a vote to stay.

"If Boris and if others really care about being able to get things done in our world, then the EU is one of the ways in which we get them done," he said.

"Having that seat at the table in the EU -- just as being a member of NATO -- is a vital way that we project our values and our power and our influence in the world.

"Britain is one of the biggest economies in the European Union -- and is a net contributor to the EU budget.

Critics say membership of the EU is a costly burden that brings regulations and excessive migration.

Advocates say membership is good for the economy and leaving could be an expensive disaster.
Monday, 22 February 2016