The deadline is (almost) here and so is the last chance to submit your film!

Dear filmmakers,The deadline for the RIGA IFF International Feature Film Competition, Short Film National Competition, KIDS' REEL Feature and Short Film Competitions, as well as the BALTIC MUSIC VIDEO Competition ends this Thursday, 30 June!The RIGA IFF International Feature Film Competition brings together directors from the Baltic Sea region and the Nordic countries to compete for the main award, the Golden Rooster, and a cash prize of EUR 4,000.As for the RIGA IFF National Short Film Competition – the selected films will not only compete for the Silver Grass Snake Award and a cash prize of EUR 1,000, but also for becoming a candidate for the  European Film Academy’s European Short Film 2023 Award!

 

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Filmmakers can submit both feature-length and short children’s films to the KIDS’ REEL section. These films will be judged by members of the European Children’s Film Association (ECFA) and the winners will be added to a shortlist of films nominated for the overall ECFA award. The filmmakers will also compete for a prize awarded by the festival’s children’s jury – the winning film’s screening rights will be purchased by Latvian Television (LTV).

The BALTIC MUSIC VIDEO Competition is returning to the festival’s line-up after a year’s break! This competition is unique to the region and the screening is a special event that brings together a professional jury, enthusiasts and fans of the genre, and music video creators. The selected works also compete for the Silver Grass Snake Award, which this year comes with a cash prize of EUR 1,000.

RIGA IFF is one of the most important international film events in the Baltic region with broad, high-quality programming intended for both the general public and film professionals. The professional juries that preside over the festival’s competitions for feature-length films, short films, and music videos seek to highlight uniquely expressive filmmakers and works that communicate new trends and advances in the language of cinema.

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Kids Kino Industry, Warsaw-based international co-production forum for filsm and series for young audience, together with ITFS – Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film and Animation Production Days, would like to invite animators and industry representatives to join our live webinar on 3rd of May, 4-5 PM, CEST: SMART COLLABORATION – Embracing New Technical Tools in Animation. The free registration for this session is open.

SMART COLLABORATION – Embracing New Technical Tools in Animation

In this second year of KKI Talks at the ITFS and APD, we want to take a deeper look at how new tools and technologies can be an enriching driving force in international co-sector and cross-sector collaboration and take a glimpse into the future of storytelling using such technologies. Our speakers Kim Adams and Julia Parfitt (Nexus Studios London / Los Angeles) and Phil Stewart (Head of Realtime, Blue Zoo, London) have been experimenting with tools such as Unity, Unreal and Blender and will share case studies to demonstrate the opportunities that these new tools can bring and how they can affect storytelling in animation. They will also discuss the pros and cons of integrating them into the production pipeline.

Meet our panelists

Kim Adams, Director of Real Time Production, Nexus Studios, USA, where she is leading studio initiatives in real-time animation production across original TV and film, branded content and immersive storytelling, and supporting the growth of Nexus Interactive Arts.

She is the Co-Founder of Adventure Lab, a social VR platform that connects audiences with virtual, live hosted, interactive adventures.

Before that, Kim led a team at Facebook in developing the AR “Storytime” app for Facebook’s Portal video device. Kim was the Head of Production and Executive Producer at Oculus Story Studio, shepherding the development of the Emmy Award-winning narrative VR project, ‘Wolves in the Walls’. Previous to that, Kim was at Google Spotlight Stories, and Pixar Animation Studios. Working between Walt Disney Studio, Pixar Canada, and Pixar, Kim produced 13 short films within the beloved ‘Toy Story’ and ‘Cars’ franchises. Previous to Pixar, Kim served as a visual effects producer on several films including ‘Apocalypto’, and worked on the Oscar-nominated visual effects for ‘Master and Commander’.

Julia Parfitt, Executive Producer, Nexus Studios, USA/UK, where she produced some of the Nexus Studios’s most notable work, including the most awarded ad of the decade Honda ‘Grrrr’, recipient of the highly coveted, Cannes Film Grand Prix Award, as well as the Grammy-nominated music video for Franz Ferdinand ‘Take me Out’, no name but a few.

Julia also held the post of Head of Production at Nexus, where she brought her versatile and proactive skillset for almost a decade and oversaw the diverse creative output of the entire studio, ranging from high-profile film work such as the Oscar-nominated ‘This Way Up’, the title sequence for ‘Catch Me If You Can’ with Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks, several award winning commercials for the likes of Chipotle and Coca Cola, and ground-breaking XR experiences for the global consumer tech leaders.

Most recently, in the role of Executive Producer, Julia has established and nurtured long-standing relationships with further global brands such as Amazon Studios, Netflix, Headspace, Facebook, Google and Duolingo. She often works across platforms and is most interested in exploring how working at the cutting edge of technology can be enhanced with exceptional design and powerful storytelling, which has led her to spearheading a host of projects developed using Real-Time technology.

In 2019, Julia was named ‘Pitch Superwoman’, a UK industry award that recognises trailblazing women and their contributions.

Phil Stewart, Head of Real Time, Blue Zoo, UK, where he is researching, developing and testing new technology and workflows to help the studio achieve it’s ambition of working in the best ways for the benefit of the business and artists. From researching rendering tech and programming a VR-puppet in Unreal Engine, to doing push-ups to test a new Motion-Capture suit, the department strives to stay ahead of the game.

This KKI Talks will be moderated by Prof. Lilian Klages, CEO & Executive Producer of the Danish based company Parka Pictures Aps and the German based company Dreamin’ Dolphin Film GmbH

Participation in the webinar is free of charge.

To join the webinar, sign up here: https://kidskinoindustry.pl/webinar-registration/

On the occasion of Europe Day (May 9th) CE Desks of the Baltic States and their partners offer Ukrainian films to demonstrate strong support to Ukraine and gather donations.

In Estonia the film program Glory to Ukrainian Filmmakers opens on the 9th of May at Artis cinema with the film Donbass (Sergei Loznitsa, 2018). Before the screening a discussion about free media and Russian propaganda is organised by media expert Andres Jõesaar, Head of European Commission's Representation Vivian Loonela and Estonian Minister of Culture Tiit Terik. The project continues with cinemas Artis and Sõprus screening a wide selection of Ukrainan films from 9th till 12th of May. Instead of ticket sales, a donation hotline will be open. As of May 9, also Black Nights Film Festival will offer a list of Ukrainian titles for free on the festival’s online platform. And Estonian Television will program Ukrainian films from the end of May. Glory to Ukrainian Filmmakers is organised by Black Nights Film Festival, Estonian Television, Creative Europe Desk Estonia, Cinemas Artis and Sõprus.

In Latvia the film Atlantis (Valentyn Vasyanovych, 2019) will be made available online for free on cinema Kino Bize online platform from the 8th till the 9th of May. The sales agent Best Friend Forever (Belgium) will forward the fee for the licence to the filmmakers of Atlantis fighting for the independence of their country. The event is organized by Creative Europe MEDIA Desk Latvia and cinema Kino Bize.

In Lithuania the film 107 mothers (Cenzorka, Peter Kerekes, 2021) will be made available for free on film festival‘s Kino Pavasaris online platform KP+ from the 7th till the 9th of May. The film is an example of successful European collaboration, a co-production between Slovakia, Czech Republic and Ukraine, supported by CE MEDIA. And the event is organised by Creative Europe Desk Lithuania together with Vilnius International Film Festival Kino Pavasaris.

With the activities of Europe Day the CE Desks of the Baltic states wishes to provide their audiences with an opportunity to get acquainted with Ukraine's rich culture and cinema that would deserve much more attention, especially in the context of the current war.

All the cinemas and festivals involved in the Europe Day activities are CE MEDIA supported.

For more info contact:

Anu Ernits, CE MEDIA Desk Estonia This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Lelda Ozola, CE MEDIA Desk Latvia This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Austėja Milvydaite, CE MEDIA Desk Lithuania This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The 18th edition of the Docu Talents from the East – traditional presentation of the most remarkable new documentary projects from Central and Eastern Europe – will take place on August 15 during  Cinelink Industry Days at Sarajevo FF. 

We are looking forward to this year’s physical event, after holding two previous Docu Talents’ editions online only,” says Marek Hovorka, director of Ji.hlava IDFF which has curated the programme since 2005. 

Docu Talents @Sarajevo will take place on August 15. The presentations by directors and producers of eight selected documentary projects will be followed by one-to-one meetings with sales agents, festival representatives and other decision-makers accredited at Sarajevo FF. The most promising project will receive a financial prize 5,000 USD in cooperation with the Ji.hlava IDFF’s partner Current Time TV.

The call for submissions to the 18th Docu Talents from the East is open until May 15. The eligible projects include mid-length or feature-length documentary projects at the post-production stage with expected premiere between September 2022 and August 2023. The eligible countries are Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, Northern Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Russia (only for projects not supported by the Russian state institutions), Slovakia, Slovenia, Serbia, Ukraine.

Since 2005, Docu Talents has been a launch pad for a number of documentaries by both renowned and emerging directors such as Laila Pakalniņa, Vladimir Mansky, Bartek Konopka, Piotr Stasik, Peter Kerekes, Dmitrii Kalashnikov and Helena Třeštíková.  Films presented at Docu Talents in the past had world and international premieres at major film festivals including in Cannes, Berlin, Locarno, Rotterdam, and Sundance. 

We have been following the region of Central and Eastern Europe through Docu Talents for 18 years, thus promoting the cinematography which is often omitted by others. And every year the selection confirms to us that there are many new authors to discover”, says Marek Hovorka, director of the Ji.hlava IDFF and curator of Docu Talents.

The programme is held as part of the Visegrad Accelerator supported by the International Visegrad Fund. More information at https://www.ji-hlava.com/docu-talents 

CONTACT: Jarmila Outratová / Head of Industry Office / Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Riga International Film Festival (RIGA IFF) will take place from 13 to 23 October 2022. The festival is opening submissions to its six competition sections on 22 March 2022. Filmmakers can submit their feature-length, short, and children's films and music videos free of charge for the first month, until 22 April.

The RIGA IFF International Feature Film Competition brings together directors from the Baltic Sea region and the Nordic countries to compete for the main award, the Golden Rooster, and a cash prize of EUR 4,000. The films in competition are judged on their artistic merit, originality, and topicality by a jury of international film professionals.

The festival has a special focus on short films, the film format that is most responsive to artistic innovations and social change. This year, RIGA IFF welcomes entries in a variety of genres and themes to submit to the RIGA IFF National and International Short Film Competitions – the selected films will not only compete for the Silver Grass Snake Award and cash prizes of EUR 1,000 and EUR 2,000, but also for the European Film Academy’s (EFA) European Short Film 2023 Award.

Filmmakers can submit both feature-length and short children's films to the KIDS' REEL section. These films will be judged by members of the European Children's Film Association (ECFA) and the winners will be added to a shortlist of films nominated for the overall ECFA award. The filmmakers will also compete for a prize awarded by the festival's children's jury – the winning film’s screening rights will be purchased by Latvian Television (LTV).

The BALTIC MUSIC VIDEO Competition is returning to the festival's line-up after a year's break! This competition is unique to the region and the screening is a special event that brings together a professional jury, enthusiasts and fans of the genre, and music video creators. The selected works also compete for the Silver Grass Snake Award, which this year comes with a cash prize of EUR 1,000.

For more information on submission regulations and deadlines, visit enter.rigaiff.lv.

RIGA IFF is supported by the State Culture Capital Foundation, the National Film Centre of Latvia, and the MEDIA sub-programme of Creative Europe.