The 53rd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival will feature Breathing into Marble, a Lithuanian-Latvian-Croatian co-production, in competition, while Endless Tail by writer and director Željka Sukova, Chris the Swiss by Anja Komfel, and When the War Comes by Jan Gebert will screen out of competition.

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The name of Lithuania will be reiterated louder than ever at this year’s Karlovy Vary International Film Festival which opens today. After a 15-year hiatus the audiences will have an opportunity to see a retrospective of classics from the Baltic countries titled “Reflections of Time: Baltic Poetic Documentary”. World premieres of two renowned Lithuanian filmmakers will take place at the festival with both films participating in the competition programmes. Lithuanians will also actively take part in industry events.

The tripartite retrospective “Reflections of Time: Baltic Poetic Documentary” that will be screened from June 29 to July 7 offers a rare occasion to see key documentaries from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania described by the festival’s artistic director Karel Och as a “unique report on the Baltic cinematic miracle.” The programme will be headlined by Audrius Stonys’ latest film Bridges of Time co-directed with the Latvian filmmaker Kristīne Briede. The film portrays the birth of poetic documentary in the Baltic republics. The co-production of three Baltic countries is a metaphysical essay meditating on the ontology of documentary film, revealing a subtle yet powerful fight against the regime and the desire for freedom. The film will also contest in the documentary competition.

The programme is focused on the 1960s – the ‘renaissance’ of the documentary cinema in the Baltic states when filmmakers started transforming the conventional principles of narrative and aesthetics and experimenting with the cinematographic language. The retrospective programme includes key poetic documentaries from the New Baltic Wave film school created during the 1960s and 1970s as well as works from the filmmakers who emerged after the restoration of independence and were heavily influenced by the New Baltic Wave.

Beside the premiere of the Bridges of Time by Stonys and Briede, Lithuania will be represented by Robertas Verba’s documentaries The Old Man and the Land (1965) and The Dreams of the Centenarians (1969); the works from the 1970s filmmaker Henrikas Šablevičius Apolinaras (1973), A Trip Through Misty Meadows (1973) and We Were at Our Own Field (1988); Šarūnas Bartas’ film from the early independence period In Memory of a Day Gone By (1990); as well as Audrius Stonys’ documentariesEarth of the Blind (1992) and Antigravitation (1995).

The Latvian part of the programme will include films of the classic authors of the Latvian poetic documentary Ivars Kraulītis, Aivars Freimanis, Herz Frank and Uldis Brauns, as well as the modern filmmaker Laila Pakalniņa. Estonia will be represented by the 1960s and 1970s documentaries from Andres Sööt, Ülo Tambek, Hans Roosipuu, Mark Soosaar.

The last time Baltic cinema was featured in the Karlovy Vary Film Festival was in 2003. The programme included works of classic Lithuanian filmmakers – Vytautas Žalakevičius’ feature The Chronicle of One Day (1963), Algirdas Dausa’s and Almantas Grikevičius’ Feelings (1968), and Algimantas Puipa’s A Woman and Her Four Men (1983) – alongside Andrius Šiuša’s And He Bid You Farewell (1993) and Šarūnas Bartas’ Corridor (1994).

The international premiere of Giedrė Beinoriūtė’s feature film Breathing into Marble will also take place at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival. The film which was nominated for five Silver Cranes at the Lithuanian national film awards this year and won the prize for the best supporting role was selected for the Karlovy Vary IFF competition programme “East of the West”. The story based on the novel by Laura Sintija Černiauskaitė reveals a complicated story of a family involving an epileptic son Gailius and an adopted unruly child Ilja taken from an orphanage. The film explores their relationship.During the past decade four Lithuanian films have been selected for the competition programme “East of the West” – Together For Ever directed by Lina Lužytė in 2006, Aurora and The Collectress by Kristina Buožytė in 2012 and 2008, and Low Lights by Ignas Miškinis.

The main competition programme of the Karlovy Vary Film Festival will also feature the Lithuanian minority co-production film Jumpman (directed by Ivan I. Tverdovskiy) co-produced by Ieva Norvilienė (production company Tremora). The last time Lithuania was mentioned in this programme was two decades ago when A Wolf-Teeth Necklace by Algimantas Puipa was selected for the official programme in 1997.

Lithuania will also be visible throughout the film industry programme that will take place during the festival. The Latvian-Lithuanian-Belgian co-production Oleg was selected for the Eastern Promises Industry Days consisting of nearly 40 projects in the various stages of production from Central and Eastern Europe as well as Balkan, Middle East countries and Eurimages member states. The film directed by the Latvian filmmaker Juris Kursietis is co-produced by Lukas Trimonis (production company In Script), with the leading role played by the Lithuanian actor Valentinas Novopolskis, original score created by the composer Jonas Jurkūnas, sound directed by Vytis Puronas, and episodic appearances by Valentinas Krulikovskis.

The Lithuanian sound director Jonas Maksvytis who received the Silver Crane for the best professional work on the film The Ancient Woods (directed by Mindaugas Survila) at this year’s Lithuanian national film awards will participate in the panel discussion “Artisans in Focus” along with other highly talented professionals from a range of fields.

The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival founded in 1946 is the biggest in Czech Republic and one of the most important among the European film festivals taking place in the resort town of Karlovy Vary in July each year.

The production of all Lithuanian films participating in the festival and the industry programme has been supported by the Lithuanian Film Centre. The documentary retrospective has been prepared in cooperation with Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian national film institutions. It is a tribute to the centenary of restoration of independence of the Baltic republics.

The eyes of the whole world keep turning towards Asia, whose political and cultural significance rapidly increases year by year. Once again, Five Flavours invites you to discover Asian reality from the inside. The Festival is a perfect opportunity to immerse yourself in gripping pop culture, take part in heated debates about the crucial social changes, and to see the works of renown masters of cinema.

Year of the dog

Following the tradition of the previous years, the visual identification of the Festival is inspired by the lunar calendar. 2018 is the year of the Dog, which symbolizes honesty, loyalty, openness to dialog, and a joyful, friendly nature.

Asian Cinerama

Since 2007, Five Flavours teams up with Asian Film Awards Academy, the institution supporting the promotion of high quality commercial cinema from Asia. The result of this collaboration is a section made up of stunning genre cinema, and the newest hits by renown filmmakers, nominated and awarded at this years Asian Film Awards gala.

Presented in the section is one of last year’s most important Chinese productions, "Youth" (China, 2017) by Feng Xiaogang, who is often called the Chinese Spielberg. This widely commented work of the popular director is an offbeat look at the era of Cultural Revolution – a story of a group of young artists preparing shows for the army. The nostalgia with which their first loves and adolescent dilemmas are portrayed is paired up with the tragedy of the historical changes taking place in the background. The songs from the times of Mao are still very emotive for the older generations of Chinese viewers, but the director is looking for new means to talk about those extremely difficult times. The vast success of the film testifies to the fact that it is a topic the audience is ready to debate.

Special Screenings

Five Flavours never fails to showcase the films which are particularly important for Asian cinema, and the works of filmmakers our audiences are familiar with. One of the masters returning to our program is Pen-ek Ratanaruang, whose retrospective was presented at the 3rd Five Flavours. The newest film of the Thai genre cinema specialist, "Samui Song" (Thailand, Germany, Norway 2017), is a stylish psychological thriller inspired by the works of Hitchcock and the 1960s melodramas. Dark sexuality, a mysterious sect, and a desperate decision of the heroine – Ratanaruang knows how to keep the audiences on their toes, surprising them with unexpected mood shifts.

Other representatives of the Thai New Wave appear as co-authors of the project "Ten Years Thailand" (Thailand, Hong Kong, Japan 2018), presented at this year’s festival in Cannes. It is a continuation of the cycle opened by the famous Hong Kong "Ten Years," showcasing the potential social changes which can take place in the near future as a result of current political decisions. The Thai version of the film, made up of several novellas, was created by Chulayarnnon Siriphol, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Wisit Sasanatieng, and Aditya Assarat, who took up this arthouse, science-fiction project to convey their visions of the upcoming decade. The allegorical, and the very literal images reflect not only on the situation in Thailand, but also on the wider, though not necessarily brighter, future of the world.

Focus: Philippines

The cinema of the Philippines has one of the oldest traditions and richest film outputs in the region – this year marks its 100th anniversary. The last decade was a time of its dynamic development, both in terms of commercial productions and the achievements of new generations of independent filmmakers. Numerous auteur pieces by Filipino artists have been screened at international festivals, showing the diverse, often unexpected images of the culture of the country. Apart from the vivid portraits of the busy streets of Manila, the cinema of the Philippines offers unique stories from its seven thousand islands, numerous personal essays, and strong plots, uncompromisingly appraising the actions of the government.

The filmmakers often speak about the surrounding reality using the tools of genre films, from action cinema to musicals, wrapping the ambitious substance in a unique form, and shifting the boundaries of cinema. Individual biographies, the colonial past, contemporary issues of violence, poverty, and the disparities in the growing wealth of the society – everything has its place in the country’s rich cinema, which is going through its third "golden era."

New Asian Cinema

Like in the previous years, the main axis of the festival is the competition section presenting new auteur cinema from countries such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Japan, China, and Thailand. The Q&A sessions with festival guest after the screenings are a great opportunity to discuss art, cinephile fascinations, and contemporary culture. New Asian Cinema is a meeting space for the avant-garde aesthetics, controversial statements, formal experiments, and fresh voices commenting on the modern Asian reality.

The Sarajevo Film Festival is proud to announce the lineup of its 2018 Competition Programme - Documentary Film. Selected films strongly reflect the world that we live in, as observed through the creative prism of their auteurs, and more than a half of them will have their world or international premiere in Sarajevo. It gives us special pleasure that most of the films in our selection are their directors’ and producers’ feature-length documentary debuts. We would also like to stress that over a half of selected films were directed and produced by women.

WORLD PREMIERES

FUNDAMENTS / FUNDAMENTI
Slovenia, 2018, 22 min.
Director: Peter Cerovšek

GHETTO BALBOA
Hungary, 2018, 90 min.
Director: Arpad Bogdan

IKEA FOR YU
Croatia, Sweden, 2018, 52 min.
Directors: Marija Ratković Vidaković, Dinka Radonić

KALIN AND THE JAIL TEAM / КАЛИН И ОТБОРА НА ЗАТВОРА
Bulgaria, 2018, 62 min.
Director: Petko Gyulchev

NINE MONTHS WAR / KILENC HÓNAP HÁBORÚ
Hungary, Qatar, 2018, 73 min.
Director: László Csuja 

SISTERS / SESTRE
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, 2018, 42 min.
Director: Zdenko Jurilj

TAM 4500
Montenegro, 2018, 23 min.
Director: Momir Matović

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERES

BIGGER THAN LIFE
Macedonia, Germany, Italy, 2018, 30 min.
Director: Adnan Softić

CRY BABY, CRY / NICHT VON SCHLECHTEN ELTERN
Austria, 2017, 86 min.
Director: Antonin Svoboda

OCCUPIED CINEMA / OKUPIRANI BIOSKOP
Serbia, Croatia, 2018, 87 min.
Director: Senka Domanović

REGIONAL PREMIERES

4 YEARS IN 10 MINUTES / 4 GODINE U 10 MINUTA
Serbia, 2018, 63 min.
Director: Mladen Kovačević

90 SECONDS IN NORTH KOREA / 90 SEKUNDI U SJEVERNOJ KOREJI
Croatia, Netherlands, 2018, 15 min.
Director: Ranko Pauković

ARAF
Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece, 2018, 45 min.
Director: Didem Pekün

EASY LESSONS / KÖNNYŰ LECKÉK
Hungary, 2018, 78 min.
Director: Dorrotya Zurbó

SRBENKA 
Croatia, 2018, 72 min.
Director: Nebojša Slijepčević

BOSNIAN PREMIERE

BEFORE FATHER GETS BACK / SANAM MAMA DABRUNDEBA
Georgia, France, Germany, 2018, 75 min.
Director: Mari Gulbiani

For the fourth year running European Film Promotion (EFP) and the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF) present ten of the most promising new European directors and their films in the framework of EFP FUTURE FRAMES during KVIFF. The programme is supported by the Creative Europe – MEDIA Programme of the European Union and the respective EFP member organisations.

Part of the intensive EFP programme introducing emerging young professionals to the film industry and media and presenting their work to the festival audience is also an exclusive master class by Bosnian auteur Jasmila Zbanic, who will share her experiences in independent filmmaking with the directors.

The following EFP member organisations support EFP FUTURE FRAMES:

Association of Filmmakers of Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatian Audiovisual Centre, EYE International (The Netherlands), Georgian National Film Center, Instituto do Cinema e do Audiovisual I.P. / ICA (Portugal), Istituto Luce Cinecittà (Italy), Polish Film Institute, Slovak Film Institute, Swedish Film Institute, and Swiss Films

To see the trailer with the ten students’ films please visit www.efp-online.com

Works in Progress Award

Jury:

• Matthijs Wouter Knol, Director of European Film Market - Berlinale
• Rossitsa Valkanova, Director and Producer, Bulgaria
• Rickard Olsson, Picture Tree International, Sweden

Works in Progress Award

On Works in Progress, eleven projects were presented from countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the Balkans, the former Soviet Union, and now also the Middle East. The jury chose ALL THIS VICTORY by director Ahmad Ghossein as the winning project. A prize in the value of 100,000 Euro will be given to the project. The whole award consists of post-production services in UPP (60 000 Euro), Soundsquare (30 000 Euro), and a cash prize of 10,000 Euro from Barrandov Studio.

Jury statements:

Matthijs Wouter Knol:

The “Eastern Promises” Work in Progress Award 2018 goes to ALL THAT VICTORY by director Ahmad Ghossein, produced by Myriam Sassine, Abbout Productions, Lebanon.

Rossitsa Valkanova:

After a long and thorough deliberation, one project stood out in its creative approach to a complex idea and a highly relevant topic. The director and producer of this project presented it with precision and deep personal involvement, convincing us of their ability to build a multi-layered film world within a limited space, using minimalistic yet cinematic methods of storytelling. We expect this film to impress and resonate with audiences, as it manages to rise above the particularities of a military conflict, implying questions of existential importance with a bitter smile.

Rickard Olsson:

The 11 “Eastern Promises” of this year’s Works in Progress filled us with great expectations and made the Jury decision extremely difficult. In our hearts, we give 10 Special Mentions, as the generous award could only go to one of the projects.

Eurimages Lab Project Award

Jury

• David Kořínek, Director, Co-founder of Supermedia Studio at the Czech Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design
• Dorien van de Pas, Netherlands Film Fund
• Christoph Terhechte, Artistic Director of Marrakesh International Film Festival

The Eurimages Lab Project prize went to the winning project NORMAL by director Adele Tulli. KVIFF is the first of four international film festivals in Europe to be awarding the Eurimage prize. KVIFF has selected projects for the Eurimage prize that surpass traditional film methods and are based on international cooperation. The prize was awarded in the value of 50,000 Euro.

Jury statement

The jury thinks this was the most convincing pitch and the images correspond perfectly with the introduction. All three clips were very strong and together they are part of a visual journey through gender norms in contemporary Italy.

Docs in Progress Award

Jury:

• Tanja Georgieva, CEO and Producer at Elemag Pictures
• Noemi Schory, Independent Producer and Director, founder of the Documentary Filmmakers Forum, Israel
• Shane Smith, Director of Programming at HotDocs, Canada

The Docs in Progress prize went to the winning project THE PROJECTIONIST. For this section, projects are chosen from Central and Eastern Europe, the Balkans, the former Soviet Union, and the Middle East. The winning film received a cash prize in the amount of 5,000 Euro.

A Special Mention was awarded to the Polish project Little Poland.

Jury statement

First of all, we saw very different and interesting projects and our judgement is based only on the presentation and what we saw today. We would first like to acknowledge the project “Little Poland” with a Special Mention for its humor and humanity.

The 5,000 Euro cash award goes to a documentary that takes us on a journey with a very special and charismatic protagonist. This film reminds us of what stands at the heart of documentary filmmaking – people. “The Projectionist”.

Macedonian Film Agency announced public Call for support for international promotion and promotion and distribution of domestic films and minority co-productions for the first time since its founding as a film fund in 2008. The support is given for participation on festivals and events and promotion and distribution of the films in Republic of Macedonia and abroad.

The main condition is that the films are in post-production phase at the moment of application or completely finished and are not previously, on any grounds, supported by the Macedonian Film Agency. The applicants can submit an application for international promotion if the film has been released no longer than one year.

The Call is opened and lasts throughout the year.  The application is an integral part of the Call and should be downloaded from the website of the Macedonian Film Agency.

EU Copyright Directive

27/06: Europe’s cultural and creative sectors call on MEPs to uphold the mandate on copyright in plenary – UNIC Website

“We represent 4.5% of EU GDP and 12 million European jobs. We are the heart and soul of Europe’s plurality and rich identities. On July 5 we ask for you to back the mandate adopted by JURI on 20 June which is the result of long and intense negotiations” highlights the main message of the Europe’s creative and cultural sectors to the MEPs.

29/06: CW! asks MEPs to uphold JURI mandate on Copyright Directive – Creativity Works!

Creativity Works! has joined 93 organisations from Europe’s creative and cultural sectors that are asking Members of the European Parliament to support the Legal Affairs (JURI) mandate on the Copyright Directive report during the Plenary vote on 5 July.

20/06: Copyright: MEPs update rules for the digital age – European Parliament

Plans to update of EU copyright rules for today’s online world and ensure fair pay for artists and journalists were backed by the Legal Affairs Committee.

20/06: Joint Press Release: The European Parliament’s report on the Copyright Directive in the Digital Single Market: a first good step for audiovisual authors – SAA, FERA & FSE

The Federation of European Film Directors (FERA), the Federation of Screenwriters in Europe (FSE) and the Society of Audiovisual Authors (SAA) welcome the vote of the Legal Affairs’ Committee in favour of a new Article -14a establishing a principle of fair and proportionate remuneration for authors and performers.

Copyright Enforcement

26/06: Press Release: AAPA Launches Anti-Piracy Award – Audiovisual Anti-Piracy Alliance

At this year’s Europol Intellectual Property Crime conference, the Audiovisual Anti-Piracy Alliance (AAPA) announced the winner of it first award for a successful initiative to tackle audiovisual piracy. The winner was Grupo de Antipirateria of the Policia Nacionale (Spain), led by Inspector Marlene Álvarez Vicente. The award recognised the Grupo de Antipirateria’s successful operations in large scale illegal streaming cases, many of which affected AAPA members.

Digital Single Market

/07: European Commission Communication on completing a trusted Digital Single Market for all – EAO Newsletter

 In the Communication, the Commission provides an overview of the legislative proposals it has made over the last three years, reviews the progress of their adoption and implementation, and calls on its co-legislators - the European Parliament and the Council - to accelerate their work in order to meet the European Council’s goal of concluding the DSM Strategy by the end of 2018.

Council of the European Union

01/07: Austria takes over presidency of the Council of the European Union on 1 July 2018 – Austrian Presidency of the Council of the EU

On the first of July, Austria took over the presidency of the Council of the European Union for the next six months.

Competition

15/06: Mergers: Commission clears Comcast’s proposed acquisition of Sky under EU merger rules – European Commission

The European Commission has approved unconditionally under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of Sky by Comcast, a US based global media, technology and entertainment company. The Commission concluded the transaction would raise no competition concerns in Europe.

Gender Balance

19/06: Working report on gender representation in the audiovisual media sector – European Commission

A short working report, outlining the national measures and initiatives to support the place and image of women in audiovisual media, both on- and off-screen, has been published.

Events

5 July: Vote in Plenary - EU Copyright Directive16 July: Creative Europe MEDIA Stakeholder Meeting 24-27 September: FNCF Congress 2018 - Deauville 26 & 27 September: EUIPO Plenary Meeting 2018 - Alicante 15 & 16 October: UNIC Cinema Days - Brussels