06-07-2008

Works in Progress draws overflow crowd

By FNE Staff
    Robust industry interest boosted attendance at the Karlovy Vary film festival (KVIFF.com) East of the West Works in Progress 2008 presentations. Producers from 26 films showed clips to a standing room crowd of over 80 people.

    Although this year's selection was to be limited to films that were either completed or in post-production, the presentation of Czech production house Negativ's film Alois Nebel caused a stir with Berlin festival programmers and potential foreign production partners, Negativ producer Pavel Strnad told FNE that he has already lined up half of the 2 million Euro budget, with the Czech Film Fund contributing 600,000 Euros and the public broadcaster Czech TV investing 400,000 Euros.Strnad expects to line up German and Polish co-producers to complete the budget.

    A debut from Zlin Film School grad Tomas Lunak, the black-and-white computer-animated live action film is the first Czech film using rotoscoping with the application of digital technology. The film is based on a 2003 graphic novel set on the the Czech-Polish border. Negativ expects to employ 30 animators, using Slovak animation studio Tobo Gang. The preview clip shown at Karlovy Vary took three months to make. The film itself will take a year to complete, with production comencing by the end of 2008.