BREAKING NEWS

Student Academy Award goes to Czech short Daughter

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced this year's winners of the Student Academy Awards. The student Oscar for the best animated film from international schools goes to Czech short Daughter. Daria Kashcheeva, a student of FAMU, will become the third ever Czech director to be awarded with the student Oscar, which she will receive on 17 October, 2019 in Los Angeles.

Fifteen minutes long Daughter succeeded in the animation category for international film schools and will be awarded the Student Oscar 2019. Daria Kashcheeva will become the third Czech director honored with this prize, after Jan Svěrák (Oil Gobblers, 1989) and Marie Dvořáková (Who’s Who in Mycology, 2017). Several Czech and Czechoslovak authors were nominated for the student Oscar in the past: Miloš Zábranský (Horečka všedního dne, 1982), Aurel Klimt (Bloodthirsty Hugo, 1997), Václav Švankmajer (Test, 2000) and Ondřej Hudeček (Peacock, 2016).

Daughter was produced by Zuzana Roháčová at Prague's FAMU (Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague), in co-production with MAUR film, a Czech production company with many years of experience in the field of animation. The production of the film was supported by the Czech Film Fund as part of a package of three short animations called Three Voices, altogether with amount of 15 294 EUR.

The film world-premiered earlier this year at Annecy International Animation Film Festival and received there two awards - Cristal for a Graduation Film and Junior Jury Award for a Graduation Film... (read more)

ABOUT THE FILM

Daughter is a story of a girl who finds a dead bird and wants to share her pain with her father, hoping to find solace in his embrace. The father is preoccupied with his own worries: he is cooking lunch and pays no attention to his daughter’s state of mind and desires. The girl takes her father’s behaviour for rejection, cocooning herself in her inner world filled with a yearning for her father‘s love. From then on she grows increasingly distant from him and as an adult she cannot deal with any display of emotions from him. The guilt-ridden father tries to find a way of getting through to his daughter and rebuilding their shattered relationship. Only in hospital, when her father is dying, does the daughter understand that he has always loved her, in a final embrace of mutual forgiveness...

Kashcheeva: Parents sometimes can’t express their love for their child

Czech Film Center operates as a division of the Czech Film Fund

On November 5th, FilmFestival Cottbus (FFC) will open its 29th edition in a festive ceremony in the Staatstheater Cottbus (Großes Haus). Opening film is the cross-border comedy SMUGGLING HENDRIX, the feature film debut of director Marios Piperides. The production, in which "Soul Kitchen" star Adam Bousdoukos plays the protagonist, has won numerous international awards, including the Tribeca Film Festival in New York.

"The opening film SMUGGLING HENDRIX, set in Cyprus, is a mirror image of the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall: while we have been celebrating the fall of the Iron Curtain three decades ago, the island in the eastern Mediterranean has been divided by a heavily guarded border since 1974. At the same time, the film, co-produced by Greece, Cyprus and Germany, symbolizes the expansion of the territory of FilmFestival Cottbus, which this year will also show feature works from Finland, Turkey and Greece", says FFC Programme Director Bernd Buder. "SMUGGLING HENDRIX, which plays on the border between the Greek and Turkish parts of Cyprus and thus also between the European Union and the non-EU, fits in well with this broader Eastern Europe of the festival." 

Dialogue jury 
The perspectives with which the new film countries enrich the FFC are reflected in the composition of the festival's dialogue jury. The jury includes the Finnish-Russian actress Alina Tomnikov, the Athens-born director and producer Thanos Anastopoulos, who lives and works in Greece and Italy, as well as the Turkish filmmaker Aslı Özge, who has been based in Berlin since 2000. Özge impressed audiences at the major festivals in Locarno and Berlin with works such as MEN ON THE BRIDGE (2009) and AUF EINMAL (2016). The trio discusses which work from the 2019 FFC programme most convincingly artistically shapes intercultural dialogue in the sense of understanding between cultures. The winning film will receive prize money of EUR 3,000, donated by the Federal Foreign Office.

The opening film: SMUGGLING HENDRIX 
In SMUGGLING HENDRIX Adam Bousdoukos plays the unsuccessful musician Yiannis. The Greek Cypriot wants to leave Nicosia and Cyprus behind to start a new life in Western Europe. After his girlfriend has left him, dog Jimi remains his last ally. The dog named after the guitar god Hendrix, is running away into the Turkish part of the island – and an EU law strictly forbids animals to enter from the Turkish to the Greek side of the border... 

Download film stills SMUGGLING HENDRIX and FFC logo
www.filmfestivalcottbus.de/press 

About the FilmFestival Cottbus
The 29th FilmFestival Cottbus will take place from November 5 – 10, 2019. In four competitions and eleven side sections, the FFC will show around 200 films competing for prize money of more than EUR 80,000 and the coveted prize sculpture LUBINA (Sorbian: the Lovely). 
Over 22,000 spectators attended the Festival of Eastern European Film in Cottbus in 2018.
The 29th FilmFestival Cottbus is decisively supported by the Federal State of Brandenburg, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg GmbH, the city of Cottbus, the Federal Foreign Office and the Creative Europe programme of the European Union.

Accreditation possible
Reporting press can now be accredited online here:
www.filmfestivalcottbus.de/accreditation

These grants were announced by the Georgian National Film Center (GNFC) on 10 September 2019.

DOC LAB POLAND HOT SELECTION 2019

Awarded Polish documentaries - Diagnosis by Ewa Pogórska, Horse Riders (Krzyżoki) by Anna Gawlita and Weirdy (Dziwor) by Paweł Dyllus will be shown on September as part of Doc Lab Poland Hot Selection 2019, presenting the best and most awarded Polish documentary films of recent years. Discussions witch filmmakers aftereach  screening will be hosted by Magdalena Juszczyk.

Diagnosis - Monday, 9th of September at 8 pm - Barka Wisława

Diagnosis is a journey into the depths of subconscious of a city formed by human beings. The inhabitants of the city undergo the sessions on the couch. Unlocked by questions, e.g. what kind of animal is the city? they begin their journey into the depths of their own feelings and emotions. The city itself is only the starting point and over time, conversations get more and more intimate. The scenes from life, reminiscences and highly emotional moments interlace with the subjectively perceived shots of the city. They are blending together, complementing and interacting with each other. The fears of the film characters, their desires and unfinished affairs become a common fate.

Horse Riders and Weirdy Tuesday, 17th of September at 8 pm - Cinema Iluzjon

Horse Riders
(Krzyżoki)

Thirty farmers begin an equestrian pilgrimage touring the boundaries of nearby villages and fields. Fatigue and inebriation mix with religious ecstasy - a marriage of the sacred and the profane.

Weirdy
(Dziwor)

After a long break, brilliant artist and director - Bogdan Dziworski is back making a new film. As he works, a unique relationship builds between the director and his young cinematographer - Paweł.

The films were developed in the DOC LAB POLAND - the largest and most multi-faceted program for documentary filmmakers organized in Poland for Polish projects, focusing on supporting auteur, creative documentary filmmaking.

DOC LAB POLAND features a comprehensive program for the development of film projects, based on workshops, individual consultations and panel discussions, as well as a workshop leading to the pitching, aimed at establishing co-production deals for projects participating in the program, or supporting the promotion and distribution of the produced films. It is organized by the Wladyslaw Slesicki Film Foundation.

DOC LAB POLAND HOT SELECTION is supported by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the City of Warsaw. 

Entrance is free 

You can find more information at http://doclab.pl/pl_PL/

Applications are now welcome for the 14th FIPRESCI Warsaw Critics Project – a training programme for young critics and film journalists from Central and Eastern Europe coordinated by the Warsaw Film Foundation in a partnership with International Federation of Film Critics. The Workshop will be held during the 35th Warsaw Film Festival between 11 and 20 October 2019. A group of young critics will be invited to the festival and have a unique opportunity to take part in one of the most prestigious film events in the region and meeting high-profile film professionals. Under the guidance of tutors, participants will be covering the festival and industry events, delivering film reviews and conducting interviews with directors and filmmakers. They will be encouraged to use their own initiative and will receive constructive, positive feedback about their work. 

Warsaw Critics Project is devised and coordinated by British film journalist Amber Wilkinson and Italian critic Tommaso Tocci. 

Amber Wilkinson is a journalist with more than 20 years experience. She is the co-founder and editorial director of UK-based website Eye For Film. Her byline has appeared in The Times, Daily Telegraph, Sydney Morning Herald and Filmmaker Magazine among others. She also contributes as a freelance film critic on BBC Radio Scotland. She has run several FIPRESCI young critics' workshops and mentored student critics at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in 2018 and 2019. 

Tommaso Tocci has so far contributed to various publications on cinema, including Indiewire, RogerEbert.com, CinemaScope, Filmkrant and Ioncinema. 

Workshops are designed for critics under the age of 30 with proficient skills in written and spoken English. All participants are granted with shared travel and accommodation grants. Selected works of the participants will be published on FIPRESCI, Ioncinema and Film New Europe websites. 

Previous participants have gone on to contribute to major international film publications like Screen International, Indiewire, The Hollywood Reporter, Cineuropa and Film New Europe. 

Please send your application including CV, self-introduction, and three samples of your published work to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

Deadline: September 23, 2019. 

After a very successful season with many films previously presented at WEMW premiering at major festivals (to mention a few: Flesh Out by Michela Occhipinti and Stitches by Miroslav Terzić at Berlinale Panorama, Solo by Artemio Benki at the ACID Cannes, The Father by Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and Maternal by Maura Delpero at Locarno Film Festival), When East Meets West is happy to launch the call for entries for the upcoming edition, taking place in Trieste next January 19-21, 2020. WEMW will have a new East & West focus, bringing together over 500 film professionals from all over Europe and, in particular, from our 2020 spotlight territories: Hungary, Moldova, Romania & Austria, Germany, Switzerland.  

WEMW Co-Production Forum

DEADLINE: October 31, 2019

Starting from today, producers from Europe, North and Latin America are eligible to apply with long feature fiction films or documentaries for the hallmark of WEMW, the co-production forum. WEMW will select 20 projects in development with international co-production potential, preferably with one of the 2020 East & West countries in focus (Hungary, Moldova, Romania & Austria, Germany, Switzerland) or with Italy. Ideally 10% of the total budget of a project should already be in place (more info on the eligible criteria on www.wemw.it).

All selected projects will compete for the six following awards: Film Center Serbia Development Award, EAVE scholarship, Flow Postproduction Award, EWA Network Best Woman Director Award, Producers Network Prize, Pop Up Film Residence Award.

10 years of WHEN EAST MEETS WEST: a brand new lab

2020 will mark the 10th anniversary edition of the platform that over the years has strengthened the collaborations between East and West and has nurtured numerous projects, professional ties and industry initiatives. Most notably this year, for the first time, WEMW will provide a bridge to working with new formats (TV series) through the brand new TV series mini lab MIDPOINT Cold Open.

MIDPOINT Cold Open will select 6 producers, with a background in feature film producing, aspiring to shift to TV series content. The programme includes lectures, group sessions and individual consultations and aim to supply hands-on skills of production planning and financing of drama content.

Returning side events

Besides the WEMW Co-Production Forum and the brand new MIDPOINT Cold Open, WEMW 2020 will again include its now established side events. Starting from October 1st we will open the call for entries for the work in progress sections Last Stop Trieste and This is IT and the workshop for films in editing phase First Cut Lab. Last Stop Trieste will look for 5 documentaries at a fine cut stage already presented at one of our partner events: Ex-Oriente, BDC-Discoveries, Docu Rough-Cut Boutique, Baltic Sea Docs, ZagrebDox or WEMW. This is IT will present an exclusive selection of long feature fiction films and hybrid works with an Italian majority or minority co-producer. First Cut Lab will select 3 feature fiction films in editing phase from the spotlight countries to screen a full rough cut in a private session to top international film professionals and receive tailor-made advice. 

This year we again hope to bring great and inspiring projects to Trieste and support them to find the right partners for their journey as well as offer a wide variety of opportunities for all attending European professionals. 

We are looking forward to toasting together on the next ten years!

More information are available at www.wemw.it  

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WEMW is organized once again by the FVG Audiovisual Fund in collaboration with the Trieste Film Festival, EAVE, Creative Europe Desk Italy and thanks to the precious and constant support of Creative Europe/MEDIA Programme, MIBAC -Direzione Generale per il Cinema, CEI – Central European Initiative, Film Center Serbia and the Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia.