Institute of Documentary Film
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- creative documentary films in development and after completion -
EAST EUROPEAN FORUM AND EAST SILVER
The ninth East European Forum was so far the largest meeting of East European documentary filmmakers with Europe's leading commissioning editors, distributors, buyers and film fund representatives. Directors and independent producers offer their projects for co-production, pre-sale or other forms of financial support. Since its foundation in 2001, the Forum has become a prestigious meeting place that has hosted 495 East European filmmakers and producers, 64 commissioning editors and dozens of international distributors, buyers and festival programmers. This year's preparatory workshop, sidebar programme and public pitching were attended by more than 160 documentary professionals. Along with the East Silver documentary market, the Forum opens the industry section at the Jihlava IDFF.
This year's East Silver Market welcomed the largest number of sales agents, distributors and festival programmers in its history, presentd a selection of some of the best films in its digital video library, and introduced the new Silver Eye Award.
The East European Forum and East Silver provide support for East European documentary films in the initial development stage, an overview of funding options for documentary projects, an outline of different paths available for films both prior and after completion, creative workshops, meetings between 50 East European documentary filmmakers and representatives of European broadcasters, film funds, distributors and festival programmers, as well as follow-up support for the distribution of completed films in the television and festival markets.
RESULTS
SPECIFIC RESULTS OF THE 2009 EAST EUROPEAN FORUM PITCH SESSIONS
The first day of the Forum was most successful for Salome Jashi's Restaurant Bakhmaro and Those Who Work There. Pre-buy or acquisition options will be considered by Tomasz Kolankiewicz from Poland's TVP, Marje Jurtshenko from ETV2, Estonia, Wim van Rompaey from Belgium's Lichtpunt or Barbara Wiesing from the Dutch IKON; the film also holds interest for Cynthia Kane from ITVS (USA), Kamila Zlatušková from Czech TV, and Cynthia López from POV – PBS (USA); Rialda Ocuz from BHRT (Bosnia and Herzegovina) offered financial commitment to the filmmakers. The Czech-Icelandic Iceland: A Bankrupt Nation by Sigurður Hallmar Magnússon also did well: Marje Jurtshenko from ETV2 might go with pre-buy; the film could also receive support from Tom Casciato, Wide Angle/WNET.ORG (USA); Wim van Rompaey from Lichtpunt, and Charlotte Gry Madsen from Denmark's DR TV. The Saturday session brought a lot of promise for the Bulgarian project The Last Black Sea Pirates and Sir Norman Foster, which was offered support from Kathrin Brinkmann from ZDF/ARTE (Germany), Cynthia López from POV - PBS, Marje Jurtshenko from ETV2, Tom Casciato from Wide Angle/WNET.ORG, Charlotte Gry Madsen from DR TV, Heribert Schneiders from MDR, or Tomasz Kolankiewicz from TVP; the project was the only one of Saturday's offerings to have grabbed the attention of Jenny Westergard from YLE (Finland). Recycling by Hungarian director Gyula Nemes received financial commitment from Czech TV; further support might come from Martina Šantavá, HBO; Rialda Ocuz from BHRT, Claudia Bucher from ARTE (France) and Kathrin Brinkmann from ZDF/ARTE. Ms Brinkmann also offered assistance to The New World by Estonian director Jaan Tootsen and producer Jaak Kilmi; the project might secure support from Barbara Wiesing, IKON, and Charles Schuerhoff, PBS. Promising offers seem to lie ahead for Rozálie Kohoutová's Czech project Kytlice, Zimmer Frei that might be picked up by Claudia Bucher from ARTE and Heribert Schneiders from MDR; the story was also intriguing for Alena Müllerová from Czech TV. Hunting Bears by the Croatian filmmakers Marko Rukavina and Marko Prpić received support from Charles Schuerhoff from PBS; pre-buy will be considered by Hjalmar Palmgren from Sweden's SVT, Martina Šantavá from HBO and Marje Jurtshenko from ETV2. Beast, a Bulgarian project by Vesela Kazakova and Mina Mileva scored with MDR, Knowledge (Canada) as well as Cynthia Kane from ITVS. The Austrian Aftermath by director Raphael Barth also received favourable reactions at the Forum, garnering support from Cynthia López, POV – PBS; Tom Casciato, Wide Angle/WNET.ORG, and Caroline Coutts from Knowledge who - like Jenny Ross from Al Jazeera - met with the filmmakers. Following Saturday's pitch, Croatian director Hrvoje Mabić and his Sick may look forward to getting support from Cynthia Kane, ITVS, and Wim van Rompaey, Lichtpunt. Alena Müllerová from Czech TV is considering acquisition in the case of Draculatura by Romanian director Cecilia Felmeri; Tom Casciato from Wide Angle/WNET.ORG also showed interest in the project.
The second day of pitching, which introduced the six remaining projects, brought great success for Finnish filmmaker Mika Mattila and his Leaping Over the Dragon’s Gate. Offers of support were meade by Cynthia López from POV, Charlotte Gry Madsen from DR TV, Caroline Coutts from Knowledge, Hjalmar Palmgren from SVT, Kathrin Brinkmann from ZDF/ARTE, and Cynthia Kane from ITVS. The Czech project Yallah! Underground by Farid Eslam will negotiate support options with POV and Wide Angle, ITVS, Al Jazeera, ZDF/ARTE and Lichtpunt. The participating commissioning editors were impressed by the trailer of Latvia's Larger Than Life by Gints Grube that will get assistance from Hjalmar Palmgren, SVT; Kathrin Brinkmann, ZDF/ARTE, and Charles Schuerhoff, PBS. Dragan Wende – West Berlin, a German-Serbian project by Vuk Maksimovič and Lena Müller might be taken up by Cynthia López from POV, Caroline Coutts from Knowledge, Charles Schuerhoff from PBS, and Rialda Ocuz from BHRT.
Despite the positive feedback, the filmmakers still have ahead of them long negotiations over the specific form of support offered by particular broadcasters or funds.
RESULTS OF THE EAST EUROPEAN FORUM AND EX ORIENTE FILM OVER THE PAST YEAR
The current edition of the East European Forum and Ex Oriente Film brings so far the best results scored by films that received its support in the past. Since 2001, more than 49 films have been made with the help of the Forum, with more films completed each year. In 2009, a number of these received top honours at major international festivals.
Rabbit a la Berlin, a Polish documentary film by Bartek Konopka, Piotr Rosolowski and Anna Wydra, received the Award for Best Short Documentary at Canada's Hot Docs; after several more trophies from international festivals, the film was also selected for the prestigious DocuWeek organized by the International Documentary Assocation (IDA) in Los Angeles and NYC. Macedonian director Atanas Georgiev and his co-production feature doc Cash & Marry received an award at Visions du réel, Switzerland; Moon Inside You by Diana Fabiánová was included in the Critics Week section at the Locarno IFF. Among other awarded films, let us mention, for instance, Sevdah by Croatian filmmaker Marina Andree or the Estonian Disco & Atomic War by Jaak Kilmi; a number of other films begin their festival run at documentary festivals taking place this autumn. 14 documentaries that were completed last year with the support of the East European Forum and Ex Oriente Film were presented in the festival programme or the East Silver Market.
GUESTS
EAST EUROPEAN FORUM PARTICIPANTS
EX ORIENTE FILM WORKSHOP PROJECTS
Svetoslav Stoyanov, Vanya Rainova (d.), Anna Stoyeva - AGITPROP Ltd. (p.) (THE LAST BLACK SEA PIRATES AND SIR NORMAN FOSTER); Tereza Tara (FILTERING MY DESTINY); Rozálie Kohoutová (d.), Martina Knoblochová – FAMU - Hypermarket Film (p.) (KYTLICE, ZIMMER FREI); Farid Eslam (d.),
Dana Wilson - Mortal Coil Media; Farid Eslam, Mind Riot Media (p.) (YALLAH! UNDERGROUND); Salome Jashi (d.), Anna Dziapshipa, Nino Orjonikidze - Sakdoc Film (p.) (RESTAURANT BAKHMARO AND THOSE WHO WORK THERE); Marko Rukavina, Marko Prpic (d.), Jana Śivak, Nukleus U. (p.) (HUNTING BEARS); Gergő Somogyvári (d.),Sára László - Campfilm Ltd.(p.) (DISCO TRANSIT); Mindaugas Survila (d.), Giedre Beinoriute, Jurga Gluskiniene - Studio Monoklis (p.) (THE FIELD OF MAGIC); Gints Grube (d.), Inese Boka - Mistrus Media Ltd. (p.) (LARGER THAN LIFE); Cecilia Felmeri (d.), Róbert Lakatos - Argo Audiovisual Association (p.) (DRACULATURA); Laura Capatana Juller (d.), Alexandru Solomon - Hifilm Productions (p.) (LONESOME SPRINGTIME); Vuk Maksimovič & Lena Müller, Dragan Petrović (d.), Lena Müller - von.müller.film (p) (DRAGAN WENDE – WEST BERLIN); Mladen Matičević, Mladen Matičević- Starhill d.o.o. (d.+ p.) (RUN FOR LIFE).
EAST EUROPEAN FORUM PROJECTS
Vesela Kazakova, Mina Mileva (d. + p.) (BEAST); Karel Vachek (d.), Radim Procházka and Mikuláš Novotný (p.) (THE OBSCURANTIST AND HIS LINEAGE); Sigurður Hallmar Magnússon (d.), Veronika Janatková (p.) (ICELAND: A BANKRUPT NATION); Jaan Tootsen (d.), Jaak Kilmi (p.) (THE NEW WORLD); Mika Mattila (d.), Markku Niska (p.) (LEAPING OVER THE DRAGON'S GATE); Csaba Szekeres (d.), Szabolcs Győrffy (p.) (THE GLASS CAGE); Gyula Nemes (d.+ p.) (RECYCLING); Raphael Barth (d.), Arash T. Riahi – Golden Girls Prod. (p.) (AFTERMATH); Hrvoje Mabić (d.), Magdalena Petrović (p.) (SICK).
COMMISSIONING EDITORS AND OTHER EAST EUROPEAN FORUM GUESTS
The East European Forum hosted the largest number of commissioning editors, buyers, sales agents, distributors and film fund representatives in its history; invited professionals assessed the 23 East European documentary projects to select suitable additions for their slots or portfolios: CLAUDIA BUCHER - ARTE G.E.I.E. Strasbourg (France), TOM CASCIATO - WNET.ORG/THIRTEEN (USA), CAROLINE COUTTS - Knowledge (Canada), SILKE HEINZ - MDR (Germany), MARJE JURTSHENKO - ETV2 (Estonia), CYNTHIA KANE - ITVS International (USA), CYNTHIA LÓPEZ - American Documentary/POV - PBS (USA), CHARLOTTE GRY MADSEN - DR TV (Denmark), HERIBERT SCHNEIDERS - MDR (Germany), CHARLES SCHUERHOFF - PBS INTERNATIONAL (USA), WIM VAN ROMPAEY - LICHTPUNT (Belgium), JENNY WESTERGARD - YLE (Finland), BARBARA WIESSING - IKON (Netherlands), GENA TEODOSIEVSKA - MRT (Macedonia), MARTINA ŠANTAVÁ - HBO Czech Republic (Czech Republic), MONIKA MIKUŠOVÁ - STV (Slovakia), JENNIFER ROSS - Al Jazeera English (UK), MILAN KRUML - TV NOVA (Czech Republic), RIALDA OCUZ - BHRT (Bosnia and Herzegovina), KAMILA ZLATUŠKOVÁ - Czech Television (Czech Republic).
EAST SILVER MARKET GUESTS
JULIE D’ADAMO - Stefilm International (Italy), FILIPPO D’ANGELO - Vitagraph (Italy), CHRISTIAN BEETZ - Gebrueder Beetz Filmproduktion (Germany), CLAUDIA BUCHER - ARTE G.E.I.E. Strasbourg (France), CATHERINE LE CLEF - CAT&Docs (France), ANAIS CLANET – Wide Management (France), HEINO DECKERT - Deckert Distribution (Germany), CÉLINE DHERBECOURT - Insomnia World Sales (France), SEAN FARNEL - Hot Docs (Canada), KATE FEENY - Taskovski Films (Czech Republic), DANIELLE DIGIACOMO - Indiepix Films (USA), BENOIT GRYSPREERDT - independent producer (France), ALICE HAMLETT - TVF International (UK), ANDREA HOCK - Autlook Filmsales (Austria), LAURIEN TEN HOUTEN - IDFA (Netherlands), DUŠAN JURČÍK - Czech TV (Czech Republic), CYNTHIA KANE - ITVS International (USA), STEFAN KLOOS - Kloos & Co. Medien (Germany), TOMASZ KOLANKIEWICZ - TVP Kultura (Poland), PHILIPPA KOWARSKY - Cinephil Productions (Israel), MILAN KRUML, DANIELA KUZMANOVA - BNT (Bulgaria), ANNE LIBOT - Sunny Side of the Doc (France), CHARLOTE GRY MADSEN - DR TV (Denmark), MONIKA MIKUŠOVÁ - STV (Slovakia), RIALDA OCUZ - BHRT (Bosnia and Herzegovina), JARMILA OUTRATOVÁ - Taskovski Films (Czech Republic), AYSE POFFET - First Hand Films (Switzerland), JENNIFER ROSS - Al Jazeera English (UK), CHARLES SCHUERHOF - PBS International (USA), MARTINA ŠANTAVÁ - HBO Czech Republic (Czech Republic), IRENA TASKOVSKI - Taskovski Films (UK), GENA TEODOSIEVSKA - MRT (Macedonia), KIMBERLEY ANWEN WARNER - Journeyman Pictures (UK), KATARZYNA WILK - Krakow Film Foundation (Poland).
AWARDS
SILVER EYE AWARD
The 13th Jihlava IDFF marked the inaugural edition of the SILVER EYE AWARDS, presented to best East Silver documentary films. The Awards were handed out in the short, mid-length and feature categories, with 11 nominees in each, voted by an international jury of film professionals.
Apart from the prize money, all nominated films will festival support throughout the whole year; they will be submited to international festivals and markets, and recommended to international broadcasters.
CATEGORY: Short Documentary
Six Weeks directed by Marcin Janos Krawcyk, Poland
Special mention for Arsy-Versy directed by Miro Remo, Slovakia
CATEGORY: Mid-Length Documentary
Rabbit a la Berlin directed by Bartek Konopka, Poland/ Germany (participated in the Ex Oriente Film Workshop and pitched at the East European Forum 2005)
Special mention for The Sidetrack directed by Anna Kazejak, Poland
CATEGORY: Feature Documentary
Disco and Atomic War directed by Jaak Kilmi, Estonia/Finland (pitched at the East European Forum 2007)
Short Documentary jury
Danielle DiGiacomo, Consultant, Producer Tribeca Gucci Fund / IFP / Dandig Productions, USA
Catherine Le Clef, Head of Acquisitions & Sales, CAT & Docs, France
Jenny Ross, Acquisitions WITNESS Programme, Al Jazeera English, UK
Mid-Length Documentary Jury
Charlotte Gry Madsen, Sales and Programme Consultant, DR International Sales / DR - Danish Broadcasting Corp., Denmark
Philippa Kowarsky, Managing Director, Cinephil, Israel
Charles Schuerhof, Director of Acquisitions & Sales, PBS International, USA
Feature Documentary Jury
Anais Clanet, International Sales, Wide Management, France
Sean Farnel, Director of Programming, Hot Docs, Canada
Cynthia Kane, Programming Manager, ITVS Television's Independent Voice / ITVS International, USA
GOGOLA'S I LOVE MY BORING LIFE WON THE CZECH JOY SECTION
Jihlava IDFF's Czech Joy section presented top honours to Jan Gogola, Jr.'s I Love My Boring Life, one of five films included in the collection Breathless, Dominance of the Moment.
Gogola's latest creative documentary film involves diary entries of an ordinary woman from Prague’s neighbourhood of Zbraslav, transformed from an account of daily family life, weather observations and political events into a surreal approach to eternity. "I believe that we succeeded in making both an entertaining and a serious film about the possible worlds within one house," says the established director, script editor and tutor. Apart from this film, the collection Breathless, Dominance of the Moment consists of another Czech and three German documentaries that are related to the subject of time: a cinematic treatment of time as a physical quantity (Phantom of Liberty II, dir. Karel Žalud); a documentary about the rendering of a John Cage composition in a German church, set to last 639 years (One Day Today Will Be Once, dir. Anca Miruna Lazarescu); a depiction of a post-industrial landscape in Montana, USA (Milltown, Montana, dir. Rainer Komers), and an eternal moment that occurs during a car accident (Time's Up, dir. Marie-Catherine Theiler and Jan Peters). The gala premiere of the collection took place at the Jihlava IDFF and DOK Leipzig. The unique Czech-German project that enabled the development of these experimental documentaries was co-organized by Zipp - Czech-German Cultural Projects, the Prague-based Institute of Documentary Film, and DOK Leipzig. For more information, please visit www.Breathless-Films.com.
EAST EUROPEAN FORUM AWARDS
IDFA FORUM AWARD
With Adriek van Nieuwenhuyzen, Head of IDFA Industry Office, among the jury members, this year's IDFA Forum Award went to Bulgaria. The authors of The Last Black Sea Pirates and Sir Norman Foster will have a chance to present their project at Europe's largest co-production meeting that is part of IDFA (Amsterdam, Netherlands).
GOLDEN FUNNEL AWARD
The Golden Funnel Award was presented at the Closing Ceremony to The Field of Magic by Mindaugas Survila. The tutors of the pitch workshop recognized the Lithuanian project as one to have made the most dramatic improvement over the four days. Based on an arrangement with IDF, the authors will receive tailored support; the project will be backed at a selected international festival or market, tutors and IDF will help the authors in contacting potential funders and, throughout the year, IDF will provide promotion across Europe.
EAST EUROPEAN FORUM AND EAST SILVER PROGRAMME - JIHLAVA IDFF INDUSTRY PROGRAMME
In addition to a number of non-public lectures and script editing sessions designed for the participants, the East European Forum and the East Silver market opened its doors to other film professionals at the Jihlava IDFF. The Open Programme focused especially on networking among all industry guests.
EAST SILVER CO-PRODUCTION BREAKFAST
French Co-production Breakfast
The first of three breakfasts hosted by East Silver Market focused on the French documentary industry with special guest Catherine Le Clef. As the former head Doc & Co and the current Senior Vice President TV and Ancillary Sales at Fortissimo Films, Catherine has started a new company, CAT&Docs which is dedicated to the promotion and sales of world class documentaries.
The very talented young producer, Cécile Lestrade of Alter Ego Production will also attend, along with Benoit Gryspreerdt of French Cuisine Production, producer Marie Clemence Paes of Laterit Productions and Gabriel Chabanier of Galatica Group, a new collective ‘adventure' that comprises ten existing companies who have banded together to produce topic-specific films. All guests shared their international sales expertise and offered advice and opportunities to the East European documentary industry about co-productions, funds and broadcasters in France.
German Co-production Breakfast
On the morning of Saturday October 31st, East Silver hosted a breakfast dedicated to the German documentary film & television industry. Selected guests presented their companies and propose their newest initiatives. The breakfast is an open forum to discuss the latest opportunities for East Europeans with German partners in production and distribution. Guests included Stefan Kloos of the world sales and distribution company Rise and Shine and the CEO and producer of Kloos & Co., Christian Beetz of Gebrüder Beetz Filmproduktion, one of the few German production companies specializing in the worldwide production and distribution of documentary programs, Heino Deckert of Deckert Distribution and Anne-Kathrine Brinkmann from ZDF/ARTE. Also attended by Daniel Saltzwedel of Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg Fund.
Breakfast with Finnish producers and directors
The last of three East Silver Breakfasts hosted Finnish filmmakers and producers on Sunday 1st of November. Among invited guests were Markku Niska of Navy Blue Bird Inc., Mikka Mattila, Katariina Lillqvist,Jenny Westergaard and others.
NETWORKING DINNERS
On Friday and Saturday night, the representatives of international broadcasters and funds, as well as distributors, sales agents and other professionals were invited to attend a dinner event with producers and directors of this year's East Silver market, current and former Ex Oriente Film participants, and Czech producers and directors. Both events aimed to facilitate meetings with potential financial or distribution partners.
WORKSHOPS
EX ORIENTE FILM
Like every year, the East European Forum was preceded by 5 days of Ex Oriente Film's last session and also 5 days of the Forum's pitch workshop.
Ex Oriente Film is an international year-long workshop of creative documentary film that supports the development and funding of creative documentary films in Central and Eastern Europe. During three residential sessions that take place over the course of one year, directors and producers receive assistance from established European producers, directors, tutors, AV experts and commissioning editors who offer help and expert advice regarding story and script development, financial strategy, and the search for international partners. Besides focusing on the storytelling and narrative approach, practical aspects and one-on-one consultations, the workshop also includes lectures on the basics of the European audiovisual market (legal and financial issues) and the strategies of independent production houses that operate in the European market. The participants receive invitations to major documentary festivals and markets, and their participation is backed by scholarships, arranged consultations and assistance in finding new industry contacts.
EX ORIENTE FILM WORKSHOP TUTORS
The following European and international documentary experts supervised the East European Forum pitch workshop and the 3rd session of the Ex Oriente Film workshop: TUE STEEN MÜLLER – Ex Oriente Film Head of Studies (Denmark), MARIJKE RAWIE - Head of Forum Workshop (Netherlands), MIKAEL OPSTRUP (Denmark), IIKKA VEHKALAHTI (Finland), PIETER VAN HUYSTEE (Netherlands), NIELS PAGH ANDERSEN (Denmark), SUSANNE GUGGENBERGER (Austria), ULDIS CEKULIS (Latvia), DANIELA STANÍKOVÁ (Czech Republic), EVŽENIE BRABCOVÁ (Czech Republic), DIANA FABIÁNOVÁ (Slovakia), ANNE LIBOT (France), LAURIEN TEN HOUTEN (The Netherlands) and MARKO SIMIĆ.
ARCHIDOC 2009
Archidoc was among the special events hosted by this year's industry programme. Archidoc, a traning programme organized by La fémis, Paris, is designed for European filmmakers whose projects use film archives. It supports the development of orginial archive-based film projects and assists documentary filmmakers to find their way in the international market. Archidoc took place in parallel with the Ex Oriente Film workshop, offering all attending professionals a number of open lectures and consultations.
ARCHIDOC TUTORS AND GUESTS:
Head Tutor of Archidoc 2009 - Erez Laufer, an Israeli director and editor who has made more than 20 documentary films (www.erezlauferfilms.com). He is among regular tutors at Greenhouse, New York, La fémis, Paris, and Israeli as well as other international film schools.
Mr Laufer's Mike Brant, Laisse – moi t'aimer received the 2002 Award for Best Documentary Film from the Israeli Film Academy, and the Directors' Fortnight Award at the 2003 Cannes IFF.
Cry of the Owl (2005) received the Special Award of the Jury at the Jules Verne Film Festival in Paris.
Other Tutors:
Serge Gordey (producer), Adrian Wood (film archive researcher), and Hubert Best (copyright law expert and legal counselor for the media and entertainment industry).
EAST EUROPEAN FORUM 2009 – INVENTORY OF CONSCIENCE!
There’s crises. The hole in peoples’ wallets is happily growing, we flip over every penny we spend for a visit to the cinema a dozen times. Belts are being dangerously tightened around television budgets. In the air of the global and documentary world hangs a question – do we still stand a chance?
After the recycled year 2008, the kitsch 2007 or sci-fi year 2005 comes a total Inventory check. Inventory of conscience. The artists Zdenek and Tereza Durdilovi will enwrap, pack and cover up this year’s East European Forum, so as to eventually slightly uncover all that we are hiding...
PHOTOS: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday.
Contact:
Ivana Pauerová Miloševič - programme, participation - ivana@docuinter.net
Hana Rezková - Projects follow-up, PR - hanka@docuinter.net
Zuzana Raušová - Press - pr@docuinter.net
http://dokweb.net/en/east-european-forum/
