- Manuel Abramovic
- filmmaker, artist
- Berlin - Buenos Aires
In his films, ordinary people become characters. He is particularly interested in the movement between being a person and being a character: ‘persona/je’, focusing on the characters we construct of ourselves to survive the oppression exerted by systems of power. His work explores different ways of staging intimacy. Can these characters that we build of ourselves be a tool for imagining something else?
His work has been screened and awarded at the most prestigious festivals, such as Berlinale, Venice, Tribeca, MoMA Doc Fortnight, Viennale, IDFA, San Sebastian, Film Society Lincoln Center, Cinéma du Réel, Mar del Plata.
His first short film THE QUEEN won more than 50 international awards, including the Silver Condor for best Argentine short film in 2014. BLUE BOY received the Berlinale Silver Bear Prize and the Deutscher Kurzfilmpreis in 2019. SOLDIER (2017) received the FIPRESCI Award at the Mar del Plata Film Festival. LIGHT YEARS, a documentary portrait of Lucrecia Martel during the shooting of Zama, premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2017. His latest feature PORNOMELANCOLIA premiered in the Official Selection of the San Sebastian Festival and won the award for Best Cinematography and the Grand Prix of the Festival International de Bordeaux. He is currently finishing his fifth feature film 'Croma'.
He was a resident at Ikusmira Berriak (San Sebastian) in 2018, a guest artist at the Laboratorio PROA21 in 2018, a guest artist at the Berliner Künstlerprogramm des DAAD in 2019, and an artist-in-residence at the Casa de Velázquez - Institut de France in Madrid in 2022.
He is a lecturer at the MA - Alternative Cinema at the EICTV (Cuba). He was guest lecturer at Princeton University (USA), Werkleitz Center, Berlinale Talents (Germany), Union Docs (USA), Tres Puertos Cine (Mexico), Doc Montevideo (Uruguay), Vrijplaats Residency, IDFA (Netherlands) and has been jury at festivals such as IDFA, Visions du Réel, Documenta Madrid, and also member of the selection committee of Berlinale Talents in 2019 and 2020. In 2023 he was the main mentor of the Visions du Réel‘s Opening Scenes Lab (Nyon, Switzerland). He is also a member of the Deutsche Filmakademie.
Since 2021 he has created and directed DIP: Documentary, Intimacy and Staging, an international online training program for filmmakers and artists from all over the world, with which he has already completed six editions.
FILMOGRAPHY
2024. Croma, feature film (in post-production)
2022. Pornomelancolia, feature film.
2019. Blue Boy, short film.
2017. Light Years, short film.
2017. Soldier, short film.
2016. Solar, short film.
2014. The Lights, short film.
2013. The Queen, short film.
RESIDENCIES and GRANTS
2022. Casa de Velazquez. Guest Artist. Madrid.
2022. Akademie der Künste. Grant Initial 2 Neue Kooperationen. Germany.
2022. Berlin Senate -Research Grant. Kulturaustauschstipendium. Berlin.
2019. IDFA Bertha Fund - Production Grant.
2019. Berliner Künstlerprogramm des DAAD, Germany.
2018. Sundance Documentary Fund - Development Grant.
2018. Becar Cultura - Minitry of Culture (Argentina) + FONCA, Mexico.
2018. Ikusmira Berriak - Tabakalera - Festival de San Sebastián, Spain.
2018. Laboratorio PROA21 (Argentina).
2016. EMARE Residency - Werkleitz, Berlin & Halle, Germany.
2016. Tres Puertos - Film Residency. México y Chile.
2016. Beca Bicentenario de Creación - Fondo Nacional de las Artes, Argentina.
2015. Los Residentes Development Lab, Paraguay.
2015. CIA Residency - Centro de Investigaciones Artísticas , Buenos Aires.
2013. Haroldo Conti Residency – FNA, Buenos Aires.
TEACHING
(2021 - a la actualidad) - Director de DIP: Documental, Intimidad y Puesta en Escena
(2019 - a la actualidad) - Maestría de Cine Alternativo EICTV Cuba - profesor regular
2023 - Opening Scenes Lab - Visions du Réel. Suiza. Main Mentor.
2022. Vrijplaats Residency - Mentor
2021. Vrijplaats Residency - Workshop ‘Staging Intimacy’.
2020. Master Class. Doc Montevideo - Semana del Documental.
2020. ‘The skins of cinema’. Profesor Invitado. Princeton University.
2020. Open City Documentary Festival. Panel ‘New forms of Documentary Storytelling’.
2019. Common Ground: Intimacies. DAAD Gallery. Berlin.
2019. Artist Talk: Intimate Dialogues - Berlinale Talents.
2018. Mentor - Labex Argentina, Buenos Aires.
2018. Documentary Mentor - Tres Puertos Cine, Mexico.
2018. Mentor. Berlinale Talents - Camera Studio. Berlin, Germany.
2017. Filmmaker Talk 'Camera in Focus' - IDFA, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
2017. Guest Filmmaker 'Encruzijadas' - Princeton University, USA.
2017. Artist Talk. Union Docs (New York, USA)
2016. Artist Talk. Festival de Cine de Cali (Colombia)
2016. Artist Talk. Werkleitz (Halle, Germany) EMARE Residency
AWARDS (selection)
2022. Grand Prix - Bordeaux Film Festival - Pornomelancolia
Festival de San Sebastián - Premio a la Mejor Fotografía
BLUE BOY
Silver Bear / Berlinale Shorts Competition 2019
Deutscher Kurzfilmpreis / Best German Documentary Short 2019
BAFICI (Buenos Aires International Film Festival). Best Short Film
FICIC: Special Jury Mention
Festival de Cine Latinoamericano Rosario: Best Documentary Short
OFF Cinema: Bronze Castle - Best Short Film
Curtacinema Rio de Janeiro: Special Jury Prize
AÑOS LUZ
2do Premio - Fondo Nacional de las Artes, Concurso Documentales 2018.
SOLDADO
Cali Film Festival (Colombia) / 2017 / Special Jury Mention
Mar del Plata Film Festival (Argentina) / 2017 / FIPRESCI Award, Best Script, Best Sound
SOLAR
Mar del Plata Film Festival / 2014 / Best Work in Progress
BAFICI / Competencia Argentina / ACCA Award "Best Film"
Lima Independiente (Peru) / Best Film "Iberoamérica Ahora"
FIDBA (Buenos Aires) / Best "First Feature Film"
Cali Film Festival (Colombia) / International Competition / 2016 / Special Jury Mention
LA REINA
‘Condor de Plata’ Award Argentine Cinema 2014
Best Argentine Short Film 2014 Melbourne Film Festival / 2014 / Grand Prix
Documenta Madrid / 2014 / Best Short Film
Festival de Films de Fribourg (Switzerland) / 2014 / Best Short Film
BAFICI / 2014 / 2nd Prize
Los Angeles Film Festival / 2014 / 2nd Film
Abu Dhabi Film Festival / 2014 / Special Jury Mention
Seattle Film Festival / 2014 / Special Jury Mention
Guanajuato Film Festival (Mexico) / 2014 / Special Jury Mention
Tabor Film Festival (Croatia) / 2014 / Best Documentary Short Film
Montenegro Film Festival / 2014 / Best Documentary Short Film
Dokufest Kosovo / 2014 / Best Documentary Short Film
Message to Man FF / 2014 / Centaur Prize - Best Documentary Short Film
Vilnius Film Shorts / 2014 / Special Jury Mention
Hamptons Film Festival / 2014 / Best Documentary Short Film
EDOX Documentary Film Festival / 2014 / Best Short Film
Antofadocs International Film Festival / 2014
Best Documentary Short Film Mooov Film Festival / 2015
Best Short Film Lakino Berlin / 2015 / Special Jury Mention
Festival IMAGO / 2015 / Best Short Film
Festival Filmer à tout prix / 2015 / Lussas Award
Perugia Social Film Festival / 2015 / Best Short Film
NOMINATIONS
2015. IDA International Documentary Association / Best Documentary Short Film - The Queen
2015. Cinema Eye Honors / Best Documentary Short Film - The Queen
2017. Berlinale / Glashütte Original Documentary Award - Soldier
2017. Venice Film Festival / Venezia Classici Award for Best Documentary on Cinema - Light Years
2018. Fénix Awards - Latinamerican Cinema - Best Cinematographer - Theatre of War