WORLD OF SHORTS a shortfilm magazine published by daazo.com - the european shortfilm centre
the berlinale 2014 issue
Contents 5 Berlin and its Shorts - get up-to-date with the Berlinale’s short film programme and its platforms for emerging filmmakers, and marvel at the directors’ drawings about the selected films in the Mapping your Mind section
József Fülöp is an animation film director, producer and the head of the Media Institute at MOME - Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design in Budapest. One of his latest productions, Symphony no. 42 by Réka Bucsi is in the Berlinale Shorts programme this year. He discusses the changes in the teaching of animation on page 36.
35 Paper and Pencil - all you need to know before you start making your film: education, labs and helpful tools to consider 49 The Pitch Page - seven short film plans that are worth looking out for this year
Domenico La Porta is the editor in chief of Cineuropa.org and a transmedia architect based in Belgium. For World of Shorts, he has collected a bunch of the most useful digital tools which can make a filmmaker’s life easier (page 40).
61 Short Shavings - a celebration of short films with a bunch of interviews, essays, how-tos and other useful resources including a festival panorama and workshop agenda
Michał Oleszczyk is a film scholar based in Kraków, Poland. He is the artistic director of the Polish Film Festival in Gdynia and contributes regularly to RogerEbert.com. For this issue, he’s written about one of his all-time favourite shorts (page 62).
Cristina Grosan is an award-winning filmmaker, artist and the founding designer of World of Shorts. She shares with us her filmmaking credo on page 78.
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Contributors József Fülöp Best film festival? Berlinale - we are in competition, no question! If you were not an animator, what would you be? A musician. Your secret crush? I am still waiting for that... What do you look forward to most at a film festival? To watch, to meet! Favourite short film on Daazo? Swarming. Hitchcock or Kubrick? Kubrick!
Domenico La Porta Best film festival? e Sitges Film Festival. e location by the sea, the perfect timing, events like the Zombie walk or the Fantastic night combined with a cutting edge programmation help wrapping a surreal universe around genre film lovers. If you were not a film journalist, what would you be? Probably someone being paid to watch films… oh, wait... Your secret crush? It used to be Vera Farmiga but since I’ve told her, I can’t think of a new secret one...
What do you look forward to most at a film festival? Meeting people around the same centre of interests. Since the death of video clubs, festivals are where you meet those... Favourite short film on Daazo? at would be unfair to most of the best films on Daazo. Hitchcock or Kubrick? *K*U*B*R*I*C*K*
Michał Oleszczyk Best film festival? Toronto International Film Festival. e programming, the setting, the people - everything is just about perfect. If you were not a film journalist/critic, what would you be? A high school teacher in the United States, which is still my biggest dream. Your secret crush? Joan Cusack. And Paul Rudd. Not so secret now, I guess. What do you look forward to most at a film festival? Lack of pushiness and physical struggle. I like places that are laid back. Favourite short film on Daazo? Oh Willy... Hitchcock or Kubrick? Hitchcock.
Cristina Grosan Best film festival? e Berlinale. Awesome and varied films, both short and long, one type of queue (if you’ve ever queued in Cannes, you know what I mean) and a culturally damn interesting city. What would you be if you were not a filmmaker/ art designer? I tried acting, but I sucked. Your secret crush? Crush - not much of a secret as it is guilty: Miranda July. I'm a groupie. I'd rather cut a limb than lend you one of her books. (I'm still waiting for you to return that last one I lent you - yes, you! I hope you are reading this!) What do you look forward to most at a film festival? Sure, good films and parties are a must. But it's that festivity and enthusiasm in the air that makes even the most antisocial of us open and curious. Favourite short film on Daazo? Judit Kael, e Faint Possibility of Drowning Hitchcock or Kubrick? Kubrick. Nice guy. We share a birthday. I think we would have got along really well.
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PaPer anD PenCiL to get started The world of shorts never stops. We have been publishing the magazine since 2011. 3 years, which is quite enough time to go from promising talent to established professional. Or, for example, to realise a feature film project - as Ritesh Batra did with his debut feature e Lunchbox. He participated in the Berlinale Talent Campus (Now Berlinale Talents) in 2012 - he was one of the 300 lucky ones. And now he is the director of one of the most successful independent films - loved by film festivals and box offices alike, which is a rare combination. Sometimes the road is longer and more tortuous, but as Ritesh Batra has shown us, if you participate in the Berlinale Talents, you are on the right path. (You can find an interview with Ritesh Batra on page 10.) On the other hand, being successful in the film business is also a matter of preparation. Of course the budget, the technics, the postproduction are all very important, but to get the most out of your project, you need to get a piece of paper and a pencil first, sit down on the sofa or at your kitchen table - and start to think. And imagine. And plan. It doesn’t really cost anything, but perhaps this is the most neglected part in the the process of filmmaking.
words by Dániel Deák
inking is a universal tool. You can use it anywhere, at any stage of your projects. And we definitely believe that everything has to start with it - plus a piece of paper and a sharpened pencil. Of course it doesn’t have to be the end of the story. We think that nowadays young talents are the luckiest generation ever - there are heaps of opportunities both offline and online, which help them to get ready to realise their dreams. ere is a whole section in this issue dedicated to the importance of preparation - with articles by university professors, lab creators, and theorists to emphasise the importance of this topic. We add our own initiative, the Pitch Page, which is a great chance to share new short film plans with the industry and the audience (page 49). We also help you to be prepared for your festival strategy and your film's aerlife. (Find more about this on page 69.) It's always a pleasure to be at the Berlinale. It's a fresh start of the year. Full of ideas, full of inspiration - to see why, have a glimpse at the words and the image that Maike Mia Höhne, the curator of Berlinale Shorts, sent us (page 6). ey make us want to see the shorts programme immediately! We believe that the Berlinale issue of Daazo's World of Shorts magazine can become a useful tool for preparation - both for the filmmakers and the audience.
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berLinand its sHorts
The Berlinale always means a new start. The first A-list festival of the year, it’s like a beacon for the film industry: whether you like it or not, Berlin always dictates trends. Taking place in Europe’s arguably coolest city and offering an unusual and often controversial short film competition programme, the home of the Golden Bear is a must-visit for everyone who is into film: professionals and enthusiasts alike. Turn the page to read about the Berlinale Shorts selection and other cool Berlinale stuff! Maike Mia Höhne on Berlinale Shorts 2014, page 6 DOs and DON’Ts in Berlin, page 9 “All you need is one yes” - an interview with Ritesh Batra, page 10 Mapping your Mind, page 13 Berlinale Talents: fostering film careers, page 29 The Talents speak, page 32 WOSH by Daazo.com 5
ber Lin sHorts 2014 aLe
Find below the thoughts and a photo sent to us by the curator of Berlinale Shorts, Maike Mia Höhne, to express her feelings about this year’s selection.
photo by Maike Mia Höhne
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back to the material performance perfoming reflecting playing relaxing Videos from the street on the screen berlinale shorts edition 2014 gives space to explore discuss watch fall into think about different ways in life and film if you follow the heartbeat of the giraffes… but in summertime it gets too hot everything falls apart material itself is needed to get back to the essential in film the making painting drawing doing stop looking for someone else start making that's what these films are standing for for the making the recreation of thoughts on screen
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DOs and DOn’Ts in Berlin compiled by Zsuzsanna Deák, special thanks to Cristina Grosan We have asked a few Berlinale veterans for some advice for those who don’t know the place inside out. Here are their practical recommendations - follow these useful tips to make sure your festival runs smoothly and successfully.
DO
DOn’T
wear a very warm coat because Berlin in February tends to be extremely cold. Also, underneath you'll be sporting a funky party outfit - you never know at what party you'll end up tonight!
keep to yourself during these awesome 10 days. Talk to people, go to screenings of films you've never heard of before - you might be watching the next Golden Bear winner. And last but not least, do share your WOSH!
queue for the Berlinale Shorts tickets in time. Everyone wants to see the fresh faces of film and you do, too. Just make sure you plan everything in time!
stress too much about party invites. ere are so many parties each night, at least one invitation is bound to find you (unless you're a caveman, in which case you'll be holding this magazine in your hotel room, for the whole duration of the Berlinale - this we wouldn't really mind, we're attached to our WOSH as well)!
make a priority list for the films you want to see. Have alternatives - this is a very popular festival, and the "sold out" phrase will soon be on everyone's lips at the box office. go the top floor of the Sony Center to admire the changing lights of the amazing cupola. get up early, have your coffee while you queue for tickets - you'll thank us later, when you'll be bragging to your friends about what Wes Anderson was wearing on the opening night. make sure you have business cards, DVDs etc. on you and that you're able to pitch your next project in less than 2 minutes - who knows with whom you'll be sharing the li next!
try to take photos at press conferences - you will be told off! judge the films with immediate and hasty, critical one-liners during the screenings. Many filmmakers watch short films at festivals and you might make them feel terrible. wait for the stars outside the Hyatt aer press conferences - you will be disappointed and probably catch a cold. be shy: do go and say hi to people you’ve always admired (like filmmakers, actors or star journalists) - they might turn out to be extremely friendly and approachable.
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“aLL yOu neeD iS One yeS” interview by Zsuzsanna Deák ritesh Batra, whose first feature The Lunchbox was everyone’s favourite film in 2013, participated in the Berlinale Talent Campus in 2012 with his then new project. We had a short but exciting chat when i managed to get hold of him quickly between Sundance and his trip to Mexico. He told me about Berlin, what short films mean to him and where he is headed next.
Would you ever go back and make shorts or do you want to concentrate on feature films in the future? I just made a new short called Masterchef for the Sundance-Gates foundation programme on global hunger. I plan to make another one soon. What did the Berlinale Talent Campus give to you - any artistic or practical knowledge you had never been able to find elsewhere?
How did you get the idea to make a film about the intricate system of the Dabbawalas (the people who deliver lunchboxes)?
It was wonderful to pitch to a great audience. It got the film a lot of attention and helped to bring many pieces of financing together, months aer the pitch. I would say I definitely learnt to pitch better in Berlin and also to talk about my stories. The Talent Project Market was instrumental in getting The Lunchbox made, our German co-producers Rohfilm came on board here and we started working together.
I grew up in Bombay. My mum used to send a lunchbox for my dad every day, but I only became interested in them aer I’d le and came back. At the end of all our journeys, we will come back home and see it for the first time, as they say.
What is your view on short film as a format? It is a great format to practice one’s skills and also to learn to keep working, because features take a while to come together and it is important to keep working.
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The endings of your films - both in the case of your short Café Regular and e Lunchbox – are open to several different interpretations and many of us like it that way. How do you personally see the story of these couples continue? Aer the film is done it belongs to the audience. It matters how they think it ends, not what I think.
Which of the prizes you have won means the most to you and why?
What's been the most surprising thing you have learnt during your time as a director?
A woman called in to All India Radio. She was visually challenged, and she said that The Lunchbox was her favourite movie in years. She went 3 times with her husband to listen to the voiceovers and experience them with him - even though she couldn't see the film, she felt it. I really treasure that voice on the radio, I wish I had recorded it, but I was in the car at the time.
î ˘e emotional stamina it takes to get through a shoot. It is a lot of joy and pain together. What would your advice be to a young and enthusiastic filmmaker with a good film plan? î ˘ere will be many nos along the road, but all you need is one yes.
What are you working on right now? Making up for lost time with my baby girl, and trying to get into a writing schedule. I am working on a love story of sorts that is set in India.
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To illustrate better the relationship between directors and their films, the filmmakers from the official selection of the Berlinale Shorts were asked to draw spontaneously something about their film, using a pencil and a piece of paper - or any other medium they could think of. Anything would do - a symbol, a landscape, fresh and raw, straight from their imagination.
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AS ROSAS BRANCAS the White roses
‘When I was young it seemed that life was so wonderful…’ (Supertramp). is film is a tale of remembrance and mourning, of trust and loss, and how family roles are redefined when a mother dies.
Diogo Costa Amarante USA/Portugal
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WASHiNgTONiA
Washingtonia starts when the giraffes’ heart can no longer be heard. Washingtonia is an alternative name for Athens, a place where people, like animals, fall into summertime sadness because of the heat. Washingtonia is the only palm tree whose heart is not devoured by the red beetle. Because its heart is small and dry and no one likes small and dry hearts.
Konstantina Kotzamani Greece
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RACONTe-MOi DeS SAlADeS salad days
Olias Barco Belgium/France
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Salad Days is set in 2013 Brussels, one day in the kitchen of a restaurant, where three religions and four nationalities meet. î ˘e patron is no longer able to pay either his suppliers or his employees, not even the gas bill. It is hot, the tension in the kitchen, where people are tired and fed up, mounts. The economic crisis crystallised in a 15m² room...
DO SeRCA TWegO to thy heart
î ˘ere's candy bubble gum, there's a swing, so there must be love as well - somewhere. To thy Heart is a secular litany and a story of a relationship, resounding through a tower block estate.
ewa Borysewicz Poland
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MARC JACOBS
Nine-year-old Soufyane, the son of a Moroccan father and Dutch mother, lives in an apartment with his mother and sister in a typical big city high-rise estate. His father, whom he never sees, invites him on a journey. A journey to the country of his ancestors - Morocco. Soufyane is thrilled and prepares for the trip fastidiously, as it is also a kind of initiation.
Sam de Jong The Netherlands
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SOlO Te pueDO MOSTRAR el COlOR i can only shoW you the color
A foreign mining company digs up the Peruvian jungle in a search for gold, with the government's consent but without asking the natives for permission. Violence breeds counter-violence.
Fernando VĂlchez RodrĂguez Peru
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DARKROOM
Darkroom is an enchanting labyrinth of image and sound that bursts the border between abstract and concrete. The experiment captivates more in its reserve than in its monstrosity. Darkroom conveys an endless desire to explore in the dark and sets engulfing paths in the gloom.
Billy Roisz Austria
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uN pARAĂSO a Paradise
Damaris and Alberto live in rural Cuba. Four months ago, their 12-year-old son committed suicide. Whilst looking to family and a newfound religion to help deal with their loss, an even more disturbing issue is revealed.
Jayisha patel Cuba
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XeNOS (greek: xĂŠnos)
stranger, enemy, guest
In 2010, Abu Eyad and other young Palestinian men from the Ain el-Helweh refugee camp in Lebanon travelled with smugglers through Syria and Turkey into Greece. Like so many other migrants, they came looking for a way into Europe but found themselves trapped in a country undergoing economic, political, and social collapse.
Mahdi Fleifel Denmark
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lA CASONA the Big house
Several pregnant women needing particular attention live in the Cuban Maternal Waiting Home “La Casona” (“e Big House”).
Juliette Touin Cuba
As animated paintings, different life scenes portray La Casona and its occupants. One of them spends her time time being the businesswoman of the place. e oldest, pregnant with twins, has to face the news that her daughter is pregnant too. Others speculate about how they will get their future child married. A young one has to face the fact her husband doesn't want the twin girls she is expecting. Amid all these women, Yudi, a 15-year-old girl, tries to maintain a distant and disfunctional relationship with the father of her future child.
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SyMpHONy NO. 42
e film applies an unconventional narrative. It presents a subjective world through 47 scenes. Small events, interlaced by associations, express the irrational coherence of our surroundings. e surreal situations are based on the interactions of humans and nature.
Réka Bucsi Hungary
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BiRDS
There it stands, the vulture. Majestically spreading its wings. Holding its position, it scours the open area. The other birds scrutinise their territory as well. Quo vadis, bird? Ulu Braun’s latest film Birds looks at the life of birds in urban habitats. î ˘ey apply their instinctive behaviour to the developed environment. What role do humans play therein? Bags and umbrellas become bushes, buildings become monoliths and people become organisms. î ˘e birds are forced to come to terms with a world that they are not responsible for.
ulu Braun Germany
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TANT qu'il NOuS ReSTe DeS FuSilS à pOMpe as long as shotguns remain
It's damned hot. Streets are oddly empty. Palms are suffering and shotguns crying. Joshua wants to die but doesn't want to leave his brother Maël alone. Meanwhile he meets with a gang: the Icebergs.
Caroline poggi France
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and
Jonathan Vinel
lABORAT
A mouse is put to sleep, operated on, scanned in MRI, and vivisected. It dies. It is a standard procedure in a lab, a meticulous routine. Single gestures are repeated over and over again. It is impossible to tell them apart, as it is impossible to tell apart, or count, the mice subject to them. A small film crew documents the work of the lab crew. Both crews follow their own protocol, preoccupied by their tools and their repeated actions. A film is constructed which documents scientific experiments, but it also experiments with its own complicity in the procedures: it dissects itself and makes its own structure apparent. Between the lines, the distance to the object is liî‚?ed.
guillaume Cailleau Germany
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BeRliNAle TAleNTS:
fostering film careers interview by Zsuzsanna Deák 300 young talents from 79 countries will gather in Berlin during the film festival this February, bringing their projects with them to develop and discuss. among them are directors, actors, producers, journalists, editors - what they have in common is that they are all passionate about film and eager to learn, improve, network and collaborate. The hub where they do all this is Berlinale Talents. Project manager Christine Tröstrum and programme manager Matthijs Wouter Knol talked to us about its 2014 edition.
is year has seen quite a few changes at Berlinale Talents. e name has changed too: why did you decide to drop the word “campus”? Does this mean that an era has come to an end? Matthijs Wouter Knol: When the Campus began in 2003, it was a unique initiative, a meeting point for up-and-coming filmmakers, and it developed consistently in the following years. e Studios and Project Labs grew organically from the primarily lecturelike structure as we responded to the changing needs of the filmmakers. Our programme became more professional without the name reflecting that change. e term "campus" is usually associated with students, but our programme doesn't represent anything decidedly academic or classroom-oriented anymore. Instead it is increasingly concentrated on the practical needs of ambitious professionals. e core of our Berlinale initiative is that we invite 300 promising filmmakers from around the world to Berlin to discuss and develop their projects and ideas. e Talents of the Berlinale meet here, so why not call the whole thing exactly that: Berlinale Talents!
Christine Tröstrum: What clearly sets us apart from the programme sections of the Berlinale is that instead of selecting single films, we select filmographies, people who have realised promising projects and who are at a point in their career where we think they will profit from participation. We want to encourage them to meet each other, to collaborate on projects, to network among themselves and with other Berlinale guests. We foster film careers, if you like, and the new name, Berlinale Talents, is meant to make that more clear than was previously the case. Could you tell me a little more of the other changes? CT: Together with the European Film Market, we started a new initiative under the title “Berlinale Talents Market Hub”. The hub is powered by Canon and will enable the coming generation to present itself with a booth at the film market. Primarily selected Talents from the area of distribution will be there, but the Project Labs participants and their projects will also have a platform. WOSH by Daazo.com 29
MWK: Furthermore, Berlinale Talents will provide a stage for the Robert Bosch Stiung Film Prize for International Cooperation award ceremony. With the award, the Robert Bosch Stiung supports collaborations by upand-coming producers from Germany and the Arab region, which coincides brilliantly with our goals. So the award ceremony is a great opportunity to learn about the Robert Bosch Stiung, and especially to meet Talents from the respective regions. More and more films are made each year and fewer and fewer get distributed in the traditional way. is means that the responsibility and role of film festivals is changing too. CT: We've observed this development for years now, of course, but you also have to look at the potential of digital distribution. Traditional distribution models are changing and naturally there's a lot of talk about "festival films". But people have already been using that term for 20 years now. e role or responsibility of a festival hasn't changed, we're just reacting to the need for new players to access the market and for them to come into contact with filmmakers and producers. Or we latch on to themes, for example last year when we looked into the question of whether or not television is the new cinema. Is the film of a Berlinale Talents alumnus more likely to be selected for the programme of the Berlinale eventually? MWK: No, and rightly so. Every Berlinale section has its own selection committee, as do we. e decisive factors are the quality of the films and presenting a well-curated programme to the public. We're always happy when alumni are selected and every year about 40 alumni return to the Berlinale with their films.
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Could you name a few of the Berlinale Talents alumni who you are extremely proud of? What have they achieved since they attended Berlinale Talents (or Talent Campus as it was then)? MWK: Emir Baigazin’s (Berlinale Talent in 2008) first feature film Harmony Lessons premiered at the Berlinale in 2013 and won the Alfred-Bauer Prize for ‘new perspectives on cinematic art’ right away. Haifaa Al-Mansour (Berlinale Talent in 2009) became the first female Saudi-Arabian filmmaker ever. Her film Wadjda is the country's entry for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. We are very happy to welcome Haifaa Al-Mansour again to Berlinale Talents: this time as an expert. Another alumnus who is coming back to us as an expert is Anthony Chen (Berlinale Talent in 2012). e 29-yearold director and screenwriter from Singapore toured the festival world with his debut feature Ilo Ilo and won, among others, prizes in Cannes, Taiwan and Dubai. We are also very happy for Daniel Ribeiro from Brazil whose Script Station project 2010 e Way He Looks will premiere this year in the Berlinale Panorama section. Another selected project will screen at this year’s Generation programme: South Is Nothing by Fabio Mollo, who participated in the Talent Project Market 2011. It’s great news too that alumnus Maximilian Leo’s film My Brother’s Keeper will open this year’s Berlinale Perspektive. Berlinale Talents offers additional programmes to participants. ese are called Project Labs. How are these different to the core programme? What does the Short Film Station project lab offer? CT: We select about 10 projects for each Project Lab (Doc-, Script- and Short Film Stations and
Talent Project Market). In the case of the Doc-, Script- and Short Film Stations, this means screenplays still in the early stages of development. e directors or screenwriters for these projects participate in an individual programme alongside the group programme, in which they receive one-on-one meetings with script consultants. And on February 12 we'll hold a Project Presentation Day in the House of Representatives to present these projects to the industry. For the Talent Project Market we select finished screenplays and the producer or director has the opportunity to find additional financiers or partners for their project at the Co-Production Market. At the VFF Talent Highlight Pitch Award, the VFF (Verwertungsgesellscha der Film- und Fernsehproduzenten) sponsors a €10,000 award.
In many countries, film journalists and critics are not considered to be part of the film industry. Berlinale Talents integrates them through the Talent Press workshop. Would you say that film writers are just as crucial to the business as the other players? MWK: For us, film is as much an art form as an industry and apart from supporting filmmakers to tell stories, to finance films and to distribute them, we feel it is critical to reflect on films, to discuss them and to support film critics to hone their skills and contribute to the analysis of films and trends in the film industry. e Talent Press programme has been doing this for more than a decade, not only in Berlin but at various editions of the Talents network all over the world.
tHe taLents sPeaK I believe in magic, energy, and the power of honest art. I love experimental acting, which plays with different possibilities of my body and voice. I like cinema because it lets me be in others' shoes. I oen propose ideas, and I seek to empathise with my characters bringing them to life in my body like a medium. - Muki
1 Max Tuula, producer, Estonia
I think I was chosen because of my sample of work. I’m always trying to be inventive and experiment in all sorts of genres: documentary, animation or fiction. Probably my strength lies in being painfully personal in what I create and it’s wonderful when someone else relates and feels/understands “my art”. - Alexandru
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stronger in our case! Friends of mine that have attended the Talent Campus in previous years have established not only good working relationships with other participants, but close “professional friendships” as well, giving each other advice on ideas, scripts, or edits. eir feedback made it really clear to me that this is not an opportunity to be missed. - Anna
I'm interested in creative documentaries based on film and TV found footage as well as Super8 and 16mm home movies. I explore the visual art forms with an emphasis on the past time issues. I try to revisit the documentary film tradition and the reuse of archive footage. - Magdalena
2 Alexandru Petru Bădeliţă, editor/director, Romania
I’m excited to make some new friends in Berlin! Making a film together is such an intense process and it’s so much more enjoyable if you get on with the people you’re doing it with.
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So if I can find some filmmakers that I “click” with then hopefully we can inspire each other to make something great and have fun whilst doing it. My previous experiences of film festivals and workshops abroad have always been fantastic – hopefully Berlinale Talents will be the best yet. - Blair
3 Magdalena Szymkow, director, Poland/e Netherlands
I’m not new to the Berlinale and the EFM: I have been coming here for years as a journalist, once as a crew member of a Berlinale Shorts participant and last year as a producer. I love this festival, especially the Forum Expanded section, I find a lot of inspiration here, and at the EFM I feel at home. e Campus was also highly recommended by a documentary filmmaker I collaborate with - she was selected a couple of years ago. rough the Berlinale Talents I get connected with my favourite festival and all the things I appreciate in filmmaking. - Max
4 Muki Sabogal, actress, Peru
Right now I’m working on my feature length documentary Reporter, based on archive materials. I’m looking for some editing feedback as well as the networking possibilities to enlarge the co-production possibilities. Berlin is a world winter film capital, you cannot miss it! Berlinale Talents is a great opportunity to be part of it. - Magdalena
I'm sure a week before the festival I will be panicking, trying to finish everything. As I'm attending both as an editor and a representative of a production company, I think in some way it will be useful to meet most people on the scheme. I am hoping to see great work, from other Talents or at the general festival, and chat to the people that made them. Also, as my company has only recently moved into producing drama and documentary projects, I would love to learn more about development labs, funding schemes and co-production opportunities we could take our projects to. - Anna
I've mostly worked on short films but my first main role was in a feature film titled Videofilia, an avant-garde fiction which will be released later this year. I am hoping to participate in bigger projects that leave a mark on the viewer and involve interesting people. Projects which would be a challenge for me and characters that make me experience unimaginable things. - Muki
Right now, I know two things: I will go back to Romania and make an experimental film and a fiction exercise. I hope to finish them both before the end of spring. I am trying to make a filmic study on loneliness and I am trying to do it in two ways: an experimentalvisceral and a fiction-connotation one. - Alexandru
5 Blair Mowat, composer, UK
I find business cards essential. It’s usual routine: refill the stock of business cards, prepare the rough cut of our last film, as well as trailers, working materials, presentations of our current works-in-progress.
I am looking for tips what I should do with my projects for directions where I should move on in experimental filmmaking. is is why I am interested in meeting people who may share their bigger experience in this area. Besides, I may meet some potential partners at the EFM - I am already in negotiations with some of them. - Max
6 Anna Meller, editor, UK
I’d love to write the music for a film in another language. My first feature film was a mixture of English and Hindi and I learnt so much about a culture that was completely different to the one I’d grown up in. I’d love to meet a rich producer who wants to give me unlimited money to write lots of music with a massive orchestral recording budget, all without sacrificing any of my artistic integrity – that can happen, right? - Blair
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PaPer PenCiL
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Believe it or not, these are all you need to become successful. A tablet-free old fashioned paper-based think-through is the single most important thing when you start planning to make a film - and the good news is that it costs nothing. The next step is education (training programmes, labs and workshops) and finding people and tools to work with. To decide about where to go and what to try, you need to sit down again to think - after you've read our expert tips!
Talented dreamers and creative minds, page 36 Computing before filmmaking, page 40 labs - open source organisations, page 43 The knowledge of sensitivity - Melli Maikkula on Script Tampere, page 46 The pitch page, page 48
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TaLenTeD DreaMerS anD CreaTiVe MinDS
teaching animation in the digital age words by József Fülöp - image stills from Réka Bucsi’s film Symphony No. 42 With the advent of the digital age everything has changed regarding animated films. The equipment for producing them, the technology, availability and distribution, the viewer’s habits – so truly everything. Only one thing has remained the same: the creative innovation that is still found in every single fine piece of animation.
When the creative intention assigns visuality to the theme and develops or finds the suitable animation technique, which can give the miracle of bringing something to life in front of the viewer, this is something that is always going to be exclusive to the animation genre and will never be possible to imitate with liveaction. Something just moves and a whole universe, which never existed before, becomes a reality that is authentic and consumable. e digital age hasn’t changed anything about this feeling - it only offered us more opportunity to try to create it.
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e teaching of animation cannot be immune to the changes that are already here due to the new circumstances. ese days education is not just for the next generation of filmmakers – it is an important part of the animated film itself. In the finest schools, knowledge and creativity based intellectual centres come to life and these are essential for the genre to develop and live on. anks to the wide availability of digital devices, schools can easily provide production facilities that were only possible in specially equipped studios in the past. is is also true whether we speak of big
productions with numerous creators or just the solo work of an individual. It has also been proved that the digital work environment can be useful not just to CGI animation, but to more classical forms of the art as well. A number of genres that are animation based by nature are undergoing a renaissance nowadays because of the digital technique – for instance just think about the fabrication and movement of puppets or how much the shooting and postproduction costs are lowered by it. anks to these, animation studies have a huge opportunity now to keep the genre alive and even to renew it. Moreover, the students who are involved in these kind of studies are not only creators - with the help of digital equipment, they are also the technicians and producers of their own works. is has considerable significance, as we don’t just teach talented dreamers who couldn’t function without a technical crew behind them, but creative minds who can also manage the whole spectrum of producing animation themselves. Beyond technical opportunities, having a projectbased educational system (which allows the students to experience the whole “plan-createexecute” package) also has the perk – unlike traditional studios - to facilitate a creative environment with exceptional possibilities. Usually the most expensive part during project development is the creative pre-production phase and to get from developing the story to creating a visual style. During their studies, students are constantly exposed to this very phase thus they get to practice it but without the frustrating pressure of time and budget. is way, institutions can even become initiators or co-production partners of different projects. It is also becoming obvious that these kinds of schools have great potential of experimenting
with visuality, narrative and the delivery and distribution of the films. This is for two reasons. e first one is that there is a “critical mass”, a considerable amount of concentrated talent, that raise a great number of questions and answers, allowing innovations based on them to come about more and more quickly. e second, perhaps more importantly, is that students get to test their concepts immediately in practice (short films, applications, games etc.) as they have the capacity not just to think in theory, but use the institution as a production company. In this way, both theoretically and practically speaking, prototypes can be created as “by-products” of education. In addition, there are exciting possibilities in the digital communication milieu that surrounds us professionally and personally as well. is affects the animated film as well; for instance the hierarchy which was typical during a production before is now surpassed, not just because
of the digital age, thanks to which nowadays geographical/physical distances are non-issues due to the virtual cooperation between creators. (This has been common practice at international productions for decades.) I would like to draw attention to the creative and developing processes which could also be great learning experiences if done together as a social activity. is applies to the usual genres (series, individual short films, etc.) as well as to edgy ones that are only made for online distribution.
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Furthermore, it is likely that the different creator communities that are formed during educational years will later organise creative networks both physically and virtually to get their films produced. is could result in the emergence of professional creative collectives that are ready for lifelong learning as they are already used to constantly changing technical devices – hardware, software – from their school years. Having considered the size of each project they could change the number of co-operators to suit. They could take account of economic or cultural differences more easily and keep their expenses much lower than a classic studio.
In order for all of this to really happen, the educational institutes, universities, film schools, and visual academies need to find an appropriate new teaching model instead of the old, 20th century one. An example of a model like this could be the above-mentioned project-based education. The other essential element is that students need to be fully aware of the environment that awaits them after school. By this I mean not only knowing the given regional specifics and traditions but also being able to perceive the convergence of technology, business and art – and even the social significance of these factors. Because if they are not handled together, the opportunities mentioned above will be missed out on.
aBOuT Rabbit and Deer e friendship of Rabbit and Deer is put to the test by Deer's new obsession to find the formula for the 3rd dimension…
“Rabbit “Rabbitand andDeer Deercan canbebeclassified classifiedasasa aself-reflective self-reflectivework, work,focusing focusingononthe theessence essenceofofanimation. animation. e oen very theoretical questions of drawing, the cartoon and the space represented e oen very theoretical questions of drawing, the cartoon and the space representedininthe theimage become direct dramaturgical elements in the Rabbit and Deer story. ” image become direct dramaturgical elements in the Rabbit and Deer story.” (Zsolt (ZsoltGyenge, Gyenge,film filmcritic) critic) "A stunningly directed and beautifully craed play on the universal conflict of emotional incompatibility." (Jonathan Hodgson, animation director)
The Animation department of Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design Budapest (MOME Anim) is one of the defining creative workshops and intellectual centres of European animation. It runs animation BA and MA educational programmes, while its work is defined by activities that reach beyond education. Production activities are of key importance, with a significant role for talent management and content development set in an international network: an important outcome is the creation and operation of incubator programmes. As a result of this many of the MOME Anim diploma and workshop films perform well at international festivals. One of the most outstanding successes of the past few years is Rabbit and Deer, the 2012 diploma film of Péter Vácz that has won some 50 awards, among them the Cannes Lions Young Director Award, and the Junior Jury Award in Annecy, the leading animation festival. This success is now continued with Réka Bucsi’s 2013 diploma film, Symphony no. 42 that is competing in the 2014 Berlinale Shorts section of the Berlin International Film Festival. WOSH by Daazo.com 39
COMPuTinG BeFOre FiLMinG A SELECTION OF DIGITAL TOOLS words by Domenico La Porta gone is the time when nothing could beat pencils and paper to shape your movie writing and producing process. Haven’t you heard? Computer softwares have mated with the internet and their horde of mobile apps minions have taken the filmmaking scene by storm. Since some of these tools are free, why wouldn’t you consider using them to facilitate your journey to movie success?
POPPLeT
DireCTr FOr BuSineSS
Popplet (www.popplet.com) is one of those tools that don’t seem to belong in the filmmaker’s toolbox at first sight and yet it’s a wonderful option to organise any kind of collaborative work. And even if you plan to do everything yourself, you will face organisation issues sooner or later. Popplet belongs to the “idea organiser” category that helps users nurture concepts into something bigger. e user can collect online resources (pictures, videos, quotes, web links etc.) and create a pinned architecture of material that resembles the one a bunch of cons would set up on their basement wall before a heist. Users can record and map out thoughts, which are dragged and dropped into brainstorming maps for better organisation. You can tie ideas together and share your concepts with others to collaborate.
For those that are familiar with the popular mobile app Directr, be aware that it has just been enhanced specially for business entities with the recent launch of Directr for Business. Now why would any artist be interested in such a corporate tool?
e popplet (diagram) becomes a visual idea board that helps users create themes or concepts that can blossom into something new or unique like a movie!
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The company is claiming that “Directr for Business makes it easy for you to make highquality videos for marketing your business”. Now, of course, we are not talking about shooting your short with a mobile app, but what is truly helpful is that Directr includes professionally created storyboards or templates for overview videos, product demos, testimonials, how-tos… and Kickstarter pitches! Here we are with the perfect helper for any director who wants to kickstart his own crowdfunding campaign by following the best practises in “give-me-your-internetmoney” oriented pitches. A must try!
JOHn TruBy’S BLOCKBuSTerS
DriVe
John Truby is one of the few Robert McKees that are travelling the world teaching theories about screenplay anatomy and script universal structures. It is the Hollywood way of writing a script but there is a lot in Truby’s method to help any young screenwriter who is either stuck in story development hell or keen to benchmark his finished script and checking if it features all the key elements (Truby calls them beats) that belongs to the genre or the cross-genres story he wants to tell.
I’m sure the Nicolas Winding Refn action drama holds the potential to inspire many new filmmakers but we are not talking about the movie Drive but the Google Drive instead (formerly known as Google docs). e free cloud documents platform by Google allows to store and share text documents online but most importantly, it comes with a very clever comment system that a screenwriter can use to submit his script to a restrictive audience panel. Next step is have those people comment and start conversations about specific portions of the text. e author receives a notification each time a new comment is posted and he has the ability to answer and/or make text modifications on the fly. I found this free process way more useful than the usual .pdf file attached to an email starting with “could you tell me what you think about my script?” Remarks are targeted straight to the relevant points and can be resolved one by one. Easy!
John Truby's Write a Blockbuster (aka Blockbuster 6 or BB) is a screenplay development soware (only for desktop and laptop computers) that assists you in writing an anatomically correct story. It teaches you how invaluable your story concept is and reveals the ideal genres to convey and flesh out your story concept. You can develop your story method and overcome story challenges as they surface. e soware shows you how your characters stir up the emotions of your audience. You can assess your characters' needs and wants to cra distinctive and well-rounded fictional personas. You can then associate pieces of your story together with your characters beneath the story's surface. It features a “Rewrite” panel that displays the significant structural flaws of your story, and then walks you in and out of the ideal sequence for repairing and improving them. Truby’s soware is mostly targeting feature film authors but it is also open to TV serie writers and I personally know a few classy blended shorts that came out of this mixer.
CeLTx Final Draft might be the most frequent answer to the go-to screenwriting software question, but it’s just a writing tool when Celtx (www.celtx.com) is a complete filmmaking suite from your first draft to your last shot. We are talking about an online workspace where you will be able to write a screenplay formatted to the industry standards, storyboard it, and draw camera and lighting setups right in your browser (using a clipart library), breakdown your script in categories such as props, cast, or locations, schedule your shooting period, prepare informative stripboards and call sheets for cast and crew and- last but not least - precisely budget your production using over 80 different conventional budget categories.
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Labs
open source organisations wHat for? words by Brigitta Iványi-Bitter
Outside the academic institutional structure we can find a number of interesting places where we can develop our projects, skills and knowledge. it’s not that film schools are out-of-date, but certainly there is a tendency to participate in open source structures after/instead of school.
Open collaboration based on open-source software came to the fore two decades ago. Its underlying principles are now found in many other ventures. Some of them are online; others are offline, such as TEDx, Bitcoin, or others in the field of medicine, and traditional scientific experimentation. Just think about how Wikipedia became the most popular research tool, leaving behind the Encyclopedia Britannica. You can use the operating principles of these organisations to create your own OC organisation. What are the main principles you have to have in mind? In all instances, participants create goods and services of economic value, they exchange and re-use each other’s work, they labour purposefully with just loose coordination, and they permit anyone to contribute and consume. These principles distinguish OC from other organisational forms, such as firms or cooperatives. To understand the performance of OC, you have to identify three elements that affect performance: the cooperativeness of participants, the diversity of their needs, and the degree to which the goods are rival. Analysers found that OC performs well even in seemingly harsh environments: when cooperators are a minority, free riders are present, diversity is lacking, or goods are rival.[1]
Media labs are also popular organisations for collaborative project developers, who are interested in the field new media, media art and new technologies. ere are a number of important skills you are likely to develop in an open minded and collaborative environment like a media lab, skills that are difficult to attain in traditional schools. In a flat organisation like a lab, you learn how to manage your time, share information and develop creative research methods based on the common denominators of a lab’s community. While you learn about digital media, startups, documentation of your own projects, social studies etc, you experience new methods of co-working, which enable you to explore your film topics in a brave and (self)challenging way. Furthermore media labs can create a meeting place for art and tech projects, in which film makers, media artists and engineers in the field of new technology in biology, nanotechnology, robotics can share ideas. Learn, play and be an entrepreneur! There are new ways to organise film projects with other fields of interest, so everyone can create their own way of collaboration. [1] Sheen S. Levine, Michael J. Prietula, Open Collaboration: Principles and Performance, Organisation Science, 2014, DOI: 10.1287/orsc.2013.0872
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Our favourites:
Media Lab Prado eir workshop “Turning data into stories” (December 13-15, 2013) was part of the initiative Media Lab Prado goes deeper in data journalism.
MiT Media Lab This 1985 founded media lab is the most prominent pioneer of its kind globally. Actively promoting a unique, antidisciplinary culture, the MIT Media Lab goes beyond known boundaries and disciplines, encouraging the most unconventional mixing and matching of seemingly disparate research areas. It creates disruptive technologies that happen at the edges, pioneering such areas as wearable computing, tangible interfaces, and affective computing. Today, faculty members, research staff, and students at the Lab work in more than 25 research groups on more than 350 projects that range from digital approaches for treating neurological disorders, to a stackable, electric car for sustainable cities, to advanced imaging technologies that can “see around a corner.” The Lab is committed to looking beyond the obvious to ask the questions not yet asked – questions whose answers could radically improve the way people live, learn, express themselves, work, and play. https://www.media.mit.edu/about
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The ZKM Institute for Visual Media is a forum for the creative and critical discussion of the constantly changing media culture. A centre of competence for visual digital technologies, the IVM under the direction of Peter Weibel provides an innovative environment for research and development in the fields of multi-media art works and information technologies of socio-cultural, scientific and economic significance. The spectrum of productions ranges from digital video, DVDproduction and 3D animation to interactive installations and environments, from soware systems for the real-time generation of natural and architectural environments to audiovisual applications for performance contexts.
THe KnOWLeDGe of sensitivity TaMPere FeSTiVaL FOCUSES ON WRITERS 5 - 9 March 2014 interview by Nóra Szűcs
The prestigious Tampere Film Festival proves that a little support can go a long way. This year as a part of its official programme, the festival invites you to take a look at how short films find their form. The programme 5 Star Stories presents a great selection of films with exceptionally polished scripts. you are guaranteed some fantastic work, as well as the chance to learn about new artists
The Tampere Film Festival is the oldest and largest short film festival in Northern Europe. I am interested to know how it was possible for you to create a popular venue for filmmakers. How long did it take to get the festival to where it is now? Script Tampere is a minifestival inside a bigger festival. It focuses on screenwriting both for film and TV and is targeted to professionals, amateurs, students and everyone who is interested in the art of screenwriting.
and see pieces by some big names. For an experience of the Script Tampere through the eyes of a young writerproducer, see how Melli Maikkula, the communications officer of the Writers Guild of Finland discusses the strengths of the workshop and the film collection of 5 Star Stories.
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Script Tampere is a result of a collaboration between the Tampere Film Festival, the Arts promotion centre Finland and the Writers Guild of Finland. We’ve also worked closely with the directors’ union and film schools like the Tampere University of Applied Sciences. So that’s the practical background. e roots of our programme go further, though. ere had been a lot of discussion about the screenwriters’ lack of visibility at film festivals. I guess that among the writers that was one of the triggers that pushed us to get to this point – to do something about it. Luckily, Tampere Film Festival saw here the
unique opportunity to be the first “writerfriendly” festival. Tampere’s regional artist Tuija Halttunen came on board too: her knowledge and the experience she had gained at the London Screenwriters’ Festival have also been crucial. She also came up with the name Script Tampere. I think we all are very proud to offer this fantastic programme to people as a result of our collaboration. Can you talk a bit about your current programme, 5 Star Stories? e 5 Star Stories is a collection of films with very good scripts. I warmly recommend these films to be watched from the screenplay’s perspective. Of course they are well directed as well. Some of the writers and directors of the 5 Star Stories films are participating in the seminar aerwards where they talk about the writing and directing processes of these films. How do you manage so many successful projects? e key is collaboration. We quickly became a team of over 50 people building this festival, probably even more. And with a lot of working hands, nobody needs to do more than he/she can carry. There are a lot of web and offline workshops available today. What does Tampere offer that is different? I’m sure there is a place for these web and offline workshops, because they offer the possibility to participate no matter the day and time. Personally I prefer “live-participating”
over web-seminars, because networking aer the seminars is oen as helpful and as informative as the workshop itself. We have managed to get some really interesting screenwriters to the festival – top writers of Finnish film and TV right now. I wouldn’t miss the opportunity to meet these people. How does creativity like that come out of your team? How do you rally them? As with all creative work, the feeling of security, respect for others and optimism are important. Designing a festival may not be similar to a screenwriting process, but a lot of ideas have to be invented and thrown on the table. Luckily all of our creative group’s members have this wisdom, “the knowledge of sensitivity” as you may call it, which made the collaboration easy and enjoyable. What do you consider the key factor in your workshop? Content. True professionals and their views, in discussion with the audience. What do you hope to achieve with the workshop and what do you think filmmakers will take from it? We are after continuity. We hope that the highly interesting discussions about stories and content never end. We hope that through networking and reflecting to our work we become better professionals. We hope that people get new job opportunities by networking. We also hope for further financing for Script Tampere – the first Nordic screenwriters’ festival ever!
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tHe
PITCH BeHOLD THe SHOrTS OF THe FuTure!
Page ‘Be creative, visual and personal!’
This was Daazo’s advice for filmmakers applying for the Pitch Page section of World of Shorts.
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The Pitch Page offers an innovative opportunity for filmmakers to present their film plan without having their heart in their throats, using visual creativity instead of an overwhelming acting appearance.
We have received a huge number of groovy pitches: here is Daazo’s shortlist of seven, selected by a Jury consisting of
Louise Bellicaud, Production Coordinator at Sacrebleu Productions,
Claudette Godfrey, Short Film Programmer of the SXSW festival,
Domenico La Porta, Editor-in-chief at Cineuropa.org,
and the founders of Daazo.
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tHe
PROJECTS in THe SiDeCar » Mircea Bobînă 1989, Chisinau. e Afghanistan war veteran Vova wants to escape from a psychiatric hospital. His comrade Andrej ruthlessly obtains the necessary keys, but Vova can't escape his posttraumatic hallucinations. He rides a motorcycle home to finally see his wife and daughter and finds himself back at war. JuLieT » Marc-Henri Boulier In a near future, the SEED company launches with great fanfare JULIET, the 1st generation of synthetic pleasure beings. ese hyper-realistic looking android women become a huge success very quickly. But as technology evolves, new models keep succeeding and mankind has more and more difficulties finding its own place. Mr.THe FaSTeST » Anton du Preez Bryce Edwards, a guilt-ridden ex-drag racer that has sworn never to race again, must confront his past and race an old rival when his son becomes the target of gang ridicule and is forced into a night race and hospitalised. Bryce must rebuild his dragster and settle unfinished business once and for all. PLaCeS » Bálint Erkel Peter and Sarah are best friends. Sarah loves Danny. Peter also loves Danny. Danny only loves himself. ey live happily in their city, until one slip turns their world upside down: the swindlers lose the money, the bitch loses the bull, the mannequin loses an arm, neighbours lose their heads and friends become strangers. 50 WOSH by Daazo.com
THe DOG CaTCHer » Daria Woszek ‘e Dog Catcher’ tells the story of a man who kidnaps dogs for ransom and practices his own brand of emotional terrorism. He meticulously plans each kidnapping and deprives whole families of their beloved pets (who are oen their true friends and lifelong companions). Bru benefits from this state of things – he’s the eponymous dogcatcher. He cynically uses the emotional bonds between the owners and their dogs: he kidnaps the dogs in order to feel the fleeting gratitude and glory once he delivers them back to their owners. en one day he kidnaps a dog who has no owner... THe CHiraL rOOM » Ivana Radmilovic Anna and Marc.ey have known each other for three months. ey sit hidden under the itchy, dark blue cover on the sofa. "Would you like to see the film?” he had asked her. He has gone to get bread and cigarettes and to park the car elsewhere. As she waits in the room, she looks at the treasured record collection, the black and white photos and the door. e door with the yellowed film poster from the 70s. She raises her hand to the.... a WeeKenD in PariS » Jakub Pączek She has achieved all that the word success stands for. She holds a key position in a huge international corporation. She also has a secret well kept from anyone else, she’s a highfunctioning alcoholic. If anyone should find out, she might well lose all she has. Therefore she pursues extremely well-crafted actions in order to cover up for her weekend drinking. Yet another weekend is about to begin. This time round it’s not going to be like so many of those before. As no matter how clever her system is, she is actually the one who also happens to be its weakest part.
Drama
in THe SiDeCar 1
Contact: mirceabobina@gmail.com
Germany, Republic of Moldova, Romania WOSH 51
Anticipation
JuLieT 2
Contact: insolence.prod@gmail.com
France WOSH 52
Mr. THe FaSTeST
Dark comedy
Contact: hello@antondupreez.com
South Africa
3
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Urban romantic drama
PLaCeS 4
Contact: balinterkel@gmail.com
Hungary WOSH 54
Drama/Dark comedy
THe DOG CaTCHer 5
Contact: martalachacz@gmail.com
Poland WOSH 55
Drama
THe CHiraL rOOM 6
Contact: jelisaweta@lulukulli.ch
Switzerland WOSH 56
a WeeKenD in PariS
Drama
Contact: paczek@paczek.com
Poland
7
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PRODUCTION faCt sHeet 1
4 PLaCeS Director: Bálint Erkel Producer: György Pálos Country: Hungary Contact: balinterkel@gmail.com Production company: Filmfabriq Budget: €6,000 Covered: €3,000 Needed: €3,000 Estimated length: 15 minutes Genre: urban romantic drama
in THe SiDeCar Director: Mircea Bobînă Producer: Film and TV University "Konrad 5 THe DOG CaTCHer Wolf " Potsdam-Babelsberg (Germany) Director: Daria Woszek Country: Germany, Republic of Moldova, Romania Producer: Marta Łachacz Contact: mirceabobina@gmail.com Country: Poland Production company: National University for eatre and Film "I.L. Caragiale" Bucharest /Atelier Contact: martalachacz@gmail.com Production company: Cor Leonis Production de Film (Romania) & Ana Antir (Moldova) Budget: €37,000 Budget: €13,100 Covered: €10,000 Covered: €11,900 Needed: €27,000 Needed: €1,200 Estimated length: 30 minutes Estimated length: 25 minutes Genre: drama/dark comedy Genre: drama
2
3
JuLieT Director: Marc-Henri Boulier Producer: Anaïs Bertrand Country: France Contact: insolence.prod@gmail.com Production company: Insolence Productions Budget: €70,000 Covered: €40,000 Needed: €30,000 Estimated length: 15 minutes Genre: anticipation Mr. THe FaSTeST Director: Anton du Preez Producer: Clare van Zyl Country: South Africa Contact: hello@antondupreez.com Production company: Monkey Films Budget: €60,000 Covered: €10,000 Needed: €50,000 Estimated length: 18 minutes Genre: dark comedy 58 WOSH by Daazo.com
6
THe CHiraL rOOM Director: Ivana Radmilovic Producer: Sabine Spengler Country: Switzerland Contact: jelisaweta@lulukulli.ch Production company: Die Idee lulukulli Budget: €200,000 Covered: €100,000 Needed: €100,000 Estimated length: 15 minutes Genre: drama
7
a WeeKenD in PariS Director: Jakub Pączek Producer: Jakub Pączek Country: Poland Contact: paczek@paczek.com Production company: Paczek.com Budget: €125,000 Covered: €50,000 Needed: €75,000 Estimated length: 10-13 minutes Genre: drama
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sHort
sHavings
Short films, their filmmakers and the festivals they go to. All together: on the following pages you can find all sorts of exciting reads about why, where and how shorts work, the faces behind the films and the platforms on which they can flourish best. Marcel Łozinski’s short film My Place, page 62 Daazo top users: an interview with Réka Bucsi, page 64 A giant puzzle: an interview with Claudette godfrey, page 66 idealism in reality - Daazo in 2014, page 69 Festival panorama, page 72 Workshop agenda, page 75 Daazo goes to festivals, page 76 Why make short films?, page 78
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words by Michał Oleszczyk
Grand Hotel: Marcel Łozinski’s My Place (1986) Marcel Łozinski’s work remains relatively little-known outside of his native Poland (despite his 89mm From Europe having been nominated for the Best Documentary Short Oscar), which is unfortunate given his amazing talent and steady output. His filmography is filled with gems, of which one is especially close to my heart and which I’d like to introduce to a wider audience.
Łoziński’s My Place (Moje miejsce) is one of my favourite documentary shorts of all time: a witty portrait of the legendary Grand Hotel in Sopot, focusing on its employees and on the larger system of power they belong to. Detailed accounts of how institutions work are usually quite lengthy, but Łoziński takes a mere 15 minutes to give us an extensive tour of the place, showcase its impressive architecture, as well as introduce more than a dozen characters in a way that makes each of them memorable. e film’s brisk tempo is stressed by the sound of a metronome, ticking on the soundtrack almost constantly and alerting us to the beauty of a rhythmical, well-tailored piece of short cinema. e picturesque hotel itself, located at the Polish seaside, first opened in 1927 as a visible sign of opulence for the area of Gdańsk (known as the backdrop of much of e Tin Drum). e towering, beautiful and supremely spacious building has a fascinating history and had for years served as an unwitting reminder of Polish 62 WOSH by Daazo.com
non-communist past. e building not only provided a temporary home to the likes of Charles de Gaulle, Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich and Josephine Baker, but was also used briefly as Adolf Hitler’s headquarters aer the invasion of Poland. None of this is even mentioned in the film, but the building’s past is evoked by means other than a direct account: it slowly emerges from the building and the people itself, almost as if it were oozing from the stately walls and ubiquitous carpets. Łoziński structures his movie as a series of portraits of individual employees of the hotel, complaining about everyone else’s inefficiency, and defining his or her own role as the most crucial in the entire establishment. It’s only fitting that the very first employee we see is the stoker shovelling coal into the furnace: not only does Łoziński start his odyssey at the (literal) lowest level of the building, but he also reveals that the stoker actually comes from a affluent and highly educated family, deprived of all its
wealth by the communist state aer the war. e entire movie positions itself as a satire, showing the inner contradictions of an enterprise run in conditions of central planning, invigilation, censorship and scarcity – all of which were rampant in mid-1980s Poland. Aer the stoker, we meet the workers representing increasing levels of importance: the scullery maids complaining about the smugness of waiters, the cleaning women revealing the piggish behaviour of the guests, the cook and the pastry chef both taking pride in being able to work with food and produce not easily obtainable in regular stores. e upward trajectory finally takes us to the accountants and the director of the hotel himself, a burly man declaring his team to be “one happy family”. is cheerful final statement is seemingly reinforced by the film’s return to colour (aer the first shot of the exterior of the hotel, all subsequent scenes were presented in sepia), but its optimism is undermined by everything we have seen so far: members of various groups and professions deeply distrusting one another and never once mentioning anything like a shared purpose or actual pride. Along the way, there are cracks and oand statements hinting at the sinister underbelly of the hotel’s power structure. Of all those hints and complaints, none is more powerful than the words of one of the cleaning women, recalling the brutally thwarted riots of December 1970, and defining herself as a “1970 widow” – thus signalling her husband had been killed in the struggle with the state militia. at moment is the only passage in the entire film where the playful piano score is muted, so that Łoziński can honour the woman’s pain.
job is, while we see them walking haplessly down the corridors; the cloakroom attendant complains about the stress of his job – and Łoziński shows him nodding off on duty. e film is beautifully put together and works best as a vivid and ironic snapshot of Polish society in a state of inertia. Everyone complains and nobody is acting; the power structure is stifling enough to discourage any dreams of a better future. Traces of racism and homophobia are also present, while the typical disregard for state property enters an epic phase characteristic of communist decay: one of the scullery maids declares that as many as 500-600 glasses can disappear from the hotel in a single night, while other dishes are smashed by the waiters who don’t care about what is not their property anyway. And yet, the final shots of the film salute the everyday labour happening at the hotel. Łoziński stages a series of group shots in which every employee is introduced – not by name, but by the function they perform. It is in these shots that we see the multitude of people needed to make a place like the Grand Hotel come alive, even if the state they happen to live in is ailing and about to fall.
One of the chief techniques employed by Łoziński throughout My Place is a clash of the spoken words with the shown image. e porters speak of how dangerous their
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What were your interests growing up and why did you decide to start making films? Tell me briefly about the journey from your education to where you are now.
DaaZO TOP uSerS:
réka Bucsi interview by Nóra Szűcs illustrations by Diana Ghyczy and Réka Bucsi Since graduating from university last year, animation director réka Bucsi has received wide critical acclaim for her diploma film. The beautifully brutal ten-minute digital animation Symphony no. 42 is in competition for the Golden Bear at the Berlinale this year. We met up at the café of the Corvin cinema in Budapest to talk about her work, tastes and plans.
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When I was a child I was drawing all the time, mainly comics. As time passed, my passion for the visual arts grew greater and greater, until in the end I decided to study filmmaking and I put all my efforts into my animation studies. My university years were very exciting: I experimented with various different techniques and styles at MOME (Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design Budapest). It was a very liberating period when I felt safe enough to really explore. Now, I am trying to organise all the knowledge I absorbed over those years into a system - and at times, I try to forget it completely. I try to set up a new artistic value system in order to figure out what one is allowed to do in filmmaking and what should never be done. is is even more exciting than the learning process. Why did you choose the title Symphony no. 42? I started at the smallest element and expanded it towards the bigger picture. In the beginning, I only had some details but slowly, they started forming a coherent whole. It was an instinctive procedure, I collected my ideas for a long time, and then all I needed to do was to sort them into a system. I think that it is problematic to talk about a so-called creative process, because the definition of it
can only happen in retrospective. If I feel strongly that there is a starting point, I can’t necessarily explain why this is happening the way it is. When the film was taking shape, I sometimes had the feeling that I was composing music, not directing a film. So many small details might seem incoherent, but when one watches all of them together, one might get a picture of wholeness - like in the case of a symphony, where the sounds, first independent of each other, together form a work, perfect and whole. e fashionably mystical number 42 doesn’t say anything - but at the same time it tells you everything. Just like the film. What did you feel when Symphony no. 42 was selected for the Berlinale Shorts competition programme? When József Fülöp, the head of the Media Institute at MOME called me with the news, I started jumping up and down in the middle of the street, screaming in happiness. I didn’t expect this news at all, so it was one of the greatest surprises of my life. How would you describe your personal style? Right now I’m still testing my boundaries and enjoy experimenting. I like films that are composed with a certain elegance, so this is an important factor of my work, too. I strive for the unexpected - this way, I never get bored throughout the filmmaking process. What would you say is your signature as a director? I believe that my films oen have a sophisticated, sarcastic and slightly sterile sense of humour. I like handling subjects that are especially sensitive to me but at the same time I think one cannot always talk about serious things seriously.
What is your favourite trend in the short film world right now? Animation is my ultimate favourite when it comes to short films. I’m biased, for sure, but nobody has been able to convince me otherwise. e world of animation has recently seen a lot incredibly exciting developments. I oen stumble upon animations where I have the feeling that this is not like anything I have ever seen before. Take for example the short animations from Japan - they use material, sound and the filmic language in a truly special and innovative way. e community of animators is very small worldwide. It is easy to meet everyone from the industry - there are not too many big animation film festivals or workshops. Everybody knows everybody. It is a strange but exciting community where everyone is ready to help: to share with each other what they have, to explain their own specific technique to others. I am in touch with a lot of animators internationally, which can be very inspiring. Which direction do you see your filmmaking career going in the future? What kind of films do you plan to make? One thing I am sure of: my next project will be a short film. I have a few small ideas ready: right now, I find spaces particularly interesting. I have already experimented a lot with sounds in Symphony no. 42., but there is much more to do! I would like to do as much travelling as possible, and slowly, it will become clear which direction to take. Right now I’m not worried. What career advice would you give to a young filmmaker? ink everything through twice - but never three times! WOSH by Daazo.com 65
a GianT PuZZLe With too many Pieces interview by Attila Mocanu
Claudette Godfrey is the Short Film Programmer & Operations Manager at SxSW (South by Southwest) in austin, which is one of the world's most famous music/film/interactive festivals. We had a chat with Claudette about the pressure she has when programming films at such a popular festival and how she approaches short films in the time of new media.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and your professional career. How did you get to program short films at South by Southwest? I was born and raised in Austin, Texas and I am currently the Film Festival Operations Manager and the Short Film Programmer. I was first involved with SXSW during my second year of film studies, working first as a volunteer and then as a seasonal assistant. Upon graduating I moved to Las Vegas to work for the CineVegas Film Festival, but moved back to Austin to take a full-time position with SXSW in 2008. Now I am responsible for curating the 10 short film programmes the festival screens
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each year, managing all film submissions to the festival and overseeing the organisational big picture for the event.
What kind of pressure do you have programming short films at such a popular festival? Programming is like a giant puzzle with too many pieces so the biggest pressure is probably the responsibility I feel to filmmakers. ere are always too many good films and too few programming slots. We can only accept a very small percentage of the films that are submitted and we want to make sure every film has a fair shot. Every year when we send rejections it breaks my heart. It is disappointing for those filmmakers and I know how much time, money and passion is being put into those films. What influences your programming choices? ere are many variables that influence my choices. Of course, story is the most important and the style and directorial voice with which that story is told. Beyond that, I consider the economy of the runtime, the film's premiere status, where the film has screened previously, if the film is available online and how many views it has received. Of course, all those factors go out the window when I see something I really love. en, no matter what, I'll show the film if I can.
What kind of shorts are you looking for to get in the SXSW programme? What is your aim with programming? At SXSW we program live action, documentary and animated shorts as well as music videos. I'm always looking for a good story that hooks me emotionally. It has to engage me and elicit a reaction. I'm not as interested in traditional experimental cinema, but I adore films that experiment with storytelling. I'm always looking for a unique fresh voice. At the base level I'm interested in showcasing
filmmakers that excite me. I'm looking for stories I haven't seen a million times before. at's a pretty big statement, because everything has been done before, but if I have seen a specific story, I want to see it handled in a unique way or from a new perspective. It's thrilling for me to find a film I love and be able to share that work with the audience at SXSW. Do you have a policy about only selecting films that were submitted to SXSW or do you pick out some shorts from other festivals? ere is no policy for this. Basically, I'll consider anything I see if it's right for SXSW.
at means anything online or at other festivals. However, when making final decisions there is a slight preference for films that have made SXSW a priority and were submitted to us officially. e future of short films is one of the most uncertain questions in our industry at the moment. What’s your take on it: what kind of position will short films be in, let’s say, 10 years? It is hard to say since things have changed so much in even just the last few years, but in a certain way I think the changes to come have already begun. e availability of tech-
nology to make and showcase a film will only continue to become more widely available so the stories will continue to diversify. e biggest change is that the lines between commercial, television, web series, and traditional short and theatrical feature filmmaking are completely blurring. Those words have already started to become meaningless because everything is just becoming "content". The future is in how that content will be produced, curated, distributed and used to change things.
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iDeaLiSM in reaLiTy
Daazo in 2014 words by Dániel Deák
We at Daazo are young idealists: we always believe that the next year will be the most eventful and successful one ever. And most of the time we are right! In the 7-year history of Daazo, each year has been a huge step forward. First there were two enthusiastic people on board, now there is a whole team. First there was only a website, now we have apps, a magazine, a film festival, and many other side projects as well. And we have even more to offer: here is an overview of our exciting projects for 2014! e website Daazo.com will keep premiering classic and brand new short films for free. We offer Academy Award and Palme d’Or winning films and we want to keep this standard. Last year, we started presenting award-winning shorts from important festivals like Winterthur and Zubroffka. We will continue to do so, involving even more film festivals, bringing you a great selection of quality films. We have always tried to motivate young filmmakers to share their work on Daazo and we think the best way to do so is to announce creative projects like film contests. We even plan to exhibit short films in the coolest Central European museums - stay tuned for details. In March, Daazo is organising its first ever international film festival, Friss Hús Budapest. These strange Hungarian words mean fresh meat: our aim is to discover the most creative young talents and to create a festival for their
films with professional programmes and parties. A must-come festival with must-see films: the call is open. Come and get in on the festival fun. Do you have troubles with festival submissions? Too many calls for films around? You made a great film but are unsure about its aerlife? As a new service by Daazo we help you to find out what to do and where to send your film, to define your goals with your shorts and in your career. We will even manage your submissions. Daazo’s Festival Strategy System is up and running so check out the website for more info and let us take your film to the right places. Our core mission is to find an audience for short films. This is why we run the website, organise the film festival and help you find the right platform to present your work. is is all very well, but surely, you would love to make some money from your film. Being able to sell it doesn’t only mean material gain but also important feedback - a sign of professionalism. Daazo’s distribution service helps to utilise the opportunities within your shorts: a winwin for the filmmakers, the external platforms and the audience. And of course we will continue to publish the ultimate short film magazine, our beloved World of Shorts - at the Friss Hús Budapest Festival, in Cannes, Venice, and online. Find us anywhere in the world of shorts, but most certainly on Daazo.com! WOSH by Daazo.com 69
FeSTiVaL Below you can see a festival panorama with 22 upcoming festivals, to which you can still
submit your film. And this list is really just from the top of our heads. Daazo's resources
have a wide range of festival in-and-outs from all over the world and we are friends with
PanOraMa quite a bunch of them. So why don't you let us take care of your film before it hits the
festival circuit, so we can take all the sorrow away from you that deadlines, DVD-burning
and mailing cause. We'll also get a discount for you from entry fees and much more.
go to www.daazo.com to learn about Daazo's new festival management system.
Talent campus w.shop
Festival Camp
Submission deadline
Date
Fee of sub.
Friss Hús Budapest Short Film Festival
February 20, 2014
March 27 – 30, 2014
€20
Hamburg international Short Film Festival
February 15, 2014
June 3-9, 2014
free
gdansk DocFilm Festival
February 28, 2014
June 4-8, 2014
free
Sydney Film Festival
February 27, 2014
June 4-15, 2014
AUD$ 37
Annecy international Animation Film Festival
Short: February 7, 2014
June 9-14, 2014
free
The Norwegian Short Film Festival
March 15, 2014
June 12-17, 2014
free
peace and love Film Festival
May 13, 2014
June 22-26, 2014
free
workshops
FeST New Directors | New Films Festival
March 9, 2014
June 24-30, 2014
free
workshops
Karlovy Vary international Film Festival
March 10, 2014
July 4-12, 2014
free
workshops
Curtas Vila do Conde international Film Festival
April 11, 2014
July 5-13, 2014
free
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Oscar qual.
Market
workshops
workshops
EFA Short
EFA Short
workshops
workshops
L
Talent campus w.shop
Festival Camp
Submission deadline
Date
Fee of sub.
Melbourne international Film Festival
February 20, 2014
July 31 – August 17, 2014
AUD$ 70
locarno international Film Festival
June 3, 2014
August 6-16, 2014
30 CHF
talent campus
Anibar international Animation Festival
May 1, 2014
August 9-14, 2014
free
workshops
Sarajevo Film Festival
to be announced
August 15-23, 2014
free
Venice international Film Festival
June 21, 2014
August 27 – September 6, 2014
free
workshops
Annual DC Shorts Film Festival
April 30, 2014
September 11-21, 2014
€55
workshops
international Film Festival Message To Man
May 31, 2014
September 20-27, 2014
€7
workshops
Sedicicorto international Film Festival
June 5, 2014
October 3-11, 2014
free
workshops
Sapporo international Short Film Festival and Market
March 31, 2014
October 8-13, 2014
free
workshops
Zagreb Film Festival
to be announced in April
October 19-26, 2014
free
workshops
uppsala international Short Film Festival
May 31, 2014
October 20-26, 2014
free
workshops, talent campus
Cork Film Festival
August 5, 2014
November, 2014
€30
Oscar qual.
EFA
EFA
Market
talent campus
EFA
EFA
talent campus WOSH by Daazo.com 20 WOSH by Daazo.com 73
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worKsHoP
in the times of live-streamed online education and smartphone apps for basically everything in your life, it might be hard and maybe even unnecessary to spend years in old, traditional institutions before you get out in the real world. But workshops will always give you hands-on experience, a great chance to extend your professional network and to get outside your comfort zone for a bit. Remember: “life begins at the end of your comfort zone”.
FeST FiLM LaB An initiative of the FEST International Film Festival in Portugal, these film labs will introduce you to the highest standards in contemporary filmmaking. eir upcoming course in Lisbon on film editing will be hosted by Tariq Anwar, who was nominated for an Oscar for the editing of American Beauty. Admission is sometimes quite pricy, but you will get what you pay for. Deadline: first come, first served Fee: €369 filmlab.fest.pt THe aniMaTiOn WOrKSHOP e Animation Workshop in Viborg, Denmark offers one of the highest quality education experiences in Europe, when it comes to animated art. You have lots of courses to choose from as well. Take a classical drawing course to improve your instincts or take a 15-week professional course to get some accelerated knowledge. You can also enrol and
agenda experience college life for a longer amount of time.
Deadline: continuously accepting applications Fee: depends on the course www.animwork.dk ViSeGraD aniMaTiOn FOruM Have an idea for an animated film? Is the project in the works? Act fast and apply to the Visegrad Animation Forum which will be held at ANIFILM at the beginning of May. You can also apply with a TV series. e Forum selects 8 short film projects and 6 series projects. Deadline: March 2, 2014 Fee: they select the projects and you can win up to €2,000 www.asaf.cz 8-WeeK Hi-DeF Filmmaking Workshop new york Film academy
e NYFA lacks some of the main features for which European filmmakers usually attend workshops. It’s very expensive, networking is hard
and it is certainly not project and art focused. On the other hand, if you’re a tech guy or gal and you want to master the ins and outs of how to actually make a film, then NYFA is the way to go. And it’s in Los Angeles! Or in New York. Well, basically you can find workshops all over the world. Deadline: continuously accepting applications Fee: depends on the course, starting around $5,000 www.nyfa.edu LeT Me DireCT! raindance Film School
A two-day workshop that is suitable both for beginners and experienced directors who have not yet made their first feature film. The course is not just about directing, but about all the aspects of being a film director. While this course may not kick-start your career in Hollywood, it will certainly be a step towards it. Deadline: the workshop is on March 8th Fee: €350 www.raindance.org WOSH by Daazo.com 75
DaaZO GOeS TO
festivaLs
our best memories from 2O13 attiLa
ZsuZsanna ZSuZSi
aZSi
BerLin The best bit in Berlin was having finally got into the cinema from the freezing cold, surveying the über-cool crowd, excited and full of expectations, before the first Berlinale Shorts screenings - and trying to guess how many future masters there are hidden amongst them.
ZuBrOFFKa FiLM FeSTiVaL One of Europe's coldest film festivals is also one of the most heart-warming and cosiest festivals in the region. With its innovative and controversial Eastern-oriented programme and all-night festival parties with musical performances from all around the world, a visit to Bialystok in December will always stay in your mind. Beware of the bison, though!
CanneS Being in Cannes is a privilege in itself and entering the Palais des Festivals is like setting foot in a sanctuary. Spotting my hero, Agnès Varda, chatting in front of a huge yacht in the harbour was definitely there on the top for me. Another memory I’ll never forget: when I was blown away by a beautiful and sensitive short film, 37°4 S, which still haunts me, even after such a long time. VeniCe e oldest film festival in the world, elegant and majestic like a queen, but with a surprisingly quirky and exciting shorts line-up. My memory of the year is grabbing a quick Italian espresso and then watching the Venezia70 birthday shorts directed by some of the greatest masters of our time, made especially for the Venice Film Festival!
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SLeePWaLKerS SHOrT anD STuDenT FiLM FeSTiVaL How does sleepwalking come to short films? Well, as it turns out, dreams usually last the same time as a short film. But in the heart of Tallinn in November, aer watching shorts while lying on beanbags, sleepwalking might also mean the feeling when you wake up after an all-night party when it’s already dark the next day. OFF-COurTS TrOuViLLe Hands down, Off-Courts is one of the most relaxed and beautiful film festivals in the world. Just two hours from Paris on the shores of Normandy, this beautiful little village hosts a great film market, mind-opening panels and world-class seafood, while you feel that breeze from the sea giving you just the perfect amount of chill and the sense that you are in the right place at the right time.
danieL Dani
streets, full-house screenings and the most breathtaking open air venue I've ever seen. I had the chance to watch Circles by Srdan Golubovic there, an epic picture, which summarised the last 20 years of Balkan history. With 3,000 people who experienced these events. It was impossible to talk afterwards - at least not with words.
HaMBurG Hamburg is really a city to live - and you can feel it at the very first sight. It’s a metropolis with lovely, almost village-like parts. And this is true for the festival as well: a very well programmed and organised event with the highest professional standards, but you feel that this is a product of a devoted community, which accepts you instantly. Friendship and professionalism - a rare combination, but you can find it in Hamburg.
CineFeST The modern human being has several cultural identities. For instance I am Hungarian, CentralEuropean, European and overall, cosmopolitan. The Jameson Cinefest Miskolc Film Festival matches all these, so the Daazo team really feels at home there. You’d better keep your eye on the short film programme, since it's selected by Daazo.
SaraJeVO A city which carries modern history in its own body. A festival which is a product of a strong community, which wanted to survive and not to lose culture and entertainment. Crowded
WinTerTHur It is Swiss. It works. It fascinates everyone. A must-participate festival. Traditional, but organised by young people, so it is not just cold, but cool!
wHy maKe
sHort fiLms? compiled by Zsuzsanna Deák
a question that is often asked. Why do people go to the trouble of making short films when they don’t promise a big financial return, arouse huge public interest or offer you never-ending fame? We asked a few enthusiastic short film directors why they make shorts and what they think of the format. Here is what they said.
Toby Fell-Holden (UK) - his short Little Shadows has been shortlisted for the BAFTA awards. I love making short films as they are a great way to immediately transport an audience into a momentarily heightened experience. Unlike feature films, there is little time to set up characters or map out a journey, which forces you to be economical with storytelling. e appeal of trying to make something that can move an audience within fieen minutes, or have them in constant laughter, is a unique challenge that keeps you returning to the form. Another satisfying aspect of shorts is that the turnaround between writing and actually making it can be very fast, which can be very rewarding given how easy it is to get lost in year-long rewrites with features.
Sorayos Prapapan (ailand) - his short film Boonrerm won Daazo’s online contest and then went on to be selected for the Rotterdam Film Festival’s programme. Because I believe in shorts! e content and form of my work is suitable for short films. e power of short films when screened in a cinema is not any less than that of a feature film. Even a lot of famous directors still make their own shorts for their own reasons. If you enjoy taking a photo; that does not mean you can’t enjoy shooting a video. ey both can go together. I will definitely make more shorts. But in the future if I have some ideas that are suitable for a feature film I really want to try making one of those. at's my big challenge.
Cristina Grosan (Romania/Hungary) - her last short film Holiday at the Seaside won the Sarajevo City of Film. To many, shorts are a place to go to right before you do your first feature- this is what we've so oen heard. To me, this is a neat place to experiment with stories, and see where you can take them. Some stories work in a 90 minute format, but some fit perfectly in 8 minutes. ey work like a drop of an effervescent tablet into a pool of still water. Sometimes it's all it takes to unleash that thought domino. at's what I'm aer.
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Joonas Makkonen (Finland) - his short film e Escort won Daazo’s Impossible Film Contest in 2012. Joonas has directed over 20 short films to date and won numerous prizes all over Europe. For me, making short films has been a very natural way to do fiction. My goal has always been to become a fiction filmmaker, and to be as good a film director and film writer as possible. Short films have been a very natural way for me to keep on filming. ey say that doing is learning, and I'd say I’ve become a better filmmaker aer writing and directing 20+ short films. I love short film as a film form. Making short films is a great way to get the routines in filmmaking, to gain more experience and skills. I found my style as a director/writer while I wrote and directed my shorts. I have also been thinking a lot about my life as a filmmaker. If I hadn't discovered the magic of films, I think I would be quite a depressed person today. I believe that every person needs their "own thing" to make life more meaningful. Filmmaking has been my thing for a long time.
Dawn Westlake (USA) - her 15 short films have won over 40 prizes worldwide. I made my first short, Mini Driver Project, in 2000, and I never looked back. I absolutely fell in love with the art form. e short presents tremendous challenges (having to write, shoot and edit with extreme precision and efficacy), but also great rewards. Working at a low budget, you can get out a “pure” message. You usually don’t have studios or money-people red-lining your story or interfering in the way in which you want to tell it. ere’s great creative freedom in shorts! My favourite quote about the short form comes from my friend James Tjekisa Hall, the director of the Gold Lion Film Fest in Manzini, Swaziland: “A short film is to a feature film what a short story is to a novel – a self-contained artistic unit with its own purpose and integrity. ‘Short’ refers to length, not value or impact.”
Toma Waszarow (Bulgaria) - his latest short film Noon has participated in over a dozen festivals worldwide. I naively believe in my personal conspiracy theory that says that the short film, as a form, was unfairly kicked away by the cruel industry into a small corner where it exists only for a small audience. These days, platforms like Daazo have started to form another kind of audience that is ready to accept a pack of shorts in the theatre and to pay the same amount of money as for a feature. On the other hand when I need to make a film, I always do it for a special reason - to translate something important to the language of cinema. From that point of view, my important things usually can be told in a few minutes and I don't need more.
WOSH by Daazo.com 79
WORLD OF SHORTS editor in chief: Dániel Deák - danieldeak@daazo.com editor: Zsuzsanna Deák - zsuzsanna.deak@daazo.com art director and graphic design: Péter Flanek Daazo graphic design: Krisztina Jávorszki founding designer of WOSH: Cristina Grosan head of sales: Attila Mocanu - attilamocanu@daazo.com contributors: Brigitta Iványi-Bitter, József Fülöp, Domenico La Porta, Michał Oleszczyk, Cristina Grosan, Nóra Szűcs thanks: Clive Allnutt, Anna Búzás, Maia Christie, Géza Csákvári, Cristina Grosan, Julia Hicks, Maike Mia Höhne, Matthijs Wouter Knol, Anita Libor, Katharina Neumann, Joe Newson, Janka Pozsonyi, Emmi Pääkkönen, Zsófia Tót, Christine Tröstrum, Dóra Vermes cover photo: Péter Flanek masks design on the cover: Aleksandar Škoric ´ - www.sasadesign.com illustrations by: Péter Flanek, Diana Ghyczy photographs: Péter Flanek, Maike Mia Höhne you can also find this magazine online at: http://issuu.com/daazo/docs/berlin2014
World of Shorts magazine is published by Daazo Film and Media Ltd. Published in Hungary February 2014. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part is forbidden save with the written permission of the publishers. www.daazo.com | info@daazo.com ISSN 2064-2105 (Online) - ISSN 2064-2113 (Print)
Daazo.com - the European Shortfilm Centre is supported by the MEDIA programme of the EU. is material does not necessarily represent the views and opinions of the EU. is magazine was printed on recycled paper.
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