Second workshop of Feature Launch 2019 is about to take off
The time has come for the second workshop of MIDPOINT Feature Launch, which will be organized in Kaunas, Lithuania – in partnership with the Lithuanian Film Centre – from May 3 till May 9, 2019.
Nine feature-length projects and three script consultant trainees are meeting again after the first workshop of the program.
Group leaders and script consultants Anne Gensior, Christian Routh and Ivo Trajkov will continue with their guidance of projects. Gyula Gazdag will again act as script consultant trainees mentor and Feature Launch producer tutor and Head of Studies Danijel Hocevar is also coming back on board.
MIDPOINT also invited to Kaunas numerous guest tutors from various fields of the film industry. Feature Launch is joining Alessandro Gropplero (Director of When East Meets West Co-production market), together with Greek marketing expert Christina Pelekani, film sales expert Marcin Luczaj from Poland, Greek producer Amanda Livanou and traditionally, German pitching trainer Gabriele Brunnenmeyer.
Feature Launch lectures will be open also to the Lithuanian filmmakers, who are warmly invited to join us!
If you are in Kaunas and want to experience our open lectures, please write to Barbora Podskubkova (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) to confirm your participation.
Open lectures at Europa Royale Kaunas Hotel /
Kaunas, Lithuania:
May 5, 2019 / 16:30
How to pitch your film – 6 questions for the pitch by Gabriele Brunnenmeyer
May 6, 2019 / 9.30
Marketing Is Your Friend: An Introduction to Film Marketing by Christina Pelekani
May 6, 2019 / 14.00
Dos And Don'ts With Sales Agents by Marcin Luczaj
May 7, 2019 / 9.30
Case Study: Pity by Amanda Livanou and Marcin Luczaj
May 8, 2019 / 9.30
How to Make Friends And - Sometimes - Even Good Films by Alessandro Gropplero
May 8, 2019 / 11.30
European Film Financing Sources by Danijel Hocevar
Find a detailed description of the lectures here.
Click here to learn more about the workshop itself.
MIDPOINT Feature Launch is realized with the support of Creative Europe – MEDIA Programme of the European Union, the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic and the Czech Film Fund. It is presented in cooperation with Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, When East Meets West, Trieste Film Festival, the Lithuanian Film Centre, connecting cottbus, CineMart and Audiovisual Producers' Association. MIDPOINT operates under the auspices of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague.
MIDPOINT Shorts 2019 final workshop to start in Kaunas
MIDPOINT´s leading short-film oriented program MIDPOINT Shorts is concluding in Kaunas, Lithuania with its second workshop from May 3 till May 9, 2019.
First one was organized in January 2019 in Trieste, Italy. The workshop will continue with the script analysis (group leader and script consultant Pavel Marek) and offer them consultations from various fields of the film industry. Jukka-Pekka Laakso, director of Finish Tampere Film Festival, will share his knowledge and experiences as a guest tutor, as well as Lithuanian producer Marija Razgute and Marcin Luczaj from Poland, who is working for New Europe Film Sales agency.
Learn more about the workshop in Kaunas, program tutors, lectures and projects here.
MIDPOINT Shorts is realized with the support of the Ministry of Culture Czech Republic, the Czech Film Fund, the Lithuanian Film Centre and When East Meets West. MIDPOINT operates under the auspices of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague.
MIDPOINT Intensive Lithuania is here!
MIDPOINT´s first intensive workshop in Lithuania aimed at the Lithuanian film professional is also starting in Kaunas, Lithuania and will be organized from May 5 till May 9, 2019. Thanks to a partnership with Lithuanian Film Centre, this 4-day workshop is available for Lithuanian filmmakers.
You can find more information about the program
and it´s participants here.
MIDPOINT Intensive Lithuania is realized with the support of the Lithuanian Film Centre. MIDPOINT operates under the auspices of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague.
Estonian film Bad Hair crowned best short film at Haapsalu Horror and Fantasy Film Festival
Festivals 29-04-2019Estonian film Bad Hair crowned best short film at Haapsalu Horror and Fantasy Film Festival
Bad Hair became the first Estonian film to win the short film competition of the Haapsalu Horror and Fantasy Film Festival (HÕFF) at the festival's closing ceremony this Sunday. The festival’s audience award went to the Japanese zombie comedy One Cut of the Dead.
Bad Hair, directed by Oskar Lehemaa, was awarded the Silver Méliès (Méliès d’Argent) which grants the film the opportunity to compete for the Golden Méliès at the annual gala of the European Fantastic Film Festivals Federation, of which HÕFF has been a member since 2013. The 14-minute short film, Estonia’s first entry in the body horror genre deals with the topic of hair loss, as the protagonist orders a mysterious hair-growth serum that has undesired effects on his body.
The jury, consisting of Daniel Cohen, the artistic director of the Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Festival, film critic Marta Balaga and Estonian film director Urmas E. Liiv awarded the filmmakers “for making the only film in the world that makes you truly happy to be bald”.
Bad Hair, Oskar Lehemaa’s first independent film was produced by Evelin Penttilä at Stellar Film, a production that lasted over five years. It was originally pitched as part of the Baltic Pitching Forum in 2014 - an event co-organised by PÖFF Shorts (the sub-festival of Black Nights Film Festival) alongside Lithuanian Shorts, ShortEst, 2Annas and Riga Int'l Film Festival where it won the opportunity to represent the Baltics at Euro Connections - Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival’s co-production market. The film also received crowdfunding in Indiegogo.
Crew members include actor Sten Karpov, DOP Ivar Taim, who won the Best Cinematography award in 2018 at the Black Nights Film Festival for his work on The Manslayer / The Virgin / The Shadow, production designer Triin Valvas, make-up designer Liisi Roht, editor Sander Somma and composer Paul Oja.
The jury also gave nods to another Estonian film, the animation Strawberry Eaters by Mattias Mälk and Oscar’s Bell by Chris Cronin (UK). The eight films in the competition were selected from among 150 submitted works.
The biggest jury of the festival - the audience - favored the Japanese zombie comedy One Cut of the Dead (directed by Shinichiro Ueda) with the US supernatural thriller Freaks (directed by Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein) close on its tail.
The 14th Haapsalu Horror and Fantasy Film Festival, the biggest genre film festival in the Baltics, ran from the 25th until the 28th of April. The festival is organised by the team at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.
Film still: Strawberry Eaters
Photo by Markus Sein: Oskar Lehemaa accepting the award
PRAGUE: Cannes will pay tribute to Milos Forman a year after his death with a double bill of films, Loves of a Blonde and the documentary Forman vs. Forman by Helena Trestikova and Jakub Hejna.
PRAGUE: Petr Koliha, executive director of the Czech children’s TV channel CT :D, will receive the Grand Prix of the 59th Zlin IFF for Children and Youth for his contribution to the development of cinematography for children and youth.
East Silver has announced the addition of three new films.
TALLINN: Ott Tänak: The Movie, a documentary about the World Rally Championship driver, directed by Tarvo Mölder, set a new record in Estonia, passing the 50,000 attendance mark since its premiere on 12 April 2019.
VILNIUS: Lithuania is the second Baltic country (alongside Estonia) to have a documentary leading the box office charts over the Easter season. Valstybes Paslaptis, a documentary about Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite directed by Donatas Ulvydas, held on to the number one spot for its second week-end in release.
PRAGUE: The CEE based development programme MIDPOINT announced the launch of a new workshop, MIDPOINT Writers’ Room, a sidebar programme to its MIDPOINT TV Launch programme which began in 2015.
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.
EU Copyright Directive
15/04: Statements on EU Copyright Directive: The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Poland, Italy & Finland; Estonia; Germany – Council of the EU
The objectives of this Directive were to enhance the good functioning of the internal market and to stimulate innovation, creativity, investment and production of new content, also in the digital environment. The signatories support these objectives.
15/04: EU adjusts copyright rules to the digital age – Council of the EU
The EU is amending its legal framework on copyright to make it fit-for-purpose in today's digital environment. The Council today adopted a directive that modernises existing EU copyright law to pave the way towards a true digital single market. The new rules ensure adequate protection for authors and artists, while opening up new possibilities for accessing and sharing copyright-protected content online throughout the European Union.
EU Broadcasting Directive
15/04: EU set to enhance cross-border access to online content – Council of the EU
The EU is taking steps to increase the number of TV and radio programmes available online for European consumers. The Council adopted a directive which will facilitate the licensing of copyright-protected material contained in such programmes so that they can be made available throughout the EU.
EU Terrorist Content Regulation
17/04: Terrorist content online should be removed within one hour, says EP – European Parliament
Internet companies should remove terrorist content within one hour after receiving an order from the authorities, to combat radicalisation and contribute to public security.
Culture
16/04: CULT Activity Report 2014-2019 – CULT Committee
European Parliament’s Committee on Culture and Education has published its activity report for the past five years.
Creative Europe MEDIA/European Audiovisual Observatory
16/04: LUMIERE VOD: launch of the first directory of European films to increase transparency concerning the VOD markets - EAO
Launched by the European Commission with the European Audiovisual Observatory who is managing the project, this new directory of European films will help professionals, the public authorities and citizens to find information about European films and their availability on-line in video-on-demand (VOD) services throughout the European Union.
16/04: Factsheets on LUMIERE VOD: the first online directory of European films – European Commission
The European Commission launched a new Directory of European films that aims to help professionals, public authorities and citizens to find out information about European films more easily and to know about their availability online.
Horizon Europe
17/04: Statement by Commissioner Moedas on the European Parliament's vote on Horizon Europe – European Commission
The European Parliament endorsed the provisional agreement reached by the co-legislators on Horizon Europe, the EU research and innovation programme for the next budget period from 2021 to 2027.
Council of the EU
16/04: The Informal Meeting of the Ministers of Culture in Bucharest – romania2019.eu
Within the framework of the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the informal meeting of the EU Ministers of Culture took place on 16 April 2019, at the Palace of Parliament, in Bucharest.
InvestEU
18/04: ‘InvestEU’ programme: big boost for jobs, growth and investment – European Parliament
MEPs have approved a provisional and partial deal with EU ministers on a new EU programme to support investment and access to finance during 2021-2027.
Events
18 May: European Audiovisual Observatory event, Cannes Film Festival
19 May: Europa Cinemas conference, Cannes Film Festival
23-26 May: EU Elections 2019
17-20 June: CineEurope 2019, Barcelona
