MIDPOINT TV Launch is about to take off

The second residential workshop of TV Launch program will be held from April 10 till April 16, 2019 in Pilsen, Czech Republic within Finale Plzen Film Festival.

Six projects of TV series, three projects of web series and two development executive participants, altogether 22 fresh talents, are meeting again after the first workshop (November 2018) and a break full of intensive work. Apart from group leaders Maggie Murphy, Gabor Krigler and Sullivan Le Postec, who are guiding the projects throughout the whole 9-month run of the program, and Steve Matthews, who is mentoring the development executive participants, numerous guest tutors are arriving to Pilsen. 

Danish director, producer and writer Rumle Hammerich (The Bridge, Taxa, Borgen) will be accompanied by Croatian producer Nebojsa Taraba (The Paper, Success) and Dutch producer, and financing / distribution expert Marike Muselaers (The Team, Occupied, Sthlm Requiem). Financing and distribution of web series will be covered by German writer and producer Kirsten Loose(Stage Fright) and traditionally, the pitching training will be executed by Slovak writer and producer Michaela Sabo.

TV Launch lectures are also opened to industry guests of the Finale Plzen Film Festival. Click here to find out more about the TV Launch Workshop 2 and for the detailed description of the lectures.

TV Launch's partner Serial Eyes call for application

MIDPOINT's long-time partner, the Serial Eyes 9-month residential training program based under Berlin's dffb, focusing on raising a new generation of European TV series writers, will be closing its submissions on April 15, 2019.

Read the interview with the program's Head of Programme, and TV Launch tutor Ben Harris, for a detailed picture of how Serial Eyes works!

MIDPOINT TV Launch is supported by the Creative Europe – MEDIA Programme of the European Union, the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, the Czech Film Fund, the International Visegrad Fund, the Slovak Audiovisual Fund and the Audiovisual Producers' Association. It is presented in cooperation with CHARACTER – Film Development Association, the Finale Plzen Film Festival, the Sarajevo Film Festival – CineLink Industry Days, HBO Europe, Serial Eyes, C21 Media, Series Mania, CANNESERIES Institute, MIA TV Market and AMU.

109 films from 39 countries will be shown this year at goEast – Festival of Central and Eastern European Film from Wednesday 10 April to Tuesday 16 April. Festival director Heleen Gerritsen presented the programme at a press conference held Thursday morning at Wiesbaden’s Caligari FilmBühne cinema, where she expressed her excitement regarding the festival’s 23 German premieres, three international first screenings and one world premiere. Aside from a broad range of top-calibre filmmaking, the festival also offers a significantly expanded accompanying programme, featuring exhibitions, workshops, lectures, film talks and, of course, the legendary goEast parties. New this year is the “Pan-European Picnic”, which sees the festival cultivating even deeper roots within the local community.

“In the 19th year of goEast’s existence, the DFF is celebrating the 70th anniversary of its own founding here in Wiesbaden as the Federal Republic of Germany’s first institution for cinema heritage,” commented Ellen Harrington, director of DFF – Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum. “We would like to thank the state capital and the state of Hessen for supporting our mission and for supporting goEast, which has been committed to promoting a vibrant culture of debate since 2001. Their tool of choice in these efforts is cinema, which demonstrates in a variety of ways that democracy is a central asset of a united Europe. goEast is a showcase for the cinema of Central and Eastern Europe and demands – 30 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall – that we treat everyone with respect, in particular the marginalised elements of our society too,” emphasised Harrington.

The goEast Competition again features a total of sixteen films which will be vying for the festival’s three main awards. “This year’s Competition section is distinguished by works from young filmmakers, including several debut films, and works which treat themes of intergenerational conflict. As such, the films seize upon current tendencies in society – in the West as well adolescents and millennials are taking to the streets in protest and rebelling against the decisions and politics of older generations,” observed festival director Heleen Gerritsen. “In the East, the conflict is further exacerbated by the fact that the different generations came of age in different political and economic systems. Both aesthetically and thematically, the young generation of filmmakers is choosing to use another film language, a new one,” Gerritsen continued. “This year’s films often revolve around young individuals, their motivations in life, their drives for discovery and emancipation, or their relationships with older family members and authority figures as well. But for instance they also explore the question of why young people are willing to make radical sacrifices for their political convictions,” as Gerritsen revealed.

Around 200 filmmakers from Central and Eastern Europe are expected to attend goEast. Želimir Žilnik and Sami Mustafa are among the guests of this year’s Symposium, entitled “Constructions of the Other: Roma and the Cinema of Central and Eastern Europe”. The Homage is devoting an extensive retrospective to the work of a venerable master of the Polish New Wave, Krzysztof Zanussi, who will be on hand to give insight into his life’s work. Multi-award-winning director and this year’s goEast Jury President Teona Strugar Mitevska is presenting her opening film

GOD EXISTS, HER NAME IS PETRUNYA. On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, goEast is partnering for the first time with FilmFestival Cottbus to present the thematic focus “Everything Remains Different? The Wild 90s”, which directs attention back to the transitional period following the dissolution of the Iron Curtain. The newly created event series “Pan-European Picnic” promises to cross borders between East and West and interdisciplinary boundaries between film, literature and the visual arts. At the film talks in the “goEast Salon”, audience members have the chance to enter into direct dialogue with the filmmakers of the Competition while enjoying the relaxed atmosphere of the Festival Center.

For Axel Imholz, head of the Cultural Department of the State Capital Wiesbaden, the history of the city is linked in myriad ways with Germany’s Eastern European neighbours. The celebrated painter Alexej von Jawlensky, who lived in Wiesbaden and is buried there as well, and the Russian Orthodox Saint Elizabeth’s Church atop the Neroberg are just two of the best-known examples that testify to this connection. “goEast brings international filmmakers and film fans to Wiesbaden and generates important insights and understanding for the cultures of our neighbours to the East with its films and talk formats – that is just as timely and important today as it was at the beginning of the festival,” observed Imholz. The head of the city’s Cultural Department emphasised that Wiesbaden considers itself lucky to be able to host such a unique festival highlight in the state capital.

Dr. Helmut Müller, managing director of Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain, which is supporting the pilot project “Pan-European Picnic” this year, is particularly looking forward to the new event series: “30 years after the Pan-European Picnic of Sopron, on the border between Hungary and Austria, we have to ask ourselves today just how united and border-free our Europe is and how things look when it comes to solidarity and mutual understanding.” According to Müller, it is all the more important to protect and expand upon the achievements made in understanding in all levels and forms. “That is precisely the approach taken by the Pan-European Picnic in Wiesbaden: it’s about building a bridge between the established film festival and small cultural associations, a bridge to locations outside of the film theatres, places where individuals with Central and Eastern European migration backgrounds come together from throughout the entire Rhine-Main region.”

Dr. Markus Ingenlath, managing director of Renovabis, explained: “With the creation and support of a research grant for documentary films with a focus on human and minority rights in Eastern Europe, goEast is turning its attention to issues of exceptional relevance for the present moment. These efforts are in harmony with the spirit of our work at Renovabis: we want to take a credible and unflinching look at the situation in our ‘neighbourhood’, for it is only by doing so that real dialogue can take place,” according to Ingenlath. “In addition, the festival provides the opportunity to take advantage of another information channel, namely cinema, and to show that these politically sensitive issues belong within the broad spectrum of our mission, when it comes to promoting the development of civil society,” emphasised Ingenlath.

On 10 April, goEast – Festival of Central and Eastern European Film will kick off its 19th edition with this year’s opening film GOD EXISTS, HER NAME IS PETRUNYA (GOSPOD POSTOI, IMETO I' E PETRUNIJA, North Macedonia, Belgium, Slovenia, Croatia, France, 2019) by North Macedonian director Teona Strugar Mitevska.

You can find photo materials for this year’s festival in our download section: www.filmfestival-goeast.de/en/Press/downloads

The full programme for the 19th edition of goEast – Festival of Central and Eastern European Film is available at: www.filmfestival-goeast.de/en/program

goEast – Festival of Central and Eastern European Film is hosted by DFF – Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum and made possible with the support of numerous partners. Primary funding partners are the State Capital Wiesbaden, the Hessen State Ministry for Higher Education, Research and the Arts, Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain, ŠKODA AUTO Deutschland, Renovabis, BHF BANK Foundation, Adolf und Luisa Haeuser-Stiftung für Kunst und Kulturpflege, the German Federal Foreign Ministry and Deutsch-Tschechische Zukunftsfonds. Media partners include 3sat, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and Deutschlandfunk Kultur.

Visions du Réel International Film Festival (5 – 13 April 2019) will give its floor to world premieres of 3 new Czech documentaries. Greta Stocklassa’s directorial debut Kiruna – A Brand New World has been selected for the International Feature Film Competition, while another debut The Sound is Innocent by Johana Ožvold will have its premiere in the International Competition Burning Lights. Rozálie Kohoutová and Tomáš Bojar’s new documentary Off Sides will be screened in the Grand Angle section.

Kiruna – A Brand New World

by Greta Stocklassa

Czech Republic 2019 / 80’

Producers: Veronika Kührová, Michal Kráčmer (Analog Vision)

Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

International Feature Film Competition
TUE 9 April | 16:00 - Grande Salle | World Premiere
WED 10 April | 11:45 - Grande Salle

The Sound Is Innocent

by Johana Ožvold
Czech Republic, France, Slovakia 2019 / 68’
Producer: Kristýna Michálek Květová (Cinémotif Films)
Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Burning Lights
WED 10 April | 16:00 - Grande Salle | World Premiere
THU 11 April | 20:30 - Capitole Fellini

Off Sides

by Rozálie Kohoutová, Tomáš Bojar

Czech Republic 2019 / 75’

Producer: Tomáš Bojar (Cinema Arsenal)

SALES: Durna Safarova – Filmotor, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Grand Angle
SUN 7 April | 13:15 - Théâtre de Marens | World Premiere
MON 8 April | 18:00 - Théâtre de Grand-Champ, Gland

Czech Film Center at Visions du Réel

Czech Film Center, division of the Czech Film Fund, will be attending Visions du Réel in Nyon. Get in touch with us and learn more about recent Czech documentary films or co-production and shooting possibilities in the Czech Republic.

Vítězslav Chovanec - Festival Relations - Docs & Shorts
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., +420 778 487 864
8 – 12 April

Czech docs in print

Czech Documentaries 2018-2019

Docu Talents from the East – call for submissions

The most remarkable new documentary projects from Central and Eastern Europe will be presented at the 15th edition of Docu Talents from the East. You can now submit your films in the production or post-production stage – the deadline for applications is April 30. Ten projects will be introduced to festival programmers, distributors, sales agents and journalists attending the CineLink Industry Days at the Sarajevo FF on August 21. Since its launch in 2005, the Docu Talents has presented over 140 projects, many of which have subsequently premiered and collected prizes at film festivals around the world.  

Have your film supported from the Ji.hlava Film Fund!

The Ji.hlava Film Fund provides in-kind grants totaling 20,000 EUR for visual and sound post-production of documentaries originating in Central and Eastern Europe. We are primarily looking for projects with unique authorial style and focus on contemporary and thought-provoking themes. Ji.hlava Film Fund's partners are UPP, Soundsquare and the Center for Documentary Film, and the deadline for submissions is April 30.

Film submissions to the 23rd Ji.hlava IDFF are open

Send us your documentary films to be considered for the 23rd edition of Ji.hlava, taking place on October 24 – 29, 2019. The deadline for 2019 films is May 31. The second deadline – for rough cuts and films that have so far not had a festival world premiere – is July 31. We accept feature-length and short films as well as animated and interactive documentaries. Films premiered at Ji.hlava have the chance to be nominated for the European Film Academy Awards, and our winners are also eligible for Oscar® consideration.

Meet Ji.hlava IDFF at other festivals 

You can meet members of the Ji.hlava IDFF team at some of the upcoming film festivals. The festival director Marek Hovorka will be in Nyon on April 6 – 12 attending Visions du Réel, together with our programmer Petr Kubica (April 10 – 13). Jarmila Outratová, the head of industry, will be in Barcelona at D'A Film Festival on April 28 – 30 and in Belgrade for Beldocs on May 8 – 11. Our programmer Andrea Slováková will attend the 65th International Short Film Festival in Oberhausen on May 1 – 5. We will be happy to meet you on these occasions!

Ex Oriente Film: Apply until April 19

Ex Oriente Film is an international training programme for documentary professionals supporting the development and funding of creative documentary films from Central and Eastern Europe. The core of the Ex Oriente Film is based on three week-long residential workshops held over 9 months, including in October at the Ji.hlava IDFF. Each year up to 12 selected projects receive assistance from a wide range of film experts, with each workshop focusing on a different segment of development. Click here for the details about the workshop.

DAFilms Festival Focus: One World Romania online

DAFilms.com presents films from One World Romania. Couldn‘t make it to Bucharest but want to see films from the program? No problem! Until April 14, you can watch an exclusive selection of festival films online. You can enjoy for example Coby, a documentary from American Midwest. Suzanna is 23 and goes through a transition into a man, Coby. This transformation impacts her entire family and makes them change their perspective. The film was premiered at Cannes IFF in the ACID section and toured dozens of film festivals afterwards.

The sale of festival passes will start on the 15th of April and accreditations will be available to purchase from 8th of April. 

This year’s edition of the Krakow Film Festival will showcase over 200 films from all over the world, including several dozen of world, international and Polish premiere screenings. The best documentaries, short features and animations will compete in four film competitions and will be presented in over a dozen of fascinating festival sections. It is worth to book some time from 26th of May till the 2nd of June and purchase your festival pass or an accreditation now. 

FOR THE VIEWERS – PASSES

The passes are available in promotional prices only till the 10th of May

• the regular pass – 110 pln
• discount passes – 60 pln

After that the prices will go up respectively to 170 pln and 90 pln. Apart from the passes for the the whole Festival we also offer day passes. 

The passes will be available online on the Festival’s website and starting on the 10th of May also in the festival cinemas registries: Pod Baranami Cinema, Mikro Cinema, Kijów.Centrum, Paradox Cinema, Agrafka Cinema.

During the Festival all types of passes will be available for purchase at the Festival Center located at the The Małopolska Garden of Art (Rajska 12 street).

For detailed information on the passes and tickets visit our website.

FOR FILM INDUSTRY, JOURNALISTS AND ART SCHOOL STUDENTS – ACCREDITATIONS

The deadline for submitting accreditation applications is 19th of May 2019. The festival offers four types of accreditations:

• Industry – allows participation in all the film screening and KFF Industry events
• Market – allows entry to the film market and KFF Industry
• Media – allows participation in all the film screening and KFF Industry events
• Student – available to art school students, connected to film. Allows entry to film screenings and chosen KFF industry events

Till the 10th of May all accreditations are available in promotional prices. 

For detailed information on the types of accreditations and their prices visit our website.

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

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