world of shorts
the cannes 2012 issue
a shortfilm magazine published by daazo.com - the european shortfilm centre
WOSH by Daazo.com - the European Shortfilm Centre 1
WOSH by Daazo.com - the European Shortfilm Centre 2
impossible
WOSH by Daazo.com - the European Shortfilm Centre 3
content: 6
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All Grown Up: Cinéfondation turns 15
The Story of an Alliance: director meets producer
Film Corner 23 Short in 2012
up in Cannes: trends: 10 Growing 12 Festival Kornél Mundruczó prize winning shorts
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24
Visegrad Shorts on Tour: the beginning of a beautiful collaboration
From PC to TV: The year of Smart TV
the Classic Ways: 20 Denying Visegrad Shorts on Tour
participant selected at Cannes Cinéfondation
the 26 Launching Short Circuit
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Make a Shortfilm - Sell it
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Ready to share with the world: Lithuanian Shorts agency
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Dealing with authors’ rights
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The big A-listers: A festival agenda for 2012
Shortfilm 64 Celebrating with a Big Bang:
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Bring on the (film) training!
Mapping Your Mind: directors from the Short Film Competition & the CinĂŠfondation put their pencils to the test
Bristol Encounters Short Film & Animation Festival
editorial text: Dániel Deák illustration: Matheus Lopes Castro
If you watch the highlights of the Cannes International Film Festival on television or read glossy magazine articles about it, you might think it is all about stars, red carpet, flashlights and expensive cars. Every new and inexperienced filmmaker wants to be part of this magic world of cinema. Stepping out from a limo, being applauded on the red carpet, answering questions confidently or cheekily at press conferences. But that’s just the shop window. Cannes - with its lineups, market, and talent programmes – concentrates on each and every important part of the industry. Which means that if you understand Cannes, you understand the film business.
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editorial
Visiting the Cannes IFF for the very first time is a bit of a shock for everyone. It’s not very easy to accept that you are just one of the thousands of visitors at this event. Young talents especially, whose films will be found at the Short Film Corner, or even the lucky (and very talented) ones, who have been selected to the Cinéfondation, expect something else. But Cannes means a great chance, not instant success. It takes time for everybody to learn the tips, tricks and rules of the strange universe of this festival. We at Daazo.com have decided to make it a bit easier for you. We have created World of Shorts magazine’s Cannes Issue to help to tackle the first challenges - both as a festival-visiting cinéphile and as a young filmmaker. If somebody doubts that there is a market for short films, we would just kindly ask them to take a look at the Short Film Corner in the basement of the Palais de Festival. There are around 2,000 films (and that’s already a selection) competing for dozens of buyers. Television stations, VOD platforms, cinemas and museums have also discovered that short film is a special tool for entertainment - and for self-expression too. People have never watched as many short films as they do today. And this is great news for any young filmmaker: you just need to use the opportunity.
The world of law is a most unfamiliar jungle for a young talent - but luckily, we have Michel Gyory, who clarifies the basic questions about authors’ rights. Also, Dan Saunders, the Director of Content Services at Samsung gives us a glimpse of the brave (and smart) new world of connected television, which offers a great new platform for short film providers (including Daazo.com). We have also gathered the most important festivals and training workhops for you where you can build your career and improve your skills. And just to make things even more fun, take part in our online Impossible Film Contest on Daazo.com, to win valuable prizes and training opportunities. Besides these practical issues, we would like to foster the creativity of the young filmmakers. In the Mapping Your Mind section we present drawings by filmmakers from the Short Film Competition and the Cinéfondation - we asked them to “translate” their films into a very simple sketch instead of asking boring questions from them. Is there anything in common among the last years’ festival-winning films? You will get the answer from our critic. Also, we asked the representatives of Cinéfondation and the Short Film Corner about this year’s selection and news from the short film market.
In this issue, we are about to list these opportunities and ’good-to-knows’ from different points of view. You will find a great article by Anja Sosic and Jan Naszewski - who manage one of the quickest emerging boutique sales companies of Europe, New Europe Film Sales – summarising So let’s Cannes together - please use this very precisely what the chances and possibilities issue of World of Shorts magazine as for a short film are. your guide to the short film related programmes of the Cannes International Film Festival.
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Besides, as you know, the Cinéfondation has grown up, and it has developed complementary programmes: the Residence in 2000 and the Atelier in 2005. Are you planning any special screenings or events marking the anniversary? There are no special events planned this year. We’ll let it go quietly through its adoAn interview with Dimitra Karya lescence period and will hopefully make a artistic director of the “bigger party” for its 20th anniversary. The Cinéfondation selection best celebration for us is when filmmakers whose student films we had programmed come back to Cannes or other major festivals with new feature films. It’s our pleasure and our pride. This year, Aida Begic’s second feature is part of the Un Certain Regard selection and Gonzalo Tobal’s feature debut is shown at a special screening. Another positive sign of recognition came last year when text: Anita Libor Jessica Hausner and Corneliu Porumboiu illustration: Matheus Lopes Castro sat on the Cinéfondation Jury, many years photograph by: Miklós Vargha after having shown their student films in our Cinéfondation is celebrating its 15th birthday in programme. 2012. What was the first Cinéfondation like? How have things changed since then?
ALL GROWN UP: Cinéfondation turns 15
In 1998, when Gilles Jacob and Pierre Viot created this new section of the Festival de Cannes, the Cinéfondation was just a selection of student films. Laurent Jacob, its programmer for the first 12 years, took up the challenge of making it known in the world of film schools. He went to some festivals, invited the best student shorts he could find and undertook to convince schools to submit as many works directed by their students as possible. The very first Cinéfondation showed 15 shorts and among them 3 from NFTS, which attests that the choice was limited and the diversity of film schools hard to achieve. Fortunately, Cinéfondation’s reputation kept growing during all those years and we no longer need propaganda. With some 1700 yearly submissions, we can present a better balanced programme. Today we closely work with many film schools, and some “new” ones contact us every year. WOSH by Daazo.com - the European Shortfilm Centre 8
interview
What will happen for the first time this year is that just after the festival, in mid-June, the Cinéfondationawarded films will make a trip to Rome, to be shown at the prestigious Villa Medici. Since last year they have also been shown at La Cinémathèque Française, the Parisian temple of cinema, while the Forum des Images, another important French institution, showcases a part of the programme, also in June. In the past 15 years, the Cinéfondation has discovered many emerging talents. What is your experience? Are there any trends in student filmmaking? Are there any topics filmmakers like very much as beginners that they tend to forget later on in their careers? Or are talents very serious filmmakers from the very beginning? I don’t know if we can talk about trends in student filmmaking. I noticed that many directors deal with personal loss. Some are concerned with their historical, political and social background, in a more or less obvious way: they often sharply dissect the society of their own country. Others create a more personal universe, sometimes inspired by myths. A few have been marked by conflicts in their region, painting the portrait of lost generations. Directors are artists expressing a personal vision but also evolving with their society, acutely feeling the uneasiness of living. Fortunately, there can be humour to enlighten the Cinéfondation programme. There are directors who consistently follow the same path and others who surf on different waves. There are born filmmakers who seem to have cinema flowing in their veins from the very beginning of their career and there are personalities who develop film after film, in a blossoming that is very touching to witness. Although there is no direct link between the Cinéfondation, L’Atelier, La Residence or the Official Selection, there are a lot of doors that open after being selected to the Cinéfondation. How does this shape a filmmaker’s career, how is life after the Cinéfondation? As you say, there is no direct link. To date, only 23% of the selected student film directors have joined the Residence with their feature film project and 13% the Atelier.
Those are selected by Georges Goldenstern, the General Manager of the Cinéfondation, twice a year for the Residence and yearly for the Atelier at Cannes. But it’s certain that being selected at the Cinéfondation can become the “Open Sesame” for some of these young filmmakers: their shorts continue the journey started here, they are invited to other festivals, where they meet fellow directors or professionals and build up a network, hopefully arousing the interest of producers, distributors etc.
Dimitra Karya
As I said before, a part of the selection (usually the awarded films) is shown in various prestigious places. Besides, every year, ARTE television broadcasts some of our films. Your short film sharing site, Daazo.com, also showed interest and intends to present a retrospective selection of the awarded Cinéfondation films online. As for a possible link to the Official Selection, meaning the Competition and Un Certain Regard (because the Cinéfondation is also part of the Official Selection), there is definitely no preferential treatment for our “reservoir” of talents; on the contrary, one could say the Festival de Cannes is even more demanding towards them. Last year it was at Locarno that Nadav Lapid’s first feature got international recognition.
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This year Mátyás Prikler developed his short “Ďakujem Dobre”, that we showed in 2010, into a splendid first feature film and I’m sure it will attract a lot of attention. The only “favour” is that we guarantee our First Prize winner that his first feature film will be presented at the Festival de Cannes: Gonzalo Tobal, winner in 2007, is back for a special screening of “Villegas”. Tell us about this year’s selection - how many applicants are there and how many countries do they represent? How many sleepless hours does the selection process mean?
Needless to say, there are moments of grace when a film becomes essential on first viewing and is immediately invited. This year’s very international jury is headed by Jean-Pierre Dardenne. How did you, organisers, choose the jury members? As a general rule, the Cinéfondation and Short Film jury is headed by an internationally distinguished director. The task of finding one is not always easy for the Festival authorities: either the filmmakers in the middle of preparing a film and so they don’t have the time to come, or they have submitted one to the Festival de Cannes and consequently are likely to be selected… Some of them refuse the invitation because they simply don’t like the position of the “judge”. Once the presidency is ensured, the organisers invite the other four members of the jury, mainly filmmakers and actors/actresses.
If you’re a “numbers person”, enjoy some statistics: this year 15 films from 14 countries have been selected from among 1683 coming from 320 schools in 71 countries. We received 100 more films than last year. Three schools make their first appearance at the Cinéfondation: The Animation Workshop (Denmark), Tokyo University of the Arts (Japan) and L’Académie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts – this is the first time Lebanon is represented in our Selection. Although the number of applicants An ideal jury president or member is someis increasing every year, I can still enjoy sleeping at one who is somewhat prepared for the misnight like a baby after viewing films all day long! sion and knows what is to be done; who has the appropriate degree of generosity, the How does the selection process work? Do you have ability to foresee what could emerge from any ideas, topics, themes in your mind a priori - or those first works, and the wisdom to judge does it happen after seeing all the applicants when those young student filmmakers for what you can tell what to choose to the Cinéfondation? they are: young student filmmakers; who pronounces a personalised compliment to I have absolutely no a priori or favourite themes. the awarded directors in the Buñuel Theatre, Of course, I have my own sensitivity and inter- and maybe a word of consolation to those ests but as a programmer I’m trying to make a who have got nothing; who encourages selection with the widest possible range of forms, them during the cocktail reception after the genres and themes. What mostly counts is the awards ceremony. And sometimes all of this filmmaker’s ability to express a personal vision. happens, when we are very lucky, but you The films fulfilling this point find themselves on can never tell in advance! the “preselection” shelf; then the other criteria I quoted before are applied to make up the final I believe that Jean-Pierre Dardenne is an exprogramme. Taking of course into account the cellent choice, just as Luc Dardenne was in geographic diversity, which for a student film fes- 2000, who carried out his mission with curitival is accompanied by another one: the variety of osity, intelligence and passion. schools and the concern of introducing those that have never participated.
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kornél growing up in Cannes mundruczó text: Anita Libor photograph & collage: Cristina Groşan
Kornél Mundruczó is one of the leading figures of the contemporary Hungarian film scene and a returning guest at Cannes: his consecutive features, Delta and Tender Son - The Frankenstein Project were both in competition at the festival. This is, of course, not just a lucky coincidence - it is the inevitable result of the dedication which the Cannes Film Festival shows when it comes to nurturing talent. Let’s see from where Mundruczó started and where he is now! Kornél Mundruczó’s filmmaking career is not short of interesting facts: one of them is his unorthodox debut in Cannes. While new talents are usually invited to the Cinéfondation section, his 22-minute short film Joan of Arc on the Night Bus was selected for the Directors’ Fortnight, an independent section with no particular rules. The Directors’ Fortnight is a non-competitive section with no awards, but being invited here counts as a big achievement. Joan of Arc on the Night Bus, which is available to watch on Daazo.com, was the closing segment of the sketch film A Bus Came..., but – as another unexpected twist - it later established itself as an independent short film.
at the Cinéfondation, a section that has been on the lookout for new talents since 1998. In this short film, considered as the prestudy of his later success Delta, many of Delta’s elements are already there: the setting is the Danube Delta, and the main character is played by Orsi Tóth, but the story is more allegorical.
Mundruczó Kornél entered the Cannes Résidence in 2003 with his Delta project and lived in Paris for six months - this is how he remembered this period in an interview: “I was able to work very well in Paris because I managed to shed the city This recognition was followed by another Cannes ac- that is Budapest. I was very much on my knowledgement: Mundruczó’s diploma film Little Apoc- own and this was very good and effective. rypha No. 2 was the first ever Hungarian participant
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cannes special
Besides these, I am very grateful to the Résidence for a number of other things: among others, I went through a phase of searching for my identity and I learnt that I was Eastern European through and through - a fact I could even be proud of. I made friends there, for example with Karim Ainouz, director of Madam Sata, who participated in the programme at the same time as I, or with Argentinian director Verónica Chen, whose films, sadly, didn’t make it to Hungarian cinemas. We have remained close friends to the present day. Another thing worth mentioning is that I was able to go to the cinema every day with the free tickets I got to the Cinématheque, where almost every new film gets screened. It was incredibly good to go to the cinema in Paris - a wonderful experience.” The Un Certain Regard section is a non-competitive programme of the official selection in Cannes: this is where Kornél Mundruczó came to in 2005 with his film-opera Johanna, which is a cinematic and musical interpretation of the Passion of Joan of Arc. Johanna, a young drug addict, falls into a deep coma after an accident. Doctors miraculously manage to save her from death’s door.
To avoid confusion, it is important to mention that Mundruczó likes to return to his topics and even to his film titles. He made two short films with the title Little Apochrypha - the second one was selected for Cannes. His short film Joan of Arc on the Night Bus was screened at the Director’s Fortnight in 2003 and his feature film-opera, Johanna (again, with a Joan in the title role) was chosen for the Un Certain Regard section, which focuses on young talents with innovative work and extraordinary vision.
Touched by grace, Johanna cures patients by offering them her body. It sounds interesting, doesn’t it? Not to mention that the characters of this film sing as well! And finally, the big challenge: the competition. Kornél Mundruczó’s two consecutive features both debuted in Cannes: Delta, reflecting classic arthouse traditions, was a roaring success in 2008 and it went on to win the International Critics’ Prize. Tender Son - The Frankenstein Project, a much more experimental work re-interpreting the Frankenstein story began its international career in 2010 as part of the official competition, but its reception was slightly quieter than that of Delta. This doesn’t change the fact that Kornél Mundruczó piqued the interest of one of the most acclaimed European film festivals early in his career, and that the Cannes Film Festival made sure he got all it could offer: opportunities, introductions and recognition. Through this, Kornél Mundruczó has become one of the most significant figures of contemporary European cinema. Daazo.com has brought together the director’s short films in its collection, ranging from his earliest work to more recent, award-winning pieces.
There’s only so much one can write in an article. If you want to see the films, follow this QR code.
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festival trends text: Zsolt Gyenge
Park Chan-Wook, Night Fishing
There is no future for conventional cinema – at least this is what seems to be the message of last year’s short film juries at different festivals. For this issue of WOSH, we have decided to analyse and try to understand the success of four short films which won the main prizes of important festivals around the world in 2011. Why do certain films get awarded at many festivals while others don’t? What makes the difference between success and mediocrity in the world of shorts? What makes a director an author in the festival tour? Our goal by analysing these four films is not just a simple quest to understand these works, but also we will try to give hints on what the recipe for a successful short looks like, and to offer clues to the future stars of short films.
Peter Baranowski: Addicted – Locarno, Pardino d’oro During the 23 minutes of this film we never leave the seat of the car in which the German protagonist is travelling to Morocco to visit his estranged Italian girlfriend. Peter Baranowski presents a minimalistic story through an innovative and comparatively minimalist visual solution, which creates unbelievable tension. The restricted view from the car makes us want to see more all the time, as we miss the shots which usually show us the other parts of the space. Rauschgift (Addicted) is great because this visual style is in unison with the story, where the guy being far from his girlfriend is simply unable to understand and to see what’s going on with her and her emotions towards him. The final shot, when all we can see is the small white spot of the flashlight disappearing in the night through the windshield, is just astonishing. The short film jury in Locarno probably rewarded the fine cinematography and the consistency of the author in pursuing the chosen visual and dramatical path. Park Chan-Wook: Night Fishing – Berlinale, Golden Bear Established and well-known directors rarely turn up in short film competitions. Even if they are working in the short format, they are usually doing so as part of a team producing a sketch-film. Korean filmmaker Park Chan-Wook, however, showed up in the Berlinale competition last year with a technical innovation, a film shot with iPhone. The challenge of his project (Night Fishing) was, of course, the integration of the tool of most home videos of our time into a cinematic format. What made his technically innovative project interesting is that he did not use this new tool in a conventional way. He chose a crazy, mythical and at the same time funny narrative which was shot in a playful and very mobile visual style (which was made possible by the “camera”).
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cannes special
The story of the death of the lonely fisherman, his meeting with a medium bearing the soul of his daughter during the night and finally, his funeral is as crazy as a Park Chan-Wook movie can get. But what made this film really intriguing was the fact that the almost 50-year-old filmmaker was able to create the most youthful film of the competition, and that he was able to forget and leave behind all the visual and narrative effects and solutions he had developed and had been using for years. Ruben Östlund: Incident by a Bank – Tampere, Grand Prix Ruben Östlund’s short consists of one ten-minutelong take which presents the recording of an unsuccessful bank robbery in the center of Stockholm. In Incident by a Bank, the filmmaker takes the position of an accidental observer, who – as we so often see in real life – turns on his camera when something unusual happens on the street.
Ruben Östlund, Incident by a Bank
An interesting twist of the concept is created through the presence of two guys, who do the same as the filmmaker: they notice the suspicious figures early, and when they become aware of the situation, instead of trying to stop them or alert the police or the other passers-by, they start filming with their phones. As we watch the scene, we start to interpret this both as a social criticism of the indifference of the welfare society and as a typical Scandinavian absurd.
But soon we realise that the filmmaker formulating this criticism is, ironically, doing the same. The situation and its visual formulation clearly remind us of the iconic Swedish filmmaker, Roy Andersson. Maryna Vroda: Cross-country – Cannes, Palme d’Or A different case is that of Ukrainan filmmaker Maryna Vroda, who presented a visually low-key short film last year. What makes Cross-country outstanding is its irregular narrative structure, which promises a new story several times, but instead of following a thread, it always moves away to a different situation. The cross-country running of a teenage class becomes a story of excommunication, to continue as a thriller by the discovery of a murder and to finish as a lonely meditation on a lake shore. Vroda flashes the possibility of several different stories, but as the film drifts away from every one of them, it becomes as poetic as a film can get. Only in the end do we understand that instead of looking for a coherent story, we should watch this film as a poem that sketches different images, moods and conditions, but that never goes into detailed explanation. Daring cinema – this phrase comes to mind after watching these four shorts. The courage of the authors to choose and pursue unusual and innovative visual and narrative structures seems to be the key of their success. And at the end of the day, this is just natural, because this is the only reason why short films should exist – for conventional cinema, there are plenty of feature films.
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the story of an alliance
text: Anita Libor, Zsuzsanna Deák photograph & collage: Cristina Groşan
Virág Zomborácz graduated as a scriptwriter from the Hungarian University of Theatre and Film, and she continued her studies at the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design attending the multimedia DLA programme. After working on several short films as a director and writer, now she is preparing for her first feature - Afterlife. As a first, but important step, she won the MEDIA European Talent Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 2011. The annual prize is awarded to the best film project supported by the European Union’s MEDIA fund for cinema; experts rate the scripts on their potential to reach a pan-European audience. Virág received the award together with her producer Ferenc Pusztai - we asked them what happened to the project since then.
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interview
In what extent did the film idea change during your cooperation?
When did you two meet? Ferenc Pusztai: In their final year, the scriptwriter students of the Hungarian University of Theatre and Film present the ideas for their graduation film at an exam pitch. This is an entirely open event, and for some time now, producers have been attending it every year - although I remember having been on my own at the first one. This is where I found out about Virág’s film idea.
FP: After we’d decided to work together, we discussed the schedule of the project and to what platforms and programmes we would apply with it.
VZ: The characters, the story, the whole world of the film stayed the same, but the dramatisation of the events changed a lot Virág Zomborácz: We got graded for this pres- - the workshops we participated in with entation. It was an easy pitch in the sense that - the script had a significant role in these unlike usual practice - we each got 20 minutes to changes. present our stories and to answer questions. FP: At KMH Productions, part of our work FP: After the pitch, I walked up to Virág and in- together is to create a communication matroduced myself. I gave her my card and asked her terial that can be used in the international to lend me the script. Then I asked her to show market: a so-called booklet that follows the me her previous short films so that I could see visual concept of the film. I am the prowhat her former work was like. It wasn’t clear to ducer so I don’t write this script and I don’t me: was she a scriptwriter, or did she also make make others write it: it is entirely Virág’s exam films during her university years? Did she project. But I can see now that the script has improved through the international want to be a director? How did all this work? workshops we participated in: it has beVZ: As I graduated as a scriptwriter, my wild- come denser, cleaner. Our mutual work is est dream at the exam pitch was that a producer based on communication and talk: there would buy my script and then find a director to are guidelines and we discuss them togethdirect a film from it. But Ferenc insisted that I di- er. We formed an alliance to create this film rect the film and that “Afterlife” becomes a film and from time to time, we have to check that this is still the same film, the one we d’auteur. both want. Our mutual work is based on communication and talk: there are guidelines and we discuss them together. We formed an alliance to create this film and from time to time, we have to check that this is still the same film, the one we both want.
Last year at the Cannes Film Festival you were awarded the MEDIA European Talent Prize - what did this mean? FP: This is a preparatory fund. We received 40,000 euro for the development of the project. The limelight that came with this recognition helped a lot too: it made our work easier.
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VZ: To me, this prize meant an important confir- When is a procedure like this complete? mation: it made me feel we were on the right path. When will the script be finished? Since then, the funding organisation of your home country, the Hungarian National Film Fund has also decided to support the preparation of the project. What does your work routine look like?
VZ: I would like our script to be ready by the end of May, so that we can submit it for pre-production . I would like to start shooting in November 2012 because otherwise, we’d have to wait another year, VZ: We follow the schedule I prepared, with an which would be very difficult for all of us. expert that has been appointed to this project. The work routine looks like that at workshops abroad, Mr. Pusztai always appears in his films in but the time frame is wider, which is useful and a bit part. Have you found a character that also reassuring. My mentor raises questions, would suit him well? highlights problems: we talk. I determine the direction, but my thought process is prompted by VZ: Luckily, there are plenty of different discussions, the deadline means discipline. Its big roles: I’m sure we’ll find him something advantage compared to workshops abroad is that suitable. For example, a member of the the communication doesn’t happen in a foreign Krishna Conscious football team sounds good to me. language, and that I don’t have to fly. FP: As a producer I am particularly happy that such an opportunity exists in Hungary now - in previous years, we had to travel abroad for training sessions and programmes all the time, because it wasn’t possible to find anything similar at home.
Afterlife (synopsis) The film portrays a pastor’s family and focuses on the relationship between the father (the pastor) and his son - but, in an unorthodox way, after the father’s death. The son has to figure out what keeps the annoying ghost of his father in this earthly dimension. He asks a medium for help. Following the medium’s directions, he sets out to find the hidden treasure, take his revenge and solve all unsolved tasks to set the ghost free. This peculiar grief therapy finally affects the life of the whole family.
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It’s a rainy day in Krakow, but the main square is crowded with tourists and youngsters. We’ve just arrived in the city. We have no time to look around, the weather is miserable anyway. Full of enthusiasm, we walk straight to the hostel to meet the participants of our ambitious initiative: Visegrad Shorts on Tour. Six directors are travelling together for five days, to screen their six films in four different cities. A new city every day. We already feel like rock stars on tour: we have just driven six hours from Budapest to Krakow in our wonderful big car, which was generously lent us by Citroën Hungary. Slowly but surely everyone arrives. Robert Hloz and Michal Hogenauer from the Czech Republic, Agata Jagodinska and Tomasz Jurkiewicz from Poland, Laszlo Csuja from Hungary and Lucija Halmova from Slovakia. It seems so natural - like it’s not the first time we have all met. The small, but cosy cinema of Kino 18 is just above Klub Pauza, a popular bar, near the main square. “It’s good that it’s raining, more people will come” - says Zosia Ścisłowska, our host from the Krakow Film Foundation, one of the collaborators of the project. She is right: after fighting with technology a little, we start the screening with a full house. After each film, I invite the director for a little talk, and suddenly our event becomes much more than a simple screening. The distance between the audience and the directors disappears. After the screening we all go down to Klub Pauza and continue talking about the films and our work that is dedicated to shorts. I am pretty sure now that whenever filmmakers from all over the world meet, there is an instant understanding of each other. Beer helps too.
We need to leave Krakow early in the morning. Such a pity: we would love to stay in this beautiful and vivid city for a while longer. Now the sun is shining and our tour bus is heading to our next stop: Prague. The tour is now definitely on, it’s time to conquer the Czech Republic next. There is a very entertaining rhythm of travelling together: talking-sleeping-talking-sleeping. Everyone adjusts to it easily. After checking in at the hostel in Prague, we go to the Bio OKO cinema for the screen test. Petr Horak from IShorts is waiting for us. IShorts organises popular short film screenings in Prague, and they are now supporting our project, too. Bio OKO is amazing. An arthouse cinema renovated, or rethought, in an artistic way. It’s a huge venue with 200 seats, a number of beanbags, deckchairs and even a Trabant car which recalls the atmosphere of a drive-in cinema. We have one free day until the screening. “Cool, so we’ll just get up tomorrow morning and start the day with a beer!” says Anita who feels herself at home from the moment we arrive. A few years ago, she spent six months in Prague. But yes, one day in Prague is as promising as it is dangerous, if we think about all that drink and food.
visegrad shorts on tour project
We catch up with Haruna Hancoop before the event. She co-organised Visegrad Shorts as a member of KinoPraha. “A lot of people will come.” - she says. “We even had an ad on the local radio station”.
text: Zoltán Aprily
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visegrad shorts on tour
What KinoPraha and iShorts have done is really amazing: the six short films enjoy great success with a full house screening. When the audience learns that the prize going to the audience award winner will be the sum of the donations collected at each screening, they give generously. After the screening, a middle-aged guy walks up to our table and asks for autographs from the filmmakers. He loves the concept, he says, and the World of Shorts magazine http://issuu.com/daazo/docs/ visegrad we issued on the occasion of the project. One day, with all these signatures, it’s going to be worth a lot, I guess. Our next stop is Bratislava. We meet Michal Klembara at KC Dunaj, our next venue. Michal manages OZ Publikum, which is a company that organises film industry events and projects. Michal is a bit sceptical. He says: “It’s Sunday, and it’s Bratislava, you never know how many people will come”. But it seems that the atmosphere of KC Dunaj, this artistically renovated department store from the socialist era is tempting enough: again, we can celebrate a full house screening. The bar on the top level of the building is far from an illustration of a boring night in Bratislava. It’s Sunday night but a huge crowd is enjoying a jazz concert and good beer after our screening. Our team of filmmakers seems to be close friends now, we have got used to travelling together: what seemed so exhausting in the beginning, could easily become a lifestyle.
We are optimistic about the screening and again, there is a full house at the Menta Terrace, a restaurant and club with a nice open-air venue. This last screening is special: the jury (Ferenc Pusztai, Petr Horak, Philip Ilson) gives out the main prize. The winner is Robert Hloz for his film “Numbers”. The audience award goes to Tomasz Jurkiewicz for his film “Grandma Has Gone”. This is the last night of the project, the last screening of the series, and the end of Visegrad Shorts on Tour. But it is also the beginning of a tradition we are going to stick to. You can watch the six shortlisted films on Daazo.com: daazo.com/visegrad2012 We invite you to vote online for your favourite from all films submitted to the Visegrad Shorts contest, so browse the channel and dare to „like”! daazo.com/v4shorts2012 Special thanks to our co-organisers: OZ Publikum.sk, Kino Praha, Krakow Film Foundation, iShorts. Visit Visegrad Filmmakers’ Network on Facebook:
The next day we arrive at our final destination, Budapest. The crowning event of the project takes place here: we are going to have a conference and a screening where we’ll find out who will be the winners of the Visegrad Short Film Award and the Audience Award. The round-table conference is extremely important. Its aim is to set up a Network of Visegrad Filmmakers, to get to know about each other, and to learn about the film industry of the Visegrad countries: Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. This project was realised with the kind support of the Visegrad Fund.
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We met Michal Hogenauer when we selected his BA graduation film to be part of our Visegrad Shorts on Tour screening programme. Now, we’re proud to see that his new film is in this year’s Cinéfondation line-up. We spoke to him to find out more about his expectations.
text: Anita Libor
I think I have seen your film, Children Watching Night Trains something like ten times, but I still don’t understand the connection between the film and its title. Is there any, and if yes, what is it? Will we know by the end of your film what Tambylles stands for? I don’t like it when a film title gives away everything about the film, its story and its characters but, on the other hand, the film title is the first thing you will read or see in the festival catalogue, so it’s very important how you name your piece of work. In my amateur opinion, a title should abstractly describe the mood and atmosphere of the film, and rouse the audience’s imagination and interest. In my film there are no night trains, but to me, trains are like water: there is life, rhythm, infinity and movement in them. Children Watching Night Trains is a poetic and emotional phrase that to me indicated a feeling of looseness and infinity. Children left alone to themselves, behaving in an unconcerned and aimless way, expressing a young mind’s passive and melancholic view of the world. It is very difficult to put in words everything about Tambylles.
denying the classic ways It looks English, also a little bit French, but in the end, it is just three Czech words, which even Czechs don’t see immediately. “Tam” means “there”, “byl” means “was” and “les” means “forest”: they are words which, I think, create some kind of mood and meaning together. Of course, it doesn’t work for an English speaking audience but still, people are curious about it. There was a forest is, again, a poetic sentence which touches upon more emotional points than reflective ones. If the forest is a symbol of life, the title is about how something you imagined to be beautiful and full of possibilities and life turns out to be a lost dream from the past, something you can never rebuild in its original state. The title points to the disillusion of life. And apart from showing what our paradoxical society expects of criminals, the film is somehow also about how you lose your life when you look back on it instead of looking forward to it.
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interview
Tambylles can be considered more or less the continuation of the story of Children Watching Night Trains. It seems to me that you had so many things left in you after Children that you had to continue the observation of your character. Was that your starting point? Both films were made in school, in the school system, so they are just school exercises. When I worked on my bachelor film Children Watching Night Trains I used a storyboard, and I shot it in HD. I didn’t know anything about lenses, and the actors didn’t know the script. But with Tambylles we didn’t have a storyboard, we just had quite a strong visual concept. The actors knew the script, but I didn’t rehearse with them, and we shot the film on 35mm using mainly 135 mm lenses. So, in technical terms, this is not really a continuation. Considering the theme and the main characters, after Children I really felt that the theme was much deeper, that it could be much stronger, and I knew that Ivan Říha, who is now the main actor, could offer me much more. And I was still fascinated by and scared of the violence of teenagers and young murderers. Suddenly, there were a lot of cases like this in the news: about the search for unknown suspects. I just had the first and maybe the last chance to shoot a graduation film longer than 20 minutes so I risked it with this concept and theme again. In Tambylles, you are mixing two films and two techniques: your film and an imaginary documentary, a 35 mm technique with video. Was this your original plan? What was your aim with mixing techniques like this - what do you think you can win or achieve by doing this? First of all, I think that filmmakers, and artists in general, should experiment and try to find the borders of their medium, break them down, and try to expand their limits to go higher. Creative people should deny the classic ways. These days in the Czech Republic, there is a big boom of documentaries. Making documentaries is cheaper, faster, there is more freedom, not that much responsibility, not that much focus on documentary
directors, so they experiment and they very often use a lot of different tools, techniques and methods from fiction films; they manipulate and lead the people in front of the camera, they pay them for their roles, but they always present these footages as the truth: people expect them to be “true” in the same way they expect TV news to represent reality. I just wanted to let the audience realise that there is always a manipulator who shows and tells them things with which he wants to raise emotions and opinions. And I just did the same, but the other way around. Another reason is that I think that a fiction film can say more about the reality than a documentary film. There are limits, people behave differently when the camera is on, so the documentary part in our film ends when you can´t go further with this documentary medium. You wrote your thesis on Michael Haneke’s film language, and you are very focused on using your own voice, style, and language. You can easily speak the European arthouse film language: where do you see your place in the tradition? Do you follow any Czech traditions? When one talks about the tradition of Czech Cinema one mainly thinks of the Czechoslovak New Wave: long unscripted dialogues, non-professional actors, absurd, black humour, plebeians and folk characters. It’s important to follow tradition but I think it’s about time to get beyond it, it’s time not to live from it. I wrote the thesis about Haneke to learn something about film language itself. My school is more theoretical than practical, so I decided to study it by myself and then, on my bachelor and master projects, to try it in practice. ->
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Honestly, I am not sure about my own film style or language, I am still in the process of finding an original style. And yes, I am influenced by Haneke, Dumont, von Trier, and Andersson, but I am even more open to American filmmakers who combine arthouse with intelligent pop genre films like Gus Van Sant or Soderbergh, and at the same time I focus on young filmmakers like Joachim Trier, Rúnar Rúnarsson, Jeff Nichols or Ruben Östlund. There is no point in trying to make films like Haneke when Haneke still makes his own films.
I got a number of negative answers from festivals about the length: perhaps it’d be good for TV, they suggested - but that was the last place where I wanted to premiere my film. After a few months of depression, I got the official letter from Cannes, where the maximum length is 60 minutes.
Tambylles is 58 minutes long - what’s the point in making a film of this length? The first cut was around one hour and a half, but it was quite difficult and boring to watch. When a scene consists of one long shot then it’s quite impossible to make it shorter, your only option is to cut it out. So after a few weeks of editing we had this 58-minute-long version and we were satisfied that we had a film that worked. At first, I thought that this length was OK, but when I started to consider festivals I realised that it was the worst duration ever. Short films are less than 40-45 minutes long, while features are over sixty minutes.
Michal Hogenauer
Michal Hogenauer: Tambylles
What do you expect from Cannes? I see you have changed your profile picture which now shows Lars von Trier - are you planning to do anything shocking there? The picture of von Trier at the press conference is really just a joke. I am not planning to talk like that there. Honestly, I don’t have any big expectations, I am working on my first feature so maybe realising it will be easier now, maybe I will find some international producers. When the organisers of the Cinéfondation let me know the big news, I answered them that they had just given a sense to what I had done in the last few years. I really don’t care if I will win or not: thanks to the nomination, I just know that I made the right decision when I became interested in filmmaking ten years ago.
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short film corner From: The organizers of the Short Film Corner, Cannes Film Festival Subject: The 2012 edition of the Short Film Corner Message: Bringing together the Competition and the Short Film Corner, Cannes Court Métrage not only provides an overview of the latest international creations in the short format, but also gives access to the world’s premier art and film industry event. The 2012 edition of the Short Film Corner will welcome filmmakers coming from all around the world. A total of 1,930 short films coming from 88 countries will be available for 10 days at the Digital Film Library. Buyers, Film Festivals Programmers, Sales Agents, and Producers are all ready & excited to discover an upcoming talented generation of filmmakers. As in past years, the Short Film Corner will organize several events such as workshops, conferences and as always the not to be missed Happy Hours will bring together all this tremendous energy. This year, we have the pleasure to welcome Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne for a special discussion on Cinema, Apitchapong Weerasethakul will come to present his latest short films and talk about his experiences, and the best of Brazilian Cinema will have a conversation on the famous topic “from short to feature”. This 65th edition of the Festival de Cannes promises to be filled with great Cinema Celebrations! We hope to see you all in Cannes!
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2012 is undoubtedly the year of smart TV: for us, this is a particularly happy fact, since Daazo’s shorts are now available on Samsung’s Smart TV. Dan Saunders, Director of Content Services at Samsung Electronics’s European Headquarters in London talked to WOSH about the importance of audiovisual content in the world of the smart television.
from pc to tv The year of smart tv text: Zsuzsanna Deák collage: Francisca Pageo
What is the main link between Smart TV and film these days? When we first launched Smart TV into the European market, we were keen to focus on premium content. We saw all these great VOD services available via the PC – Lovefilm and Maxdome for example - and we knew they would be more attractive to consumers if we could bring them to the television device. We’re now at the stage where we’ve got quality premium VOD services available in all major markets, and we’re seeing consumers get more familiar with the technology and more used to the idea of simply ordering a movie through the remote control.
An interview with Dan Saunders, Director of Content Services at Samsung Electronics’s European Headquarters in England
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interview
Of course, within that the Hollywood blockbuster is important to capture the interest and understanding of the mass market. But one of the things that really excites me as we move forward is the opportunity to offer niche content globally through the Smart TV experience.
I think broadcasters also recognize this. We see all major broadcasters now launching so-called catch-up TV services. There was always a fear that these services might cannibalize the broadcaster’s linear channel ratings; but actually the flexibility provided by non-linear catchWhat are the differences between Smart TV applica- up creates greater engagement with the tions and Smart Phone apps and in what ways are they broadcaster’s channel brand. similar? Why is it important for Samsung to deThe technology is broadly similar of course, but the velop the Smart TV/Smart HUB market? context of the different devices has a huge impact. Would it mean selling more TV sets, or do The smartphone is a personal device, the TV is so- they hope to see a significant profit rise in cial – so the type of app that proves popular on each content service and advertisements in the is very different. I’m not sure “apps” is the correct long term? word for Smart TV – sure, it’s an application-based technology, but for TV what we’re really interested in In many ways, we’re just talking about the launching is big immersive services. next logical step of the television experience. It used to be about picture quality, Please tell me about a successful business model for a screen size and so-on (and of course that Samsung Smart TV app (for want of a better word). Is is all still really important). But now we there such a thing right now? added a new dimension: how to make this new experience of Samsung Smart The secret to success is that all players achieve a self- TV connected to the internet, the best sustaining business model. It’s really important to television experience. That means workSamsung that our partners are able to make Smart ing more closely with content providers TV a viable part of their business. So we take a prag- because it’s only by working together that matic approach to the issue – essentially we follow the we’re able to really achieve success. business models of our content provider partners. In that sense, for many who have launched apps, Smart Can you imagine Samsung entering the TV is just a natural incremental part of their growth. film production market as producer or distributor in the future? Right now, do motion film Smart TV apps represent competition to traditional television channels? How Never say never. We are beginning to can they be integrated into the system? build our own services – Explore 3D for example, which allows consumers to I don’t see how premium VOD apps are any more stream 3D content over the Internet to competition to traditional TV than Blu-ray or DVD. their Smart TV – but our main focus is on Of course, at a macro level the market within which building the best Smart experience across all of these opportunities exist is the 3, 4 or 5 hours all of our devices including TV, smartof free time that the consumer has to spare during phone, tablet and PC. an average evening. Should I go watch TV, put on a movie, surf the internet? What we do find is that the easier you make it for people to access the content they want to watch, and the greater quality the experience, the more content they consume. WOSH by Daazo.com - the European Shortfilm Centre 27
short circuit From: The “Short Circuit” network Subject: Creation of a European structure of short films and video art distribution organizations Message: The “Short Circuit” network was created in February 2012 during the last International Short Film Festival of Clermont-Ferrand (France). It brings together European organizations whose activities are dedicated to the distribution and promotion of European short film whatever its genre: fiction, animation, experimental, documentary or video art. Its main objective is to represent the short film distribution sector at a European level and increase short film distribution in Europe and worldwide on all the screens. These objectives are reached thanks to the networking of its members (development of artistic collaborations and common short film programmes), the development of common actions with other European partners (theatres, festivals, TV chanels, VOD platform…), and the representation of the short film distribution sector alongside European authorities in order to improve its financing conditions. The 12 funding members, from many different European countries, are the KurzfilmAgentur (Germany), Interfilm (Germany), the Croatian Audiovisual Centre (Croatia), Agencia Freak (Spain), the Centro Nazionale del Cortometraggio (Italy), the Irish Film Board (Ireland), the Norwegian Film Institute (Norway), the Eye Film Instituut (Netherlands), Curtas Metragens CRL Agencia (Portugal), the Swedish Film Institute (Sweden) and Swiss Films (Switzerland). Short Circuit invites all European short film distribution and promotion organizations to join it.
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A while ago you had a brilliant idea that triggered you to write a script. You developed an amazing story and started working on a short film. You invested a lot of time and energy to raise funds, find partners, assemble the team, go into production and complete the film in post-production. After many months of hard work, you finally hold it in your hands: The DVD of your short film! And now what?
make a shortfilm - sell it text: Anja Sosic & Jan Naszewski
If your film has real commercial potential or it’s a quirky animation, focus on US festivals. Read film magazines, research festival websites, talk to fellow filmmakers – try to find out as much as you can about the festivals’ profiles to choose the right one for your world premiere.
Many filmmakers (not only students, but professionals as well) experience standing in front of a big question mark once they have finished their films. They have achieved the goal of transforming their artistic vision into an audiovisual work, but then they are not sure what to do with it. Not knowing how to reach their audience, they feel lost and confused in the world of film festivals, markets, distributors, sales agents and VOD When starting festival submissions, platforms. make sure that you have all necessary materials available. Apart from the The process of filmmaking does not end when the final DVD screeners, it is most helpful to version leaves the editing room. On the contrary: quite prepare a press kit containing all infora big piece of the work starts right there. As a direc- mation festivals usually ask for, such as a tor, it is easy and tempting to think that from now on, logline, synopsis (in short, medium and everything is the producer’s job. And if the producer is long version), cast and crew list, direcvery lucky, he can delegate marketing and promotion tor’s statement, biographies and filmogto his distributor or sales agent. In reality, however, this raphies, technical information (format, is hardly ever the case. Especially in the independent length, available screening formats etc.), and short film world, where everybody is multitasking contact info and some well chosen film and often wearing many different hats, for example that stills. of an author and producer at the same time, it is crucial to have at least some basic knowledge of marketing, In addition to your preferred festival for promotion, festivals and sales. The more understand- the world premiere, we recommend that ing you have of the distribution process of your work, you make a wish list of festivals in differthe less frustrated and more efficient you’ll be. ent territories all over the world. Many festivals ask for the national premiere in The first step usually is planning the world premiere at their country, so try to avoid giving your an international film festival. As every festival has its film to a very small festival right at the own profile and vision, this decision requires some re- beginning and thereby blocking your search to find out which festival might be the most suit- entrance to the bigger ones. able for your film. Check out their previous selections and see which programmes look the most interesting These strategic selection of premieres to you and which you would like to be part of. If your is important at the beginning of your film is a classic drama, Krakow, Locarno and Tampere short film’s festival career. After the first are worth a try. If you are going the more experimental months, however, there is no sense in route, Berlin, Rotterdam or Venice might be an option. being picky.
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tips’n’tricks
Keep in mind one basic principle: A short film has a short life! Following the world premiere, there are maximum of 2 years to present your film efficiently. Once your film is older than 2 years, hardly any festival will include it in its competition. You have a very limited period of time to make your film visible, so take all the attention you can get. There is just no festival which is too small or not important enough. You never know who will happen to sit in the audience –maybe somebody who loves your film and will recommend it to many other people, or maybe even someone who could support your next project. Once your film has entered festival circulation, it might even develop its own dynamics. The melting pot for short films is the festival in Clermont-Ferrand, where programmers from other festivals crowd in the screenings and TV-buyers attend the market looking for content. For animation filmmakers, Annecy is the most important festival with the attached MIFA - a buzzing market specialising in animation content. If your film is selected to Clermont-Ferrand or Annecy, where programmers from all over the world will see it, there’s a good chance that they will approach you later to invite your film to their own festival. OK, you get the festivals, but TV distribution is a different story. First of all, there are only a very limited number of TV channels in the world which have a slot for short films at all. Second of all, while festivals tend to be open for any kind of artistic expression, TV programmes are subject to many restrictions, such as length (in the short sector, anything longer than 15 minutes is hard to sell), genre (animation, drama and comedy are much easier to sell than horror films) and different regulations for daytime or evening slots. Most channels cannot screen any scenes containing violence, sex or swearwords during daytime – some are not allowed to screen them at all. Theoretically, your film needs to have certain commercial potential to be suitable for TV broadcasting. However, don’t think too much about this! TV broadcasting is a small part of your short film’s career. Much more important is to make the film visible at as many festivals as possible. This is where you meet and can be recognized by the film industry, where you can find partners and for your next project – because hopefully, your short will be followed by more shorts or even by a feature film.
TV short film sales can bring you some money, and if you find a sales agent, to manage your short film – great! Still, it’s not worth focusing on sales too much. Start with making films by following your artistic vision and telling stories you care about. If your film has commercial potential, that’s not its main value, but a nice extra. If the film is good, buyers will find it. When choosing a sales agent, try to do some research. Read the contract carefully and ask questions before signing. Once you’ve chosen someone, try to be supportive and show trust – a good sales agent works in your interest and is keen to discuss ideas but it’s impossible to do this job if the producers and filmmakers don’t give them any space. You shouldn’t make short films for money but make sure to make most of the films’ lives – go to festivals, meet people, learn, and if there’s a nice economic extra to it – even better! NEFS is a boutique film distributor based in Warsaw, Poland but working across the world. The company holds full worldwide rights to a number of short films and works with theatrical, TV, VOD and internet buyers. NEFS has so far specialized in short film sales and worked with award-winning directors, such as Ruben Östlund, Tomek Baginski and Jonas Odell. Currently, the company sells, among others, the award-winning animations Paths of Hate by Damian Nenow and The Last Bus by Ivana Laucikova. In 2012, NEFS has acquired its first full-length feature film: Now, Forager: A Film About Love and Fungi (USA, Poland, 2012)
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illustration: Matheus Lopes Castro
Ready to share with the world Today is THE day when we welcome you on board of a fascinating and full of variety world of Lithuanian short films. A newly established Lithuanian Shorts agency asks for two minutes of your attention in order to reveal the secret of a country that was missing on the map of short films until today.
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lithuanian shorts
Lithuanian Shorts agency is the key that helps to unlock and then promote, present and expand the visibility of the newest Lithuanian short films to the world. We strongly believe that those short cinematographic pieces work as a great tool to allow young professional filmmakers to ‘step up’.
An animation called “We May Meet, We May Not” has already been presented at the Clermont-Ferrand international competition; a colourful documentary “Born in USSR” had a premiere in the Sheffield Doc Fest, 2011; a drama called “I, Veteran” took part in the 33rd Moscow The Lithuanian Shorts initiative establishes itself as International Film Festival; and the first a vital source for the international film industry and Lithuanian gay film “Porno Melodrama” focuses on revealing the skills and unique artistry of was presented at the Berlinale in 2011. Lithuanian film talents abroad. The team of the Lithuanian Shorts agency has prepared an extensive collection of short films for you that helps the aspiring filmmakers to break into the world of recognition and appreciation. Lithuanian Shorts’s multifunctional initiative involves not only a website www.lithuanianshorts.com as a database but also a DVD selection.
Lithuanian Shorts combine quality of thought with quality of creativity, binding them together into new and unprecedented ways. Furthermore, they reflect the everyday lives and realities of Northern Europe. Lithuanian short films come in all styles and genres, drawing from the whole range of human experiences, and also frequently focusing on some uncomfortable truths which are not always dared to be addressed otherwise.
Finally, the rest of the remarkable Lithuanian shorts in this collection have already been screened and have caught the attention of international viewers in numerous film festivals.
With this selection Lithuanian Shorts invites you to enter and discover a distinctive and emotionally charged world of Lithuanian films. It guarantees an opportunity for everyone to find something of All the characteristics of the emerging Lithuanian their own to relate to and enjoy. film generation are powerfully showcased in the selection of 15 shorts, and most of them have already embarked Now join us and dive into the colourful on a trip around international film festivals. and diverse ocean of Lithuanian Shorts! (x)
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cinĂŠfondation
mapping your mind illustration: Francisca Pageo
To better illustrate the relationship between directors and their films, the filmmakers from the CinĂŠfondation and the Official Short Film Competition 2012 were asked to spontaneously draw 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, out of their imagination. Turn the page to see what happened.
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mapping your mind - cinĂŠfondation
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DERRIÈRE MOI LES OLIVIERS (Behind Me Olive Trees)
synopsis After having lived 10 years in Israel, Mariam and her brother return to their native land in South Lebanon. Unfortunately, they feel rejected by their neighbours because they are the children of an agent in the “Lahd” army, who was cooperating with the Israeli army before the release of South Lebanon in May 2000.
Pascale ABOU JAMRA ALBA, Lebanon
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mapping your mind - cinĂŠfondation
RIYOUSHI (The Barber)
synopsis Koichi is a barber who is married to another barber, Aya. As Aya’s parents run a barber shop, all of her family members are barbers. The shop was opened by the father, taken over by the daughter and her husband, supported by the son who is going to get married soon. A few days before the wedding, Koichi receives one unavoidable mail.
Shoichi AKINO Tokyo University of the Arts, Japan
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LES RAVISSEMENTS (The Raptures)
synopsis When the summer holidays begin, Etienne dies. His father Patrick and his young girlfriend Fanny are left in pain and solitude.
Arthur CAHN La FĂŠmis, France
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mapping your mind - cinĂŠfondation
SLUG invasion
synopsis Morning dawns on a Norwegian suburb, and a detachment of killerslugs, led by the notorious Sergeant Slug, prepare for a heads-on attack on a small garden. Their objective? A juicy, delicious flower on the other end, deep within a flowerbed. A new conscript and his close friend, a medical officer, both suit and join in the massive charge into the garden. But as the slugs emerge into the exposed field, they stand head to head with a diligent, elderly lady, hell-bent on keeping her garden pristine and safe from pests. As the two sides clash, it is as the saying goes: All’s fair in hunger and war!
Morten HELGELAND & Casper WERMUTH The Animation Workshop, Denmark
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TAMBYLLES
synopsis An eighteen-year-old delinquent has been recently released from a juvenile detention centre. He returns to his parents’ old home with a clean criminal record and a new identity. However, local villagers sense an injustice in this lack of punishment; they remember what happenedthere just a few years earlier. An ambitious filmmaker has also decided to follow and document this delinquent’s return to a ‘normal’ life. With the backdrop of contemporary society, where “everything is meaningless and nothing is real”, a story of maturity and guilt unfolds.
Michal HOGENAUER FAMU, Czech Republic
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mapping your mind - cinĂŠfondation
tabara din razoare (the camp in razoare)
synopsis It’s the last day of a summer camp. Alex insists on going to the mountains with Vera although he feels a weird pain on the right side of his belly.
Cristi IFTIMIE UNATC, Romania
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DOROGA NA (The Road to)
synopsis The main hero of the film works as a vendor in the section of unusual goods. His life is like millions of other lives, but then the night covers the city.
Taisia IGUMENTSEVA VGIK, Russia
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mapping your mind - cinéfondation
TERRA (Land)
synopsis On a ship at night – the secret journey of a man returning home.
Piero MESSINA Centro Sperimentale Di Cinematografia, Italy
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LOS ANFITRIONES (The Hosts)
synopsis Felix is 65 years old and takes care of the pigs in a village pigsty. Josefina, his wife, is in the hospital because she needs some medical examinations. Felix has an accident that brings him closer to death and affects his daily routine. He recovers, and when Josefina arrives with fateful news, they both face the problem in the only way possible.
Miguel Angel MOULET EICTV, Cuba
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mapping your mind - cinĂŠfondation
THE BALLAD OF FINN + YETI
synopsis A street musician goes dumpster diving and finds herself transported into a wild trash forest populated by a mischievous Yeti that forces her to confront her animal nature.
Meryl O’CONNOR UCLA, USA
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HEAD OVER HEELS
synopsis After many years of marriage, Walter and Madge have grown apart: he lives on the floor and she lives on the ceiling. When Walter tries to reignite their old romance, their equilibrium comes crashing down, and the couple that can’t agree which way is up must find a way to put their marriage back together.
Timothy RECKART NFTS, United-Kingdom
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mapping your mind - cinéfondation
RESEN (Dog Leash)
synopsis Marina’s frozen life is starting to crack, which forces her to embark on a search. The journey will take her beyond traditional boundaries, but it will also lead her to more dangerous places.
Eti TSICKO TAU, Israël
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PUDE VER UN PUMA (Could See a Puma)
synopsis An accident leads a group of young boys from the high roofs of their neighborhood, passing through its destruction, to the deepest of the earth.
Eduardo WILLIAMS UCINE, Argentina
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mapping your mind - cinĂŠfondation
ABIGAIL
synopsis At the end of what she hopes to be her last day at work, a young gas station attendant tries to leave town permanently. We slowly learn fragmented details about her life as she treks across the decaying wasteland she calls home.
Matthew James REILLY NYU, USA
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mapping your mind - short film competition
mapping your mind/2 the short film competition
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YARDBIRD
synopsis A young girl who lives in a remote wrecking yard takes on the local bullies when they travel out to torment her father.
Michael SPICCIA Australia
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mapping your mind - short film competition
GASP
synopsis A seventeen-year-old boy. All he wants is to feel something. Anything. One day he pushes his longing to the limit.
Eicke BETTINGA Germany
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CHEF DE MEUTE (HERD LEADER)
synopsis Clara’s overwhelming family can’t understand her solitary life, wishing she would find someone to grow old with. Following her aunt’s sudden death, Clara is put in charge of her pet. Little does she know that these are the first steps to an unlikely but empowering, friendship.
Chloé ROBICHAUD Canada
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mapping your mind - short film competition
CE CHEMIN DEVANT MOI (THIS PATH AHEAD)
synopsis Police presence in the neighborhood leads to clashes with a young mob. The oldest, illegitimate son of a fatherless home, an asthmatic thrown out by his mother, goes looking for Mehdi, the seventeenyear-old favourite son.
Mohamed BOUROKBA (aka HamĂŠ) France
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Dealing with authors’ rights
By Michel Gyory, Attorney at the Brussels Bar Lecturer at the Universities of Liège and Vienna
Rights are a key element of the value chain in the film industry. Economic rights are based on two fundamental rights: the right to reproduce a work and the right to communicate the work to the public. Shooting a film is a reproduction of the work. So are DVDs. Showing a film in a theatre or on television is a communication to the public.
When producing and exploiting a film, the parties may choose the type of transfer of right they want. Usually, authors will sell their rights to the producer who then becomes owner of these rights. The producer will grant exclusive licenses to distributors (there is usually only one distributor per territory) while distributors will grant non-exclusive licenses to exhibitors (a film is usually shown on a large number of screens in a given territory).
In most European countries the rights originally belong to the authors and have to be transferred in order to make possible the production and the exploitation of the film. In many countries authors also have moral rights which are generally not transferable. Transfers of economic rights are made by way of sales Transfers of rights are made by contract. of rights or licenses. A sale of rights means that the ownership of the rights is transferred to a third party. Contracts are not “just a formality” before the real work begins. Contracts are A license is an authorization to exploit the work given agreements that create obligations. This by the rights holder to a third party. means that the parties to the contract A license is usually granted: are obliged to fulfil these obligations. In > for a specific territory (a country or a group of countries), case of non-fulfilment, the defaulting > for a specific duration (e.g., 7 to 10 years) party may be sentenced to pay damages. > for certain specific forms of exploitation (theatre, broadcasting, DVD, VoD etc.). Contracts must be carefully prepared and negotiated. They will not only bind A license may be exclusive or non-exclusive. the parties for a long time; they are also the only proof of any transfer of rights When an exclusive license is granted, the beneficiary as there is no register of rights. In the is the sole holder of the rights licensed for a given event of any dispute, the successive conterritory, a given period and one or more given forms tracts (attesting the chain of title) will be of exploitation. the only evidence that a work is lawfully exploited. In the case of a non-exclusive license, several persons may be authorized to exploit the same rights on the For this reason, it is very important to same territory and for the same time period. define the rights transferred as clearly and completely as possible.
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know your rights
Contracts are also an evidence of the content of the parties’ agreement. This agreement should not be limited to defining transfer of rights and compensation. These clauses are essential. But so are also clauses that anticipate conflicts and facilitate the performance of the contract. Experience shows that litigations often begin with a problem of communication. For this reason, every contract should stipulate an obligation to inform the other party about everything that is important for the performance of the contract. This information must be given rapidly. It is easier to tell your contractual partner that a problem might arise because of an event that just happened than to say that there is a problem because of something that happened one month ago. Regarding solutions: it is much easier to define how a problem will be solved as long as the problem does not exist. Human beings may have conflicting interest. It is wise to accept this reality and to anticipate possible conflicts in a contractual relation. By defining in advance how disagreements will be solved, parties may save a lot of time and money. An efficient an inexpensive solution is to jointly choose a conciliator, a person known by both parties that will be appointed with the objective of conciliating the parties in case of disagreement, before this disagreement becomes a conflict. The advantage of the (good) conciliator is that he thinks in terms of “interests” where the disagreeing parties think in terms of “rights”. Rights are concurrent where interests may be united.
A precise clause about what shall constitute breach of contract is also helpful in preventing non-performance of the contract. When both parties know exactly what will be considered non-performance and what is going to happen in such a case, the risk of non-performance diminishes as there is less room left for speculation based on the fact that the contract is not clear and precise.
Contracts must be carefully prepared and negotiated. They will not only bind the parties for a long time; they are also the only proof of any transfer of rights as there is no register of rights. In the event of any dispute, the successive contracts (attesting the chain of title) will be the only evidence that a work is lawfully exploited. 2012)
It may nevertheless in some cases be necessary to go to court. Parties to a contract should remember that judges usually do not know a lot about the film business and that, except regarding the protection of authors, there are usually no specific provisions on film contracts in the law. For this reason it is important to define in the contract all the elements which the parties intend to consider as non-performance of the contract.
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In this issue, we focus on film festivals with an accredited short film section, or those with sections in the process of accreditation by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF). Cannes, of course, is the most famous and most glamorous of all, but there are so many more amazing film festivals all around the globe and no two of them are the same. As this issue’s contributors Anja Sosic & Jan Naszewski say in their insightful article How to make the most of your short film: “If your film is a classic drama, Krakow, Locarno and Tampere are worth a try. If you are going the more experimental way, Berlin, Rotterdam or Venice might be an option. If your film has commercial potential or it’s a quirky animation, focus on US festivals.” So here is your festival agenda for 2012-13. Take a pencil and look around, because you’ve got places to go and films to see! Enjoy!
The big A-listers: your festial agenda for 2012 text: Zsuzsanna Deák illustration: Álvaro Lopez Morales Quevedo
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film festival agenda
FEBRUARY
The Festival draws a special interest to world classics, presenting retrospective sections within its programmes attended by young audiences. The festival’s Meetings on the Bridge provides a meeting platform for film professionals (directors, producers, scriptwriters and reps from institutions) from Europe and Turkey.
Berlin International Film Festival, Germany One of the biggest film festivals in the world, the Berlinale has a special place in its heart for shorts. The Berlinale Shorts category features around 25 fresh films right out of the cinematic oven. The Berlinale also has a Talent Campus attached, a good opportunity for young filmmakers to make their first steps into the real world of film. APRIL MARCH Tampere International Film Festival, Finland From the south of Finland comes one of the most exciting short film festivals in Europe (and the oldest in Scandinavia!) The program covers a national and international competition along with special short film projections. Sofia International Film Festival, Bulgaria accredited by the FIAPF as a Competitive Specialized Feature Film Festival Featured in Variety’s Top 50 of cinema festivals, this event presents Bulgaria to the world as the host one of the important film festivals of Europe. What started as a thematic music film festival went through 15 previous editions to become Bulgaria’s cinema event of the year, bringing the current world cinema trends to the domestic viewers in Bulgaria and the latest in Bulgarian cinema to the rest of the world. The festival specialises in first and second feature films so it is a perfect meeting point for emerging filmmakers.
Oberhausen International Short Film Festival, Germany One of the oldest short film fests in the world. It’s got an International Competition, a German Competition, an International Children’s Competition and a Youth Film Competition. It also rewards the best German music videos. All in all, it launches careers. It’s a must-see festival!
Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival, Belgium accredited by the FIAPF as a Competitive Specialized Feature Film Festival Quirky and different, this festival offers a lot to fantasy lovers. Documentary makers are bitterly left out but this is definitely your place if you like to mingle with vampires, elves, aliens and the like. A twoweek celebration of the supernatural, this film festival not only offers competitions of feature and short films (fantasy and science fiction), but invites festival goers to International Istanbul Film Festival, Istanbul, Turkey zombie parades, vampire balls and similar accredited by the FIAPF as a Competitive Specialized scary events. Sounds like a lot of fun! Feature Film Festival This festival focuses on films on the arts including literature, music, dance, cinema and plastic arts and has a non-competitive section for shorts.
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MAY Cannes Film Festival, France This festival doesn’t need an introduction. It’s known worldwide, although it can be hard to understand all its different short-related categories and mechanism at a first glance... It’s got an Official Selection for shorts. It’s got the Cinefondation programme, featuring shorts by students. A parallel program, the International Critics Week features short and medium length films. Another parallel program is the Directors Fortnight, held as an independent section, which also selects short films. The Festival offers the possibility for short film makers to do business with their film at the Short Film Corner. Anyone can register, show up in Cannes and start screening their own film (in special designated places) and mingling around in search for a buyer or two. Krakow International Film Festival, Poland Krakow is the place where many Polish filmmakers saw their career take off. The Krakow International Film Festival has an international short film competition in its programme, documentaries, and a non-competitive section. It’s got various types of awards with which to shower the talented filmmaker, awarded by a national and international jury of filmmakers and professional critics. JUNE Transylvania, Cluj, Romania accredited by the FIAPF as a Competitive Specialized Feature Film Festival This festival is something every emerging filmmaker should look out for: it highlights the moment when a short film maker becomes the creator of a feature film. For ten days, the beautiful town of Cluj becomes the background of one continuous fashion parade, with people from all over the region coming to the filmiest town of Romania (yes, it’s official: Cluj harbours the most film enthusiasts in the country). Focusing on first and second feature films, this once small and insignificant festival is now a major must-go-to event.
Shanghai International Film Festival, China The Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) is one of the biggest film festivals in Asia as well as China’s only A-category international film festival accredited by the FIAPF. SIFF devotes itself to building up an international platform with four main programmes. The Competition section includes the Golden Goblet Award as well as the Asian New Talent Award, which aims at discovering new Asian talents. The SIFF Mart includes the China Film Pitch and Catch, the Co-production Film Pitch and Catch, and the Film Market, which is the most professional film trade platform in China. SIFFORUM is a communication platform, and the International Film Panorama is an opportunity to inform both the public and the media about the latest in world cinema. Every June, the Shanghai International Film Festival is a must-see event for filmmakers that has established its reputation for its influence to present a multicultural film fair. Moscow International Film Festival, Russia The Moscow International Film Festival (MIFF) is an interesting meeting point between Eastern and Western film culture, and is one of the oldest film fests in the world. It was held for the first time in 1935 and the jury was headed by Sergei Eisenshtein himself! Now, for many years it has been presided by the Russian director and actor Nikita Mikhalkov. It is popular with film professionals and the wide audience alike, and with an attendance of over 200,000, it is a busy festival indeed!
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film festival agenda
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Czech Republic Karlovy Vary is the leading competition film festival in Central and Eastern Europe with a relaxed and friendly atmosphere, perfect for networking and meeting like minds. Its large, mostly young audience is famous for its enthusiasm. The festival’s competitive sections include the competition of feature films and documentaries (short and full length). The festival’s non-competitive categories are also worth a look: Horizons (with recent productions from around the world and prize-winning films from other festivals), Another View (films revealing unusual artistic approaches), Forum of Independents (short and full length films by independent directors) and East of the West (films from Eastern Europe) – this festival’s programme offers something for everyone! JULY Sarajevo IFF, Bosnia and Herzegovina accredited by the FIAPF as a Competitive Specialized Feature Film Festival The Sarajevo International Film Fesitval (SIFF) is the largest film festival in the Balkans and an A-list festival too! It has a competition dedicated to regional (South East European) short films, and a special “New Current Shorts” category, “a panorama of recent international creations, a subjective selection of film from all over Europe”. In co-operation with the Berlinale, SIFF have put together the Sarajevo Talent Campus, an educational and networking platform for young filmmakers. New Horizons International Film Festival, Wroclaw, Poland accredited by the FIAPF as a Competitive Specialized Feature Film Festival The biggest film festival in Poland, the T-Mobile New Horizons International Film Festival is regarded as one of the most important film events in Central Europe.
The festival presents uncompromising, innovative and original cinema from all over the world that explores new horizons in film language, expression and storytelling. The festival has 4 competitive sections. New Horizons has a strong focus on music and contemporary art and organises live music concerts every evening and art installations and performances throughout the city. AUGUST Locarno IFF, Switzerland A renowned film festival in Europe and the world, Locarno has a special category for short films, called “Pardi di Domani” (Leopards of Tomorrow), showcasing student films. There is a large array of prizes to be won, from the classical “Best International Short Film” to the “Locarno short film nominee for the European Film Awards”. Since 2010, the Locarno Summer Academy has been organized every year, designed for film students and for young professionals beginning their careers in cinema. Montreal World Film Festival, Canada The goal of the Montreal World Film Festival is to encourage cultural diversity and understanding among nations, to foster the cinema of all continents by stimulating the development of quality cinema, to promote filmmakers and innovative works, to discover and encourage new talents, and to promote meetings between cinema professionals from around the world.
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Its programme includes a competitive section for Canadian shorts and student films, a first feature film section as well as the famous Cinema under the Stars: a street party celebrating film and cinema, with free outdoor screenings.
Its sections include, among others, The Shorts Competition, The Free Spirit Competition for independent, rebellious international films, Master’s Touch with new films of well-acclaimed directors and Discoveries for films by débuVenice Film Festival, Italy tantes, awarded at major festivals. AcHeld in Europe’s most romantic city, this is the oldest cording to Variety, the WFF is one of international film festival in the world, and one of the Top 20 Euro fests and 50 events not to most prestigious fests too. Its aim is to raise awareness be missed. and promote all the various aspects of international cinema in all its forms: as art, entertainment and as NOVEMBER an industry, in a spirit of freedom and tolerance. The Festival includes retrospectives and homages to major Thessaloniki International Film Festival, figures as a contribution towards raising awareness of Greece the history of cinema. It has a competitive section for accredited by the FIAPF as a Competitive shorts, and its film market is an important meeting Specialized Feature Film Festival place for professionals. Undoubtedly the best way to With renewed vision and a strong dedisay goodbye to the summer. cation to independent cinema, this festival invites both filmmakers and the SEPTEMBER audience to a special celebration of film. Films from all over the world, cinematic International Film Festival Message to Man surprises, distinguished guests, tributes, St. Petersburg, Russia master classes and panel talks make this Every year, Message to Man presents over 50 Russian ten day event an amazing experience premieres and more than 300 films from around the for film enthusiasts, transforming the world are screened in competition and special pro- city of Thessaloniki into a place of disgrams. On average, the Festival receives over 3,000 covery and productive dialogue for film films for selection each year. This fest started off as a and cinema. It has a non-competitive documentary-focused event, but since then, short fic- section for shorts and focuses on new tion and animated shorts have been added to its com- directors’ films. petition programme. According to festival programmers, the most important criteria for selection are how filmmakers express themselves, what methods they use and how they “correlate with their characters.” This year the Festival makes a new step towards experimental films. OCTOBER Warsaw International Film Festival, Poland This festival has rapidly grown over the past few years and is one of the major film events in Eastern Europe.
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film festival agenda
Stockholm International Film Festival, Sweden accredited by the FIAPF as a Competitive Specialized Feature Film Festival This festival focuses on new cinematographic orientations and it is also recognized for its ability to promote and offer a venue for young and unestablished filmmakers. As many as a third of the films selected are made by a debuting director and only directors who have made less than 3 films are selected for the competition. With seminars, opportunities to meet actors and filmmakers during the face2face along with the extensive catalogue, all means are given to make the film experience come full circle. Zinebi International Festival of Documentary and Short Film of Bilbao, Spain This is a festival where arthouse cinema is really big. Its sections include the international competition of short films (animation, fiction and documentary), and retrospectives. The Academy has accepted Bilbao as an Oscar速-qualifying festival so it is definitely worth visiting and submitting your film to as well!
For more info on festivals and other opporunities, check the Daazo blog.
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Based in the vibrant city of Bristol, UK, Encounters Short Film and Animation Festival is back in 2012 and coming of age for its 18th edition. Growing up but not growing old, six fast, furious and fun days of screenings, gala events, workshops and industry debates will celebrate the best in international short film and animation talent.
CELEBRATING SHORT FILM WITH A BIG BANG illustration: Istvรกn Csekk
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encounters
Together the “Animated” and “Brief ” Encounters strands, which used to be separate festivals until they were happily united in 2006, present one of the bestknown platforms for up and coming short film and animation creatives from around the globe. For those selected, Encounters is now a gateway to the world’s most prestigious awards (Oscars®, European Film Awards, BAFTAs, and the Cartoon D’Or). Promoting the short form as a means to develop the next generation of filmmakers and animators, the event acts as a springboard for emerging talent, and is renowned for identifying the people to watch. To find an improved spot in the crowded festival calendar and give a better timeframe for shorts eligible for Oscar® nomination, Encounters is moving to earlier (and sunnier) dates in September: 18th-23rd in 2012. The action will happen in venues around Bristol’s picturesque Harbourside, as well as beyond the cinemas at pop-up screenings, music festivals, schools, BBC Big Screens and an outdoor Solar Cinema Tour in local parks.
And for those short on time but with grand ideas, DepicT! challenges creatives to show their stuff in just a minute and a half. A Watershed project as part of Encounters, this competition is free to enter (deadline 9th July – see www.depict.org) and offers an award of €1,800. Industry presence at the festival is strong, allowing over 700 filmmakers, buyers, sales agents, distributors and other professionals to rub shoulders. Workshops, masterclasses, seminars and panel discussions on future trends create a hotbed of activity, alongside a Shorts2Features section for first and second features and the Future Encounters international strand for 10 selected upcoming film talents. What’s more, the Delegate Viewing Library, hosted by Reelport, will make all Call for Entries submissions received available to festival delegates on-site and online in the following 6 months.
Encounters attracts a public audience of around 8,500, showcasing a dynamic and inspiring range of work. In 2012 there will be a Focus on Finland, as well as two programmes of ground breaking stereoscopic discoveries from 1930s Russia. Further events will cross all creative forms such as film, art, animation, performance, gaming By this year’s Call for Entries deadline on 6th June, and music. The full programme will be the festival expects to receive 2,000 submissions from announced in July. over 60 countries, of which over 180 works (under 30 minutes) will be selected for its competitive screening Find out more at www.encounters-festival. org.uk programmes. Two international juries will present (X) 16 awards, with a total cash prize pot of €13,000. Promoting the short form as a means to develop the next generation of filmmakers and animators, the event acts as a springboard for emerging talent, and is renowned for identifying the people to watch.
Last year Encounters introduced two European New Talent Awards (animation and live action). Graduating students and first time directors are again eligible for these awards in 2012, with a €1,000 prize up for grabs.
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bring on the training! text: Cristina GroĹ&#x;an collage: Francisca Pageo
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workshops and trainings
There comes a point in any filmmakers life when official training isn’t enough. It just doesn’t do the trick. School is good, school is necessary, but when doing a reality check, you need to go out, see the world, and leave your comfort zone. Some would say doing short films is easier in school, and that once you’re out - you’re out, and on your own. We’re here to say that the world has plenty of opportunities in store. There are countless training opportunities, workshops, and forums that one can attend. Apply, travel, meet up, go further. We’ve put together a short list, in case you’ve been wondering where to go next.
Berlinale Talent Campus It’s a must stop on any young filmmakers’ training itinerary. Held during the Berlinale Film Festival, the Berlinale Talent Campus is a meeting point for young filmmakers and industry professionals. Put together in the same room for 7 days, careers can be launched. It’s also a great opportunity to do a reality check, and position oneself on the long run. There are other regional talent campuses, also worth checking out: Talent Campus Buenos Aires, Talent Campus Durban, Sarajevo Talent Campus and Talent Campus Tokyo. Nr. of participants at the Berlinale Talent Campus: ~350 countries eligible: all
IDFA Summer School IDFAcademy’s Summer School offers emerging talents a tailor-made training programme aimed at strengthening the narrative structure of documentary projects. It takes place in June every year. Nr of participants: n. a. countries eligible: all Aristoteles Workshop The Aristoteles Workshop Association (AWA) is a training and development center dedicated to foster a new generation of creative documentary filmmakers in Central and Eastern Europe. Established in 2005, it offers both a hands-on approach and a continuous tutoring system, bringing documentary filmmaking to another level. Nr. of participants: 16 countries eligible: countries from South/Central/ Eastern Europe
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Talent Camp Odense An initiative by the Odense Film Festival, it brings together young filmmakers under 30, coming from all over the world. Participation is free of charge and includes – besides the workshop and master classes – accommodation and meals during the camp. Nr. of participants: 35 countries eligible: all Reykjavik Transatlantic Film Lab RIFF’s Talent Laboratory is for young talents from Europe and America where they are given the chance to meet up in Reykjavík and experience what is going on in filmmaking on the other side of the ocean. The main objective of the Talent Laboratory is to help young filmmakers make first hand contacts with film producers and other professionals who can help and consult them with their first feature film. Nr. of participants: ~30 countries eligible: countries from Europe/ US/Canada
European Short Pitch Organized yearly by NISI MASA, the ESP is a scriptwriting workshop that ends with a pitching session in front of relevant actors from the industry. During this European Pitch and Coproduction Forum, young filmmakers and scriptwriters get the chance to meet industry professionals and producers from all over Europe. Nr. of participants: ~25 countries eligible: countries from Europe Torino Film Lab: Script & Pitch This is an advanced script development course for scriptwriters and directors of first and second features from all over the world. The course lasts from March to January (11 months) and consists of 3 residential workshops, 2 online sessions and 1 alumni meeting. Nr. of participants: n. a. countries eligible: all Robert Bosch Co-Production Prize The Robert Bosch Stiftung started an initiative to bring together German producers with Eastern European directors and encourage them to work together. Teaming up, they apply with a short film idea, regardless of genre (be it fiction, animation or documentary). Once selected, five teams for each genre will benefit from pitching trainings. The jury awards a sum of money meant to cover the costs of shooting to the three best projects after one last big pitch. The pitch is held annually at the goEast film festival in Wiesbaden.
Toronto Film Lab The Toronto Film Lab is an intensive fourday artistic development programme that provides emerging talent with the opportunity to learn from the world’s best film artists. Using the Festival’s relationships with acclaimed filmmakers, the Talent Lab leads Nr. of participants: ~30 participants in group discussions on a countries eligible: countries from South/Eastern range of topics focused on the artistic side Europe and Germany of filmmaking, sharpening the skills and confidence of a new generation of filmmakers. Nr. of participants: ~25 countries eligible: all
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films I’ve seen:
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people I’ve met:
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World of Shorts - the cannes 2012 issue by Daazo.com - the European Shortfilm Centre editors in chief Dániel Deák, Zoltán Aprily editors Anita Libor, Zsuzsanna Deák art director Cristina Grosan contributors Michel Gyory, Anja Sosic, Jan Naszewski, Zsolt Gyenge, Álvaro Lopez Morales Quevedo, Francisca Pageo, István Csekk, Matheus Lopes Castro, Carmen Maldonado, Miklós Vargha thanks to Dimitra Karya, Alice Kharoubi, www.nisimasa.com cover illustration Diela Maharanie works from our contributors can be viewed at owlandtheanimals.blogspot.com.es franciscapageo.com | dielamaharanie.com society6.com/carmenmaldonado istvancsekk.hu | mathiole.com | grosan.ro You can also find this magazine online at daazo.com/wosh/cannes2012 World of Shorts magazine is published by Daazo Film and Media Ltd. Printed in Hungary in May 2012. www.daazo.com | info@daazo.com *This is an image that depicts the current score of ping-pong matches in our office. Red is winning. Will Black manage to make a big comeback? Stay tuned to find out. WOSH by Daazo.com - the European Shortfilm Centre 74
Daazo.com - the European Shortfilm Centre is supported by the MEDIA programme of the EU. This material does not necessarily represent the views and opinions of the EU. This magazine was printed on recycled paper. ec.europa.eu/culture/media | festival-cannes.fr/cinefondation | cannescourtmetrage.com
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