Cannes, FR (May 12, 2016) – The Film Society of Lincoln Center and Jaeger-LeCoultre announce the selection of award-winning writer and director Alice Rohrwacher (The Wonders, NYFF 2014 and Corpo Celeste, NYFF 2011) as their 2016 Filmmaker in Residence, the fourth annual initiative and partnership between the two organizations. Past recipients include directors Athina Rachel Tsangari (Chevalier), Lisandro Alonso (Jauja), and Andrea Arnold (Red Road, Fish Tank), whose residency project American Honey will premiere in competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

“With Andrea Arnold’s American Honey, which was developed at our first Filmmaker in Residence three years ago, debuting this week, we are thrilled to unveil the name of our next artist in residence,” said Film Society of Lincoln Center Deputy Director Eugene Hernandez. “A distinctive filmmaker with a warm, infectious spirit, Alice Rohrwacher is one of international cinema’s brightest lights, and throughout her career we have championed her work at the Film Society. We are excited to be able to offer Alice an opportunity to finish writing her next feature film, My Bitter Land, in New York this fall and equally excited to welcome her back to the New York Film Festival, where she will connect with other filmmakers and also engage with students and emerging artists.”

“I can’t imagine a better gift than to spend time in New York, take part in the events at the New York Film Festival, and to have the time to research in local archives and libraries for my next film,” said Rohrwacher. “It was 2011 when I crossed the ocean, for the first time in my life, to present my debut feature, Corpo Celeste, at NYFF, so New York is very much interconnected with the festival for me. I vividly remember my first impressions of the city—like taking part in an archaeological mission into the future. Where I live, to the contrary, we dig underground into the past. This clash of past vs. future, vertical vs. underground will be fascinating to me and my work.”

During her residency in New York, Rohrwacher will continue to write her third feature, My Bitter Land, about the adventures of a man living on the margins of his society who can seemingly travel through time.

Rohrwacher was born in Florence, Italy, in 1981. She graduated with a degree in Classic Literature from Torino University, and wrote for theater and worked as a musician before approaching filmmaking, initially as a documentary editor. Her first feature,Corpo Celeste, premiered in Cannes Film Festival’s Directors’ Fortnight in 2011, and was then selected for Sundance, New York, London, Rio, and Tokyo film festivals before being released in the U.S., UK, and France. Rohrwacher’s second feature, The Wonders, won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival along with the Best Film Prize at Filmfest München, and the Black Pearl Award at Abu Dhabi Film Festival. In 2015 she directed The Djess, a short film commissioned by Prada as part of Miu Miu’s Women’s Tales film series that premiered during New York Fashion Week, and was also presented at Venice Film Festival. She is currently working on directing her first opera, a new version of La Traviata for Teatri di Reggio Emilia that will open in Fall 2016.

The Filmmaker in Residence program was launched in 2013 by Jaeger-LeCoultre and the Film Society of Lincoln Center as an annual initiative designed to support filmmakers at an early stage in the creative process against the backdrop of New York City and the New York Film Festival (NYFF).

The 2013 Filmmaker in Residence, Andrea Arnold (Wuthering Heights, Fish Tank, Red Road), utilized her residency to develop the script and work on pre-production for her first feature project shot in the United States, American Honey, starring Shia LaBeouf. The film will have its World Premiere in competition at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival this weekend.

The 2014 Filmmaker in Residence, Lisandro Alonso (Jauja, Liverpool, Fantasma, Los Muertos), is working on his untitled project that began during his residency at FSLC and is aiming to shoot soon in the United States.

The latest feature from 2015 Filmmaker in Residence Athina Rachel Tsangari (Attenberg), buddy comedy Chevalier, was picked up by Strand Releasing following its U.S. premiere at NYFF 2015, and will be released theatrically on May 27 at various locations nationally, including the Film Society’s Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center. Tsangari’s White Knuckles, the screwball heist comedy she was working on during her residency, is currently in development as her second English-language film, executive-produced by Christos V. Konstantakopoulos.

JAEGER-LECOULTRE AND CINEMA
Since 1833, Jaeger-LeCoultre has remained dedicated to the legacy of watchmaking traditions while maintaining its expertise for invention in creating authentic, fine watchmaking legends. Committed to a constant quest for excellence and supported by a unique inventive spirit, Jaeger-LeCoultre has a long-standing engagement in supporting the appreciation and preservation of film.

For a decade, Jaeger-LeCoultre has been closely associated with the best artistic film festivals around the world, including Venice, Shanghai, San Sebastian, Los Angeles, and New York, and in turn pays tribute to the creative ingenuity of filmmakers by annually awarding the Glory to the Filmmaker Award. Through the close affinity with the world of film, Jaeger-LeCoultre has found shared values and a common mission: each second bears the imprint of a moment of eternity.

In addition to the annual Filmmaker in Residence initiative with the Film Society of Lincoln Center, the multi-year partnership also extends to two of the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s most prestigious annual events: the Annual Chaplin Award Gala and the New York Film Festival, a 17-day celebration showcasing the best and most significant films of the year from around the world.

For more information, visit http://www.jaeger-lecoultre.com/us/en/our-maison/the-world-of-cinema.html and follow @jaegerlecoultre on Twitter.

FILM SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER
Founded in 1969 to celebrate American and international cinema, the Film Society of Lincoln Center works to recognize established and emerging filmmakers, support important new work, and to enhance the awareness, accessibility, and understanding of the moving image. The Film Society produces the renowned New York Film Festival, a curated selection of the year’s most significant new film work, and presents or collaborates on other annual New York City festivals including Art of the Real, Dance on Camera, Film Comment Selects, Human Rights Watch Film Festival, New Directors/New Films, New York African Film Festival, New York Asian Film Festival, New York Jewish Film Festival, Open Roads: New Italian Cinema, Rendez-Vous with French Cinema, and Scary Movies. In addition to publishing the award-winning Film Comment magazine, the Film Society recognizes an artist’s unique achievement in film with the prestigious Chaplin Award, whose 2016 recipient was Morgan Freeman. The Film Society’s state-of-the-art Walter Reade Theater and the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center, located at Lincoln Center, provide a home for year-round programs and the New York City film community.

The Film Society receives generous, year-round support from American Airlines, The New York Times, HBO, Stella Artois, The Kobal Collection, Variety, Loews Regency Hotel, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the New York State Council on the Arts. For more information, visit www.filmlinc.org and follow @filmlinc on Twitter.

For media specific inquiries regarding the Film Society of Lincoln Center please contact:
Rachel Allen, [email protected], 212-875-5423
Lisa Thomas, [email protected], 212-671-4709

For Jaeger-LeCoultre media inquiries please contact:
Isabelle Gervais, +41 21 845 0150 (International PR Director)
[email protected]
Cécile Tinchant, +1 (212) 891-2361 (US PR Manager)
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