Held within the 21st Ji.hlava IDFF, the Institute of Documentary Film launches the second session of the yearlong international workshop Ex Oriente Film devoted to developing and supporting creative documentaries from Central and Eastern Europe. This year's 15th edition will welcome fifteen leading experts that will share their experiences and expertise with filmmakers from Central and Eastern Europe within the Ex Oriente Film workshop, as well as in the open programme for Ji.hlava guests. The diverse open programme is full of masterclasses, lectures, and case studies devoted to all aspects of documentary production, co-production and distribution.

In cooperation with the Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival, Ex Oriente Film will present two masterclasses by intriguing and inspiring directors. The award-winning Austrian director Andreas Horvath will present his latest controversial documentary Helmut Berger, Actor on October 25th at 17:00. The film centres on the relationship between the director and past celebrity Helmut Berger, and is an insightful commentary on the documentary medium. The screening of the film will be followed by a moderated discussion with the director.

The second masterclass will be presented by Dmitrii Kalashnikov on October 26th at 18:30 and will focus on his found-footage film The Road Movie. This feature documentary paints a portrait of Russia from a unique and unlikely perspective and is composed exclusively of footage from dashboard cameras filmed while on the road. The screening of The Road Movie will precede the discussion with the director.

Another highlight of the Ex Oriente Film open programme is a case study presented by Diana El Jeiroudi and Orwa Nyrabia. Berlin-based Syrian producers/directors will discuss their experiences managing the independent production company No Nation Films and the non-profit DOX BOX, aimed at supporting and empowering the documentary film scene from the Arab World.

Visitors of Ji.hlava IDFF with press and industry passes can also look forward to other parts of the Ex Oriente Film open programme including a lecture on sound design by Danish sound designer Peter Albrechtsen; a lecture on form & structure in documentary film by experienced film editor Yael Bitton; a talk on creating a project identity and branding by marketing specialist Daniel Saltzwedel; a “Production Tour of Europe” devoted to funding, TV slots, and sales companies; an introduction to budgeting by French producer Christine Camdessus; a lecture on understanding international sales by Maëlle Guenegues (CAT&Docs), and a 2 part talk on the legal aspects of co-production by German attorney-at-law Stefan Rüll.

The open programme closes with a lecture by Czech investigative journalist Saša Uhlová. In her latest work, she goes undercover to reveal working conditions in minimum wage jobs around the Czech Republic. This became the basis for the documentary Limits of Work that is part of the docu-series Czech Journal and will be screening during the festival. During her lecture she will reveal some of her methodological approaches to investigative journalism.

In addition to participating in the Ex Oriente Film open programme, the above experts will be providing guidance and support to the 12 Ex Oriente Film projects during the weeklong workshop. Joining them will be the workshop lead tutors for the 2nd session - Norwegian producer Kristine Ann Skaret, Head of Studies at the European Documentary Network Mikael Opstrup, director/producer Filip Remunda, and director/script developer Ivana Pauerová Miloševićová.

All events within the Ex Oriente Film programme except for the masterclasses will take place in Gustav Mahler Hotel (Křížová 4) in Jihlava.

Find the detailed times & location for the open programme here.

 

 

For the 9th time, the Institute of Documentary Film will award the best East and Central European documentaries with Silver Eye Awards.

Within the 14th edition of East Silver Market, which will take place from October 24 to 29 during the Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival, the winners will be selected out of 30 nominees in three categories: Short, Mid-Length and Feature docs. Apart from the designer hand-made award, each winner will obtain a financial prize of 1500€ and a year-long East Silver Caravan festival assistance. The results will be announced during the Festival Hub presentation on October 27 (short and mid-length category) and during the closing ceremony of the Ji.hlava IDFF on October 28 (feature category).

The jurors who will decide about the winners of Silver Eye Award were picked up mainly from the representatives of international documentary film festivals.

The Nominees of Silver Eye Award 2017
Short
About My Sister (Barbora Sliepková, Slovakia, 2016)
Between Us (Maciej Miller, Poland, 2017)
Blueberry Spirits (Astra Zoldnere, Latvia, 2016)
Collection (Marcin Polar, Poland, 2017)
Dust (Jakub Radej, Poland, 2017)
Grandfather's Father (Karlis Lesins, Latvia, 2016)
The Happiest Barrack (Noemi Varga, Hungary, United Kingdom, 2016)
Ionas Dreams of Rain (Dragos Hanciu, Romania, 2017)
Polonaise (Agnieszka Elbanowska, Poland, 2016)
Volte (Monika Kotecka, Poland, 2017)
The Winter Garden's Tale (Symon Mozgovyi, Ukraine, 2017)

Mid-length
Avec l'amour (Ilija Cvetkovski, Atanas Georgiev, Macedonia, 2017)
Cabbage, Potatoes and Other Demons (Serban Georgescu, Romania, Germany, 2016)
I am Hercules (Marius Iacob, Romania, Germany, 2017)
Opera about Poland (Piotr Stasik, Poland, 2017)
Paper Stars (Inna Omelchenko, Russia, 2016)
Rabbits in the Headlights (Alisa Erokhina, Russia, 2016)
The Road Movie (Dmitrii Kalashnikov, Belarus, Russia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, 2016)
The Wall (Dmitry Bogolubov, Russia, 2017)

Feature
The Ancient Woods (Mindaugas Survila, Lithuania, Germany, Estonia, 2017)
The Beksinskis. A Sound and Picture Album (Marcin Borchardt, Poland, 2017)
Girls Don't Fly (Monika Grassl, Germany, Austria, 2016)
The Good Postman (Tonislav Hristov, Finland, Bulgaria, 2016)
Gwendolyn (Ruth Kaaserer, Austria, 2017)
Sand and Blood (Matthias Krepp, Austria, 2017)
The Third Option (Thomas Furhapter, Austria, 2017)
The Trial - The State Of Russia vs. Oleg Sentsov (Askold Kurov, Estonia, Poland, Czech Republic, 2017)
Ultra (Balazs Simonyi, Hungary, Greece, 2017)
Untitled (Michael Glawogger, Monika Willi, Austria, Germany, 2017)

 

 

 

At the Filmfest Hamburg, the five nominated films for the European University Film Award (EUFA) have been announced. Introduced in 2016, this award is presented by university students from across Europe. Based on the lists of 51 feature films and 15 documentaries from the EFA Selections 2017 a committee has decided on the following nominations:

HEARTSTONE (Hjartasteinn) by Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson (Iceland, Denmark)
HOME by Fien Troch (Belgium)
LOVELESS (Нелюбовь/Nelyubov) by Andrey Zvyagintsev (Russia, Belgium, Germany, France)
THE OTHER SIDE OF HOPE (Toivon Tuolla Puolen) by Aki Kaurismäki (Finland, Germany)
THE WAR SHOW by Andreas Dalsgaard & Obaidah Zytoon (Denmark, Syria, Finland)

Find HERE more information.

 

The 24th edition of Astra Film Festival brings a series of premieres, offers the opportunity for meetings that take place only once in a lifetime, and paves the way for memorable experiences offered by immersive cinema. Over 360 events will take place throughout the 7 days of the festival, from the 16th to the 22nd of October.

Famous authors and films that received awards within the “Voices of Doc” programme

Voices of Doc is a theme section dedicated to authors whose names have become a synonym of authenticity and creativity in cinema. This section bring the latest works signed by three authors: Wang Bing (China), believed to be the most prominent director of his time, Nikolaus Geyrhalter (Austria), an artist of cinema, famous for his fascinating images and his own rhythm, and Amos Gitai (Israel), a committed director, often vexatious and always controversial because of his uncompromising stance towards the eternal conflict in the Middle East. The films in this section are: Mrs. Fang (by Wang Bing), which has just won the Golden Leopard at Locarno, a disturbing and straightdforward film about the cultural transformation in present-day China, that transposes a millenary civilization into the model of a consumerist society; Homo Sapiens (Nikolaus Geyrhalter), the extraordinary and terrifying view of a post-human world, as disturbing as a SF thriller; and West of the Jordan River (Amos Gitai), the director’s journey into Palestinian territories taken over by Israel in an attempt to find solutions in the energy of the people he meets which politicians are unable to find.

With Bill Nichols about ecstasy, charisma, Werner Herzog and Grizzly Man

About Bill Nichols, the Encyclopedia of the Documentary Film says that he’s “the biggest single influence on theoretical and analytical approaches to documentary internationally”. Author of books that are real bibles of documentary cinema and with a vast experience as distinguished professor at the greatest American universities, Bill Nichols comes to Sibiu as a member of the international jury and he will conduct a masterclass within which he’ll apply his methods of study to an exciting topic: the film Grizzly Man, by German director Werner Herzog.

This exceptional meeting will take place at Thalia Hall, on Thursday, October 19th, at 7 p.m., after the screening of the film Grizzly Man, which starts at 5 p.m. at the same venue. German Director Werner Herzog has an explosive career, with over 70 documentary and fiction films and having won more than 50 awards. The documentary Grizzly Man, having received many awards, tells the story of Timothy Treadwell, a very charismatic idealist, who thought of himself as the only protector of the Grizzly bears. For more than 10 years, Treadwell had been filming and living among the Grizzly bears of Alaska with total recklessness, until 2003, when the inevitable occurred: together with his girlfriend, they were killed and eaten by a bear.  

Les films de Cannes@Astra Film Sibiu

 Astra Film Festival initiates a collaboration with Les films de Cannes à Bucarest, in which there are three documentaries that impressed this year’s Cannes Festival: Nothingwood (by Sonia Kronlund), with a name that paraphrases the famous Hollywood, spotlights Salim Shaheen, actor-director-producer from Afghanistan, who makes Z films incessantly, without being disheartened by the country’s status quo; Venerable W. (by Barbet Schroeder), that deals with the very topical issue of aggressive chauvinism in Burma/Myanmar, a mostly Buddhist country, i.e. the most peaceful religion in the world; 12 jours (by Raymond Depardon), which enters the scary and fascinating world of those who are captive in psychiatric facilities, and analyzes the arbitrariness on which someone’s fate may sometimes depend.

 Access to the 2017 AFF events

We would like to remind you that tickets for the 2017 ASTRA FILM FESTIVAL are available online, on eventbook.ro and in Humanitas bookstores around the country. Starting with Friday, October 13th, they will also be available at AFF pay desks, whose working hours are available at  http://astrafilm.ro/bilete-si-sali.aspx

Access to the la FULLDOME and VR screenings is free, but it’s exclusively based on reservation, upon availability. Reservations can only be made by those who have watched at least one film at the 2017 AFF and can prove they did so by presenting the ticket at the pay desk. Access is only granted to those who have zero-value tickets, which can be obtained online or from the pay desk at Infopoint Piata Mare.  

The price for one ticket is 10 lei, whereas for pupils, students and seniors the price is 7 lei, and at this year’s concerts, tickets are 15 lei. Moreover, organizers make available Day Passes for 25 lei and Full Passes for 125 lei.

For further and up-to date information please go to www.astrafilm.ro.

Astra Film Festival 2017 is organized by Astra Film, CNM Astra and the Astra Film Foundation
With the support of Sibiu County Council, the Ministry of Culture and National Identity, the European Union – through the Creative Europe-Media programme and the National Centre for Cinematography 
Co-financed by Sibiu Local Council through Sibiu City Hall
In collaboration with Lucian Blaga University
Partners: ICR - Romanian Cultural Institute, UCIN – Romanian Filmmakers Union, Consulate of the Federal Republic of Germany in Sibiu, Cinetic, Refresh, Habitus
Digital partner: Urby
Title sponsors: Construcții SA
Sponsors: Romgaz, Electrica, Banca Transilvania, Takata, Aqua Carpatica, Happy City, HBO, Cinelab, Swiss Sponsors’ Fund
Car of the festival: Toyota
Media partners: TVR, Europa FM, HotNews, Revista 22, VICE, Revista Timpul, Transilvania Reporter, Cineuropa, Film New Europe, Radio România Cultural, Radio România Actualități, Radio Cluj, Radio Antena Sibiului, Radio Târgu Mureș, RFI România, Cinemagia, LiterNet, Cațavencii, CineFan, Sub25, All About Romanian Cinema, Cooperativa Urbană, ÎnFestival, Recorder, Iqads, Filmtett, Thinkout of the Box, Zile și Nopți, Tribuna, Turnul Sfatului, Sibiu 100%, Eveniment TV, Ora de Sibiu 

 

 

The 7th edition of the largest meeting place for the international documentary industry in the CEE region invites filmmakers and producers of documentary projects in any stage of development. For the first time, shorts are welcome too.

When: March 3 - 9, 2018
Where: Prague, Czech Republic
Deadline for application: November 10, 2017

More information and the application HERE!
Call press release package to download HERE! 

FEATURE-LENGTH PROJECTS in the development / early production stage are invited to the 16th edition of the East Doc Forum - the oldest and largest central pitch in the region. Almost 150 documentary films have been completed with the direct support of the East Doc Forum, including such international hits as Brothers, The Domino Effect, Blind Loves orRabbit à la Berlin. The pitch is preceded by a 5-day preparatory workshop and followed by two days of feedback round tables and one-on-one Meetings.

The East Doc Market offers the opportunity to meet with over 100 international funders, broadcasters, distributors, sales agents and festival representatives to FEATURE-LENGTH PROJECTS and SERIES in late production and post-production. Over the course of two days, more than 400 pre-booked one-on-one meetings take place.

Projects with innovative technologies used for an immersive, transmedia or interactive storytelling are invited to find partners at the East Doc Interactive. The interactive roundtable pitch is an integral part of the Forum. The projects receive an immediate feedback on the spot and attend one-on-one meetings over the following days.

For the first time, SHORTS are invited to the East Doc Platform, thanks to the collaboration with the Tribeca Film Institute fund & IF/Then distribution initiative. Up to six projects will be selected for the IF/Then Short Pitch competition and take part in the Market meetings. The winner of the pitch receives up to USD 20,000 in production support from IF/Then and will participate in a year-long distribution initiative managed by the Tribeca Film Institute.

Within the East Doc Platform programme, one event is dedicated only to Czech documentary projects. During the presentation Czech Docs... Coming Soon, five upcoming feature documentaries will be introduced to an audience of the invited representatives of prestigious film festivals (FID Marseille, Dok Leipzig, Nordisk Panorama, IFF Rotterdam, IFF Sarajevo, Toronto IFF), sales agents, distributors and to the wide public.

For more information, please contact: Tereza Šimíková / Manager: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

 

The seventh edition of US in Progress will be held from the 25th till 27th of October 2017, as a part of the 8th American Film Festival in Wroclaw (October 24-29th).

Thanks to the support of the Polish Film Institute we are happy to initiate the first edition of Polish-American Co-production Meetings, a networking opportunity for Polish producers seeking partners from the US. Panels will consist of producers and publicists working in the US or with collaboration with US and aim to foster transatlantic projects. 

The highlight of the event will be a panel about European Co-Production with America - Struggles & Success Stories. This talk will be moderated by Ania E. Dziedzic from Film Commission Poland and panelists will include Mike S. Ryan (Greyshack Films, producer of Free in Deed, Maya Dardel), George Rush (legal advisor and producer Ping Pong Summer, Menashe), Violetta Krajewska (Apple Productions, producer of Maya Dardel ), Sebastian Aubert (Adastra Films, producer The Strange Ones), and Klaudia Śmieja (Madants Production, producer of The Park, Rams, Porto).

Adam Kersh from the leading NY-based PR company Brigade marketing will provide insight on How to Promote a Non-English Language Movie in the US in a conversation with Steve Dollar (Wall Street Journal, Indiewire).

Four selected Polish producers will pitch their project ideas to US producers and investors. Congratulations to the following chosen projects:

Neon Tears by Karolina Bielawska

Pilot 9/11 by Norman Leto

A Film Odyssey by Piotr Stasik

Lipstick on the Glass by Kuba Czekaj

At one on one meetings Polish producers present will have a chance to personally meet with American experts: producers Mike S. Ryan, George Rush, Kyle Martin (My Entire High School Is Sinking into the Sea, Donlad Cried, Bluebird, Tiny Furniture) and investors Todd Remis and David Moscow (Always Shine, Sylvio, Thirst Street) and present their ideas for Polish-American co-productions.