BRUSSELS, 17 SEPTEMBER 2018: The International Union of Cinemas (UNIC), representing cinema associations and key operators across 37 territories in Europe, has today added its own voice to those seeking to ensure that films selected for competition at leading film festivals receive a full theatrical release. 

Following recent discussions around the selection of films at a number of major film festivals and the decision from the Venice International Film Festival jury to award Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma its Golden Lion prize, the association released the following statement: 

“UNIC wishes to express its support for Italian cinema exhibition colleagues and others in encouraging festival competitions only to consider for inclusion those films intended for theatrical release. 

Central to the film business is the shared experience of watching a feature film on the big screen, something which creates a strong sense of identity and community. Cinemas offer their audience unique cultural and social experiences, at the same time allowing films truly to do justice to their director’s vision and, through their exclusive nature, create unparalleled excitement around their release. 

This is a proven strategy that ultimately benefits the entire film value-chain. The theatrical success of each film helps drive its performance and audience awareness on other platforms. Growth in subsequent markets – including Video on Demand – develops best on these strong foundations. It should not come at the expense of theatrical exclusivity. 

The cinema industry can exist alongside streaming providers, but believes that their – and the audience’s – best interests are served by a film receiving a proper cinema release, including a clear and distinct window. 

Respect for the life-cycle of a film not only supports a model that has proven successful in terms of cultural diversity, but also offers the opportunity for the widest possible audience to discover and enjoy as broad a range of film content as possible. Leading film festivals should encourage practices that benefit the audience as a whole, through the inclusion of films in their official selection that are within everyone’s reach and not just that of streaming platform subscribers. Should films be available solely on these platforms or receive only a "technical" release in another window - yet still benefit from festival selection as a marketing tool in addition to their considerable resources - the vast majority of their potential audience would be denied access to great content. 

Films belong on the big screen and we therefore encourage leading international film festivals to take a lead from the Cannes Film Festival and celebrate the social, cultural and economic relevance of cinemas when designing their future selection policies.” 

The International Union of Cinemas (UNIC) 

The Union Internationale des Cinémas/International Union of Cinemas (UNIC) represents the interests of cinema trade associations and cinema operators covering 37 countries in Europe and neighbouring regions. 

Slovenia-Serbia Co-production Meeting 

Part one of the co-production meeting organised by the Slovenian and Serbian film centres entitled Co-production Meeting – In focus: Serbia & Follow-up: Austria took place today as part of the Industry Events at the 21st Festival of Slovenian Film. The meeting will conclude on Saturday with business meetings between producers of the two countries.

Ever since the establishment of the Slovenian Film Fund, the Slovenian film industry has had a very constructive co-operation with filmmakers from the neighbouring countries. After the 1990s, when most co-productions were with the countries of the former Yugoslavia, this slowly began to include other European countries, especially Italy. As an evident deficit was identified in terms of co-operation with Austrian producers, the first Co-production Meeting focused on filmmakers, producers and relevant institutions from Austria. The second in a series of co-production meetings focuses on Serbian cinema, featuring presentations of funding opportunities, locations in Serbia, and examples of successful co-productions between Serbia and Slovenia and third countries.

The meeting welcomed many industry guests from the region who are leading players in their respective countries: directors and representatives of national and regional film centres and funds Gorjan Tozija, Ylljet Alicka, Danijela Radulović, Alessandro Gropplero, and representatives of major film institutions and festivals.

In the first part of the meeting, the activities of Serbia’s Film Center and its international co-production potential were presented by its Director, Boban Jevtić. This was followed by a brief summary of last year’s Co-production Meeting with Austrian Cinema and a case study presentation of the successful Slovenian-Austrian co-production Skiing in Scarves being produced by Boštjan Virc and directed by Haidy Kancler. Both of them are also members of this year’s festival jury.

An interesting fact related to the comparison of the three participating countries is that between 2016 and 2017 Slovenia recorded a 5% average growth in the number of completed feature films, Serbia also only slightly more than 6%, whereas neighbouring Austria recorded a 50% growth. 

The event also featured project pitches: the second part included pitches of selected Slovenian works in progress that show interest in including in their co-production structure a co-producer from a neighbouring country and, above all, have adequate co-production potential for collaboration with producers from Serbia. Works in progress were presented by producer Rok Sečen (Zavod Mono O), Boštjan Ikovic (ARSMEDIA d.o.o), producer Ida Weiss (Senca Studio) and director Jurij Gruden, producer Miha Čelar (Astral Film) and producer Tamara Babun, producer Danijel Hočevar (Vertigo), producer Zoran Dževerdanović (Blade Production), producer and director Rok Biček (Cvinger film) and producer Danijel Pek, producer Lija Pogačnik (Zavod December) and director Tijana Zinajić. 

Representing Serbian cinema were Boban Jevtić (Film Center Serbia), Miloš Ivanović (Platfroma), Marko Jocić (Viktorija film), Milan Stojanović (SENSE Production), and Biljana Tutorov (Wake Up Films).

The event was hosted by Jelka Stergel. 

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* FEATURE FILMS PRODUCED 2013 – 2017

	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2016/2017
SLOVENIA	24	11	17	20	21	+5,00%
AUSTRIA	54	30	40	31	46	+48,39%
SERBIA	20	29	33	32	34	+6,25%

Short of three months before the 28^th FilmFestival Cottbus (FFC) opens on 6 November 2018, the opening film and the majority of the programme have already been confirmed. The passing of the official submission deadline on 1 August rang in the last round of viewings and selection of potential festival films. Once the final programme selection has been determined, the seven-strong team of researchers and curators will have watched a total of about 700 films. 

COLD WAR | ZIMNA WOJNA is the opening film of the 28^th FFC. Director Paweł Pawlikowski tells an emotional story laced with innuendo that is set in the Cold War period and influenced by his parents’ personal history. COLD WAR won him the Award for Best Director at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, among others. Pawlikowski was the first Polish film maker to win the Academy Award in the category Best Foreign Language Film in 2015 with his drama IDA. 

“High-quality films illustrating the range of contemporary Central and Eastern European cinema obviously are given centre stage also in this year’s issue of the FilmFestival Cottbus”, says Programme Director Bernd Buder. The competitions Feature Film, Short Feature, U18 Youth Film and Cottbus Filmshow are augmented by the film series Spectrum, Russkiy Den, Polskie Horyzonty, Homeland | Domownja | Domizna, National Hits and Children’s Film. The festival’s main programme additionally features focus areas reflecting highly topical, political and social developments. 

For instance, the film series Close Up UA presents the contemporary Ukrainian cinema that illustrates the process of a difficult search of identity in a country that is in a state of war, yet is at the same time heading for Europe.

With Regio Silesia, the FFC focuses on a region characterised by considerable structural change: Silesia. “For Lusatia”, explains Bernd Buder, “taking a look at Upper Silesia is clearly of interest here, where coal mining is being replaced by the development into a site for the service industry, electrical industry, the arts, culture and tourism.”

A series of films from various former socialist countries titled The Friend as Enemy investigates the mystery of what motivates people in authoritarian systems to abuse the trust of others, to spy on them and to betray loved ones.

The 28^th FFC also focuses on the film country Georgia. “What is noticeable regarding contemporary Georgian feature and short films is the comparatively high number of female directors and figures of identification who address relevant contemporary topics”, Bernd Buder comments. 

A selection of important films moreover familiarises FFC audiences with István Szabó’s oeuvre and outstanding films that had a determining influence on him. The Hungarian director and Honorary President of the FilmFestival Cottbus celebrated his 80^th birthday in February 2018. Szabó was the first Hungarian film maker to win the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1982 with his drama MEPHISTO. 

In the context of the 28^th FilmFestival Cottbus, on 8 and 9 November, the East-West co-production market connecting cottbus (coco) will take place for the 20^thtime. Over 120 feature film projects from 29 countries have been submitted, of which ten projects in their development stage and five post-production stage projects will be selected by mid-September. 

CEE Animation Workshop Opens the Call for Submissions

CEE Animation Workshop is a year-long project development and production skills advancement programme for professionals: established producers and creative teams with animated projects of any format (short, TV, features, hybrid) in development. It is also open to a limited number of participants without projects, representatives of industry and public institutions.

The workshop delivers a comprehensive and integrated approach on script and art design development, legal matters and copyright, funding opportunities and production models, production planning and cash flow, music and sound, acting and dubbing for animation, distribution and exhibition, promotion, new technologies and marketing.  It focuses on the roles of producer’s portfolio, project’s bible, producer’s package and pitching preparation. It helps identify a clear roadmap for project execution (target audiences, marketing and promotion, distribution strategies, production plans) and promotes co-production possibilities.

The programme is structured as a combination of group work, lectures, masterclasses, panels and case studies, with a practical orientation towards concrete progress of projects and participant’s skills. It offers an opportunity to present projects to a large group of selected decision-makers, representatives of the industry, funding bodies, broadcasters and sales agents and to pitch projects in front of the CEE Animation Forum audience.

Timeline

The programme consists of three workshops each lasting 6 days and taking place at a different location:

• 29 November – 5 December in Ljubljana, Slovenia
• March 2020 in Tallinn, Estonia
• May 2020 in Trebon, Czech Republic (merging with the CEE Animation Forum)

Who can apply

• with a project in development – This type of application is intended for a producer and one additional creative team member (director, scriptwriter) with an animated project of any format. Hybrid projects must contain at least 50% animation.
• without a project – This type of application is intended for individual professionals working in the field of animation.

All participants must come from one of the low production capacity countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Tunisia, Ukraine) and must be present at all workshop modules. No later substitutions are possible.

Participation fee

• Two participants with a project in development: 2,700.00 EUR
• One participant without a project: 1,800.00 EUR

The participation fee includes participation in the programme, online script consultancy sessions, accommodation and meals during the workshops. Costs of travel to/from the workshop location and any additional costs not listed above are not covered by the organiser. There is no registration fee for submitting your application.

You may submit a request for a scholarship through the application along with an explanation on why you would need it. CEE Animation Scholarship is granted as a partial reduction of the full fee, not as a complete exemption of payment. The amount granted to a project or an individual is based on the selection committee’s assessment of the state of animation in the applicant’s country and the submitted explanation.

The deadline to submit your application is 30 August.

You can apply by filling out the form on the following links:

• with a project in development (application must be submitted by the producer)
• without a project

We suggest you read the instructions and prepare all the required content before you start filling out the form. For any additional questions please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

CEE Animation Workshop is organized with the support of Creative Europe – MEDIA Programme of the European Union.

The 54^th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF), held from June 28^th through July 6^th, had two wins in store for Estonian films: with the world premiere at KVIFF, the documentary feature Immortal by Ksenija Okhapkina won the Grand Prix for the best documentary, and feature film Scandinavian Silence by Martti Helde won Europa Cinemas Label prize.

Immortal explores how citizens, whose utmost goal is to give their lives for their Fatherland and thus achieving immortality, are ‘bred’ in today’s Russia.

„It’s a film about people influenced by propaganda,“ Okhapina said. „After making the film, I, too, understand better what is going on in Russia, why people support the government and the political system that acts against them and their children.“

Immortal is the second collaboration between the Russian director Ksenija Okhapina and Estonian producer Riho Västrik. The film was produced by Vesilind OÜ in collaboration with Latvian film studio VFS Films.

Martti Helde’s black-and-white feature Scandinavian Silence won Europa Cinemas Label prize which is awarded only at Berlin, Venice Locarno, Cannes and Karlovy Vary film festivals. The prize was established in order to promote the reach and distribution of the awarded films.

„I’m particularly pleased because of Scandinavian Silence began its journey on festivals with such a high accolade. Europa Cinemas Label award is a hallmark that will help our film to travel and reach to considerably wider audiences. This is important for both the film itself but also for Estonian film in general,“ Helde said.

The film’s producer is Elina Litvinova from the film studio Three Brothers. The film is produced in collaboration with French and Belgian boutique distributors.

Listed as one of the category A film festivals, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival is one of the most prominent film events in Europe.

Additional information about the festival:

www.kviff.com

Additional information about the films:

Immortal – www.immortal.ee

Film’s trailer: https://vimeo.com/289813140

Scandinavian Silence – https://www.facebook.com/scandinaviansilence/

Film’s trailer: https://vimeo.com/314322683

Additional information:

Aurelia Aasa

Estonian Film Institute

International Distribution Coordinator

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

The following grants were announced by the Georgian National Film Center on 30 June and 9 July 2019.