VILNIUS: The MIDPOINT development programme continues to expand its reach with its first Lithuanian workshop, set for 5-8 May 2019. The organisers have announced the titles of the four projects which have been selected for the programme.
The first guest experts have been announced for the fifth edition of Pustnik Screenwriters Residency, which will take place in Romania this September.
During the nine-day retreat, eight screenwriters – three from Romania and five internationals – will develop their first or second feature-length screenplays. Pustnik also invites a handful of established European filmmakers to offer advice and support in the form of roundtable discussions, masterclasses, and one-to-one sessions. Furthermore, a panel of local professionals will provide an overview of co-production opportunities with Romania.
The guests already confirmed for this year’s edition are Soudade Kaadan (Syria), Laurence Coriat (France/UK) and Bianca Oana (Romania).
Laurence Coriat wrote Michael Winterbottom's Wonderland which was selected in competition at Cannes in 1999 and won the best British Independent Film award that year. She co- wrote Sandra Goldbacher's Me Without You, starring Michelle Williams and Anna Friel, which was unveiled at the Venice Film Festival in 2001. She went on to collaborate with Michael Winterbottom in 2006 on A Mighty Heart an adaptation of Marianne Pearl's account of her husband's kidnapping and murder, starring Angelina Jolie. In 2016, she took part in a writers room with show runner Hossein Amini and is writing for ‘McMafia’, Amini’s BBC series currently in production, directed by James Watkins.
Soudade Kaadan won the Lion of the Future award for Best Debut at Venice Film Festival 2018 for her film The Day I lost My Shadow. The film also screened at TIFF (Toronto), BFI (London), Busan and IFFR (Rotterdam). Only a few months later, her short fiction film Aziza won the 2019 Sundance Grand Jury Prize. Soudade will share professional and creative insights with this year’s residents, particularly on transitioning from short film to features.
Bianca Oana is a Romanian writer and producer who co-wrote Cătălin Mitulescu’s Loverboy, which premiered in 2012 at Cannes Film Festival in the section Un Certain Regard.
She has produced Ivana Mladenovć’s documentary debut Turn off the Lights, Toto and His Sisters by Alexander Nanau, the short film A Country of Two by Neritan Zinxhiria, and the feature film Touch Me Not by Adina Pintilie, awarded in 2018 with the GWIFF Best First Feature Award and the Golden Bear at Berlin International Film Festival. Bianca is now producing Alexander Nanau’s latest documentary, Project C (working title).
Residents will be selected by Andreea Borțun (Romania) and Bryn Chainey (UK/Australia), co-founders of Pustnik. The applications received so far come from all corners of the world - from South-East Asia, to Middle East, Europe and America.
The deadline for applications is April 22 and screenwriters can apply online at www.pustnik.com. All information regarding the application process can be found under the How to apply section. There are no application or participation fees, but every resident must pay for his/her travel to Bucharest. The organisers will cover the costs of accommodation and meals, as well as transport within Romania.
The residency will be hosted at Cultural Port Cetate, a 19th century site with an incredible history of its own, located on the Romanian shore of the Danube.
About Pustnik: Pustnik is the first international screenwriters residency to take place in Romania. It aims to create an environment dedicated to productivity and clarity of thought, away from urban pressures. Pustnik is also a growing network of film professionals whose aim is to ease and encourage collaboration across the international cinema industry.
For more information: www.pustnik.com www.facebook.com/pustnik Laura Musat – This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
WIESBADEN: The Russian debut film Acid by Alexander Gorchilin won the Best Film award at the 19th goEast film festival at the closing ceremony on 16 April 2019.
VALLETTA: The Maltese/Australian coproduction Made in Malta will have its Maltese cinema release on 8 May 2019.
TREBON: The international competition of feature films at the 2019 edition of the Czech festival of animated film Anifilm, running 7-12 May, includes the 3 m EUR Estonian/Belgian/Irish/UK Captain Morten and the Spider Queen directed by Kaspar Jancis and Henry Nicholson.
The National Film Centre of Latvia announced the following grants on 15 April 2019.
ZAGREB: The sequel to the 2017 box office success The Hitman’s Bodyguard has begun filming on location in Croatia. The film stars Ryan Reynolds, Salma Hayek and Samuel Jackson in a star-studded cast that includes Morgan Freeman, Antonio Bandaras, Richard E. Grant and Tom Hopper.
PRAGUE: The 7th edition of the CEE Animation Forum, formerly known as the Visegrad Animation Forum Třeboň, announced the establishment of five new partnerships with European markets, festivals and training programmes, in addition to several existing partnerships.
VILNIUS: The Lithuanian Film Centre has announced that the upgraded 30% Lithuanian Tax Incentive scheme is now fully operational.
dok.incubator reveals 8 projects selected for its 2019 edition
dok.incubator has announced the final selection of talented filmmakers whose projects will be supported in 2019. Participating film professionals – drawn from around the world, including Latin America, Europe, Africa and Canada – will have the opportunity to work intensely on their documentary films with the support of well-known producers, editors and sales agents.
dok.incubator is a well-established workshop for feature documentaries in the rough cut stage that is unique in its format and impact on filmmakers. Its aim each year is to offer individual mentorship for eight documentary projects with a focus on dramaturgy, distribution and marketing strategy and audience building in order to premiere at prestigious festivals and secure wide distribution.
The Camp (Hungary, France) by Judit Oláh is a documentary about reconstructing an identity-forming childhood experience, an extraordinary summer camp, which took place in the 1980s, the last years of the oppressing socialist system in Hungary.
A portrait of a woman that leaves her abusive husband after fifty years of marriage and tries to find happiness doing everything she has ever dreamt of – dancing, writing song and even falling in love again. That is Lessons of Love (Poland), directed by Małgorzata Goliszewska and Katarzyna Mateja.
In Själö: Island of Souls (Finland), the director Lotta Petronella, researches the past of the island and its previous residents, from mentally ill women locked in the asylum to scientists researching the nature of the island.
Roberto Salinas’ Cuban Dancer (Italy, Canada, Chile) describes a journey of a talented student who after leaving Havana, has to confront the education system in the elite and rarefied atmosphere of dance in the United States while trying to remain faithful to his roots.
Once upon a time, Congo Mirador (Venezuela, Great Britain, Brazil) directed by Anabel Rodriguez, tells the story of a small Venezuelan village built in the middle of Lake Maracaibo and its inhabitants that have to deal with the gradual disappearance of their home as the lake - Latin America’s largest oil fiel - is slowly turning into a swamp.
Documentary Home (Romania) by Radu Ciorniciuc follows the dramatic change in the life of Enache family which is forced to move from a wilderness of an abandoned communist reservoir to the city.
In her film As I Want (Denmark, France, Egypt, Palestine), the director Samaher Alqadi captures not only the birth of the Woman’s Rights Movement of Egypt, a response to waves of attacks against women, but also her innner-awakening that confronts the painful childhood traumas that shaped her.
The Earth is Blue as an Orange (Ukraine, Lithuania) by Iryna Tsilyk tells a story of a family living in the heart of the conflict in eastern Ukraine and facing down hardship with remarkable resilience.
Find more information about the projects here.
