How European talents in cinema, games and digital content will stay relevant with global competition increasing, how European startup innovators are championing new business models, and how Europe can lead the way in industry diversity actions? Those will be the three main topics on the agenda of the upcoming European Film Forum (EFF), the European Commission's dialogue with stakeholders on Wednesday, 27 November at the 23rd Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.

Titled "Industry (R)evolution: Debating Tech, Distribution, and Future Talent for European Cinema," the EFF will be a full-day executive-level public debate and showcase conference taking place at the Industry@Tallinn &; Baltic Event business arm of the A-class festival. The EFF will focus on the global developments that impact the audiovisual industry, from Artificial Intelligence to digital platforms, and will present new initiatives from the creative, diversity, and tech fields for the upcoming 2020+ term of Europe's innovative programmes.

As in previous editions, 19 international film, gaming, content, startups, and diversity leaders will be sharing the stage, including Sander Saar (Strategy and Growth Consultant for Red Bull Media House, formerly the Walt Disney Company), André Bernhardt (Managing Founder at Indieadvisory & Target Games), Helene Granqvist (President of Women in Film & TV International), Lindsay Peters (Executive Director at Frontières), producer Isabelle Glachant (Chinese Shadows), and film editor Isabelle Teitler whose work credits include Darren Aronofsky's mother!. Norwegian documentary director Tonje Hessen Schei along with impact advocate Danielle Turkov Wilson will present and discuss the highly anticipated documentary iHuman providing insights into Artificial Intelligence and the opportunities and threats of this groundbreaking technology for Europe and beyond.

The European Film Forum (EFF) was introduced by the European Commission in its 2014 Communication on European Film in the digital era. It is a platform for structured dialogue between policy makers and stakeholders in the audiovisual sector, travelling around European festivals and aiming to help develop a strategic policy agenda in the framework of the Digital Single Market. The EFF in Tallinn focuses on innovation between cinema, digital, and startup sectors and ties into Estonia's position in digital leadership in the world. 

Lucia Recalde, Head of MEDIA Unit, DG Connect, European Commission, said that the European audiovisual sector has a crucial role to play in our democracy and economy. "It is however undergoing a tremendous shift, being at the forefront of the digital, data and AI revolutions. The European Film Forum is therefore an event not to miss, as it is the place to debate how to scale up the European industry and how to further innovate and compete globally,” she added.

Sten-Kristian Saluveer, Curator of EFFT19 commented that they are delighted to continue our partnership with the European Commission and host the European Film Forum in Tallinn again. "The global challenges facing creators and storytellers in cinema and other content industries are growing everywhere, and especially in the framework of the upcoming 2020+ period of the MEDIA programme, events such as the Film Forum are indispensable to exchange best practices and to set bold innovation to motion for Europe's content business," he added.

The full programme of the European Film Forum 2019 is available at europeanfilmforumtallinn.com.

PHOTOS

European Film Forum in Tallinn 2018 (1)
European Film Forum in Tallinn 2018 (2)
European Film Forum in Tallinn 2018 (3)

Visual of European Film Forum in Tallinn 2019

submission deadline
January 29^th 2020

Apply for six months of intensive editing 
and development of your documentary film aiming for premiere by early autumn 2020: 

/ work with more than 30 world-class 
editors, producers and distributors 
throughout the postproduction period 

/ sharpen the storytelling and maximize 
your film’s international potential 
 
/ get personal feedback on your cut from 
key festival representatives, sales agents and other decision makers 

/ prepare a tailor-made marketing and 
distribution strategy to unfold your film to a wider audience

The whole team, composed of a director, 
a producer and an editor, participates 
in three one-week residential sessions 
(the exact dates will be confirmed): 
 
/ 1^st session (6 days) – rough cut
late April – Slovakia 

/ 2^nd session (6 days) – fine cut 
late June – Czech Republic 

/ 3^rd session (8 days) – near picture lock 
mid-September – Sweden

Apply HERE with your rough cut 
Early bird submission (until January 9^th 2020) is FREE OF CHARGE!

If you want to meet dok.incubator team at IDFA, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

www.dokincubator.net

For the second time, Europa Distribution will be at the IDFA - International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam where it will hold a workshop dedicated to the distribution of documentaries. From November 24th to 26th, around 20 independent distributors, all members of the European network, will participate in an open panel and a closed session of discussion organised in collaboration with IDFA as part of their Industry programme.

On Monday 25th November from 10.00 to 11.30 at the Brakke Grond cultural center, the public panel “SOLO, a one-man-band story and case study” will explore the creation, the production and the distribution of Solo, a documentary on the life and struggle with the mental disease of Martín Perino, an Argentinian pianist. We will be guided through this journey by the producer Petra Oplatkova (Sirena Films, Artcam Films, CZ), who has worked with the director, producer and distributor Artemio Benki to bring this film to life following each single step of the film value chain. The panel will be thus an opportunity to have an in-depth perspective of the life cycle of a film, recognizing the relevance of all the elements that allow a film to exist and circulate. Together with Artemio, Manuela Buono (Slingshot Films, IT), the international sales agent of SOLO, will help us understanding how such a film can be brought to the international audience. The panel discussion will be moderated by Mathias Noschis(Alphapanda, DE).

Europa Distribution members will then hold a closed workshop session on Tuesday 26th November. At this occasion, Julia van Berlo (Cinéart, NL), Jana Trnková(Aerofilms, CZ), Mika Siltala (Cinemamondo, FI), Nille Stormoen (Arthaus, NO), Huub Roelvink (Cherry Pickers, NL), Michael Höfner (Gmfilms, DE), Jennifer Jones (mindjazz pictures, DE), Daan Vermeulen (Cinema Delicatessen, NL) and Kim Foss (Camera Film, DK) will share their experience regarding documentary releases through the analysis of concrete examples and case studies on the following films: Veearts Maaike (NL), Diego Maradona (UK), Becoming Animal (UK, CH), Easy Love (DE), Piazzolla, the Years of the Shark (FR, AG), Amazing Grace (US) and Ask Dr. Ruth (US).

NOTE FOR THE EDITORS: Europa Distribution is the association of independent film distributors, created in 2006.  With about 120 leading independent distributors representing 30 countries in Europe and beyond, it serves as the voice of the sector and acts as a network and a think tank. Since its creation, Europa Distribution has accompanied and reinforced the integration and collaboration process between its members through information, brainstorming and training sessions. The network’s aim is to strengthen the existing ties to improve the curation, promotion and distribution of independent films.

CONTACT: For more information about the presence of Europa Distribution in Amsterdam, contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Strasbourg, 13.11.2019 –The 20th edition of this event which opened on the 3 October 2019 comes to a close today with the awarding of honorary prizes to three Eurimages-supported international co-productions:

The Odyssée-Council of Europe Prize for Human Rights 

goes to God Exists, Her Name is Petrunya by Teona Strugar Mitevska, a
co-production between North Macedonia, Slovenia, Belgium, Croatia and France, for the director's ability to stage a story with a universal reach. The central figure of this film is a female character who has the will and courage to stand up to the misogyny prevalent in a society weighed down by religious, institutional and media conformity.

The director skillfully integrates a large number of key topics related to the struggle for human rights into a relatively simple plot: in addition to the central theme of gender equality, which is directly linked to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, the film shows the background of doubts and unease when questions of the rights to privacy, to work, to a fair trial and of press freedom are raised. Teona Strugar Mitevska shows how all these struggles are intrinsically linked and how progress on human rights cannot be compartmentalized into different issues but must advance on all fronts simultaneously. 

The Odyssée-Council of Europe Prize for Artistic Creation goes to

Cold War by Pawel Pawlikowski, a co-production between Poland, France and the United Kingdom

for its great artistic and aesthetic quality, the remarkable direction of the actors, and its ability to create an attractive universe representing a loving relationship attuned to the torments of history, a relationship whose relevance remains pertinent today.

Lastly, a Special Mention is awarded to the film Tel Aviv on Fire by Sameh Zoabi, a co-production between Luxembourg, France, Israel and Belgium,

for its cinematographic qualities and its ability to speak tactfully and non-judgmentally about a complex, painful and troubling situation. This film focuses on what is likely to bring the protagonists closer to a dramatic situation rather than away from one.

EURIMAGES is a support fund for cinema co-production, theatrical distribution and exhibition established by the Council of Europe in 1988 (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. –http://www.coe.int/Eurimages).

Since it was set up in 1988, EURIMAGES has supported 2 047 co-productions for a total amount of approximately 597 million euros.

BLACK NIGHTS KICK-OFF

And we're off! The 23rd Black Nights Film Festival has officially begun.
Over 250 films in 4 different cities and 4 competition programs - Official Selection, First Feature Competition, Baltic Film Competition, Rebels with a Cause Competition.

Yesterday's Opening Ceremony kicked off with opening film Adam and the Bruno O’Ya award to a remarkable Estonian actor was awarded to Rea Lest.

Check out all the photos from yesterday's black carpet here. 

READ THE FULL STORY

AND THE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD GOES TO....

At the 23rd edition of the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, Russian director Andrei Konchalovsky will be presented with one of the festival’s two Lifetime Achievement Awards.
The festival will also screen two of his films: the Northern European premiere of his latest film Sin (Il Peccato) and House of Fools (2002).

Andrei Konchalovsky’s career spans over five decades, during which he has directed numerous films and series that have become an undisputed, integral part of film history.

CONTINUE READING

IN FOCUS: SIZZLING ARABIA

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival’s 23rd edition will see a focus on Arab cinema, as the festival screens 14 films in the specially curated programme In Focus: Sizzling Arabia, showcasing highlights from the last decade.

According to the curator, Intishal Al Timimi, a Black Nights curator who is also the head of the programme of the El Gouna Film Festival in Egypt, the special programme is most likely the largest of its kind ever screened at an international festival in Europe.

The festival opened yesterday with Maryam Touzani’s Adam, that was screened at the Cannes film festival this year.

DISCOVER THE FILMS

REBELS UNLEASHED

Rebels With A Cause is the festival section that showcases independent productions that offer original points of view, polemic opinions or interesting aesthetic pursuits for the demanding audience.

The programme is divided into two competitive programmes – for shorts and features – and a non-competitive selection.

Rebels With A Cause is gradually developing into a section that draws international attention and attracts fresh films from emerging and established creative voices from around the world.

READ MORE

TV BEATS

The TV Beats programme will screen eight new series from around the world, three of them world premieres, including an Amazon production and the first Estonian series produced by the Finnish telecommunication company Elisa.

The three series having its world premiere at PÖFF are:

• the Elisa-produced Estonian series Traitor is a spy thriller that is inspired by the real-life espionage incidents between Russian and Estonian intelligence that have been occurring ever more frequently since Estonia joined NATO in 2004.
• the Russian series Call Center by Russian directing duo Natasha Merkulova and Aleksey Chupov (The Man who surprised everyone), returning to Tallinn with the new series they created at Premier Studios. The story follows the workers of a call centre who are taken hostage by two terrorists who observe the whole building and start to demand the hostages to perform strange tasks.
• Burning Land, an Estonian series produced for the national broadcaster ERR, telling a story based on true events about a criminal group known as the Kolkhoz (Russian word for collective farm). 

SEE THE FULL LINEUP