CentEast Market Warsaw brings to the world the newest Eastern European films - many of them before world premiere
Between 15 and 19 of October 2008, the 4th CentEast Market Warsaw will take place at Kinoteka, situated in the Warsaw's Palace of Culture. The event, organised by the Warsaw Film Foundation, is a sidebar event of the 24th Warsaw Film Festival. Over thirty completed films and works-in-progress from Eastern Europe, many of them before the international or world premiere, will be shown on Kinoteka's four screens.
CentEast Market Warsaw is a specialised market and meeting point for film professionals that are involved and/or interested in films from Belarus, Bulgaria, Republic of Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovak Republic, and Ukraine. The key elements of CentEast Market Warsaw are closed screenings of completed films and works-in-progress and panel discussions.
Integrated in the CentEast Market Warsaw are also the Warsaw Screenings (since 2000), another initiative of the Warsaw Film Foundation, where professionals can watch selected new Polish films. Since 2004, apart from the October dates, a summer edition of the Warsaw Screenings (June/July) is organised, aimed at programmers of key film festivals held in the autumn.
European TV buyers, distributors, co-producers and festival programmers will be presented with newly completed films and an exciting number of works-in-progress, still in post-production, screened in either full length or trailer version. The majority of the completed films and works-in-progress will be presented by the films' producers themselves.
This year the organisers re-modelled CentEast's format and increased the number of works-in-progress yet narrowed down the number of countries in focus. The CentEast Market also no longer presents projects in development. But when the Polish Film Institute expects 60 Polish features to be completed in 2008/2009, well over 100 features are produced in the Russian Federation, and Romanian cinema promises to reach unknown heights in 2009, one can barely say that CentEast shelved its ambitions. Films from the Eastern European region are still overlooked, undervalued and badly promoted, and, with noble exceptions, play only marginal - if any - role in the international arthouse and television market. It is CentEast's mission to continue to deal with these issues and to initiate activities that support the sales and distribution of Eastern European films.
One of these noble exceptions in the last year was the Polish film TRICKS (SZTUCZKI, 2007) by Andrzej Jakimowski. It is during CentEast that a panel will be dedicated to the success of the film that has been sold to over 20 territories (Friday 17 October, 15.00 hour, Palace of Culture). Sales Agent Maren Kroymann (m-appeal), director Andrzej Jakimowski, Dutch distributor Rene Wolf (Filmmuseum Amsterdam) and Stefan Laudyn (Warsaw Film Foundation) will share their experiences on how they managed to promote, sell, and release the film in foreign territories.
The first CentEast Market Warsaw section - the newly completed films - includes films that have been released onto the international festival scene no earlier than June 2008. Examples are 33 SCENES FROM LIFE (Poland) by Malgorzata Szumowska (Silver Leopard, Locarno), CAPTIVE (Russia) by Aleksei Uchitel (Best Director, Karlovy Vary), and MUSIC by Juraj Nvota (winner of 9 national film awards and biggest local hit in Slovak cinemas since 2000). Other films, that have been presented at the national festivals in Gdynia (September, Poland) and Varna (October, Bulgaria) only, and are still awaiting their international release. This includes Bulgarian film FAREWELL TO HEMINGWAY by Svetoslav Ovtcharov and the Polish entries LITTLE MOSCOW by Waldemar Krzystek (Best Film, Gdynia) and THE OFFSIDERS by Kasia Adamik. Polish film HORIZONTAL 8 by Grzegorz Lipiec will have its world premiere at Warsaw Film Festival and will be screened at CentEast only days after (for full listing see below).
In section two, parallel to the screening of completed films, CentEast will present five fiction feature films and one feature documentary, that are still in post-production, and will be screened at full length. This section includes a film by a leading Polish director Feliks Falk (Top Dog, The Collector) and a feature debut by Peter Strickland.
On Saturday October 18, the CentEast Market Warsaw will be marked by a trailer presentation (section 3) of no less than 13 works-in-progress, all in the presence of the film's producers. This section includes two fiction feature films produced by Russian top producer Yelena Yatsura; a first feature film directed by Romanian Radu Jude, winner of the NHK International Filmmaker Award, Sundance 2008; the next feature by Sinisa Dragin, former Tiger winner in Rotterdam; a first Polish feature that will be released at 4K digital quality THE PHOTOGRAPH; a second feature by Russian Igor Voloshin, author of NIRVANA that premiered at Berlinale 2008 and screens at the Warsaw Film Festival, and VIDEO-WAGON, an independent feature from Moldova that is looking for completion funds.
To complete the CentEast programme, a selection of Polish short films will be screened. This are films that either gathered awards at Polish festivals or play in the short film competition of the 2008 edition of the Warsaw Film Festival.
Section 1 - Completed Films
33 SCENES FROM LIFE / 33 SCENY Z ZYCIA by Malgorzata Szumowska (STI Studio Filmowe, Pandora Film Producktion, Poland/Germany, 100') world sales: TrustNordisk
BLACK SEA / MAR NERO by Federico Bondi (Film Kairos, Hi Film Productions, Manigolda Film, RAI Cinema, Italy/Romania/France, 95') world sales: Intramovies
CAPTIVE by Aleksei Uchitel (Rock Films , Russia, 80')
A FAREWELL TO HEMINGWAY / EDINSTVENATA LUBOVNA ISTORIA, KOIATO HEMINGWAY NE OPISA by Svetoslav Ovtcharov (Pro Film, Omega Films, Bulgaria, 89 min.) before international release
HORIZONTAL 8 / 8 W POZIOMIE by Grzegorz Lipiec (Poland 90') before international release
LITTLE MOSCOW / MALA MOSKWA by Waldemar Krzystek (Skorpion Art, Telewizja Polska, Poland, 114') before international release
MUSIC / MUZIKA by Juraj Nvota (ALEF Film & Media Group, box! Film GmbH, Slovak Republic/Germany, 110')
THE OFFSIDERS / BOISKO BEZDOMNYCH by Kasia Adamik (TOR Film Production, Poland, 126') before international release
SCRATCH / RYSA by Michal Rosa (Film Polski, Filmcontract Ltd., Poland, 89') world sales: m-appeal
THE WORLD IS BIG AND SALVATION LURKS AROUND THE CORNER / SVETAT E GOLYAM I SPASENIE DEBNE OTVSYAKADE by Stephan Komandarev (RFF International, Pallas Film, Vertigo, Emotionfilm & Inforg Studio, BG/D/Slo/H, 105')
YURI'S DAY / YURYEV DEN by Kirill Serebrennikov (Russia, 137') world sales: m-appeal
Section 2 - Works in Progress, presented at full length
THE BORDER / HRANICA by Jaroslav Vojtek (LEON Productions, Slovak Rep./Hungary/Ukraine) feature documentary
DROWSINESS / SENNOSC by Magdalena Piekorz (TOR Film Production, Poland)
KATALIN VARGA by Peter Strickland (Libra Film Productions, Hungary/Romania)
MY FLESH, MY BLOOD / MOJA KREW by Marcin Wrona (Opus Film , Poland)
WEDDING IN BESSARABIA / NUNTA IN BASARABIA by Napoleon Helmis (Mediana Communication, Romania/Moldova)
English title to be announced / OBYWATEL NN by Feliks Falk (WFDiF , Poland)
Section 3 - Works in Progress, trailer versions
BELYAEV by Nikolay Khomeriki (In Motion Production Company, Russia)
BOOGIE BONES / STYLYAGI by Valery Todorovsky (Red Arrow, Russia)
BORTHEL LIGHTS / OGNI PRITONA by Alexander Gordon (In Motion Production Company, Russia)
ESTERHAZY by Izabela Plucinska (Donten & Lacroix Films, Poland/Germany)
THE HAPPIEST GIRL IN THE WORLD / CEA MAI FERICITA FATA DIN LUME by Radu Jude (HiFilm Productions, Romania)
I AM / YA by Igor Voloshin (VVP Alians, Russia)
IF THE SEED DOES NOT DIE / DACA BOBU' NU MOARE / AKO ZRNO NE UMRE by Sinisa Dragin (Mrakonia Film, Wega Film, Romania/Serbia/Austria)
THE MAGIC TREE / MAGICZNE DRZEWO by Andrzej Maleszka (Lunapark / TVP S.A., Poland)
SILENT WEDDING / NUNTA MUTA by Horatiu Malaele (Castel Film Studio, Romania) world sales: Bac Films International
OXYGEN / KISLOROD by Ivan Vyrypaev (Red Arrow, Russia)
THE PHOTOGRAPH / ZDJECIE by Maciej Adamek (Koncept Media Radek Stys, Busse & Halberschmidt, Inforg Studio, Mastershot.pl / Mastershot Studio, Wajda School, Poland/Germany/Hungary)
SAY LEO / SKAZHI LEO by Leonid Rybakov (VVP Alians, Russia)
VIDEO-WAGON / VIDEO VAGON by Pavel Braila (Artwatt, Saga Film, Moldova/Romania)
Section 4 - Polish Short Films
KIDS AND FISH HAVE NO VOICE / DZIECI I RYBY GLOSU NIE MAJA by Miron Wojdylo (34')
LUXURY / LUKSUS by Jaroslaw Sztandera (39')
SIGNIFICANT OTHERS / MALZONKOWIE by Dara Van Dusen (12')
A STORY OF A MISSING CAR / HISTORIA O BRAKU SAMOCHODU by Grzegorz Jaroszuk (12')
TRAINING THE / TRENING by Julia Kolberger (11')
Contact:
Rik Vermeulen, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Stefan Laudyn, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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24th Warsaw International Film Festival, October 10-19, 2008
4th CentEast Market Warsaw, October 15-19, 2008
mailing address: WFF, P.O.Box 816, 00-950 Warsaw 1, Poland
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