Bright Young Screens

bright Young screens deveLoping intercuLturaL diaLogue and non-forMaL education through Youth fiLM festivaLs

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book credits editors Michaela pnacekova Mirona nicola Melissa pritchard

authors participants of the bright Young screens workshop

design/LaYout francesca Merlo (francesca-merlo@libero.it)

photographY 4elements fest volunteers La pause cinĂŠma Mezipatra Queer film festival kaunas international film festival visegrad film forum

bright Young screens was organized bY:

this proJect was supported bY:

Municipality of espinho

other supporters and partners: photo cover: 4elements, slovakia

contents 1. whY bright Young screens? an introduction 2. festivaL prograMMing and the waYs how Young festivaLs and Youth ngos see it 3. festivaLs focused on disadvantaged groups (ethnic, seXuaL and other Minorities) 4. audience buiLding how to train and educate Young viewers 5. traveLLing prograMs creating european partnerships

4 6 10 14 18

6. what is festivaL ManageMent?

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7. the teaM and voLunteers

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the Main engines of Youth associations and festivaLs 8. Youth and cineMa funding in the european union

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9. fiLM festivaLs and the fiLM industrY:

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Markets, co-production foruMs, training initiatives

3 fest - training ground

whY bright Young screen? an introduction

NISI MASA and its member associations decided to organize this seminar to improve but also to evaluate the current level of European cooperation among youth film organizations focusing on intercultural dialogue and

Secondly, by giving value to this flow of inter-

non-formal education through screenings and

cultural communication and debate through

festivals.

film. And finally, by connecting young potential filmmakers with different agents of the audiovi-

Cinema is perhaps the most popular, power-

sual industry, thus encouraging communication

ful form of artistic expression and carrier of

and the creation of job opportunities.

social values, which also plays a pivotal role in building mutual understanding across cultures.

Film screenings and festivals constitute an

It is a unique platform for the expression of

increasingly important part of the NISI MASA

ideas and voices of marginalized segments of

network’s activities, showcasing youth creativity,

society, and at the same time it creates a space

involving young people as active citizens and

for debating modern issues. It aims to develop

exploring common European values.

new and more efficient common strategies and

For some time now we have seen a need to

partnerships in order to promote the creative

bring together youth leaders working on such

expression of young people through the audio-

initiatives across Europe to develop and im-

visual medium and the active engagement of

plement best practices, contribute to capacity

younger audiences.

building for organizations, and create new synergies.

Furthermore, this medium is increasingly accessible to upcoming generations due to the availability of low-cost film-making equipment and online diffusion platforms.

Youth film events are fundamental for such a phenomenon to gain shape and real impact.

First, as a mediating and distributing force, it allows films to reach vast audiences.

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The Bright Young Screens participants from all over Europe (Portugal, France, Russia, Finland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Spain, Hungary and many more) wrote this booklet as a result of six days of discussing and brainstorming new ideas about intercultural cooperation between youth associations. All these ideas embody the mission of NISI MASA as a European network

feedback session

and a platform to connect young and enthusiastic people in the non-profit sector.

During the six days in Espinho, new partnerships were built, and new strategies were planned. We talked about innovative ways to educate your audience, to build it, to create travelling programs that would be shared by several partners as well as minority oriented film festivals. The activities took the form of interactive debates, case studies, practical exercises, workshops, screenings and Master Classes with the direct participation of professional guest speakers from the media/audiovisual industries and the youth sector. We’d like to thank the participants, the guest speakers and the

organizers of FEST – Youth International Film Festival and FEST – Training Ground, who altogether created a very pleasant and fruitful environment. Thus, we are proud to present the Bright Young Screens booklet together with its DVD that comprises short films and festival trailers and which should be distributed among young organizers who are looking for new partners and new educational channels through cinema in Europe.

by Michaela Pnacekova, Head of Network Department, NISI MASA 5

festivaL prograMMing and the waYs Young festivaLs and Youth ngos see it Festival programming is the core action in building the whole event – a film festival without films is not imaginable.

In order to start, it is crucial to set the first milestone – the subject of the film festival.

what is programming?

Usually the subject is defined by the title of

the film festival (youth films, short films, queer films, minority films, human right films, European films, etc.). In the case of big festivals, the subject (if persistent) changes on a yearly basis, by following topicalities, trends and movements in film culture (it may be prestigious for a film festival to stand out as a trend setter, e.g., by setting an unexpected focus on a certain region, personality or phenomenon that is approaching

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a peak in its artistic development, still remaining unknown to audiences).

The subject of the festival is in very close interaction with the dramaturgy of the whole event.

Setting the first milestone, i.e. deciding on the subject (or the topic), helps in creating the dramaturgy of the event. The subject (Leitmotif) is also useful in developing some side events of the festival, like club screenings, warm-up events, exhibitions, performances.

It is also useful to start by deciding on possible competition sections, which bring out the necessity of awards and juries (audience/ youth/students/local professionals/members of international organizations, like FIPRESCI, etc.). There are lots of practical aspects to be considered, arranged and settled before starting the actual programming (i.e. selecting the films), like the number of films to be chosen, total length of films, breakdown (%) between countries and regions, production year of the film and its premiere status (national, international, world), number of screenings, etc.

This is usually influenced by the financial state of the festival, its commitments (partnerships and public grants), guidelines set by the sponsors and supporters, as well as the actual availability of screening copies and venues.

go to festivals!

For absolute beginners (film enthusiasts, youth, students and aspiring culture managers), as well as for experienced professionals, it is of major importance to keep track of what is happening in other similar festivals. You should start by watching films in order to see the global trends and the current situation. Some research on festival catalogues and web pages might be of great help in getting the necessary knowledge – you should at first learn from other people’s experiences, not from your own mistakes. If possible, go to the film festivals and see for yourself; there are many festivals and organizations that offer training grounds for young professionals. The knowledge about festival

organization, as well as an overview of festival trends will help you get the basic idea of what a festival program should look like.

And the rest will come with experience.

programmers The programming team is a vital part of any festival. The number of programmers (program managers, program coordinators) largely depends on the size of the festival and the estimated number of films in the final schedule.

There are many approaches to the programming process (pre-selection, selection) and the final decision – usually the films are categorized and shortlisted, notes are made and grades given, yet the choice has to be approved by the head of programming and/or the program director.

Searching for films might be confusing, unless the festival has set the topic, certain standards and a ‘frame’ (numbers and figures) in which the program should fit in. Films can be accessed in many ways: travelling to film festivals, making new contact, asking distributors and national film institutes for screeners (can also be done via e-mails), using personal or teamcontacts.

Researching the public Internet platforms like Vimeo or MUBI, as well as using dedicated professional platforms, such as FestivalScope or Cinando (some fees apply), can be crucial.

Smaller festivals (youth films, short films) can also make use of Reelport.

7 group session

Making an open call for submissions is also worth considering; it is essential to provide the potential submitters with precise and detailed info on the festival’s aims and requirements, i.e. make clear what kind of films you’re looking for!

Before you make the final selection of your films, there are other non film-related things you might want to keep in mind.

Unfortunately programming is not only about selecting the best films but might require research on details as screening fees or available screening formats. If the film you’d like to show is not available in a format you can screen in the venue, there is no point in picking it. Formats might be 35mm, BlueRay, DCP, BetaSP, DigiBeta, HDCam…These restrictions might not affect bigger festivals, but if you work for a minor festival with underground films and young, aspiring filmmakers, they might not have the possibility to provide a DCP or high quality projection copy.

Making the final decisions might be even more frustrating.

One has to bear in mind that the whole selection process in not about a programmer’s individual taste – the final result has to satisfy the audiences (and, preferably, guarantee some income!), please the press and serve the industry guests if there are any.

It is advisable to consider inviting the filmmakers (if famous, interesting and affordable), screening films that have gained public acclaim elsewhere and not forgetting to include some ‘audience-pleasers’ in the program. Never forget about the main aim of the festival, as well as the topicality of the films (political, cultural events, personalities, current theme in the media).

There are different ways of arranging films 8

Meet & greet in espinho

in blocks or sections. You can plan programs based on topic, chronology, region, genre, filmmaker or actor and include out of competition screenings such as retrospectives or educational programs.

The films don’t stand on their own, you should create a certain dialogue between the different components of a program. The program pretty much defines the identity of your festival.

Try to be original.

A film will never please the whole audience but it shouldn’t leave them indifferent.

program coordination The program is also closely related to a whole lot of organizational issues. Programming is not only the creative process of selecting good films – it is also about the actual scheduling.

That means you have to decide which film you are going to show in what program at what time in which venue (if you have more than one).

For this purpose you have to pay attention to aspects such as the running time of the film, age restrictions, the tradition of a venue (is the venue related to a certain target group like youth, students, elderly people, underground audience or such?).

It is important to choose the appropriate venue for the program; if not, you might lose potential audience. You should also think about

guest speakers and attending filmmakers for the Q & A sessions, since this is what a festival is actually about. If you have different directors attending to talk about their films, you have to include that in your planning for practical and promotional issues. Showing a highly criticized and polemic film can make sense if the filmmaker attends your festival to speak about it and it generates a public interest and also attracts the press. Keep in mind that a festival should be more than just screening films. Aim for a diverse program by including master classes, educational programs for the youth and search to provide a public space where audience, filmmakers, press and industry can meet, interact and share ideas.

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festivaLs focused on disadvantaged groups

(ethnic, seXuaL and other Minorities)

10 5rff 2010 art of conversation

When organizing a film festival we can think

of additive values which our event should bring.

Understanding and cultural exchange are just two of the most important ones.

These goals might be included in every possible event but we can also concentrate on a certain phenomenon in society and try to reflect this in a specialized film festival or even in just one part of it. Such a phenomenon is for example the discrimination against certain minorities, which is an important issue not only in Eastern parts of Europe.

Every experience read, heard or written helps expand our horizons; therefore movies represent a powerful tool of making people familiar with the lives of others and force us to be aware about how diverse we are.

In this article we are going to focus on two specific topics – queer film festivals and festivals dealing with ethnic minorities.

Queer film festivals focus on depicting the lives of people with non-heterosexual orientation and liberation from the traditional gender roles of women/men in everyday life.

If you decide to create a festival about a minority, you must be aware of the fact that it is the connection to the major society that makes the project really valuable and successful.

The aim of queer film events is not to create a festival ghetto, but to open up for everyone the possibility of seeing different movies; this is to be communicated clearly to the potential audience through smart PR and efficient word of mouth.

Since we live in a fast-moving world where we don’t often stop to look around, specialized film festivals can be a crucial mean of learning how other people think and live.

This kind of cultural exchange between minorities and the larger society brings the benefit of fueling integration and avoids conflicts based on misunderstanding.

On the other hand you will want to offer something for the community itself. Through organizing a specialized film festival, we help strengthen the self-acceptance and cosciousness of the human individuality.

Another important aspect is the development of a natural picture of queer people in society; this can only be achieved through fighting against the stereotypical perception of nonheterosexuals. Such efforts can be fulfilled when we include an educational component through lectures or special screenings with debates.

Of course if we want to work on preparing a better future for our successor we need to focus on educating the youth. There are several topics of queer movies which are highly attractive for schools such as HIV/AIDS prevention or bullying; these school screenings are also accompanied by an expert reflection.

Film festivals do not have the power to completely ensure the equal rights to discriminated filmmakers / audiences and society groups within the framework of everyday politics, but they can bring them to attention.

Thereby we can emphasize the importance of festivals as educational platforms.

A film festival treating discriminated people in our society can give them the possibility to get a hold on the values of their culture and strengthen the feeling of belonging.

Not only do they get to know their culture better, but the audience of the majority group in the society can do so too.

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This latter aspect can be especially crucial in the case of ethnic minority groups, as for example the Romani in Hungary. The search for elements of cultural identity and their preservation can help everyday survival in different situations and fight against prejudices.

Film festivals dealing with minority cultures share with audiences films about and/or by the members of these groups, but they also organize parallel activities: concerts, dance events and art exhibitions as an extra support of this cultural mission.

At first glance the selection of movies in these

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festivals looks easy. Programmers follow a certain red thread, as already mentioned above.

But this can also pose certain dangers: programmers also have to take care that this does not affect the quality of movies shown.

They have to be careful to address a wide spectrum of works about/by minority people that are also of a certain quality and raise new questions. Also, in the case of Romani people the production of movies treating their lives is very high, especially in Central and SouthEastern Europe.

Thus, one has to be aware of not only taking political but also artistic values into account

Another good strategy is to co-operate with NGOs; they can help not only with finding good films, but also with organizing the audiences from the targeted minority groups, which might be sometimes difficult to reach, especially by organizers who often are not members of the minorities themselves.

Moreover, there is space for international coproductions and co-operations and the concept of crossing borders is an important factor in the

case of ethnic minorities.

All in all, discrimination is a very strong phenomenon, especially in Eastern Europe and it is present on various levels. Film festivals can be used as one of the means to fight against such issues. Events dealing with minorities (sexual, ethnic, racial, etc.) are not there only for the above-mentioned reasons but also to help develop artistic values and cultural identities in these discriminated groups albeit that the quality of films and the financial success might be sometimes lower.

Qff Mezipatra - Making of the trailer

when selecting the films.

Moreover, one has to consider the genre and length of the films.

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Lens political, finland

audience buiLding

how to train and educate Young viewers In order to build an audience there are several

things that should be considered.

However, each festival is a special case and it will require specific strategies.

In this article we will focus on approaching minorities in the process of audience building.

First of all, we should take into consideration that programming is fundamental because it creates the specificity of a given festival.

Which kind of people would be interested in

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the films screened?

If the programming is specific enough, we have the first reason to approach a certain audience.

For example if we screen Romani films, beside cinephiles, we would want to approach the Romani community. In the same way, if we have a queer-related programming, we would immediately reach the queer community.

bring the cinema to the people!

Nevertheless, when we talk about minorities, the programming is not the only condition in order to assure the audience. Members of the Romani community could be interested in watching films, but if they cannot come to the festival venue, it will be useless to organize it.

There are practical issues that are fundamental and should not be neglected. If the people cannot pay for the bus ticket to get to the venue, we cannot expect them to show up. That’s why the place of the screenings is very important.

On the other hand, in countries where the social differences are profound, the location of the screenings is a very delicate subject and we should not expect lower-class inhabitants to come to a rich neighborhood where they would feel uncomfortable.

Thus, if people cannot or will not come to the festival for whatever reason, the best solution could be to take the festival to the people. We may not be able to move a whole festival, but we could find additional screenings spaces in order to facilitate the access of the community that we are trying to approach.

In the same way, we can take

the festival to places where people do not usually go out, such as hospitals, orphanages, retirement homes, etc. This is also important when we are trying to approach a community that is not used to going to the cinema. It is not only about the films themselves, but about the collective act of watching films together. find the way to approach your audience!

We can divide the potential audience of the minority festival in two categories. The first consists of the minority itself and the ways to approach it depends on what kind of minority is the target. We can use all the common media channels to promote the event : local or national broadcasting, print, Internet etc. in case the minority has access to them.

Otherwise we need to use the right contact person in the community to spread the information and promote it. This function could be fulfilled by a teacher in an elementary school or

an employee of a cultural center who can present the idea of the festival among its members.

We can also use flyers and posters to let the minority know what kind of event is going to be held.

The second part of the audience consists of locals, cinephiles and all the people who might be interested in the festival in any way. The idea of every minority festival is to connect these two groups of people through a cultural event.

The majority audience usually has access to the informational channels mentioned above and we can promote the event using a campaign including trailers, TV or radio spots, invitations, printed ads, etc. There is also an opportunity to promote the festival through flyers and posters strategically distributed to the festivals or events held before. attract the audience you have approached!

Approaching the audience must be followed-up with attracting it. There are many ways to do this – the most successful one seems to be giving the viewers the opportunity to see themselves on a festival screen. They can see their own stories in the ones of screened films, but we can also make a deal with a film school to organize a workshop for its students, who will make short documentaries about the minority and then screen the films as a part of the program.

We can also organize a workshop for the members of the minority. Collaborating with the school we can organize one for pupils (stopmotion animation should be interesting enough, if we want to stay in the field of film making) and screen the results at the festival as well, for an audience consisting of the children, their 16

parents, grandparents and friends.

Outdoor screenings proved to be a popular way to attract audiences that don’t usually attend traditional screenings in cinemas. People can come and stay for a while, the film may amaze them and it may make them come to another screening.

audience at fest - training ground

Minority festivals are important because of their ambition to connect the minority and the majority, to find the things they have in common and how they can enrich each other.

It is necessary to educate the public in this way, starting with children and youngsters if possible, but including all the generations on

the both sides.

This can help us not only to build the stable audience for the specific event or for the film culture in general, but it can also show that cinema can be more than screenings of films.

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traveLLing prograMs creating european partnerships institutions (their local funds) and raise in-kind sponsorship in local communities.

La pause cinema, paris

Travelling programmes are getting more and

more popular. It is an alternative way of promoting and even distributing films.

Moreover, one can even reach a bigger number of audiences than at a well-established one-spot event. Travelling projects are coming not only to cinephiles, but also to non-regular cinema goers. And this is a crucial point of audience building as well – ways to raise interest in such audiences and bring them back to your future projects.

Itinerant programmes provide endless funding opportunities too. Instead of national funding programmes, one can apply for funds in hosting

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If you want to develop a travelling program, it is always good to seize the opportunity to travel with the film prints themselves. You shouldn’t expect any cash income but it provides tons of unimaginable experience! You will be probably guided by locals, so you can forget about wasting time with touristic brochures, maps and research! Hosts can usually provide you with transportation, accommodation and sometimes even with food. If you apply for some funding, it will help you reach partners, who would probably not be able to afford that. It will make your project helpful and useful. You can make it even more useful if you reach young audiences with sight or hearing problems, thus you can contribute or inspire them to develop themselves. This educational purpose could be inspiring and motivating and it could create more funding opportunities.

The most beneficial part of a travelling project is definitely developing a network of partners, some of whom might be useful for your future projects and collaborations. This is a factor you cannot skip in travelling projects. It can create one of the greatest moments, which is when necessity creates priceless benefits. If you approach smaller cities, towns and even villages, you will obviously receive stronger support from the local administration. However, this does not

mean that you need to avoid big cities - there are smaller and bigger communities as well!

Bear in mind that you might encounter unexpected situations, such as surprising venues (in both positive and negative senses), equipment problems and many other typical problems of screenings on the road. The best way to deal with these issues is to use the most common format of DVD as a back-up.

What makes your job more rewarding is the ability to create benefits for a region and the audience as well. The regional administration will have the rare chance of hosting an international or national event, thus you will probably reach an audience with low audiovisual culture.

They can be easily attracted since a travelling programme has a big PR and media potential, the event itself has a story interesting enough to get media attention even nationwide. This kind of project could bring high-culture to local audiences with limited access to cultural facilities, creating educational benefits.

An itinerant project can also prove to be an efficient way of promoting a festival. Such events, across the competition and master classes, are often a platform to promote local filmmakers.

But through a festival circuit it is ensured that each film travels around the world. A type of festival-programming exchange is becoming popular lately. This implies that a selection of films from one event (e.g. winning films) are screened as part of another festival, benefits of this practice including promoting the event and attracting foreign guests.

programming For the first part, it could be hard to discuss and schedule the selection of films. For each stop the project makes, it faces a different public, depending on the targeted category: professionals, teenagers, kids, elderly people; regular festival and cinema goers are usually not included here.

Try to go beyond perceived limits. You might be surprised by an audience’s feedback.

If you think, for instance, an experimental programme isn’t the best choice, you should try to attract them with some discussion afterwards, other associated screenings and include a short explanation in advance. Members of the audience might have limited knowledge on some issues provided by television or newspapers. But through cinema, they could discover for instance world-wide cinematography trends or minorities problems which they have never even heard of or faced themselves. Don’t hold back from topics perceived as strange or exotic, since tastes and preferences are unpredictable and such programming has a chance for a good feedback as much as any other. this is not only about travelling After the programming is done, several other tasks arise, many of them involving logistics: copies need to be delivered in advance, to be checked in the screening locations. Having back-up copies is a must and the DVD format is the most accessible one being so widespread.

It depends on your plans, but formats such as BETA, 35mm, and even Blu-Ray could make your logistics plan more complicated.

Embarking on an itinerant project is definitely exciting, but it requires a lot of spending.

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Lens politica, finland

You will encounter organizations with variable financial power. Some of these can afford to cover your travel expenses, accommodation, promotional material prints, sometimes even a honorarium for curating and coordination.

Some might only offer accommodation or even no material reward, but will be able to gather an amazing audience and organize unforgettable screenings in unusual places. So it is worth applying for grants or even using a crowd-funding system – it’s becoming more and more known and popular, increasing its chances of success!

After approaching the partners and establishing a network, you should prepare yourself for hundreds of e-mails a day, all with organizations with different profiles and needs. Partners are of great help here, because they can handle the location scouting; the locals will definitely spend less time and money for searching and checking out a location.

Even with important financial support through grants, volunteers are needed to take care of the many details that require a great deal of time, but not necessarily experience. Working with volunteers can save time, while also giving newcomers the opportunity to learn something new. The fact that they are also linked to the place is another advantage: they will invite their friends and be the best possible guides for the guests.

approaching partners and developing a network Developing a network of partners is one of the most time-consuming parts of travelling projects. You will send thousands of e-mails and probably not get a response from most.

However, any kind of city or place is potentially suitable for organizing a screening, even though you might encounter some resistance at local level. A project crossing national borders can have language as a barrier, making it even more important to have local collaborators that can act as negotiators and even translators when needed, while also encouraging the local community to participate.

All potential hardships are worth it, since after travelling for a while your contact database will increase considerably. Partnerships established now can come in handy for your future projects: volunteers, partners in an organization, or a local musician, whom you have seen at one of the screenings and would love to bring over to work on something together. An itinerant project facilitates meeting many individuals, collecting stories and experiences, and, of course, friends.

It doesn’t matter if you are trying to make your films known in your own country, or you are aiming to get them known internationally, if you want to travel with awarded films from your festival, or if you are trying to get in direct contact with members of the industry. No matter what the situation is, the challenges are similar but the experience makes it all worthwhile.

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what is festivaL ManageMent? with the event. Whether you succeed in this determines whether people come in the following year and if they appreciate the event.

The working field of festival managers and producers is not on the red carpet and sometimes you can notice them only in the case of unforeseen circumstances, failures or problems.

Nevertheless, they are the ones in charge.

They have a general outlook of the event, supervising all the festival’s services. Festival management is not a theoretical thing about how mechanics work but it’s about your colleagues.

Take care of them, educate and encourage them!

about team & volunteer management

Two simple verities lay at the basis of every

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successful film festival. First you have to understand your goal (what and whom you work for), and second you have to think seriously about its organization. This does not only imply a search for great movies (first-class programming), decision-making about prizes and awards but also searching for and attracting an audience.

Every film in the festival needs to find its own special viewer and every guest needs comfort, attention and really exciting films. It’s great if your festival has its unique space and atmosphere, which helps create the mood associated

To start a festival is a complicated process and it doesn’t stop for the whole year. You have to begin with researching your target audience groups, programming and fund raising processes. Some of these processes continue even after the festival is over. The 2-3 months before the festival are the most hectic and intensive working period. You want to predict and figure out all details and probable scenarios. The festival by itself is the obvious result of your efforts and professionalism. Under the managerial board (director, artistic director, festival manager/ producer, program coordinator) there are the departments: programming, press/PR, guest office, translation, administration, accreditation and ticketing, technical department, design/ key-art, and last but not least, the volunteers.

Some staff are working year-round in the office to find new partners, sponsors, develop

programmes, complete the database, select films, organize pre-promotional events. Some specialists are outsourced and can join later to develop key-art for print traffic, to start massive PR and shipping.

A lot of patterns are common for all kinds of festivals but at the same time they are different in specialization, audience and of course budget. We could almost say there is a festival status hierarchy; there are different categories confirmed by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF). All film festivals have different opportunities for programming, extra services and special events.

It is harder to make massive PR or to find partners for in-kind support. guest coordination For guests, the gateway for every festival is the application form for accreditation!

But - Target your guests. For example, what types of press do you want to invite, or do you need stars to be on the red carpet?

- Know everything about types of accreditations - Make a website. It is your main instrument of providing service and offers to guests - Look for partners through hotels, apartments, flight companies and so on - Manage the process of picking up accreditations!

The accreditation office is the face of the festival!

- Manage the crowd - make comfortable print/e-timetables, organize events, provide a system to book screenings. Educate your guests about off program/discussions/master classes.

Develop the ethics of behaviour for comfortable screenings and professional atmosphere at markets or pitching/discussion panels. Think

about how to work with all groups of your audience - which is more important for every kind of screenings or events - Manage possibilities of meals for your guests.

A hungry guest is an angry and unhappy guest!

- Manage your venues so that they also provide the opportunity of sight-seeing.

Nobody can spend 24 hours only at one venue - Manage volunteers according to their skills (see Table 1) - So, stay creative but don’t forget about your management; you have to work hard for your reputation, BUT it repays you automatically!

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teaM and voLunteers the Main engines of Youth associations and festivaLs

skiLLed voLunteers

voLunteers with few or no skiLLs

Production assistants

Database assistant

Communication assistants

Ticket sales for screenings, clubs, events

Catalogue writers (film presentations writer)

Venue attendants

Proofreader

Distribution of printed material

Translators

Catering assistants

Blog writers

Assistants at clubs, seminars and (industry) events

Pre-selection of short films Cinema coordinator Moderators of screenings (language and performing skills) Info & accreditation desk (language and social skills) Hosts for guests (language and social skills) Drivers for guests and print traffic (driving skills)

table 1 24

team Management

When aiming to get together a properly functional team, you will first be faced with all types of festival organizers. The fact is that the main business resource of any project is not the volume of investments and the availability of production facilities; it is instead the professional staff who will realize the project. A leader needs to understand the importance of team management to create a successful event! As a leader, if you understand the importance of this aspect, a 50% chance of success is already in your hands.

Bear in mind that it is not enough just to have the best professionals, who will make the entire mechanism of the festival work, but you will also have to put them in the suitable positions in the list of responsibilities. You have to encourage your colleagues, get them enthusiastic about the festival and unite them into a team where everyone respects each other and understands the mutual goal to reach. If this succeeds, you will start with a team which is familiar to a festival’s goals and objectives both before and during the event. Several aspects that allow you to bring people together and improve teamwork will be discussed below.

Let us talk about the managing board - the members in key positions.

Each of them is conducting specific tasks: executing and mentoring, with each member responsible for their own section. The first one is the Director. Tasks associated with this position might be corporate fund raising and budget

The first step in putting together your project is to find the professionals and recruit them into your team, divide them properly according to experience and to the collaborative section: director, programme coordinator, PR & Brand marketing coordinator and production manager. It will obviously help you to save time and resources, by having someone recruiting the team on your behalf (normally the role of the festival manager).

25 group session

planning, mentoring – accounting, taking care of the sponsors and the managing board.

The programme coordinator’s responsibilities are not only connected with putting the programme together but they are also connected to PR, and creating the offer for regional festivals.

The production manager’s part is cinema management, printing of promotional materials (flyers, posters, catalogue), organization of the trailer shoot, logistics, as well as volunteers’ coordination, invitation management, IT, events (parties, ceremonies).

The PR & marketing manager does all the work with journalists, plans the marketing and PR strategy and partnerships, and supervises media content and social media (depending on the size of the festival, they might be two different positions).

How do you put your team together?

high

Manage as farmers

When you chose a team member, apart from professional skills, there are also other issues to consider: their characteristics, personal aims and ambitions.

In a simplified form we can call them will.

The ‘skill-and-will’ diagram visualizes the correlation between these two different issues and helps to classify the members of your team.

It makes it possible to determine the actual readiness of you team members, be aware of what part of diagram you should move their skill-will rate and how to motivate every one.

Talking about motivation we mean a simple thing. Motivation is linked to two steps – “where I am now and where I want to be”.

The more you know about your members (colleagues) – the more successful your project (business) will be.

Let us say some words about social types.

turn Loose to hunt

Establish ‘maintenance’ and ‘growth goals

Provide freedom to do their job and take risks

Ensure thorough account planning

Motivate the land new customers

skill

Clear roadblocks

Low

redeploy or eliminate

danger zone - train or redeploy

Find alternative internal role; or,

May be attempting activities beyond skill level- could damage relationships

Eliminate and replace

If trainable, guide and coach If not trainable, redeploy

Low

high

will

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The motivation theory of David Merril and Roger Reid offers 4-Quadrant Personality Models (1999) allows us to differentiate people based on their style of working and forming of relations.

If you dedicate some time to acknowledge how everyone focuses (whether on people or on tasks) and what is the preferred way to cooperate (by asking or by telling) you can quickly improve team communication.

Less

Less

Responsi veness

Analytical

Driver

Assertiveness

Amiable

More

Expressive

More 4-Quadrant Personality Model

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There is one more important point about the phases of team building. With the proper distribution of tasks and selection of suitable people in your team, you have to remember that the construction of the team and the relations will be changing for every ‘life cycle’ of the festival.

Storming – Norming – Performing model.

According to him, these stages are required in order for the team to develop, acknowledge and solve challenges and problems, plan work and to deliver results.

Bruce Tuckman (1965) proposed a model of group development called the Forming –

Performing

Norming

Storming

Forming

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Tuckman Model Tuckman, Bruce (1965) “Developemental sequence in small groups” Psychological Bulletin, 63, 384, 399

The first stage is forming the team.

This is followed by a meeting in which they become familiar with their mission and goals, while also assessing opportunities and challenges and getting straight into task-tackling. At this stage, the people involved are still acting mostly individually and are not yet ‘glued’ together by the common objective. As a supervisor, you need to be directive at this stage. However, it is important to get people to communicate and meet each other, while observing the way they individually respond to eventual pressures.

team includes finding managers and specialists of appropriate level, an appreciation of their reserves and opportunities; it also implies team building as a process of growing and changing every member individually.

The following stage, ‘storming’, is about ideas: everybody presents their own opinions about the problems at hand and they try to find a unifying perspective and a leadership model.

Conflict is unavoidable during this step, but this is a good way to evaluate the response to it and to emphasize each member’s specificity, encouraging tolerance. As a supervisor, you won’t be as actively involved at this stage but mainly act to ensure that the members of the team have the opportunity to bypass internal conflicts and cooperate better.

Team conflict solving leads to the following stage – norming - when the members are finally channeled toward the same goal and everybody does what it takes to make the team functional.

For a team to reach the performing level, it needs to work smoothly and effectively without external supervision. The leaders are well established and they have a highly participative role.

However, it is not uncommon for a team to return (and not only once) to a previous stage for various reasons. So the optimal solution for the construction and development of the 29

the visegrad film forum

Youth and cineMa funding in the european union In this article we will be talking about the issue

of festival funding. There are many possibilities festivals can use, but the global crisis makes it more difficult to get funding other than European grants. Because of this, the financial contribution from private sources is decreasing.

In Europe, there is a highly evolved network of public funding. Organizers can combine different grants depending on different criteria, such as geographical position, their actual size or their focus. In order to be eligible for each grant there are different requirements that the organizer needs to fulfill. This article will provide a selection of the most important grants focused on the whole European region and other possibilities of in-kind support.

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“MEDIA” is the main European funding program for the film industry. Support is aimed at global film festivals and exhibiting feature, creative documentary and animation films, as well as at festivals thematically oriented on new technologies. The program has to consist of at least 70% of European productions (from at least 10 countries participating in the MEDIA program).

Grants between €10,000 and €75,000 are available for festival and screening organizers covering up to 50% of the whole festival budget.

Eligible costs are divided into three main areas, which are related to the presentation of European film (print traffic, subtitling and translation,

screening fees), professionals accompanying a European film (travel costs, accommodation) and development, translation and printing costs for the official printed catalogue and the printed programme guide.

of film schools and the mobility of European film students, in particular through collaborations between European film schools, training institutes, and with the participation of partners from the professional sector.

The first deadline, at the end of October, is for festivals taking place between May 1st and October 31st of the next year. Festivals starting between November 1st and April 30th of the next year should apply up to the deadline on April 30th.

The applying consortium must be made up of at least three higher education institutions/ schools from at least three countries participating in the MEDIA program. This grant can cover up to 50% of the eligible costs of the project, and up to 75% if one of the members of the grouping is based in one of the 12 new countries which joined the European Union in 2004 and 2007.

The duration of the training should normally be a maximum of 12 months. More information is available on the MEDIA web site.

The current program, which started in 2007, is soon to finish, in 2013. For the next one, running from 2014 until 2020, the application and evaluation process will be much easier.

More detailed information on guidelines, the application from, budget and financing plan can be found on the websites of national MEDIA desk offices (in 31 countries). Offices are listed here: http://ec.europa.eu/culture/media/programme/overview/who/desks/index_en.htm The MEDIA platform supports training for film professionals as well. Funding is available for projects that encourage the networking

For organizers who are developing projects specially focused on young people, there are other dedicated funds. One of them is the Youth in Action programme (the funding body being EACEA – Educational, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency of European Commission). Its main aim is to inspire a sense of active European citizenship, solidarity and tolerance among young Europeans and to involve them in shaping the EU future.

31 paz LĂĄzaro and Liz harkman at the beach session

It promotes mobility within and beyond the EU’s borders, non-formal learning and intercultural dialogue, and encourages the inclusion of all young people, regardless of their educational, social and cultural background. They also have special annual focuses.

Their focus is divided into five sections, called actions: ‘Youth for Europe’, ‘ Voluntary Service’, ‘Youth in the world’, ‘Youth support systems’, and ‘Support for European cooperation in the youth field’. For the current program (20072013), the budget is 885 Million Euros.

To be eligible, the participants must be between 13 and 30 years old and be residents of any of the countries taking part in the program.

They can also get the support of different promoters (NGOS, local associations, non regular young associations).

Each project should be submitted to the national agency, which is responsible for the entire life cycle of the projects (from request to monitoring). Then, the European Commission would be responsible for the running of the program, managing the budget and the criteria.

Moreover, The Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency implements the permanent and centralized actions, apart from launching specific programs.

Another foundation for young people supported by the Council of Europe (CE) is the European Youth Foundation (EYF). It fosters an international youth meeting, which can take the form of a seminar, conference, workshop, etc. To be eligible, there are main conditions for application. The project must meet the CE’s work priorities (e.g. to promote awareness and encourage the development of Europe’s cultural identity and diversity). It also needs to be atten32

ded, in appropriate proportions, by nationals of at least seven members of the CE and by participants of whom at least 75% are under the age of 30. It has to be held in one of the Council’s member states and the applicant has to be an international, national or local nongovernmental youth organization or network.

Meetings should be prepared by an international team (minimum four different countries) and its contribution may not exceed two-thirds of the total cost of a youth meeting.

There is also a grant without any age restrictions aimed at encouraging cultural cooperation.

Collaboration Grants from the European Cultural Foundation transnational fund are awarded for cross-sectoral activities by independent cultural and artistic organizations working together or with organizations from other sectors. ECF is looking for projects that have the potential to inspire people to transcend boundaries in this process.

Collaboration Grants are awarded to cultural organizations working together across different countries of wider Europe (the 47 countries of the Council of Europe plus Kosovo) working with each other and/or with Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestinian Territories, Syria and Tunisia, on multidisciplinary artistic projects.

Partner applicants can work in sectors outside the cultural field. The lead applicant must be an independent, non-commercial, cultural or artistic organization.

The European Council can support a maximum of 80% of the project’s total budget. The grant is normally paid in two installments: 70% at the beginning of the project, and the remaining balance on receipt of the final narrative and financial reports. A maximum of 20% of the ECF grant can be allocated to personnel costs (refers to the amount asked from ECF).

Organizations may apply only once as a main

applicant and once as a partner organization.

Bilateral projects are eligible to apply, but they are awarded much less than projects with more partners. However, the Collaboration Grant does not account for festivals limited to only featuring existing films. The applicant/organizer has to be very creative and the average award funded is €15,000 with the maximum being €30,000. More information, application and guidelines can be found on website www.eurocult.org.

The ECF also funds cultural projects in special cooperation with the Western Balkan region through Balkan Incentive Fund for Culture (BIFC). The grants support collaborative artistic and cultural projects conceived by organizations within, or cooperating with, the countries of the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia).

The lead applicant should preferably be from the Western Balkan area and must be an independent, non-commercial, cultural or artistic organization. The structure is very similar to the Collaboration Grant; organizations may apply only once as a main applicant and once as a partner organization. ECF can support up to 80% of the project’s total budget, the average collaboration grant being € 15,000 and the maximum € 30,000.

Another regional fund focuses on cooperation with Nordic countries. The Norden Fund supports Nordic culture abroad through partnerships between Nordic countries since 1967 to achieve Nordic synergy. Different kinds of cultural activities can be funded, like conferences, concerts, tours, exhibitions, festivals and research. Private individuals, as well as associations, organizations and institutions can apply, and they may or might not live or work in the

4elements, slovakia

33

Nordic region. They invest 27 million Danish kroner a year. Up to 80% of the projects should be of less than 100,000 DKK. The maximum amount they give to a single project is half a million, only given under exceptional circumstances. The rest of the funding may be achieved through other sources, like the form of unpaid working hours of the applicants (that need to be specified in the budget), other sponsors or through the earnings the project may produce.

The project are selected by a board of 13 experts, representing each of the Nordic countries and all the administration takes place in the Secretariat of the Nordic Culture Fund in Copenhagen.

They encourage cultural co-operation activities that stimulate the participation of children and young people from the region, especially if they try to contribute to improving the understanding of neighboring languages. They would also more likely promote activities that take part in sparsely populated areas and the ones involving the West Nordic Region (Faroe Islands, Iceland and Greenland).

A project would be considered Nordic if it involves a minimum of three of the Nordic countries (Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Norway and Sweden) or autonomous territories (Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland Islands) – either as participants, organizers or as the setting for the project. This is the main criterion based on which a project is accepted or not, but they also accept bi-lateral projects.

In the case of collaboration with Nordic countries, there are also other possibilities for funding such as: Nordic Culture Point (the Nordic Council of Ministers’ culture programs), Nordplus, The Nordic Children’s and Youth 34

Committee (NORDBUK), Nordic Film & TV Fund, NordForsk, The Nordic Council of Ministers and The Nordic Council. More information can be found on the website http://www.nordiskkulturfond.org.

Apart from these conventional financing funding methods, there are other ways to get support. It is also necessary to realize that in-kind support is an important part of the project’s budget. It is in this field that the organizer can be really creative with building a good infrastructure of possible partners and sponsors. It can again come from public sources, such as the city council or region, but mainly from private companies.

tomáš prášek and paz Lázaro at bYs

First of all, the organizers need to think about what they need to make a project (venues, offices, technologies, printing etc.). After this, it is important to do research in order to find the right companies to approach. It is important to know the status of the festival to reach the right partners. Every company is different, so they need a personalized approach.

For example, some technology companies can rent you the TVs or projectors for free. In the case of collaboration with public institutions, it could be renting for free the classes to give the workshops in, for example.

All these companies want publicity and exclusivity in the project, so their brand can be well presented in front of the audience. It is also a publicity opportunity for the festival to involve such companies in their project.

In conclusion, it is advantageous to secure your funding from more sources and not be dependant on a single one.

4elements, slovakia

35

fiLM festivaLs and the fiLM industrY: Markets, co-production foruMs, training initiatives

36 scandar copti talking

Liz harkman talking

The relationship between film festivals and

the film industry is one of mutual dependence.

The latter has been strongly involved in film festivals and in defining their role since the first ones were created in Venice and Cannes in the 1940’s. The relationship between film festivals and the film industry is defined by the needs of the industry.

Nowadays there are a great number of film festivals all over the world. Some are targeted more clearly towards a local audience rather than the film industry, and they can be an essential means of showing alternative cinema to an audience in a country or city with little or no art house cinemas. Some film festivals are more oriented towards the film industry. Instead of or in addition to attracting local audience, they function as a forum for film professionals to see recent quality films, to network and to do business.

of the film industry, in dialogue and partnerships with producers, sales agents and distributors starting long before the festival takes place.

Festivals develop relationships with the film industry also in terms of programming, in order to have access to the most attractive films and the most appealing stars before other festivals, ultimately serving the first festival goal: helping marketing the films, raising the interest of the press and the audience.

The strongest link to the industry has been formed at so-called A-class festivals like Cannes, Berlinale and Venice, who are members of the FIAPF (FĂŠdĂŠration Internationale des Associations de Producteurs de Films), a worldwide association of producers defining the criteria for belonging to the A-list. Ultimately they cater to the needs of the producers.

Most festivals see themselves as an integral part 37

Marion klotz talking

film festivals and the film industry: Markets, co-production forums, training initiatives The larger, better established and internationally networked the festival is, the more it makes sense to introduce a program for the industry.

When developing industry content as part of a film festival, it is essential to research what needs and opportunities there are in the film industry - locally and globally. The film industry can only be attracted to a film festival if the representatives of the film industry feel they will truly benefit from investing their time and financial resources in attending.

Without question, by creating or enhancing the industry program, the festival can benefit from a stronger professional position among the 38

film industry both locally and globally. Strong industry emphasis can also help attract larger audiences locally. If the industry program of the festival is vital for the industry, the producers, filmmakers and actors will attend. When the stars are there, the press will write about the films and the festival, which will get the audience interested and give the festival a possibility to grow.

The program and services a film festival can offer to the film industry typically include a film market, a co-production forum and/or different professional training initiatives.

There are many established film markets and the need and space for new film markets seems quite saturated. However, new initiatives have been created like Les Arcs Film Festival and the Venice Film Market.

There are many existing co-production forums as well, and to create a new one would demand serving a need that hasn’t been met yet. This could be to serve a specific film genre or region (e.g. Connecting Cottbus - the east west coproduction market at the FilmFestival Cottbus).

The development of different kinds of film labs, mostly to foster emerging talent, has been a recent development. Many film festivals host scriptwriting, project development or thematic training programs, some throughout the year (e.g. CinĂŠfondation at Cannes, Torino FilmLab, Sundance), some with awards or funding opportunities attached (Rotterdam, Sundance, Berlinale / World Cinema Fund, Stockholm).

In some cases the festival supports the films in all the stages of the process: it provides script consulting and training in project development, it gives a production grant, helps finding coproducers and funding, screens the finished film and has it in the film market to be sold and distributed.

Another recent development is the exploration of Internet-based ways to extend the influence of the festival beyond the mere local event. To a more or less extent, smaller and bigger players have been playing around in this field (Sundance, Tribeca, IDFA, a. o.) with different models for making programmed films accessible to an internet audience for the duration of the festival.

Some festivals have even opened distribution branches, helping former attendees by promoting and distributing their films, exploiting and shaping the festival brand while intensifying their relationship with the industry and their audience. (e.g. Sundance).

kaunas international film festival, Lithuania

39

fest, training ground

While one could question whether recession related budget cuts could help emerging online platforms, such as Festival Scope, partially replace oine film markets at festivals and in general, thus diminishing their importance, the number of development related, networking and training initiatives mentioned above is growing.

Without question, the film industry can benefit from film festivals in various ways.

The selection of a film for a festival guarantees its first access to an audience. The prestige of the festival can help the marketing of the film and attract the attention of sales agents and distributors. Attending industry professionals can use the festival as a platform to network e.g. to find co-producers and to connect with possible financiers and buyers for the upcoming projects. It will also allow them to be seen and 40

recognized and to hear about the latest trends and new developments in the industry. It’s being shown that the benefits of festivals as forums and melting pots for the film industry goes beyond the mere traditional market and has not been fully explored and exploited yet.

secondarY sources:

Council of Europe, European Youth Foundation: http://www.eyf.coe.int/fej/ European Commission, EACEA, Youth in Action: http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/youth/ European Commission, MEDIA Programme: http://ec.europa.eu/culture/media/programme/overview/who/desks/index_en.htm European Cultural Foundation: www.eurocult.org Merrill, David W., Reid, Roger H. Personal Styles and Effective Performance. Boca Raton: CRC Press LLC, 1999.

Norddisk Kulturfond: http://www.nordiskkulturfond.org Tuckman, Bruce. “Developmental sequence in small groups” in Psychological Bulletin, 63, 1965: 384 – 399.

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List of associations involved in the workshop and collaborating on this book:

NISI MASA – European Network of Young Cinema

NISI MASA is a European network of 28 associations, currently present in 26 countries. During the past ten years the network has grown from it’s birth to consist over 600 young people who are striven by a common cause - European cinema.

NISI MASA’s main aim is to develop cross-cultural audiovisual projects to discover and support young film talents, to create a platform of discussion and collaboration for young Europeans interested in cinema, and to foster European awareness through audiovisual creativity.

NISI MASA’s activities include organizing various international cinema-related meetings, seminars and workshops, holding an annual European Short Film Script Contest, training young screenwriters, promoting young filmmakers, and editing publications that include various books as well as a daily magazine produced during several international film festivals. The NISI MASA Network is alive and developing because of the active volunteering work by young cinema enthusiasts all over Europe. www.nisimasa.com

FEST Associação Cultural, portugal

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FEST – International Youth Film Festival has had five editions so far, and is already one of the most vibrant film festivals in Portugal, having shown in the past some of the year’s most interesting works worldwide. The initiative focuses on new directors (up to the age of 30) and it is expected to find in the event some future talents FEST - Training Ground is one of the world’s most important educational events in the audiovisual. It is also a very special and extremely important initiative, as it will not only gather hundreds of filmmakers of tomorrow, but it will also empower them to be a driving force of change in the world of today, helping them having an ever growing voice in the construction of a local, National, European and world society. www.fest.pt

4 Elements, Slovakia

The summer film seminar 4 živly (4 Elements) is one of the few film seminars taking place in Slovakia and it’s the one with the longest tradition. It was founded in 1999 in the town of Banská Štiavnica with the aim of fulfilling gaps in film education and to offer a counterpart to commercial distribution. The programming of the seminar reflects the majority of a younger audience offering interesting films released in recent years in combination with international films that have been milestones in the history of cinematography. Each year the program is focused on a certain theme and presents various ways, both formal and substantial, how to reflect that theme in film making. www.4zivly.sk

Ad Arte, Poland

Ad Arte operates as an interface between different fields of culture and art. The foundation, established in 2003, has since actively encouraged a culture of audiovisual at home and abroad. They organize screenings, exhibitions, concerts and workshops. The specialty of Ad Arte is the promotion of short films, regularly shown in several cities across the country. Ad Arte funds and organizes the Short Waves Polish Film Festival, with the films being presented yearly both in Poland and abroad.

The Foundation is also a Polish representative of Future Shorts, the world’s largest platform for presenting and promoting short film. www.adarte.pl

Encounters Short Film & Animation Festival, UK

Encounters Short Film & Animation Festival presents one of the world’s best-known showcases and meeting points for new and established international short film and animation talent. The Festival is also UK’s leading gateway to the world’s most prestigious short film and animation awards including the Academy Awards®, BAFTAs, Cartoon d’Or and European Film Awards and receives approximately 1800 submissions annually. The 18th edition of the festival will take place between 18-23 September 2012. www.encounters-festival.org.uk

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Cinestesias, Spain

Cinestesias is a Spanish association of young people whose main activities are focused on cinema and the audiovisual arts.

The coordination of this group is settled in Madrid where most of the members live, but there are other Spanish towns where Cinestesians give their support and collaboration, such as Barcelona, Valencia, Granada and Mallorca. The most important goal is to promote the culture of cinema as a vehicle for diversity and open discussion, as well as the expression of new, younger perspectives. The association organizes activities around engaged films and discussions about the social questions they (re)present (civil wars, women, people in jail, marginal artists, etc.). Cinestesias also works on documentary film projects and produces a cinema magazine, creating a space for free expression and the analysis of films. www.cinestesias.blogspot.com

FilmFestivalLife, Germany

44

FilmFestivalLife was founded in 2009 in Berlin as a virtual base camp for launching services catering to efficient film promotion on the film festival circuit, while functioning as a platform to share inside knowledge about current industry developments with the international film making community. FFL aims to become the most comprehensive catalogue of film festivals as well as the main platform for film professionals approaching their festival paths in a strategic way, On FFL they’re able to connect, share their experiences and expose the track record of their films within the film festival circuit. As well as containing festival reviews, FFL features a basic set of information that minimizes the tedious searching process for festivals by offering an overview of all listed festivals. www.filmfestivallife.com

Kaunas International Film Festival, Lithuania

Kaunas IFF is one of Lithuania’s most appreciated film festivals and the main film event in Kaunas. It presents films which have been acclaimed worldwide and also looks for new discoveries.

The main priority of Kaunas IFF is a combination of the artistic and social statements in film. The festival continues its strategy to present exclusively Lithuanian or Baltic premiers. Kaunas IFF is the official festival and distribution partner of the innovative network “Eye on Films”, supported by MEDIA Mundus, a member of the CICAE network, and the Lithuanian representative organization in the European Network of Young Cinema – Nisi Masa. Retrospective programmes combined with panel discussions, master-classes, special lectures represent important tools for film culture revival in Lithuania. www.kinofestivalis.lt

kino5, Austria

Kino5 has been the official representative of NISI MASA in Austria since March 2006, participating in the NISI MASA European Script Contest for the first time that same year. The association is dedicated to supporting young independent filmmakers in Austria. They host film screenings on a monthly basis, which are open to short films of all genres. Once a year, kino5 organizes an event called ‘KinoDynamique’, inviting filmmakers, editors, actors and musicians to produce films “from start to screen” within 60 hours. Kino5, founded in 2004, is part of the international Kino movement which originated in Montreal / Canada.

There are 15 members at present, who enthusiastically strive to provide a platform for independent filmmakers in Austria. “It realizes that there are young talents who are not promoted by funding programs, and aims to give them the opportunity to meet and work together on projects.” www.kino5.net

La Pause Cinéma, La Pause Cinéma it’s an association that believes in the importance of cultural exchanges and in the power of the collective act France

of watching films. That’s the reason why they work in order to promote Latin-American short films in Paris. The reason why they organize this event is because they think short films from Latin America deserve to be watched by European au­dience and because they come from this beautiful place in the world, too.

Trough cinema they are trying to find a connection between different artists and countries.

In 2012 La Pause Cinéma is having its second edition and hoping to be able to continue their work for several years. www.lapausecinema.blogspot.com

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46

Queer film festival Mezipatra, Czech Republic

Queer film festival Mezipatra is a Czech specialized film festival screening films with gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender theme. The name Mezipatra in Czech means “mezzanine”, i.e. the space between individual floors: a symbolic space for meeting of all kinds of people, regardless of their particularities. The 13th festival edition takes place on 8 - 22 November 2012 in Prague and Brno. Mezipatra has had 95 000 audiences since the first edition in 2000. www.mezipatra.cz/en

LIve Film Edinburgh (4LIFE), Scotland

Live Film in Leith back in 2011 was bringing the performing arts with the world of cinema in four screening events: documentary, fiction, music video and narrative techniques. These merged seamlessly with a series of interactive activities, live seminars, dynamic workshops and open live shows. Now 4LIFE is a new festival platform spread over an all-year-round program with a final event of unique cinematic performances. The main concept is the same as previous: link a screen with a stage in a public space to showcase creativity.

The project is built around a cooperative model within a closed forum made of different ages, mixed cultures and diverse disciplines as a mean to experiment, share and develop ideas.

Bridging the gap between institutions, organizations, artists and marginalized groups our goal is to use the mediums of film and music as a common thread to engage with the audience’s imagination and to challenge modern mainstream cinema through emerging topics. www.vimeo.com/livefilmedinburgh

Lens Politica Festival of Film and Media Art, Finland

Lens Politica Festival of Film and Media Art, Helsinki, Finland, 28.11.-2.12.2012.The festival functions as a forum for socially engaged film and art and it consists of film screenings, exhibitions, workshops and discussions with filmmakers, specialists and the audience. The festival is organized by the Lens Politica Association for the seventh time this year. For general information and last year’s program, go to: www.lenspolitica.net.

Moviement, Russia

In terms of its members, Moviement is probably one of the most international teams in the NISI MASA network. All of them met each other at their common alma mater – the famous VGIK (Russian State Institute of Cinema). Since getting involved in NISI MASA, only in 2006, Moviement people have already taken part in several workshops and organized their own big filmmaking project Cinetrain which already had two editions- in 2008 and 2010. A third one is being prepared for January 2013. www.moviement.org

Lago Film Festival, Italy

Lago Film Fest is an International Independent Festival of short films, documentaries and screenplays. The 8th edition took place from the 20th to the 28th of July 2012 in Revine Lago (Italy). Lago is a village on a lake and the open-air festival plays in the courtyards and the main screen is in the water under the stars. This year, more then 100 films in competition were selected from over 2000 submitted films from 86 countries in the world, there were several international premieres, art shows, concerts and projects of contemporary art. Lago Film Fest is a place where you come to meet people, create and share projects. Lago Film Fest is a place where to meet people, create and share projects. www.lagofest.org

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48

Romani Film Festival, Hungary

The organizers of the Romani Film festival aim to present the Gypsy culture in Hungary and Europe to the general public - particularly young people - a realistic picture of the domestic situation of the Roma. The films present on the one hand problems that are important matters for the whole of Hungarian society; on the other hand, they offer an insight into the lives of Roma in Europe, their culture and traditions.

Showing these films to people of different origins and identities would like to emphasize, however, the universal values and role of Gypsy culture. The festival’s programme is complemented and enriched by music and fine arts as well as roundtable discussions with politicians, professionals and artists debating current issues. www.masodikalapitvany.org

The Munich Film Society, Germany

The Munich Film Society (Münchner Filmwerkstatt) is a non-profit association based in the Bavarian capital of Munich.

Founded in 1995 to support, produce and exhibit independent, experimental, foreign and various other non-mainstream art films, the film society has grown from just film producing to fostering independent film making in Munich and around and serves as a cornerstone in maintaining the local film industry. Since 2006, the film society also hosts the annual KALIBER35 Munich Int’l Short Film Festival. www.muenchner-filmwerkstatt.de

The Visegrad Film Forum, Slovakia

The Visegrad Film Forum (VFF) is an educational and networking platform in the audiovisual field. It consists of master classes, workshops and discussions with film professionals. Its aim is to create conditions for cooperation among students and recent graduates of film schools, mostly in Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland. To participants the event provides practical knowledge and necessary contacts for international film co-production and thus simplifies material requirements for their film projects. www.visegradfilmforum.com

Marion kLotz

Liz harkMan

scandar copti

guest speakers and nisi Masa friends Copti is an Oscar-nominated Palestinian filmmaker born and raised in Jaffa. In 2009, his first full-length feature film “Ajami” won the Camera d’Or Special Mention at the CannesFilm Festival. His film was also nominated for the 82nd Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Film category and won more than 15 awards worldwide. Formerly a mechanical engineer, he has also written, directed and edited several fiction, documentary and experimental short films. Copti was part of the team that launched the Doha Tribeca Film FesFval and the Doha Film Institute where he headed the Education Department. Copti was on the jury of the Tribeca film festival as well as at the Thessaloniki film festival in 2010 and President of the Human Rights Award in the Istanbul International film festival 2011. Currently Copti is developing his next feature film project as well as teaching acting and scriptwriting around the world.

Liz Harkman started working in the film industry 13 years ago in the Regional Production Unit of the British Film Institute. She transferred into the UK Film Council in 2000 and worked in the Regional Strategy and Events and PR teams before the draw of festivals took hold in 2002.

Since then she has worked continuously on film and animation festivals including; the Sydney Film Festival and Flickerfest both in Australia and Edinburgh International Film Festival and Animated Exeter in the UK before taking on the Managing Director role at Encounters Short Film and Animation Festival in 2008 which presents one of the world’s best-known showcases and meeting points for new and established international short film and animation talent.

Marion Klotz has been working with MFI - MEMENTO FILMS INTERNATIONAL for four years. She is in charge of non-commercial distribution and is developing the arthouse label ARTSCOPE. Marion also takes part in the acquisitions activities of the team. She represents the company in co-productions markets such as, L’ATELIER in Cannes, Berlinale Coproduction Market, SARAJEVO CINELINK, ... Since 2006, Marion is a script reader for ARTE. 49

paz LÁzaro toMÁŠ prÁŠek 50

Panorama Programme Manager for the Berlin Film Festival since 2006 and member of the Selection Committee for Competition since 2007, Paz Lázaro is the Delegate for Spanish Films at the Berlinale.

She is part of the Board of the European Film Academy EFA as an Expert and has served in International Juries of several film festivals such as San Sebastián Film Festival, Nordisk Panorama Film Festival among others.

Since 2010 she has been a member of the Spanish Film Commission (ICAA) for new directors in Spain, worked as Acquisitions Consultant for The Match Factory and curated other commissioned programmes like the Spanish Film Club Programme.

Previous to her Film Festival and curating work she has been engaged in film production over the years with feature films such as Nómadas (Spain, 2000), Cosa de brujas (Spain, 2002), Sobre el arcoiris (Spain, 2003), and the documentary Fallen Angel: Gram Parsons (Germany, 2004) as well as Theatre Production with Constanza Macras‚ Dorky Park Company (No Wonder, Sure).

Entrepreneur, festival organizer, consultant, translator, writer, traveller, co-founder of companies Eventival and DataKal, the Film Festival Academy, and festivals EuroConnections and Music on Film - Film on Music (MOFFOM).

Tomáš founded Eventival with Adrian Johnson and Dawna Cha in November 2008 after fifteen years of work with film and music festivals, and a decade of running a successful film festival management company.

Following a year at the Prague International Film Festival, Tomáš built and ran Hospitality Department at the Karlovy Vary IFF for five years.

It was here that he realized the emerging need for film festival management tools, and became convinced that he had found one in the festival’s in-house database system. He is on the board of Music on Film, o.s. and the Czech-Thai Society, and served on the Cultural Grants Commission of the City of Prague. He has lectured and chaired panels related to film and film festival industry in the Czech Republic, Croatia, Germany, France, Lithuania, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the United States.