Seeking funding for your film or TV project? Interested in pitching to equity investors? Want to learn how to close your project's budget gap?

Closing The Gap is a MEDIA-supported training course for film and TV producers run by film financing consultancy peacefulfish in association with the pan-European investor network Media Deals, the Apulia Film Commission, and the Mallorca Film Commission.

The course trains producers on how to identify, approach, and pitch to private equity investors, teaching business skills that producers can use to find new sources of financing in the current financial climate. Investors participating in the training both as experts and on the pitch panel include:

> venture capital funds

> business angel networks

> public/private funds

> mediatech financiers

Through the course, producers learn innovative financing and transmedia marketing and distribution strategies, prepare a business plan and pitch presentation targeted to an equity investor audience, have a range of networking opportunities, receive extensive one-to-one feedback and pitch coaching and-at the course's conclusion-pitch their projects to a panel of investors, who will vote on and award a cash prize to the best pitch.

Producers should apply with a specific project (live action, animation, documentary). Financial assistance is available. Application deadline is: 15 March 2012

For additional information and application forms, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Or visit: http://www.closing-the-gap.net/

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peacefulfish offers strategic consulting services to public institutions, policy makers, content producers, digital distributors, financiers, and other individuals and companies active in
the creative industries. http://www.peacefulfish.com/

MEDIA Programme is the European Union support programme for the audiovisual industry.

http://ec.europa.eu/culture/media/index_en.htm

Apulia Film Commission is the film commission of the Apulia region based in Bari, Italy.

http://www.apuliafilmcommission.it/

Mallorca Film Commission is the film commission for Mallorca based in Palma de Mallorca, Spain.
http://mallorcafilmcommission.com/

Media Deals is a pan-European investor network based in Paris and Berlin. http://www.media-deals.org/

This year sees the first edition of East European Forum taking place in Prague within the new East Doc Platform. It also features the new selection of East European projects taking part in the Forum workshop, Public presentation and Feedback Round Tables. The pick of the final 16 has been made. Take a look at the list!

Prague, 25 January 2012 – The grand unveiling of the new DVD representing the best of Czech short works in 2011 will take place in the Oko cinema on Thursday, January 26^th from 8 p.m. The DVD Czech Short Films 2012, Vol. III is being issued by the Czech Film Center and it contains a selection of 12 films from Czech film schools – Prague’s Film and TV School of Performing Arts (FAMU), the Film Academy of Miroslav Ondříček in Písek (FAMO) and Tomáš Bata University in Zlín (TBU), and 1 film created as an independent production.

The films on the DVD were chosen by a professional commission comprised of Kateřina Fričová, who worked for a long time in television and now is involved in media consulting and educational activities, film journalist Vojtěch Rynda, the Program Director of the Prague International Short Film Festival Karel Spěšný, Czech Television dramaturge Kristián Suda and Petr Horák, the creator of the iShorts Nights project. This time around the jury had 160 films to choose from. The thirteen best include feature, animated and documentary films. The idea behind this collection is primarily to draw attention to young film personalities and to help them find their way to the international film market. This will be the third DVD with short films to be released (the first coming out in 2010). Both of the previous DVD collections were presented at several international festivals and film markets and were an important part of the continuous promotion of Czech short films that the Czech Film Center is systematically involved in.

“There is a huge tradition of animated film in Czech cinematography. Some computer animation appears here, though the overwhelming majority are classic techniques - marionettes, drawn animation. I think that the ratio of animation is far greater among Czech short films compared to film schools abroad. And then there is the humour, the best being a refined, Czech, slightly subversive humour. Czechs are afraid of being completely serious, so they always sneak humour into their films,” stated journalist Vojtěch Rynda, one of the jury members, in an attempt to characterise the specific qualities of current Czech short films.

“As far as feature short films are concerned, this year’s production seemed to me to be somewhat more interesting than last year,” added the Director of the Prague International Short Film Festival, Karel Spěšný. “This can ultimately be seen in the fact that this year our festival finally, after some time, also chose a Czech film for the international competition. And it should be added that we were choosing between two right up to the last minute.”

The Czech Film Centre has also begun cooperation with the Czech Lion awards with the Magnesia Award for the best student film – apart from the films for the DVD, the jury also chose 20 student short films for the short list for the Magnesia Award, from which the Academy chose five films for the nomination, one of which will then obtain the Magnesia Award for the best student film along with a prize of one hundred thousand crowns.

The films included on the DVD Czech Short Films 2012, Vol. III

A Small Circle of Attention (FAMU, dir. Josef Tuka) feature, 25 minutes

An intimate story of a man who has to decide between his feelings and his own moral imperatives. Přemek, an actor, falls suddenly in love with a younger colleague from the theatre. He is, of course, married, and his wife of many years is seriously ill. Přemek fights against this love he feels and tries to recall moments of happiness with his wife in an illusive attempt to enhance their once strong feelings. Jut when Přemek actually does overcome his affections, there is an unexpected turn of events.

TUMOURrow Never Knows (Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague, dir. Pavel Soukup) animation, 6 minutes

An animated film about a lonely old lady who paradoxically sees a tragic illness as her “close” and only friend…

Meat Jihad (FAMU, dir. Natálie Císařovská) documentary, 15 minutes

The film looks at Czech people’s relationship to Muslims, juxtaposing Valentin Kusák, President of the Anti-Mosque association, with Muneeb Hassan Alrawi, Chairman of the Main Office of Muslim Associations in the Czech Republic. The fight over a mosque in Hradec Králové would be a slapstick comedy if it didn’t reflect the difficult co-existence between a Christian-atheist society and other religions.

Shining Tony (Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague, dir. Filip Posivač) animation, 3 minutes

A short animated tale of a boy with an unusual trait. Tonda shines, and because he is entirely different from other children he gets bullied around. But Tonda is ultimately not the only one who is different…

Non-Swimmers (FAMU, dir. Jakub Šmíd) feature, 23 minutes

A student film that tells the story of Vendula, a sixteen-year-old girl who finds herself spending the holidays at her grandmother’s in an abandoned holiday resort as punishment. Nothing ever happens in this village in the middle of nowhere, just a clique of local teenagers drinks and kills time in the empty pool. Wendy experiences a bittersweet summer love affair while waiting for the moment when the pool is finally filled with water.

The Last of the Dodos (TBU Zlín, dir. Jiří Novák) animation, 10minutes

An animated adventure about the inglorious fate of a castaway, some cute dodos, greedy monks and divine punishment for human greed.

Cosmic Songs (FAMU, dir. Katarína Dědičová) feature, 10 minutes

Despite its routine appearance, Adam's and Mr. Reisz's mission is much more important than it seems. The film captures the desire to answer the question of whether life actually exists in the universe, yet poetically portrays universal human feelings of love and friendship and shows that fiction is rooted in the contemporary reality that surrounds us.

Helga L-520 (dir. Miloš Zvěřina) animated documentary – production: Via Lucis, Jiří P. Miška, Nelly D. Jenčíková, Miracle film, 20 minutes

The artistic animated documentary film “Helga L-520” is inspired by the true story of Helga Weiss-Hošková during her interment in the Terezín ghetto. This “Terezin Diary” is dedicated to the memory of many thousands of children murdered in the concentration camps during the Second World War. The film is the second in the planned “Terezín Triptych“ project, and is a sequel to the M. Zvěřina’s award-winning student film “Imprisoned Dreams.”

Dessert (Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague, dir. Anna Mastníková) animation, 4 minutes

A short animated film about three forms of love, where the partners limit each other, play with each other or eat each other up.

5 CZK (FAMO, dir. Marek Ciccotti) documentary, 14 minutes

A documentary film as a probe into the world of public WCs near a Prague metro and the people we regularly overlook and do not consider to be important. But who is that person we give the money to? Who is hidden behind the window through which we can hear “Pay up! Five crowns!” Three women tell us their life stories.

Mr. Late (FAMO, dir. Jiří Sádek) feature, 15 minutes

Aneta's beloved partner has a rare disease which prevents him from leaving their home. But the authorities try to seize the house and plan to throw the young pair out of the building. Aneta is faced with a choice. She and her partner must and simultaneously cannot leave the house. What will win out? Common sense? Chance? Compassion?

Evolution? (FAMO, dir. Michal Dubnický) animation, 12 minutes

Wasmy estranged great-grandfather a humanor fish?

Pit-Hole – (TBU Zlín, dir. Jiří Stejskal) documentary, 23 minutes

A documentary depicting the life of a Ukrainian family that refuses a contemporary lifestyle. There, where the old clashes with the new, where something unique is being transformed, conflict arises. The film focuses on the family and the difficult living conditions caused by a Kiev construction project.

Contact:

Tel: +420 221 105 398

e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

www.filmcenter.cz

European films under one flag

A new idea was born and a new flag flown for films from across Europe when European Film Promotion (EFP) was founded 15 years ago. On February 16, 1997, ten European promotion and export organisations joined forces during the Berlin International Film Festival, to demonstrate the wealth of films from various individual countries and to bring them onto the screen for audiences around the globe.

>>> read press release on www.efp-online.com

Best Intentions is the 7th film getting cinema release in Hungary out of the 13 domestic premieres from Jameson CineFest`s 2011 competition program. Awarded with the Best Director and Best Actor prizes in Locarno, "Romanian writer/director Adrian Sitaru`s... talky, family-centered drama relies on subjective, point-of-view camerawork to an extent seldom matched since Robert Montgomery's 1947 noir The Lady in the Lake.", writes The Hollywood Reporter reviewer. The Hungarian co-production (with Emőke Vágási`s Cor Leonis Film) started countrywide on 20 January.

Prague 20 January 2011 – Several Czech films will be appearing at respected international film festivals and presentations in January. The Czech Film Center, which has continuously been supporting and presenting Czech cinematography abroad for ten years now, contributed to the participation of domestic films and filmmakers at foreign festivals at the beginning of 2012.

The acceptance of director Bohdan Sláma’s Four Suns to the international Sundance Film Festival competition, which will take place from 19 – 29 January 2012, met with the greatest response. The Festival previously featured Sláma’s work back in 2009, when he was included in the selection of interesting directorial personalities that the editors of the prestigious Variety magazine put together. Four Suns will have its world premiere here on 21 January and will then be shown in five festival projections. The film is represented by the international vendor Films Boutique, the company that also represents the films of Alexander Sokurov and Béla Tarr, among others.

The 24^th Premiers Plans Film Festival, which will be running from 20 - 29 January 2012 in Angers, France, will be presenting FAMU student Jakub Šmíd’s film Non-Swimmers in the European Student Films competition section. The Czech Film Center is supporting Jakub Šmíd’s participation in the festival. The animated film Life is a Bitch by Michaela Hoffová from FAMU will also be presented in the European Animated Films competition section.

The International Festival of Short Films in Clermont-Ferrand (France), whose 34^th year will take place from 27 January – 4 February 2012, chose Libor Pixa’s film Graffitiger to compete in the International Competition section. The eleven minute long inventive combined film about a tiger that remains at the mercy of an urban jungle already has a number of awards to its credit, including a nomination for a "student" Oscar. The Czech Film Centre will be representing Czech short films at this festival and at the local film market and is also supporting Libor Pixa's participation.

The International Film Festival in Rotterdam is one of the places where Czech films are welcome and where they have prospered. Director Bohdan Sláma actually launched his international career years ago in Rotterdam with the film Wild Bees.

Now, in the festival's forty-first year, the European premiere of Sláma’s film Four Suns will take place in the non-competition SPECTRUM section. The Rotterdam festival will take place from 25 January to 5 February 2012.

In addition to this the documentary Punk in Africa from directors Keith Jones and Deon Maas, which arose as a Czech and South African co-production, will be shown in the same section.

Furthermore the documentary Into Oblivion from debuting director Šimon Špidla will also be presented at the Rotterdam festival in the SPECTRUM SHORTS section with the director’s personal participation. The film is represented by: Evolution Films (Pavel Berčík).

Contact:

GSM: +420 221 105 398

e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

www.filmcenter.cz

Meetings on the Bridge in its 7th Year; Film Development and Work in Progress Workshops, Funds for Co-Productions, Panels and Meetings

The Meetings on the Bridge will celebrate its seventh year during the 31st edition of the ıstanbul Film Festival to take place 31 March-15 April 2012.

Meetings on the Bridge brings together producers, directors, scriptwriters and representatives of organizations so as to continue providing opportunities for initial international presentations of new feature films, as well as setting the stage for co-productions.

While Meetings on the Bridge continues to collaborate with filmmakers from Turkey throughout the year, it shares with them the developments in the international film industry, as well. Filmmakers and professionals from abroad who wish to receive information on the Turkish cinema consult this platform.

The Film Development Workshop application deadline is 23 January 2012

The Film Development Workshop which receives interest from European film professionals and distributors increasingly each year will be held 10-11 April 2012. The application deadline for projects from Turkey is 23 January 2012. Providing an international platform for Turkish filmmakers to present their projects to European professionals, the workshop also leads the way for project owners to perform their initial negotiations for co-productions. The owners of the projects conduct one-to-one meetings with producers, distributors and representatives of institutions from Europe and organisations including Eurimages, ARTE, Berlinale, Binger Lab, Cinelink, Cinemart, Torino Film Lab and Fortissimo Films.

A new workshop launched this year: Work in Progress

Open to feature films from Turkey which have completed at least 50% of their shooting or which are at their post-production stage, the Work in Progress workshop will be launched this year, again within the framework of Meetings on the Bridge. During the workshop aimed at supporting film projects from Turkey at the production stage, producers will find the chance to make the initial international presentations of their films.

A maximum of 5 films to be selected by the Meetings on the Bridge advisory board will participate in the workshop at their offline editing stages. At the end of the workshop, the film to be selected by the international jury consisting of 3 members will be presented with the 1000Volt Post-Production Award. The application deadline for Work in Progress workshop is 9 March 2012.

The deadline for applications for Turkish-German Co-Production Development Fund is 2 March 2012

Seven projects selected from among the 13 film projects submitted to the Turkish-German Co-Production Development Fund, established through the cooperation of Istanbul Film Festival-Meetings on the Bridge Platform, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein Film Funds receive support from the fund in 2011. The deadline for the second term applications of the same fund is 2 March 2012. The projects to be supported will be announced at the Meetings on the Bridge award reception during the Istanbul Film Festival in April. With a total budget of 150,000 Euros, and established by the above-mentioned three institutions which are pioneers in their fields with the purpose of increasing cultural cooperation between the two countries and supporting co-productions, this fund welcomes all Turkish-German co-productions that have not begun shooting yet.

Meeting and Panels on Turkey-Holland co-productions during Istanbul Film Festival and Holland Film Festival

Within the scope of the 400th Anniversary of the establishment of Turkish-Dutch diplomatic relations, the Turkish-Dutch Co-Production Meetings and Panels will be organized with the cooperation of Istanbul Film Festival-Meetings on the Bridge and Netherlands Film Festival-Holland Film Meetings. Aiming at bringing together film professionals from the two countries so as to pave the way for co-productions, these meetings will be held in Istanbul in April and in Utrecht in September.

Meetings on the Bridge Workshops

Topics including co-productions, international festivals and funds, new media and distribution channels are taken up during the Meetings on the Bridge workshops by expert professionals and cinema professionals, and proposals for solutions were discussed. The program for the 2012 workshops which will be open to all filmmakers and film enthusiasts is to be announced in March 2012.

Meetings on the Bridge in 2011

In 2011, a total of 109 film projects were submitted to the Film Development Workshop and Turkish-French Co-Production Meetings, and 30 foreign guests were hosted in the Meetings on the Bridge events. 17 speakers from Europe and 75 participants as audience contributed the seminars, where co-productions and the new developments in the industry were discussed. Ten feature film projects received support awards.

Istanbul Film Festival and Meetings on the Bridge celebrated the international accomplishments of the Turkish film industry in the recent years and the supported film projects, at a reception organized in May, following the festival, within the framework of the Cannes Film Festival-Producer's Network.

For further information please send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The 8th edition of the JEWISH MOTIFS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL will take place on 24-29 April, 2012.

The JEWISH MOTIFS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL is one of the biggest European festivals focused on Jewish themes in contemporary cinematography. We strive to show our audience the most interesting aspects of Jewish culture, history and tradition, and to promote tolerance and cultural diversity. Every year we receive hundreds of films from all over the world and present those which we feel are the most interesting and inquisitive. We accept only the latest cinematic offerings, produced no earlier than two years prior to the current edition of Festival.

The selected films take part in a competition and are judged by an international jury which includes film directors, screenwriters and critics. The most important criteria are Jewish impact, aesthetic value and craftsmanship.

The Festival films compete in the following categories:

* Best Feature
* Best Documentary
* Best Short / Animation

The Festival prizes are:

* The statues of the Warsaw Phoenix - a symbol of revival
* Cash prizes (amounting to $ 45 000)

The organizers of the Jewish Motifs IFF cover the following expenses:
- travelling costs (return ticket) for the film director (one person per production)
- accommodation costs in Warsaw (hotel in the city center) for one person per production (or two persons in a double/twin room)


For pre-selection, we accept films produced in 2010 or later. Please send us PAL DVD (with English subtitles) only.

The submission deadline is 20th January 2012.

Films and entry forms should be sent to:

JEWISH MOTIFS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
Wilcza 12C
00-532 Warsaw, Poland

Entry forms can also be sent via e-mail to Magda Maślak: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

You will find more information about the Festival Rules, as well as the entry forms, on our website: www.jewishmotifs.org.pl
You can find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/jewishmotifs

We strongly encourage you to take part in the competition, and watch the films during the Festival in Warsaw!

Kind regards,

Organizers - Jewish Motifs Association

The jury president for the Golden Tulip International Competition and the Golden Tulip National Competition of 31st Istanbul Film Festival, organised by Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts under the sponsorship of Akbank in 31 March - 15 April, were appointed.

The Golden Tulip Jury President will be Nuri Bilge Ceylan at the International Competition

The Golden Tulip International Competition Jury will be led by renowned director Nuri Bilge Ceylan, who lately won the Special Jury Prize in Cannes Film Festival with his latest film Once Upon A Time in Anatolia. In addition to the Golden Tulip as the Grand Prize of the festival, the jury will also present a director the Special Prize of the Jury for exceptional achievement. The International Competition will be supported by a total of 25,000 Euro monetary prizes to be given by the Eczacıbaşı Group in the memory of Şakir Eczacıbaşı. Of this total amount, 10,000 Euros will be given to the Turkish distributor of the film to earn the Golden Tulip Best Film award.

The Golden Tulip National Competition Awards will be determined by the jury headed by Murathan Mungan

The Golden Tulip National Competition Jury will be headed by poet and writer Murathan Mungan, whose several works have been adapted to theater Mungan was also the screenwriter of Dağınık Yatak / An Untidy Bed by Atıf Yılmaz, considered a cult film by many. Lead by Mungan, the jury will hand out nine awards including the Best Turkish Film, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Screenplay, Best Director of Photography, Best Music, Best Editing, and Special Prize of the Jury.

The film to be selected as the Best Turkish Film will be awarded 150,000 TL, and the Best Director will be awarded 50,000 TL. The Best Actress and Best Actor will be awarded 10,000 TL each.

The Special Prize of the Jury, which was supported with a monetary award for the first time in 2011, will come to be distributed by Efes Pilsen this year. Among the films partaking in the Golden Tulip National Competition, the director of the film to win the Special Jury Prize in the memory of Onat Kutlar, will be awarded 30,000 US Dollars by Efes Pilsen to be used in his/her next film.

For further information: http://film.iksv.org/en



For images of the 31st Istanbul Film Festival: www.iksvpress.com/film2012



To apply for international press accreditations: http://film.iksv.org/en/press/accreditation

Dear friends,

we are happy to be sending you the programme of WEMW and more detailed information on selected projects, decision makers and one-to-one meetings. We kindly ask you to read carefully and come back to us in case you need any further help!

SELECTED PROJECTS

As we mentioned in our previous emails and newsletters, along with the “final line-up” of 18 projects selected for the public pitching, WEMW 2012 will present two new categories: “follow-up” (10 strong projects already presented in other European co-production markets) and “warm-up” (11 projects in a very early stage of development that look extremely promising). The producers of these last two selections will have the chance “to request only 4 individual meetings, whereas the producers selected for the pitching will have the chance to have meetings with all possible decision makers they wish to meet in Trieste. Please find attached the project catalogue with full information on the projects, producers, companies, writers and directors.

DECISION MAKERS & ONE-TO-ONE MEETINGS

Please find attached the book of decision makers. Selected producers are requesting their meetings and we will do our best to try to satisfy all their wishes. Also decision makers can request a few one-to-one meetings both with producers or other decision makers. If you wish to pre-schedule some appointments we have attached a one-to-one decision makers form where you can write who you would love to meet. In order to be able to pre-arrange your meetings we kindly ask you to return the form via email at the latest before Sunday January 15th

PROGRAMME

Please find attached the almost definitive programme for decision makers with all the details regarding the several panel and pitching sessions.

We are really sorry for this extremely long email, but we hope you finally reached the end! Tomorrow you will receive a logistic letter with precise information on your accommodation and other important details on WEMW and your stay in Trieste.

We look forward to seeing you!

WEMW team

When East Meets West

Tel. +39 0432 500322

Fax +39 0432 200825

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

www.wemw.it