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Table of Contents Welcome
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Our Tutors
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Professional Programmes
5
Projects 6 Victim 7 Blue Pelikan
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Blazing 9 Neither Voice
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Eviction 11 Eternity Package
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BUDAPEST DEBUT FILM FORUM
October 13 The Sweet Bitterness of Ripe Pomegranates Imprint: Art director: Zoltán Bukovics Editor: Zsuzsanna Deák Project coordinator: Genovéva Petrovits Festival director: Dániel Deák
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‘3 Dear Participants, Welcome to Budapest on the occasion of the first edition of the Budapest Debut Film Forum! From short to feature – this is the biggest leap a filmmaker can make. We, as the organizers of the Friss Hús Budapest International Short Film Festival try our best to help young talents to take this opportunity to move forward in their professional life. This is why we came up with the idea of the Budapest Debut Film Forum.
We sincerely hope that the two days that you will spend here in Budapest will contribute to your professional success. There is so much advice a first time filmmaker gets that it is very difficult to define the most important piece. But one thing is certain: the most challenging thing is to have the courage to be cruel with your own material when it’s necessary to drop something you love. We wish you clear eyes and clear ears during your whole artistic and production procedure! Your friends: Dániel Deák | festival director Genovéva Petrovits | project coordinator
BDFF is supported by the Hungarian National Film Fund and the Creative Europe Desk Hungary.
Budapest Debut Film Forum
This is our very first edition, and we are happy that you are embarking on this adventure with us. We have invited established industry professionals for you to meet, and hopefully the screenings and festival atmosphere at Friss Hús will also inspire you.
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Our Tutors Gabriel Paletz
Gabriel M. Paletz earned his first PhD from the University of Southern California in film studies with a minor in film production. He has since taught production from Addis Ababa to Prague, programmed films from Kosovo to Hong Kong, and is now writing a documentary-fiction series planned for Czech Television. He has published numerous scholarly essays and articles and has acted as film commentator on various radio programs in the US. He most recently served as consultant to the Ethiopian Aids Resource Center designing and teaching a seminar for the ARC artists on visual storytelling.
BUDAPEST DEBUT FILM FORUM
Wim Vanacker
After studying psychology in Belgium, Wim Vanacker moved to Dublin to work as a psychologist in the field of drug addiction. Three years later, he picked up studying again at EICAR where he made two shorts. After graduating, he discovered NISI MASA – European Network of Young Cinema where he became the Project manager of the MEDIA funded project, European Short Pitch. Furthermore, he’s a member of the Selection Committee for the Official Short Film Competition of the Cannes Film Festival and he works as a script consultant, creative advisor, tutor and guest speaker for many workshops, film festivals and projects in development. As a writer/ director, he’s currently developing the short films [ˈsɪə.ri.ə l ] and Psycho Revisited.
Balázs Lengyel
Balázs Lengyel is a Budapest based screenwriter-director who has studied filmmaking at London Film Academy, Binger Filmlab and several script development workshops. He has worked as a screenwriter on several feature films (Coyote, Lajkó – Gypsy in Space, The Valley) tv projects and the award winning HBO drama series Golden Life. As a script consultant at the Hungarian Film Fund he has helped numerous films enter production. He co-wrote and directed Lajkó – Gypsy in Space which is his directorial debut. The film went on to be screened at A category festivals including Warsaw Film Festival and PÖFF (Tallinn International Film Festival). Currently he's working as a freelance writerdirector developing numerous projects for TV and cinema as well as creating his second feature film.
Júlia Jakab
In 2013 Júlia graduated as a scriptwriter at the University of Theater and Film Arts in Budapest. Over the past ten years, she has been working on short films, features and TV series as a writer and script consultant, but has often tried herself in other areas of the film industry. Since February 2018, she has worked for the Hungarian National Film Fund as a script developer.
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Professional programmes
1st session: producers and directors Júlia Berkes – producer at Proton Cinema György Kristóf – director from Slovakia/Hungary His first feature film Out was presented in the Un Certain Regard competition in Cannes. Dragana Jovovic – producer at Non-Alignes Film Serbia Sára László – producer at Campfilm 2nd session: festival industry professionals, film fund Weronika Czolnowska – Head of Industry at New Horizons International Film Festival – Poland Dorina Oarga – Head of Industry at TIFF Transylvania Film Festival Francine Raveney – Project Manager at Eurimages With the support of Creative Europe Desk Hungary
The art of co-production masterclass by Ewa Puszczynska Ewa Puszczyńska is the producer of films like the Oscar winning Ida and Oscar nominated Cold War. Since 1995 she has been working for Opus Film, an independent film production company in Poland. In 2007 she was appointed by the Minister of Culture as an expert for the Polish Film Institute. In 2018 she co-founded NEM Corp. production company alongside Klaudia Śmieja and Jan Naszewski. In her masterclass, Ewa shares her experiences of co-producing films in Europe. In collaboration with CEE Animation, with the support of the Fast Forward Program of the HNFF
Welcoming first and second features at Eurimages Francine Raveney Francine works currently as a Project Manager specializing in gender equality at Eurimages. She is an expert in European co-productions. She regularly teaches at film schools, holds training courses and works as a project consultant in gender policy. She is committed to bringing good communication and equality in the audiovisual sector.
Budapest Debut Film Forum
Roundtable – How realistic is to produce a first feature film as an international co-production? Moderator: Matthieu Darras, CEE Animation, Pop Up Film Residency
BUDAPEST DEBUT FILM FORUM
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Projects
Victim / Obeť (Slovakia)
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Director: Michal Blaško Script: J. Medvecký, T. Hrubý Producer: Jakub Viktorin Production company: nutprodukcia Homepage: nutprodukcia.sk Contact: jakub.viktorin@gmail.com Other industry events: Connecting Cottbus 2018, When East Meets West 2018, Cinefondation’s Atelier 2019
Summary:
What could be the consequences of a child's lie.
People turn Irina and Igor into their mascots. The ensuing march against violence deteriorates into a violent neo-Nazi campaign. When at the last moment Irina tries to call it off, she confronts the resistance of the mechanism and she has to continue what her son began, lie, and take part in the march as a victim. The aftermath of the events is too severe for both to bear without any consequences or with a clear conscience.
Budapest Debut Film Forum
Synopsis: Irina (40), a single mother from Ukraine, lives with her son Igor (13) in a small Czech town. One night, when Irina discovers that Igor has been assaulted by three attackers, her whole world comes crashing down. When Igor wakes up from anaesthesia, he claims that the attackers were Roma. As Irina fights for justice, she demands that Czech society rise up and punish the culprits. As times goes on, she begins to spot inconsistencies in her son’s account of the attack. Ultimately, Igor admits to having made up the whole story and that it is not the only thing that he was keeping a secret.
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Blue Pelikan / Kék Pelikan (Hungary) Director: László Csáki Producer: Ádám Felszeghy, Miklós Kázmér Production company: Umbrella Homepage: umbrella.tv Contact: felszeghy.adam@umbrella.tv Other industry events: HNFF Incubator Program 2019
Summary:
What is freedom for, if you cannot use it? Blue Pelikan is an animated documentary about the international train ticket forgery fever of 90s Hungary. Three friends hack the system to travel cheaply, but can they get away with it?
BUDAPEST DEBUT FILM FORUM
Synopsis: Blue Pelikan is an animation-documentary film, which guides its audience to 1990s’ Hungary. After the fall of the Iron Curtain, it is finally allowed to travel to Western Europe, but it is extremely expensive. Anyhow, young people wanted to go. The film tells the story of three young friends, who decide to forge international train tickets, so they can travel across Europe. Their work actually makes travelling possible for a whole generation. However, the Hungarian Railway Company and the Police Department start to investigate on the case after the increasing number of travellers busted. The three young men have to clean up and flee. Not all of them succeed. Blue Pelikan refers to the indigo paper, which made the tickets easy to fake. A nostalgia-roadmovie based on real life interviews with train ticket forgers, investigators, and travellers featuring a lot of ‘90s music and pop cultural references.
Blazing / Begyulladva (Hungary)
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Director: Balázs Dudás Producer: Gábor Kovács Production company: Filmpartners Homepage: www.filmpartners.hu Contact: gabor.kovacs@filmpartners.hu Other industry events: HNFF Incubator Program 2019
Summary:
Blazing is a twisted bildungsroman, with dramatic and comic elements: the young protagonist is unwilling to accept what the rural industrial town’s society can offer or its expectations, therefore he isolates himself and revolts by taking his own path, leading to risky and illegal situations.
During one of his illegal parties at the town’s abandoned pools, Dávid meets the woman of his dreams, Anna, who, in need of help, moves to theirs. Anna gets pregnant and Dávid tries to alter his ways. From this point onwards he leads a double life: his girlfriend and dad believe that he has a suit-wearing job, while with his friends he ups the ante of selling protein-powder, stolen from the Incinerator. His immersion in illegal business activities with the underworld creates increasingly risky situations and puts pressure on Dávid.
Budapest Debut Film Forum
Synopsis: 20 year old Dávid lives the life of a delinquent youth in a decaying industrial town: he hangs out on the streets, partakes in petty crimes, and is always up for mischief and substance-abuse. He is unwilling to follow his father’s example: jeopardising his health for minimum wage in the Incinerator, where defective products of multinational companies get destroyed, the only local job opportunity. His mother left years ago; she could not stand his father’s violence, who Dávid is angry with and also despises. However, being shrewd and ambitious, he stands out; and has new ideas for making money and parties.
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Neither Voice / Noben glas (Slovenia) Director: Ester Ivakič Producer: Jerca Jerič Production company: Temporama Homepage: www.temporama.si Contact: jerca@temporama.si Other industry events: MAIA Workshop 2018, Propro Workshop 2019
Summary:
A tomboyish countryside girl is the boss of her little world in the family backyard. She opposes change in her everyday life and strives for perfection. Everything runs smoothly until she is rejected from the school choir, her neighbor starts taking the family land, and her father starts having an affair.
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Synopsis: Wild-at-heart Ida (10) is a girl with a tendency for fantasy and daydreaming, growing up in the countryside of 1972 Slovenia, Yugoslavia. She is protective of her environment and constantly supervises every corner of the family front yard in order to keep everything in her life exactly where it’s supposed to be. Ida is driven and determined to be the best at everything she takes up which is why she decides to join the school choir even though she’s a terrible singer. This provokes ridicule from her schoolmates. After accidentally finding out about her Dad’s affair, Ida and her Mom spend the summer at her Aunt’s place in Serbia where she befriends a local loser, learns about acceptance of inevitable change in life and slowly starts to enjoy herself. By the end of the summer, she has to return home where she faces the breakdown of her family and her grandma’s illness. Ida is therefore forced to adapt to the flow of life and to leave her childhood behind.
Eviction / Kilakoltatás (Hungary)
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Director: Máté Bence Fazekas Script: Máté Bence Fazekas Producer: Gábor Osváth, Péter Fülöp Production company: Filmfabriq Homepage: www.filmfabriq.hu Contact: info@filmfabriq.hu Other industry events: HNFF Incubator Program 2019
Summary:
A heroic battle between a ambitious young court bailiff and a desperate old lady who is about get evicted from her home.
Richard is trying to hide the impossible situation from his father, but he gets to the location and starts to give orders to his son, in order to fix the problem. This just makes Richard more angry and impatient. Moreover, there is also Richard’s sister, around the house with a group of human rights activists, protecting the lady’s house with a human chain. Richard gets to know the old lady more, and a strange relationship starts to grow as they try to communicate with each other. By the end of the day, when he finally gets into her house, and the police takes her, Richard sees in her only a desperate person trying to protect her home rather than an annoying grumpy old lady who is there to make his day miserable. Richard has to realise that he cannot do this job anymore, and he must step on his own path and leave his father’s business.
Budapest Debut Film Forum
Synopsis: Richard, a young court bailiff’s first case is to evict an old lady, but she starts threatening him that she is going to blow herself up with a gas cylinder if he enters the house. Richard thinks she is just bluffing. But the lady carries on with the threat and more and more authorities appear in front of the house: police, firemen, ambulance, the gas-, water-, and electricity company, the special forces, and even a hostage negotiator.
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Eternity Package / Noben glas (Bulgaria) Director: Magdelena Ilieva Script: Magdelena Ilieva, Jonathan Heidelberger Producer: Martichka Bozhilova Production company: Agitprop Homepage: www.agitprop.bg Contact: producer@agitprop.bg Other industry events: First Films First 2018
Summary:
A struggling funeral agent and an elderly client, who claims she knows the date of her funeral, form an improbable friendship. As one’s life just gets going, the other’s is winding down fast, but both need each other more than they’d like to admit, in order to face the challenges of contemporary Bulgaria’s small town life. Synopsis: Bobby, a struggling funeral agent, travels around his declining hometown in his beat-up old hearse in the dead of summer, trying to find clients. Despite his competitor having all the connections and exploiting death with no conscience, Bobby still has a small niche in the market with his big heart and compassionate attitude. But after struggling alone with his mother’s cancer and losing her a year ago, Bobby’s heart is worn out.
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His estranged father, who abandoned the family long time ago arrives drunk in the middle of the night. Unable to forgive him, Bobby sends him away. As a result, his father falls into an open grave in the cemetery and dies. At his funeral, former dancer Anka approaches Bobby and asks him to make her own funeral in two weeks. But how can she schedule her death so precisely? Bobby, desperate for clients, has no choice but to take her money. But in return for accepting this weird job, he insists she use her dance expertise to help him organize dance lessons at the local retirement home in the weeks before her funeral. He figures this is a great opportunity for him to sell his Eternity packages. There – as well as an impetus for Anka to change her mind. But Bobby’s father comes back to haunt him when the ownership of the funeral agency, originally founded by his parents, is contested. This forces Bobby into a last conflict with his father who manages to irk him even from the grave. As the two weeks pass, an unexpected friendship develops between Bobby and Anka and now he doesn’t want to see her go. With little time left, Bobby desperately tries to regrow love where it has been blighted in the past. He does it first for Anka’s sake, and then for his own redemption.
October (Romania)
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Director: Cristian Pascariu Script: Cristian Pascariu Producer: Oana Giurgiu, Bogdan Craciun Production company: Libra Film Productions Homepage: www.librafilm.net Contact: oana.giurgiu@librafilm.net Other industry events: Connecting Cottbus 2018
Summary:
Just after celebrating his 18th birthday, Ciprian is asked to spend the night in a claustrophobic apartment – to prevent the suicide of his father’s best friend. As they recount each others’ lives, an unexpected bond develops.
The apartment’s crammed space makes everyone a bit more sincere about their feelings. Ciprian’s father, who finally arrives to join his son to be with Mircea later that night, is no exception. Mircea’s daughter eventually arrives to console him. During this long night, Ciprian has learned to break away from childhood and become a responsible adult. And to come to terms with the absurdities of life that he had been struggling with.
Budapest Debut Film Forum
Synopsis: Ciprian has just celebrated his 18th birthday with friends, who took him to an erotic massage parlour. Ciprian just wants to get away and spend the rest of the day in peace. Regrettably, another unwanted birthday surprise awaits him: his father asks him to help out with his suicidal best friend, Mircea. Mircea had sent a message threatening to take his own life, so Ciprian and his father go to his apartment to convince him otherwise. Ciprian is soon left alone to deal with Mircea. He begins to jump from story to story to make Mircea feel that life matters. But soon he understands that he has to be vulnerable in front of Mircea if he wants to make a connection.Increasingly at ease, they reminisce about the little things that once had meaning for each of them, their stories being funny and absurd at the same time.
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The Sweet Bitterness of Ripe Pomegranates / Slatkata gorcina na zrelite kalinki (Macedonia) Director: Andrey Volkashin Script: Andrey Volkashin Producer: Elena Staniseva Production company: VEDA Film Productions Contact: elena.staniseva@gmail.com Other industry events: Torino Filmlab Scriptlab 2019
Summary:
A middle-aged Macedonian housewife begins to lose her mind when she is confronted with the contradictions between her past morality and her current actions.
BUDAPEST DEBUT FILM FORUM
Synopsis: After the tragic death of her younger sister, the life of a prematurely retired nurse Dora (46), revolves around her demented mother Cveta (76), her teenage son Metodi (17) and her husband DimitriI (48), who is the town’s mayor. Dora is afraid that something may be wrong with her son, who spends his time making terrifying sculptures out of driftwood. One night, coming home from work, Dimitri finds a wounded girl shivering by the side of the road – Llilith (29). Dora decides to nurse her back to health in her own house. When Lilith wakes up, it becomes clear that she has no memory of her life before. The only place where she feels safe is Dora’s house. Dora feels as if she knows her from a past life. Having her there makes everything better, until the day Cveta disappears during a violent storm. Dora has a full breakdown and Lilith is the only person to comfort her. A seemingly innocent kiss on the cheek turns into a passionate sexual encounter between the two women. Being deeply traditional and religious, Dora starts to see Lilith as a demon that evokes sinful actions. She asks her to leave the house, but Lilith has no place to go. Desperate, she threatens Dora that she’ll tell Metodi what happened between them, if she is forced to leave. Dora starts losing her mind. On Dimitri’s name day celebration, she poisons Lilith by changing her recovery pills. When she comes back to check Lilith’s corpse in the middle of the night, she finds her son standing in the dark room. He tells his mother that he understood when she helped his aunt Vesna die, because she was in so much pain. But now that she has killed Lilith, he just sees that she is a psychopath. Desperate and completely deranged, Dora wanders barefoot through the woods and encounters one of her son’s monstrous sculptures that has miraculously come to life.
Budapest Debut Film Forum
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A short w eek
finally.
25.-31. 0 3.
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