The ninth edition of MIDPOINTs local module for Slovak filmmakers will take place in Bratislava from
March 17 – 19, 2020. 

Intensive 3-day workshop will focus on the script development of participating projects. Slovak creative teams of writers and/or directors and producers can apply with their feature length film project.

We are very happy to work again with writer, director, editor and acclaimed script consultant Ivo Trajkov, who will act as the group leader of the program.
The program also offers tailor-made online consultations after the program concludes, according to the need of each project.
The workshop will be conducted in the Slovak language.

The deadline for applications is February 14, 2020 – read more about the program here.

MIDPOINT Intensive SK is realized with the support of the Slovak Audiovisual Fund and runs in partnership with the CHARACTER – Film Development Association, the Slovak Film Institute, and IFF Febiofest Bratislava. MIDPOINT operates under the auspices of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. 

The 20th edition of the New Horizons International Film Festival will take place in Wrocław, from 23rd July to 2nd August 2020. The New Horizons International Competition — a platform where artistic cinema that extends the boundaries set by conventional filmmakers is presented — remains the core element of the festival. The competition is meant for films that constantly push the boundaries of “new horizons”. We look for unique and original narratives, documentaries, essays, and animations that experiment with how the film should look like and communicate with its audience, either following or opposing the traditional concepts. We await creations that demand a vastly different perspective – that provoke to think and feel. Recent winners are Bait (photo) by Mark Jenkin, Holiday by Isabella Eklöf and Western by Valeska Grisebach.

The Competition includes productions that are longer than 60 minutes and have been produced after 1st of January 2019 (that have never been publicly screened in Poland). The festival organizers prefer world, international, and European premieres. The winner of the New Horizons International Competition will be awarded the Grand Prix and a prize of 15,000 EUR. The Festival audience will be offering their award, too. Submissions are now open at nowehoryzonty.pl and will be accepted until 22th of March 2020.

Submission form

Coming Soon session

DEADLINE: February 9, 2020

We are accepting applications for the 2020 edition of COMING SOON, the Work In Progress section dedicated to debut films from all over Europe. 

20 projects will be selected for the pitching session that will take place in Vilnius March 30 - April 1, 2020 and will have a dedicated schedule of individual meetings with Decision Makers.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

• Projects must be directorial debuts (1st or 2nd film);
• Projects must be feature films, documentaries or animated feature films;
• Projects must be in pre-production, production or post production and scheduled to be completed and premiered April through December 2020.

SUBMISSION

In order to submit your application and the required materials, you need to create your own account and fill in the online form following this link.

All applications must include: complete online application form, short synopsis, director’s statement, teaser of the submitted project and/or film excerpts.

The application must be finalized and submitted with all required materials via the following link  by FEBRUARY 9, 2020.

SELECTION

Selection results will be announced at the end of February. Free industry accreditations will be offered to all selected participants. MPV will cover 3 nights of accommodation for one representative per selected project.

ELIGIBLE COUNTRIES

Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Georgia, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Latvia, Lichtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Vatican.

Talents Nest initiative

DEADLINE: February 9, 2020

The call for applications for the 2nd edition of TALENTS NEST is now open. The initiative aims to explore and nurture emerging professionals from Baltic, ex-Soviet and Caucasian countries by offering them industry and networking opportunities.

Up to 20 screenwriters, directors, producers, and film critics at the very initial stage of their career will be selected to take part in Meeting Point – Vilnius March 30 – April 1, 2020, and will have a dedicated programme that includes:

• Introduction to the international audiovisual industry;

• Talent Speed Dating meetings;
• Dedicated Coffee with Decision Makers & Industry Professionals;
• Free accreditation to MPV 2020;
• Access to Coming Soon pitching session;
• Access to MPV Panels;
• Visibility in a dedicated part of the official MPV catalogue.

The goal of the initiative is to introduce emerging professionals to the audiovisual industry, helping them to become more familiar with different professionals involved in the field, and start building their own international network.

SUBMISSION 

All information on submitting your application can be found at this link.

The application has to be finalized and submitted by FEBRUARY 9, 2020.

For the sixth time, the Prague International Film Festival – Febiofest features a special section called Culinary Cinema, which combines the latest films with a unique dining experience. The project’s founder is the former Berlinale director Dieter Kosslick who has now become a programme consultant for Febiofest, as well as a patron of its cinema-meets-dining evenings. One evening will be focused on modern Czech cuisine, another on Japanese cuisine and the third one will be run by a female master chef. 

As part of the 27^th edition of the festival, Culinary Cinema will once again offer three special menus put together by renowned master chefs: Mirek Kalina, Tereza Jeřábková and Ondřej Koráb. The screenings of Puzzle, The Heat: A Kitchen (R)evolution and Le Chocolat de H. will take place from Friday, 20 March to Sunday, 22 March at the CineStar multiplex in Prague’s Smíchov. Viewers will then move to the adjacent Vienna House Andel’s Prague hotel, home of the novel restaurant Delight.

Friday, 20 March will be dedicated to Puzzle by American producer and director Marc Turtletaub. The story of a woman who develops a passion for jigsaw puzzles which subsequently helps her put together the puzzle pieces of herself has inspired chef Mirek Kalina to put together a unique menu. His jigsaw for this film – a menu entitled A Taste Puzzle – comprises a broad array of tastes: savoury, sweet, bitter and sour. Diners can enjoy Wallachian sour soup, beef tartar, roast cod, veal sweetbread and semolina pudding.

Saturday’s film-matching menu has been created by a female master chef, Tereza Jeřábková. Her menu, entitled Northern Spring, will complement The Heat: A Kitchen (R)evolution by Canadian screenwriter and director Maya Gallus. The film, which opened Culinary Cinema at the 2019 Berlinale, is a documentary about women who have overturned the traditional view of the chef profession as a purely male preserve and changed the rules and customs of the culinary craft. Tereza Jeřábková highlights this development with a novel menu including duck, catfish and chocolate, all paired with complementary wines.

The three-day culinary feast concludes on Sunday, 22 March with a screening of Le Chocolat de H by Japanese director Takashi Watanabe. The documentary portrait of Japanese confectioner Hironobu Tsujiguchi, who has turned chocolate making into an art form, has inspired the menu of the highly acclaimed Ondřej Koráb. Entitled Chocolate Samurai, it will include Japanese pancakes as well as beef sirloin and salted chocolate. 

All film screenings begin at 6 pm with dinner following at 8 pm. Each evening will be hosted by TV presenter Jolana Voldánová while pianist and singer Václav Tobrman will help create a pleasant ambience.

Mirek Kalina 

Well-known two-season juror on the MasterChef TV show, owner of the Kalina Anežka and Kalina Kampa restaurants in Prague and expert on fish and game. Focuses on Czech cuisine, high-quality ingredients and precise seasoning. Garnered experience throughout Europe and today passes it on at the Gourmet Academy. 

Tereza Jeřábková 

After 13 years at the Municipal House’s Francouzská restaurace moved to Le Terroir and began making gastronomy-focused trips to northern countries. Cooked at Bistrot 104 and today is a deputy head chef at SOHO+ and a head chef at the KVLT13 pop-up restaurant where she cooks 13-course meals for 13 guests.    

Ondřej Koráb 

Gained experience at restaurants in England and Canada, cooked at Mandarin Oriental hotels in Prague and London and at the Prague hotels Augustine, Kempinski Hybernská, and The Grand Mark. Most recently worked at the Michelin-starred Marcus in London. Has enjoyed success at cooking competitions and food festivals and has cooked for global celebrities. 

Marc Turtletaub

Marc Turtletaub, co-founder of the Big Beach production company, is behind many award-winning films, from the Oscar-winning Little Miss Sunshine, to Philip Seymour Hoffman's debut Jack Goes Boating, and Away We Go by Sam Mendes. Puzzle is his feature debut.

Puzzle

Forty-something, Agnes is a typical housewife who has devoted her whole life to taking care of her sons and husband Louie. But everything changes when she gets a jigsaw puzzle for her birthday. To her own surprise, she realizes that she has found something she not only really enjoys, but also truly excels at. Soon after, she meets the reclusive Robert who introduces her to the world of jigsaw puzzle tournaments. Director and producer Marc Turtletaub's feature debut is a unique portrait of a woman who discovers her passion in life, and starts putting together the puzzle pieces of herself. 

Maya Gallus

The Canadian director and screenwriter has devoted her film career to life stories on the periphery of our attention. She explores the world of eroticism from the female perspective in the Erotica: A Journey Into Female Sexuality documentary, examines the environment of women's amateur boxing in the Punch Like a Girl series, and – as a former waitress – depicts the problematic position of female service workers in restaurants and bars in Dish: Women Waitressing & the Art of Service. Maya Gallus has received numerous awards, including a Focus On Award.

The Heat: A Kitchen (R)evolution

Professional kitchens have been traditionally perceived as a purely male domain. They tend to be associated with a tense, stressful environment, emphasized by extreme working hours, sleep deprivation and macho military drill. Maya Gallus's documentary focuses on female chefs who have broken this traditional view of the seemingly masculine profession, and started to change the rules and customs of culinary craft.

Takashi Watanabe

Since 2003, Takashi Watanabe has been working for TV Asahi Productions. He has conducted interviews for television news programmes with more than a hundred writers, politicians and businessmen. The unique documentary Le Chocolat de H is his feature debut. 

Le Chocolat de H

Artisan chocolate making as an artistic expression similar to poetry or music – at least when speaking about the sweet treats created by Japanese confectioner Hironobu Tsujiguchi. The five-time winner of the prestigious Parisian chocolate festival Salon du Chocolat would like to win the award again with his culinary art based on Japanese traditions. This lyrical documentary portrait embarks on a journey in quest of a unique sweet taste, flavoured by rice flour and tea leaves.

Copyright enforcement

09/01: European Commission steps up protection of European intellectual property in global markets – European Commission

The European Commission published the latest report on protection and enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) in third countries.

EU Digital Services Act (DSA)

07/01: EDiMA calls for a new Online Responsibility Framework - EDiMA

EDiMA, the voice of the leading internet companies and the most popular internet products in Europe, is calling on the European Commission to introduce a new Online Responsibility Framework. This framework will help internet companies to respond to the growing demands to do more to tackle illegal content online.

European Audiovisual Observatory (EAO)

10/01: European Audiovisual Observatory rings in its new Moroccan Presidency for 2020! - EAO

The Strasbourg-based Observatory is part of the Council of Europe and has been providing facts and figures on the film, television and video industries in Europe since 1992. The Observatory’s yearly rotating presidency changes every January. In 2019 the Presidency was held by Italy.

Digital taxation

18/12: Parliament keeps up pressure to tax digital economy more fairly – European Parliament

MEPs press EU to engage fully in international efforts to tax the digital economy, while still being prepared to act at EU level if global plans fail.

Sustainability

23/12: Circular economy – new action plan to increase recycling and reuse of products in the EU – European Commission

The new action plan is meant to speed up the EU’s transition towards a circular economy.

Council of the EU

27/12: The Programme of the Croatian Presidency of the Council of the European Union adopted today – EU 2020 HR

Croatia took over the rotating Council Presidency from Finland on 1 January 2020. For the next six months, the country wants to focus on sustainable development, a networked economy, safety and positioning Europe as a global leader.

European Capital of Cultures

03/01: 2020 European Capitals of Culture: Rijeka and Galway – European Commission

As of 1 January 2020, Rijeka (Croatia) and Galway (Ireland) will hold the title of European Capital of Culture for one year.

Events

20-21 January: CULT Committee meeting, Brussels
22-23 January: ITRE Committee meeting, Brussels
22-23 January: IMCO Committee meeting, Brussels
4 February: European Audiovisual Observatory conference – “TV and film production in Europe – the state of independence?”, Brussels
10 February (TBC): Sixth European Commission copyright stakeholders’ dialogue, Brussels
18 February: Save the Date – UNIC conference at the European Parliament, Brussels

Czech-Irish-Polish-Slovak co-production feature Charlatan, directed by world-famous author Agnieszka Holland, will celebrate its world premiere in the Berlinale Special Gala section (Berlinale Palast) at Berlinale 2020.

Celebrated director Agnieszka Holland (Mr. Jones, Spoor, Burning Bush, In Darkness, Europa Europa) returns to Berlin with her brand-new biographical drama Charlatan, produced by Šárka Cimbalová, Kevan Van Thompson / Marlene Film Production (CZ), and co-produced by Film and Music Entertainment (IE), Madants (PL), Furia Film (SK), Czech Television (CZ), Barrandov Studio (CZ), Radio and Television of Slovakia (SK), CertiCon (CZ) and Magiclab (CZ).

Charlatan will celebrate its world premiere in the new section Berlinale Special Gala (curator: Carlo Chatrian). As a project in development, the film was also presented during Berlinale Co-production Market 2017.

 ABOUT THE FILM 

Holland tells a true story of Jan Mikolášek, a Czech healer and extraordinary man, who fights his own demons. Good and evil. Love and hate, cruelty and mercy, loyalty and betrayal. All in one person against a background of historical twists...

Read more about the production of the film HERE.

 FUNDING 

Charlatan was supported by the Czech Film Fund in both development and production stages (EUR 522 745), but also by Polish Film Institute, Slovak Audiovisual Fund, Prague Film Fund and in the Czech Film Fund's incentive programme as well.

New short film project by Mateusz Pacewicz, the writer of Polish international hit Corpus Christi, will be presented at When East Meets West, together with new projects by award-winning filmmakers: Estonian Madli Laane, Nikos Tseberopoulos from Greece and Serbian Svetislav Dragomirovic.

MIDPOINT Shorts, our leading program dedicated to script and project development of short films, will conclude in Trieste with its second workshop and a showcase followed by a networking platform.

The program is led by Czech director and script consultant Pavel Marek who is accompanied by Lithuanian producer tutor Marija Razgute. 

The program of the final workshop (out of two in total) includes group meetings, individual consultations, lectures and pitching training. 

The participants will have the unique opportunity to pitch their short film projects in front of the audience full of experts from the short film industry. 

The project showcase of MIDPOINT Shorts will take place within When East Meets West co-production forum on Monday, January 20, 2020 from 15:00 to 16:00 in hotel Savoia.

For the accredited guests of WEMW. 

Please bear in mind that the seating capacity is limited. In case of a serious interest, please reserve your seat by sending an e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Following projects will be presented:

Team Building / Poland
Mateusz Pacewicz / writer, director  
Ludka Kierczak / producer        

Jungle.Law / Estonia
Madli Lääne / writer, director  
Anneli Ahven / producer      

Soul Food / Greece 
Nikos Tseberopoulos / writer, director 
Eleni Kossyfidou / producer   

Tell No One / Serbia
Svetislav Dragomirovic / writer, director
Nevena Savic / producer        

Click here for more information about the workshop and the program. 

MIDPOINT Happy Hour at WEMW  

You are warmly welcome to join us for a glass of wine on Monday, January 20 in Trieste and meet the faces of MIDPOINT! It will be the perfect opportunity to meet all the participants, tutors as well as the team. 

MIDPOINT Happy Hour / Monday, January 20 / 16.30 - 17.30 at the Library of Hotel Savoia Excelsior Palace

Meet us!

MIDPOINT team is traveling to Trieste Film Festival and When East Meets West co-production forum, get in touch to schedule a meeting!

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MIDPOINT Shorts 2019-2020 is realized with the support of Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic and Czech Film Fund. It is presented in cooperation with When East Meets West. MIDPOINT operates under the auspices of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague.