For the first time Work in Progress (WIP) projects will be in competition at connecting cottbus November 9 and 10 

Cottbus, October 17, 2017 – connecting cottbus one of the leading international gatherings for film professionals focusing on Eastern European cinema announces its Work in Progress selection coco WIP 2017. 

In its 19th edition in 2017, competition for one of the four coco WIP slots was hard – the selection was made from 50 submissions from 25 countries.

A novelty this year, connecting cottbus (coco) will enable the selected Work in Progress projects to present themselves at the co-production market. The projects are competing for the € 35,000 coco WIP Award, an in-kind prize sponsored by the German post-production company D-FACTO MOTION.

The full list of selected Work in Progress projects

CRYSTAL SWAN
director: Darya Zhuk | producer: Birgit Gernboeck | production company: Demarsh Film | country: Germany 

HIER
director: Bálint Kenyeres | producer: Jamila Wenske | production company: One Two Films GmbH | country: Germany

SPEEDWAY
director: Dorota Kędzierzawska| producer: Arthur Reinhart | production company:  Kid Film | country: Poland

VOROSHILOVGRAD
director: Yaroslav Lodygin| producer: Vladimir Yatsenko | production company:  LIMELITE | country: Ukraine

connecting cottbus is supported by Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, Creative Europe/MEDIA and MDM Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung.

More information about connecting cottbus can be found online at www.connecting-cottbus.de/ or on facebookwww.facebook.com/connecting.cottbus. 

 

 

Written and directed by: Dana Budisavljević
Co-written by: Jelena Paljan
Director of photography: Jasenko Rasol
Production design: Duško Milavec and Ivo Hušnjak
Costume design: Martina Franić
Makeup design: Dušica Vuksanović
Sound: Julij Zornik
Producers: Miljenka Čogelja and Olinka Vištica
Produced by: The Hulahop production house from Zagreb
Co-produced by: Vlado Bulajić and Lija Pogačnik, the December production house from Ljubljana;Snežana Penev, the This and That production house from Belgrade
Financial support / co-financing: Croatian Audiovisual Centre, Slovenian Film Centre – a publicagency of the Republic of Slovenia, Serbian Film Centre, Eurimages, and the MEDIA programme

The shooting of the live-action documentary film Action D.B. by the screenwriter and director Dana Budisavljević from Zagreb began on Tuesday, 10 October, in the same Croatian city. The film is co-produced by Croatia, Slovenia, and Serbia.

Action D.B. tells the story of one of the most extensive actions aimed at rescuing children duringWorld War II and the extraordinary women who organised it: Diana Budisavljević. The film aboutDiana Budisavljević focuses on a remarkable tale of courage and strength exhibited in the hardestmoments. It contains staged reconstructions, documentary testimonies, and precious archivefootage. The story is based on Diana's diary and historical research. The protagonist of the film DianaBudisavljević was born in a respectable family Obexer from Innsbruck. After she had married themedical doctor Julij Budisavljević, she moved to Zagreb. As a housewife, she dedicated herself to herhusband and their children – until she found out, in the autumn of 1941, about the existence ofconcentration camps where Orthodox women and their children were imprisoned in the capital ofthe newly-established Independent State of Croatia. Convinced that her own life was not any morevaluable than the lives of the unjustly persecuted, she undertook a risky attempt at rescuing thechildren from the camps. More than 10,000 children were then saved during her Action D.B., as she called her efforts herself. Due to the historical circumstances, her story remained undiscovered until recently.

Starring Alma Prica – the first lady of the Croatian National Theatre, who has also worked withTomaž Pandur and is known to the Slovenian public for her exquisite role in the 2013 film Halima's Path – as Diana. Igor Samobor performed in the role of Diana's husband Julij, while some of themost interesting actors from the region like Ermin Bravo, Areta Ćurković, Krešimir Mikić, OzrenGrabarić, Mirjana Karanović, Vilim Matula and others appear in the film as well.

The director Dana Budisavljevič graduated in film and TV editing from the Academy of Dramatic Art,University of Zagreb. Already as a student she organised F.R.K.A., the first student film festival, whilelater she took part in the organisation of the film festival in Motovun. In 2005 she established,together with Nenad Puhovski, the biggest regional documentary film festival ZagrebDox.

Action D.B. will be shot on locations in Croatia and Slovenia. The shooting is slated to conclude in thebeginning of November.

Contact for additional information:
Vlado Bulajić, December - Zavod za kulturne dejavnosti
m. + 386 40 454 681
e. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

The following grants were announced by the Croatian Audiovisual Centre on 16 October 2017.

 

Short Joy is a traditional competition section of Ji.hlava IDFF presenting the best short documentaries. This year, the decision-making authority is bestowed upon you, viewers, for the first time. Which film do you think is the best?

Before you head to the festival, try out the role of a juror and vote for the best film! Short Joy will be online at DAFilms.com until October 22 for free! The winning film will receive the DAFilms Audience Award to be presented during the opening ceremony of Ji.hlava IDFF on October 24, 2017. The award includes online distribution and promotion worth 3.000 EUR.

To watch the film, register at DAFilms and vote directly on the website. All voters also enter a competition for a yearly subscription to DAFilms, Ji.hlava IDFF’s shirt, catalogue and bag as well as an invitation for two to the Industry Party for film professionals and the festival’s closing ceremony in Jihlava, Czech Republic.

Please mind that the vote ends on Sunday, October 22 at 12:00 noon Central European Summer Time.

 

 

Everything you always wanted to know about Distribution but were afraid to ask: PIRACY

Europa Distribution and MIA continue their joint venture to raise awareness of the role of film distributors, and present the 4th edition of the successful panels on “Everything you always wanted to know about Distribution but were afraid to ask”. This new chapter is dedicated to a topical issue affecting all parts of the film industry value chain: Piracy.
 
How has Piracy evolved in recent years and in what ways is it affecting the different European markets? How much are independent films specifically affected by it? What are the strategies put in place by the Public Institutions and by the different players in the market to fight it? What can be learnt from analysing Piracy trends?
 
To answer these questions, on Saturday 21 October 10:00-12:00 at the Auditorium NCTM (Via delle Quattro Fontane, 161) Europa Distribution and MIA have invited experts from anti-piracy organisations and representatives from across the value chain to join the discussion and share their experience and expertise to analyse the situation and identify potential solutions. 

The round-table, moderated by Paolo Marzano, President of the Permanent Advisory Committee for Copyright at the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, will look on one side at the “big picture”, showing data and research and discussing the legal framework currently proposed by the European Commission; on the other, industry professionals will bring their experience to the table, discussing their specific roles and the situation of the markets they operate in.
 
Speakers:
Daniel Goroshko, distributor (Head of Acquisitions – CEO, A-One Films, Russia)
Carotta Calori, producer (Indigo, Italy)
Nikolas Moschakis (Secretary General, FIAD - Federation of Film Distributors' Associations, Belgium)
Chris Anderson, anti-piracy expert (Head of TV & Film; UK and Europe, MUSO, UK)
Federico Bagnoli Rossi, anti-piracy expert (General Secretary Fapav – Federazione per la tutela dei contenuti audiovisivi e multimediali, Italy)

Moderator: 
Paolo Marzano (President of the Permanent Advisory Committee for Copyright at the Ministry of Cultural Heritage Italy) 

NOTE FOR THE EDITORS: Europa Distribution is the association of independent film distributors, created in 2006.  With more than 120 leading independent distributors representing 29 countries in Europe and beyond, it serves as the voice of the sector and acts as a network and a think tank. Since its creation, Europa Distribution has accompanied and reinforced the integration and collaboration process between its members through information, brainstorming and training sessions. The network’s aim is to strengthen the existing ties to improve the curation, promotion and distribution of independent films. 

CONTACT: For information about the presence of Europa Distribution in Rome, contact:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Piracy 
28/09: Security Union: Commission steps up efforts to tackle illegal content online – European Commission
The Commission has presented guidelines and principles for online platforms to increase the proactive prevention, detection and removal of illegal content inciting hatred, violence and terrorism online.

Digital Single Market
29/09: Key messages of European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker to heads of state or government in Tallinn on the state of play of the digital single market – eu2017.ee
‘Since the beginning of the mandate, the Commission has put forward 43 initiatives to complete the digital single market, of which 24 legislative proposals. Over the same period, the need to achieve a digital single market was repeatedly discussed amongst ourselves and in 10 different Summits we have agreed to complete the digital single market’ stated President Juncker. 

Creative Europe Programme 
30/09: Registrations open for the European Culture Forum 2017 – European Commission
The European Culture Forum takes place every two years with prestigious speakers and lively discussions on the hottest topics in culture.

EU Budget
10/10: Next MFF must match EU ambitions – EPP website
The MFF lays down the maximum annual amounts which the EU may spend in different political fields over a period of at least five years.

Events 

• TBC: EP JURI vote on the Broadcast Regulation
• TBC: Vote on the Contracts for the Supply of Digital Content Directive
• 19/10: The Impact of Brexit on the UK Copyright Regime panel discussion - London - more information here
• 6/11: UNIC Film Screening of 'Borg McEnroe' - Brussels - email to reserve
• 27-28/11: Estonian Presidency conference on audiovisual content, technology and policy – Tallinn – more information here 

 

WEMW Coproduction Forum
DEADLINE: October 31, 2017
The upcoming edition of WEMW (January 21-23, 2018) will launch a new East & West double focus and will bring together over 400 film professionals from more than 30 countries and, in particular, from the 2018 spotlight regions: the Nordic Countries* and South East Europe**.
Producers from Europe, Canada, USA and Latin America are eligible to apply and WEMW will select 20 projects in development with co-production or co-financing potential either with the Nordic Countries, South East Europe or Italy. Projects can be long feature fiction films or documentaries, with preferably 15% of the total budget already in place.
Along with the EAVE scholarship, the Flow Postproduction Award, the EWA – European Women’s Audiovisual Network Award (cash prize for the best female director) and the PRODUCERS NETWORK Prize, all selected projects will compete for the brand new FILM CENTER SERBIA Development Award, a 3.000 EUR grant for the best project.
 
* Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden
** Albania, Bosnia Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia
 
More information on the submission process and the event are available at www.wemw.it
 
WEMW is organized by the FVG Audiovisual Fund and the Trieste Film Festival in collaboration withEAVE, Maia Workshops, Creative Europe Desk Italy, EURIMAGES, and the support of Creative Europe/MEDIA Programme, MiBACT - Direzione Generale per il Cinema, CEI - Central European Initiative and the Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia.