The Ministry of Education and Culture announces that the responsible Minister for Cinematography, Minister of Education and Culture, approved, for the period 2018-2019, on the recommendation of the Cinema Advisory Committee, the partial financing of the following proposals:

Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren,

wir laden Sie herzlich zum Project Market Pitch im Rahmen des East-West Talent Lab 2019 ein. Fünfzehn ausgewählten Regie- und Produktionstalente aus Mittel- und Osteuropa werden ihre neuen Projektideen präsentieren. Im Fortbildungsprogramm East-West Talent Lab haben die Teilnehmer*innen ihre Präsentationen vorbereitet und bekommen die Möglichkeit sich mit deutschen Produzent*innen zu vernetzen. Die Teilnehmer*innen konkurrieren außerdem um zwei Auszeichnungen: den goEast Development Award (3.500 Euro) und das Renovabis Recherchestipendium für Dokumentarfilmprojekte mit Menschenrechtsthematik (3.500 Euro). Der Project Market Pitch findet am Montag, den 15. April, von 10 Uhr – 13 Uhr im Museum Wiesbaden statt: Museum Wiesbaden Friedrich-Ebert-Allee 2 65185 Wiesbaden Im Anhang finden Sie weitere Informationen über die teilnehmenden Projekte. Wir würden uns freuen, Sie beim Project Market Pitch begrüßen zu dürfen. Mit freundlichen Grüßen Andrea Wink (Koordination East-West Talent Lab) Antonia Best (Assistentin)

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Dear Madam/Sir,

We cordially invite you to the Project Market Pitch within the East-West Talent Lab 2018. Fifteen selected up-and coming directors and producers from Central and Eastern Europe will present their new project ideas. The training program East-West Talent Lab helps participants to prepare there project presentations as well as network with German producers. Apart from that the participants vie for two prizes: The goEast Development Award (3.500 Euro) and the Renovabis Research Grant for documentaries with a human rights topic. (3.500 Euro)

The Project Market Pitch takes place on Monday, April 15th, from 10.00 am – 1.00 pm at the Museum Wiesbaden:

Museum Wiesbaden

Friedrich-Ebert-Allee 2

65185 Wiesbaden

Please find attached more information on the participating projects.

We look forward to welcoming you at the Project Market Pitch.

Kind regards, Andrea Wink (Coordinator of the East-West Talent Lab)

Antonia Best (Assistant)

EAST-WEST TALENT LAB

GOEAST DEVELOPMENT AWARD/

RENOVABIS RESEARCH GRANT

Nominated Project Ideas

72 HOURS (Documentary, eligible for Renovabis Research Grant) By producer Volia Chajkouskaya, Belarus

AFTER THE MAGICIAN (Experimental Film) By director Lea Petrikova, Czech Republic

FRAGMENTS OF ICE (Documentary) By director Maria Stoianova, Ukraine

HATICE (Short Film) By director Mumin Baris, Bulgaria

IF SHE LEAVES (Short Film) By director More Raca, Kosovo

KIX (Documentary, eligible for Renovabis Research Grant) By director Dávid Mikulán, Hungary

LANDING (Documentary, eligible for Renovabis Research Grant) By director Ksenia Ciuvaseva, Moldova

REBBELLION (Documentary, eligible for Renovabis Research Grant) By director Keren Chernizon, Poland

SMILING GEORGIA (Short Documentary) By director Luka Beradze, Georgia

THE IMAGE OD IMAGES (Documentary) By director Dmitrii Kalashnikov, Russia

THE MOTHERS' CRUSADE (Documentary, eligible for Renovabis Research Grant) By director Alexander Mihalkovich, Belarus

THE NEW IMPERIUM (Documentary, eligible for Renovabis Research Grant) By director Anna Shishova-Bogolubova, Russia

THE SKY BEYOND THE HILL (Short Film) By director Nadya Todorova, Bulgaria

WHAT WILL THE TITLE BE? (Documentary, eligible for Renovabis Research Grant) By director Borbála Csukás, Hungary

Guest Project

HONEY BUNNY (Fiction Feature, out of competition) By director Igor Jelinovic, Croatia

NEWS FLASH

Yes, it's true, it is already possible to get your accreditation for the 23rd edition of the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival and Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event!

The Festival + Industry@Tallinn &; Baltic Event accreditation is reserved exclusively for film industry professionals and is valid for the festival period, from the 15th of November until the 1st of December, 2019. It allows you to get the most out of Tallinn - take part of all the open lectures, pitchings, the audiovisual conference European Film Forum Tallinn, workshops and events of Industry@Tallinn &; Baltic Event and to see up to 40 films from the programme of Black Nights.

READ MORE AND APPLY HERE

ESTONIAN FILM AND TELEVISION AWARDS

The Little Comrade crew

The 2nd Estonian Film and Television Awards was a blast! We are glad to share the news with you as we've screened so many of the winners at #PÖFF22!

The Best Estonian film award winner of Black Nights, the chronicle of an Estonian adventurer sailing around the world, Ahto. Chasing a Dream won three awards - best documentary, film person of the year - Jaanis Valk (the director of the film) and best editing. The Little Comrade, a family drama set in the Stalinist era, won the awards for best film, best director (Moonika Siimets) and the composer (Tõnu Kõrvits). Fire Lily brought the best actress award to Ingrid Isotamm and Reimo Sagor was named best actor for his role in Take it or Leave it.

CHECK OUT THE FULL LIST OF WINNERS HERE

SAVE THE GRAVE OF GEORGE MÉLIÉS!

The grave of one of the great pioneers of cinema, George Méliès is in disrepair. We at the Black Nights Film Festival, who are also organising the the Haapsalu Horror and Fantasy Film Festival, a member of the European Federation of Fantastic Film Festivals that holds Méliès as its honorary figure, call you out to join us and support the campaign to restore the director's grave in Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris and to create a worthy webpage honouring his legacy!

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE AND HELP

SUBMIT YOUR FILM

Film submission for the 23rd edition of Black Nights and both of our sub-festivals - youth and children's festival Just Film and animation and short film festival PÖFF Shorts is in full swing!

We had over 2400 feature-length and over 4000 short and animation submissions last year. Let's see if we can top this!

CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT YOUR FILM TO PÖFF

CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT YOUR FILM TO JUST FILM

CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT YOUR FILM TO PÖFF SHORTS

MIDPOINT TV Launch is about to take off

The second residential workshop of TV Launch program will be held from April 10 till April 16, 2019 in Pilsen, Czech Republic within Finale Plzen Film Festival.

Six projects of TV series, three projects of web series and two development executive participants, altogether 22 fresh talents, are meeting again after the first workshop (November 2018) and a break full of intensive work. Apart from group leaders Maggie Murphy, Gabor Krigler and Sullivan Le Postec, who are guiding the projects throughout the whole 9-month run of the program, and Steve Matthews, who is mentoring the development executive participants, numerous guest tutors are arriving to Pilsen. 

Danish director, producer and writer Rumle Hammerich (The Bridge, Taxa, Borgen) will be accompanied by Croatian producer Nebojsa Taraba (The Paper, Success) and Dutch producer, and financing / distribution expert Marike Muselaers (The Team, Occupied, Sthlm Requiem). Financing and distribution of web series will be covered by German writer and producer Kirsten Loose(Stage Fright) and traditionally, the pitching training will be executed by Slovak writer and producer Michaela Sabo.

TV Launch lectures are also opened to industry guests of the Finale Plzen Film Festival. Click here to find out more about the TV Launch Workshop 2 and for the detailed description of the lectures.

TV Launch's partner Serial Eyes call for application

MIDPOINT's long-time partner, the Serial Eyes 9-month residential training program based under Berlin's dffb, focusing on raising a new generation of European TV series writers, will be closing its submissions on April 15, 2019.

Read the interview with the program's Head of Programme, and TV Launch tutor Ben Harris, for a detailed picture of how Serial Eyes works!

MIDPOINT TV Launch is supported by the Creative Europe – MEDIA Programme of the European Union, the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, the Czech Film Fund, the International Visegrad Fund, the Slovak Audiovisual Fund and the Audiovisual Producers' Association. It is presented in cooperation with CHARACTER – Film Development Association, the Finale Plzen Film Festival, the Sarajevo Film Festival – CineLink Industry Days, HBO Europe, Serial Eyes, C21 Media, Series Mania, CANNESERIES Institute, MIA TV Market and AMU.

109 films from 39 countries will be shown this year at goEast – Festival of Central and Eastern European Film from Wednesday 10 April to Tuesday 16 April. Festival director Heleen Gerritsen presented the programme at a press conference held Thursday morning at Wiesbaden’s Caligari FilmBühne cinema, where she expressed her excitement regarding the festival’s 23 German premieres, three international first screenings and one world premiere. Aside from a broad range of top-calibre filmmaking, the festival also offers a significantly expanded accompanying programme, featuring exhibitions, workshops, lectures, film talks and, of course, the legendary goEast parties. New this year is the “Pan-European Picnic”, which sees the festival cultivating even deeper roots within the local community.

“In the 19th year of goEast’s existence, the DFF is celebrating the 70th anniversary of its own founding here in Wiesbaden as the Federal Republic of Germany’s first institution for cinema heritage,” commented Ellen Harrington, director of DFF – Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum. “We would like to thank the state capital and the state of Hessen for supporting our mission and for supporting goEast, which has been committed to promoting a vibrant culture of debate since 2001. Their tool of choice in these efforts is cinema, which demonstrates in a variety of ways that democracy is a central asset of a united Europe. goEast is a showcase for the cinema of Central and Eastern Europe and demands – 30 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall – that we treat everyone with respect, in particular the marginalised elements of our society too,” emphasised Harrington.

The goEast Competition again features a total of sixteen films which will be vying for the festival’s three main awards. “This year’s Competition section is distinguished by works from young filmmakers, including several debut films, and works which treat themes of intergenerational conflict. As such, the films seize upon current tendencies in society – in the West as well adolescents and millennials are taking to the streets in protest and rebelling against the decisions and politics of older generations,” observed festival director Heleen Gerritsen. “In the East, the conflict is further exacerbated by the fact that the different generations came of age in different political and economic systems. Both aesthetically and thematically, the young generation of filmmakers is choosing to use another film language, a new one,” Gerritsen continued. “This year’s films often revolve around young individuals, their motivations in life, their drives for discovery and emancipation, or their relationships with older family members and authority figures as well. But for instance they also explore the question of why young people are willing to make radical sacrifices for their political convictions,” as Gerritsen revealed.

Around 200 filmmakers from Central and Eastern Europe are expected to attend goEast. Želimir Žilnik and Sami Mustafa are among the guests of this year’s Symposium, entitled “Constructions of the Other: Roma and the Cinema of Central and Eastern Europe”. The Homage is devoting an extensive retrospective to the work of a venerable master of the Polish New Wave, Krzysztof Zanussi, who will be on hand to give insight into his life’s work. Multi-award-winning director and this year’s goEast Jury President Teona Strugar Mitevska is presenting her opening film

GOD EXISTS, HER NAME IS PETRUNYA. On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, goEast is partnering for the first time with FilmFestival Cottbus to present the thematic focus “Everything Remains Different? The Wild 90s”, which directs attention back to the transitional period following the dissolution of the Iron Curtain. The newly created event series “Pan-European Picnic” promises to cross borders between East and West and interdisciplinary boundaries between film, literature and the visual arts. At the film talks in the “goEast Salon”, audience members have the chance to enter into direct dialogue with the filmmakers of the Competition while enjoying the relaxed atmosphere of the Festival Center.

For Axel Imholz, head of the Cultural Department of the State Capital Wiesbaden, the history of the city is linked in myriad ways with Germany’s Eastern European neighbours. The celebrated painter Alexej von Jawlensky, who lived in Wiesbaden and is buried there as well, and the Russian Orthodox Saint Elizabeth’s Church atop the Neroberg are just two of the best-known examples that testify to this connection. “goEast brings international filmmakers and film fans to Wiesbaden and generates important insights and understanding for the cultures of our neighbours to the East with its films and talk formats – that is just as timely and important today as it was at the beginning of the festival,” observed Imholz. The head of the city’s Cultural Department emphasised that Wiesbaden considers itself lucky to be able to host such a unique festival highlight in the state capital.

Dr. Helmut Müller, managing director of Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain, which is supporting the pilot project “Pan-European Picnic” this year, is particularly looking forward to the new event series: “30 years after the Pan-European Picnic of Sopron, on the border between Hungary and Austria, we have to ask ourselves today just how united and border-free our Europe is and how things look when it comes to solidarity and mutual understanding.” According to Müller, it is all the more important to protect and expand upon the achievements made in understanding in all levels and forms. “That is precisely the approach taken by the Pan-European Picnic in Wiesbaden: it’s about building a bridge between the established film festival and small cultural associations, a bridge to locations outside of the film theatres, places where individuals with Central and Eastern European migration backgrounds come together from throughout the entire Rhine-Main region.”

Dr. Markus Ingenlath, managing director of Renovabis, explained: “With the creation and support of a research grant for documentary films with a focus on human and minority rights in Eastern Europe, goEast is turning its attention to issues of exceptional relevance for the present moment. These efforts are in harmony with the spirit of our work at Renovabis: we want to take a credible and unflinching look at the situation in our ‘neighbourhood’, for it is only by doing so that real dialogue can take place,” according to Ingenlath. “In addition, the festival provides the opportunity to take advantage of another information channel, namely cinema, and to show that these politically sensitive issues belong within the broad spectrum of our mission, when it comes to promoting the development of civil society,” emphasised Ingenlath.

On 10 April, goEast – Festival of Central and Eastern European Film will kick off its 19th edition with this year’s opening film GOD EXISTS, HER NAME IS PETRUNYA (GOSPOD POSTOI, IMETO I' E PETRUNIJA, North Macedonia, Belgium, Slovenia, Croatia, France, 2019) by North Macedonian director Teona Strugar Mitevska.

You can find photo materials for this year’s festival in our download section: www.filmfestival-goeast.de/en/Press/downloads

The full programme for the 19th edition of goEast – Festival of Central and Eastern European Film is available at: www.filmfestival-goeast.de/en/program

goEast – Festival of Central and Eastern European Film is hosted by DFF – Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum and made possible with the support of numerous partners. Primary funding partners are the State Capital Wiesbaden, the Hessen State Ministry for Higher Education, Research and the Arts, Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain, ŠKODA AUTO Deutschland, Renovabis, BHF BANK Foundation, Adolf und Luisa Haeuser-Stiftung für Kunst und Kulturpflege, the German Federal Foreign Ministry and Deutsch-Tschechische Zukunftsfonds. Media partners include 3sat, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and Deutschlandfunk Kultur.

Visions du Réel International Film Festival (5 – 13 April 2019) will give its floor to world premieres of 3 new Czech documentaries. Greta Stocklassa’s directorial debut Kiruna – A Brand New World has been selected for the International Feature Film Competition, while another debut The Sound is Innocent by Johana Ožvold will have its premiere in the International Competition Burning Lights. Rozálie Kohoutová and Tomáš Bojar’s new documentary Off Sides will be screened in the Grand Angle section.

Kiruna – A Brand New World

by Greta Stocklassa

Czech Republic 2019 / 80’

Producers: Veronika Kührová, Michal Kráčmer (Analog Vision)

Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

International Feature Film Competition
TUE 9 April | 16:00 - Grande Salle | World Premiere
WED 10 April | 11:45 - Grande Salle

The Sound Is Innocent

by Johana Ožvold
Czech Republic, France, Slovakia 2019 / 68’
Producer: Kristýna Michálek Květová (Cinémotif Films)
Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Burning Lights
WED 10 April | 16:00 - Grande Salle | World Premiere
THU 11 April | 20:30 - Capitole Fellini

Off Sides

by Rozálie Kohoutová, Tomáš Bojar

Czech Republic 2019 / 75’

Producer: Tomáš Bojar (Cinema Arsenal)

SALES: Durna Safarova – Filmotor, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Grand Angle
SUN 7 April | 13:15 - Théâtre de Marens | World Premiere
MON 8 April | 18:00 - Théâtre de Grand-Champ, Gland

Czech Film Center at Visions du Réel

Czech Film Center, division of the Czech Film Fund, will be attending Visions du Réel in Nyon. Get in touch with us and learn more about recent Czech documentary films or co-production and shooting possibilities in the Czech Republic.

Vítězslav Chovanec - Festival Relations - Docs & Shorts
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., +420 778 487 864
8 – 12 April

Czech docs in print

Czech Documentaries 2018-2019