Applications now open worldwide for the 2019 Pustnik Screenwriters Residency
Press releases 12-03-2019TETA Association has launched the 5th edition of Pustnik Screenwriters Residency, which will take place 2–10 September 2019, at Port Cetate, Romania. Pustnik is the only Romanian initiative of this sort, dedicated to young and emerging filmmakers from all over the world.
During this nine-day retreat, eight screenwriters – three from Romania and five internationals – will develop their first or second feature-length screenplays. Besides dedicated writing time, Pustnik also offers participants the opportunity of meeting established European producers who will provide feedback on their projects.
Residents and invited experts will participate in roundtable discussions, masterclasses, and one-on-one talks. A local guest panel will also provide an overview of co-production opportunities in Romania.
Applicants are required to have previously written at least one short or feature-length film which has screened at a notable international film festival. The working language of the residency is English, so fluency in English is mandatory.
The deadline for applications is 22nd of April and filmmakers can apply online at www.pustnik.com. All the information regarding the application process can be found in the How to apply section. There are no application or participation fees, and the organisers cover the costs of accommodation and meals, as well as transport within Romania.
Residents will be selected by Andreea Borțun (writer/director, Romania) and Bryn Chainey (writer/director, UK/Australia), co-founders of Pustnik.
One of the first confirmed special guests of the 2019 residency is Syrian filmmaker Soudade Kaadan. Her first feature fiction film, The Day I Lost My Shadow, was awarded The Lion of the Future award for best debut in Venice Film Festival 2018 and has been screened in several major festivals including TIFF (Toronto), BFI (London), Busan and IFFR (Rotterdam). Only a few months later, her short fiction film Aziza won the 2019 Sundance Grand Jury Prize. Soudade will share professional and creative insights with this year’s residents, particularly on transitioning from short film to features.
Our key words for this year’s residency are patience and perseverance. Writing a screenplay can take time – a really long time. Not always, but often. Especially if you’re juggling work, family and other commitments, then the original thrill of writing can get crushed by the pressure of getting it done. Our aim with Pustnik is to strip back pressures and distractions so we can get back to the basics: thoughts, feelings, dreams, stories, trees.
Besides spending quality alone time with your screenplay, you’ll hear from special guests on how they persevered through the process of writing and producing their films. We encourage our residents to not only take time to work, but to give time by listening to each other’s stories, ideas, obstacles, and goals. We might be stepping back from society and going hermit, but we’re going hermit together.
The residency is hosted at Cultural Port Cetate, a late-19th century site with an incredible history of its own, located on the Romanian shore of the Danube.
About Pustnik:
Pustnik is the first international screenwriters residency to take place in Romania. It aims to create an environment dedicated to clarity of thought, away from modern pressures. Pustnik is also a growing network of film professionals and a community whose aim is to ease and encourage collaboration across the international cinema industry.
For more information:
Dan Angelescu – This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Pustnik is organized by TETA
TETA is an NGO founded in June 2006 and its main purpose is developing cultural activities and events to promote an alternative education for all participants enrolled in its projects and at the same time to offer a cultural revival to the communities in which the events take place. TETA is also producing films and theatre performances.
Cultural Project co-financed by the National Cultural Fund Administration
REPORT on EU Audiovisual Authors’ Workshop 2019, Ljubljana
REPORT on EU Audiovisual Authors’ Workshop 2019, Ljubljana Implementation of the Copyright Directive: Opportunities and challenges for AV authors to get fair value for their works’ exploitation
The 5th edition of the EU Audiovisual Authors’ Workshopin Ljubljana, organized in partnership by FERA, FSE (Federation of Screenwriters in Europe) and SAA (Society of Audiovisual Authors), and it was hosted by the Directors’ Guild of Slovenia, DSR Screenwriters and the Institute of Authors, Performers and Producers of Audiovisual Works of Slovenia (AIPA). The topic of this year’s workshop was the potential implementation of the proposed Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market and the opportunities and challenges faced by audiovisual authors in getting fair value for the exploitation of their work.
The workshop took place on 4-5 March 2019 at SLON Hotel in Ljubljana, gathering around 45 participants from Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, The Netherlands and United Kingdom, representing national directors’ and screenwriters’ organisations, as well as collective management organisations.
The workshop programme featured topical presentations Trilogue final agreement on authors’ remuneration provisions in the proposed Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market, by FERA CEO Pauline Durand-Vialle, and Mapping of current practices in negotiating and managing audiovisual authors’ rights throughout Europe in a fast-changing distribution market, by SAA executive director Cécile Despringre, as well as case studies by Create Denmark CEO Kasper Halkier (DK), Laure Gicquel from SACD (FR), Susann Reck from Bundesverband Regie (DE) and Kinga Szelenbaum from ZAPA (PL). Expert panels discussed Grey zones in negotiating audiovisual authors’ rights: where can the Directive help?, moderated by FERA CEO Pauline Durand-Vialle, and Public relations: how to address decision-makers in implementing the Directive?, moderated by FSE Executive Officer David Kavanagh.
FERA warmly thanks our hosts AIPA and DSR for their generous hospitality, partners FSE and SAA, and all speakers, panelists and participants for their interest and involvement in the workshop.
As the adoption of the proposed Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market is drawing nearer, it presents a concrete opportunity to empower a struggling European audiovisual authors’ community, as recent figures show. FERA is committed to provide all the necessary resources for its members to ensure meaningful progress in rights and remuneration of European directors in the digital era.
VALLETTA: Film Grain Foundation, the private foundation behind the Valletta Film Festival, is launching the Valletta Film Lab, a training and development platform open to filmmakers from Malta and small nations around Europe. The platform is open to feature films and documentaries as well.
VALLETTA: Independent filmmaker Maxime Durand, who is half-British and half-French and lives in Malta, is currently working on a series of funny short films inspired by the Malta public transportation system. The first episode of the Coming Soon series was launched on YouTube on 27 January 2019.
‘Oh, Ramona!’, the first Romanian production with over one million dollars gross in box office!
Press releases 11-03-2019The first Romanian production ever to receive more than one million dollars gross is Cristina Jacob’s ‘Oh, Ramona!’ after the third week in the Romanian cinemas, according to figures released by cinemagia.ro this Monday.
‘Oh, Ramona!’ teen comedy also keeps a top position in the Romanian box office after the third weekend on Romanian screens, with no less than 36,635 spectators in the February, 25 - March 3 week, added to the record number of admissions recorded since the film release.
The 225,951 spectators who went to cinema for the English language comedy brought $ 1,031,211 to the movie directed by Cristina Jacob, becoming the first autochthone production that can be precisely said it exceeded one million USD gross from proceeds.
It is the first time since 2002 when a Romanian movie surpasses the threshold of 200,000 spectators.
‘Oh, Ramona!’ is the screen adaptation of Andrei Ciobanu’s book, which writer-director Cristina Jacob chose as her upcoming comedy project. The pic follows Andrei’s evolution from teenager to adult, as he experiences two alternating love stories, candidly and tongue placed firmly in cheek: first – the innocent, unrequited love, second – an intense, wild romp, and both leaving him unable to choose between them.
As envisioned and shot by the director, the Romanian story in the autobiographical fiction book ‘Suck it, Ramona!’ by Andrei Ciobanu, who co-wrote the script with Alex Coteț and Cristina Jacob, has thus become a film that hews to no cultural limits, that cuts across geographic and linguistic borders, and that speaks to a generation experiencing the unique twists and turns of its teenage years as citizens of the world.
The director went with an international cast of talented actors: Bogdan Iancu, Aggy K. Adams, Holly Horne, Basil Eidenbenz, Leonardo Boudreau, Andromeda Godfrey, Melanie Ebanks, sharing the screen with Smiley, Feli, Andrei Ciobanu, Cristina Ich, Laura Giurcanu, Gina Pistol, Gabriel Jugaru, Howard Dell and Alex Coteț.
Jacob Bros released ’Oh, Ramona!’ on the 15th of February 2019. The pic is produced by Zazu Film.
Watch the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EykqSLTbYaU
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OhRamonaMovie/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ohramona_movie/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1Dy-5ot2dq5i6MTwbAfwWA
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BORDEAUX: The Czech/Slovak/Slovenian/Polish coproduction Of Unwanted Things and People directed by David Súkup, Ivana Laučíková, Leon Vidmar and Agata Gorządek won the Eurimages Co-production Development Award at the 21st Cartoon Movie. The pitching event took place in Bordeaux, France, from 5 to 7 March 2019.
LJUBLJANA: The 5th edition of the EU Audiovisual Authors’ Workshop in Ljubljana (4-5 March 2019) looked into the potential implementation of the proposed Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market and the opportunities and challenges faced by audiovisual authors in getting fair value for the exploitation of their work.
Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival aka PÖFF and its sub-festivals announce dates for its 23rd edition.The main festival and the youth and children’s strand Just Film will run from the 15th of November until the 1st of December and the international short film and animation festival PÖFF Shorts will take place from the 19th until the 27th of November.
PRAGUE: Nine films will vie in the New Europe Competition of the 26th Prague International Film Festival – Febiofest, set to take place from 21 to 29 March 2019.
