As soon as on March 31 a new, jubilee edition of the EKRAN International Programme starts in Wajda School in Warsaw, Poland.
The programme began 10 years ago as an original idea of Wojciech Marczewski from Wajda School and Pierre Aghte from the Swiss FOCAL Foundation.
It is the only such programme in Europe, which combines project development and film production.
Watch the making of last year’s EKRAN here.
EKRAN is a Warsaw based international hands-on training programme designed for film professionals, which focuses on the creative pre-production stage, whose 10th edition is organized this year. The main idea behind the programme is to develop the project by producing two scenes from each script. EKRAN gives the opportunity to find the right tone and visual strategy of the film, develop the skills of telling a story with images, experiment with casting and rehearsals, develop all aspects of the marketing strategy of the film during the development stage. EKRAN is the only hands-on training programme in Europe aimed at developing directing and film production skills.
The projects selected to participate in this year’s EKRAN Programme are highly varied. Among them, there are such projects as genre hybrid (feature-documentary film) “Diana’s List” directed by Dana Budisavljević, or “Home Is Here” by a visual artist Tereza Kotyk. There is also a Lithuanian project “Baltic Affair” directed by Marius Ivaškevičus, one of the most important contemporary Lithuanian dramatists. Poland is represented by Adrian Panek, who made the famous “Daas”, with his “Werewolf” project and by Ksawery Szczepanik, a Wajda School graduate and the director of “Reconciliation”. Other projects are “Susan” directed by Pascal Bergamin (Switzerland), “Monster” directed by Kerstin Polte (Switzerland/Germany), “Open” directed by Orsi Nypal (Hungary) and “Rain” directed by Janno Jürgens (Estonia).
“The most creative time while making a film is the pre-production stage. It is the time when different ideas are tested and transferred from a sheet of paper onto the screen. Moreover, at this time, different visions of the future film that the director, writer, producer and DOP have are confronted. The everyday practice, however, proves that there is not enough space for any experiments with the cast, location or the visual aspect of the film at the pre-production stage. We give an opportunity to carry out such experiments during EKRAN” emphasizes Wojciech Marczewski, the founder of the EKRAN Programme. The programme is based on a unique method of creative development of feature films, which combines script development with the visualization process. In a condensed form of two 11-day sessions, EKRAN offers space and time to test ideas, to experiment and to make mistakes in order to avoid them later while shooting the film. This is how EKRAN helps to find the right tone for the film and develops the skills of telling a story with images.
The first session of the Programme’s jubilee edition starts on March 31 and lasts until April 10. The second session will be held from June 2 until June 12. We will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the EKRAN Programme with a cocktail party at this year’s Cannes Film Festival on May 19.
The tutors at EKRAN are some of the most distinguished masters of Polish and international cinema, such as Andrzej Wajda, Volker Schloendorff, Alexander Sokurov, Wojciech Marczewski, Jerzy Zieliński, Morgens Rukov (Denmark), Ildiko Enyedi (Hungary), Denijal Hasanovic, Udayan Prasad (UK), Paweł Pawlikowski, Witold Stok, Marilyn Milgrom (UK), Jan Fleischer (Czech Republic), Antoine Jaccoud (Switzerland), Roshanak Behesht Nedjad (Germany).
The films that have been produced basing on the screenplays developed during the EKRAN Programme since 2004:
- “It’s Me, Now” dir. Anna Jadowska: Best Debut Director award at Gdynia Film Festival in 2005,
- “Out of Bounds” dir. Fulvio Bernasconi: Silver Leopard for theBest Actor at Locarno International Film Festival in 2007,
- “Go with Peace Jamil” dir. Omar Shargawi, produced by Zentropa Entertainments: Tiger Award at Rotterdam International Film Festival in 2008,
- “Coeur animal / Animal Heart” dir. Séverine Cornamusaz: Swiss Film Prize for the Best Film in 2010,
- “Songs of Love and Hate” dir. Katalin Gödrös: showed at Locarno IFF, Rotterdam IFF, Warsaw Film Festival, Mannheim-Heildelberg IFF and Palm Springs IFF in 2011,
- “My Name Is Ki” dir. Leszek Dawid: Best Actress award at Gdynia Film Festival in 2011, Golden Duck (awarded by Polish magazine “Film”) for the Best Actress in 2011, showed during Venice Days at Venice IFF in 2011,
- “Fear of Falling” dir. Bartek Konopka: Golden Lion for the Best Debut Director at Gdynia IFF in 2011, Silver Gataway Award at Bombay IFF in 2011, Special Mention at Mannheim-Heidelberg IFF in 2011,
- “Daas” dir. Adrian Panek: Andrzej Munk Award for the Best Debut Director in 2011,
- “Courage” dir. Greg Zgliński: Flash Forward, Busan IFF in 2011,
- “Sohnemaenner” dir. Ingo Haeb: showed during Hamburg IFF in 2011,
- “Sanctuary” dir. Norah McGettigan, Polish-Irish co-production by Wajda Studio.
Among the newest films:
- “Viktoria” (2014) dir. Maya Vitkova: world premiere at Sundance Festival 2014, European premiere at Rotterdam Festival 2014,
- “Traumland” (2013) dir. Petra Volpe: Audience Award at Busan IFF, nominated to the Swiss Film Prize for the Best Film, Best Screenplay and Best Actress,
- “Two Lives” (2012) dir. Georg Maas: Germany’s official candidate for the Academy Award in 2013.
The following films will soon have their premieres: “Modris” dir. Juris Kursietis, “Cornea” dir. Jochem de Vries (Netherlands), “Summer Solstice” dir. Michał Rogalski (Poland), “Off Target” dir. Erik Bernasconi (Switzerland), “We Are Dead” dir. Tobias Noelle (Switzerland).
EKRAN 2014 is organized by Wajda Studio in cooperation with Wajda School (Poland) with the support of the MEDIA Programme and the Polish Film Institute. The participants from Poland are supported by the Agora Foundation (Poland), while EKRAN’s international partners are Swiss FOCAL Foundation, Austrian Film Institute, Croatian Audiovisual Centre, Lithuanian Film Centre and the International Visegrad Fund.
