Hackney Lullabies ハックニーの子守唄
Germany (2011) Documentary 11 minutes
A Filmkantine Production (Berlin, Germany)
Every night under Hackney skies, mothers from faraway lands create a familiar space for their children by singing them lullabies, the same ones they heard as children. The film explores the mother’s dilemma in sharing her sense of home with a child who is rooted in another culture. Do the lullabies bring them closer together, or accentuate the difference between them?
The project was initially chosen out of more than 150 applications from 55 countries to be pitched at Berlinale 2010, competing for grants to produce a short film.
This film is realized as one of the five finalists of the Berlin Today Award 2011. The Berlin Today Award is the Short Film Competition of the Berlinale Talent Campus and is supported by the Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg.
Writer and Director: Kyoko Miyake
Producer: Katrin Springer / Volker Ullrich
Cinematographer: Laura Bellingham
Editor: Sirko Knuepfer
Music: Patrick Durkan
Sound: Jana Irmert
Winner, Berlin Today Award 2011, Berlin International Film Festival (2011)
Official Selection, Sydney International Film Festival (2011)
Official Selection, Times BFI London Film Festival
Nomination, Best Film, London Short Film Festival
Nomination, Best Documentary, London Short Film Festival
Screening on 26 September 2013, at Barbican Theatre as part of ''World City: insights on Migration in London''
The film received a highest rating ''besonders wertvoll (highly recommended)'' from Filmbewertungsstelle in Germany. Visit the Filmbewertungsstelle site
Berlinale Press Release
''With Hackney Lullabies, Japanese director Kyoko Miyake offers a sensitive, funny, warm-hearted and interesting contribution to the immigration debate in times of globalisation. The jury was crying and singing lullabies as they left the meeting.''
Sydney Film Festival
''...a superb short documentary that looks at the difficulties faced by mothers raising their daughters in a new country..''
For more about the award, visit the
official Berlinale site.
For Kyoko''s interview with Berlinale Talent Press, visit the Berlinale Talent Press site
For an article on Variety, visit the Variety
For an article on Märkische Allgemeine, visit the Märkische Allgemeine
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