Winners at Festival of Central and Eastern European Film: Main Award for SILENCE OF REASON // Best Director for STEPNE
Festivals 30-04-2024The 24th edition of goEast – Festival of Central and Eastern European Film came to a festive conclusion on Tuesday evening. The awards ceremony at Caligari FilmBühne formed the grand finale for an emotional and eventful festival week at goEast. After seven days full of cinematic art, workshops, numerous discussions, lectures, film talks and exhibitions, featuring screenings of 90 films and with more than 200 guests from the international film industry present in Wiesbaden, the winning films of the Competition, the East-West Talent Lab and the RheinMain Short Film Competition were honoured and presented with prizes valued at a total of 28,000 euros.
The Awards
SILENCE OF REASON (MKD/BIH, 2023), by director and producer Kumjana Novakova, won the Golden Lily, endowed with 10,000 euros in prize money, for the 24th edition of goEast – Festival of Central and Eastern European Film in Wiesbaden. The forensic video essay deals with the subject of rape as a weapon of war. The International Jury, chaired by Nicoletta Romeo, explained its selection with the following statement: "The Golden Lily for Best Film goes to SILENCE OF REASON for the original and radical form in which this experimental essay film manages to convey the horror of the systematic mass rapes in Bosnia in the 1990s, through the written minutes and the oral recordings extracted from trial testimonies of survivors and the raw footage deteriorated by time. The repeated mass crimes committed amidst everyone's silence and indifference become a universal document of every war crime perpetrated everywhere against women, managing to break the silence and taboos, thus becoming a milestone for everlasting memory."
Director Maryna Vroda won the Award of the City of Wiesbaden for Best Director (endowed with 7,500 euros) with STEPNE (UKR/DEU/POL/SVK, 2023). The pastoral social drama revolves around the experiences of Anatoly, who returns to the village of his childhood to care for his aging mother. In the words of the Jury: "What starts as a simple family story of a few days in the life of a vulnerable and lonely man becomes an elegiac tale of an isolated place in the post-Soviet Ukrainian countryside, of past generations and their history, and a requiem to a vanishing world through a choral perspective. Vroda's powerful cinematic debut film manages to portray the life of a disappearing, melancholic universe, its pain and lost hopes, with tenderness, authenticity and a mature gaze."
A Special Mention went to the intimate family documentary 1489 (ARM, 2023) by director Shoghakat Vardanyan. The Jury praised the film in the following statement: "Made by an artist with no filmmaking experience who nonetheless displays an undeniable, natural talent and impeccable instinct, this film is a visceral, unembellished punch to the gut. An incredibly courageous and intimate account of the pain inflicted by the Nagorno-Karabakh war on an Armenian family. Though their wounds will never completely heal, their portrayal also offers hope and catharsis to multitudes of people suffering such tragedies around the world."
3sat Feature Film Broadcast Selection: BAURYNA SALU
goEast media partner 3sat, which has awarded one feature film from the Competition section with a television broadcast package every year since the festival's inception, selected BAURYNA SALU (KAZ, 2023) for the honour in 2024, with the statement: "Through its aching and touching examination of the nomadic Kazakh tradition of the same name, the quiet, but vibrant feature-length debut 'Bauryna Salu' by Ashkat Kuchinchirekov offers authentic insights into an unknown world and its life and work practices. Speckled with tender and light-hearted coming-of-age moments, the drama, which premiered in San Sebastian and which is carried by its captivating young lead Yersultan Yerman, advances to the raw, emotional core of its deliberately reduced conflicts. While a hand camera sensitized for the fugitive moments of everyday life both epitomizes and makes present the naturalistic approach of the mise-en-scène, the moody colours of the film – emphasizing earthy comfort and ice-blue solitude – transcend the fictional and let intimately shimmer through the personal childhood memory of a broken soul silently awaiting answers."
The film is slated to celebrate its television premiere on 3sat during the 2025 edition of goEast. In 2023, the honour went to the Latvian film JANUARY (LVA/LTU/POL, 2022), directed by Viesturs Kairišs, which was broadcast on 27 April.
A PICTURE TO REMEMBER (UKR/FRA/DEU, 2023), directed by Olga Chernykh, was honoured with the CEEOL Award for Best Documentary Film – the award, now in its third edition, is sponsored by the Central and Eastern European Online Library and endowed with 4,000 euros in prize money. The essay-like generational portrait takes viewers back on a journey to the Donetsk of the past. In the jury's words: "An essayistic dream-like account of a family's long journey through the war with the use of poetic introspection which conveys the complexities of a country at war, balancing between past and present and confronting private archives with public, collective memory. Through the experiences of three generations of women the film presents the human experience of war with tenderness through a mature and poetic use of found footage and a brilliant filmmaking craft."
A Special Mention went to KIX (HUN, 2023), directed by Dávid Mikulán and Bálint Révész. The coming-of-age story traces the path of young protagonist Sanyi Marku. As the jury commented: "The long-term observation documentary makes us follow the cinematic odyssey of Sanyi and his family, from the careless freedom of childhood – in wild and anarchic sequences, full of love and delicacy towards its young protagonists – to the conformity and grimness of adulthood. Through a personal and political lens, we witness a rarely seen portrait of an impoverished working-class family in modern day Budapest, where social institutions are absent or not efficient and young adults seem to be deprived of hope, their lives following a predictable downward spiral of events, triggered by a lack of a welfare system which provides no hope for a better future."
In the documentary film category, the FIPRESCI jury, composed of Bojidar Manov, Katrin Hillgruber and Catalin Olaru, also chose to honour KIX (HUN, 2023), from the directorial duo of Dávid Mikulán and Bálint Révész. As the jury members shared in their statement: "Ten years ago, a chalk line on the asphalt of Budapest led a film student to the unsupervised boys Sanyi and Viktor. The documentation of their actions between pranks and street art has become a testimony to social sensitivity and anarchic joie de vivre and thus a cinematic stroke of luck. The FIPRESCI Award goes to Dávid Mikulán and Bálint Révész for their documentary 'KIX'."
The FIPRESCI International Film Critic's Award in the category of fiction feature went to PLAGUE (RU/SA, 2024), directed by Dmitrii Davydov. In the jury's words: "For its impeccable framing, the uncompromising view of violence as personal incentive in a male dominated society, and the inventive way in which it applies western movie dynamics to a rural landscape never before associated with this particular genre the FIPRESCI Award for Best Fiction Film goes to PLAGUE."
The RheinMain Short Film Award, sponsored by Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain and endowed with 2,500 euros in prize money, went to QIRIM (CZE, 2023) by Kateryna Khramtsova. According to the jury's statement: "We award the RheinMain Short Film Award to a film that experiments with a variety of creative elements to express the very personal situation of its main character. The film does not make it easy for us – it asks relevant questions to which there are no clear answers: how to behave in extreme situations, identity questions, the extent of courage, commitment and solidarity. Another quality of this film is its direct, immediate aesthetics, which draw us in, absorb us. We appreciate that the filmmaker conveys that such a story must be told, now and at any time."
In the East-West Talent Lab, which was realised once again with the generous support of Renovabis and the Deutsch-Tschechischer Zukunftsfonds, the annual Project Market Pitch took place in front of a three-member jury. The jury awarded a Special Mention to the film project SACRED SONGS by Georgian producer Mariam Bitsadze, with the words: "We would like to give a special mention to a project which gives a unique insight in the lives of several women from one family in a male dominated world. Access to the world outside is given to them through their performances of sacred songs of their religion, which are normally sung by men. We would like to support the director's effort to open up their world to us."
The Pitch-the-Doc Award, a non-cash prize package consisting of consulting services valued at 500 euros, went to the project ECHOES OF AVEY by Atanur Nabiyeva from Azerbaijan. In the jury's words: "While an ancient mountain is vanishing the director of this project is trying to capture her childhood memories and the collective memory of her community in a poetic way before it is permanently gone. We feel this project deserves to be developed further and assisted in its genuine quest for its subtle filmic language."
THE AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHER’S FAMILY PORTRAIT from producer Irina Gelashvilli was honoured with the Renovabis Research Grant (endowed with 3,500 euros). As the jury explained: "The jury decided to give the main award to an already awarded project which was founded by a government and taken away from the director. We would like to support his artistic revenge which seems to promise much more than what he started out with. We appreciated that he did not give up and the sense of humour behind the project."
The EEFFN – Eastern European Film Festival Network, which is committed to increasing the visibility and impact of Eastern European cinema throughout Europe and counts goEast as a member festival, presented the "EEFFN Award" for the first time in 2024. The purpose of the award is to honour one film from Central and Eastern Europe annually that has distinguished itself through exceptional artistic merit, innovation and influence on the Eastern European film industry. This year, the festival showed the EFFN Award winning Latvian film JANUARY by director Viesturs Kairišs (LVA/LTU/POL, 2022).
The 24th edition of goEast – Festival of Central and Eastern European Film took place in Wiesbaden, Germany, from 24 to 30 April. In addition to a multifaceted Competition section and intensive encounters in the cinema, this year's festival highlights included guest appearances by internationally celebrated filmmakers and representatives of film institutions. The Symposium, entitled "The 'Other' Queers: Cinematic Images from the Periphery of Europe", was met with a very high degree of enthusiastic participation and sold-out cinema screenings. With the supporting programme Cinema Archipelago, made possible with the generous support of Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain, the festival explored new territory beyond the cinema for the third year in a row, including, among other things, a successful exhibition under the title POLITICAL TEXTILE and panel discussions addressing queer anti-war activism in Ukraine, among other topics. Finally, the festival also featured a special film series devoted to the film nations of Kosovo and Albania.
Here is a full overview of all of this year's award winners:
1. Golden Lily for Best Film
SILENCE OF REASON (ŠUTNJA RAZUMA, MKD/BIHP, 2023), director/producer: Kumjana Novakova
2. Award of the City of Wiesbaden for Best Director
STEPNE (UKR/LTU, 2022), director: Maryna Vroda
3. Special Mention
1489 (ARM, 2023), director: Shoghakat Vardanyan
4. CEEOL Award for Best Documentary Film
A PICTURE TO REMEMBER (FOTO NA PAMYAT, UKR/FRA/DEU, 2023), director: Olga Chernykh
5. Special Mention of the International Jury
KIX (HUN, 2023), directors: Dávid Mikulán and Bálint Révész
6. 3sat Broadcast Selection
BAURYNA SALU (KAZ, 2023), director: Ashkat Kuchinchirekov
7. FIPRESCI International Film Critic's Award (fiction feature)
PLAGUE (CHUMA, RU/SA, 2024) director: Dmitrii Davydov
8. FIPRESCI International Film Critic's Award (documentary film)
KIX (HUN, 2023), directors: Dávid Mikulán and Bálint Révész
9. RheinMain Short Film Award
QIRIM (CZE, 2023), director: Kateryna Khramtsova
10. Pitch-the-Doc Award
ECHOES OF AVEY (AZE) director: Atanur Nabiyeva
11. Renovabis Research Grant
THE AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHER’S FAMILY PORTRAIT (AZE/GEO) Producer: Irina Gelashvilli
Team at Cannes |
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Discovery Campus encourages young professionals to build up their international network
Press releases 02-05-2024
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How to work with music in movies for kids" webinar with Young Horizons Industry and No Problemo Music
Festivals 06-05-2024
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How do you find the right music for your video? How do you emphasise emotion with music in a film for kids? How to make the sound coherent with the image and complement what we see on the screen? We will find the answers to these and other questions together with Ewa Kowalewska-Kondrat on Tuesday 21 May at 11 AM CEST during the webinar "How to work with music in movies for kids". Participation in the webinar is free of charge. The most active participants will have a chance to win awards. The "How to work with music in movies for kids" webinar focuses on how music can complement a story and highlight the emotions contained in it. Thanks to the webinar you will learn how music is built and how to match it with a video in order to create the most touching picture. The webinar will be led by Ewa Kowalewska-Kondrat - graduate of Frederic Chopin Music University and a music consultant with over 10 years of experience. The webinar is aimed at people who work or plan to work on children's films and series, including directors, producers, musicians, sound engineers, editors, film and music students and anyone interested in the role of music in film. Awards for the most active participants At the end of the webinar there will be a Q&A session. The most active and engaged participants will have a chance to win: a free licence for music from the Audio Network library for the first project* and an online accreditation to the international co-production forum Young Horizons Industry (30.09-2.10.2024). *Based on already signed agreements, the free licence can only be granted to people from Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia or Ukraine. However the webinar is open to people from all over the world. The webinar is organised by Young Horizons Industry and No Problemo Music, second time around partner of the co-production forum for films and series for young audiences, the industry programme which accompanies the Young Horizons International Film Festival."How to work with music in movies for kids" webinar, 21.05.2024, Zoom.You can register HERE to join the webinar. Organisers Young Horizons IndustryYoung Horizons Industry is a co-production forum and meeting hub for film professionals who are passionate about making films and series for young audiences. It takes place every autumn as part of the Young Horizons International Film Festival in Warsaw, Poland.The goal of the forum is simple: helping creators connect with potential partners. By bringing together projects and industry players, we are creating a space where you can exchange ideas and form partnerships.Find out more No Problemo MusicWe are the music partner for your video production. We have over 15 years of experience in selecting and licensing music for films and advertisements. Our music was used to tell the most iconic stories. We are the sole representative for Poland and the Baltic States of one of the most reputable music libraries in the world - Audio Network. We have over 200 000 tracks, 1000 artists and every possible genre of music. What's most important – No Problemo is not just a company name, it's our business philosophy! We combine professionalism and experience with a laid back and friendly atmosphere.Find out more |
Baltic Event Co-Production Market opens its submissions and presents Eurimages Co-Production Development Award
Press releases 07-05-2024
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Baltic Event Co-Production Market, TV Beats Co-Financing Market and Discovery Campus open the submissions! // Meet us in Cannes'!
Press releases 10-05-2024
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Partnership Announcement: European Film Business and Law LL.M.| MBA Joins Forces with Alphapanda
Press releases 05-04-2024The Erich Pommer Institut (EPI) is thrilled to announce the collaboration between the European Film Business and Law LL.M. | MBA executive master's program at EPI and Alphapanda, a distinguished industry leader in film marketing and distribution.
Alphapanda is a European digitalmarketingagency for thefilm industry. Since 2011, they have developed an expertise in all areas of film marketing and social media for a variety of films and projects, fromHollywood blockbusters to indie documentaries, from festival darlings to film-related organizations. Their clients include Bankside Films,NEON –Super, Warner, Beta Cinema, Frenetic Films, Filmladen, Curzon,and several independent production, distribution and sales companies.
The Erich Pommer Institut is committed to fostering innovation and excellence in the media and entertainment industry. This partnership with Alphapanda marks a significant step forward in its mission to provide students with high-level educational opportunities and industry connections, as well as to work on developing new marketing and business strategies based on the knowledge acquired during the first year of classes. The program already has the kind support of MUBI and Rushlake Media as partners.
Katriina Miola, Project Manager of the European Film Business and Law LL.M. | MBA executive master's program: “Building on our existing partnerships with Rushlake Media and MUBI, we are excited to welcome Alphapanda into our growing network of industry collaborators. Alphapanda's expertise in film promotion and distribution is outstanding, making them an ideal partner for our program.”
Valentina Neumann (Managing Director) & Mathias Noschis (Head of Strategies): “We are very excited to start this partnership with Erich Pommer Institut, which we know from experience is one of the leading training organisations in Europe. Alphapanda has always valued innovation and being as close as possible to the needs of the market. Therefore,being able to collaborate with some participants of the MBA, who are top professionals from all over Europe, will give a real added value to our film marketing offer.”
For more information about the European Film Business and Law Master's Program, please visit the website.
Applications for the 3rdedition of European Film Business and Law LL.M. | MBAare open until July 31 here. Register here for the upcoming online info session on April 10to receive more information on the program.
The master’s is a joint project by the Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF, University of Potsdam and the Erich Pommer Institut.
Contact
Katriina Miola
Project Manager European Film Business and Law LL.M. | MBA
+49 (0) 331769 915-28 | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Call for projects for the Young Horizons Industry, international co-production forum for films and series for young audiences is now open
Press releases 28-02-2024The call for projects for the Young Horizons Industry forum is open until 19 April. We are waiting forThe call for projects for the Young Horizons Industry forum is open until 19 April. We are waiting forsubmissions of full-length films and series projects for young audiences, at various stages ofdevelopment and production. For the first time, we also invite creators to submit their completed filmsto the Young Horizons International Film Festival.
The goal of the forum is simple: to help creators connect with potential partners. By bringing together projects and industry players, we are creating a space where you can exchange ideas and form partnerships.
20 projects, live-action, animated, documentary, and transmedia, will be presented in front of more than 300 international guests within the sections: In Development, Work in Progress, Market Presentation.
Each presentation will be accompanied by a Q&A session with experts and individual meetings with producers, sales agents, distributors or broadcasters.
Selected projects will be chosen by a selection committee consisting of: Fiona van Heemstra, Screenwriter, Moritz Hemminger, Head of Sales & Acquisitions at The Playmaker, Anna Waśniewska-Gill, Producer and Partner at WONDER X, Marina Narishkin, Expert in the Business of Entertainment, Serial Entrepreneur, IP Brand Builder, Dunja Karlovsek, Editor of children’s shows and Media Psychologist, RTV Slovenija, Tim Biedert, Production & Development Executive.
More information about the call and the application form can be found at: https://industry.younghorizons.pl/submit-your-project/
The call for projects for Young Horizons Industry runs until 19 April.
There is a little bit more time to submit your completed short or full-length film for audiences aged 4 to 16, to the Young Horizons Festival. For details on how to submit films to the festival, please visit: https://festiwal.mlodehoryzonty.pl/en/news/call-for-entries-to-the-11th-young-horizons-iff-is-now-open/
The call for films for Young Horizons Festival runs until 15 May.
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The 8th international co-production forum for films and series for young audiences will take place in Warsaw and online, from 30 September to 2 October 2024.
Young Horizons Industry is a co-production forum and meeting hub for film professionals who are passionate about making films and series for young audiences.
In addition to project presentations and 1:1 meetings, the event programme includes panel discussions, workshops, training and networking programmes for emerging producers, film school students and fresh graduates, script and marketing consultations.
The Forum is part of the Young Horizons International Festival (28.09-6.10.2024), which has been held in Warsaw and Wrocław and other Polish cities for 11 years. Since 2020, festival films can also be viewed during the online edition.
Both events are organised by Young Horizons, a key branch of the New Horizons Association. It is responsible for distributing and supporting high-quality films and series for young audiences.
Young Horizons Industry is co-financed by the Polish Film Institute and Creative Europe MEDIA.
On the occasion of the 74th Berlinale, the 20 contributors to the European Solidarity Fund for Ukrainian Films made official its renewal for a second year on 20th February.
Endowed with €1.5 million, i.e. €300,000 more than in 2023, this multilateral programme, coordinated by the CNC, aims to support works by Ukrainian filmmakers whose projects have been interrupted since the outbreak of Russian aggression on Ukrainian soil or for whom it is difficult to launch new projects in this context.
The Fund also aims to encourage creative and technical exchanges between professionals from the contributing countries and Ukrainian professionals through co-productions.
When it was launched a year ago at the 73rd Berlinale, the Fund was financed by thirteen European countries and the EFAD association (European Film Agency Directors). Today, the association and 19 European ministries and national film funds participate in its financing. In December 2023, four new members joined as contributors: the Bulgarian National Film Center, the National Film Institute of Hungary, the National Film Center of Latvia and the Spanish ICAA.
Three films supported by the Fund in competition at the Berlinale
In its first year, the Fund issued two calls for entries and supported 29 projects announced at the last Cannes Film Festival. Three of these works will be presented at the Berlinale: The Editorial Office by Roman Bondarchuk (post-production), presented as part of the Berlinale Forum; Antonivka by Kateryna Gornostai (development), presented at the co-production market and Screaming Girl by Antonio Lukich (development), presented at the co-production market and winner of the Eurimages prize.
In order to continue to encourage co-productions between Ukrainian companies and those established in a contributing country, two specific calls are being launched from 21st February 2024: the first is dedicated to projects in the development phase (application from 21st February to 5th April) and the second concerns projects in the finalisation phase (application from 21st February to 15th March). The projects selected will be chosen by a committee of seven independent experts.
FULL LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
The Národní filmový archiv, Prague is pleased to announce the international premiere of the digitally restored film MURDERING THE DEVIL at the 53rd Rotterdam International Film Festival. This extraordinary film will be screened in the Cinema Regained section.
MURDERING THE DEVIL, originally released in 1970, is the directing debut of Ester Krumbachová. This legendary production and costume designer and screenwriter was a co-author of dozens of films, especially during the Czechoslovak New Wave era. Krumbachová, as the author of this film, had complete control over the film, which thus demonstrates her style as an artist. She handles gender stereotypes and quotations of various stories, fairy tales and myths with cruelty, subtlety and subversive humor.
More about the film and the filmmakers.
The digital restoration of MURDERING THE DEVIL is released by the Národní filmový archiv, Prague. Please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for booking this film as well as other classic Czech and Czechoslovak films.
MURDERING THE DEVIL
29 Jan 2024, 4.15 pm
LantarenVenster 2
Public