The Film Garage is a story development workshop created by Scuola Holden(Italy), focused on genre movies (thriller, sci-fi, horror, crime, black comedy and road movies). 12 selected scripts which suffer from using cliché in an unimaginative way will benefit of an expert's eye to work on these problems.

Click here for more details about the workshop.

How to participate

The Film Garage is designed for professional scriptwriters.  Participants must send their application to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. in PDF format and in English language:

• a professional CV, filmography, and a motivation letter for being in the workshop;
• a project synopsis and a logline (max one page);
• a project treatment (10 pages maximum);
• a project intention note (it may include a director’s and/or a producer’s notes).

Optional:

• a previous work (link to a video or to references);
• a first financing plan and budget, where available.

Deadline to apply: 26 November 2017

 

 

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival and Industry@Tallinn announce participants of the new Screen Stars Tallinn initiative are announced - seven up-and-coming actors from Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Finland and Germany.

Screen Stars Tallinn is a three-day lab and talent showcase for young actors from the Baltic Sea Region, launched this year by Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival. The first edition will take place on November 28-30 and offer the participants meetings with casting agents and filmmakers, masterclasses and networking events. The programme is open for actors who have already performed in films in their respective countries and now wish to enter the international acting scene.

A number of well-known casting directors, agents and film directors will function as mentors and experts, and share experiences and useful tips at masterclasses. These are Stephanie Holbrook, casting director (USA), Debbie McWilliams, casting director (UK), Beatrice Kruger, casting director (Italy), Molly Wansell, agent (UK), Georg Georgi, agent (Germany), Laura Munsterhjelm, agent (Finland), Deborah Kara Unger, actress (Canada) and Steven Bernstein, director (USA).

Says Tiina Lokk, Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival: 'There is great talent in the field of acting in our region and we have created Screen Stars Tallinn to put a spotlight on that. We want to offer the participants a springboard for future international careers and a programme mixing training, promotion and networking. We can’t wait to welcome the actors and mentors to this first edition.

The Screen Stars Tallinn experts are presented in more detail at our website. On November 28 at 14.00-16.30, they will participate in a seminar open to all Industry@Tallinn &; Baltic Event participants "International Film Casting - How to Score the Roles You Dream About". The seminar takes place at Kultuurikatel, Põhja puiestee 27.

Screen Stars Tallinn Participants 2017

Maiken Schmidt (Estonia)
Maiken Schmidt was born in Kilingi-Nõmme in 1985. She has graduated from Tallinn University, majoring in choreography, and the Estonian Academy of Theatre and Music, majoring in performing arts. Since 2012, she works as an actress in Tallinn City Theatre. Maiken has had roles in stage plays, films and TV series, played in three musicals as a dancer and actress, created choreography for productions and worked as a voice over artist for cartoons. different stage plays as well as other projects including films, TV series, dubbing for cartoons, creating choreography for productions, dancing, teaching public speaking, etc. She has also played in three musicals as a dancer and actress. Maiken has appeared in student films, among them Spring a la Carte by D. Tääker and The Second Pie Robbery by K. Kokk, and five full-length features, Demons by Ain Mäeots, 1944 by Elmo Nüganen, Mihkel by A. A. Ergis Magnússon, The End of the Chain (screens in the Estonian Competition programme of Black Nights) by Priit Pääsuke, Truth and Justice by Tanel Toom (to be released in 2019).

Hendrik Toompere jr (Estonia)
Hendrik Toompere jr is a third generation Estonian actor and stage director. In 2010, he graduated from the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, and has since been working at the Estonian Drama Theatre. He played in short and student films at university and has now become one of the most desired male film actors in Estonia. His first feature film role was in 2012 in Toomas Hussar’s film Mushrooming, which won the Audience Award at the Karlovy Vary IFF East of West programme and went on to screen at many festivals worldwide. The 2015 domestic box office hit 1944 starring Hendrik has now been sold to more than 20 territories. Both films were the Estonian submissions for the Foreign Language Academy Award. In 2016, Hendrik played the lead in Triin Ruumet’s debut film The Days That Confused, which brought him the Estonian Film Award for Best Actor. In 2017, we can see Hendrik in supporting roles in the feature films The End of the Chain and The Eternal Road that both screen at Black Nights competitions.

Elina Vaska (Latvia)
Elina Vaska was cast in the main role of Renars Vimba's feature debut Mellow Mudas she began studying Theory of Audiovisual Art and Theatre at the Latvian Academy of Culture. Mellow Mud won the Crystal Bear for Best Film on its world premiere at the Berlinale's Generation 14plus strand last year. Elina, who has now also made her stage acting debut, was awarded with the Latvian National Film Award Lielais Kristaps for her role in Mellow Mud and with other awards, not only in Europe. Elina Vaska has been named among the 2017 European Shooting Stars. Praising Vaska's performance in Mellow Mud, the jury commented: "She just made her debut, and what's the debut of this. We could compare it with some classic predecessors, but we will not. Elina's performance is all her own, subtle, contemplative and with a soulful glow. It's the power of the unspoken in a very pure form." With experience in films, TV series and music videos, Elina continues to search for challenges as an actress.

Rosa Honkonen (Finland)
Rosa Honkonen, born in 2000, started acting at age 9 in a musical theatre school. After her first auditions, she bagged a role in a musical, and enrolled in Kruununhaka’s Junior High School, which specialised in music and dancing. From there, she moved to the TV series Satanen and soon thereafter met Anastasia Lobkovski, who has cast her in many roles since then. While shooting Satanen, she was cast in the teaser for the film The Collection, followed by a role in MTV3’s series Hinnalla Millä Hyvänsä, directed by Samuli Valkama. Her first major film role was the main supporting character in Hannaleena Hauru’s Thick Lashes of Lauri Mäntyvaara. In 2017, she played in Stupid Young Heart, directed by Selma Vilhunen. Honkonen is now studying, majoring in international business, but her biggest passion remains acting.

Louis Hofmann (Germany)
Louis Hofmann was born in Cologne in 1997. His first role was in the TV movie Der Verlorene Vater (2010). Director Hermine Huntgeburth cast him in Tom Sawyer in 2011 and The Adventures of Huck Finn in 2012. For his performance in Sanctuary, he won a Bavarian Film Award 2014. His first international role was in the Oscar® nominated Danish-German co-production Land of Mine, for which he received the award for Best Male Actor at the Tokyo IFF, as well as the Danish Film Award for Best Supporting Actor. He recently played in Center of My World by Jakob M. Erwa. In May 2016, Hofmann received the German Actors Prize for Newcomer, as well as the Jaeger-LeCoultre Hommage to German Film for Land Of Mine. At the Berlinale in 2017, Hofmann returned as one of the 10 European Shooting Stars. He can also be seen in the first German series for Amazon, You Are Wanted. He currently stars in the first German-language Netflix series, DARK, in Different Kinds Of Rain, and in the upcoming Prélude.

Gelmine Glemžaite (Lithuania)
Gelminė Glemžaitė was born in 1990, in Vilnius, Lithuania. She started her acting studies at the Lithuanian Music and Theatre Academy in 2011, and graduated with a BA in 2014. In 2017, she was nominated for the Best Lithuanian Film Actress award at Vilnius International Film Festival, and for the Best Supporting Actress at the Lithuanian national film awards, Silver Crane. At the moment, she’s working in cinema and theatre. Selected filmography: Ten Reasons / Dešimt priežasčių (dir. Andrius Blaževičius, short film, 30 min., 2011, Lithuania), Sobaka (short film, dir. Domas Petronis, 2014, Lithuania), The Saint / Šventasis (dir. Andrius Blaževičius, feature film, 93 min., 2016, Lithuania, Poland), Poilsiautojai. Pavydo žaidynės (feature film,  dir. Simonas Aškelavičius, 2017, Lithuania), The Snake (short film, dir. Titas Laucius, 2017, Lithuania), Summer Survivors (feature film, dir. Marija Kavtaradzė, work in progress, Lithuania).

Lena Morris (Germany)
Lena Morris is an aspiring young actress born and raised in Northern Germany. After her A levels and attending school theatre, she lived a year abroad in England and took an acting class in Maidenhead (England). To study drama, she moved to Berlin. During her three years studies, she began to film A Thought of Ecstasy, that screens in the Official Selection of Black Nights this year.  Currently she lives in Berlin and is playing on stage at Pfefferberg Theater.

 

 

This year the European Commission developed an Animation Plan, which aims to invigorate the animation industry in the entire EU. The Central and Eastern European region contains great potential that has yet to be tapped. A new initiative titled the CEE Animation Workshop is striving to capture this potential by bringing together independent animated film producers from a total of eighteen countries and showing producers from the CEE region the latest international animation industry trends. The event will be held from 2 to 6 December, 2017 in Ljubljana.

The initial idea to connect independent animated film producers from the CEE region (Central and Eastern Europe) emerged in autumn 2016. The need for joint events and more intensive collaboration is the motto of the Visegrad Animation Forum, an international platform that has been connecting producers for the past several years. The primary aim of this initiative is to help grow the industry and lay the groundwork to enable development of successful co-productions which will be competitive internationally. The shared cultural and historical heritage of the CEE countries, the economic similarities and the parallels between forms of expression and language are ideal prerequisites for the creation of strong unity and a strong market. CEE Animation could become a distinctive trademark as well as an excellent export commodity from the participating countries.

The idea to organize this one-off event, which would welcome producers from over half of the countries in Europe and set a firm foundation for future collaboration, was immediately accepted by Creative Europe Desk (CED) representatives. The Creative Europe – MEDIA Programme strengthens the European audiovisual market and tries to enhance the international competitiveness of the market as a whole. The head of the Czech CED Pavlína Kalandrová points out that collaboration between European countries is essential and adds: “The CEE Animation Workshop is intended to facilitate development of the necessary linkages within our market and encourage collaboration within our region, while also helping our market become an adequate partner for Western Europe – whether in the animated work production phase, through co-productions or subsequent distribution.”

The engagement of a total of nineteen national Creative Europe Desks – MEDIA offices (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Georgia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine) is a huge benefit. “We are convinced that through better use of the potential for collaboration between producers in our region, our applicants will be more successful in Creative Europe MEDIA EU programme. That is one of the reasons why so many Creative Europe – MEDIA Desks are taking part in the project,” says Sabina Briški Karlić, the head of the Slovenian CED, adding: “Our mission is not only to put collaborative efforts for the workshop to happen. We are above all working together to identify issues in each of the countries that are part of the CEE Animation Workshop to be able to reach expected workshop outcomes and promote its results at the very moment of European strategy for animation sector being set.”

The head of studies of the workshop is Linda Beath, who has provided film advisory services and trained film producers across Europe for many years. The lecturers, who will spend five days of intensive work with the participants, include five renowned film experts. Experienced Irish producer Siun Ni Raghallaigh, who has over thirty years of experience in the media industry, is the CEO of Ardmore Studios and one of the founders of Troy Studios. A second lecturer is Moe Honan, CEO of Moetion Films Ltd. Her studio was recognized as the 2016 Producer of the Year at Cartoon Movie and has co-produced many animated films, including award-winning full length feature films such as Two By Two – Ooops! The Ark Has Gone (aka Ooops! Noah Is Gone). A third tutor is renowned film marketing expert Mathias Noschis. With his company Alphapanda, he has developed online PR and social media campaigns for numerous Hollywood titles, such as: Lego Ninjago, Kung Fu Panda 3, Ice Age: Collision Course, Toy Story 3 and Rango. Mathias is currently working on a Polish film titled Another Day of Life. The fourth is Richard Rowe, Director of International Acquisitions and Co-productions at DHX Media. Having spent the first 12 years of his career at Turner Broadcasting, he recently founded Rowe Media to provide consultancy services to the children’s television industry. This group will also join Maciej Chmiel, Vice Head of Sales & Acquisitions Department of TVP (Polish National Broadcaster).

Twenty-six producers from a total of eighteen countries were selected to participate in the first edition of the workshop: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Georgia, Kosovo, Hungary, Macedonia, Moldova, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Serbia and Ukraine. The main workshop topics will include international co-productions, financing, legal issues, marketing, sales, work with TV broadcasters and digital distribution.

An important part of the Ljubljana workshop will be a panel discussion on co-production conditions in Central and Eastern Europe. The meeting will be attended by over thirty film professionals who will try to formulate a joint statement to cinematographic funds and representatives of TV broadcasters calling for greater support of the animation industry. This document, titled the Ljubljana Accord will include a description of the specific conditions for production of animated works in the CEE region and draft improvement strategies aimed at developing a competitive animated film industry – both nationally and internationally.

The CEE Animation Workshop will be held from 2 to 6 December, 2017 at the Animateka International Animated Film Festival taking place in Ljubljana from 4 to 10 December, 2017. More information about the CEE Animation Workshop find at ceeanimation.eu.

Accompanying programme:

The CEE Animation Workshop is being organized in co-operation with the Animateka International Animated Film Festival which will be held in Ljubljana from 4 to 10 December, 2017. The accompanying programme will feature workshop lecturers Moe Honan and Siun Ni Raghallaigh. There will be a general public screening of the animated feature comedy Ooops! Noah Is Gone… In their case study, the two producers will unveil the feature film development process, starting from the search for possible financing and co-production partners to subsequent distribution of the animated work. The Irish-German-Luxembourg-Belgian co-production, known in the USA as All Creatures Big and Small and in the UK and Ireland as Two by Two – Ooops! The Ark Has Gone…, won the 2016 Producer of the Year award at Cartoon Movie. The worldwide success of the film is underscored by sales in more than 120 countries, including cinema distribution in China, and a significant response from online platforms, including Netflix sales. The event will be held on 5 December.

 

Media contact:

Marta Jallageas, PR / AppData/Local/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/INetCache/Content.Outlook/R606UCS2/This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. / +775 669 222

Contact for inquiries regarding the CEE Animation Workshop:

Juraj Krasnohorsky (SK), organizer / AppData/Local/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/INetCache/Content.Outlook/R606UCS2/This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. / +421 904 185 692

Matija Šturm (SI), organizer / AppData/Local/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/INetCache/Content.Outlook/R606UCS2/This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. / +386 31 632 162

 

The organizers of the CEE Animation Workshop are:

Creative Europe – MEDIA Desks from 19 countries

Creative Europe is the EU programme supporting audiovisual industry and the cultural and creative sectors in the period 2014–2020. The programme aims to create a single framework for financing projects in the performing arts, visual arts, literature and publishing, film, television, music, interdisciplinary arts, cultural heritage and video games, and to leverage synergies between different sectors, increasing the effectiveness of the support provided.

→ https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/creative-europe/

Visegrad Animation Forum

The Visegrad Animation Forum (VAF) is a platform intended to strengthen the animation industry in the Central and Eastern European region. The main objective is to create opportunities for meetings of producers, studios, TV broadcasters and film distributors leading to co-operation on animation projects. The core of the VAF agenda is a pitching competition with two categories: short film and series/TV specials. Participants have a unique opportunity to attract foreign producers, facilitating further development of the project and momentum towards realization. The competitive part is accompanied by professional workshops on topics relating to the financing of development, production and distribution of animated films and series.

→ http://visegradanimation.com/  

Slovenian Animated Film Association

Slovenian Animated Film Association (:D'SAF!) unites professionals (producers, directors, animators, designers, screenwriters, festival programmers, etc.) working in animated film, as well as experts in related fields, public and private organizations, students and enthusiasts. Its primary goals are to further the development and recognition of the art of animated film nationally and internationally.

→ http://cargocollective.com/animirani-film/ABOUT-D-SAF/

Motovila Institute

Motovila, Centre for the Promotion of Cooperation in the Cultural and Creative Sectors (Motovila Institute) is a non-governmental and non-profit institute based in Ljubljana. It focuses on encouraging international collaboration in the cultural and creative sectors and related complementary sectors. Its aim is to facilitate international connections of cultural and creative operators as well as to equip them with skills necessary for a successful access to cooperation opportunities available within the EU and other international mechanisms. As part of those activities, Motovila runs the Creative Europe Desk (CED) in Slovenia, a national info point for the promotion of the Creative Europe Programme, with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia and the European Commission.

→ http://ced-slovenia.eu/en/motovila-institute/

Animateka International Animated Film Festival

Animateka, a week-long international festival of animated film, takes place every year in Ljubljana’s Kinodvor and Slovenian Cinematheque. It focuses primarily on the most recent Eastern and Central European short film productions. European student films and International children’s films will also be presented in competition programmes. The festival, supported by the Creative Europe MEDIA Programme, includes a wide range of historical and thematic programmes offering audiences insight into the inception and development of animation and giving them an overview of the best contemporary short and feature animated films on a worldwide scale.

→ http://www.animateka.si/2017/en/

 

These grants were announced by the Georgian National Film Center on 13 November 2017.

MAIN COMPETITION Golden Frog: On Body and Soul

cin. Máté Herbai 
dir. Ildikó Enyedi Silver Frog: Loveless
cin. Mikhail Krichman
dir. Andrei Zvyagintsev Bronze Frog: First They Killed My Father
cin. Anthony Dod Mantle
dir. Angelina Jolie*** *** ***

FIPRESCI AWARD

The International Critics Prize to the director of the best film in the Main Competition – under specific consideration of its cinematography: Sweet Country

cin. Dylan River, Warwick Thornton

dir. Warwick Thornton

*** *** ***

AUDIENCE AWARD

Camerimage Audience Award: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

cin. Ben Davis

dir. Martin McDonagh

*** *** ***

POLISH FILMS COMPETITION 

Best Polish Film: The Art of Loving. Story of Michalina Wislocka
cin. Michał Sobociński
dir. Maria Sadowska*** *** ***

STUDENT ETUDES COMPETITION

Laszlo Kovacs Student Award - Golden Tadpole – All of Us
cin. Felix Striegel 
dir. Katja Benrath 
school: Hamburg Media School (HMS)

Silver Tadpole: Across the Street
cin. Tom Durand
dir. Jeanne Privat
school: Institut National Superieur des Arts du Spectacle et des Techniques de Diffusion (INSAS)

Bronze Tadpole: Rocco
cin. Martín Urrea 
dir. Gerard Nogueira 
school: Hamburg Media School (HMS)*** *** *** 

DOCUMENTARY FEATURES COMPETITION

Golden Frog — to a documentary film: Radio Kobanî
cin. Nina Badoux
dir. Reber Dosky

Golden Frog — to a docudrama: Potentiae
cin. Ricardo Garfias
dir. Javier Toscano

Special Mention: Normal Autistic Film
cin. Miroslav Janek
dir. Miroslav Janek*** *** ***

DOCUMENTARY SHORTS COMPETITION

Golden Frog — Grand Prix: Zhalanash - Empty Shore
cin. Marcin Sauter
dir. Marcin Sauter

Special Mention: Find Fix Finish
cin. Nikolai Huber 
dir. Sylvain Cruiziat, Mila Zhluktenko *** *** *** 

DIRECTORS’ DEBUTS COMPETITION
under the patronage of the Polish Filmmakers Association (SFP)

Best Directorial Debut: Borg McEnroe
cin. Niels Thastum 
dir. Janus Metz*** *** *** 

CINEMATOGRAPHERS’ DEBUTS COMPETITION
under the patronage of the Polish Filmmakers Association (SFP) 

Best Cinematography Debut: Winter Brothers
cin. Maria von Hausswolff 
dir. Hlynur Pálmason*** *** *** 

MUSIC VIDEOS COMPETITION

Best Music Video: Leningrad "Kolschik" 
cin. Genrih Meder
dir. Ilya Naishuller

Best Cinematography In A Music Video: alt-J "3WW" 
cin. Dustin Lane 
dir. Young Replicant*** *** ***

FIRST LOOK - TV PILOTS COMPETITION

Best Pilot: Black Spot: Stranger Comes To Town
cin. Christophe Nuyens 
dir. Julien Despaux, Thierry Poiraud

 

 

The People's Jury of the 11th Five Flavours Asian Film Festival has awarded the Grand Prix  of the Festival to "Free and Easy" (Hong Kong 2017) directed by Geng Jun. The 3500 euro award was founded by the Polish Film Institute.

The Special Mention goes to "KFC" (Vietnam 2017) directed by Lê Bình Giang.

The NETPAC Jury chose "Marlina the Murder in Four Acts" (Indonesia/Malaysia/Thailand/France 2017) directed by Mouly Surya as the best picture of the festival.

People's Jury included: Jowita Agnieszka Czubek, Dominika Drzastwa, Agata Herbich, Maja Jankowska, Katarzyna Karpińska, Michał Mielnik, Julia Niedziejko, Paweł Skrzypczak, Szymon Szeszuła, Patrycja Wysokińska, Marcin Zwolan. The NETPAC (Network for the Promotion of Asia Pacific Cinema) Jury included: Siddiq Barmak, Cüneyt Cebenoyan, and Sonali Joshi.

FESTIVAL GRAND PRIX AWARDED BY PEOPLE'S JURY: FREE AND EASY (dir. Geng Jun, Hong Kong 2017)

For a brave social satire disregarding the censorship, for creating a unique cinematic space in which the Chinese province becomes the background for an ironic tale of evil, and for the subversive use of soap as a weapon of mass destruction; the People's Jury of the 11th Five Flavours Asian Film Festival chooses "Free and Easy" directed by Geng Jun as the best film of the New Asian Cinema section.

SPECIAL MENTION AWARDED BY PEOPLE'S JURY: KFC (dir. Lê Bình Giang, Vietnam 2017)

For combining genre conventions with a non-compromising, auteur vision, for the pop cultural potential and a pioneering contribution to Vietnamese exploitation cinema, and finally for crossing the borders of taste between Coca Cola and Pepsi; the People's Jury awards the Special Mention to "KFC," the debut feature by Lê Bình Giang.

NETPAC JURY AWARD: MARLINA THE MURDERER IN FOUR ACTS (dir. Mouly Surya, Indonesia/Malaysia/Thailand/France 2017)

"Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts" was our unanimous choice for the NETPAC award at this year’s Five Flavours Film Festival. The film has a unique singular vision, particularly in its stylistic qualities, using the iconography of the western transposed onto contemporary Asian landscapes. It is striking and challenging, and carries with it exceptional qualities in editing and sound design in particular. Mouly Surya is no doubt one of Asian cinema’s outstanding talents today, and she brings her distinctive voice to this film.

Congratulations to the winners!

 

Fest Anca International Animation Festival has just opened its call for 2018 entries. Our webpage has all the info you need about our free submission process.

Registration is open until February 25, 2018. Only short animated films and music videos created after January 1, 2016 can be accepted for competition.

Interested in submitting your film right away?
Here's the link to our entry form.

Competition Awards:
- Anca Award (EUR 800) for the best film of the festival
- Anca Student Award (EUR 400) for the best student film
- Anca Music Video Award (EUR 400) for the best music video
- Anca Kids' Award (EUR 400) for the best film for children
- Anca Slovak Award (EUR 700) for the best Slovak film
- D Award (distribution prize for Slovak film)

Fest Anca 2018 will be held from June 28 to July 1, 2018 in Zilina, Slovakia.