PREMIÈRE

Premiere, Claudia Cardinale Residency Award for a first film.

Johanna Schorn Kalinsky, awarded for her first film FERNLICHT, at the Marseille International Film Festival.

The jury for the First Film Competition, composed of programmers Ana David and Daniella Shreir and director Declan Clarke, awarded the Claudia Cardinale Residency Prize to German-Argentinian filmmaker Johanna Schorn Kalinsky for her first feature FERNLICHT (2025). Four journeys in a car, one camera frame each: the film tells the story of Alex, a Berlin taxi driver who, on New Year’s Eve, is overwhelmed by memories of the past year and the unexpected death of her brother. FERNLICHT is Schorn Kalinsky‘s first feature film as director, a collaborative work that she developed together with screenwriter Sebastian Ladwig, starring Marie Bloching.

Member of the selection committee for the FIDMarseille, Claire Lasolle writes about the film : “Twenty-something Alexandra lives in Berlin, selling drugs for a living. Everything plays out in cars, the sole locations in Fernlicht, at once scenic spaces, protective shells and inner worlds of the single character we will see. Indeed, the other characters are only voices that momentarily enter or fill a car’s interior. With the minimalist mise en scène induced by such filmic device, the film is first and foremost a face that captures and focuses all our attention: that of actress Marie Bloching, who gives an amazing performance as Alexandra. The highly subtle filming of her face gives prominence to the hypermobility of her features. Her face becomes the film’s focal point, like an open book from which something always spills out and opens onto the character’s off-screen story, even more so than through the car’s windows.”

The Fondazione welcomes the filmmaker for a monthly writing and research endowed residency, in March 2026. At the outset of a new project, the director asks herself: what images does the world need? Far from the contingencies of everyday life, Johanna Schorn Kalinsky will benefit from a precious time for introspection, enriched by encounters with other artists, filmmakers, and professionals form cinema. She also plans to give shape to her intuitions through images shot on the spot, which could become the building blocks of a second film.

This residency award reflects the actress’s commitment to supporting young filmmakers by participating in numerous first films.

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