FOREVER HOLD YOUR PEACE by Ivan Marinović from Montenegro has won the Krzysztof Kieślowski ScripTeast Award  2019 for the Best Eastern Europan Script.

The award, including a checque for €10.000, was presented on May 21 this year during the Cannes Film Festival by the ScripTeast Artistic Board: Doreen Boonekamp, Sandy Lieberson, Antonio Saura, Manfred Schmidt, and Simon Perry, along with longtime heads of studies Christian Routh and Tom Abrams.

In their citation, the Artistic Board state: “The script is entertaining and funny, as well as profound. It is an ensemble study of a group of delightfully crafted characters immersed in an increasingly absurd ceremony that reflects ironically on the human condition in an engaging cinematic romp”.

The Artistic Board have also decided to award a Special Mention to STILLBORN, by Lena Gora and Olga Chajdas (Poland) “…for presenting a fascinating account of a turbulent moment in recent Central European history. The writers manage to convey an authentic and rebellious society in which themes of motherhood, family and culture are confronted in a dynamic and energetic fashion”.

The winner was chosen from the 11 screenplays from 9 Central and Eastern European countries that took part in the 13th edition.

Projects featured in the 13th edition of ScripTeast:

• Chemistry - Adina Dulcu, Romania
• Forever Hold Your Peace - Ivan Marinović, Montenegro
• M - Vardan Tozija and Darijan Pejovski, North Macedonia
• Mother -  Zornitsa Sophia i Miglena Dimova-Kumitski, Bulgaria
• Nightsiren - Tereza Nvotová i Barbora Námerová, Slovakia / Czech Republic
• Recordings  - Diana Groó, Hungary
• Spinners - Ivars Tontegode and Reinis Ubelis, Latvia
• Stillborn - Olga Chajdas and Lena Góra, Poland
• The Night of The Living Toys - Michał Walczak and Maria Wojtyszko, Poland
• The Pale - Rusudan Pirveli, Georgia
• The Sibyl - Zuzanna Solakiewicz, Poland

The programme of the 13th edition of ScripTeast began in October last year with a week-long workshop that included individual meetings with world-famous screenwriters, directors and producers, followed by individual online consultations. In February this year, the screenwriters participated in sessions at the Berlinale film festival. The final session of this cycle was concluded during the Cannes Film Festival.

Among the previous recipients of the Krzysztof Kieslowski ScripTeast Award are Benedek Fliegauf  (‘Womb’ - Locarno Festival 2008), Marysia Nikitiuk (‘When the Trees Fall’, Berlinale 2018), and Simeon Ventsislavov (‘Aga’, Berlinale 2018).

 

ScripTeast was created by Polish director and producer Dariusz Jablonski, in collaboration with his closest associates, producers: Violetta Kaminska and Izabela Wojcik. Together, besides wide international production activities through their companies Apple Film and Message Film, they created the Independent Film Foundation, which promotes ambitious films and its authors in Poland and Central and Eastern Europe.

ScripTeast is organized by Polish Independent Film Foundation, co-funded by Creative Europe - MEDIA Sub-Programme of the EU, Polish Film Institute, The Ministry of Culture and National Heritage - Found for the Promotion of Culture, Apple Film Production, in co-operation with the European Film Academy, Producers Network, European Producers Club, Transatlantic Partners, ACE – Atelier du Cinema European and Film New Europe. 

On Sunday, 17 May, the shooting of the feature film Riders by the director Dominik Mencej began in Gospić, Croatia. The screenplay was written by Boris Grgurović. The director's debut tells a story about two best friends, Tomaž and Anton, who are both in their mid-twenties and from the same village in the Slovenian region of Prlekija. They decide to redesign their mopeds to make them look like choppers. Ivan and Anton embark on a journey: Anton wants to impress his girlfriend who is studying in the capital and has not written to him in months, while Tomaž searches for spiritual answers to his visions, hoping that faith will guide him. Anton's plan backfires, but he does discover his true mission: to become a world traveller. Tomaž, on the other hand, becomes enlightened: for the first time in his life, he realises that God is love.

Starring Petja Labović, Timon Šturbej, Anja Novak, and the Serbian actor Nikola Kojo. Director of photography: Janez Stucin; production design: Iva Rodić; costumes design: Katarina Zaninović; makeup design: Tatjana Lipanović; and editor: Andrej Nagode.

The film is produced by Miha Černec of the Staragara production company from Ljubljana and co-produced by the companies Antitalent from Croatia, Novi film from Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Sense Production from Serbia.

The project has been financially supported by the Slovenian Film Centre, Viba Film, Creative Europe – Media, RE-ACT, First Film First, RTV Slovenija, Film Centre Serbia, and Foundation for Cinematography Sarajevo.

The shooting is scheduled to conclude by July 2019, while the film is to be finished by April 2020.

Dominik Mencej (1987) has always been passionate about film. In 2008 he shot a few shorts and was accepted to the AGRFT in Ljubljana, where he graduated in film and TV directing. Selected filmography (shorts): The Springtime Sleep (2014), Garbage Day (2011).

On Friday, 17 May, the shooting of the feature film Inventory by the director and screenwriter Darko Sinko started. The director's first film tells a story about Boris Robič, who is, as we like to say, an ordinary man. One day after dinner, however, while he is reading in his room, someone shoots at him through the window. The police arrive, and Inspector Andrej opens the investigation. It turns out that Boris has no enemies or conflicts with anyone. There are no suspects, and it seems that no one could possibly be interested in shooting Boris. The police eventually suspend the investigation, convinced that the shooting was a mere coincidence. Boris cannot come to terms with this, though. Riddled with doubt, he starts investigating on his own. While searching for the potential perpetrators, we follow a tragicomic path of a man who discovers that more people hate him than he would ever have thought possible and that the perceptions that he has of his own life are nothing but illusions.

Before the shooting, the director stated the following: "The most important thing that I would like to say about the film is that besides everything else, my goal was to make it entertaining as well. Loneliness, the search for love, fear, paranoia, doubt, and the relativisation of our conceptions about life – they form the thematic core of the film. What I wanted, though, was to elaborate on these "heavy" themes in an amusing and ironic tone."

Besides the main actors – Radoš Bolčina, Mirel Knez and Dejan Spasić – the film also features Renato Jenček, Mojca Partljič, Žan Koprivnik, Janez Škof, Davor Janjić, Saša Tabaković, Barbara Vidovič, Veronika Drolc and Mojca Ribič. Sandra Ržen is the production manager, Marko Brdar the director of photography, Adriana Furlan the production designer, Katja Hrobat the costume designer, Lija Ivančič the makeup designer, and Matic Drakulič the editor.

The film is produced by Vlado Bulajić and Lija Pogačnik of the production company December from Ljubljana. Co-produced by RTV Slovenija. The project is financially supported by the Slovenian Film Centre, Viba Film, Creative Europe – MEDIA, and RE-ACT. It was developed at the Scenarnica, First Film First, Midpoint, and APostLab film workshops, and presented at the Connecting Cottbus, When East Meets West, and Sofia Meetings film markets.

The shooting is to be concluded by the end of June 2019 and the film by the spring of 2020.

Darko Sinko has graduated in communication from the Faculty of Social Sciences and in film direction from the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television in Ljubljana. As a student, he would shoot videos for various Slovenian theatres. After his graduation, Sinko has mostly been making documentaries. Recently he has focused on live-action films and screenwriting. Apart from being a director, he has often worked as assistant director, cameraman, and editor. He has also produced several documentaries. For several years, he has also been teaching filmmaking and film education. He works as a self-employed cultural worker.