Film Agents are people who care for film culture and have outstanding ideas. Their projects are often created in a direct response to the most current film-related needs. They build and strengthen local structures and have great impact in enhancing the European production. Since 2013 SOFA offers them a tailor-made workshop programme.

TBILISI WORKSHOP / April 22-28, 2018

For the second time the Georgian edition of SOFA workshops will take place in Tbilisi. The participants of the 2017 edition: Agnieszka Sękowska (Poland), Nikolai Lavreniuk (Belarus), Liina Maria Lepik (Estonia), Nino Chichua (Georgia), Angelos Tsaousis (Greece), Gitit Wainer (Israel) and Tara Karajica (Serbia) will continue developing their projects with the support of the professionals from the film industry. This year they will include: Sonja Heinen (European Film Promotion); Renaud Redien Collot (Novancia Business School); Oliver Baumgarten (Max Ophüls Preis Film Festival); Natalia Ames and Melik Karapetyan (Golden Apricot Film Festival Pro Industrial Platform).

The programme of the workshop will include two public events. The first one will take place during the presentation of the European Film Promotion and will be led by its head – Sonja Heinen. The second one will be dedicated to young filmmakers and will cover the subjects of macro budgeting and guerilla filmmaking. Additionally, Alexey German Jr. will introduce his new film – “DOVLATOV” – to Georgian audience. The event will be followed by a meeting with the producer of the film – Artem Vasilyev.

SUCCESSFUL SOFA ALUMNI

Tara Karajica came to SOFA with an idea of creating an institution that would focus on supporting women in Serbian film industry and ended up creating the “Fade to Her” online magazine. It is about celebrating successful women working in the film industry – says Tara about the “Fade to Her” initiative. The website was launched two days before Berlinale – on February 13, 2018 and has been running ever since on: www.fadetoher.com.

6th SOFA EDITION – CALL FOR PROPOSALS

Film-related cultural managers are invited to apply for the 6th SOFA edition that will be held August 26-31, 2018 in Warsaw, Poland and in April 2019 in Tbilisi, Georgia. Project submission deadline: June 18, 2018. More information on: www.joinsofa.org. Don’t sit on your coach, join SOFA!

Belgrade, April 2018. – This year’s 11^th Beldocs International Documentary Film Festival will presents to the Serbian audience as many as 98 films in 14 programmes at 10 cinemas, with more than 100 guests and a rich programme for film professionals.  The Beldocs Festival will be held from 7 to 14 of May at the following venues: Belgrade Youth Centre, Belgrade Cultural Center Yugoslav Film Archive, Uzun Mirkova, Yugoslav Film Archive Museum, Kosovska, Museum of Contemporary Art Belgrade, Sava Centre, Kombank Cinema, Cultural Centre Vlada Divljan, Cinema Fontana, Art Cinema Kolarac, Cineplexx Usce.

A WORD FROM THE SELECTOR

Mladen Vušurović, the Festival founder and director said on this occasion:

’Beldocs keeps going strong, led by a great ambition to create a new vision for another forthcoming 10 years. Selectors have worked hard for several months and seen numerous films to choose 98 films to be screened at the Festival in 14 programmes.

The selectors of this year’s Beldocs Marko Grba Singh and Igor Stanojević were in charge of providing stylistic and thematic diversity.

While introducing the programmes of this year’s Festival, Marko Grba Singh said: 'International Competition Programme is characterised by diversity in thematic and stylistic approach, as well as by the perfect balance between great, established authors (Agnes Varda, Abel Ferrara, Claude Lanzmann) and talented, young debutants.

Nine films will compete in the Serbian Competition Programme, five of which are world premieres and one Serbian premiere - the film '4 years in 10 minutes'  (Mladen Kovačević), whose international premiere is  eagerly awaited next week at the festival  Visions du Reel in Nyon.

The programme at old Cinotheque is divided into three selections: Front Page (current political and sociological themes), Planet Earth (nature and anthropology films) and Fireworks (films dedicated to exhilarating or incredible people or events).

The Festival guests in the Retrospective Programme are the Austrian director Ulrich Seidl and the Slovenian director Vlado Skafar.  With a view to connecting a common cultural space of former Yugoslav countries, the Festival’s idea is to dedicate one retrospective each year to directors from these countries.

This year, a new selection - entitled ‘Meteors’ - has been introduced, consisting of radical documentaries and hybrid genres, which will be screened at the Video Hall of the Museum of Contemporary Arts and the new Cinotheque.  This selection’s special quest will be a great Portuguese director Joao Pedro Rodrigues, known to Belgrade audience for his film 'Ornithologist' screened at FAF in 2016.

Igor Stanojević points out that, in creation of the concept of the entire festival, the selectors were guided by the ambition to present the complete wide array of the world documentary films.

‘The Festival will include global blockbusters such as 'Kedi' about Istanbul cats, arthouse sensations 'L. Cohen', as well as everything that goes between.  The main criterion was quality.

Although this year's competition programme is exceptionally intense, a particularly interesting theme, pervading several films, imposed itself:  the growing up is present in films 'Of Fathers and Sons' by Talal Derki, Simon Gillard’s 'Boli Bana' and Viktor Jakovleski’s 'Brimstone & Glory' – growing up in a tribal society, growing up in ISIS, growing up in a small place involved in a dangerous profession of making fireworks – growing ups dispersed across the globe that are very different, but in a certain way essentially very similar.

A Festival’s guest and one of the most important female documentary film-makers Ruth Beckermann is bringing with her the film 'The Waldheim Waltz', which sheds a new light on the official history of Europe.  In addition to Beckermann's film,  the Biographical Documentaries Selection presents  films dedicated to people who have already channelled the course of mankind, through films such as Lorna Tucker’s 'Westwood: Punk, Icon, Activist', which will have its international premiere at Beldocs, but also to people who are still doing that, like Israeli writer Etgar Keret.  

The Planeth Earth Programme, which aims at presenting the diversity of life worldwide, is epitomised in a small film 'Small Planets' by Dirk Manthey, which will have its world premiere at this year's Beldocs and which managed, by exceptionally effective concise vignettes, to convey the colour range of all planet Earth's microcosms.'

Marija Vukić, the programme director of Beldocs' Human Rights points out that with this programme the Festival joins in marking 70 years since the signing of the Declaration of Human Rights.

 'In accordance with the programme concept, we have selected the films that address the topics such as genocide, human trafficking and capital punishment.  In addition to film screening and talks with authors after the screenings, we will also organise three moderated panel discussions on the above topics.  The central aim of this programme is to encourage the general public to reflect and take a critical stance, as well as to increase the readiness of an individual and society to recognise and respond to a crime against humanity.’  

Đorđe Marković, the director of the film ‘Who Framed Kaktus Kid?’ which, together with the film ‘In Praise of Nothing’ by Boris Mitić, officially opens the Festival at ‘Sava Centar’ on 7 May, said on this occasion:

 ‘I am exceptionally pleased that my film ‘Who Framed Kaktus Kid’, together with Boris’ film, will open Beldocs Festival. It is my directorial debut produced by Tuna Fish Studio from Belgrade and made with the support of Media Fund and Film Centre Serbia. The Croatian co-producer is Nukleus Film from Zagreb. The theme of the film is the World War Two and a mysterious fate of a cartoonist from that era.  You will be guided through the film narrative by Aleksandar Zograf, one of the most eminent Serbian comic strip authors.’

INDUSTRY PROGRAM

This year’s Industry Programme will gather, as in previous year, numerous documentary film authors who will exchange their professional experiences at Beldocs.  The head of this year’s Industry Programme is M. Đem Uztufekći, who says that ‘Beldocs in Progress’ will be the most important segment of this Programme.

 ‘Beldocs in Progress (BIP) is a platform for presentation of Serbian development-stage documentary films to film professionals from Serbia and abroad. The aim is to facilitate support to production, post-production, distribution and the share of Serbian documentary films at film festivals, televisions and VOD platforms, both in form of presentation of projects to festival programme directors, sales agents, distributors, TV channel directors and prospective co-producers and in form of financial support. This year’s awards are: EUR 2,000 by the Serbian Film Centre and EUR 4,000 by ‘Living Pictures’ production company.

11. BELDOCS PROGRAMME SECTIONS

SERBIAN COMPETITION PROGRAMME

The contemporary Serbian documentary film-making abounds with both original and stylistically diverse, but nevertheless equally provocative works. Films by Serbian authors will compete for three awards: Best Film, Best Camera and Best Editing.

When Pigs Come
Biljana Tutorov, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 72’

Wizard from Mutanj
Branko Lazić, Srbija, 2017, 56’

Who Framed Kaktus Kid?
Đorđe Marković, Serbia, 2018, 65’

4 Years in 10 Minutes
Mladen Kovačević, Serbia, 2018, 63’

Occupied Cinema
Senka Domanović, Srbija, 2018, 87’

Guidance Through the Black Hole
Zlatko Pranjić, Aleksandar Nikolić, Serbia, 2017, 74’

The Chinese Will Come
Tanja Brzaković, Serbia, 2017, 72’

In Praise of Nothing
Boris Mitić, Serbia, Croatia, France, 2017, 78’

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION PROGRAMME

The programme consisting of 12 exceptional films, a well-balanced selection of works comprising both films by established authors, who are undoubtedly already a part of film history, and stylistically mature young authors.

·         Faces  Places,  Agnès Varda & JR, France, 2017, 89 min

• Human Flow, Ai Weiwei , Germany 2017, 140 min
• Piazza Vittorio, Abel Ferrara, Italia  2017, 75 min
• Brimstone & Glory, Viktor Jakovleski, USA, Mexico, 2017, 67 min
• Vivre Riche, Joël Richmond Mathieu Akafou, France, Burkina Faso, 2017, 60 min
• Meteors, Gürcan Keltek, Turkey, Netherlands, 2017, 84 min
• Boli Bana, Simon Gillard, Belgium, France 2017, 60 min
• 14 Apples, Midi Z, Taiwan, Myanmar, 2018, 84 min
• Distant Constellation, Shevaun Mizrahi, Turkey Netherlands, USA, 2017, 80 min
• Of Fathers and Sons, Talal Derki, Germany, Siria, Lebanon, 2017 98 min
• Happy Winter, Giovanni Totaro, Italia 2017, 91 min
• Napalm, Claude Lanzmann, France 2017, 100 min

FRONT PAGE

From uprising against the dictatorship in the Democratic Republic of Congo to impact of Brexit – the Front Page Selection presents front pages of the global current political and sociological events, bringing closer to the audience the problems, doubts and dead-ends in which the contemporary society is wandering.

• Golden Dawn Girls, Havard Bustnes, Norway, Denmark, Finland, 2017, 95 m
• When the War Comes, Jan Gebert, Czech, Croatia, 2018, 80 min
• Brexittania, Timothy George Kelly, UK 2017, 80 min
• The Red Soul, Jessica Gorter, Netherland 2017, 90 min
• Moldovan Miracle, Stian Indrevoll, Moldova, Norvay, 2017 82 min
• Phoenixxx, Mihai Gavril Dragolea, Romania, 2017, 50 min
• Stories Our Cinema Did (Not) Tell, Fernanda Pesoa, Brazil 2017, 80 min
• Kinshasa Macambo, Dieudo Hamadi, Congo, Norway, Germany, CH, Qatar , 2018, 75 min
• Laila At The Bridge, Gulistan & Elizabeth Mirzae, Afganistan, Canada, 2018, 98

PLANET EARTH

The films in this selection are characterised by both a committed approach to nature and anthropological research of densely populated and virtually unpopulated areas all around the planet.

• Obscuro Barroco, Evangelia Kranioti, Greece France, 2018, 60 min
• Small Planets, Dirk Manthey, Germany 2018, 97 min
• Habaneros, Julien Temple, UK, 2017, 126 min
• Dusk Chorus – Based on Fragments of Extingtion, Nika Saravanja, Alessandro d’ Emilia, Italia, 2017, 62 min
• The Ancient Wood, Mindaugas Survila, Lithuania 2017, 85 min
• Loving Lorna, Jesica & Annika Karlsson, Ireland, Sweden , 2017, 61 min

FIREWORKS

Multi-coloured film explosions that constitute this programme narrate about rapturing, incredible or dynamic people and events, proving that even seemingly small stories can in its essence be magnificent.

• Kedi, Ceyda Torun, Germany USA, Turkey, 2016, 79  min
• Prince of Nothingwood, Sonia Kronlund, France Germany, 2017, 85 min
• Nokia Mobile – We Were Connecting People, Arto Koskinen, Finland 2017, 92
• Avec L’Amour, Ilija Cvetkovski, Makedonija 2017, 66 min
• The Ugliest Car, Grzegorz Szczepaniak, Poland, 2017, 47 min
• A Modern Man, Eva Mulvuc, Danmark, Germany, 2017, 85 min
• Donkeyote, Chico Perreira, Spain, Germany UK, 2017, 86 min
• On the Edge of Freedom, Anita Mathal Hopland & Jens Lengerke, Demnark, Russia, Ukraina, 2017, 75 min
• Majči, Josip Lukić, Hrvatska 2018, 52 min
• The Lovetts, Igor Bezinović, Hrvatska 2018, 16 min

METEORS

Just as meteor rains illuminate a night sky, so does this selection of radical arthouse documentaries, hybrid genres and documentary-fictional forms represent some sort of lighthouse that provides the viewer with the insight into diversity and freedom that film expression can have.

• Gens Du Lac, Jean Marie Straub, Belgium, CH, 2018, 17 min
• Cohen, James Benning, USA 2018, 48 miN
• Our Beloved Month of August, Migel Gomes, Portugal, 2008, 150 min
• Mjesta (na kojima nisam bio), Dane Komljen, Srbija 2010, 22 min
• China, 87. The Others, Jean-Pierre Outers, Violaine de Villers, Belgium 2017, 60
• Babylon, Ala Eddine Slim, Ismael & Youssef Chebbi, Tunis 2012, 112 min
• Let the Summer Never Come Again, Aleksandre Koberidze, Georgia 2017, 202 min
• Where Do You Stand Now, Joao Pedro Rodrigues, Portugal, 2017, 21 min
• Last Time I Saw Makao, Joao Pedro Rodrigues & Joao Rui Guerra Damata, Portugal, 2012, 85 min

RETROSPECTIVE: ULRICH SEIDL

In his work, Seidl is predominantly focused on people on the edge of society and through their individual stories he speaks about the many. The retrospective includes six films, while the author himself will honour the programme with his presence.

• Der Ball, Austria,  1982,  50 min
• Good News, Austria,  1990,  130 min
• Loss is to be Expected, Austria,  1992,  118 min
• Animal Love, Austria, 1996, 120 min
• Jesus, You Know, Austria, 2003, 87 min
• In the Basement, Austria Germany, 2014, 81 min

RETROSPECTIVE: VLADO ŠKAFAR

As one of the most important authors from former Yugoslavia, Škafar with his meditative and subtle non-narrative films shapes the world in which lie is doomed to fail. The director with the deep sense of humanity enters into psychological characterisation and even words become images.

• A Girl and a Tree, Vlado Škafar, Slovenia, 2012, 83 min
• Letter to a Child, Vlado Škafar, Slovenia, 2009, 100 min
• Nighttime with Mojca, Vlado Škafar, Slovenia, 2012, 83 min

FOCUS: BALTIC STATES

This year Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia mark 100 years of their first declaration of independence. This special programme dedicated to the cinematography of these countries presents 6 films, which represent the finest works of contemporary documentary film-making in Baltic States.

• Wonderful Losers: A Different World, Arunas Matelis, Lithuania, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium,

       Latvia, Northern Ireland – UK, Ireland, Spain, 2017, 72 min

• Paradise Gowns, Albina Griniute, Lithuania, Finland, 2016, 61 min
• One Ticket, Please, Matiss Kaža, Latvia, USA, 2017, 65 min
• Varpa – Promise Land, Bruno Aščuks, Latvia, 2017, 95 min
• Soviet Hippies, Terje Toomistu, Estonia, 2017, 75 min
• Rodeo, Raimo Joerand, Kiur Aarma, Estonia, Finland, 2018, 74 min

BELDOCS HUMAN RIGHTS

On the occasion of marking 70 years since the signing of the Declaration of Human Rights, Beldocs presents this programme of films and panel discussions with eminent experts on the topics of genocide, human trafficking and capital punishment.

• Intent to Destroy: Death, Denial & Depiction, Joe Berlinger, USA 2017, 115 min
• Hanaa, Giuseppe Carrieri, Italia, 2017, 87 min
• Tricked, John Keith Wasson, Jane Wells, USA Sweden, 2013, 76 min
• Mirsada, Danilo Marunović, Crna Gora 2017, 52 min
• The Penalty, Will Francome, Mark  Pizzey , USA UK, 2017, 90 min

BIOGRAPHICAL DOCUMENTARIES

• Born Just Now, Robert Adanto, USA 2018, 84 m
• The Waldheim Waltz, Ruth Beckermann, Austria 2018, 93 min
• Big Time, Kaspar Astrup Schroder, Denmark, 2017, 90 min
• Etgar Keret: Based on a True Story, Stephane Kaas, Izrael, Netherland,2017, 54
• Rezo, Leo Cabriadze, Georgia, Russia, 2017, 63 min
• Mapa puna snova, Danilo Lola Ilić, Hrvatska 2017, - Premijera u Centru za kulturu Vlada

       Divljan

• Westwood: Punk, Icon, Activist, Lorna Tuker, UK, 2018, 78 min

MUSIC AND DANCE DOCUMENTARIES

• Bobbi Jene, Elvira Lind, Denmark,Sweden, 2017, 94 min
• Matangi/MAYA/M.I.A. , Steve Loveridge, Sri Lanka, UK, USA, 2018, 95 min
• Festiwal, Anna Gawlita, Tomasz Wolski, Poland 2017, 85 min
• Conny Plank: The Potential of Noise, Reto Caduff, Stephan Plank, Germany 2017, 92 min
• Alive in France, Abel Ferrara, France 2017, 79 min

·         Capoeira, Jorge Itapuã,  Brazil 2017, 73 min

SPECIAL SCREENINGS

• Hotel Jugoslavija, Nicolas Wagnieres, CH 2018, 78 min
• Blok 70, Zhi Wang, China Serbia, 2018 75 min
• Sarajevo, Mustafa Mustafić, BH 2017, 70 min
• Our New President, Maxim Pozdorovkin, USA, Russia, 2018, 77 min
• Glasnije od oružja, Miroslav Sikavica, Hrvatska 2017, 86 min
• Road Movie, Dmitrii Kalashnikov, Belarus, Russia, Serbia, BH, Croatia, 2016, 67
• Hram cvijeća, Irena Škorić, Hrvatska, 2018, 56 min

Main Award for NOVEMBER, Best Director goes to Bernadett Tuza-Ritter for A WOMAN CAPTURED

The 18th edition of goEast – Festival of Central and Eastern European Film came to a successful conclusion on 24 April with an extensive awards ceremony at Wiesbaden’s Caligari FilmBühne. Following an exciting week of cinema, virtual reality, lectures, discussions and workshops featuring 103 films and over 200 guests from the international film scene, the winners of the competitions were honoured at the festive event, where awards representing a total value of 30,000 euros were presented. 

The Golden Lily, the Award for Best Film, went to NOVEMBER (Estonia, Netherlands, Poland 2017, Director: Rainer Sarnet; Production: Katrin Kissa). The five-member jury headed by Ildikó Enyedi explained its decision with the exceptional, outstanding realisation by the director, for the courage of the producer to fight for this vision. “For the powerful vision, the true poetry, the free humour, and to the whole team believing in it and giving their talent and passion, the Award for the Best Film goes to the film NOVEMBER”, according to the jury. Rainer Sarnet's dark folklore fairy tale in high-contrast black and white receives prize money of 10,000 euros.

Director Bernadett Tuza-Ritter won the Award of the City of Wiesbaden for Best Director, endowed with prize money of 7,500 euros, with her film A WOMAN CAPTURED (Hungary, Germany 2017). In particular, the jury emphasized the accuracy and wisdom of the selection for the best expression to tell the story. “For the bravery of the minimalistic approach, and for directing in a tender and a patient way not only the film, but also the life of the protagonist, the Award of the City of Wiesbaden for Best Director goes to Bernadett Tuza-Ritter.”

Festival director Heleen Gerritsen emphasised: “I am enthusiastic about the loyal goEast core audience, who met with great passion in the cinema, participated in film talks and was very open-minded about our innovations such as virtual reality. As a new director, you feel right at home. Every evening, star directors, young filmmakers, documentary filmmakers, animation artists, VR artists and festival guests from various countries met at the festival center and talked and celebrated with vodka until late at night. goEast is really a festival of encounters!”

The film THE OTHER SIDE OF EVERYTHING (Serbia, France, Qatar 2017; Director Mila Turajlić) on the protests that led to the overthrow of Slobodan Milošević won the Award of the Federal Foreign Office for Cultural Diversity (4,000 euros). According to a statement from the jury, the film captures a deeply personal story. “The film gives a unique view into the life of a strong woman swimming against the tide. It draws attention to an important topic of today:  the fragility and vulnerability of democracy.”

In addition, the jury honoured REZO (Russia 2017; director: Levan Gabriadze) with honourable mentions. “The heart-warming family story set among the waves of the history of the 20th century, told with humour and humanity. The form of the film fits the topic brilliantly.”

The International Film Critic's Award (FIPRESCI Prize) went to ICE MOTHER (Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, France 2017; director: Bohdan Sláma) in the fiction feature category. A middle-aged widow breaks the constraints of stifling conventions and enjoys her discovery of another life-style. “The mise en scène of her hilarious choices, with its strong echo of the absurd, leads to surprising changes.” The social satire inspires with its vitality, so the jury.

A WOMAN CAPTURED (Hungary, Germany 2017, director: Bernadett Tuza-Ritter) won the FIPRESCI prize for best documentary. The film about the exploitation of an unpaid servant in a latter-day family is a striking portrait of a brave woman’s struggle for freedom. “We have chosen this German-Hungarian production because of the coherence of its point of view, for its artistic rigor and its social impact.”

Artist duo Denis Semenov and Natalia Severina won the Virtual Reality Competition’s Open Frame Award, made possible with the generous support of BHF BANK Foundation for their work NOMINAL EMPIRE (Russia 2018). The prize is endowed with 5,000 euros. The jury statement states: "The imaginative engagement with one's own history is consistently translated into expressive pictorial worlds. The viewer has the opportunity to gain aesthetic experience in a postmodern world and to move freely in the dystopian mind-set of the makers.” With the first place the jury honours the exceptional conceptual and technical achievements of this artist couple.
An honourable mention was received HERE AND THERE (Belarus 2017) by Kiryll Halitsky. The threatening victory of everyday life over the creative work of an author will be implemented excellently.

The project RETURN MY HANDS by Konstantin Selin was awarded the goEast Development Award (3,500 euros) with the kind support of Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain, for the best pitch at the East-West Talent Lab. The protagonist of RETURN MY HANDS uses his skills as a surgeon specialised in fingers and limbs to attract an audience for his filmmaking. "Two opposing worlds: microsurgery and filmmaking – Konstantin Selin's view on the Russian health care system is humorous and disturbing”, explained the jury. An honorable mention was given to INHABITANTS by Mery Aghakhanyan. Strong in both social relevance and visual style, this documentary project brings us to the forgotten inhabitants of an Armenian container settlement for displaced persons.

The 18th edition of goEast – Festival of Central and Eastern European Film took place from 18 to 24 April in Wiesbaden, Germany. Among the festival’s many highlights were personal appearances by internationally celebrated filmmakers such as Boris Khlebnikov, Ildikó Enyedi and Ābrams Kleckins. Under the title “Hybrid Identities – Baltic Cinema”, this year’s goEast Symposium was also met with great interest by both film scholars and the general public alike.

--
An overview of all goEast 2018 prize winners:

Best Film
NOVEMBER
Estonia, Netherlands, Poland 2017; Director: Rainer Sarnet; Production: Katrin Kissa

Award of the City of Wiesbaden for Best Director 
A WOMAN CAPTURED
Hungary, Germany 2017; Director: Bernadett Tuza-Ritter

Award of the Federal Foreign Office for Cultural Diversity
THE OTHER SIDE OF EVERYTHING
Serbia, France, Qatar 2017; Director: Mila Turajlić

International Film Critic's Award (FIPRESCI Prize) – Feature Film
ICE MOTHER
Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Franc 2017; Director: Bohdan Sláma

International Film Critic's Award (FIPRESCI Prize) – Documentary
A WOMAN CAPTURED
Hungary, Germany 2017; Director: Bernadett Tuza-Ritter

Open Frame Award
NOMINAL EMPIRE
Russia 2018; Denis Semenov and Natalia Severina

goEast Development Award
RETURN MY HANDS
Konstantin Selin

American Film Festival for the fourth year in a row got on the prestigious list of the “MovieMaker” Magazine’s “50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee.”

“MovieMaker” is one of the most important American trade magazines, with a wide range of readers also outside the US. The “50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee” list prepared by “MovieMaker” includes original events that are characterized by creativity and unconventional solutions, keeping the pulse of film life, while remaining in an open dialogue with the viewers. The magazine appreciated American Film Festival (among others) for a fresh look at the American cinema, screenings of new films from the USA long before their Polish premiere, presentation of the work of independent directors from across the Ocean or extensive cooperation with artists within the US in Progress. Importantly, the list prepared by “MovieMaker” includes only 8 events from outside the United States (among them also Camerimage from Bydgoszcz in Poland).

The 9th American Film Festival will  take place in October 23–28. You can read more about AFF at americanfilmfestival.pl.

Submit you movie here. Free of charge. Open till July 15.

The time has finally come for the second workshop of MIDPOINT Feature Launch and MIDPOINT Shorts, as well as for the first edition of MIDPOINT Intensive Serbia.

On April 27 – May 3, 2018 the script and project development platform MIDPOINT Feature Launch will take off in Belgrade, Serbia thanks to the strong partnership with Film Center Serbia.

Get more information on 9 projects from Azerbaijan, Czech Republic, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Greece, Hungary, Serbia and Ukraine here.

The Tutors

International experts will give their individual feedback to scripts of all projects, as well as cover the wide range of film development – from European film financing and co-production, sales, online distribution to project pitching and marketing strategies.

During the second workshop the teams will be guided by Head of Studies Danijel Hočevar (SVN) and Core Tutors Anne Gensior (DE), Pavel Jech (USA) and Ivo Trajkov (CZ/MK); as well as Pitching Tutor Gabriele Brunnenmeyer (DE). We are also pleased to welcome this year's Guest Tutors, Alessandro Gropplero (IT), Christina Liapi (GR), Olimpia Pont Cháfer (ESP), Inke Van Loocke (NL), Océane Portal (FR), Stefan Arsenijević (SRB) and Manfred Schmidt (DE).

Workshop program - open lectures

Sunday April 29, 17.30
/ HOW TO PITCH YOUR FILM – 6 QUESTIONS FOR THE PITCH, by Gabriele Brunnenmeyer

Sunday April 29, 18.45
/ EUROPEAN FILM FINANCING SOURCES, by Danijel Hočevar

Monday April 30, 9.00
/ MARKETING AS STORYTELLING, by Christina Liapi

Monday April 30, 13.30 
/ THE ROLE OF A SALES AGENT, by Olimpia Pont Cháfer

Tuesday May 1, 9.00
/ LESSONS FROM ONLINE DISTRIBUTION, by Océane Portal

Wednesday May 2, 9.00
/ HOW TO SURVIVE IN THE BIG JUNGLE OF CO-PRODUCTION MARKETS, by Alessandro Gropplero

Wednesday May 2, 11.30
/ HOW ONE SHORT FILM CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE, by Stefan Arsenijević

Wednesday May 2, 12.30
/ HOW TO BUILD A FUNDING STRATEGY, by Manfred Schmidt

Find out more about all the lectures here

If you are in Belgrade, you are cordially invited to take part in our open lectures. Please write to Sona Morgenthalova at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to confirm your participation until Friday April 27. We are looking forward to meeting you.

MIDPOINT Feature Launch is supported by Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, Czech Film Fund, Film Center Serbia, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Trieste Film Festival, When East Meets West, Audiovisual Producers' Association, and Creative Europe Desk Serbia. Program is organised in collaboration with CineMart and Connecting Cottbus.

MIDPOINT Shorts 2018 – Workshop 2

MIDPOINT Shorts, which consists of participation of 4 short film projects from Croatia, Denmark, Hungary and Turkey, runs in parallel with Feature Launch. Teams of writers, directors and producer will develop their script and also prepare the production and promotional aspects of each project, with Core Tutor Pavel Marek (CZ) running the program and Guest Tutors Marcin Luczaj (PL) and Wim Vanacker (BE).

Learn more about the projects and participants here.

MIDPOINT Shorts program is supported by Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, Czech Film Fund and Film Center Serbia.

MIDPOINT Intensive Serbia 2018

MIDPOINT Intensive Serbia is being held at the same time as Feature Launch's and Shorts’s second workshops in Belgrade. It is the first intensive workshop in Belgrade aimed at the Serbian film professionals. Thanks to a strong partnership with Film Center Serbia, this 4-day workshop is available for Serbian filmmakers.

Hungarian writer, director and script consultant Csaba Bollok will act as Core Tutor, and the workshop consists of group feedback, individual consultations, and plenary sessions and meetings with international decision makers.

Get to know the 4 selected projects and 10 participants from Serbia here.

MIDPOINT Intesive Serbia program is supported by Film Center Serbia.

Script Consulting Incubator

The new Czech training program for script consulting initiated by the Czech Film Fund and organized by MIDPOINT took off at the same time as MIDPOINT Feature Launch in Trieste and will run together with the second workshop of Feature Launch in Belgrade. The Czech Film Fund has initiated this ambitious project to heighten the quality of feature film scripts and to support a new generation of Czech script consultants. Four script consultant trainees have been selected: Lucia Kajánková, Vít Poláček, Michal Reich and Milada Těšitelová. They are mentored by Incubator's Head of Studies, acclaimed Hungarian filmmaker and Artistic director of Sundance Directors Lab Gyula Gazdag. They participate as script consultant trainees at MIDPOINT Feature Launch 2018 and will later move on to become script consultants for new Czech film projects that have received development support from the film fund. Read more here.

 

With the first few days, the film crew has raised almost 2,500 dollars through crowdfunding, which makes up almost 25% of their goal.

According to director Oskar Lehemaa, “Bad Hair” has received support from friends, acquaintances, families and colleagues. “But it’s also really interesting to see new, unknown people supporting the project. That shows that our hairy campaign is slowly working to draw in international horror film fans,” the director explains.

The short film “Bad Hair” tells the story of Leo, who struggles with balding and his body image issues. He uses a mystical hair growth serum that starts causing grotesque distortions to his body. Now he has to stop the horrific changes before he loses the last of his hair... or something much worse. The leading role in “Bad Hair” is played by well-known, Estonian actor Sten Karpov.

Oskar started working on the film six years ago: “I’ve been growing together with “Bad Hair”. During the long pre-production period, I made many new friends and learned a lot about filmmaking,” Oskar says.

According to the film’s producer, Evelin Penttilä, the crowdfunding campaign is happening at the same time as the last preparations for the shooting period in June. “”Bad Hair” is a technically very complicated film for the whole crew – even though the film has only one actor and it takes place in just one room, the special effects make it very tricky. Despite our small budget, we have set ourselves the goal of achieving very realistic make-up and special effects, which will work even better once our post-production wizards have enhanced them even more.” Penttilä adds that they decided to use an international crowdfunding platform to reach horror film fans who might want to support the film.

Of course, director Oskar is also a very big horror film fan himself: “Horror films can give you a raw experience in the cinema – something that you feel with your body more than with your mind. At the same time, a good horror film can take you through intense emotions and touch on important topics. Fear is something genuine, something so characteristic and even necessary that we voluntarily throw ourselves on the path of terror. And, of course, good horror films are just really fun to watch.”

Oskar Lehemaa is a director and screenwriter who grew up in Pärnu and studied in the Baltic Film, Media, Arts and Communication Institute. For the last ten years, Oskar has mainly been working on commercials and television but has always found the time and energy to devote to strange and unique film projects. Oskar is currently also working on a full length puppet animation film “The Old Man”, which was developed out of a short animated film series by the same title.

The main role is played by Sten Karpov who is an Estonian actor born and raised in Viljandi. Sten currently is working at the Endla theatre in Pärnu and has played in several domestic TV series and feature films, including “Bad Hair Friday”, “The Swingers”, “The Pink Sweater” and “The Little Comrade”. In 2008, he received the Crystal Slipper Award given to young actors for success with their first stage work and in 2015 he received the Ants Lauter Award.

The film is produced by Stellar Film, founded in 2015. Producer Evelin Penttilä’s filmography includes the popular youth film “Zero Point”, the local box office hits “Class Reunion” and “Class Reunion 2: A Wedding and a Funeral”, Martti Helde’s visual theatre play “The Old Man and the Sea” and the Icelandic-Estonian-Norwegian co-production film “Mihkel”, which is set to premiere soon.

The film is funded by the Estonian Film Instiute, the Estonian Cultural Endowment and supported by Angel Films Estonia, Cinerama, the Baltic Film, Media, Arts and Communication Institute and Widescreen Studios.

“Bad Hair” will screen in Estonian cinemas and horror film festivals over the world in 2019.

 

European Film Promotion (EFP) and its member organisations are delighted to announce the 2018 line-up for EFP PRODUCERS ON THE MOVE. 20 of the most promising, up-and-coming European producers have been selected to take part in EFP's high-profile networking platform at the Cannes Film Festival (May 8 - 19, 2018). During the five-day event between May 10 - 14, the exclusive group will take part in a tailor-made programme in order to foster international coproductions, intensify the exchange of experiences and help create new professional networks. EFP's longstanding programme is financially backed by the Creative Europe – MEDIA Programme of the European Union and the participating EFP member organisations.

Two producers of this year’s outstanding group will present their films in the festival: A WOMAN AT WAR by Benedict Erlingsson and co-produced by Iceland's Birgitta Björnsdóttir will screen in the Critics' Week, while the artistic documentary SAMOUNI ROAD by Stefano Savona from Italy, co-produced by Marco Alessi together with French partners, will celebrate its premiere in the Directors' Fortnight. In addition, former PRODUCERS ON THE MOVE will be competing with their films for the Palme d'Or: GIRLS OF THE SUN by Eva Husson was produced by Didar Domehri and co-produced by Vladimer Katcharava and Joseph Roushop. COLD WAR by Pawel Pawlikowski was executive produced by Piotr Dzieciol, and HAPPY AS LAZZARO by Alice Rohrwacher, featuring former European Shooting Star Alba Rohrwacher, was produced by Tiziana Soudani. Last but not least THE WILD PEAR TREE by Turc Nuri Bilge Ceylan was co-produced by Labina Mitevska and Fabian Gasmia.

The full list of EFP alumni presenting their work at the Cannes Film Festival 2018 will be published next week.