TALLINN: How Big is the Galaxy by Ksenia Elyan, a Russian/Estonian coproduction, won the EFCA Doc Award 2020, presented by the European Children’s Film Association.
The European Children’s Film Association (ECFA), Europe’s leading children’s film organisation, has announced that their annual ECFA Award for Best European Children’s Film has been won by Binti by director Frederike Migom (Belgium). This film tells the story of a young girl who claims her right to live a normal life and dream her own dreams, even if she doesn’t have the legal documents to prove that she really exists.
Black Nights films go to Cinando * The afterlife of #PÖFF23 titles * European Genre Forum opens submissions
Festivals 21-02-2020
As some of our team members are getting ready to attend the European Film Market to prepare for the year ahead, we are glad to announce that we'll be opening our film submission on the 1st of March.
This year, some things will be different, however, as Black Nights, in league with other festivals feels that festivals need to do more in the context of the looming climate crisis. A festivals' Green Pledge in the works, but as a first step we announce that for every official film submission we receive this year, one euro will be donated to the reforestation of Australia's areas that were destroyed in the devastating bushfires.
PÖFF TITLES > CINANDO
A selection of the competition titles from #PÖFF23 are now available on Cinando for the film industry professionals! The list includes films from the Official Selection, First Feature Competitios, Rebels with a Cause and the Baltic Competition programme.
Among others you will be able to watch:
* Grand Prix award winner Kontora
* Best Cinematography award winner Coming Home Again
* Best Actress award winner Gipsy Queen
* Best Screenplay and NETPAC award winner Golden Voices
* Best first feature film Stories From the Chestnut Woods
* Rebels with a Cause competition winner Feast
RECOGNITIONS
On Tuesday, February 4, Japanese Ambassador Hajme Kitaoka's residence was handed over to the Japanese Foreign Minister for the Black Nights Film Festival and Japan's Asashio.
Black Nights Film Festival was honored by the Japanese Embassador in Estonia, mr Hajime Kitaoka, who presented a letter of appreciation on behalf of the Foreign Minister of Japan.
Black Nights has screened over a hundred Japanese films and made several thematic focus programmes of Japanese cinema.
Find out more!
Tiina Lokk-Tramberg Autor/allikas: PÖFF
The founder and director or Black Nights, mrs Tiina Lokk will receive the annual national culture prize from the government of Estonia for the success of the 23rd edition of Black Nights as we broke several records.
It is noteworthy that four out of the five prizes went to people working in the film industry.
Find out more!
EUROPEAN GENRE FORUM KICKS OFF
Miguel Llansó pitches his project Jesus Shows You the Way to the Highway at the European Genre Forum (© BNFF)
European Genre Forum has opened submissions! EGF is a pan-european training programme organised by Black Nights, Imagine FF from Amsterdam and Fantastic Zagreb FF. Its aim is to boost the genre film industry through two talent labs, packed with trainings, panels mentoring and pitching sessions.
The Producing Lab takes place in Zagreb during Fantastic Zagreb in July. The Marketing & Packaging Lab takes place in Tallinn during PÖFF, in the final week of November.
LONG READS
23rd Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival Award Ceremony | PÖFF 2019
The Echoes of #PÖFF23
The last edition of the festival created buzz, sprouted numerous international success stories and offered an enormous amount of interesting articles, reviews, roundups and interviews.
Here is A SELECTION OF THEM!
Premiere of Outlaw at #PÖFF23. Ksenia is the second person on the right
“Sure it would be nice if a gay filmmaker would have made this Russian LGBT-film. But they didn’t. So I did.”
Russian director Ksenia Ratushnaya talks on shooting Outlaw, her LGBT-themed debut, in Russia and the deteriorating social situation of sexual minorities in the country.
Read the INTERVIEW.
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Czech Film Incentives Attract Almost Nine Billion CZK in Revenues to Czech Economy
Czech Republic 21-02-2020PRAGUE: The Czech Film Fund announced that almost 80 films and series were shot in the Czech Republic in 2019, thanks to film incentives. Implementation of the projects brought revenues of 8.9 billion CZK / 363 m EUR to the Czech economy.
TALLINN: Tiina Lokk, founder and director of Black Nights will receive the national culture prize from the government of Estonia for the success of the record-breaking 23rd edition of Black Nights.
East Doc Platform has unveiled the trailer for its upcoming 9th edition.
Visitors can expect not only an attractive film festival, but also a spectacular celebration and a number of extraordinary surprises.
2020: Back to the Future, the announced theme of the 60th Zlín Film Festival, has also inspired the authors of the visual that the organizers of the festival unveiled today at the Congress Center in Zlín. It is again based on a monkey, albeit in a completely new form. Combining digitally modified drawings of a monkey head and a robot head created a new graphic element: the "Robo-monkey". The festival will take place from May 29 to June 6.
The sixtieth year of the oldest and largest film festival of its kind in the world will be in the spirit of the theme 2020: BACK TO THE FUTURE.
"Back" represents a respectable history of the festival and "the future" promises to fulfill the vision of its modern form developed through science, technology and education,"
said festival president Čestmír Vančura.
The authors of this year's visual are again the artist Petr Nikl and designer Zdeněk Macháček. It has been based on combining the drawings of a monkey and a robot and thus creating a new whole: a graphically solid digi-icon ROBO-MONKEY.
"We want to prove to the public that a visual created combining the described elements will evoke an atmosphere of eternal desire to "touch the stars" – a message that can speak to every generation,"
says Zdeněk Macháček from Studio 6.15 in Zlín.
In addition to the traditional COMPETITION and the section entitled FESTIVAL CLASSICS, the dramaturgy of the 60th festival will focus on films in a special anniversary edition called 2020: BACK TO THE FUTURE.
“This section aims to broaden the horizons of young visitors in the area of science and technology. The films will be dramaturgically divided into three groups: documentary films on science and technology , live-acted sci-fi fiction films for children and youth , and a section devoted to special effects in film,”
explains art director Markéta Pášmová. A series of documentary films informs young audiences about key concepts such as space, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, computer games, and information technology.
“In addition to the films themselves, this mini-section will be complemented by lectures for schools and the public, and will try to answer the question of how technology makes our lives easier for us, and vice versa, what dangers do we face from it,”
says Markéta Pášmová. The mini-section of science fiction films should provide young audiences with fun and adventure, as well as learning experiences and opportunities to expand their horizons. The most common theme, encounters with extraterrestrial civilizations, will be supplemented by stories about robots, exploring new worlds and alternative futures.
In 2020, one of the most important pioneers of cinematic tricks would have been 100 years old: American filmmaker and artist Ray Harryhausen, who created unique puppets for the films Clash of the Titans, Jason and Argonauts, and The 7th Voyage of Sinbad. This contemporary of Karel Zeman's (who would have turned 110) has inspired the directors Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson, George Lucas, Tim Burton, and many others.
“We would like to pay tribute not only to him in the Magic of Film Tricks section, but also to other special effects creators who, with the help of the latest technology, have provided incredible film experiences to audiences over the years,”
explains Markéta Pášmová.
This mini-section consists of films that were revolutionary in terms of special and visual effects. Special screenings of films such as Metropolis, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Jurassic Park, Matrix, and Gravity will be accompanied by an introduction by the experts Kamil Fila and Boris Masník.
The festival's program department and the special effects artist and film effects supervisor Boris Masník, who is one of the best experts in the Czech Republic and often also participates in projects abroad, have created a section dedicated to film effects.
“For this year's festival theme - and the sci-fi genre in general - film tricks are one of the basic means of expression. It is a pleasant challenge for me to introduce the festival's visitors to the history film tricks and to what goes on behind the scenes,”
says Boris Masník and adds:
“During my meetings with festival-goers, I would like to point out, among other things, that the film tricks carried out in our films haven't lagged behind in quality in terms of world film productions. And this is evidenced by the fact that Czech special effects specialists and companies are successfully cooperating and successfully building on the tradition established by Karel Zeman and our other special effects artists.”
A no less important theme of the festival, which will be reflected especially in the supporting program, is the celebration of the festival's 60th year.
“This important year, which rounds the impressive numbering line to the sixties, will not be without wonderful meetings, surprises and events. I believe our visitors will enjoy it,”
says Executive Director Jarmila Záhorová and she gives examples from the upcoming program:
“We will certainly please audiences during the opening of the festival itself in the form of a public opening on the Gahura Prospect; we are preparing a big children's party for the youngest of our visitors.”
There will also be an exhibition of large format crowd photographs from past festivals, a modern virtual gallery mapping the festival's history, a special festival time machine, and another activities. The history of the festival will also be commemorated by an upcoming documentary by Czech Television directed by Tomáš Luňák, a Zlín native.
A traditional part of the Zlín Film Festival will again be the auction of artistically rendered film clapperboards. The 23rd Clapperboard Salon will start on March 17 in Prague. CLAPPERBOARD TOUR 2020 will again have 5 stops this year – starting in Prague, it will then head out to Mladá Boleslav, Olomouc, Brno and Zlín, culminating in a traditional auction, which will take place on May 31 at the Congress Center.
For the fifth time, the film festival in Zlín will finish with the Festival Half-Marathon MONET + Zlín, which is scheduled to start on Saturday, June 6 at 4 pm, again starting at the Zlín Congress Centre. Preceding this, at 2 pm, will be the popular Festival Family Run; it's a 1400-meter course designed for parents with children and for those who prefer shorter runs. It will start again on the main square at Náměstí Míru.
The Zlín Film Festival will move to Mikulov from June 12 to 16, where the Mikulov Echoes of the Zlín Film Festival will take place for the fourth time.
Film submission for 60th Zlín Film Festival
Submission deadline is March 1, 2020.
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