There is also good news from Austria these days. On Sunday, when Austrians will go to the ballot boxes for the first, but not last time this year, a successful Austrian-wide information campaign with EU focus will end. In the past few weeks the LET’S CEE Film Festival, together with the Representation of the European Commission in Austria, invited teens and young adults to a free visit to the cinema. With the screening of short films followed by discussions with top-class guests, the young audiences were encouraged to vote in the European elections on 26 May. More than 2,000 young adults in all nine federal provinces of Austria as well in South Tyrol followed the invitation, while few hundred thousands of other people were reached on social media through the #EUandME campaign.

The event series was part of the #EUandME info campaign, which teaches young people about the European Union and its values. The screened films raise awareness for the chances and opportunities young EU citizens today have in order to realise their goals and dreams – at university or at work, in the digital fields or simply by exercising their rights according to the slogan of the information campaign of the European Parliament for the EU elections 2019: "This time I’m voting!"

The stunning short films were delivered by directors from five different countries, among them Dalibor Matanić, who portrayed a peasant Croatian boy dreaming of a career as a football professional in his film DEBUT, and Finnish Zaida Bergrot and her work OAA telling the story of a girl getting lost in a threatening forest and learning about environment protection from an unusual perspective. Authentic statements from teenagers (e.g. from Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia) completed the programme.

On the agenda were furthermore discussions with committed pro-Europeans, both Austrians – like the rock music professor and filmmaker Reinhold Bilgeri, the journalist and information director of the Austrian TV channel Puls4, Corinna Milborn, or documentary filmmaker Werner Boote – and people with migration background, represented by Bosnian-born entrepreneur, philanthropist and CEO of the Brainswork Group, Selma Prodanovic, the seven-language conference interpreter from Afghanistan, Masomah Regl, the Somali refugee and film director Mo Harawe, the Polish-Austrian actress Claudia Kottal and many others.   

With his statement Iranian-Austrian filmmaker Arash T. Riahi got to the heart of the manifold support from the prominent figures: “This time I'm voting because I am lucky to live in a country where I am allowed to. Thousands of people die every year around the world because they fight in order to vote and live a life in a democracy.“ The president of Reporters Without Borders in Austria, Rubina Möhring added: “This time I'm voting because it is more important than ever to give voice to candidates and/or parties convincing with democratic and socio-political values. The peace project European Union must continue to be strengthened. My voice belongs to a humane EU and thus to the future of our children and grandchildren.”

The project was accompanied by a social media campaign presenting prominent guests, presenters and young visitors who in turn clearly explain why they will vote on 26 May.

Austria was the first country in the European Union allowing people to vote at the age of 16 at all political levels, Malta followed as second and so far as the only other country in the EU. During the last European elections in 2014 the voter turnout in the group of 18- to 24-year-olds was with 27,8% (average for all 28 EU countries) significantly lower than the total turnout (42,6%). The lowest percentage of young voters was registered in Slovakia with only 5,6%. At the bottom of the list of young voters were thus Finland (10,4%), Croatia (13,1%) Slovenia (13,7%), Poland (14,1%), Estonia (15,8%), Czech Republic (16,4%), Latvia (17,4%), the Netherlands (18,0%), Portugal (18,6%) and the UK (19,40%). With a percentage of 29,3% within the 16- to 24-years-old voters in Austria there is also a big need for improvement.  

The pollsters can hardly estimate how the newest political earthquake in Austria will affect the European election. One thing is certain: the European election surprisingly becomes a mood test for the National Council election in September 2019, initially scheduled for 2022.

Partners respectively supporters of the EU Youth Cinema were the school cinema of Austria's largest cinema chain Cineplexx, the Future Funds of the Republic of Austria, the ERSTE Foundation, the Austrian Film Institute (ÖFI), the organisation IFTE, the Red Cross intercultural school project projektXchange, the associations Economy for Integration (VWFI) and KulturKontaktAustria, the audio description specialist Audio2, the EUNIC network as well as the Austrian Craft and Trade Association (ÖGV).

______________
Selected #EUandME statements (in English) and visuals are available via https://www.dropbox.com/sh/0g655lrxaoe37gp/AADs-s0uxRbdFJ1Asc1CD7i7a?dl=0

#EUandME films and Digital Stories (with English subtitles) are available via
https://europa.eu/euandme/directors-videos/68_en
and https://europa.eu/euandme/digital-stories_en

8667 minutes – this is how much time you have to spend to see all the films that were included in the program of the 59th Krakow Film Festival. The festival will start on Sunday, May 26th. During eight days, viewers will see almost 250 films in 4 competition sections and 11 non-competitive cycles. The screenings will be accompanied by special events, concerts and workshops.

Foehn for the opening

On May 26 at the Kijów.Centrum cinema, the festival will open the documentary “Wind. A Documentary Thriller” by Michał Bielawski, a film about the foehn mountain wind  – one of the most unpredictable elements in the Polish mountains.

– At the opening of the festival, we always choose a spectacular film that will grab the audience and encourage them to stay in the cinema for the whole week. “Wind. A Documentary Thriller ” is particularly close to us, because we can feel the gusts of the foehn wind even here in Krakow. We have better associations with it, because it blows the smog away and its presence is not generally so sinister, but in Zakopane is always awaited with anxiety – invites Krzysztof Gierat, director of the Krakow Film Festival.

The Krakow Film Festival invites you to a special celebration of Mother’s Day in the cinema. Everyone who will come to the festival screening together with their mother on May 26th will be able to receive a second ticket, ie “a ticket for my mom”, free of charge. The screenings are a part of the “Take Your Mom To The Cinema” action will take place in the Pod Baranami Cinema, the Małopolska Garden Of Arts and AST Stage.

Festival timetable

This year’s Dragon of Dragons award for contribution to the development of the world animated film will be received by Caroline Leaf, an American-Canadian precursor of new animation techniques. A retrospective of the laureate’s work and her master class are included in the Festival’s program. The official awarding of the Dragon of Dragons awards will take place on May 27th at the Academy of Theater Arts.

"Power of Yoik", dir. Paul Simma

The special guest of this year’s edition is Finnish cinematography. The “Focus on Finland”section will present the latest documentaries and short films from Finland as well as a program for children and the youth, as well as a selection of student films. Representatives of the film industry from Finland and Poland will meet at a joint conference. The inauguration at the Małopolska Garden of Arts will take place on Math 28th accompanied by the screening of the movie “Gods of Molenbeek” (directed by Reetta Huhtanen).

Undoubtedly an unusual attraction at the Festival will be the the presence of Brett Morgen, an outstanding American documentary filmmaker, well-known by the  Polish and Krakow audiences from this highly praised ‘Cobain: Montage of Heck’ movie and a film portrayal of Jane Goodall, a famous researcher of chimpanzee life, that presented at the festival a year ago. A meeting with the director will take place on May 29th in Kijów.Centrum, joined with the screening of his film “Crossfire Hurricane”, a documentary devoted to The Rolling Stones.

On May 30th, the 70th birthday of Documentary and Feature Film Studios will be celebrated with a Voo Voo concert with guest appearance by Maciej Maleńczuk in Kijów.Centrum. Voo Voois one of the most original Polish bands that has combined rock with jazz and folk from different regions of the world in their work. They will be accompanied by Maciej Maleńczuk, one of the most charismatic, and at the same time controversial, artists of the turn of the XXth and XXIst Century.

The closing ceremony of the festival and the screening of the awarded films will take place on June 1st in Kijów.Centrum. During the ceremony will include a concert from an accomplished saxophonist, bass clarinetist and film music composer – Mikołaj Trzaska. On the 2nd of June in the Małopolska Garden Of Arts you will be able to see the awarded films.

Non-competition sections and accompanying events

This year, the Krakow Film Festival has prepared two outdoor cinemas. The screenings of the “Sounds of Music” section are a delight for viewers thirsty for good music, outstanding cinema and beautiful nature ambiance. From Monday to Friday (27-31 May) you will be able to see the documentaries shown in previous years in the DocFilmMusic section on the big screen, under the starry sky, with a view of the Wawel Castle. The partner of the “Sounds of Music” section is PGE Energia Ciepła, and the media partner is Radio Kraków.

Unique screenings of the classics of Polish documentary film will take place on Wednesday and Thursday (May 29-30) in the extraordinary, medieval interiors of the Barbakan. The screenings mark the 70th birthday of the Documentary and Feature Film Studio (WFDiF), a studio where the most important trends in Polish documentary cinema were born and flourished – from the first post-war realizations, through the legendary “black series” and the most famous productions of the 60s, 70s and 80s, up to the films of the breakthrough era.

On Tuesday, May 28th, at the Barbakan, viewers will see films made by Documentary and Feature Film Studio, which also celebrates the 70th anniversary. The program includes documentaries directed by Piotr Szulkin, Bogdan Dziworski or Wojciech Wiszniewski.

A special event of this year’s edition will be a retrospective of the work of Maciej Szumowski, a Krakow journalist and filmmaker, the legendary editor-in-chief of “Gazeta Krakowska” in 1980-81, who died 15 years ago.

For the sixth time in the Festival program will include the Docs + Science section – screenings of the most interesting scientific films and meetings with experts. Traditionally, the festival’s spectators will also be screening films awarded at prestigious festivals (“Festival winners”), Polish documentary films directed by young artists as well as renowned directors (“Panorama Of The Polish Documentary Film”), Kids & Youth shows – a cinema for young people, the most-recognized documentaries made last year coming from various corners of the world (“Wold Stories”) and films made in European countries (“Somewhere In Europe”).

Festival guests

Every year, world-famous artists from the film industry visit Krakow. This time, last year’s Academy award Oscar nominee Talal Derki, the laureate of the 58th Krakow Film Festival, will be a juror of the documentary competition. The jury of four festival competitions will also include Xawery Żuławski, Marta Prus, Tomasz Raczek, Weronika Bilska, Maciej Karpiński, Zbigniew Czapla and Jacek Petrycki.

There will be no shortage of the documentary film protagonists. Lea Tsemel from the movie “Advocate” blows an Israeli lawyer defending the Palestinians, responsible for the controversial experiment at the North Pole, will appear in person. Jan Terelak, the protagonist of the film “The Antarctic syndrome”, an Iranian artist, actress and director Mania Akbari and Jan Nowicki, who talks about Witold Sobociński in the “The Last Swing”.

Above all, the creators of films qualified for the festival will come to the 59th Krakow Film Festival, and most of the screenings will be accompanied by meetings with the directors of the productions in the program.

The 59th Krakow Film Festival will take place on May 26 – June 2, 2019

Follow our news on the website and in the social media: Facebook, Twitter i Instagram.

FOREVER HOLD YOUR PEACE by Ivan Marinović from Montenegro has won the Krzysztof Kieślowski ScripTeast Award  2019 for the Best Eastern Europan Script.

The award, including a checque for €10.000, was presented on May 21 this year during the Cannes Film Festival by the ScripTeast Artistic Board: Doreen Boonekamp, Sandy Lieberson, Antonio Saura, Manfred Schmidt, and Simon Perry, along with longtime heads of studies Christian Routh and Tom Abrams.

In their citation, the Artistic Board state: “The script is entertaining and funny, as well as profound. It is an ensemble study of a group of delightfully crafted characters immersed in an increasingly absurd ceremony that reflects ironically on the human condition in an engaging cinematic romp”.

The Artistic Board have also decided to award a Special Mention to STILLBORN, by Lena Gora and Olga Chajdas (Poland) “…for presenting a fascinating account of a turbulent moment in recent Central European history. The writers manage to convey an authentic and rebellious society in which themes of motherhood, family and culture are confronted in a dynamic and energetic fashion”.

The winner was chosen from the 11 screenplays from 9 Central and Eastern European countries that took part in the 13th edition.

Projects featured in the 13th edition of ScripTeast:

• Chemistry - Adina Dulcu, Romania
• Forever Hold Your Peace - Ivan Marinović, Montenegro
• M - Vardan Tozija and Darijan Pejovski, North Macedonia
• Mother -  Zornitsa Sophia i Miglena Dimova-Kumitski, Bulgaria
• Nightsiren - Tereza Nvotová i Barbora Námerová, Slovakia / Czech Republic
• Recordings  - Diana Groó, Hungary
• Spinners - Ivars Tontegode and Reinis Ubelis, Latvia
• Stillborn - Olga Chajdas and Lena Góra, Poland
• The Night of The Living Toys - Michał Walczak and Maria Wojtyszko, Poland
• The Pale - Rusudan Pirveli, Georgia
• The Sibyl - Zuzanna Solakiewicz, Poland

The programme of the 13th edition of ScripTeast began in October last year with a week-long workshop that included individual meetings with world-famous screenwriters, directors and producers, followed by individual online consultations. In February this year, the screenwriters participated in sessions at the Berlinale film festival. The final session of this cycle was concluded during the Cannes Film Festival.

Among the previous recipients of the Krzysztof Kieslowski ScripTeast Award are Benedek Fliegauf  (‘Womb’ - Locarno Festival 2008), Marysia Nikitiuk (‘When the Trees Fall’, Berlinale 2018), and Simeon Ventsislavov (‘Aga’, Berlinale 2018).

 

ScripTeast was created by Polish director and producer Dariusz Jablonski, in collaboration with his closest associates, producers: Violetta Kaminska and Izabela Wojcik. Together, besides wide international production activities through their companies Apple Film and Message Film, they created the Independent Film Foundation, which promotes ambitious films and its authors in Poland and Central and Eastern Europe.

ScripTeast is organized by Polish Independent Film Foundation, co-funded by Creative Europe - MEDIA Sub-Programme of the EU, Polish Film Institute, The Ministry of Culture and National Heritage - Found for the Promotion of Culture, Apple Film Production, in co-operation with the European Film Academy, Producers Network, European Producers Club, Transatlantic Partners, ACE – Atelier du Cinema European and Film New Europe. 

On Sunday, 17 May, the shooting of the feature film Riders by the director Dominik Mencej began in Gospić, Croatia. The screenplay was written by Boris Grgurović. The director's debut tells a story about two best friends, Tomaž and Anton, who are both in their mid-twenties and from the same village in the Slovenian region of Prlekija. They decide to redesign their mopeds to make them look like choppers. Ivan and Anton embark on a journey: Anton wants to impress his girlfriend who is studying in the capital and has not written to him in months, while Tomaž searches for spiritual answers to his visions, hoping that faith will guide him. Anton's plan backfires, but he does discover his true mission: to become a world traveller. Tomaž, on the other hand, becomes enlightened: for the first time in his life, he realises that God is love.

Starring Petja Labović, Timon Šturbej, Anja Novak, and the Serbian actor Nikola Kojo. Director of photography: Janez Stucin; production design: Iva Rodić; costumes design: Katarina Zaninović; makeup design: Tatjana Lipanović; and editor: Andrej Nagode.

The film is produced by Miha Černec of the Staragara production company from Ljubljana and co-produced by the companies Antitalent from Croatia, Novi film from Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Sense Production from Serbia.

The project has been financially supported by the Slovenian Film Centre, Viba Film, Creative Europe – Media, RE-ACT, First Film First, RTV Slovenija, Film Centre Serbia, and Foundation for Cinematography Sarajevo.

The shooting is scheduled to conclude by July 2019, while the film is to be finished by April 2020.

Dominik Mencej (1987) has always been passionate about film. In 2008 he shot a few shorts and was accepted to the AGRFT in Ljubljana, where he graduated in film and TV directing. Selected filmography (shorts): The Springtime Sleep (2014), Garbage Day (2011).