Wszystko jest możliwe, Poland, 52 min, Digi Beta, Portrait
A cottage with a small garden at the edge of the village. Windows decorated with geraniums. The two elderly dwellers, Teresa and Jan, couldn't be more different. She starts her mornings with a heart-pumping exercise routine, and keeps busy all day. He moons about the house as if he had all the time in the world.
ALMANYA and MY BEST ENEMY in competition
Munich, 2 February 2011. Beta Cinema is heading for this year’s Berlinale Film Market with a full docket: 16 titles, including two competition films, one Panorama and one Forum film each as well as five LOLA@BERLINALE entries will be presented at the EFM to German and foreign buyers.
The melodrama about German-Turkish immigrant workers ALMANYA, the tragic-comedy MY BEST ENEMY (both in competition) and the Russian science fiction TARGET (Panorama) are also world premieres. Also being screened for the first time is the feature film version of HINDENBURG, which portrays the spectacular zeppelin catastrophe of 1937. The Congolese smuggler film VIVA RIVA! (Forum), which has already been sold to all English speaking territories (Music Box/US - Metrodome/UK - Rialto/Australia/New Zealand - Mongrel Media/Canada) is celebrating its European premiere.
ALMANYA (Official selection [out of competition], world premiere on 12 February 2011, 7:30 pm, Berlinale Palast) is the feature-film debut of Yasemin Samdereli (“Turkish for Beginners”), who was born in Germany into a Turkish family. Together with her sister Nesrin, she has woven her own personal experiences into the script. With warmth and humor, the film tells the story of a Turkish family that has been living in Germany for three generations setting off on a turbulent journey to their homeland. ALMANYA is a production of Roxy Film and will be released in German theaters by Concorde on 10 March.
In MY BEST ENEMY (Official selection [out of competition], world premiere on 16 February 2011, 7:30 pm, Berlinale Palast), Wolfgang Murnberger (“The Bone Man,” “Silentium”) tells a story of friendship, love and betrayal, in which tragedy and humor are always close by. Only through his quick-minded exchange of his concentration camp garb for an SS uniform does the Jewish gallery owner Victor (Moritz Bleibtreu, “Goethe!,” “The Baader Meinhof-Complex”) succeed in outliving Adolf Hitler. Co-starring are Georg Friedrich (“Northface”) and Marthe Keller, who is currently appearing in Clint Eastwood’s “Hereafter.” MY BEST ENEMY is produced by Josef Aichholzer, whose film “The Counterfeiters” won the Academy Award in 2008 as Best Foreign Film. MY BEST ENEMY is distributed in Austria by Filmladen and is coming to cinemas on 11 March. The movie has already been presold to the UK (Metrodome), Japan (The Klockworx), Czech Republic/Slovakia (Hollywood C.E.) and China (ERG Film).
TARGET (Panorama, world premiere on 14 February 2011, 6:30 pm, Friedrichstadtpalast) is produced by Dimitry Lesnevsky/Ren Film and directed by Alexander Zeldovich (“Moscow”). The portrait of Russian society in the year 2020 describes the fears and hopes of the rich and powerful. In a secret space center from the Soviet era, contact with a mysterious TARGET allows people to keep their youthful looks. But the price of youth is high... Co-author of the script is the successful Russian author Vladimir Sorokin, whose books have been translated into more than 20 languages and who has won the renowned People’s Booker Prize.
The surprise hit at the Toronto International Film Festival, VIVA RIVA! (FORUM, Premiere on 11 February 2011, 9:45 pm, Delphi), about the rise and fall of a gasoline smuggler plays in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. For the small-time criminal Riva, Kinshasa is the ideal place to make lucrative deals. But his dream of fast money becomes a nightmare that ends on a grimy corner of the city. Directed by Djo Tunda Wa Munga, VIVA RIVA! was produced by Formosa (France), MG Production (Belgium) and Suka! (Democratic Republic of Congo) with the support of the French Pay TV broadcaster Canal +.
The dramatic and still unsolved mystery of the explosion of the zeppelin HINDENBURG shortly before landing in New Jersey in 1937, ranks among the major catastrophes of civilian aviation. The action-packed film shot in English by teamWorx and EOS recounts the story of a German-American conspiracy through which an US industrialist (Stacy Keach, “Prison Break”) hopes to make a lucrative helium-gas deal. In further roles are Lauren Lee Smith (“CSI”), Maximilian Simonischek and Greta Scacchi (“Trojan Horse”); director is Philipp Kadelbach. EFM premiere is on 11 February 2011 at 11 am in the dffb-Kino/Filmhaus.
In the new section German Cinema - LOLA@BERLINALE, which comprises the films nominated for the German Film Award, Beta Cinema is presenting no fewer than five entries. Florian Cossen’s THE DAY I WAS NOT BORN with Jessica Schwarz (“Parfume – The Story of a Murderer”) was honored with the Audience Award and the Fipresci Award at the Montreal Film Festival and the award for the best German film at the Zurich Filmfest. The children’s soccer film THE DEVIL’S KICKERS with Benno Fürmann (“Northface,” “Merry Christmas”) was seen in Germany alone by about 600,000 viewers. Bruno Ganz (“Downfall”) plays the lead role in Jo Baier’s THE END IS MY BEGINNING, which is based on the best-selling book by SPIEGEL correspondent Tiziano Terzani. Also nominated for the German Film Award is GOETHE! by director Philipp Stölzl (“Northface”), starring Alexander Fehling (“Inglourious Basterds”) and Burkhard Klaussner (“The White Ribbon”). VINCENT WANTS TO SEA, about a young man with Tourette syndrome (Florian David Fitz, “Men in the City”), drew an attendance of over a million viewers, making it one of the most successful German films of the past year.
Also in the Beta Cinema line-up are BLACK BREAD by Augusti Villaronga, which has been nominated 14 times for the Spanish film award Goya, as well as COLOURS IN THE DARK by Sophie Heldmann, both in competition at the San Sebastian Film Festival. Ascanio Celestini’s THE BLACK SHEEP was screened in competition at the Venice Film Festival, and the Icelandic film KING’S ROAD was acclaimed at the Piazza Grande in Locarno. John Turturro’s PASSIONE, a musical homage to Naples, also ran in Venice as well as in the competition of the Toronto International Film Festival. Finally, A QUIET LIFE with Toni Servillo (“Il Divo”) and Juliane Köhler (“Downfall”) was a competition entry at the Rome Film Festival.
For further information:
Beta Cinema Press, Dorothee Stoewahse, Tel: + 49 89 67 34 69 15
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., www.betacinema.com
Pictures can be downloaded at:
ftp.betafilm.com, username: ftppress01, password: 8uV7xG3tB
About BETA CINEMA:
Beta Cinema is the theatrical division of Beta Film. Launched in 2001, Beta Cinema has established itself as a "boutique operation" for independent feature films with strong potential for theatrical distribution. Beta Cinema's philosophy is to limit its selective acquisition policy of 10 to 15 titles per year in order to fully develop the theatrical potential of each title according to its individual character. Beta Cinema’s portfolio includes outstanding productions like JOHN RABE, which won four German Film Awards 2009, Cannes 2008 Jury Prize-winning IL DIVO, Academy Award 2008-winning THE COUNTERFEITERS, Academy Award 2008 nominated MONGOL, Academy Award 2007-winning THE LIVES OF OTHERS and the Academy Award 2005-nominated DOWNFALL.
Beta Film GmbH
Press
Gruenwalder Weg 28 d
D - 82041 Oberhaching
Phone: +49 89 673469 15
Fax: +49 89 673469 888
Mobile: + 49 170 63 84 627
www.betafilm.com
Sitz und Registergericht: Oberhaching; eingetragen im HR München Nr. HRB 143023
Geschäftsführer: Jan Mojto
EAST EUROPEAN FILM ALLIANCE, a consortium of Eastern European film organizations with the financial support of the MEDIA MUNDUS launch its training program „EEFA Training Network 2011" to be held during this year.
The EEFA Consortium is coordinated by the RFS (Romanian Film Sector, Romania) and has for 2011 the following partners: HAVC (Croatian Audiovisual Center) – Croatia, IFF Molodist (Kyiv International Film Festival Molodist) – Ukraine, ALTFilm (ALTFilm) – Moldova, ASA (Ankara Cinema Association) – Turkey, BNFC (Bulgarian National Film Center ) and GEOPOLY (Geopoly Film) – Bulgaria, IFF Moscow (Moscow International Film Festival) – Russia, PÖFF Tallinn (PÖFF - Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival ) – Estonia, LNFC - National Film Centre of Latvia, Georgian National Film Center – Georgia and State Film Fund from Ministry of Culture and Tourism Azerbaidjan.
In 2011, EEFA will again operate a one-year Training Network for its partners in the following countries: Croatia, Bulgaria, Ukraine and Estonia. Alongside our partners, the initiative is supported by Media Mundus.
EEFA TRAINING NETWORK intends to be a platform for film professionals from the East European countries and EU neighboring countries, utilizing co-production projects as concrete means to gather talents and strengthen the wide regional film industry.
EEFA TRAINING NETWORK will create, develop and help capitalization of opportunities for international co-productions between the Eastern and European partner countries, as well as with the established film markets in the EU, trying to inter-relate the existing platforms or markets.
EEFA TRAINING NETWORK will facilitate information exchange and stimulate market intelligence by establishing a wide professional network that makes effective use of the information regarding necessary working conditions, legal framework, systems of financing, systems of distribution/exhibition within the audiovisual markets in the partner countries.
EEFA TRAINING NETWORK will enhance the competitiveness and international co-operation of the audio-visual sector of the East European partner countries in relationship with their European counterparts.
EEFA TRAINING NETWORK will foster opportunities for cultural diversity, product exchange and circulation of audiovisual products among the partner countries and within the EU by offering access to an industry-standard professional network available for all its members.
Learning targets and professional benefitsParticipants will know the elements needed for a viable film project and will have improved their skills in how to draft a professional film-script, how to produce a film, how to deal with the main legal issues, how to analyze target audiences and market potential of a film project.
Participants will have improved their understanding of the film sector in their country as well as of the other partner countries in order to understand the basic requirements to enter into co-production.
Participants will have gained concrete parameters as to how to develop their career further in film and/or audiovisual field, as well as how to improve their daily practice.
Participants will have a better understanding of the functioning and dynamics of the European and Eastern film markets.
Training format and methodologyThe training is spanned on the duration of a year, and consists of four phases:
an on-line preparation phase during which all participants align themselves on key principles regarding the topics they work upon, have interactive feedback in the form of questions and answers, and work on assignments.
Participants will receive on-line a set of core concepts and a list of assignments before the workshops, in order to attend the training with an equal level of understanding and preparation for the live workshops.
a live phase of spotlight meetings of the four basic film business crafts (screenwriters, producers, legal representatives, distribution representatives) in the form of residential workshops where initial assignments are evaluated and improved.
In the workshop, know-how input will be given through lectures, case studies and screenings for all participants. In the plenary and in group sessions led by the trainers, participants will discuss and analyze specific topics or case studies.
ProgramSession no. 1: "Scriptwriting Development for Documentary"
Parallel to the event : ZagrebDox
where : Zagreb (Croatia)
when: 3rd -7th of March 2011
Session no. 2: “Scriptwriting Development for Fiction”
framework event : Festival of European Co-productionswhere : Sofia (Bulgaria)
when: 18th -21st of May 2011
Session no. 3: “Management of Film Production”
framework event : Molodist International Film Festival
where : Kyiv (Ukraine)
when: 27rd -30th of October 2011
Session no. 4 : “Legal and Distribution Matters”
framework event : Baltic Nights Film Festival (POFF)
where : Tallin (Estonia)
when : 30th of November – 4th of December 2011
And framework event:Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale 2012)
where: Berlin (Germany)
when: February, 2012
This year, 14 projects will be selected (potentially, one per each partner country) and then given access to the Training Network program. The participants apply in teams and with projects, and will benefit of one year of online assistance for their projects coming out from European experts: Mrs. Catherine Buresi (FR) – Head of Studies, Mr. Patrice Vivancos (GR/FR), Mr. Christian Routh (UK/SP) , Mrs. Linda Beath (CA/IT), Mrs. Marta Lamperova (CZ/DE), Mr. Dirk Poppendieck (DE), as well as other visiting experts.
Who can applyEEFA Project 2011 is open only for the film professionals who are residents of the 14 partner countries plus Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia etc.
The trainees for EEFA Training Network will apply in project teams (producer, writer/director, legal expert, promotion expert) that share the same long feature film project (fiction or documentary, more than 70 minutes) being currently in development phase.
Application requirementsThe applications will be evaluated taking into considerations both the quality of the submitted projects and the professional profiles of the members of the team.
Indicative selection criteria for the submitted film project
quality of the script
international market potential
Indicative criteria for the members of the film project
Selection procedureSelection criteria for producers: either to have produced a minimum of two hours of audiovisual programs (any format and genre, no matter whether through their own or a third entity) or to have a sound business and managerial experience in any other field. They need to be currently working in their country on project where they have teamed up with the writer/director.
Selection criteria for writers or directors: to have written and/or directed at least two hours of audiovisual program (any format and genre). They need to be currently working in their country on project where they have teamed up with the producer.
Selection criteria for legal experts: at least three years of professional activity, preferably with experience linked to the film sector and intellectual property law. They need to be currently working in their country on project where they have teamed up with the producer.
Selection criteria for promotion expert: at least three years of professional activity in film marketing/promotion. They need to be currently working in their country on project where they have teamed up with the producer.
Submit the documentsThe application package will be drafted only in English and will contain:
Application form (properly filled in and signed);
CVs for each member of the team: producer, writer/director, legal experts, promotion expert. Each CV has to be updated with relevant information regarding the experience in cinematography industry or related fields and has to contain a photo in pdf or jpg format.
Long feature film project (fiction or documentary, more than 70 minutes) folder, which will include:
synopsis (one page)
treatment (maximum 10 pages)
draft budget and financing plan (in euros; one page each)
draft distribution plan (one page)
A motivation letter signed by the Producer, containing a brief description of the production company and which has to provide arguments sustaining the interest of the team in participating within EEFA Training Network 2011.
EEFA Training Network will provide all technical support for an easy and secure application procedure.
All documents will be sent via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Scholarships and financial obligations of the participants EEFA Training Network 2011 requests a fee of 170 E from selected participants.EEFA will grant, however, four scholarships, based on the criteria of project performance.
Application DeadlineYour application will only be considered if all requirements are met and all of your documents have been received in English and in the formats mentioned under the address This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. within the deadline February 13th, 2011!
For any request or information, please contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
The East European Film Alliance is supported in 2011 by Media Mundus (an EU program aiming the development of the audiovisual industry in partnership with non-EU countries), by the FilmNewEurope website and the MAQS Law Firm.
Coordinator
CATALIN LEESCU
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Mobile: +40 753 125 237 Project ManagerRUXANDRA CERNATEmail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Mobile: +40 753 166 046Project Assistant
C.OANA A. VENAT-DUMITRIU
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Mobile: +40 753 125 247
Tel/fax: +40 21 320 6072
Prague, January 31, 2011 – The 33rd annual film festival and the 26th short film market in Clermont-Ferrand, France, will be held from February 4-12, 2001, and Czech Film Center will be there to represent the Czech Republic for its second year running. A Czech film, The Tour Guide, directed by Asmara Beraki and produced by FAMU and Czech Television, will be screened in the festival's main competition.
The market and festival in Clermont-Ferrand is the biggest professional event devoted exclusively to short films. This year the market will host some 272 companies, 83 buyers, 456 producers, 93 distributors and 436 festival organizers. This marks a huge spike in visitors over previous years. (More at www.clermont-filmfest.com).
Like last year, Czech Film Center's stand will be open during the entire market, offering a great opportunity to present Czech short film production and to network with new and old industry professionals. The stand will opens with an informal happy hour starting at 5 pm on Monday, February 7, 2011, where we will officially present CFC's latest DVD, Czech Short Films Vol. 2, released this week. A block of short films from the DVD will be screened to visitors at 6 pm on Tuesday, February 8, 2011 at the Georges Conhon Theater. The block features these shorts: Domino (dir. Žofie Zajíčková / VOŠF), The Father (dir. V. Dzurenková / FAMU), Graffitiger (dir. L. Pixa, FAMU), Lucas – Curse of Drawned Cat (dir. J. Císař / VŠUP), People Involved (dir. J. Těšitel / FAMU), Swimming Pool (dir. S. Hetmerová).
CFC's partners FAMU, Anifest and Anifilm will also be represented in Clermont-Ferrand.
The inclusion of director Asmara Beraki's Czech movie, The Tour Guide, in the festival's international competition is a major success. Ms. Beraki, who hails from America, studies at FAMU where the work was made as a co-production with Czech Television in 2009. The psychological film about a spurned woman's revenge on her gravely ill husband draws an analogy between architecture's functionality and everyday life's animalism.
There will be professional events, pitching forums with potential distributors and buyers, a co-production forum and many more events throughout the duration of the festival.
Contact:
Markéta Šantrochová, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., mobile: +420 724 329 948.
Lenka Šindelářová
Czech Film Center - Film Promotion
____________________________
Národní 28, 110 00 Praha 1
tel: + 420 221 105 398
gsm: +420 604 307 605
fax: + 420 221 105 303
e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
www.filmcenter.cz
www.filmovakomora.cz
Prague, February 1, 2011 – At the end of January, Czech Film Center will release the second edition of its DVD of short films. The DVD, titled Czech Short Films Vol. 2, presents 12 short films created by students from Czech film schools (namely: FAMU, FAMO – Film Academy of Miroslav Ondříček, Film School Zlín). The main aim is to highlight Czech short films, promote them abroad and to establish closer cooperation with film schools and new filmmakers.
The DVD follows up on the edition from 2010, when the Czech Film Center published the first selection of short films on DVD, launching its systematic attention to Czech short films. The DVD was presented to more than one hundred international film festivals in 2010, and blocks of short films were presented at festivals or screenings in France, Germany, Great Britain, Denmark and Estonia.
The second DVD, which is out now, offers a collection of the most interesting short films from 2010, and includes German and French subtitles in addition to English.
The shorts are selected by jury, which this year consisted of Prague Short Film Festival program director Karel Spěšný, Kateřina Fričová, who long worked in television and now focuses on media consultancy and educational activities, film publicist Vojtěch Rynda, Petr Horák, author of the iShorts film nights project, and Markéta Šantrochová of CFC.
The jury's task was by no means easy, as it had 148 films to choose from.
"When I saw the list of titles that I'd have to watch and assess, I almost panicked – there really were just so many. Ultimately, however, I spent those 14 days at my computer with pleasure. Sure, at times I found myself clenching my teeth, sometimes my eyes just hurt, sometimes I was rolling my eyes ... but that was all offset by some really well-made works. I am confident that together we chose the best of the best for the collection. And the pleasure I experienced I will be able to share even more," says Kateřina Fričová.
Karel Spěšný adds: "It is extremely important for young filmmakers to have the opportunity to reach larger audiences and the competition in the bigger pond one finds at film festivals rather than at their schools or with a group of friends. That is why this CFC initiative, which seeks to help young filmmakers get their films to international film festivals, is incredibly important. After all, it is the custom of countries that are devoted to developing their culture and self-promotion. Thanks to this project, we have come one step closer to a world we probably would like to belong to."
The DVD will be presented for the first time at the Clermont-Ferrand festival and and short film market, where Czech Film Center will be representing Czech film for the second year running.
Czech Short Films Vol. 2 presents the following films:
Lucas – Curse of the Drawned Cat / Jaromír Císař / VŠUP / CZ 2010 / animation / 9´
The tale of a gang of village kitties' dramatic attempt to rescue their feline friends being kept in the local pond under a spell by the evil Sorcerer's tomcat.
The tomcat, named Drowner, on the prowl for local kitty-cats, uses spells to hold them in some sort of trance at the bottom of the pond. Fortunately, a city cat called Lucas and two of his tomcat friends devises a plan that extracts revenge while rescuing the spellbound felines. Evil is ultimately punished, and good wins – the village is full of cats again!
Spirit of Talking Books / David Havas / FAMU / CZ 2010 / documentary / 21´
Pavel records plays in the theater I enjoy going to. We became friends and teamed up to make a simple film about well-earned love and talent that, ideally, will remind man that he has choices in life.
Dominoes / Žofie Zajíčková / Film School Zlín / CZ 2010 / animation / 9´
A world that stands on dominoes. Unfortunately, it is divided into two parts. What one country lacks, the other has too much of, and vice-versa. And then suddenly, out of nowhere, a pear flies into town. It "perches" itself atop one of the houses and does nothing else. A boy doll, which tries to get to sort it all out, walks right up to the very edge of his world. Here starts a new new, colorful world full of plants and what's more – with different laws of gravity... The film tells the story of the efforts of two beings, a girl doll and a boy doll, to fix a broken country, thereby creating a new, more valuable, whole one.
Father / Viktoria Dzurenková / FAMU / CZ 2010 / feature / 26´
A live-action, documentary-like film that attempts to authentically depict a complicated father-son relationship. The two are Slovaks living in Prague, each for a different reason. The son is studying and focusing on his career, while his lonely father moved there in hopes of building what he had failed to in the past. His tragicomedic efforts miss the mark, however. The protagonists are non-actors – a real-life father and son who are living this drama in real life.
Graffitiger / Libro Pixa / FAMU / CZ 2010 / animation / 10´
A funny and slightly melancholy story of a lonely graffiti tiger whose home consists in the walls and facades of Prague's buildings. The city of graffiti-covered dirty streets and alleys is a wild jungle where the tiger is seeking the path to his long-lost love. This exciting and hilarious story emerges from the attractive combination of 2D cartoon animation and live action shots.
People Involved / Jan Těšitel / FAMU / CZ 2010 / feature / 26´
The story begins and ends at Brighton in Ústí nad Labem. Emily's English, Petr's Czech. He dies and she goes to meet his parents. Her journey is a quest for forgiveness and the language barrier is not the only thing that must be overcome.
Swimming Pool / Alexandra Hetmerová / FAMU / CZ 2010 / animation / 7´
An erotic love story of two outsiders in an indoor pool in the middle of a big city.
Departure: On Time / Tomáš Pavlíček / FAMU / CZ 2010 / feature / 21´
A deeply motivated film about an unmotivated friendship between two outcasts – twenty-year-old Ondřej, who is still confounded by his future, and fifty-year-old Karel, who is just confounded.
Elevator / Jan Drozda / VŠUP / CZ 2010 / animovaný / 6´
A symbolic rendering of human life. The hero of the film passes through various floors of a building as one passes through various stages of life, and the problems, questions, doubts and temptations that come with it, until arriving at the end of his journey.
Rousek / Tomáš Klein / FAMU / CZ 2010 / feature / 14´
Mr. Rousek is rambling, lamenting, making calls. As only he can do. What all must happen so the windows can be opened...
At Command / František Bárta / FAMU / CZ 2010 / animation / 4´
A parable about the aggression of commercialism and society's willingness to succumb to its influence. Find out for yourself what happens when you try moving out of lockstep with the crowd.
Automatic for the People / Jan Vejnar / FAMO / CZ 2010 / feature / 29´
Adam's got a thankless job. He runs a machine which the public is convinced operates automatically. Isolated from human contact, desperate for any relationship more personal than the one through the machine's metal wall. All of his desires eventually fix on one of the vending machine's many users. Can Adam escape from his loneliness and establish contact with her?
Contact:
Markéta Šantrochová, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., mobile: +420 724 329 948
Lenka Šindelářová
Czech Film Center - Film Promotion
____________________________
Národní 28, 110 00 Praha 1
tel: + 420 221 105 398
gsm: +420 604 307 605
fax: + 420 221 105 303
e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
www.filmcenter.cz
www.filmovakomora.cz
..fascinating, threatening and surreal! Jan Švankmajer Retrostrospective in Dresden
Press releases 31-01-2011….fascinating, threatening and surreal!
Jan Švankmajer Retrostrospective in Dresden
Press Release
Prague / Dresden, January 28, 2011 – A series of screenings of remarkable feature films by Czech surrealist, artist and animator Jan Švankmajer is set to open on Wednesday, February 2, 2011, in Dresden's Thalia theatre. The series runs until April 2, and is organized by Czech Film Center in cooperation with the German Institute of Animated Film (DIAF).
Jan Švankmajer's cinematic adaptations are inspired by the “visionaries of consciousness,” Lewis Carroll, Edgar Allen Poe and Marquis de Sade. The series kicks off on February 2 with his first feature film, Alice, from 1988. The movie was shot in the Czech Republic during the period when Jan Švankmajer was officially banned from filmmaking, and was made as his first German-British co-production.
The film tells the story of Alice, who finds herself in a fascinating and at the same time threatening world haunted and inhabited by bizarre creatures and objects. Švankmajer does not romanticize childhood as might be expected, but sticks to the dream logic of Lewis Carroll's famed Alice in Wonderland. The director magically combines animation and actress Kristýna Kohoutová's dramatic talent.
His second movie, Faust, which will be screened on February 16, adapts the Czech literary classic. Here Švankmajer combines various animation techniques with drama and life-size puppets, harkening back to the start of this versatile Czech artist's career in the art of puppetry.
“The film series is like an appetizer,” project co-organizers Andre Eckardt (DIAF) and Jana Černik (Czech Film Center) say in the spirit of Jan Švankmajer. “The main course – an exhibition of collages made during the filming of his latest feature, Surviving Life (Theory and Practice) – will be served in April. The exhibition will introduce his methods to Dresden audiences. We believe that this will be an intense experience.”
All films will be presented by Andre Eckardt of the German Institute of Animated Film (DIAF).
www.diaf.de www.thalia-dresden.de www.filmcenter.cz
Contact
Jana Černík / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. / mobil: 724 32 99 49
Lenka Šindelářová
Czech Film Center - Film Promotion
____________________________
Národní 28, 110 00 Praha 1
tel: + 420 221 105 398
gsm: +420 604 307 605
fax: + 420 221 105 303
e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
www.filmcenter.cz
www.filmovakomora.cz
“The Tail Operation” by Ewa Pytka has been awarded with the Special Jury Prize in the History Makers Awards 2011 competition, whose winners were revealed at the special event that took place in New York between January 26 – 28. The Best History Production of the Year Award went to “The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers”, Best Current Affairs Production Prize has been granted to “Afghanistan: Behind Enemy Lines”, and the Best Historical Drama Production Prize – to the “Darwin's Darkest Hour.”
The ”Tail Operation” - a docudrama written by Włodzimierz Kuligowski and produced by the TVP’s Film Agency, presents one of the most peremptory and secretive operations in history of the communist Poland intelligence. It is a story of Piotr Jeglinski - a student of History Dept at the prestigious KUL, University of Lublin - who had been central for integrating an opposition circles in the late 70s. With help of Kazimierz – an agent, who had been one of the couriers of Piotr Jeglinski’s special net of smugglers of the black-listed literature to the communist country – the police decides to eliminate Piotr Jeglinski and starts an operation under the cryptonym the “Tail”…
more information on the awards:
www.historymakers2011.com
Do you speak video? Visit www.polyglot-turku.eu to discover the entries!
NISI MASA received 87 valid submissions from 28 different European countries: Video Portraits (documentary) on My multilingualism and Video Poems (fiction) on The language I dream in.
Voting is open until February 14th on the POLYGLOT website. 18 winners will be selected in total – 9 by the public and 9 by a special jury. Already confirmed for the jury are Vivian Paulissen (manager of the European Cultural Foundation’s Youth & Media Programme - The Netherlands), Barnabás Tóth (filmmaker and actor - Hungary), Radka Weiserová (head of production, Fresh Film Fest - Czech Republic) and Massimiliano Spotti (researcher in linguistic ethnography, University of Jyväskylä - Finland).The selected young filmmakers aged 18-35 will participate in the “Cine-Boat” documentary filmmaking workshop travelling across the archipelago of Turku (Finland) in June 2011, to celebrate its status as European Capital of Culture.
For more information contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
POLYGLOT: on the way to Turku is organized by NISI MASA – the European network of young cinema with the support of the Turku 2011 European Cultural Capital and the European Cultural Foundation.
NISI MASA – European Office
99 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Denis
75010 Paris. France
Phone: +33 (0)9 60 39 63 38
Fax: +33 (0)1 48 01 65 31
Dates and Venues 2011
Session 1: May 15-21, Romania
Session 2: July 3-9, Italy
Session 3: September/October, venue t.b.c.
What is ESoDoc?ESoDoc - European Social Documentary is a training initiative promoted by ZeLIG School for Documentary (Italy) with the support of EU's Media Programme.ESoDoc takes up the challenge of bringing together the demands of different players now involved in documentary film-production. Our focus is on a special genre of documentary production that is particularly suitable for the new multi-platform world: documentaries that draw attention to human rights, social justice and environmental protection.ESoDoc participants submit a fresh proposal for a documentary or a crossmedia project along with their application. This project is developed in the following six months at three 1-week sessions and in-between via on-line consulting.
Who should apply?ESoDoc is intended for professionals who are committed to the goal of social change, who are responsive to the new ways that film is achieving it and who want to develop their own documentary film projects across a 360 degree spectrum. We are looking for documentary filmmakers and producers, NGO and NPO sector professionals with audio-visual experience, and New Media Professionals who want to realize www projects according to the spirit of ESoDoc or collaborate with others.
What you'll get out of ESoDoc?We encourage sensitivity in working with cultures of the developing world and co-operation with indigenous communities also through the use of “participatory video”. ESoDoc is increasingly focused on digital media, and illustrate the varieties of multi-platform programming and social websites. We outline the market in Europe, the different and new ways of funding, distributing and co-producing social documentaries. One to one sessions for budgeting are hold during the workshop and the final session is focused on pitching.
Workshop StructureESoDoc offers three 1-week workshops, held over a 6-month period, during which participants, either individually or in groups, develop projects based on specific Social Documentary themes. An e-platform will provide support during and between the workshops and allow continuous collaboration through a library, different project-related discussion forums and dialogue among the teachers, tutors and participants.
Enrollment Fee and ScholarshipsThe cost per participant is 1.200 Euro (600 Euro for participants from new member states). This covers tuition, room and board but does not include traveling expenses. Four scholarships are available. To access scholarship funding, the applicant must provide the latest official tax return together with the other application materials.
Requested application materials, application forms and further information can be found on www.esodoc.eu or contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Krakow, 28th January 2011 – Only a week left to submit a film for 51st Krakow Film Festival, which will take place between 23rd and 29th May 2011. Deadline is on Friday, 4th February. The Festival presents films in the three competition and in the special cycles. Only the films completed after 1st January 2010 are eligible for competitions.
