The 54th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF), held from June 28th through July 6th, had two wins in store for Estonian films: with the world premiere at KVIFF, the documentary feature Immortal by Ksenija Okhapkina won the Grand Prix for the best documentary, and feature film Scandinavian Silence by Martti Helde won Europa Cinemas Label prize.
Immortal explores how citizens, whose utmost goal is to give their lives for their Fatherland and thus achieving immortality, are ‘bred’ in today’s Russia.
„It’s a film about people influenced by propaganda,“ Okhapina said. „After making the film, I, too, understand better what is going on in Russia, why people support the government and the political system that acts against them and their children.“
Immortal is the second collaboration between the Russian director Ksenija Okhapina and Estonian producer Riho Västrik. The film was produced by Vesilind OÜ in collaboration with Latvian film studio VFS Films.
Martti Helde’s black-and-white feature Scandinavian Silence won Europa Cinemas Label prize which is awarded only at Berlin, Venice Locarno, Cannes and Karlovy Vary film festivals. The prize was established in order to promote the reach and distribution of the awarded films.
„I’m particularly pleased because of Scandinavian Silence began its journey on festivals with such a high accolade. Europa Cinemas Label award is a hallmark that will help our film to travel and reach to considerably wider audiences. This is important for both the film itself but also for Estonian film in general,“ Helde said.
The film’s producer is Elina Litvinova from the film studio Three Brothers. The film is produced in collaboration with French and Belgian boutique distributors.
Listed as one of the category A film festivals, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival is one of the most prominent film events in Europe.
Additional information about the festival:
Additional information about the films:
Immortal – www.immortal.ee
Film’s trailer: https://vimeo.com/289813140
Scandinavian Silence – https://www.facebook.com/scandinaviansilence/
Film’s trailer: https://vimeo.com/314322683
Additional information:
Aurelia Aasa
Estonian Film Institute
International Distribution Coordinator
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Czech Restored Classic Ecstasy Selected for the Pre-opening Event of the 76th Venice IFF
Czech Republic 15-07-2019PRAGUE: A new digital copy in 4K of the Czech film Ecstasy / Extase directed by Gustav Machatý and starring Hedy Kiesler (Hedy Lamarr) will be screened at the Pre-opening event of the 76th Venice International Film Festival of the Biennale di Venezia on 27 August 2019.
PALIĆ: The Competition of the 26th edition of European Film Festival Palić, which will take place in Palić and Subotica from 20 to 26 July 2019, includes the Serbian / Montenegrin coproduction Ajvar by Ana Maria Rossi. The film will have its world premiere during the festival.
NICOSIA: South Eastern European Cinema Network (SEE) is launching a contest for short fiction films. Exclusively national productions of a SEE CINEMA member-state (Cyprus, Greece, Serbia, Albania, Republic of North Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Romania and Bulgaria) can apply.
Georgia Announces Low Budget Feature Film and Debut Feature Production Grants - June/July 2019
Georgia 11-07-2019The following grants were announced by the Georgian National Film Center on 30 June and 9 July 2019.
A look back at the long and impressive career of the Czech documentary filmmaker Helena Třeštíková.
VALENCIA: Cartoon Springboard has opened a call for scholarships for its fifth edition taking place 30 September – 2 October 2019 in Valencia, Spain. Cartoon Springboard is providing a special offer for young filmmakers from low audiovisual production countries.
BRUSSELS: The European Commission is launching a 2 m EUR call for proposals to create innovative cultural hubs around cinema theatres, notably in areas where there is limited cinema and cultural infrastructure.
APPLY NOW FOR SCHOLARSHIP !
The fifth edition of Cartoon Springboard will take place in Valencia, Spain, from 30 September to 2 October 2019. It will be an excellent opportunity for the young talents of European animation schools to improve their animation project by pitching it in front of a panel of experts from the audiovisual world.
Have you graduated within the last 5 years or are you about to graduate this summer/fall (students in their last year)? Let's present your animation project to experts who will help you to improve it
The submission of the projects is now fully running with a deadline coming soon: 25th August 2019. The projects which can be submitted are: TV series, TV specials, feature films, cross-media projects. To submit a project at Cartoon Springboard, you must be a young talent from European animation school and must have graduated within the last 5 years.
No project or not eligible but interested in attending ?
Cartoon Springboard is also open to all professionals who want to improve their knowledge about how to pitch a project. This is also a great opportunity to meet other professionals (producers, broadcasters, games...) from all over Europe.
Special offer for participants from low audiovisual production countries
If you are a citizen of one of the following countries (Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Portugal, Republic of Serbia, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Tunisia & Ukraine), you can apply for a scholarship in order to attend the event (with or without a project).
There is no registration fee, accommodation (3 nights) and travel expenses (up to 200€) are offered to the successful applicants.
Applicants will have to:
1/ For those who want to pitch their project:
> Submit their project by 25th August at the latest specifying their country of origin (nationality) through our online form (My Cartoon > My Projects > Cartoon Springboard > Submit a new project).
> Fill in and send us the scholarship form by Friday 30th August
2/ For those who want to attend without pitching any project:
> Fill in and send us the scholarship form by Friday 30th August at the latest, together with a motivation letter and CV.
Note: Should your project be accepted by the Springboard Selection committee (on 30th August), your scholarship request will automatically be validated.
The applications can be sent directly to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
