KATOWICE: Demand for high quality regional VR content, the potential of social media driven audience building, and  the need to focus on metrics to attract private investment were highlighted at the Film New Europe CEI AV Innovation Days at International Co-production Forum Regiofund 5-7 October 2017.

Audience and distributor demand for high-production value virtual reality (VR) content in central European languages,  the increasing prevalence of Facebook and Youtube in determining a film’s outreach and success, new opportunities of co-production with Ukraine, and the pressing need for the film industry to focus on key metrics in attracting private investors, emerged as key topics at the Film New Europe CEI AV Innovation Days, held October 5-6 during the first International Co-production Forum Regiofund 5-7 October 2017.

The FNE CEI Innovation Days, organised in partnership by Film New Europe the number one networking platform for film professionals in Central and Eastern Europe and the Baltics, and the International Co-production Forum Regiofund presented a two day format of panels, case studies and industry networking to explore how innovation and technologies are impactingthe  audiovisual industry in the region and Europe at large.

The panel discussions and case studies day held on October 5th at the cinema “Rialto” featured two panels and two case studies ranging from an overview of Polish immersive content ecosystem, analysis of Slovenian blockbuster At Hostar, new developments in Ukrainian co-production structure, and similarities and differences between content and technology investments in Europe.

At session one, “Taking Poland immersive. Exploring new trends in virtual reality and 360 video storytelling & production”, producer Marcin Łunkiewicz of  Zielony Pomidor Studios / Mimoo, who pioneered the first successful 360 degree video series in Poland, outlined the difficulties of inventing a new cinematic language and monetisation opportunities for filmmakers who wish to cross over to virtual reality productions. “The market will be growing together with technology, and we need more local high quality content and that is currently missing”, Łunkiewicz commented in explaining plans to launch a network of regional VR cinemas. Producer Maria Pułaska-Białkowska from HRZ3D Studios which focuses on high quality 3D animation and visualisation seconded that the regional industry is still on its way to appreciate the potential of animated content, although new markets are opening in real estate and commercial visualisation.

Lastly, Marcin Marczyk from Storycode Conference, presented a range of events aimed at bringing filmmakers, digital media specialists and immersive format storytellers together to explore collaboration opportunities and overcome challenges set by new formats.

Session 2, “How to make a million? Case study of Slovenian web series that became the national blockbuster At Hostar”  explored the success of Slovenian surprise blockbuster At Hostar, originally a series of comedy driven Youtube video sketches which were developed into a record breaking feature. Director Luka Marčetić and producer Goran Hrvačanin attributed the unexpected success of the ultra-low budget yet record breaking film to two criteria - knowing and cultivating fan audiences through digital platforms such as Youtube and Facebook, and the increasing need of local audiences for domestic commercial content, often overlooked by national financiers.

At Session 3, Renowned producer Andrey Yermak, with Karlovy Vary premiered Slovak Ukrainian coproduction The Line, which was the Slovak submission of the Oscars, explained new trends and opportunities in co-producing with Ukraine. With increased budgets, and expanded eligibility for television productions, Ukraine is set to become an attractive destination for both indie and major productions.

The last session, “Where’s the money and what’s the interest?  Mapping public and venture capital financing for film and co-productions” explored the similarities and differences between the structure and expectations between film and the currently booming startup sector in Europe. Acclaimed French producer Ilann Girard (March of the Penguins, Lebanon) presented the Online Film Financing platform (OLFFI) that incorporates the historically fragmented public financing landscape by providing a one stop online shop  access to more than 750 public funds. Ian Collins, serial entrepreneur and managing partner at UK’s Radium Services, highlighted that whilst venture capital money is available it comes with high costs. Ian Collins from UK’s Radium Services – a business development agency in the tech/digital space - highlighted that whilst venture capital money is available it comes with high demands. “Both in US and Europe the trend amongst technology investors is to expect a minimum return of three times the invested capital and a solid IRR of 20%+”, Collins remarked. He said that the film sector might learn from the technology industry by focusing on clear metrics, building the business case by evidencing existing or past data points to de-risk the investment and make it make attractive to investors - such as the profile/personas of the target audience, the marketing strategy and routes to market, the pricing models and how much they are willing to pay for it.

The second day, October 6th of the Film New Europe CEI AV Innovation Days focused on networking between the attending experts and participants with the calls for frequent meet ups and discussions on new platforms and regional monetisation possibilities during 2018.

The programme of the FNE CEI AV Innovation Days was curated by Sten-Kristian Saluveer, the former Head of Industry at Tallinn’s Black Nights Film Festival, and the founder of Storytek Accelerator - a unique business development accelerator that helps audiovisual creatives, producers and early stage companies to develop business, fast track their content, products and services to the global markets and access finance.

FNE CEI AV Innovations Days was supported by the Central European Initiative and the Silesia Film Commission.

 

About Regiofund

 The International Co-production Forum Regiofund was created out of the success of numerous industry events organised for seven previous editions of the International Festival of Film Producers Regiofun.

By changing from the film festival formula to an event for industry professionals the Forum aims to become a platform of co-operation within the film industry, and all of its potential partners and investors.

About Central European Initiative

The Central European Initiative (CEI)  is a regional intergovernmental forum committed to supporting European integration through cooperation among its Member States. It combines multilateral diplomacy and project management, both as donor and recipient, while bridging European macro-regions.

About Film New Europe

The Film New Europe is the largest and most important networking platform for film professionals in Central and Eastern Europe and the Baltics.  The FNE Daily newswire is the voice of the region with a focus on cultural diversity and promoting the visibility of the region’s AV industry globally.  FNE has the only dedicated AV INNOVATION team and provides a platform for sharing models that can cross borders and attract audiences.

For more information: http://www.filmneweurope.com/fne-innovation

Contact: Sten-Kristian Saluveer
Curator
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

PRAGUE: Czech director Marie Dvorakova won the Student Academy Award for her Czech/US short film Who is Who in Mycology. The film was coproduced by Negativ Film Production and the Czech Televison with funding by the Czech State Cinematography Fund.

 

Cinematographers’ Debuts Competition was initiated in 2010 due to the Festival’s increasing openness to the noteworthy artists and the new film phenomena they create. The idea of creating additional competition section was a natural consequence of our previous activities. For years we have been promoting innovative projects that combine intellectual freedom, remarkable insight into world affairs and a desire to inspire other artists of the screen. 
Cinematographers’ Debuts Competition bring new discoveries: great movies of high artistic value and great filmmakers whose new ventures surprise not only the Jury members but all audiences around the world as well. 

Competition is under the patronage of Polish Filmmakers Association.

All I See Is You

When she was a little girl, Gina lost both her parents and her sight in a car accident. As an adult, she is fully reconciled with her past, sharing the present and the future with her loving husband and caretaker, James. When the man learns that there is a way to restore the sight in one of her eyes, he spares no money for the medical operation. He wants his darling wife to see his face instead of only imagining it, if only for a brief moment. What seems like a miracle quickly turns out to be a nightmare in disguise. It is not that the operation unleashes some sort of supernatural powers, but that afterwards Gina gradually becomes increasingly independent, making him a helpless observer, whereas before he was used to being the person that actively shaped her life. Will they be able to conquer their fears, weaknesses and limitations, and make another attempt at reaching mutual happiness? And if so, how much will they be able to sacrifice for this to happen? 
Director: Marc Forster
Cinematographer: Matthias Koenigswieser
Produced by: 2DUX 2
Polish distributor: The Walt Disney Company
Polska USA, 2016  

Falling

Present-day Ukraine, one year after the Maidan revolution. They meet quite by accident near one of the many night clubs in which young people try to forget about the problems of everyday life. Anton went there following the memories of his former self – he is a brilliant musician who lost himself to alcohol and drugs and is now trying to return to normal life. Katya simply left the party to smoke a cigarette – she is an activist and former art school student who desperately wants to give her actions some kind of meaning. They instantly feel they might be kindred spirits, but they remain cautious, knowing from their own experience that in this world nothing is as it seems. Forever torn between the past of their parents and grandparents which they never understood and the present marked by the tangibility of full-scale war, the young protagonists simply want to live happily and peacefully. Will they be able to truly bond in this seemingly futureless world? 
Original title: Strimholov
Director: Marina Stepanska
Cinematographer: Sebastian Thaler
Produced by: InsightMedia Producing Center LLC, Tato Film
Ukraine, 2017  

Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki, The

They say all’s fair in love and war. That seems right in the experience of young Finnish boxer Olli Mäki. You see, fate has smiled upon him – he has a shot at the world featherweight title. It’s just that… he’s fallen in love. Inconvenient as the situation may be, to make matters worse, the whole nation seems to have high hopes for his upcoming bout with the American champion. In other words, everyone expects Olli to win and bring Finland its deserved glory. His coach has big ambitions and even bigger dreams, the sponsors are queuing up for a photo with the future champ, and there’s even a two-person crew shooting a documentary about him. Every day the fervour increases, but the only thing Olli wants to think about is the lovely Raija, dancing through the night, late-night bicycle escapades, and skipping stones at dawn on a nearby lake. How can he forge his body, lose weight, and say smart, national-hero-sounding things when what it means to be a winner suddenly has more than one definition? 
Original title: Hymyilevä mies
Polish title: Olli Mäki. Najszczęśliwszy dzień jego życia 
Director: Juho Kuosmanen
Cinematographer: Jani-Petteri Passi
Produced by: Aamu Film Company Ltd
Polish distributor: Gutek Film Sp. z o. o.
 Finland, Germany, Sweden, 2016  

Isolani

Life has never been kind to 17-year-old Isla, a young Glaswegian mother who is just trying to make ends meet. Pregnant at 13, her beloved son was born deaf. Now she lives on an estate that is marked for demolition in a couple of months’ time, and she’s unable to bury the hatchet with her parents, who will stop at nothing to take their grandson away from her. Yet all of her problems suddenly seem insignificant in the light of recent events: Isla is witness to a brutal murder committed by a local thug the police have been hunting for years. The girl will now have to struggle not only with social services, but also with an ambitious prosecutor who will do anything to get her hands on the notorious criminal. It all gets even more complicated when the killer discovers there is an anonymous witness to his crime. Not knowing whom she can trust and pressured by everyone around her, the young mother starts a risky game where everything is on the line. 
Director: R Paul Wilson
Cinematography: Alan C. McLaughlin
Produced by: Lola Pictures Ltd
UK, 2017  

Isolation

The truth is, was, and always will be relative, but Parviz learns this the hard way. The man was released from prison for three days to bury his wife (who died tragically in a car accident) and take care of his children, whom he hardly knows. On top of that, there is proof that the woman took her own life – but if so, why? Was it because of societal pressure? Was she in some kind of trouble? Or maybe someone else was to blame? Some people tell Parviz bluntly that his beloved wife deserved to die because her conduct had become morally dubious during his absence. Others say that she was a warm and welcoming person who would never do such a thing. While trying to understand his estranged wife’s actions and befriend the children he knows almost nothing about, Parviz renews old friendships and meets with his enemies. He will do anything to protect his family from further suffering. Through all this, we learn a lot about him, too. Could his past hold the key to the woman’s untimely death? 
Original title: Enzeva
Director: Morteza Ali Abbas Mirzaei
Cinematographer: Mehdi Ilbeigi
Produced by: AIFILMPRO
Iran, 2017  

Reconciliation, The

Ania, Erwin, Franek: young, beautiful, full of life. Before the war, in 1939, they promised each other lifelong friendship and that nothing would break them apart. They were wrong. They meet again in 1945, just before the surrender of the Third Reich, in a former Nazi concentration camp that has been turned by the new Polish authorities into a place of suffering for all who dare to stand against the country’s glorious future. Poles, Silesians, Germans – the camp consists of everyone who collaborated in any form with the Nazis, or simply those who do not fit into the new order of things. Thus, the meeting is far from joyful, the old promises are meaningless. Ania and Erwin are imprisoned there, while Franek works as a camp guard, one of many Poles who seek revenge for their war suffering. Initially the man has noble intentions – he would like to help Ania escape and marry her – but each subsequent day in the camp changes him into a human beast, not dissimilar to the ones that recently vanished. 
Original title: Zgoda
Director: Maciej Sobieszczański
Cinematographer: Valentyn Vasyanovych
Produced by: Studio Filmowe KALEJDOSKOP
Polish distributor: KINO ŚWIAT Sp. z o. o.
Poland, 2017  

Walking Out

 A 14-year-old boy from Texas leaves his mother and his cosy home to travel to Montana and spend some quality time with his estranged father on a ranch at the base of a majestic mountain range. The boy makes the trip every year, yet this visit will be special. Both men come from completely different worlds, but they set out on a journey which is supposed to end with the son’s rite-of-passage – killing a moose in its natural habitat, just like his father and granddad did years before. Though he’s a city boy who prefers video games to sports, he agrees to endure the rigour imposed by his father, who has lived close to nature for most of his life. Little does the boy know that during this journey not only will he find common ground with his father, but also understand the true nature of this enigmatic, coarse, and recluse man. And this is something that his friends in Texas, disappearing into their beloved virtual worlds day after day, will probably never experience. 
Directors: Alex Smith, Andrew J. Smith
Cinematographer: Todd McMullen
Produced by: AMP International
USA, 2017  

Winter Brothers

Two brothers live in a mining community in the middle of a snow-covered forest somewhere on the edge of Western civilisation. Their life is filled with the hard work of a Danish limestone mine. Day after day they go down into the Earth’s rocky bowels with a group of similarly rough men. There in the darkness lit only by their headlamps, they do their tedious labour and provide new material for the nearby limestone plant. They endure the rigours of this lifestyle through their camaraderie, but also the little pleasures of everyday life. For some of them this means hard liquor that sets both the stomach and imagination on fire, for others it is enough to fantasise about being better versions of themselves, whether in bed with a woman or in the woods with a military rifle. One day, when one of the brothers is ostracised by the group, a tragedy begins to unfold, setting in motion events that will put to the test all the relationships in this world at the world’s end. 
Original title: Vinterbrødre
Polish title: Zimowi bracia
Director: Hlynur Pálmason
Cinematographer: Maria von Hausswolff 
Produced by: Masterplan Pictures ApS
Polish distributor: Stowarzyszenie Nowe Horyzonty - New Horizons Association
Denmark, Iceland, 2017