WARSAW: FNE has teamed up with the Brussels based team of the International Union of Cinemas (UNIC) to bring you regular updates on EU cinema policies that impact all industry professionals across Europe. Click here for FNE UNIC EU Cinema Policy Update.

EU Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2021-2027

12/12: Prospective cuts to Erasmus+ and Creative Europe in EU long-term budget deeply worrying – European Parliament

Ahead of talks among EU leaders on the long-term budget in the European Council, the Chair of Culture and Education Committee, Sabine Verheyen (EPP, DE), issued a statement.

10/12: MFF: Commission’s plan “impossible to implement” with Finnish proposal – European Parliament

For Parliament’s negotiating team, the preliminary proposal by Finland's presidency of the Council for the next long-term budget of the EU would “condemn the European Union to failure”.

05/12: Useful information on the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) – European Parliament

Parliament's resolutions, press releases and factsheets available online about the MFF and the reform of the EU's Own Resources.

05/12: Finnish Presidency proposes greater EU investment in building a sustainable future – eu2019.fi

Finland’s Presidency has submitted its proposal for the next long-term EU budget, the multiannual financial framework (MFF) for 2021–2027, to the member states. The proposal is a budget of €1 087 billion for the seven-year period, equal to 1.07% of the gross national income of the EU member states.

European Council

12/12: European Council meeting (12 December 2019) – Conclusions – EU Council

The document presents the conclusions adopted at the European Council meeting from 12 December 2019.

European Commission

/12: Cabinets of Commissioners – EU Who is Who

04/12: Opening remarks by President von der Leyen at the read-out of the first College meeting of the von der Leyen Commission – European Commission

03/12: [Document] List of agenda points for upcoming Commission meetings – European Commission

European Parliament

04/12: Cristian-Silviu Buşoi elected Chair of the ITRE Committee – ITRE Committee

Mr Cristian-Silviu Buşoi is the new Chair of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, elected on 4 December 2019.

Events

16-19 December: European Parliament Plenary Session, Strasbourg 

1 January: Croatian Presidency of the Council of the EU enters into office

9 January: JURI Committee meeting, Brussels

16 February: Fifth European Commission copyright stakeholders’ dialogue, Brussels  

20-21 January: CULT Committee meeting, Brussels 

10 February (TBC): Sixth European Commission copyright stakeholders’ dialogue, Brussels  

18 February: Save the Date – UNIC conference at the European Parliament, Brussels

Meet the educational and networking platform entitled Visegrad Film Forum, set in the cosy central Europe, Bratislava, Slovakia. The 9th edition of the event is the right place for filmmakers looking for new international contacts and eager to know more about the filmmaking process from world-known professionals. Packaged in the informal atmosphere. 

Visegrad Film Forum will host top-notch filmmakers from all over the world for the ninth time. From the 10th to the 14th of March 2020 they will introduce themselves to the public via lectures and case studies of their films. One of the first confirmed guest speaker is American producer and scriptwriter Jim Stark. 

The Role of the Producer in Independent Filmmaking

The producer and scriptwriter Jim Stark has helped many of the landmark indie US and European films to get made and get seen, including collaboration with Jim Jarmusch, SzabolcsHajdu or CorneliuPorumboiu. “People think filmmaking is all about the weeks that a film is shooting. In fact, from first idea to release online or home video, an independent producer like me works on a film for at least three or four years, and I have done films that took a decade to finish.”says Jim Stark

Jim Stark first came into contact with the film world in 1983. He helped to finance and produce second film by Jim JarmuschStranger Than Paradise. Stark produced for him also Down by Law, Mystery Train, Night on Earth and two short Coffee and Cigarettes films.

Jim Stark was on the jury of Romania’s Transilvanian Film Festival when he met SzabolcsHajdu, who approached him. They started to collaborate on Mirage - Hungarian-Slovak western which takes place on the Great Hungarian Plain with a story that is characteristic of the genre, however unique in its Eastern European interpretation.

Recently has aslo worked as an associate producer on many films like Foxtrot by Samuel Maoz which won Silver Lion in Venice IFF, Our Time by Carlos Reygadas or La Gomera by CorneliuPorumboiu which was nominated to Palme d'Or in Cannes.

Get to know Visegrad Film Forum

VFF is an international educational and networking event facilitating contact between talented young film professionals from the neighbouring European countries and internationally recognised and appreciated film creators.Thanks to a series of master classes, case studies, discussions, film screenings and practical workshops with respected filmprofessionals, filmmakers get a unique opportunity to gain valuable theoreticaland practical knowledge for their work in future. 

The beneficial value is a friendly and informal atmosphere, where all the discussions and networking are basically going on during the off programme. All participants have also chance of late night networking at parties organized by VFF every night during the event.

During last years guests included Oscar winners Alan Starski(Pianist, Schindler´s List), Eugenio Caballero (Roma, Pan´s Labyrinth) and Christopher Newman (Godfather, Exorcist), 

Oscar nominees Christian Frei (War Photographer), PacoDelgado (Les Miserables, Danish Girl), SlawomirIdziak(Black Hawk Down) and Christian Berger (The White Ribbon), 

as well as prize winner from Cannes and Venice, Sergei Loznitsa (Trial) and Colin Arthur (NeverEnding Story, 2001: Space Odyssey) or LudovicaFerrario (The Young Pope, The Great Beauty) came to share their knowledge and experience.

Are you an Early Bird?

Early bird accreditations valued at 20 EUR (10 EUR for students) are available only until 10.1.2019, after that the price goes up.

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Visegrad Film Forum 2020
Date: 10th – 14th of March 2020
Place: Bratislava, Slovakia
Venues: Film and TV Faculty VŠMU, Cinema Lumière 

web: http://www.visegradfilmforum.com
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VisegradFilmForum
instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vffbratislava/
youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mpj2r4K88c

Organized by: Boiler NGO
Co-organized by: Film and TV Faculty VŠMU
Financial support: International Visegrad Fund, Slovak Audiovisual Fund

International Film Festival Rotterdam 2020 has revealed the complete programme, and three Czech films will be part of its official selection.

Directors Adam Ol'ha and Jan Daňhel focused on the making of Jan Švankmajer’s Insect (IFF Rotterdam 2018) in their brand-new documentary The Alchemical Furnace, produced by Jaromír Kallista (Athanor) and co-produced by the Slovak company PubRes. The film will premiere in Deep Focus section as a part of programme „Regained“.

Karel Vachek’s essay Communism and the Net or the End of Representative Democracy, produced by Mikuláš Novotný and Radim Procházka (Background Films), will be screened in The Tyger Burns section. The documentary examines the history of regimes and revolutions, leaders and martyrs, from a philosophical perspective.

Mira Fornay returns to Rotterdam with her new absurd drama Cook F**k Kill which will be presented in Voices. Czech-Slovak co-production, produced by Viktor Schwarcz from Cineart TV Prague and co-produced by the director herself, is a provocative and absurdly playful take on violence within family and sexual abuse using repetition or folk tales with an unexpected end.

Read more information about Czech films at IFF Rotterdam 2020 HERE.

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.