The last film of 36th PFF has been announced!
On 11th June, during the closing ceremony of the 36th Polish Film Festival in Gdynia, the film "Świteź" directed by Kamil Polak will be screened.
The film is an adaptation of a romantic ballad by Adam Mickiewicz with the same title. It tells a story of a mysterious lake, at the bottom of which lies the enchanted medieval city. "Świteź" is an apocalyptic tale of destruction, miracles, the ongoing battle between good and evil, faith and hope.

The film is set in two time levels - in the time when Mickiewicz lived and in the Middle Ages, when, according to legend, the city of Świteź sunk.

The film takes the elements of oil painting and tempera painting into 3D space, combines classical animation's means of expression with computer effects and computer animation, making it all dependent on music, composed specially for the film for symphony orchestra and choir. Everything results in a very expressive and aesthetically unique effect. "Świteź" is a modern combination of literature, painting, music and animation.



New section in the PFF programme
The new section will be dedicated to the best Polish independent movies from the recent year.
The Polish Independent Cinema Review held as part of the 36th Polish Film Festival in Gdynia constitutes a retrospective of the most interesting, gathering most attention or simply most inventive short feature movies created outside the traditional film and television production system. The Review will feature 16 titles which are representative of the genres, moods and aesthetics dominating the independent cinema these days: from classical feature etudes, through animations exploiting different tools and techniques, to experimental forms. The presented film selection is a result of several-months' search conducted jointly with the Review's partners: FILMFORUM and the SHORT WAVES Polish short film festival. They have been selected from almost 300 independent movies created in Poland over the recent year.

The Polish Independent Cinema Review will offer films which often go beyond the frames of traditional genres, use non-standard means of expression and touch upon untypical topics. This is probably the only point on the Festival's agenda where viewers will have a chance to watch a man bathing in a bath-tub in the middle of a lake, listen to confessions of a depressed vampire, meet a warewolf who is fond of beautiful women, learn about the dangers connected with the increase in body weight of Chinese citizens and about the negative effects of trumpet playing. The best film of the Review will be chosen by the Festival's audience. The plebiscite's award was founded by the KINO POLSKA TV Channel.

Today, at 5pm, at Plage des Palmes in Cannes we found out the winner ofthis year's Krzysztof Kieslowski ScripTeast Award for the best Eastern and Central European Script.

Through the decision of the Advisory Board members: Sandy Lieberson, Manfred Schmidt, Dariusz Jablonski and ScripTeast Heads of Studies: Tom Abrams and Christian Routh, the Award has been made to the script FALSE WITNESS by Iglika Triffonova (Bulgaria), which was tutored by Head of Studies Tom Abrams and Creative Advisors: Peter Medak and Donato Rotunno.

The Advisory Board explained their decision with the following statement: Based on a true story, this extremely well-written account of one of the key trials of the Hague International War Tribunal reflects on some of the great confrontations of our times, including those between religions, political systems, and ideologies. It does so through an engaging examination of personal stories that is full of narrative twists and surprises, and will keep audiences on the edge of their seats until the very end. We believe it is a worthy winner of the Kieslowski award and look forward to seeing it on our screens soon.

The author of the winning script received the statue by Adam Fedorowicz and 10,000 Euros prize money.

False Witness by Iglika Triffonova joined the group of winners of The Krzysztof Kieslowski ScripTeast Award: “The House” by Zuzana Liová, “Womb” by Benedek Fliegauf (Hungary) , “Japanese Dog” by Ioan Antoci (Romania) and „The Day of Chocolate” by Jacek Piotr Bławut co written by Anna Onichimowska (Poland).

The Advisory Board also decided to give the SCRIPTEAST 2011 SPECIAL MENTION Award to the script CAR PARK by Bence Miklauzic and Ferenc Lengyel (Hungary) that was tutored by the Head of Studies Tom Abrams and Creative Advisors: Christoph Thoke and Peter Zawrel,

The jury appreciated the refreshing originality and charming characters in this unusual dark comedy drama set in a car park. From such an unpromising location the writers have crafted a delightful tale featuring two extraordinary main characters who challenge each other’s opposing ways of life in all sorts of unexpected ways. We hope and believe that it
has the potential to entertain audiences across a wide spectrum, and in many countries.

The following scripts, representing 8 countries of Eastern and Central Europe were competing for the prize:

BEYOND WORDS by Alexandra M. Paun (Romania)
CAR PARK by Bence Miklauzic and Ferenc Lengyel (Hungary)
THE COWARDS by Andrea Sedlackova (Czech)
DON JUAN REVISITED by Andrzej Bart (Poland)
FALSE WITNESS by Iglika Triffonova (Bulgaria)
FATHER by Artur Urbanski (Poland)
FOOTBALL FOR BEGINNERS by Jaak Kilmi and Andres Keil (Estonia)
NIGHTLIFE by Damjan Kozole (Slovenia) and Ognjen Svilicic (Croatia)
SANCTUARY by Wojciech Kasperski (Poland) -
TEN COMMANDMENTS by Gabor Herendi and Reka Divinyi (Hungary)
TOWN OF OTOL by Laura Sivakova and Biba Bohinska (Slovakia)
WHAT’S BETWEEN US by Natalia Koryncka-Gruz and Marek Modzelewski
(Poland)

A one-week session at Cannes focused on the promotion of the scripts
amongst the European participants. It was supported in co-operation with
the Producers Network (about 650 active producers accredited at IFF
Cannes), and ACE (Atelier du Cinema Europeen), as well as meetings with
representatives of the film funds and festivals.

Since September 2010, the authors have been working on the scripts with
help and advice from the Creative Advisors: Scott Alexander - author of
"The People vs. Larry Flynt" awarded with Golden Globe for Best
Screenplay, "Ed Wood" with two Oscars; Paddy Breathnach - an award-winning
Irish film director and producer ("I Went Down", "Man About Dog";, "Blow
Dry" and "Shrooms"); Fred Breinersdorfer - the author of
Oscar-nominated "Sophie Scholl: The Final Days"; Licia Eminenti - working
for European coproduction Funds, Eurimages, expert and reader for Arte
France Cinema and Media Program; Peter Medak - a
Hungarian-born director living in USA ("The Ruling Class", "The
Changeling", "The Krays"); Jan Miller- the organizer of the Strategic
Partners co-production workshop in Halifax, a prestigious platform created
specifically for the development of
cooperation between the best European and Canadian producers; Donato
Rotunno - Luxembourgian producer and director, co-founder of Tarantula
Luxembourg and Tarantula Belgium; Christoph Thoke - German producer
("Tropical Malady" - Jury Price in Cannes 2004, "Le Silence de Lorna" -
Best Script Award in Cannes 2008); Brian Ward - British screenwriter ("The
Interpreter" starring Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn, directed by Sydney
Pollack) and Peter Zawrel - the managing director of the Vienna Film Fund,
which supported i.a. "Desert Flower" by Sherry Horman, "The White Ribbon"
and "The Piano Teacher" by Michael Haneke.

ScripTeast was created by the famous Polish director and producer Dariusz
Jablonski, in collaboration with his closest associates, producers:
Violetta Kaminska and Izabela Wojcik. Together, besides wide international
production activities through their companies Apple Film and Avocado TV,
they created the Independent Film Foundation, which promotes ambitious
films and its authors in Poland and Central and Eastern Europe.

ScripTeast is organized by the Independent Film Foundation and supported
by Media Program of EU, Polish Film Institute and Apple Film Production,
in cooperation with the European Film Academy, the ACE Program, Producers
Network, Final Draft, Film New Europe and festivals in Berlin, Cannes and
Karlovy Vary.

For further information, please contact us on: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., tel: 48
516 034 696

Dear guests of the 64th Moscow International Film Festival,

On May 18, at 11:00, the Russian pavilion at the Cannes Film Festival invites you to attend the presentation and press conference of the 33rd Moscow International Film Festival (MIFF). The list of films will be announced, and you will have the chance to meet jury members.

Participants:
- Leonid Veshchagin, MIFF general director;
- Kirill Razlogov, MIFF programme director;
- Petr Shepotinnik, member of the MIFF selection committee.

We are looking forward to welcoming you at the press conference.

For more information please contact:
Lidia Drobysh
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
+33 679 350 682

CANNES: On 17 May the Estonian Pavilion (Pantiero 212) at the Cannes Festival 2011 celebrated the international film project 60 Seconds of Solitude in Year Zero, a non-profit project dedicated to preserve the freedom of cinema in 35mm film. 60 directors from around the world will each contribute a one-minute cinematic postcard to be screened on Tallinn Bay, alongside Baltic Sea at the end of August 2011. The film itself will be sacrificed through fire during projection, and will be never screened again. This is not an act of defiance, but as a love poem, it will be only seen and read once.

Supported by CNC Romania, ARTE/France and MEDIA, Aristoteles Workshop has over the past five years become a unique training programme, offering both a hands-on approach and a continuous tutoring system, and managed to double its status as an established production house as well. Entry deadline: May 31, 2011.

Kaunas International Film Festival launches cooperation with young film artists
Kaunas International Film Festival has become the official representative of the European network of film associations NISI MASA in Lithuania. The membership of the Lithuanian festival in this project will open up wide opportunities of international projects and festivals not only for young film artists and critics, but also for film students and other players of the film industry.

“NISI MASA is a European network that involves and gives access for youth to the film industry. NISI MASA activites ranges from film making workshop, script developing, and film criticism workshops. Kaunas IFF participation in the network, will hopefully inspire youth in Lithuania to take part and develop their skills in above mention fields of the film industry. We are looking forward to encourage the future generation in Lithuania to work with film,” Tomas Tengmark, Kaunas Film Festival programme producer commented on the Festival’s joining the NISI MASA network.

The name NISI MASA is a reference to 8 1/2 by Federico Fellini, in which Marcello Mastroianni repeats the phrase “Asa Nisi Masa”. The film, a European cinema classic, and the sentence, an incantation belonging to no specific language, both reflect the cinematic and cross-border spirit of the network.

NISI MASA was founded in 2001 and is financed by the European Union, the Council of Europe, and several French foundations. It unites associations, currently present in 26 countries, with a common cause – European cinema. The network of students, young professionals and film enthusiasts aims to discover new talents, develop cross-cultural audiovisual projects, extend film education and promote new European film.

Another goal of NISI MASA is to create a platform of discussion and collaboration for young European filmmakers. The network organises international filmmaking and scriptwriting workshops, holds various cinema-related conferences and seminars, promotes short films, and edits film critique publications produced during various international film festivals.
An international team of young critics and designers formed and trained by NISI MASA publishes a daily film critique magazine Nisimazine at the international film festival in Cannes, Torino, Helsinki, Tehran, Abu Dhabi, Rio de Janeiro, etc. The magazine covers reviews of films introduced at the festivals and interviews with filmmakers.

Filmmaking workshops organised by NISI MASA’s partners include important international projects of documentaries and art-house movies. During “Cine-train”, young film professionals travel on a train for three weeks making documentaries. The “Visions Of” workshop takes place in various European cities and is aimed at producing cinematographic portraits of the cities. Besides the journalism projects and various workshops, NISI MASA also holds scriptwriting competitions and helps the winners to implement their cinematography ideas.

NISI MASA together with Kaunas Film Festival will open up wide opportunities of creative practice for young people in Lithuania. More information about the projects and opportunities of NISI MASA is available upon registration in the special section of Kaunas Film Festival: www.kinofestivalis.lt/lt/nisimasa. For more information please call +370 678 11324.

--
Gintarė Kavaliūnaitė
Public relations | Ryšiai su visuomene
Kaunas International Film Festival | Tarptautinis Kauno kino festivalis
+370 610 05056 | www.kinofestivalis.lt| This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |

The last session will be held at the 51. Krakow Film Festival between the 25th and the 29th of May in the MANGGHA Centre of Japanese Art and Technology, in Krakow.

Project selection was especially difficult this year, dues to large amount of applications. After long consultations the selection committee chose 15 projects to take part in this year's Dragon Forum Pitching. Additionally, 5 projects were selected conditionally. Our congratulations to Pitching Participants, best of luck!


List of projects qualified to participate in the Pitching can be found at: http://www.dragonforum.pl/index1.php?sec=news&lang=pl&id=655

Following commissioning editors confirmed their participation in this year's Pitching:

Margje de Koning - IKON, (Netherlands)
Jerzy Dzięgielewski - HBO, (Poland)
Adam Gee - Channel 4, (United Kingdom)
Hanneke Hagen - VPRO, (Netherlands)
Marje Jurtshenko - ERR, (Estonia)
Cynthia Kane - ITVS, (USA)
Katarzyna Malinowska - TVP Kultura, (Poland)
Philippe Muller - ARTE, (France)
Rafał Orlicki - KFC, (Poland)
Barbara Paciorkowska - TVP 2, (Poland)
Barbara Pawłowska - TVP 1, (Poland)
Emelie Persson - SVT, (Sweden)
Martin Pieper - ARTE/ZDF, (Germany)
Daniel Saltzwedel - MBB, (Germany)
Heribert Schneiders - MDR (Germany)
Nathalie Windhorst - NPS, (Netherlands)

Applications for Pitching Observers are still being accepted. Observers are welcomed to approach all Dragon Forum commissioners and investors to talk about their projects. We have also prepared a special pitching offer for film schools students. Please send filled application forms as well as questions and suggestions to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..


Three Dragon Forum films qualified for the competition at the 51st Krakow Film Festival!

Films selected for the National Competition:
„Pomorskie iluzje"
Directors: Jacob Dammas, Helge Renner
Producers: Jacob Dammas
Production company: Graniza Jacob Dammas
Poland, 2011, 70'

„Odyseja złomowa"
Director: Łukasz Gutt, Paweł Ferdek
Producer: Wojciech Szczudło, Witold Będkowski
Production company: SF Kalejdoskop, TVP S.A.
Poland, 2010, 48'

International documentary film competition:
Invisible Strings - The Talented Pusker Sister
Director: Ágnes Sós
Producer: Marc Lorber
Production company: HBO Cetral Europe
Hungary, 2010, 80'

Congratulations!

The last session will be held at the 51. Krakow Film Festival between the 25th and the 29th of May in the MANGGHA Centre of Japanese Art and Technology, in Krakow.

Project selection was especially difficult this year, dues to large amount of applications. After long consultations the selection committee chose 15 projects to take part in this year's Dragon Forum Pitching. Additionally, 5 projects were selected conditionally. Our congratulations to Pitching Participants, best of luck!


List of projects qualified to participate in the Pitching can be found at: http://www.dragonforum.pl/index1.php?sec=news&lang=pl&id=655

Following commissioning editors confirmed their participation in this year's Pitching:

Margje de Koning - IKON, (Netherlands)
Jerzy Dzięgielewski - HBO, (Poland)
Adam Gee - Channel 4, (United Kingdom)
Hanneke Hagen - VPRO, (Netherlands)
Marje Jurtshenko - ERR, (Estonia)
Cynthia Kane - ITVS, (USA)
Katarzyna Malinowska - TVP Kultura, (Poland)
Philippe Muller - ARTE, (France)
Rafał Orlicki - KFC, (Poland)
Barbara Paciorkowska - TVP 2, (Poland)
Barbara Pawłowska - TVP 1, (Poland)
Emelie Persson - SVT, (Sweden)
Martin Pieper - ARTE/ZDF, (Germany)
Daniel Saltzwedel - MBB, (Germany)
Heribert Schneiders - MDR (Germany)
Nathalie Windhorst - NPS, (Netherlands)

Applications for Pitching Observers are still being accepted. Observers are welcomed to approach all Dragon Forum commissioners and investors to talk about their projects. We have also prepared a special pitching offer for film schools students. Please send filled application forms as well as questions and suggestions to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..


Three Dragon Forum films qualified for the competition at the 51st Krakow Film Festival!

Films selected for the National Competition:
„Pomorskie iluzje"
Directors: Jacob Dammas, Helge Renner
Producers: Jacob Dammas
Production company: Graniza Jacob Dammas
Poland, 2011, 70'

„Odyseja złomowa"
Director: Łukasz Gutt, Paweł Ferdek
Producer: Wojciech Szczudło, Witold Będkowski
Production company: SF Kalejdoskop, TVP S.A.
Poland, 2010, 48'

International documentary film competition:
Invisible Strings - The Talented Pusker Sister
Director: Ágnes Sós
Producer: Marc Lorber
Production company: HBO Cetral Europe
Hungary, 2010, 80'

Congratulations!