Why was the MMKA shut down? What does the future hold for Hungarian documentary filmmakers? Should they take more initiative and make more attractive films? In his in-depth article, journalist Miklós Horváth explores some of the issues troubling the current documentary scene in Hungary.
It is for the second time that within the IFF Cinematik a competition of Slovak feature-length (over 52-minutes) documentaries named Cinematik.doc takes place. 8 films released between September 2010 and September 2011 will compete for the Film Europe Award together with a financial bonus. The 6th annual IFF Cinematik will take place from September 9th to 15th in Piešťany.
The festival is trying to pay more attention to the growing Slovak documentary cinema this way, to its thematic and formal diversity which is also proven by this year's collection. As in the previous year, the winner will be chosen by the young European film critics.
Among the films that have already been awarded there is Erika Hníková's Matchmaking Mayor (Tagesspiel Award at Berlinale), a documentary about Zemplínske Hámre and its mayor who refuses to watch his village dying out; the last part of Matej Mináč trilogy about Nicholas Winter Nicky's Family (Audience Award at Karlovy Vary) and a portrait of an architect and "the father of Asian high-rises" Ladislav Hudec named The Man Who Changed Shanghai by Ladislav Kaboš (Igric award for documentary and creative bonus for film directing).
The new Pavol Barabáš travel film Trou de Fer - The Iron Hole will be competing, too. This time the director has travelled to Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean where the unique canyon with almost untouched nature is situated. Three-week tour of Theatre from the Passage in the USA is portrayed in Adam Hanuljak's Protected Territory.
The life of celebrated sculptor Franz Xaver Messerschmidt is illustrated in Peter Dimitrov dramatized documentary Time of Grimaces. The Whole World Is Narrow Bridge by Dušan Hudec presents Jossi Steiner who left for Israel after the World War II to return to Košice and to become "people's rabbi" there. The last competing film is The Baby Boom Generation at the Turning Point by Yvonne Vavrová about now 40-60-year-old people of baby boom generation and their place in today's society.
The seminar focused onto documentary film and the possibilities of international cooperation will take place from September 9th to 10th in Piešťany, as well. Coproducing Documentaries in Europe is organized by the IFF Cinematik, European Documentary Network (EDN) and MEDIA Desk Slovakia.
It is aimed primarily at producers from Slovakia and the neighboring countries and aims to introduce European possibilities for documentary film coproductions and European documentary film market. The individual consultations of selected projects with renowned international tutors Ove Rishøj Jensen (EDN), Peter Gottschalk (ARTE G.E.I.E.) and Stefan Kloos (Kloos & Co Medien, Germany) will be integral part of the seminar.
The event is organized with financial support of the Slovak Audiovisual Fund.
European Summer University for professionals of Arthouse cinemas
Venice, San Servolo Island, 3> 11/09/ 2011
The 8th European Summer University for professionals of Arthouse cinemas organized within the framework of the MEDIA Programme of the European Union, will take place on the campus-island of San Servolo, during Venice International Film Festival.
Arthouse extended all over Europe in the 1950's, 1960's and 1970's. They now account for 4.000 among the 30.000 cinema screens on the continent. Their position is very different depending on the European regions: organized networks in some countries and mostly isolated cinemas elsewhere.
Still, there is in all countries a need for preparing the future generation of art cinemas managers and a need for getting ready the present managers to face the new challenges of their profession.
The ambition of the "Art Cinema = Action + Management" training is:
- to hand-on on to the new generation the specific know-how (methods, tools, ideas, contacts) for programming, animating and managing an art cinema.
- to give to the present managers, a place for discussing the challenges independent exhibitors have to face in the age of new business models and for making recommendation useful for the all profession on how to strengthen the competitiveness of independent exhibition
During both sessions of the training, the 53 participants selected amongst the 92 candidates will hold debates and discussions on Arthouse cinema exhibition and will share their work and experiences with 40 international professional trainers the German producer Alfred Hürmer, the French economist of cinema and professor at the Sorbonne University, Laurent Creton; the General Director of the Mexican Cineteca Nacional, Paula Astorga ; the deputy director of the Sofia International Film festival, Mira Staleva , to name but a few .
26 countries will be represented on the island: Belgium, Bulgaria, Chad, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Taiwan and United Kingdom.
The International Confederation of Art Cinemas for the development of Art Cinema worldwide
History >> Since 1955, the CICAE has been working to promote cultural diversity in cinemas
In the 50's, non-commercial films (" avant-garde", "auteur cinema" "art cinema") were mainly screened in festivals and often only seen by the movie-going elite, or more infrequently shown in specialized theatres in Europe's major capital cities.
In 1955, the national Arthouse cinema associations of Germany, France, the Netherlands and Switzerland decided to gather and to found the CICAE in order to bring quality films out of the shadows by offering them to a larger audience and to develop an art market for the cinema industry where filmmakers could find the resources they needed to pursue their creative endeavours.
The collective and concerted action of these pioneers led to the emergence in each of their country of a real market for quality films, as well as national schemes aimed at supporting theatres that took a stand in favour of this «high-risk» cinematographic art form.
Today, the CICAE brings together 3,000 screens via 9 national structures[1], independent cinemas in approximately 24 countries[2], 15 or so festivals[3] as well as a number of Arthouse film distributors or organizations (Europa Cinemas).
Aims & Actions >> Supporting the diversity of the cinematographic offer and strengthening theatrical exploitation of art films
- by defending the cultural diversity and to grant the access of people to a variety of independent films and wide-spread programmed cinemas - including the masterpieces of film history and a special offer for the Young Public;
- by offering exhibitors which share the same aims, a space for the sharing of information and experiences ,
- by fostering collaboration between exhibitors and the creation of regional and national market-influencing groups capable to obtain support for Arthouse cinemas from government bodies and local institutions.
- by promoting the screening of art films from festivals to art cinemas for improving their circulation and increase their audiences (a dozen of ‘'Art Cinema Award'' granted every year)by organizing professionals trainings (about 500 professionals trained since 2004 in Berlin, Cartage, Dakar, Mexico City, Paris, Toulouse, Valdivia and Venice)
[1] AFCAE in France, FICE and AIACE in Italy, AGKINO GILDE in Germany, SSV-ASCA in Switzerland, Art Mozi and Art Mozi Budapest in Hungary, Diagonale and VAC in Belgium, Circuito Gran Cine in Venezuela
[2] Algeria, England, Austria, Chile, Cyprus, Croatia, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Spain, Finland, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Malta, Morocco, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Russia, The Netherlands, Slovenia, South Africa, USA
[3] including Berlin, Festroia, Directors' Fortnight, Locarno, Sarajevo, Venice, Annecy, Hamburg, Mons
EFP, OMDC and TIFF continue with successful co-production programme at TIFF
2011 Participants Revealed for Producers Lab Toronto
European and Canadian producers are joining forces yet again for international film projects with the programme PRODUCERS LAB TORONTO (PLT), now in its second year. European Film Promotion (EFP) has collaborated with the Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC) and the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) to offer a platform to combine creative, technical and financial energy. A group of 12 European and 12 Canadian producers will meet from September 7th to 10th within the framework of the 2011 Festival for an opportunity to gain knowledge about international markets and film projects and identify the potential for concrete Canadian-European co-productions. The MEDIA Mundus programme of the European Union, the participating EFP member organisations, the OMDC and TIFF are supporting PRODUCERS LAB TORONTO financially. The line-up of the participants can be found below. Detailed information about the 24 participants of Producers Lab Toronto 2011 can be found at www.efp-online.com .
Designed for independent producers experienced in international co-productions with appropriate projects in the pipeline, PRODUCERS LAB TORONTO will include pitching sessions, case studies and roundtables, as well as VIP networking events. EFP member organisations have selected the 12 European participants. All European participants have attended EFP's acclaimed Cannes-based programme PRODUCERS ON THE MOVE within the past 11 years. The 12 producers from Canada have been named by OMDC and TIFF from an open call for submissions.
Participants at PRODUCERS LAB TORONTO 2010
"For us, PRODUCERS LAB TORONTO is a perfect follow-up of our programme in Cannes", says Renate Rose, EFP managing director. "It gives access to talent and financial sources outside of Europe and facilitates global exchange and international collaboration. The feedback from last year's group underscored the mandate of this networking platform. A first co-production contract was sealed and many very concrete projects are being discussed at this time with contracts about to be signed."
"PRODUCERS LAB TORONTO provides a unique forum for our dynamic Canadian producers to meet their talented European counterparts and develop projects together," says Karen Thorne-Stone, President and CEO of the OMDC. "Co-productions are important because they enable producers to take advantage of financial incentives in each country while helping to open up new markets for Canadian producers."
"The success of PRODUCERS LAB TORONTO lies in the knowledge that is shared, the relationships that are forged, and the opportunities that are created," says Karen Bruce, Director of Canadian Initiatives, TIFF. "This is an exciting programme, one that is in line with our commitment to support and reinforce the industry by providing new and unique opportunities for filmmakers."
Several European countries including the UK, France, Germany, Luxembourg and Spain have experience co-producing with Canada. Smaller countries in particular are now also co-producing with Canada following the creation of PRODUCERS LAB TORONTO. Contacts between Canada and Ireland were forged from among last year's participants.
European Participants
lvaro Alonso, Jaleo Films - Spain
Gregory Athanasiou, Minus Pictures - Greece
Mario Gianani, Wildside - Italy
Tristan Orpen Lynch, Subotica - Ireland Nicolas Comeau, 1976 Productions Inc.
Daniel Mitulescu, Strada Film - Romania
Ieva Norviliené, Tremora - Lithuania
Stella Nwimo, Northpoint Pictures - UK Félize Frappier, Max Films
Viktória Petrányi, Proton Cinema - Hungary
Riina Sildos, Amrion Production - Estonia
Karla Stojáková, Axman Production - Czech Republic
Mariano Vanhoof, Fobic Films - Belgium
Anne Walser, C-Films - Switzerland
Canadian Participants
Muniré Armstrong, YN Films
Joseph Berger, Pitchstream Media Inc.
Sean Buckley, Buck Productions
Michael A. Dobbin, Quiet Revolution Pictures Inc.
Jean du Toit, Buffalo Gal Pictures Inc.
Cher Hawrysh, Phenomenal Films Inc.
Leah Jaunzems, Darius Films Inc.
Chantal Lafleur, Productions La Fête
Byron A. Martin, Byron A. Martin Productions Inc.
Alison Reid, Free Spirit Films
Detailed information about the 24 participants of Producers Lab Toronto 2011 can be found at www.efp-online.com
Associated EFP member organisations:
Baltic Films, British Council, Cinecittà Luce - Filmitalia, Czech Film Center, Flanders Image, Greek Film Centre, ICCA / Spain, Irish Film Board, Magyar Filmunió / Hungary, Romanian Film Promotion, Swiss Films
Contact EFP:
Jo Mühlberger, Project Director
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , +49 40- 390 6252
Mareen Gerisch, Head of Press
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , +49 40- 390 6252
Contact OMDC:
George McNeillie, Manager, Communications OMDC
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , +1 416-642-6619
Contact Toronto International Film Festival:
Karen Bruce, Director of Canadian Initiatives
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , +1 416- 934 3274
Geneviève Parent, Communications Manager
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , +1 416- 934 3296
Toronto International Film Festival is a registered trademark of the Toronto International Film Festival Inc.
PRODUCERS LAB TORONTO is supported by the MEDIA Mundus programme of the European Union and the participating EFP member organisations as well as the Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC) and the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). The event is supported moreover by Telefilm Canada. In addition, EFP's promotional and PR activities are backed by the Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée (CNC). The Hamburg-based office is supported by the German Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM) and the Ministry of Culture of the City of Hamburg.
For the first time in the history of Hungarian film festivals, some of the films in competition of Jameson CineFest are going to be screened with DCI, the most developed digital technology. Since the premiere of Avatar in 2009, the cinemas’ transition to digital technology is going on at a more and more spanking pace. In September, with the support of Christie Digital, the global market leader of digital projector technologies, the location of the opening show and the Uránia screen will be changed into a digital screen where the cinema-goers shall enjoy the films in competition in a crystal clear picture quality in a more than 2.2 megapixels resolution. The Christie’s digital projector makes it possible to screen the digital copies according to the DCI standard, in 2K resolution, with an efficiency exceeding 13000 Ansi brilliance.
This year as part of CineClassics, the Miskolc International Film Festival gives opportunity of introduction to Europe’s Finest – a company which is going to give a show of European film classics apt for DCI standard distribution.
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JAMESON CINEFEST - MISKOLCI NEMZETKÖZI FILMFESZTIVÁL
JAMESON CINEFEST - MISKOLC INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
2011. szeptember 17-25./September 17-25, 2011
www.cinefest.hu
Telefon (+36) 30 9277726
Carnage by Roman Polanski / Main Competition
Three Polish accents appeared in the line-up of the 68th Venice International Film Festival. Bóg zemsty (Carnage) by Roman Polanski was selected to the main competition and will fight for the Golden Lion. The film will have its premiere at the Venice Film Festival. It's a story based on Yasmina Reza's Tony Award-winning comedy God of Carnage, starring John C. Reilly, Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet and Christoph Waltz. The film follows two sets of parents who meet up to talk after their children have been in a fight that day at school. The cultural conversation at some point starts to get out of control. Polish co-producer on ‘Carnage' is SPI International Polska. The director of photography is Paweł Edelman.
Land of Oblivion by Michale Boganim / Film Critic’s Week
In the line-up of the
International Film Critic's Week which is another non-competitive section of the
Venice festival appeared Znieważnona ziemia (La terre
outragée/Land of Oblivion) by Michale Boganim. It's
a French/German/Ukrainian/
My Name is Ki by Leszek Dawid / Venice Days
Leszek Dawid's feature debut Mam na imię Ki (My Name is Ki) will be screened at the Venice Days - a non-competitive section for independent film productions during the 68th Venice International Film Festival. The Venice Days selectors have chosen 12 movies. One of them will get an honorable mention of the Europe Cinemas connected with a distribution support. All debut films shown during the Venice festival compete for the Luigi De Laurentiis Venice Award - Lion of the Future. The winner will get 100 000 euros.
My Name Is Ki has already been presented at the Polish Films Festival in Gdynia where Roma Gąsiorowska got the award for the best actress in a leading role. My Name Is Ki is a film portrait of a girl who tries not to follow her mother's pattern of a single woman having a child. She wants to live a full life - fast and intense. Ki meets Miko. The difficult relation between those two helps Ki to grow up and start loving and being responsible for herself and her son. The organizers of the Venice Days have written that My Name Is Ki is "a unique portrait of woman, almost an emblem of this edition".
All films were supported by the Polish Film Institute.
The 68th Venice International Film Festival starts on August 31st and ends September 10th.
ROMA GĄSIOROWSKA – POLISH UPCOMING FILM STAR
Photo still from “My Name Is Ki” by courtesy of Skorpion Arte
She made her stage debut in 2003 in Krzysztof Jaworski’s Disco Pigs at Rozmaitości Theatre.
In the same year she started her career on the big screen with FORECAST FOR TOMORROW (Pogoda Na Jutro) directed by Jerzy Stuhr.
She recently appeared in Xawery Żuławski’s SNOW WHITE AND RUSSIAN RED (Wojna polsko-ruska) where she showed her yet another face,
“ZERO” by Paweł Borowski and “Suicide Room” by Jan Komasa.
The 11. New Horizons International Film Festival wrapped up on Sunday, 31 July with the Polish premiere of Pedro Almodóvar's The Skin I Live in.
During 11 festival days 483 movies (of which 228 were full-lenght) from 44 countries were shown. 240 of them had their Polish premieries in Wrocław. There were 542 screenings in total. Around 111 000 spectators participated in the festival.
157 foreign film directors, actors, producers, sales agents and distributors and 241 Polish guests have come to Wrocław, among them, the Hungarian director Béla Tarr - creator of the legendary Satan Tango. He came to present his newest film - The Turin Horse and run a masterclass for the festival audience.
The most prominent Korean film director, author of The Bow and Samaritan Girl, Kim Ki-duk also came to the festival. The 11. New Horizons IFF was honoured to welcome award-winning directors such as Bruno Dumont, Anja Breien, German experimental film author Werner Nekes, Terry Gilliam and Polish animator Mariusz Wilczyński. A short visit of Asghar Farhadi, the author of the Golden Bear-winning film Nader and Simin, A Separation surprised the audience attending the opening ceremony, where the film was screened.
The festival hosted five competitions this year- New Horizons International Competition,
Films On Art International Competition, New Polish Films Competition, Polish Short Films Competition and European Short Debuts Competition.
In the New Horizons Internatonal Competition the Jury (Anocha Suwichakornpong, Denis Côté, Hugo Vieira da Silva, Frédéric Boyer, Mariusz Grzegorzek) chose from 14 films. The festival Grand Prix and 20 000 € prize was given to Attenberg (Greece 2010) directed by Athina Rachel Tsangari. Special Award. A special mention was handed to Sándor Kardos's Gravedigger (A sírásó, Hungary 2010). Brownian Movement (Netherlands / Germany / Belgium 2010) directed by Nanouk Leopold won the The International Film Guide award.
For the second time in festival's history film critics from the International Federation of Film Critics handed the prestigious FIPRESCI Award to Gravedigger by Sándor Kardos. The FIPRESCI jury included Carmen Gray, Kira Taszman and Anita Piotrowska.
The Audience Award went to the debut of Argentinian director Paula Markovitch The Prize (El premio, Mexico / France / Poland / Germany 2011).
In the Films On Art International Competition the Jury (Roe Rosen, Gaspard Kuentz, Cédric Dupire, Tomasz Budzyński, Werner Nekes) gave the 10 000 € prize to Arirang (South Korea 2011) directed by Kim Ki-duk. The Jury gave also a Special Mention to the film Pyuupiru 2001-2008 (Japan 2010) directed by Daishi Matsunagi.
Thanks to the awards, Attenberg, Arirang, Gravedigger and The Prize have guaranteed distribution in Polish cinemas by the New Horizons Association, the organizer of the festival.
In the New Polish Films Competition, the Wrocław Film Award (including 100 000 PLN, 60 000 for the producer, and 40 000 for the director) funded by the president of Wrocław, by the jury verdict was handed to the film by Anka and Wilhelm Sasnal It Looks Pretty from a Distance. The prize of the Lower Silesia Voivodeship Marshall (40 000 PLN) for the best debut was handed to Jan Komasa for Suicide Room with the verdict of an international jury (Györgi Pálfi, Martin Blaney, Dimitri Eipides).
The European Short Debuts Competition in the category of animation was won by I Am Round (Jag är rund, Sweden 2011) by Mario Adamson, the best documentary chosen by the audience was The Chief (Il Capo, Italy 2010) directed by Yuri Ancarani. The Runaway (La Huida, Spain 2009) directed by Victor Carrey recieved the most votes in the category of feature films.
In the Polish Short Films Competition winners were chosen by the audience. Shivering Trunks directed by Natalia Brożyńska was named the best animation. 3 Days Of Freedom directed by Łukasz Borowski was the best documentary, while Basia From Podlachie by Aleksander Dembski won the title of the best fiction.
The 11.New Horizons IFF held retrospectives of Terry Gilliam, Andrzej Munk, Jack Smith, Bruno Dumont, Mariusz Wilczyński, Werner Nekes. The audience had a chance to take a closer look at the Norwegian cinema and especially on the work of Anja Breien in the Norway Expanded cycle. In the Midnight Madness section the audience enjoyed 'Round Midnight cult films. For the first time Japenese pink movies were shown to the Polish audience.
Industry
The festival was full of meetings with directors, critics, artists, discussion panels and lectures. A special place was created for film professionals - 170 industry guests were present in Wrocław, among them programmers from Berlinale, Rotterdam, Cannes, Venice, Thessaloniki, Toronto, Hong-Kong, Leeds, Edinburgh and Cottbus film festivals, as well as buyers, producers and sales agents.
Key companies present at the festival were Trust Nordisk, Memento, Wide Management, LevelK, Opus Film, Maipo, TVP, Polsat, Canal+, Soda Pictures, Malavida, Second Run DVD, Best Film and Gutek Film.
For the second time Wrocław hosted the New Horizons Studio - an initiative for young film professionals, designed to explain the workings of the international film market. 22 participants from 5 countries took part in lectures by renowned speakers, such as Hayet Benkara, Richard Kwietniowski (writing and directing), Ivana MacKinnon (producing), Ri Chakraborty, Anais Clanet (Wide Management), Beata Mońka (Canal+) and Hugo Viera da Silva (Swans). Co-organizers of the workshop were Media Desk Poland and London Film Academy.
Another key industry event was the Polish-Norwegian Co-Production Forum, which saw 80 participants - producers, film funds, distributors and buyers - meeting in Wrocław and discussing 10 projects that could posssibly become Polish-Norwegian co-productions.
11. New Horizons IFF was acompanied by five Polish book publications: Behind the Pink Curtain by Jasper Sharp, Midnight Movies by J. Hoberman and Jonathan Rosenbaum, Norwegian Cinema (ed. Jan Erik Holst, Paweł Urbanik), Terry Gilliam's Wunderkamera (ed. Kuba Mikurda) and Animated Blues of Mariusz Wilczyński (Jerzy Armata).
11. New Horizons IFF was full of music events. On the July 29, 3000 people participated in a performance of Nick Cave and his band Grinderman. Everyday, the festival club located in the City Museum at the Arsenal hosted concerts and DJ sets. The T-Mobile Music Scene has seen shows by the legendary american hip-hop group, Anti-Pop Consortium and the leaders of the Norwegian music scene - Jaga Jazzist, Susanne Sundfør and Supersilent.
During the festival the following exhibitions were shown: All the Women of the World Are in Me! - Ane Lan, Pinku eiga - Personal Art - Witold Liszkowski, Rub your Eyes. From the collection of Werner Nekes.
12. New Horizons IFF will be held from 19 till 29 July 2012. Part of the 12th edition will be a review of new Mexican cinema and a retrospective of its famous representative Carlos Reygadas. Other retrospectives include films by the Serbian director Dušan Makavejev, Austrian director Ulrich Seidl and the avant-garde author Peter Tscherkassky.
The main festival partner and sponsor was Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa, operator of the polish T-Mobile network. The main patron was the City of Wrocław. Mercedes was the official car of the event.
WARSAW: The Play Poland Film Festival (http://playpoland.org.uk) will be bring Polish cinema to audiences in Scotland from 2 August to 25 September with screenings in Glasgow and Edinburgh. Sponsored in part by the Polish Film Institute (www.pisf.pl ) the mobile festival will continue in other UK cities including Oxford, Birmingham, Liverpool and Belfast until December 2011.
WARSAW: The team behind the award-winning Rabbit a la Berlin has begun shooting the concept documentary Six Degrees, which takes a literal and exploratory look at the theory that everyone is connected via only six degrees of separation.
WARSAW: Paris based international sales outfit Wide Management has added Rafael Lewandowski’s The Mole to its strong line-up. The Mole with will be released theatrically in Poland on 5 August is produced by Warsaw based Metro Films (www.metrofilms.com) and is the first feature film by Lewandowski who has made a name for himself as a doc maker. The film is about a miner who is a Solidarity member and is falsely accused being a member of the secret police.
