JANUARY

EVENT	WEBSITE	DATE
NISI MASA European Short Pitch - The Scriptwriting Workshop, Sofia, Bulgaria	www.nisimasa.com	7-13 January 2019
MIDPOINT Feature Launch Workshop 1, Trieste, Italy	www.midpoint-center.eu/programs/190-midpoint-feature-launch-2019	16-23 January 2019
MIDPOINT Shorts, Workshop 1	www.midpoint-center.eu/programs/191-midpoint-shorts-2019	16-23 January 2019
Feature Launch Workshop 1 @ EASTWEEK, Trieste Film Festival	www.triestefilmfestival.it/midpoint-feature-launch-2019/?lang=en	18-25 January 2019  (festival dates)
When East Meets West (WEMW Co-production Forum, Last Stop Trieste), Trieste Film Festival	www.wemw.it	20-22 January 2019
IFFR Pro Hub, Rotterdam Film Festival	https://iffr.com/en/about-iffr-pro-hub-in-2019	23 January-3 February  2019 (festival dates)
IFFR Pro Days, Rotterdam Film Festival	https://iffr.com/en/pro-days-2019	26-30 January 2019
CineMart ,Rotterdam Film Festival, Netherlands	https://iffr.com/en/cinemart	27-30 January 2019
Torino SeriesLab, 2nd residential workshop, Gothenburg, Sweden	www.torinofilmlab.it/programmes/87-serieslab-2019	30 January -4 February 2019

FEBRUARY

Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Market, Clermont-Ferrand Short FF, France	www.clermont-filmfest.com	4-7 February 2019
Emerging Producers 2019, Berlin, Germany	www.ji-hlava.com/emerging-producers	4-8 February 2019
European Film Market, Berlinale, Germany	www.efm-berlinale.de/en/home/homepage.html#	7-15 February 2019
Berlinale Coproduction Market, Berlin, Germany	www.efm-berlinale.de/en/copro-market/profile/profile.html	9-13 February 2019
B2B Belgrade Industry Meetings, Belgrade IFF, Serbia	www.fest.rs	22 February-3 March 2019 (festival dates)
ZAGREBDOX PRO - ZAGREB DOX International Documentary FF, Zagreb, Croatia	http://zagrebdox.net/en/2018/zagrebdox_pro/zagrebdox_pro_news	24 February –3 March 2019 (festival dates)

MARCH

EDN Docs in Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, Greece	www.filmfestival.gr/en/professionals-b2b/agora-doc-market-en/26385-docs-in-thessaloniki-2019	1-5 March 2019
Agora DocMarket, Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, Greece	www2.filmfestival.gr/en/professionals-b2b/agora-doc-market-en	2-9 March 2019
Docs in Progress,Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, Greece	www.filmfestival.gr/en/professionals-b2b/agora-doc-market-en/26384-docs-in-progress-en	6 March 2019
EAVE European Producers Workshop 1, Luxembourg	www.eave.org	8-15 March  2019
East Doc Platform, One World International Human Rights Documentary FF, Prague, Czech Republic	https://dokweb.net/activities/east-doc-platform/2019/about	9-15 March 2019
East Doc Forum, Preparatory Workshop, East Doc Platform, One World International Human Rights Documentary FF, Prague, Czech Republic	https://dokweb.net/activities/east-doc-platform/2019/east-doc-forum	9-13 March 2019
East Dok Interactive, One World International Human Rights Documentary FF, Prague, Czech Republic	https://dokweb.net/activities/east-doc-platform/2019/east-doc-interactive	9-14 March 2019
Ex-Oriente, Session 3, East Doc Platform and One World IFF	www.ji-hlava.com/ex-oriente-film	9-15 March 2019
East Dok Market in Prague, East Doc Platform, One World International Human Rights Documentary FF, Prague, Czech Republic	https://dokweb.net/activities/east-doc-platform/2019/east-doc-market	12-13 March 2019
East Doc Shorts, East Doc Platform, One World International Human Rights Documentary FF, Prague, Czech Republic	https://dokweb.net/activities/east-doc-platform/2019/east-doc-shorts	13 March 2019
East Doc Forum, Pitch & feedback within East Doc Platform, One World International Human Rights Documentary FF, Prague, Czech Republic	https://dokweb.net/activities/east-doc-platform/2019/east-doc-forum	14-15 March 2019
Sofia Meetings,Sofia IFF, Bulgaria	http://sofiameetings.siff.bg/	13-17 March 2019
NISI MASA European Short Pitch – Coproduction Forum and Works-in-progress (European country TBC)	www.nisimasa.com	13-17 March 2019 (TBA)
ScriptLab, 1st residential workshop, Sounion, Greece	www.torinofilmlab.it/programmes/89-scriptlab-projects-2019	18-24 March 2019
Torino SeriesLab, 3rd residential workshop, final presentation and meetings, European Project and Talent Forum, Lille, France	www.torinofilmlab.it/programmes/87-serieslab-2019	21-27 March 2019
Cinélatino Rencontres de Toulouse, France	www.cinelatino.fr/	22-31 March 2019

APRIL

New Arrivals, Go Short Campus, International Short FF, Nijmegen, Netherlands	www.goshort.nl/en/new-arrivals-campus-2/	2-7 April 2019
EAVE +, Luxembourg	https://eave.org/programmes/eave-9th-edition/	3-7 April 2019
Docs in Progress, Doc Outlook, Visions du Réel IFF, Nyon, Switzerland	www.visionsdureel.ch/en/industry/activities/docs-in-progress	5-13 April 2019 (festival dates)
Pitching du Réel: Coproduction Forum, Doc Outlook, Visions du Réel IFF, Nyon, Switzerland	www.visionsdureel.ch/en/industry/activities/pitching-du-reel	5-13 April 2019 (festival dates)
Rough Cut Lab, Doc Outlook, Visions du Réel IFF, Nyon, Switzerland	www.visionsdureel.ch/en/industry/activities/rough-cut-lab	5-13 April 2019 (festival dates)
Opening Scenes, Visions du Réel IFF, Nyon, Switzerland	www.visionsdureel.ch/en/industry/activities	5-13 April 2019 (festival dates)
Immersive and Interactive Formats, Visions du Réel IFF, Nyon, Switzerland	www.visionsdureel.ch/en/industry/activities	5-13 April 2019 (festival dates)
Moscow Co-Production Forum, Moscow Business Square, Moscow IFF, Russia	www.moscowfilmfestival.ru,  http://www.miffbs.ru/en/	18-25 April 2019 (festival dates)
Cartoon Business, Tampere, Finland	www.cartoon-media.eu/cartoon-masters/cartoon-business.htm	23-25 April 2019
Ties That Bind, EAVE Asia-Europe Co-Producers Workshop 1, Udine Far East Film Festival	https://eave.org/programmes/ties-that-bin-2019/	29 April-3 May 2019
Arab Animation Forum, Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film, Germany	www.itfs.de/en/branche/arab-animation-forum/	30 April-3 May 2019
Beijing Film Market, Beijing IFF, Beijing, China	www.beijinginternationalfilmfestival.com/	TBA
dok.incubator, Session 1- Rough-Cut, Slovakia	http://dokincubator.net/	TBA

MAY

Animation Production Day (APD), Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film, Germany	www.itfs.de/en/branche/animation-production-day/	1-3 May 2019
MIDPOINT Feature Launch, Workshop 2, Kaunas, Lithuania	www.midpoint-center.eu/programs/190-midpoint-feature-launch-2019	3-9 May 2019
MIDPOINT Shorts, Kaunas, Lithuania	www.midpoint-center.eu/programs/191-midpoint-shorts-2019	3-9 May 2019
Visegrad Animation Forum, Anifilm, International Festival of Animation Films, Třeboň, Czech Republic	www.visegradanimation.com	6-9 May 2019
Marché du Film (Producers Network, Doc Corner, Industry Workshops), Cannes Film Festival, France	www.marchedufilm.com/en/	14-23 May 2019
Producers on the Move in Cannes, France	www.efp-online.com	16-20 May 2019
Speed Meetings, Latin Pitch, Interactive Pitch, Docs Barcelona, International Documentary FF, Spain	www.docsbarcelona.com	15-26 May 2019 (festival dates)
Cartoon Digital, Cagliari, Italy	www.cartoon-media.eu/cartoon-masters/cartoon-digital.htm	21-23 May 2019
Boat Meeting Coproduction Market, Kyiv IFF Molodist, Ukraine	www.molodist.com	25 May-2 June 2019
Cartoon 360, Lille, France	www.cartoon-media.eu/cartoon-360.htm	28-30 May 2019

JUNE

Torino FutureLab, st Residential workshop, Bordeaux, France	www.torinofilmlab.it/programmes/91-featurelab-projects-2019	1-7 June 2019
International Animation Film Market (MIFA), Annecy Animated FF, France	www.annecy.org/mifa/presentation:fr	11-14 June 2019
EAVE Producers Workshop W2, Novi Sad, Serbia	www.eave.org	20-27 June 2019
Sunny Side of the Doc, La Rochelle, France	www.sunnysideofthedoc.com/sunnyside/	24-27 June 2019
dok.incubator, Session 2 – Fine Cut, Telč, Slovakia	www.dokincubator.net	24-29 June 2019
MIDPOINT Feature Launch, Workshop, Karlovy Vary	www.midpoint-center.eu/programs/190-midpoint-feature-launch-2019	28 June-3 July 2019
Torino ScriptLab 2nd residential workshop, location TBA	www.torinofilmlab.it/programmes/89-scriptlab-projects-2019	TBA

JULY

Works in Progress, Eastern Promises, Karlovy Vary IFF, Czech Republic	www.kviff.com/en/film-professionals/works-in-progress	1 July 2019
Works in Development- Feature Launch, Eastern Promises, Karlovy Vary IFF, Czech Republic	www.kviff.com/en/film-professionals/feature-launch	1 July 2019
Eurimages Lab Project Award, Eastern Promises, Karlovy Vary IFF, Czech Republic	www.kviff.com/en/film-professionals/eurimages-lab-project-award	2 July 2019
Docs in Progress, Eastern Promises, Karlovy Vary IFF, Czech Republic	www.kviff.com/en/film-professionals/docs-in-progress	2 July 2019
New Horizons Studio +, New Horizons IFF, Wroclaw, Poland Polish Days, New Horizons IFF, Wroclaw, Poland	www.nowehoryzonty.pl/menu.do?id=3008 www.nowehoryzonty.pl/menu.do?id=3005	27 - 30 July 2019 (festival dates) 30 July - 1 August 2019

AUGUST

CineLink, Sarajevo IFF, Bosnia and Herzegovina	www.sff.ba/en/page/industry	16-23 August 2019 (festival dates)
Docu Talents from the East, Sarajevo IFF, Bosnia and Herzegovina		16-23 August 2019
CineLink Drama, Sarajevo IFF, Bosnia and Herzegovina	www.sff.ba/en/page/cinelink-drama	18–23 August 2019
Docu Rough Cut Boutique, Sarajevo IFF, Bosnia and Herzegovina	www.sff.ba/en/page/docu-rough-cut-boutique-2019	18–23 August 2019
True Stories Market, Sarajevo IFF, Bosnia and Herzegovina	www.sff.ba/en/page/true-stories-market-2016	18–21 August 2019
CineLink Talks, Sarajevo IFF, Bosnia and Herzegovina	www.sff.ba/en/page/cinelink-talks	18–23 August 2019
Avant Premiere, Sarajevo IFF, Bosnia and Herzegovina	www.sff.ba/en/page/avant-premiere	19–23 August 2019
Talents Sarajevo Pack&Pitch, Sarajevo IFF, Bosnia and Herzegovina	www.sff.ba/en/page/talents-sarajevo-pack-pitch	21–22 August 2019
MIDPOINT TV Launch, Workshop 3, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina	www.midpoint-center.eu/programs/189-midpoint-tv-launch-2019	mid-August (dates TBA)

 

SEPTEMBER

Co-financing forum of international documentary projects, Baltic Sea Docs, Riga, Latvia	www.balticseadocs.lv	3-7 September 2019
Dok. Incubator, Near Picture Lock, Session 3, Malmö, Sweden	www.dokincubator.net	16-23 September 2019
Nordisk Panorama Market, Nordisk Panorama FF, Malmö, Sweden	www.nordiskpanorama.com	19-24 September 2019
Europe – Latin America Co-production Forum, San Sebastian FF, Spain	www.sansebastianfestival.com/2017/the_industry_club/co_production_forum/1/6591/in	22-25 September 2019
Films in Progress, San Sebastian FF, Spain	www.sansebastianfestival.com/2017/sections_and_films/films_in_progress/8/in	23-25 September 2019
Glocal in Progress, San Sebastian FF, Spain	www.sansebastianfestival.com/2017/the_industry_club/co_production_forum/1/6591/in	23-25 September 2019
Holland Film Meeting, Netherlands FF, Utrecht	www.filmfestival.nl/publiek/	TBA
Cartoon Connection Canada, Québec	www.cartoon-media.eu/cartoon-connection/connection-canada.htm	30 September-2 October 2019
Torino FutureLab,2nd Residential workshop	www.torinofilmlab.it/programmes/91-featurelab-projects-2019	TBA

OCTOBER 

MIPCOM, Cannes, France	www.mipcom.com	14-17 October 2018
Busan Asian Project Market, Busan IFF, Seoul, South Korea	www.asianfilmmarket.org
Lisbon Docs, Docslisboa, Lisbon International Documentary FF, Portugal	www.doclisboa.org	17-27 October 2019 (festival dates)
Film London Production Finance Market, BFI London FF, Great Britain	www.filmlondon.org.uk/PFM	24-29 October 2019
Emerging Producers  2020, Jihlava International Documentary FF, Czech Republic	www.ji-hlava.com/emerging-producers	24-29 October 2019
East Silver Market, Jihlava International Documentary FF, Czech Republic	https://dokweb.net/activities/east-silver/2018/about	24-29 October 2019
Ex Oriente Film 2nd session: Production and story development, Jihlava International Documentary FF, Czech Republic	https://dokweb.net/activities/ex-oriente-film/2019/workshop-2-jihlava	24-29 October 2019
Visegrad Accelerator, Jihlava International Documentary FF, Czech Republic	www.dokument-festival.com	24-29 October 2019
Inspiration Forum, Jihlava International Documentary FF, Czech Republic	www.dokument-festival.com	24-29 October 2019
DOK CO-PRO Market, Dok Leipzig, Germany	www.dok-leipzig.de/de/industry/co-pro-market/about	28 October-3 November 2019 (festival dates)
Cartoon 360, Lille, France	www.cartoon-media.eu/cartoon-360.htm	28-30 October 2019
EAVE Producers Workshop  W3, Leipzig, Germany	www.eave.org	28 October-4 November 2019

NOVEMBER

Agora Film Market, Thessaloniki IFF, Greece	www.filmfestival.gr	2-9 November 2019
Agora Training Day, Thessaloniki IFF, Greece	www.filmfestival.gr	5 November 2019
Crossroads Co-production Forum,Thessaloniki IFF, Greece	www.filmfestival.gr	6-9 November 2019
Agora Works in Progress, Thessaloniki IFF, Greece	www.filmfestival.gr	7 November 2019
EAVE Marketing Workshop, Luxembourg	https://eave.org/programmes/eave-marketing-workshop-2019/	5-10 November 2019
Connecting Cottbus, Cottbus IFF, Germany	www.connecting-cottbus.de	6-8 November 2019
Mannheim Meeting Place,  Mannheim IFF, Germany	www.iffmh.de/en/	14-24 November 2019 (festival dates)
Docs for Sale, IDFA (International Documentary FF Amsterdam), Netherlands	www.idfa.nl	22-28 November 2019
The Forum, IDFA ( International Documentary FF Amsterdam), Netherlands	www.idfa.nl	24-27 November 2019
IDFA DocLab, IDFA (International Documentary FF Amsterdam), Netherlands	www.idfa.nl	21 November-1 December 2019
Cartoon Springboard	www.cartoon-media.eu/cartoon-masters/cartoon-springboard.htm	26-29 November 2019
Baltic Event, Tallinn Black Nights FF, Estonia	www.poff.ee
Ties That Bind, EAVE Asia-Europe Co-Producers Workshop 2, Singapore during the Southeast Asian Film Financing (SAFF) Forum	https://eave.org/programmes/ties-that-bin-2019/	end of November-beginning of December (dates TBA)
Torino FutureLab, TFL Meeting Event, Turin, Italy	www.torinofilmlab.it/programmes/91-featurelab-projects-2019	TBA
Torino ScriptLab 3rd residential workshop and TFL Meeting Event, Turin, Italy	www.torinofilmlab.it/programmes/89-scriptlab-projects-2019	TBA

DECEMBER

Ties That Bind W2, Singapour

www.eave.org

TBA

 

On 15 December 2018, in the framework of the European Film Awards in Seville the members of the European Film Agency Directors (EFADs) Board elected the new President and Vice-President of the association with a 2 year mandate:

• President: Luis Chaby Vaz, President of the Board of Directors of the Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual of Portugal;
• Vice-President: Edith Sepp, CEO of the Estonian Film Institute.

“It is a great honor to have been elected President of the EFADs. We are all extremely grateful for all the work done over the last 4 years under Peter Dinges Presidency which has enabled the association to make its voice heard on the European scene. We will continue on this path with energy and determination to promote cultural diversity and the vitality of European audiovisual creation.” declared Luis Chaby Vaz.

“I am delighted to have been elected as EFADs’ Vice-President and to play my part in strengthening our common aims for European film in the coming years and in addressing the opportunities and challenges that film – both industry and culture – faces across Europe,” said Edith Sepp

The EFADs is the voice of European public film agencies bringing together bodies from 31 countries in Europe (EU Member States of the EU, Norway, Iceland and Switzerland). Initially set up as an informal network, it was formally established in Brussels in December 2014.

The new Board, elected in September 2018 in San Sebastian, is composed of:

Ms Doreen Boonekamp	Director, Netherlands Film Fund	The Netherlands
Ms Jeanne Brunfaut	Director General, Wallonia-Brussels Federation, Centre du cinéma et de l’audiovisuel  (CCA) and managing director of the EFADs	Belgium
Mr Guy Daleiden	Director, Luxembourg, Film Fund	Luxemburg
Mr Peter Dinges	CEO of the German Federal Film Board (FFA)	Germany
Ms Chiara Fortuna	International Affairs, Directorate General Cinema, Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities	Italy
Mr James Hickey	Chief Executive, Irish Film Board	Ireland
Ms Julie-Jeanne Régnault	Deputy Director European Affairs, CNC	France
Ms Edith Sepp	CEO of the Estonian Film Institute, Vice-President of the EFADs	Estonia
Mr Roland Teichmann	Director, Austrian Film Institute	Austria
Ms Nataša Bučar	Managing Director, Slovenian Film Center	Slovenia
Mr Lasse Saarinen	Managing Director, Finnish Film Foundation	Finland
Mr Luis Chaby Vaz	President of the Board of Directors, Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual, President of the EFADs	Portugal

Short biographies of the President and Vice-President

Luís Chaby Vaz is since June 2017, President of the Board of Directors of the Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual of Portugal. He began his professional activity in 1993 as a lawyer before entering the cultural sector where he held several public management positions. He also worked in the Advertising industry and in the movie post production sector as CEO of Tobis. He was the Cultural Counselor of the Portuguese Embassy in Spain between 2010 and 2013. After that, he worked in a venture capital firm and as a private consultant.

Edith Sepp has been the CEO of the Estonian Film Institute since 2013. She started her film career in the early 1990s as an assistant director. After graduating with an MA in film and TV drama from the Northern Media School in UK, she worked in the film/TV industry as a film director and producer. In 2010, she became a film adviser to the Estonian Minister of Culture and lead the creation of the Estonian Film Institute’s 2013-2020 strategy. She has been a member of EFADs’ board since 2014 and she has chaired the EFADs Think-Tank since 2015.

 

Trieste, January 15^th, 2019 – The ninth edition of When East Meets West kicks off in less than one 1 week, on January 20^th with an exciting double focus on the Benelux countries and Central Eastern Europe. After having revealed the pitching forum project selection, WEMW is proud to announce that Lorenzo Esposito (KVIFF and CINÉMA DU RÉEL programmer), Georges Goldernstern (CINÉFONDATION), Peter Kerekes, Simon Ofenloch (ZDF) and Jacobine van der Vloed (ACE) will be the 2019 jury members and will assign all WEMW awards. Alongside the last details about the co-production forum WEMW is happy to finally unveil the complete line-up of the three side sections targeting films in post-production stage.

Now in its fifth edition, Last Stop Trieste, the work in progress section run together with the Trieste Film Festival, will present 5 creative documentaries to an exclusive panel of 40 international sales agents, festival programmers and TV commissioning editors. All films will be in the running for the HBO Europe Award, Flow Digital Cinema Award but also for the brand new Film Centre Serbia LST Award (a cash prize of 2.500 EUR) and the Dox Consulting Award (consisting in two rounds of rough cut feedback, plus a basic release strategy). The LST 2019 international jury will feature Aleksandar Govedarica (SYNDICADO), Dorota Lech (HOT DOCS) and Jenny Westergård (YLE FINNISH BROADCASTING).

After the successful past edition, When East Meets West and Trieste Film Festival will renew the partnership with Milano Film Network for the section exclusively dedicated to long feature fiction films ad hybrid works produced or co-produced by Italian producers. This is IT will present 8 films ready for festival premiere/international distribution and a jury composed by Graziella Bildesheim (MAIA WORKSHOPS/EUROPEAN FILM ACADEMY), Ilaria Gomarasca (PYRAMIDE INTERNATIONAL) and Angela Prudenzi (VENICE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL) will deliver the prestigious Laser Film Award. 

Last but not least, First Cut Lab, the workshop for films in editing phase, has selected 3 long feature fiction films from Russia/United Kingdom, Georgia and Latvia with the main goal of fostering their artistic, sales and festival potential. To this aim, the producer/director teams invited to the lab will receive tailor-made advices from a consulting editor and international experts. 

Alongside the pitching forum and the three side sections, WEMW will feature a rich programme including “In the Spotlight”, where fund representatives from this year's spotlight territories will give a comprehensive insight into current trends in their film industries; the panel “One Image to Rule Them All: the Art of Film Poster”, in cooperation with Asterisk, will try to shed light on the way a poster can accompany a film through its different stages, from development to distribution, and how this one image highlights the communication strategy. EAVE will lead the session “2019: Another Year of Major Change in Media Economics”, a plenary for film professionals interested in how the competition between the sVoD platforms is increasing, and how it will likely affect their business model.

Finally, MIDPOINT will host the session “Two Worlds of Storytelling – The Difference Between Series and Movies”, where an overview on the basic differences between the storytelling in series and movies will be provided. This session represents an extension of the ongoing cooperation with MIDPOINT that also this year will bring to Trieste 13 teams from Central Eastern Europe to best develop their long feature and short projects. But for the very first time the collaboration will also feature a series of tailor made individual meetings organized in cooperation with the Torino Short Film Market between the 4 shorts selected for the workshop and few top-notch film experts ready to advise all selected teams on the next steps of their artistic and production development process. 

The 5 documentaries presented at Last Stop Trieste, the 8 Italian films selected for This is IT and the 3 long feature fiction films chosen for First Cut Lab are:

LAST STOP TRIESTE   GENTLE WARRIORS director: Marija Stonyte producer: Giedre Zickyte country: Lituania / Lithuania HEATH SINGERS (formerly known as 18°c) director: Nadia Parfan producer: Illia Gladshtein country: Ucraina / Ukraine INTO THE BANK director: Eva Hillström, Oscar Hedin producer: Åsa Ekman country: Svezia / Sweden, Norvegia / Norway	NEVER WHISTLE ALONE director: Marco Ferrari producer: Priscilla Robledo country: Italia / Italy THE WIND. A DOCUMENTARY THRILLER director: Michał Bielawski producer: Maciej Kubicki country: Polonia / Poland, Slovacchia / Slovakia
This is IT ASSIMETRY director: Maša Nešković producer: Ines Vasiljevic country: Italia / Italy, Serbia, Slovenia   DON'T FORGET TO BREATHE director: Martin Turk producer: Ida Weiss Slovenia, Italia / Italy, Croazia / Croatia   FANGO ROSSO (Fango rosso - Chronicle of a post industrial paradise) director: Alberto Diana producer: Manuela Buono country: Italia / Italy, Francia / France   IL VARCO (Once More Unto The Beach) director: Federico Ferrone, Michele Manzolini producer: Claudio Giapponesi country: Italia / Italy	L'APPRENDISTATO director: Davide Maldi producer: Davide Maldi, Micol Roubini, Fabio Scamoni, Gabriella Manfré country: Italia / Italy   PARADISE - Tutta un'altra vita director: Davide Del Degan producer: Andrea Magnani, Stefano Basso, Gianpaolo Smiraglia, Branislav Srdic country: Italia / Italy SOLE director: Carlo Sironi producer: Giovanni Pompili, Agnieszka Wasiak country: Italia / Italy, Polonia / Poland TONY DRIVER - UN DEPORTATO AL CONTRARIO director: Ascanio Petrini producer: Giulia Achilli, Marco Alessi, Giorgio Blasi, Lucia Ferrante, Ascanio Petrini country: Italia / Italy, Messico / Mexico
FIRST CUT LAB 24HR SUNSHINE Director: Juris Poskus Producer: Madara Melberga Country: Latvia   FAR FRONTIERS Director: Maxim Dashkin Producer: Denis Kovalevskiy, Maxim Dashkin, Boris Frumin, Anna von Dziembowska Country: Russia	INHALE-EXHALE Director: Dito Tsintsadze Producer: Nadezhda Gorshkova / Rusudan Glurjidze Country: Russia, Georgia

 

WEMW is organized by the FVG Audiovisual Fund and the Trieste Film Festival in collaboration with EAVE, Maia Workshops, Creative Europe Desk Italy, EURIMAGES and the support of Creative Europe/MEDIA Programme, MiBACT - Direzione Generale per il Cinema, CEI - Central European Initiative and the Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia. The 2019  East & West focus is in cooperation and with the support of Czech Film Fund, Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, Film Industry Association of Ukraine, Flanders Audiovisual Fund-VAF, Luxembourg Film Fund, Netherlands Film Fund-Filmfonds, Polish Film Institute, Screen Bruxelles, Screen Flanders, Slovak Film Commission, Slovak Film Institute, Ukrainian State Film Agency, Wallimages.

The year 2018 did not yield any box office hit in the field of Czech animation, yet festival showings and achievements abroad imply that our creators are not resting on their laurels. There are a number of interesting feature films, series, and TV bedtime-story animations in development or production. They will also include this year's anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the 50^th birthday of Lucky Four or one hundred years since the death of historical Czech figure Rastislav Štefánik.

And How Did Czech Animated Production Do Last Year?

Four feature films by Czech filmmakers came to cinemas. One of them made it among the top 50 most visited: Pat & Mat: Winter Adventure, directed by Marek Beneš, attracted nearly 88,000 viewers, while the American animated Hotel Transylvania 3: Monster Vacation brought in nearly half a million. The highly anticipated and latest film by Jan Švankmajer Insects was released after seven years of production and nominated for the Film Critics’ Awards. In December, cinema-goers had a chance to see the Christmas story of Mimi & Lisa: Christmas Lights Mystery (directed by Ivana Šebestová and Katarína Kerekesová). Famous personalities such as Dagmar Pecková, Arnošt Goldflam, Linda Rybová or David Prachař supported its creation via voice over.

The feature film Harvie and the Magic Museum, which was attended by more than 200,000 spectators in our cinemas, drew attention abroad and last year became the best-selling Czech animated film of modern history. "In Czech standards, Harvie is doing great in the world. We have made sales to 90 countries, and although it is mainly a popular-audience film, it has been selected for the main competition at 26 festivals. Perhaps the biggest surprise for us is the success of the film in the US, where it made it to seven festivals and even won the Best Animated Feature Film award in San Diego", says the producer Martin Kotík from Rolling Pictures.

"The feature film category is extremely demanding for the producers. At present there are not enough funds in the Czech Republic to cover proper development and production; the only solution are international co-productions. The aim of the Association of Czech Animation Film (ASAF) is to promote and develop animation as an important part of the creative industry. I believe that 2019 will be a turning a point and Czech animation will regain its reputation abroad again," Martin Hovorka, Chairman of ASAF, sums up the five-year activity of the association.

Short Film Scores Big Points

The 12-minute puppet Charlie the Snowman's Christmas Wedding by Petr Vodička produced by the Anima Studio won the Audience Award at the Biennial of Animation Bratislava and was released in France, Belgium and Luxembourg in November.

The category of short films is traditionally the domain of students, who have long been collecting various awards. Let us mention last year's unparalleled success of the lovely Fruits of Clouds by director Kateřina Karhánková, nominated for the Emile European Animation Awards. The film was broadcast by Czech Television before Christmas. With more than a hundred festival releases, it is one of the world's most successful Czech films in recent years.

An interesting novelty is the combination of the animation and documentary genres. The talented Czech-Vietnamese illustrator and Film Academy of Performing Arts student Diana Cam Van Nguyen drew attention with her animated documentary The Little One, and last year she presented her next work, Apart, using the techniques of feature and animated films to address the theme of life after losing a loved one in a captivating way. The film has already carried off the award for the Best Czech Experimental Documentary at the Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival and was selected for the prestigious International Film Festival in Rotterdam this year.

Last year also marked the appearance of the first Czech queer animated film – Days Off by director Filip Blažek, awarded at Famufest and the only Czech representative at the Queer Lisboa Festival in Portugal.

Animated Short and Feature Films in Preparation

Currently, the final work is taking place on the student co-production project Trojhlas, which is being made in parallel at three Czech art schools – the Film Academy of Performing Arts, Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design and Ladislav Sutnar Faculty of Design and Art at the University of West Bohemia. The project is supported by the Czech Film Fund and produced by the MAUR film studio. Its release will be accompanied by an exhibition of puppets and sets used in the film, which was co-financed by crowdfunding.

The short grotesque The World's End directed by Martin Kukal, a representative of the emerging generation of promising graduates from the Animation department at Tomas Bata University in Zlín, is going into production at the Zlín based studio Kouzelná animace.

To mark the 30th anniversary of the fall of communist regimes in Central Europe, the feature film Fritzi Miraculous Revolutionary Tale is to be released in cinemas, a story about a childhood friendship that can knock down Walls. A German film in international co-production (studio MAUR film for the Czech Republic) describes the political events of autumn 1989 in Leipzig from the point of view of a 12-year-old heroine.

This year is marked by yet another jubilee – 50 years of the legendary comic book Lucky Four. A celebratory release of the Great Adventures of the Lucky Four, directed by Michal Žabka, is scheduled for April 2019. The Great Adventures will consist of four short films based on the newer themes by the “spiritual father” of Lucky Four Jaroslav Němec.

On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the death of Rastislav Štefánik, director Noro Držiak is preparing a feature film with animated elements The Impossible Voyage for this spring, which deals with the life and tragic death of one of the founders of our country.

TVMiniUni and the Thief of Questions by director and screenwriter Jan Jirka, which combines puppets, actors and animation, is to come to cinemas this summer. The film, made entirely in Zlín, builds upon 144 parts of the TvMiniUni programme of Czech TV’s children’s channel ČT: D.

Directors Denisa Grimmová and Jan Bubeníček are making a feature based on the bestselling book Even Mice Belong in Heaven, in which they combine puppet and computer animation. Alice Nellis and Richard Malatinski were involved in the screenplay work. The main producers are the Czech companies Fresh Films and Hausboot Production; the film is made in a Czech-French-Polish-Slovak co-production. The premiere is scheduled for 2020.

Next year, another co-production feature film The Crossing by French director Florence Miailhe will set out into the world. The film is being created with a remarkable technique of oil painting in the MAUR film studio in Prague.

The upcoming film by Filip Pošivač Tonda, Slavka & Genius (nutprodukce), awarded by Eurimage for Best Development at the Cinekid festival, and Martina Duda’s Rosa & Dara (Bionaut in co-production with Czech Television), will surely also be worth our attention. Both films were supported by the Czech Film Fund and should be finished in the upcoming years.

Czech Animation for Child Audiences

Production of TV bed time stories is a special category. Hungry Bear Tales (dir. Alexandra Májová and Kateřina Karhánková), whose pilot episode Blueberry Hunt was awarded the Golden Slipper for the best animated film at the Zlín Film Festival 2018, is now being created. The Prague Eallin Studio continues the production of new parts of the Smallest Elephant in the World tale. At Film Node Zlín, film director Pavel Ondrašík is working on the animated children's series Barney the Piglet, which is to be finished in less than two years.

Education for Czech Filmmakers

A unique opportunity for local artists are the Anomalia summer workshops, where filmmakers can develop their animation projects in the presence of foreign professionals from studios like Disney and Pixar. Last year offered participants a chance to try out a new technique of film animatic development using virtual reality, which turns out to be one of the directions of contemporary animation. The Anomalia Incubator to support the development of new project stories and visuals will be held again in Litomyšl in July and August 2019.