Directing stop motion animation workshop with the Beast Animation studio, character development and storytelling workshop with Carlos Bleycher, character animation workshop with Tim Allen – these are the workshops of this year’s ANIMARKT Stop Motion Forum. Workshops are free, but the number of participants is limited. 

One of the essential aims of ANIMARKT Stop Motion Forum is creating a platform for sharing experiences and good practice between professionals from various countries and providing conditions so that well-experienced practitioners could share their knowledge with those that just take their first steps in animation world. That is why the event’s program includes meetings and workshops conducted with eminent practitioners dedicated to students and people that start their work in puppet animation production. 

Directing stop motion animation workshop with the Beast Animation studio

In this directing-for-stop-motion-animation workshop (October 10-12), the Beast Animation team will take the participants on an exciting journey through all aspects of the directing process. Ben Tesseur and Steven De Beul will give an insight into how they work and on the basis of an assignment the participants will learn what they should pay attention to in every part of a 'realistic' production process.

Ben and Steven graduated from the same film school and worked as directors of animation, animators and 1stAD on several international productions before establishing their own stop motion studio Beast Animation. Since 2004, they are directing, animating and producing short and long animated films, series and commercials for cinema, TV and web.

In this workshop, 8 people will have a chance to participate. The candidates should speak English and know the basics of stop motion animation, as well as Dragon Frame and Adobe. The workshop is especially dedicated to young creators and students of animation (the last year). All those interested in taking part in this workshop should fill in and send the application form (link: bit.ly/2uPQ1U4), CV and portfolio, link to any film made by the candidate and answers to two questions: Why are you applying for the animation directing workshop? What are your expectations from this workshop? The names of candidates selected to take part in the workshop will be announced on September 21^st.

Character development and storytelling workshop with Carlos Bleycher

Many creators ask themselves such questions like: Are my characters strong enough? Why am I having trouble fleshing out their personalities? Are my characters driving the story or is the story itself doing it? The participants of the workshop conducted by Carlos Bleycher (October 8-10) will try to find answers to those questions. They are going to see with theoretical and practical examples how they can develop characters that fit organically into their stories and give the key points to structure their episodes, from the springboard to the actual script. 

Carlos is a scriptwriter, content consultant and story editor specialized in animation and children’s oriented content. Highlights among his work as Head of Story & Script are the stop motion animated series: “Puerto Papel (Paper Port)” (52x11’, broadcasted in over 9 countries), “Horacio y los Plasticines (Horatio & The Plasticines)” (52x7’ broadcasted on Netflix) and “Los Papelnautas (The Papernauts)” (3x5’ broadcasted in Discovery Kids). He has also worked writing original content for animated series broadcasted by major networks such as Disney xD, Cartoon Network LA and Discovery Kids. Creator of the series “Cagemates”, winner of the MIFA Creative Focus Pitch in the International Animation Festival of Annecy 2013.

His teaching experience includes “Narrative for Children & Youngsters” and “Writing for T.V” at Universidad UNIACC in Santiago de Chile (2010 to 2013), “Animation Scriptwriting Workshop” at ICAIC in La Habana, Cuba 2015 in collaboration with Gabriel Osorio (Director of “Bear Story”), “Character Development for animated series” at Claves Alharaca 2018 in Bogota, Colombia; and Content Consultant for Bridging the Gap Animation Lab ’18 in Tenerife, Spain.

Up to 10 people would be able to take part in this workshop. It is dedicated to English speaking artists interested in improving their writing skills and will be focused on the projects of series (not shorts or features). To apply for the workshop, an application form should be filled in (link: bit.ly/2uV5oe2). Candidate must also send some information about the series’ project, including technical specification (name, genre, technique, ideally a logline too), storyline (what the show is about), main characters descriptions and one episode synopsis/outline. All those information must not be longer than one page – applications with longer descriptions will be rejected.

Character animation workshop with Tim Allen

The three-day workshop with Tim Allen (October 8-10) will be at least 21 hours of hard work supervised by the stop motion animation master, who will select an individual series of exercises on puppet animation for every participant according to his/her skills and needs. There will be only 6 participants in the workshop who will be selected among all candidates that will take part in recruitment by sending a film that presents their puppet animations.

Tim is a stop motion animator with over eighteen years of experience. He has worked on the sets of such film as “Corpse Bride” by Tim Burton, “Fantastic Mr. Fox” by Wes Anderson,  “Peter and the Wolf” by Susie Templeton (which won the Academy Award in 2008), and the latest Wes Anderson feature “The Isle of Dogs”.

In order to enter for the workshop, one should fill in the application form (link: bit.ly/2NRfKCG) and attach a link to video material that presents the effects of his/her work as an animator. Deadline for the applications is September 3^rd. The names of selected six participants will be announced on September 21^st.

All three workshops will last three days. Direct links to the application forms are published on ANIMARKT Stop Motion Forum website: www.animarkt.pl (English version: www.en.animarkt.pl). 

The workshops are a part of ANIMARKT Stop Motion Forum, which includes also  ANIMARKT TALKS – case study presentations, and ANIMARKT PITCHING for the projects of stop motion shorts in development It will take place in Lodz (Poland) from 8^th to 13^th October, 2018.

The organizer of ANIMARKT is MOMAKIN – a multi-tasking unit working for popularizing and propagating animation and supporting creators in Poland
and in international arenas. The partners of ANIMARKT include: Audiovisual Technology Center (CeTA) from Wroclaw which is also the founder of the awards for pitching winners, ASAF (Czech Republic), Mozinet (Hungary), Fest Anča International Animation Festival (Slovakia), SPPA – Polish Animation Producers Association, SFP – Polish Filmmakers Association. ANIMARKT is partially funded by the International Visegrad Fund, Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, and co-financed by the Polish Film Institute. Among its media partners are: Zippy Frames, Skwigly Online Magazine, Film New Europe, FilmPRO, Film TV Kamera, Cinema.pl Magazine, Stop Motion Geek.

XIII Batumi International Art-house Film Festival will be held in Batumi during September 16-23 September, 2018, closed film submission on 5 August.  Festival organizer is “Batumi Art-house ARGANI”, official partner – Batumi City Hall.

BIAFF festival management finalized the submissions to festival.  The complete program will be published by 1 September, 2018.  Starting from the middle of August, BIAFF management will periodically announce the films of various sections of program. 

Festival will be opened on 16 September, at Batumi State Musical Center.  As a tribute to 110 anniversary of Georgian cinema during opening will be screened Georgian classical silent film “My Grandmother” (director – kote Mikaberidze) with musical accompaniment of famous Georgian pianist Dudana Mazmanishvili.  Famous Georgian DoP  Lomer Akhvlediani will be awarded with BIAFF special prize  for contribution to cinema.

BIAFF film screenings locations:

• Cinema “Apollo”
• Hotel “Wyndham” conference hall
• OPEN AIR cinema at ERA Square

BIAFF festival program - consists of following sections:   International Competition (Feature, Doc, Shorts), Master Collection, Georgian Panorama, Special Screenings etc.

During BIAFF 2018,  in different sections will be presented around 40 full length feature and Doc films and 40 shorts films from around 35 countries.

Master classes – part of festival program are workshops and master classes organized by festival guests (film makers, producers, actors etc.).

 

BIAFF  Prizes – festival award prizes in following nominations:

• Feature film competition - Grand Prix, Best Director, Best Male Actor, Best Female Actor, Jury Special prize
• Doc Film Competition - Best Doc , Jury Special prize
• Short Films Competition - Best Film, Best Director
• Special prizes - Award for lifetime achievement in world cinema (foreign film maker), Award for outstanding contribution in cinematography (Georgian film maker), Special prize of BIAFF committee

 

How to Attend  BIAFF festival -  Attending Film Screenings are free of charge. To attend film screenings in cinema APOLLO person should take “FREE TICKETS” (it is used for better control and access to film screenings) in cinema APOLO at BIAFF info center.

 

Media Accreditation – representatives of various media, can apply for accreditation via online -  http://biaff.org/media-acreditation

Festival Supporters– Ministry of Culture of Georgia,  Georgian National Film Center, Ministry of Cultura of Ajara AR,    Tourism Department of Ajara AR, National Tourism Agency of Georgia,  British Council, Goethe Institute Georgia, Embassy of Italy

Festival Sponsors – Hotel Wyndham Batumi, Cinema APOLLO, Hotel “Holland Hoek”, Hotel “Rcheuli”, Hotel “Mardi Plaza”, HQ propaganda,  Tour Company “Wonderland”, Batumi Auto transport

Festival Media Partners – Georgian Public Broadcaster, Radio Fortuna/Fortuna+, Adjara TV, Batumi TV, Publicity Group (www.publicity.ge), www.newswire.ge, Film New Europe (www.filmneweurope.com), Cinemania,  AT.GE, Newspaper BATUMELEBI, netgazeti.ge

Contact information:  Tel: 599-482181, info@biaff.org , For accreditation – This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

www.biaff.org

www.facebook.com/biaffbatumi

www.biaffbatumi.wordpress.com

Polish Days co-organized by the Polish Film Institute  are the most important industry event of  New Horizons International Film Festival, where industry representatives including programmers, sales agents, producers, film funds and distributors from all over the world meet to watch the latest Polish films at closed screenings. This year's edition of Polish Days took place on July 30 - August 1.

Five completed Polish films and nine works-in-progress were shown at closed screenings during the event. Eleven projects in development were also pitched to the international audience. All presentations were followed by one-on-one sessions.

The event has been gaining international interest and strengthening its position in recent years. This year over 200 key Polish and international guests were present in Wrocław, including producers, film funds and festival programmers, as well as a number of international and domestic buyers.

Among the works shown in full at closed screenings were Monument by Jagoda Szelc, The Mute by Bartosz Konopka, A Coach's Daughter by Łukasz Grzegorzek, White Cube by Wojciech Pustoła, Hurrah, We Are Still Alive  by Agnieszka Polska.

Post-production award from  ColorOffOn Film went to the project: Simple Things by Grzegorz Zariczny. Main award from Aeroplan Studios (50% discount on foley recording) went to the project: Patagonia by Agnieszka Zwiefka, a special mention (a closed screening of the finished movie in Di AERO Theater) to I Never Cry by Piotr Domalewski.

The scholarship from EAVE was awarded to Agnieszka Dziedzic from Koi Studio.

Event partners include the Wrocław Film Commission, the Mazovia Warsaw Film Commission, the Łódź Film Commission, the Krakow Film Commission, the Podkarpackie Film Commission, Warmia - Masuria Film Fund, Coloroffon and Aeroplan Studios, Adam Mickiewicz Institute, EAVE . Media partners include Film Pro, Film New Europe and Film & TV Kamera.

The 13th Tartu Love Film Festival, organised by the team at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, has announced its full lineup, consisting of 11 features and three documentaries, including the Baltic premiere of the Berlinale Gold Bear winner, provoking docu-feature hybrid Touch Me Not, directed by Adina Pintilie.

Tartu Love Film Festival aka TARTUFF, running from the 13th until the 18th August, is the biggest open-air film festival in the Baltics. It occupies the Town Hall Square of Tartu for a week, with two films screened to an audience of around 3000 people every evening. The screenings of documentaries take place in the historic Athena theater. 

Russian director Ivan I. Tverdovski, who’s Correction Class won the audience award at TARTUFF in 2014 will attend the festival in person this year to present his latest film Jumper, the third part of his trilogy about the abnormalities of life in contemporary Russia. Operating again on the border between fantasy and realism, Tverdovski tells a tale about a biologically anomalous boy whose tolerance to pain inspires his mother to lead him on a criminal path. The film has already gained critical praise and won the Special Jury Prize at Karolvy Vary Film Festival. Leading actress Anna Slju will also attend the screening.

Another hit on the festival circuit (Berlinale, Tribeca etc) is Laura Bispuri’s Daughter of Mine that sees two women (the biological and foster mother) fighting for the love and custody of their daughter.

Gabriela Pichler’s tragicomic Amateurs arrives after an impressive festival run, having screened at Rotterdam, Tribeca and Gothenburg, where it won the Best Nordic Film award. Telling a bittersweet tale about adaptation and the transforming identities of migrants and “natives” in a quiet former mining town in Sweden.

Rupert Everett’s directorial debut The Happy Prince arrives in Tartu after a busy festival run that included Berlinale, Sundance and BFI London. Everett has gained significant critical praise for his role as the film’s protagonist Oscar Wilde.

In addition to Touch Me Not, TARTUFF’s documentary programme includes RBG, a portrait of the legendary women’s and human rights defender, judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg and road documentary Tanzania Transit that offers, through the portraits of Tanzanian train travellers, a colorful look at the country, that is, like most other societies, troubled by racial and ethnic prejudice and intolerance.

The festival will be opened with the screening of a 50-minute performance "Põhjavaim" (Northern Spirit) where scenes from 50 Estonian films are blended with dream-like visual projections on the walls of adjacent buildings backed by choir music performed live by a 400-member mixed choir. The video is directed by Estonian director Jaak Kilmi, while Küllike Josing oversees the musical direction and artist Alyona Movko provides the visuals.

FULL PROGRAMME

Features

Adam - dir Maria Solrun, Iceland-Germany-Mexico, 2018
Amateurs - dir Gabriela Pichler, Sweden, 2018
Becoming Astrid - dir Pernille Fischer Christensen, Sweden-Denmark, 2018
Daughter of Mine - dir Laura Bispuri, Italy, 2018
Dear Mr. Q - dir Rao Heidmets, 1998
Heavy Trip - dir Juuso Laatio, Jukka Vidgren Finland-Norway, 2018
Jumpman - dir Ivan Tverdovski, Russia, 2018
Out of Africa - dir Sydney Pollack, USA-UK, 1985
Red Dog - dir Kriv Stenders, Australia, 2018
The Happy Prince - dir Rupert Everett, UK-Belgium-Italy, 2018
Tulipani, Love, Honour and a Bicycle - dir Mike van Die, Netherlands
We - dir Rene Eller, Netherlands, 2018

Documentaries

RBG - dir Julie Cohen, Betsy West, USA, 2018
Tanzania First - dir Jeroen Van Velzen, Netherlands, 2018
Touch Me Not - dir Adina Pintilie, Romania-Germany-Czech Republic, 2018

MIDPOINT TV Launch being prepared for 2019 with new additions 

MIDPOINT TV Launch is now open to submissions and preparing for its 2019 edition with a number of new and exciting additions. Evaluating the previous history of the program and presenting its future outline is the Program Coordinator Katarina Tomkova. Read the interview with her here.

MIDPOINT TV Launch presents new development executive training MIDPOINT TV Launch 2019 open for submissions

For the 2019 edition, MIDPOINT TV Launch is presenting a specialized training for so-called development executives. This part of the program is intended to raise a new generation of broadcaster executives and commissioning editors in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) region. Read more here.APPLY FOR MIDPOINT TV LAUNCH 2019 HERE!

 

Laila Pakalnina, a renowned Latvian film director and screenwriter will come to Krakow, Poland in October to tutor the documentary group at the Film Spring Workshop.

This will be the 13^th edition of the audiovisual training which offers lectures, workshops, film screenings and meetings with artists as well as access to the state-of-the-art technology and film equipment to be used by young filmmakers to make their own films. Application deadline is the 5^th of October.

Documentary group is one of the most popular creative groups of the workshop. For 10 days the group participants will work on their projects, starting with developing their ideas and ending with the post-production. These who will join the group without the idea for a documentary, can still find the subject on the spot, as according to Pakalnina, film is waiting for us around the corner.

- I call my method of work “Fishing in the river of time”. As life is extremely talented, we just put camera, set composition and wait. And life happens. So film happens. Sometimes immediately, sometimes in hours and even days. But it happens – the group's tutor declares .

Young documentary makers, apart from practical work on their films, will learn how to pitch their ideas and will participate in consultations, discussions and screenings of the films made by them as well as other activities included in a very diverse and interdisciplinary  programme of the event.

- I like to make films on simple subjects - delivery of the mail, bicycle road, just a bridge etc. In fact like in very beginning of film history brothers Lumiere did – Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat; Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory etc. Maybe it is because filming simple things or actions you always catch something more, something meaningful. As for example in the shot with postwoman there is something more than just postwoman, there is universe – because it is documentary, it is not created by me but by life. I am just fixing this universe from the certain angle in certain framing - the group's tutor says about her films.

Laila Pakalnina has graduated from the Moscow Film Institute (VGIK), Department of Film Direction. She is a director and scriptwriter of 28 documentaries, 5 shorts, and 5 fiction features. As she describes herself: altogether she has 38 films, 2 children, 1 husband, 2 dogs and 2 bicycles. And many ideas for new films. Her films have been screened at Cannes, Venice, Berlinale, Locarno, Karlovy Vary, Rome and many other international festivals, where they have won numerous awards. She was nominated twice for European Film Award for a documentary Dream Land and a short film Fire. Laila Pakalnina’s Dawn (Ausma) was Latvia’s official entry for Golden Globe & Oscar consideration for Best Foreign Language Film.

Film Spring Workshop will take place from the 17th till the 26th of October in Krakow, Poland. Apart from the documentary group, other creative groups at the workshop include:  VR & AR, interactive narration, screenwriting, animation, feature film previses, new production model, CGI and modern editing, commercials, music videos, Selfie TV, keeping control in extreme filming conditions, web filmmakers group.