JIHLAVA: The acclaimed and prolific Latvian documentary filmmaker Ivars Zviedris will screen his film Latvian Coyote (previously titled The Smuggler) in the Between the Seas competition of the online edition of the 24th Ji.hlava IDFF, which runs 27 October – 8 November 2020.
JIHLAVA: The 24th Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival, which will take place in an expanded online form on 27 October – 8 November 2020, will look at Polish experimental and underground documentary production, which originated at the Łódź Film School.
TALLINN: Polish actor Antoni Salaj, Estonian actress Henessi Schmidt, Estonian actor Reimo Sagor, and Lithuanian actor Simonas Mozura have been selected to participate in the Black Nights Stars programme at the Black Nights Film Festival's industry section, running 23 -27 November 2020.
BUCHAREST: The Les Films de Cannes à Bucarest Film Festival has chosen a hybrid 11th edition (23 October - 1 November 2020) mixing outdoor, drive-in and online screenings, as indoor cinemas in Bucharest have closed, re-opened and closed again in the last two weeks.
Black Nights Stars, the initiative of the Industry@Tallinn &; Baltic Event, has announced eight young actors from the Baltic Sea region to participate in the programme this November, also inviting young talents from Russia to attend for the first time within the RUSSIA IN FOCUS program.
The Black Nights Stars programme is designed to build a bridge between foreign casting directors and new talent from the region – enhancing their international visibility. The aim is to help young actors from the Baltic Sea region promote themselves outside their home territory and acquire the practical skills needed for their future international careers. This year the program will focus on how to navigate a career in an online world.
“The program is a great opportunity to get some very fresh and inspiring insights into the field of European TV series production!” producer Claudia Schroter, MIDPOINT Cold Open 2020 alumna
MIDPOINT Cold Open targets independent producers, with a background in feature film producing, aspiring to shift to high-end series content.
Offering practical knowledge connected to the developing, producing and financing of drama series content in Europe, the program will familiarize its participants with the current landscape, industry preferences and will compare the narrative and concept structures of feature films and scripted series as well as supply hands-on skills of financing and distributing of drama content.
This one-off event is set up online within the diverse industry program of When East Meets West (January 2021).
A When East Meets West accreditation is included within the participation fee.
Deadline for applications: November 30, 2020
(The program is participant-based, only one producer per company is accepted.)
Fee: 150 EUR
More information about the program here.
Application here.
MIDPOINT Cold Open is realized with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic. It runs in partnership with When East Meets West. MIDPOINT Institute operates under the auspices of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague.
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We announce the line-ups of two of this year's EnergaCAMERIMAGE Competitions:
Documentary Shorts Competition 2020
Documentary Features Competition 2020
The aim of the Documentary Shorts Competition is to recognize the art of documentary filmmaking as creative interpretation of reality. Putting emphasis on the visual and aesthetic aspects of the selected nonfiction entries, the jury awards the best cinematographers in the competition.
The prestige of Documentary Shorts Competition was recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences which has chosen EnergaCAMERIMAGE Festival as the ACADEMY AWARD® qualifying festival in the Documentary Short Subject category. This means that the Golden Frog award winners in Documentary Shorts Competition at EnergaCAMERIMAGE will qualify for consideration in the Documentary Short Subject category of the Annual Academy Awards® without the standard theatrical run, provided that the given film complies with other Academy rules.
BUCHAREST: Cinemas in Bucharest, which were re-opened on 15 October 2020, are closing again for 14 days on 20 October 2020, as the incidence rate of Coronavirus infections has exceeded 3 cases for 1,000 citizens. Cinemas in Cluj-Napoca and Râmnicu Vâlcea will close too.
WARSAW: FNE has teamed up with the Brussels based team of the International Union of Cinemas (UNIC) to bring you regular updates on EU cinema policies that impact all industry professionals across Europe. Click here for FNE UNIC EU Cinema Policy Update.
COVID-19: Creative & cultural sectors (CCS)
06/10: InvestEU - 26 organisations call for support for the cultural and creative sectors (CCS) – UNIC website
26 organisations from across Europe's cultural and creative sectors, including UNIC, have written to European Commissioners Thierry Breton (Internal Market) and Paolo Gentiloni (Economy) to urge the EU to ensure that the CCS will benefit from an appropriate level of support via InvestEU.
COVID – 19 : EU response
12/10: Coronavirus Dashboard: EU Cohesion Policy response to the coronavirus crisis – European Commission
The Commission announces the first provisional results of the implementation of the Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative (CRII) and Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative Plus (CRII+).
09/10: COVID-19: Council agrees its position on the Recovery and Resilience Facility – Council of the EU
With a financial envelope of €672.5 billion, the facility will support public investments and reforms and contribute to economic, social and territorial cohesion within the EU. It will help member states address the economic and social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic whilst ensuring that their economies undertake the green and digital transitions, becoming more sustainable and resilient.
13/10: State aid: Commission prolongs and expands Temporary Framework to further support companies facing significant turnover losses – European Commission
The European Commission has decided to prolong and extend the scope of the State aid Temporary Framework adopted on 19 March 2020 to support the economy in the context of the coronavirus outbreak. All sections of the Temporary Framework are prolonged for six months until 30 June 2021, and the section to enable recapitalisation support is prolonged for three months until 30 September 2021.
07/10: European Commission to issue EU SURE bonds of up to €100 billion as social bonds – European Commission
The European Commission announced that it will issue its forthcoming EU SURE bonds of up to €100 billion as social bonds. To that end, the Commission has adopted an independently evaluated Social Bond Framework. This Framework is meant to provide investors in these bonds with confidence that the funds mobilised will serve a truly social objective.
EU Digital Services Act (DSA)
15/10: Parliament to outline its priorities for the future Digital Services Act – European Parliament
With the upcoming Digital Services Act (DSA), the European Union aims to shape the digital economy not only at EU level but also to be a standard-setter for the rest of the world, as it did with data protection. In two separate “legislative initiative” reports, the Internal Market and Consumer Protection and the Legal Affairs committees call on the Commission to address and tackle current shortcomings in the online environment in its DSA package, due to be presented by the end of the year.
16/10: Why does the EU want to regulate the platform economy? – European Parliament
The platform economy brings benefits but also risks. Read about the issues the EU wants to solve with new rules and the solutions proposed by MEPs.
07/10: IMCO Report: Improving the functioning of the Single Market – European Parliament
Amendments available here.
05/10: JURI Report: Adapting commercial and civil law rules for commercial entities operating online – European Parliament
Amendments available here.
Events :
19-23 October: European Parliament Plenary, Brussels – vote on DSA reports in IMCO, LIBE and JURI
19 October: 18th EFARN (European Film Agency Research Network) meeting
19 October: FAPAV/MIA webinar “After the lockdown, restarting legality together” 15.00
20 October – Negotiations/Trilogue on the future Creative Europe Programme
20-22 October: EUIPO Observatory Working Group meetings
26-27 October: European Parliament CULT Committee meeting
26-27 October: European Parliament IMCO Committee meeting
28 October: European Internet Forum event on geo-blocking
2 December: European Commission legislative proposal for the Digital Services Act (DSA) – TBC
Recent studies :
EP JURI - The impact of algorithms for online content filtering or moderation : "Upload filters" - September 2020
EAO - The European audiovisual industry in the time of COVID-19 - September 2020
