These are the production and development grants for the last sessions of 2017 announced by the Estonian Film Institute and the the Cultural Endowment of Estonia on 22 December 2017.

On Friday, 8 September, the shooting of the feature film debut My Last Year as a Loser by the director and screenwriter Urša Menart began. To the Slovenian film audience, Urša is best known for her documentaries There Once Was a Land of Hardworking People and What about Mojca? which address, in a comical manner, the issues of national identity and the relations between history and popular culture.

The 18^th edition of the New Horizons International Film Festival will take place in Wrocław, from 26th July to 5^th August 2018. The New Horizons International Competition — a platform where artistic cinema that extend the boundaries set by conventional filmmakers is presented — remains the core element of the festival. The Competition is a place for cinematic visionaries and uncompromising artists who have the courage to follow their own path in defiance of popular trends, expand the language of the cinema, and to talk about significant issues in their own, unique language.

The Competition includes innovative feature films, experimental, and animated productions that are longer than 60 minutes and have been produced after 1st of January 2017 (that have never been publicly screened in Poland). The Festival organizers prefer world-wide, international, and European premieres.

The winner of the New Horizons International Competition will be awarded the Grand Prix and a prize of 15,000 EUR. The Festival audience will be offering their award, too.

Submissions are now open at nowehoryzonty.pl and will be accepted until 25th of March 2018.

 

It's our pleasure to announce the open call for MIDPOINT Intensive Iceland 2018, which will take place March 10-11 during the Stockfish Film Festival in Reykjavík. Thanks to a new collaboration with the Icelandic Film Centre, Icelandic film professionals will be invited to develop their feature film projects with international tutoring.

This is the third time that MIDPOINT and the Stockfish Film Festival invite Icelandic film professionals and emerging filmmakers to this intensive workshop for feature films in early stages of development. The workshop is intended for teams of writers, directors and producers who are working on their 1st or 2nd features.

During an intensive 2-day workshop, 4 selected teams will develop their scripts and projects, both relying on group feedback and on one-to-one consulting with the tutor.

The tutor for the workshop will once again be Pavel Jech. In addition to being MIDPOINT’s artistic director, Pavel is a professor at Chapman University in California, the former dean of FAMU, and an active screenwriter, instructor of screenwriting and expert mentor for the Sundance Lab and Berlinale Talents.

We welcome the support of the Icelandic Film Centre – as well as that of the Stockfish Film Festival and Bio Paradis, Reykjavík's art-house cinema – and their commitment to securing script and project development at international level for their local film industry.

The project fee for participation is 100,00 EUR.

The deadline for applications is February 9, 2018.

In accordance with Iceland's Film Agreement, which establishes the industry's current policies and priorities, projects with women in key creative positions and those aimed at the children and youth markets are especially encouraged to apply.

If you have any further questions about this workshop or how to apply, please write to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Read more and apply here.

 

 

Attracting more than 200 film professionals, the industry conference Meeting Point – Vilnius is a part of Vilnius International Film Festival Kino Pavasaris. Submissions for debuting filmmakers as well as established directors are open until February 1st. 

This year in its 23rd edition, Kino Pavasaris has become a vital destination for European filmgoers and filmmakers. The international film industry conference Meeting Point – Vilnius has become a part of the festival’s identity, establishing a milieu for finding and encouraging new talents.  

The essence of the conference is to serve as a starting point for valuable partnerships. Thus, the leading events are Coming Soon Session and private Industry Screenings. Here, upcoming features, documentaries and animated full-length films are presented to festival curators, film producers, agents and distributors.  

Many projects presented at Meeting Point – Vilnius continue to thrive in international film festivals and the distribution circuit. For instance, Arūnas Matelis documentary Wonderful Losers: A Different Worldhas won awards for best documentary at both Warsaw and Minsk festivals. Likewise, Falling by Marina Stepanska was nominated at Karlovy Vary and Stockholm; Miracle by Eglė Vertelytė was screened at Toronto International Film Festival. 

Earlier success stories of Meeting Point – Vilnius collaborations include the Academy Award nominee Tangerines by Zaza Urushadze and the Sundance-winning The Summer of Sangaile by Alantė Kavaitė. 

The submissions for the 9th international industry conference Meeting Point – Vilnius are open until February 1st. More information and submission form is at: bit.ly/MPVsubmissions

 

The 2018 edition of Kino Pavasaris will take place on March 19–29 in 5 biggest cities in Lithuania.

 

 

Winners will enjoy a dream trip to the Berlinale film festival.

#europeanfilmchallenge is back – and it’s bigger than ever! The latest edition of the contest invites film fans from Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Serbia to share their love of European cinema – with the prize of an all-expenses-paid trip to the Berlinale film festival!

To complete the Challenge, entrants must watch 10 European movies in cinemas, on TV or online before the contest closes on January 31, 2018.

Each time they watch a film, contestants log on to europeanfilmchallenge.eu to share a photo on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, showing how or where they watched it –and adding the hashtag #europeanfilmchallenge.

Extra points are on offer for the number of European films watched, different platforms used, plus bonuses for films from countries with lesser-known film industries.

The previous round of #europeanfilmchallenge saw 2,000 contestants across the Baltic states enjoying more than 800 different titles – and delivering a big boost for European film. Entrants discovered 39 different video-on-demand (VOD) services, including a big increase in European film discoveries on Netflix.

 “#europeanfilmchallenge gives people a fun way for people to discover, enjoy and talk about European cinema,” says organiser Greta Akcijonaite. “Particularly films from countries with an emerging cinema scene.”

“Everybody in the film industry can benefit,” adds Greta. “Producers, distributors, cinemas, online streaming platforms, TV channels… anyone can use it to promote their product. We’re encouraging them to use our logo and say ‘This film is eligible for #europeanfilmchallenge’ on their posters, social posts and press releases.”

#europeanfilmchallenge is coordinated by Kino Metropolis, Kino Bize, A-One Films, The Film Agency, Beldocs and Pari Pikule, with support from Creative Europe MEDIA.

For further information, logos and other resources, contact Vytaute Vailionyte on email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

 

Are you afraid of spiders? Meet the Websters and you´ll start loving them.
The authors of Mimi and Lisa, the book and animated series for children,  were coming with a new animated series during the Christmas holidays, the first one in Slovakia made with 3D technology, not only on the program of the Radio and Television of Slovakia (RTVS) but thanks to SLOVART Publishing Ltd. also as a book.

The author of the Websters´ story is producer and director, Katarína Kerekesová, who found her inspiration in her never-ending battle with house spiders. ‘They have always been so determined to fill every nook and corner of our house with their cobwebs that it made me think about their lives and possible parallels between their and our worlds. The cobweb is a wonderful metaphor for human relationships, not only within a family but also within the larger community we all are part of.’

The main character, six-year-old spider-girl Lisa, is the usual culprit behind the disasters in the Websters’ household. However, the other members of the family do not fall far behind at all - her teenage brother Hugo, sclerotic Grandma or inventive Grandpa, even the father of the family who works in a logistic center supplying the big food chains with tinned flies, and her mother who is ever so passionate about living a healthy lifestyle. The family lives in an elevator shaft that serves them very well as a highway to the greatest adventures.

This project is the outcome of an excellent team effort. The scripts were written by Zuzana Križková, Juraj Raýman, Zuzana Dzurindová, Peter Nagy and Katarína Kerekesová.  Anna Vášová, a well-known Czech playwright, has also made a highly appreciated contribution. The book versions of the stories were prepared by Vanda Rozenbergová who was also a finalist to Anasoft litera 2016, Slovakia’s prestigious Slovak literary prize, with her collection of stories Slobodu bažantom (Freedom to Pheasants). ‘This is actually my first book for children,’ says Rozenbergová. ‘I loved working on this project, reading the original scripts and having the opportunity to watch each one of the episodes,’ she adds. It is an incredible project that reveals the full potential of the very creative team around Katarína Kerekesová. I did my best to make the stories attractive to young readers, which is often much more demanding than a book intended for adults. You need to get the right balance conveying the main message without oversimplifying.’

The book has also been a great challenge to Boris Šima, its illustrator, who worked with the The Websters’ animation team as well. He cooperated with Katarína Kerekesová on the Mimi and Lisa project, too, and has created an animated short film called Chyťte ho! (Catch him!) in a classic grotesque style. ‘I have worked on many different visual aspects of The Websters together with the rest of the team. I tried to stick to the animators and 3D specialists’ comments and requirements as much as possible. Working on the book was way more relaxed. I was a lot more independent, too. Even though I had to respect the visual design of the series, I was free to play and adjust everything to my liking.’

The Websters is the first 3D animated series made in Slovakia. Up to now, 3D animation has been used only in some commercial projects at which Tomáš Mikuľak, the 3D supervisor, gained his experience. ‘It has been a completely new ball game for me, even though the technology is the same. The Websters challenged me to create new tools and procedures to make all 3D processes meaningful and effective. We learned every day, making many adjustments and elaborating on hundreds of details in order to find the most efficient and simplest possible way to make the project work.’ A slightly different experience was shared by Matej Hradský, another member of the 3D team, who has also worked for the Irish Brown Bag Films studio on projects such as Doc McStuffins or The Octonauts. ‘There are enormous teams behind such big projects and everyone is responsible for a very specific task. Working on The Websters, we all had to cover several aspects of the process. It was definitely more challenging but also more fulfilling. Everybody could contribute to the core of the creative process.’

The Websters book has been published by SLOVART Publishing Ltd. The Websters series has its premiere on the Radio and Television of Slovakia (RTVS) program on 24th December. The project was supported by the Slovak Audiovisual Fund and the Creative Europe – MEDIA TV Programming Fund.

 

Category:                                     animated sitcom for children

Animation Technique:                  3D animation

Number of Episodes:                    6

Length:                                         11 minutes / episode

Target group:                                5 – 8 years of age

Country of Origin:                        Slovak Republic

Story:                                           Katarína Kerekesová

Cast:                                            Zuzana Porubjaková, Kamil Kollárik, Henrieta Mičkovicová, Richard Stanke, Boris Farkaš, Oľga Belešová and others.

Script:                                          Zuzana Križková, Zuzana Dzurindová, Juraj Raýman, Peter Nagy, Katarína Kerekesová 

Script Liaison:                             Anna Vášová

Director:                                      Katarína Kerekesová

Animation Director:                     Andrej Gregorčok

3D Animators:                             Ivana Tirpáková, Filip Kasanický, Jozef Elšík,
Andrea Jacevičová

Art Director:                                Boris Šíma

3D Production Supervision:        Tomáš Mikuľak

3D visuals:                                  Matej Hradský, Jaromír Salaj

3D models:                                 Dominik Tarageľ

Image Post-Production:             Juraj Kráľ

Sound Post-Production:             Martin Merc

Music:                                         Lucia Chuťková, Marek Piaček

Introsong:                                          Maťo Šrámek, Andrej Hruška
(singing – Erika Reindlová, lyrics – Branči Kováč)

Producer:                                           Fool Moon, s.r.o., RTVS,
Studio Miniatur Filmowych

 http://webstersfamily.tv/               http://www.foolmoonfilm.com/

 

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