BBC Studios, CBS Studios International, AMC Networks, Keshet International, all3media international and many others highlighted NEM Zagreb’s day two

Zagreb, December 13th – The second day of NEM Zagreb put a spotlight on some of the most recognizable world-renowned broadcasters. BBC Studios and CBS Studios International showcased their newest content at exclusive screenings.

BBC Studios offered a glimpse of its newest show “Sanditon”, inspired by Jane Austen’s unfinished final novel. In addition to the exclusive screening, participants enjoyed Q&A with Kris Marshall and Rose Williams, who are starring in leading roles.„There is a certain element of modernism to this adaptation of Austen’s writing that will make it more appealing to today's audience. Also, neither of the sets was constructed in the studio in order to achieve authenticity“, said Kris Marshall.

„Austen’s subjects are still important today. She is addressing the issues of women’s place in society and family. Andrew Davies's adaptation made Charlotte an empowering young woman. For me, it is important for audience to see the strong female character and to see that it is not something new“, Rose Williams added.

CBS Studios International presented its newest show “The Moodys” and sparked up a holiday feeling with a little help from the eccentric Moody family and their attempt at a ‘perfect’ holiday.

The screening of Keshet’s “The Trial of Christine Keeler” was followed by insights from Keren Shahar, COO and president of distribution at Keshet International. In her talk with Sanja Božić-Ljubičić, CEO and owner of Mediatranslations, Mediavision and Pickbox, Shahar shared an experience of bringing a real-life story to the TV screen: „When you portrait real-life people, you have additional responsibility. In order to do the story justice, it needed to be produced predominantly by women. What attracted us to this project was the possibility to tell the story from Christine’s eyes.”

Harold Gronenthal, Executive Vice President of Programming and Marketing at AMC Networks, shared his expert view on adjusting to the ever-changing demand for TV content: „It has been nothing but change in this business since day one, making AMC a product of these transformations. Also, technology and audience will not stop changing. A more varied choice and empowerment for users is the most important change. AMC has transformed from a movie channel to a channel that produces shows and finally to a channel that both produces and owns shows.“

Gabrielle Tana, an Oscar and BAFTA nominated producerand the co-founder of Magnolia Mae Films, emphasized that the bright future of the independent film industry depends on audience: „With all the other changes in the industry, standards and quality have not and should not change. Streaming platforms are supporting new voices and keeping the industry vibrant and competitive. It is no longer about the cinema experience but audiovisual experience as well. When you make a film independently, you don’t know if it’s going to be distributed or not. With independent films, quality is more important than the studio and the distributor.“ 

Demand for original content

One of the key questions during the second day of NEM Zagreb was detecting projects with strong local potential andbroad international ambition. During the panel Non-English Content on a Global Stage, yes Studios from Izrael announced season three of its successful series Fauda. It will premiere during December and it is coming to Netflix in 2020.

Non-English content on a global stage, the popularity of Nordic TV projects and the success of Greek production were discussed by experienced professionals who gave their point of view. Focus was also on global production in the Balkan region and detecting local content with global potential.

Also, some of the most recognizable names of Croatian original production offered a glimpse into the variety and originality of local production. Emphasis was made on the quality of these projects considering the budget limitations. More on the latest trends in content financing andcommissioning is expected during NEM Zagreb’s day three.

See the complete NEM Zagreb agenda here: neweumarket.com/zagreb/agenda-2019/

In the wintertime before the end of the year, DAFilms online documentary cinema traditionally presents a selection of the most watched films in the Best of DAFilms curated program. The collection features the most remarkable documentary films which received an online premiere in 2019 on DAFilms, including works by renowned filmmakers like Želimir Žilnik, Peter Mettler and the late Gustav Deutsch. The viewers also lovedsuccessful festival films about current events like Brexitannia, Meteors and Machines. In 2020, DAFilms will expand into North and South America, Poland and Slovakia with special versions of the website and tailored film programs.

The Best of DAFilms 2019 curated program is co-created by the viewers and the films they watched or searched the most. “Each year, we add 100+ films handpicked among the best of international arthouse cinema. These include established documentary filmmakers, festival hits as well as works by emerging young filmmakers. We are always happy to present the films deemed best by our viewers at the end of the year, and to see that they have a similar taste as we do,” says DAFilms executive director Diana Tabakov.

This year, the viewers loved successful festival films Meteors following the events in contemporary Turkey, the unique insight into Indian textile factories in the film Machines, and Michael Glawogger’s unfinished travelogue with the telling title Untitled. Another favourite was Becoming Animal by directing duo Peter Mettler and Emma Davie addressing the relation between man and nature together with philosopher David Abram. The viewers also had a chance to watch the last major work by found footage master Gustav Deutsch How We Live – Messages to the Family. Želimir Žilnik’s films are yet another popular part of the program, including his latest work The Most Beautiful Country in the World following the story of an Afghan boy trying to settle down in Vienna.

All films from the Best of DAFilms 2019 curated program are available for online streaming or legal download at DAFilms.com. Besides the selected films, the catalogue includes almost 2000 films presenting the best of Czech and international cinema. The monthly or yearly subscription can be gifted as a Christmas present via a gift voucher.

In 2020, DAFilms launches DAFilms Americas and other language versions of the website

Since 2006, DAFilms online documentary cinema has provided access to quality arthouse films online. Besides the Czech and international versions of the website, DAFilms.com launches a Slovak, Polish and American version in January 2020. For each territory, we will curate a unique program complementing the international titles by local fiction and documentary films.“The American continent is a territory where the VOD market may seem fully saturated; however, it is lacking a service with a focus on quality arthouse and documentary cinema. From our experience with American festivals, the demand for these films is huge,“ says the program director of the American version of the website Kristyna Balaban to explain why the VOD service decided to enter this territory.

Best of DAFilms 2019 List

The Dreamed Ones – d. Ruth Beckermann
Machines – d. Rahul Jain
Exit – d. Karen Winther
Untitled – d. Michael Glawogger, Monika Willi
On the Water – d. Goran Dević 
The Most Beautiful Country in the World – d. Želimir Žilnik
The Congo Tribunal – d. Milo Rau
Becoming Animal – d. Peter Mettler, Emma Davie
Brexitannia – d. Timothy George Kelly
How We Live – Messages to the Family – d. Gustav Deutsch 
Central Bus Station – d. Tomáš Elšík
Meteors – d. Gürcan Keltek
Calabria – d. Pierre-François Sauter
Picturesque Epochs – d. Péter Forgács
The Last Self-portrait – d. Marek Kuboš
Home Abroad – d. Boan Wang
Maison du Bonheur – d. Sofia Bohdanowicz
Tomorrow – d. Yuliya Shatun
I Am Gagarin – d. Olga Darfy
Going South – d. Dominic Gagnon

The National Film Centre of Latvia announced the following grants in May 2019.

Co-production support -  Strasbourg, 13.12.2019 - At its 157th meeting held from 9 to 12 December in Berlin, the Board of Management of the Council of Europe's Eurimages Fund agreed to support 15 fiction films and one documentary project for a total amount of €3,399,600.

TV industry key players, TV Writing Contest winners and an impressive Christmas party marked the last day of the first NEM Zagreb