Who am I and where do I belong? At a time of political crises, in a divided society and on the threshold of irreversible climate change, finding an answer to this question is becoming ever more difficult. We thus all the more urgently feel the need to find our own identity, one that will give us a sense of certainty and security. How to understand ourselves, to differentiate ourselves from others while not creating a deep chasm in society? These are the questions we will be exploring at this year’s 21st One World International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival, which will take place from 6 to 17 March in Prague and subsequently in 35 other cities throughout the Czech Republic.

The festival’s slogan, Safe Proximity, refers to a state in which people in society, even if they are all different, are capable of listening and understanding one another. “The hate filled abuse of identity has become a weapon in the hands of some politicians and media outlets who are trying to set one group against the other. The result is a chasm – us versus them. We want to learn what things differentiate us from one another; to find what brings us together and what can make us feel safe and secure while being close to one another,” says One World’s director Ondřej Kamenický.

Like last year, the festival’s PR campaign has been organized by Studio MT (Matyáš Trnka in collaboration with Matěj Růžička). The colourful question marks and exclamation points throughout the festival’s visuals and its trailer are a reference to the difficult subject of negotiating one’s identity in a complex and uncertain social climate. “Some of us are more secure about their place in the world, but this sense of security can change over time. Sometimes we know what our goal is, while at other times we ask questions and doubt things. And all along, we meet people with whom we have a lot in common at that particular point in time… and we also have the need to define ourselves in opposition to other people. The question marks and exclamation points in this year’s visual design are thus engaged in battle – although from another point of view we see that, regardless of differences of opinion, we are all inhabitants of the same place, the same universe, the same (one) world,” says Matyáš Trnka.

Three Oscar-nominated documentaries at One World

The full programme of the 21st One World festival will be presented at a press conference on 19 February, but it is already clear that audiences will have much to choose from. Returning to the festival as a juror in the international competition is director Talal Derki, whose film Of Fathers and Sons earned him the Best Director award at last year’s festival. This year, he is vying for an even greater honour: Of Fathers and Sons has been nominated for an Oscar in the category of Best Documentary Feature. The five nominees include two films about life in the United States that are being shown at this year’s One World. Hale County This Morning, This Evening (dir. RaMell Ross) looks at the day-to-day life of an African American family in the South, and Minding the Gap (dir. Bing Liu) traces the friendship and adolescence of three skateboarders in the Rust Belt in the country’s northeast.

Besides our three traditional competition categories (Czech Competition, International Competition, and the human rights competition Right to Know) and another nine thematic categories, also returning this year is our programme of special discussions titled Talking Cinema, as part of which we will welcome to Prague experts from a variety of areas, whose talks will be accompanied by screenings of selected films.

One World for All

Once again, One World will truly be for everybody. We endeavour to make our screenings and accompanying events accessible for the broadest possible spectrum of viewers, including people with disabilities. This year, we are even showing eighteen films with subtitles for the hearing impaired, colour-coded to identify who is speaking and including relevant sounds. Besides five films with audio commentary for visually impaired individuals, this is the second year that we are also offering three relaxed screenings so that people with mental impairments, epilepsy or autism can enjoy the films in a relaxed setting.

And last but not least, One World offers the best possible level of barrier-free access for wheelchair users or viewers with limited mobility. “We don’t see activities for people with disabilities as something ‘extra.’ On the contrary: We want for the idea of accessibility to be an organic part of the entire festival,” explains Kamenický. The festival is thus aiming not only for external accessibility, but internal accessibility as well: for instance, it welcomes people with disabilities among its volunteers. “We believe that they should have the same opportunity to see behind the scenes of a large cultural event like everyone else,” adds One World for All coordinator Adéla Gálová.

East Doc Platform

Running alongside the One World festival is the East Doc Platform (EDP) for film professionals. The Institute of Documentary Film recently revealed detailed information on the projects that will be presented at the eight instalment of this event, which will take place from 9 to 15 March. The film projects look at the murdered documentary filmmaker Aleksandr Rastorguev, a DJ grandmother getting ready for her European tour, the return of wolves to the Czech landscape, and a documentary video game about Czechoslovak parasitologists’ dangerous mission to Cambodia at the time of the genocide. EDP also offers free master classes, discussion panels, screenings and other events for the general public. Film professionals interested in industry accreditation can register using our online form.

Get Your Audience!

If you can’t wait for the festival, we have one hit from this year’s festival available for free download as part of our Get Your Audience! project. The Punk Voyage follows a distinctive group of four Finnish punkers on their journey to the Eurovision Song Context, all the way to the final concert. The film can be downloaded until 20 February at www.promitejity.cz, where you will find more than 50 documentary films from past festivals.

The festival programme and its international guests will be presented at a press conference on Tuesday, 19 February at the audience centre in the Tibet Open House (Školská 28). You should be receiving an invitation from us soon via email.

Further information, including this year’s visuals, can be downloaded from www.oneworld.cz

One World in the Regions 2019

The Federation of European Film Directors (FERA), the Federation of Screenwriters in Europe (FSE) and the Society of Audiovisual Authors (SAA) welcome the outcome of the trilogue negotiations on the Copyright Directive in the Digital Single Market. This is a real step forward for European authors.

After many months of difficult negotiations between the EU institutions, a political agreement on the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market has finally been reached yesterday, defining rules to guarantee authors’ rights and support European creation.

FERA, FSE and the SAA thank the EU decision-makers, in particular the European Parliament, for their determination to improve authors’ bargaining position and remuneration in Europe under intense pressure.

FERA, FSE and SAA endorse the essential provisions set out in Chapter 3 aiming at rebalancing the systemic weak bargaining situation of authors, and the new Article -14, which establishes a much-needed principle of fair and proportionate remuneration for authors and performers deriving from the exploitation of their works, including online.

Quotes

“Now that an agreement has been found, we call on EU institutions to formally adopt the Directive in a timely manner”, said Pauline Durand-Vialle, FERA Chief Executive.

“Europe’s authors are at the origin of our culture. Their difficult situation, which has been central to the European debate on copyright reform, can be significantly improved if the proposed Directive is enacted.”, said David Kavanagh, FSE Executive Officer.

“We call on the European Parliament’s plenary to confirm this political compromise. When the Directive will definitely be adopted, European representative organisations will be eager to support audiovisual authors through its implementation at national level. This way, they will better ensure that authors receive the proportionate remuneration they deserve for the exploitation of their works”, said Cécile Despringre, SAA Executive Director.

26th Prague IFF – Febiofest to honour Oscar-winning director Bille August

This year the Prague International Film Festival – Febiofest will once again deliver a broad range of contemporary world cinema, as well as bringing a number of noteworthy filmmakers to Prague. As well as going to Czech actress Jiřina Bohdalová, one of the festival’s awards, the Kristián, will be bestowed on an Oscar recipient and winner of the Cannes IFF’s Palme d’Or, Danish director Bille August.

Oscar recipient and Palme d’Or winner returns to Prague

Throughout the entire existence of the Cannes film festival, only eight directors have received its Palme d’Or prize twice. One of them is Bille August. The Danish director, who recently turned 70, is not coming to Prague for the first time: he shot Les Misérables with Liam Neeson and Uma Thurman here in 1997. In 1989 he earned an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language film for Pelle the Conqueror, which had earned a Palme d’Or the previous year. In 1992 he again took a Palme d’Or, this time for The Best Intentions. His filmography also includes two movies about the young Indiana Jones, while last year Febiofest audiences had a chance to catch his 55 Steps, starring Helena Bonham Carter and Hilary Swank. Bille August, who has also worked with such Hollywood stars as Meryl Streep, Winona Ryder or Antonio Banderas, will receive a Kristián award for outstanding artistic contribution to world cinema at Febiofest’s closing ceremony on 28 March. The festival will present his pictures Pelle the Conqueror, Silent Heart, The House of the Spirits and his latest work, A Fortunate Man, which will receive a premiere screening.

Classics section brings world cinema greats back to the big screen

Over nine days the festival in Prague will show over 150 films in 16 sections, with one of the most popular sure to be the brand new Classics section. After the success of the jubilee Best Of section last year, this year a permanent forum has been created for newly restored and digitalised world cinema classics. Viewers will be able to enjoy The Swimming Pool with Alain Delon and Romy Schneider, which is exactly 50 years old, Wings of Desire by Wim Wenders or David Lynch’s Wild at Heart. Also being screened will be the director’s cut of William Friedkin’s horror The Exorcist, and Daisies, a key work by Czech director Věra Chytilová and cinematographer Jaroslav Kučera.

Docs to exclusively present WWI film by Peter Jackson

Among the 10 documentaries in the Docs section the biggest hit is sure to be exclusive screenings of They Shall Not Grow Old by Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson. The film comprises remastered original footage capturing World War I from the perspective of ordinary people and soldiers. The makers drew on over 100 hours of material that was over a century old. Other noteworthy documentaries will include Westwood: Punk, Icon, Activist about the famous UK fashion designer Vivienne Westwood and Friedkin Uncut about William Friedkin, unconventional director of cult films (e.g. The French Connection, The Exorcist). Viewers can also enjoy the world premiere of Jaroslav Kučera Up Close, about Czech cinematographer Jaroslav Kučera.

Drama by actor-director Ralph Fiennes set for Central Park

The Central Park section – known for distribution premieres, comedies, historical dramas and star actors – will deliver highly attractive current productions, including actor turned director Ralph Fiennes’ The White Crow, a biopic of dancer and choreographer Rudolf Nureyev focused on his defection from the USSR in 1961, the German-Italian thriller Never Look Away by Oscar-winning director Florian Henckel von Donnesmarsk (The Lives of Others) and an exclusive presentation of If Beale Street Could Talk by Barry Jenkins, whose Oscar-winning Moonlight was shown at the festival in the past.

Culinary Cinema to focus on French, Moroccan and Spanish cuisine this year

The festival’s highly popular culinary section is this year offering three unforgettable experiences over three evenings. On Friday 22 March Morocco meets France in Jean-Philippe Guad’s Tazzeka, a debut feature about love and migration. Afterwards viewers will savour a special menu created for the film by master chef Lukáš Čížek. Saturday 23 March will see a screening of Marco Ferreri’s La Grande Bouffe, an opulent gastro orgy headed in one direction… chefs Filip Sajler, Martin Staněk and Lukáš Čížek have prepared a menu in a similar spirit for those who survive. Sunday will belong to Constructing Albert, a documentary by Jimi Loomis and Laura Collado about the road to Michelin stars. A dinner inspired by that film will be produced by Filip Sajler. Gourmet Academy and the company Potten & Pannen – Staněk are partners of the Culinary Cinema section.

The festival will get underway with a gala opening on Thursday 21 March 2019 at Prague’s Municipal House and will run until 29 March. The closing ceremony, at which the winners of the New Europe section, the Amnesty International Febiofest Award and the You’re the Filmmaker competition will be announced, will take place at CineStar Anděl on Thursday 28 March. As every year, screenings will be held at the CineStar Anděl and CineStar Černý Most multiplexes and the NFA Ponrepo and Municipal Library cinemas. Febiofest will take place in the regions from 1 to 18 April 2019, stopping at: České Budějovice, Hradec Králové, Plzeň, Beroun, Pardubice, Jihlava, Ostrava, Mikulov, Kladno, Liberec, Děčín, Olomouc, Uherské Hradiště, Chomutov and Zlín.

Tickets and festival passes

Admission to individual screenings is CZK 99.

Festival passes cost CZK 699 for 3 days, CZK 999 for 5 days and CZK 1,699 for 9 days.

Admission to films and exclusive dinners within Culinary Cinema is CZK 1,190.

Advance sales for festival passes and Culinary Cinema events are already underway at www.febiofest.cz.

The call for entries for Cyprus International Film Festival "Golden Aphrodite" is still open!

• All genres are accepted.

• Short films up to 20 minutes

• Feature films up to 120 minutes

• Eligible are all films produced within the last 36 months

We can’t wait to see what you’ve been working on, and we hope to see you at this year’s festival!

Here’s a special code that you can use for 20% off your entry fee: INVITECYIFF20 - Submit via Filmfreeway

Film Submission: http://cyiff.cineartfestival.eu/en/submission/

March 19 - 23, 2019 / Bratislava

Highly praised makers of the Dark Knight trilogy, Nebraska and the Oscar-winning Roma are on their way to Bratislava!

The eighth annual Visegrad Film Forum will, as usual, offer film lovers the best of world cinema. From the 19th to 23rd of March, VŠMU Film and TV Faculty will host cinematographer and film supervisor Mark H. Weingartner, ASC, cameraman Phedon Papamichael, ASC and production designer Eugenio Caballero.

Oscar winner builds new worlds from a scratch

Production designer Eugenio Caballero travels from Mexico to Bratislava to present his work on films such as Pan's Labyrinth (2006) or the latest Alfonso Cuarón film Roma (2018) to the participants. „In Pan´s Labyrinth all the sets were built from scratch, there was nothing there but a forest, everything is made with plaster, models, other spaces were built apart in forums, due to their complexity as inside the tree. the sets they were not large in size: the important thing is that they were visually impressive,“ says Eugenio Caballero, the author of the magic world. This collaboration on Guillermo Del Toro´s fantasy picture got him an Academy Award for Best Production Design in 2007.

He has received another Oscar nomination for Alfonso Cuarón's latest black and white film Roma. In many interviews he mentions that this collaboration was different from the previous ones especially because of the director's personal connection to the picture and the chronological shooting of the film. The scene preparations were always preceded by long conversations with Cuarón, and as the production designer Eugenio Caballero was the only one who read the complete script. In addition to these two films, Caballero participated in the making of the third sequel of Resident Evil: Extinction (2007), and Jim Jarmusch's The Limits of Control (2009) among others.

The Master of Special Effects

Film supervisor Mark W. Weingartner, ASC does not need to be introduced as anything other than a long-time collaborator of director Christopher Nolan, with whom he worked on films such as Dunkirk (2017), Interstellar (2014), Inception (2010) and the entire Dark Knight trilogy. In addition, he has contributed to blockbusters such as The Hunger Games and the Twilight saga. His main role is to shoot scenes that are later modified by special effects. His work brought him to almost every continent except for Antarctica. Apart from Hollywood megaprojects, he also has many small, independent films under his belt.

He started as a light technician in New York theaters. His first contact with Hollywood was on the set of Under Siege 2 (1995), where he saw the most extensive green screen in his life. After this film, he launched his Hollywood career and moved to Los Angeles. There he has shot films such as Apocalypto (2006), Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), Men in Black II (2002) and Mission: Impossible 2 (2000). The Visegrad Film Forum will be conducting a special 3-day VFX workshop in addition to a public lecture.

Greek cinematographer who conquered Hollywood

One of the most outstanding works of cameraman Phedon Papamichael, ASC, is the film Nebraska (2013), that received six Oscar nominations. The black and white aesthetic of this road trip film about a senior who believes he has won millions of dollars in the Nebraska lottery, beautifully highlights the hopelessness and austerity of this scarcely populated US state. Papamichael also collaborated with the influential German director Wim Wenders, including the film The Million Dollar Hotel (2000) starring stars like Mila Jovovich and Mel Gibson. He also shot with the director James Mangold in relation to whom it is important to highlight the film Walk the Line (2005), which portrays the life and death of guitarist and country singer Johnny Cash, played by Joaquin Phoenix.

Two more guests are coming to Bratislava   

Furthermore, the eight edition of Visegrad Film Forum will host Hakim Belabbes from Morocco and Marcin Łuczaj from Poland as well. Hakim Belabbes is a film director and teacher at Columbia College in Chicago who premiered his film Sweet Rain (2016) at the International Film Festival in Rotterdam. Marcin Łuczaj works as a sales manager for New Europe Film Sales, a Warsaw-based sales agency for both features and shorts, where he is responsible for feature film acquisitions and for the short film catalogue. 

Take advantage of the extended possibility to purchase the Early Bird accreditation for € 15 (€ 10 for students) by February 28th. After February 28th their price will be € 25 (€ 15 for students).

Visegrad Film Forum 2019
When: 19th – 23rd March 2019
Where: Bratislava, Slovakia
Location: VŠMU Film and TV Faculty

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

Organizer: Boiler NGO
Co-organizers: VŠMU Film and TV Faculty

Financial support: International Visegrad fond, Slovak Audiovisual fond, Nadácia SPP
Partner schools: The Academy of Performing Arts, Film and TV Faculty in Bratislava, The University of Silesia in Katowice, The Academy of Drama and Film in Budapest, KNUTCT Kyjev, BFM Tallinn, Sahara Lab and UNATC Bucharest

Dear colleagues and friends,

We would like to inform you about the upcoming first edition of FILM MUSIC CONTEST, international competition of original film and TV music that will take place April 2 – 4, 2019 in Košice, Slovakia.

FILM MUSIC CONTEST is the first ever international competition of film and TV music in Slovakia designed for composers, musicians, bands, producers, feature and short film makers, video artists and graphic designers from all over the world.

The FMC project has launched at the 71^st Festival de Cannes/Marché du Film, where it was met with great interest and positive reactions from the professionals in audiovisual industry and where it formed first international partnerships.

The main goal of the project is to offer professionals as well as young aspiring artists an opportunity to showcase their work, take part in an international competition and vie for prizes worth up to 10 000€ in total.

You can submit your work via online form into three different categories:

Ø  Music Competition

Ø  Film Competition

Ø  Graphic Competition

The submission deadline for all three competitions is March 10, 2019.

The winners will be announced during a Gala-event taking place April 2 – 4, 2019 in the historical town ofKošice in the East Slovakia, accompanied by concerts and film screenings. An international jury of film and music experts will choose the winners.

The FMC jury members are Vlado Meller (USA), master of music mastering and two-time GRAMMY Award winner,Rudolf Geri (SK), renowned film music composer and artistic director of music company Gedur, and Paul Wiffen (UK), musician, pianist, sound designer and music programmer.

More information about the project here: https://www.fmcontest.com/

The Czech and Film Television Academy (CFTA) has published the nominated television projects that reached the three highest positions in the voting of the academics in the two television categories. In the category of the best television film or miniseries the following three miniseries got the most votes: Dukla 61, Methanol and Redl.  The series Dubbing Street, Professor T. and Rabies have been nominated in the category of the best television drama series. Unlike the films that enter the competition for the Czech Lions automatically providing they have fulfilled the conditions of the statutes, the broadcasters themselves have to register their projects for the two television categories. This year the following subjects submitted their projects: Czech Television, TV Nova and FTV Prima. The winners in the film as well as television categories will be announced during the ceremonial gala evening of the 26th annual Czech Lion awards in Rudolfinum on Saturday 23rd March 2019.

In January the CFTA revealed the nominations in the film categories where the film Toman directed and produced by Ondřej Trojan is in the best position with its 13 nominations. Ten nominations were received by two films – The Hastrman directed by Ondřej Havelka and the film Winter Flies directed by Olmo Omerzu. These three films are followed by the films Golden Sting by Radim Špaček with 9 nominations, Jan Palach by Robert Sedláček with 8 nominations and Insect by Jan Švankmajer with 5 nominations. Now the academy is revealing the projects that can obtain the awards for television production in two categories on the 23rd March 2019.

Three television broadcasters nominated their projects this year – Czech Television, TV Nova and FTV Prima and the academics were choosing from those in a one-round voting. In the category of the best television film or miniseries among the first three most successful projects there are three television miniseries Dukla 61 (Czech Television, directed by David Ondříček), Methanol (Czech Television, directed by Tereza Kopáčová) and Redl (Czech Television, directed by Jan Hřebejk). In the category of the best television drama series the most votes were obtained by the series Dubbing Street (Czech Television, directed by Petr Zelenka), Professor T. (TV Nova, directed by Tomáš Mašín and Michal Blaško) and Rabies (Czech Television, directed by Tomáš Bařina).

The winners of the film as well as television categories will be announced at the Czech Lion ceremonial gala evening that will take place in Prague’s Rudolfinum on Saturday 23th March 2019. The gala evening will be newly hosted by Václav Kopta and it will be broadcast live at 8 p.m. by the CT1 channel.

For the first time this year the CFTA gives the fans of Czech film an opportunity to watch the films nominated for the year of 2018 either in the cinema or online. The CineStar network of multiplex cinemas will hold a festival of the films that have been nominated for the Czech Lion awards all over the Czech Republic from 2nd to 19th March and the best films of last year will return to the cinemas then.  

People will also be able to watch the nominated films online on the website www.ceskylev.cz. Thanks to the cooperation with dafilms.cz the films will be available from 18th to 31st March. Apart from the films that have been nominated this year the website also offers an ever growing collection of Czech films that were either nominated or got the Czech Lion award in the past years.

BEST TELEVISION FILM or MINISERIES

Dukla 61 – miniseries, directed by David Ondříček, produced by Michal Reitler, screenplay by Jakub Režný and Matěj Podzimek                                       

Methanol (Metanol) – miniseries, directed by Tereza Kopáčová, produced by Michal Reitler, screenplay by Lenka Szántó and Matěj Podzimek                                  

Redl (Rédl) – miniseries, directed by Jan Hřebejk, produced by Jan Štern, screenplay by Miro Šifra     

BEST TELEVISION DRAMA SERIES

Dubbing Street (Dabing Street) – directed by Petr Zelenka, produced by Kateřina Ondřejková, screenplay by Petr Zelenka
Professor T. (Profesor T.) – directed by Tomáš Mašín and Michal Blaško, produced by Matěj Chlupáček, Maja Hamplová and Bernd Alexa, screenplay by Petr Jarchovský, Michal Samir and Evita Naušová
Rabies (Vzteklina) – directed by Tomáš Bařina, produced by Josef Viewegh, screenplay by Jan Stehlík

Czech Lion

The Czech Lion is a prestigious Czech film award that has been presented since 1993. Films are evaluated based on the voting of the members of the Czech Film and Television Academy. The ceremonial gala evening will take place in Dvořák’s Hall of Prague’s Rudolfinum on Saturday 23rd March 2019 and it will be broadcast live by Czech Television on CT1 at 8 p.m.

About the Czech Film and Television Academy:

The Czech Film and Television Academy was founded in 1995 and in 2013 it was transformed into a registered association. Its main aim is to support and promote Czech cinematographic art in the Czech Republic as well as abroad and create conditions for the development of Czech film. The CFTA awards the most prestigious Czech film award – the Czech Lion and nominates Czech films or documentary features for the awards of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The CFTA consists of 306 members at the moment.

EP Legal Affairs committee vote on the Copyright Directive

Brussels, 26^th February 2019

Today, the European Parliament’s Legal Affairs committee adopted the provisional agreement on the Copyright Directive by 16 votes in favour and 9 against. As representatives of hundreds of thousands of authors, including film/TV directors, writers, literary translators, composers, songwriters, and screenwriters in Europe, we welcome this strong, cross-party support leading to the final adoption of the Directive.

We warmly thank all the MEPs who supported the Copyright Directive and in particular those who fought hard to strengthen the authors’ bargaining power and improve their remuneration. Today’s vote sends a positive and historical signal to all citizens who want to write, compose, create and be fairly remunerated for their work.

We now encourage all Members of the European Parliament to formally adopt the Copyright Directive without further delay.

___________________________________________

The European Composer and Songwriter Alliance (ECSA)

The European Writers Council (EWC)

The Federation of European Film Directors (FERA)

The Federation of Screenwriters in Europe (FSE)