A documentary about harrowing loss and fleeting joy, Agnieszka Zwiefka’s “Silent Trees” follows a grieving family of Kurdish refugees escaping legal limbo. With animated interludes that function as flashbacks, it captures the world through the bespectacled eyes of a soft-spoken 16-year-old, Runa, a girl forced to grow up far too quickly in a Polish refugee camp.
The film plays like a follow-up and companion piece to another recent Polish production detailing the same inhumane premise: Agnieszka Holland’s “Green Border,” a haunting dramatization of the “red zone” between the borders of Poland and Belarus, where numerous Middle Eastern migrants have been cruelly bounced back and forth between the two countries. Guerrilla cell-phone footage introduces us to the grim violence therein, laying the foundation for Runa’s coming-of-age story through dark, pixelated images of what she, her parents and her four younger brothers have been through.
Having escaped this legal no man’s land,...
The film plays like a follow-up and companion piece to another recent Polish production detailing the same inhumane premise: Agnieszka Holland’s “Green Border,” a haunting dramatization of the “red zone” between the borders of Poland and Belarus, where numerous Middle Eastern migrants have been cruelly bounced back and forth between the two countries. Guerrilla cell-phone footage introduces us to the grim violence therein, laying the foundation for Runa’s coming-of-age story through dark, pixelated images of what she, her parents and her four younger brothers have been through.
Having escaped this legal no man’s land,...
- 5/3/2024
- by Siddhant Adlakha
- Variety Film + TV
There’s a moment capturing the spirit that drives Agnieszka Zwiefka’s documentary Vika! and it involves the character at the center of the film — an 84-year-old Lithuanian-born Polish DJ — as she sums up her dress sense, as much as she does her life
“The older I get, the more colorful I become,” says Wirginia “Vika” Szmyt.
The film, which screened Monday at the 29th Vilnius International Film Festival (Viff), is a slight departure from Zwiefka’s previous productions, including the multiple award-winning illegal refugee focused The Queen of Silence (2014), in that it comes definitely softer in terms of its subject matter. Vika! is also nothing if not inspirational, as its protagonist mixes up her medicine behind the DJ decks in nightclubs and at events in Poland and beyond, while sharing her thoughts on ageing and revelations from a fascinating life, in between scripted musical interludes.
The film has helped...
“The older I get, the more colorful I become,” says Wirginia “Vika” Szmyt.
The film, which screened Monday at the 29th Vilnius International Film Festival (Viff), is a slight departure from Zwiefka’s previous productions, including the multiple award-winning illegal refugee focused The Queen of Silence (2014), in that it comes definitely softer in terms of its subject matter. Vika! is also nothing if not inspirational, as its protagonist mixes up her medicine behind the DJ decks in nightclubs and at events in Poland and beyond, while sharing her thoughts on ageing and revelations from a fascinating life, in between scripted musical interludes.
The film has helped...
- 3/27/2024
- by Mathew Scott
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Cph:dox, the prestigious documentary film festival in Copenhagen, has announced a competition program across six categories that features 47 world premieres.
The event, which has emerged as a rival to the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) as the biggest and most important all-documentary festival in the world, will unfold from March 13-24 in the Danish capital. The Dox:award lineup – all world premieres – features films from the U.S., Canada, the Nordic countries and many other parts of Europe, including France, Ireland, and the U.K. Scroll for the lineups in all six competition strands.
“We’re thrilled to present this year’s competition films, which span from global geopolitics to intimate, existential queries,” noted Niklas Engstrøm, Cph:dox artistic director. “What unites these films is their ambition to engage with the world in a meaningful way. This year’s competition sharpens its focus on the most urgent issues of our time, from...
The event, which has emerged as a rival to the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) as the biggest and most important all-documentary festival in the world, will unfold from March 13-24 in the Danish capital. The Dox:award lineup – all world premieres – features films from the U.S., Canada, the Nordic countries and many other parts of Europe, including France, Ireland, and the U.K. Scroll for the lineups in all six competition strands.
“We’re thrilled to present this year’s competition films, which span from global geopolitics to intimate, existential queries,” noted Niklas Engstrøm, Cph:dox artistic director. “What unites these films is their ambition to engage with the world in a meaningful way. This year’s competition sharpens its focus on the most urgent issues of our time, from...
- 2/16/2024
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Following musical sequences in her latest doc “Vika!,” Polish director Agnieszka Zwiefka will turn to animation for an upcoming project under the working title “Runa.”
“What can I say? I really like fusion cuisine,” she laughs.
“I like hybrid films, because this division between documentary and fiction is completely pointless. I see documentary as a very capacious bag. There is room for everything.”
Partially animated “Runa,” produced by Chilli Productions (Poland), Real Lava (Denmark) and Ma.ja.de (Germany) – with Arte and Swr also on board – introduces a Kurdish girl who needs to care for her siblings after their mother dies on the Polish-Belarusian border.
“There is always strength in my characters and she’s probably the strongest one yet,” says Zwiefka, opening up about the film’s visual style developed by Yellow Tapir Films and Marcin Podolec.
“Our reference was ‘Persepolis.’ These black and white forms, almost childlike drawings that,...
“What can I say? I really like fusion cuisine,” she laughs.
“I like hybrid films, because this division between documentary and fiction is completely pointless. I see documentary as a very capacious bag. There is room for everything.”
Partially animated “Runa,” produced by Chilli Productions (Poland), Real Lava (Denmark) and Ma.ja.de (Germany) – with Arte and Swr also on board – introduces a Kurdish girl who needs to care for her siblings after their mother dies on the Polish-Belarusian border.
“There is always strength in my characters and she’s probably the strongest one yet,” says Zwiefka, opening up about the film’s visual style developed by Yellow Tapir Films and Marcin Podolec.
“Our reference was ‘Persepolis.’ These black and white forms, almost childlike drawings that,...
- 10/25/2023
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Six world premieres in the International feature competition.
Sarah Mallegol’s Kumva – Which Comes From Silence, is among the 10 features selected for the international competition of Germany’s Dok Leipzig festival, taking place from October 8-15.
Kumva is one of six world premieres in the section and sees children and parents who experienced the Rwandan genocide of 1994 speak about the atrocity which has traumatised generations.
Scroll down for the full list of features in competition
The film is in Kinyarwanda and French language; it is a debut feature for French director Mallegol.
The competition also includes the world premiere of Stillstand,...
Sarah Mallegol’s Kumva – Which Comes From Silence, is among the 10 features selected for the international competition of Germany’s Dok Leipzig festival, taking place from October 8-15.
Kumva is one of six world premieres in the section and sees children and parents who experienced the Rwandan genocide of 1994 speak about the atrocity which has traumatised generations.
Scroll down for the full list of features in competition
The film is in Kinyarwanda and French language; it is a debut feature for French director Mallegol.
The competition also includes the world premiere of Stillstand,...
- 9/21/2023
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
“Topics like diversity, equity, the environment, LGBTQ projects are really important to us,” says HBO’s Tereza Keilová.
HBO Max aims to remain a key financier of feature documentaries from central and eastern Europe, according to Tereza Keilová, producer, documentaries, HBO Max Cee, speaking this week during the Sarajevo Film Festival.
HBO is a key partner in Sarajevo’s industry event, CineLink Industry Days, sponsoring the Docu Rough Cut Boutique award for many years.
The company has often picked up titles in Sarajevo, including Bulgarian director Nikolay Stefanov’s football hooligan doc No Place For You In Our Town, which...
HBO Max aims to remain a key financier of feature documentaries from central and eastern Europe, according to Tereza Keilová, producer, documentaries, HBO Max Cee, speaking this week during the Sarajevo Film Festival.
HBO is a key partner in Sarajevo’s industry event, CineLink Industry Days, sponsoring the Docu Rough Cut Boutique award for many years.
The company has often picked up titles in Sarajevo, including Bulgarian director Nikolay Stefanov’s football hooligan doc No Place For You In Our Town, which...
- 8/18/2023
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
“Topics like diversity, equity, the environment, LGBTQ projects are really important to us,” says HBO’s Tereza Keilová.
HBO Max aims to remain a key financier of feature documentaries from central and eastern Europe, according to Tereza Keilová, producer, documentaries, HBO Max Cee, speaking this week during the Sarajevo Film Festival.
HBO is a key partner in Sarajevo’s industry event, CineLink Industry Days, sponsoring the Docu Rough Cut Boutique award for many years.
The company has often picked up titles in Sarajevo, including Bulgarian director Nikolay Stefanov’s football hooligan doc No Place For You In Our Town, which...
HBO Max aims to remain a key financier of feature documentaries from central and eastern Europe, according to Tereza Keilová, producer, documentaries, HBO Max Cee, speaking this week during the Sarajevo Film Festival.
HBO is a key partner in Sarajevo’s industry event, CineLink Industry Days, sponsoring the Docu Rough Cut Boutique award for many years.
The company has often picked up titles in Sarajevo, including Bulgarian director Nikolay Stefanov’s football hooligan doc No Place For You In Our Town, which...
- 8/18/2023
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
International sellers talked about how they work to engage critics, buyers and then audiences.
The clock is always ticking and sales agents representing indie films at major festivals have as little as two days to close the key deals before the opportunity vanishes. This was one of the insights provided at Sarajevo’s Cinelink Industry Days panel ‘Perspectives on Independent Cinema and Global Content’ this week.
Sébastien Chesneau, founder of Dubai-based sales outfit Cercamon, emphasised the need to act quickly at film markets. “There is a window of maybe two days when the distributors are still at the festival and...
The clock is always ticking and sales agents representing indie films at major festivals have as little as two days to close the key deals before the opportunity vanishes. This was one of the insights provided at Sarajevo’s Cinelink Industry Days panel ‘Perspectives on Independent Cinema and Global Content’ this week.
Sébastien Chesneau, founder of Dubai-based sales outfit Cercamon, emphasised the need to act quickly at film markets. “There is a window of maybe two days when the distributors are still at the festival and...
- 8/17/2023
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
The Polish director is in Sarajevo this week pitching her documentary ‘Runa’.
Polish outfit Harine Films and German co-producer Heino Deckert have boarded She, the next fiction project from Polish producer-director Agnieszka Zwiefka.
The project has been developed by the European edition of The Writers Lab (Twl), the script development workshop for women and non-binary writers over 40 supported by Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman.
“It’s amazing the support they are giving. It was an amazing feeling of sisterhood, this lab,” Zwiefka said. Her tutor was the Oscar-nominated Polish director Agnieszka Holland.
She is about a widowed 50 year-old woman who...
Polish outfit Harine Films and German co-producer Heino Deckert have boarded She, the next fiction project from Polish producer-director Agnieszka Zwiefka.
The project has been developed by the European edition of The Writers Lab (Twl), the script development workshop for women and non-binary writers over 40 supported by Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman.
“It’s amazing the support they are giving. It was an amazing feeling of sisterhood, this lab,” Zwiefka said. Her tutor was the Oscar-nominated Polish director Agnieszka Holland.
She is about a widowed 50 year-old woman who...
- 8/17/2023
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
The lineup for Docu Talents From the East – a showcase of standout documentary films from Central and Eastern Europe that are in post-production – has been unveiled.
Eight documentary projects will be presented on Aug. 13 at Sarajevo Film Festival. The event is part of CineLink Industry Day, the festival’s program for film and TV professionals.
The most promising project will receive the Docu Talent Award in cooperation with Current Time TV. The award is accompanied by a cash prize of $5,000. The DAFilms.com Distribution Award will cover services worth €3,000, including an international VOD release on DAFilms.com for two years. The awards ceremony will take place on Aug. 13 at Sarajevo Producers’ Hub.
Marek Hovorka, director of the Ji.hlava Documentary Film Festival, which organizes and curates Docu Talents, said: “The protagonists of the presented films are exploring their family roots and cultural background, striving for a fairer and more open world,...
Eight documentary projects will be presented on Aug. 13 at Sarajevo Film Festival. The event is part of CineLink Industry Day, the festival’s program for film and TV professionals.
The most promising project will receive the Docu Talent Award in cooperation with Current Time TV. The award is accompanied by a cash prize of $5,000. The DAFilms.com Distribution Award will cover services worth €3,000, including an international VOD release on DAFilms.com for two years. The awards ceremony will take place on Aug. 13 at Sarajevo Producers’ Hub.
Marek Hovorka, director of the Ji.hlava Documentary Film Festival, which organizes and curates Docu Talents, said: “The protagonists of the presented films are exploring their family roots and cultural background, striving for a fairer and more open world,...
- 8/7/2023
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Polish Days runs July 23-25.
New films by Jan P. Matuszyński, Jakub Piątek, Agnieszka Zwiefka and the makers of Loving Vincent are among 22 projects being presented at the 2023 edition of Polish Days, the industry event for Polish cinema running during New Horizons International Film Festival (July 20-30) in Wrocław.
Scroll down for full line-up
The event runs July 23-25 and is aimed at sales agents, distributors and festival programmers.
The line-up includes four completed Polish films, including Marcin Koszałka’s historical drama White Courage, produced by Warsaw-based Balapolis, and Amp Polska’s production of Edward Porembny’s docudrama The Life...
New films by Jan P. Matuszyński, Jakub Piątek, Agnieszka Zwiefka and the makers of Loving Vincent are among 22 projects being presented at the 2023 edition of Polish Days, the industry event for Polish cinema running during New Horizons International Film Festival (July 20-30) in Wrocław.
Scroll down for full line-up
The event runs July 23-25 and is aimed at sales agents, distributors and festival programmers.
The line-up includes four completed Polish films, including Marcin Koszałka’s historical drama White Courage, produced by Warsaw-based Balapolis, and Amp Polska’s production of Edward Porembny’s docudrama The Life...
- 7/12/2023
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
Slovak director Denis Dobrovoda’s feature debut “The Cathedral” took the best film prize in the International Documentary Competition section of the 62nd Krakow Film Festival, which runs May 29-June 12. “All That Breathes,” which won prizes at Sundance and Cannes, and has been picked up by HBO, was also among the prize winners.
“The Cathedral” focuses on Justo Gallego Martínez, who started building a cathedral in Spain’s Mejorada del Campo 60 years ago without any qualifications, architectural plans or official permission. He invested his own funds and built it almost entirely with his own hands, mostly out of waste and recycled materials.
The film is produced by Matthew Bremner and Dobrovoda’s Kolsa Films, which is seeking distribution for the film.
Indian director Shaunak Sen won the award for “the best film with high artistic values” with “All That Breathes,” which picked up the Grand Jury Prize in the World Cinema Documentary Competition at Sundance,...
“The Cathedral” focuses on Justo Gallego Martínez, who started building a cathedral in Spain’s Mejorada del Campo 60 years ago without any qualifications, architectural plans or official permission. He invested his own funds and built it almost entirely with his own hands, mostly out of waste and recycled materials.
The film is produced by Matthew Bremner and Dobrovoda’s Kolsa Films, which is seeking distribution for the film.
Indian director Shaunak Sen won the award for “the best film with high artistic values” with “All That Breathes,” which picked up the Grand Jury Prize in the World Cinema Documentary Competition at Sundance,...
- 6/6/2022
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
The European edition of the non-profit script development programme will take place virtually from April 7-1.
The Writers Lab (Twl), the script development programme for women and non-binary writers over 40, has unveiled the participants for its first European edition.
The non-profit initiative will run virtually from April 7-10, and is designed to discover an intersectional range of diverse new voices in the film sector. The successful participants will be connected with leading screenwriters and producers in the industry. 17 writers from 13 countries have been selected.
Scroll down for the full list of participants
Mentors and guests include directors Susanne Bier (The Night Manager...
The Writers Lab (Twl), the script development programme for women and non-binary writers over 40, has unveiled the participants for its first European edition.
The non-profit initiative will run virtually from April 7-10, and is designed to discover an intersectional range of diverse new voices in the film sector. The successful participants will be connected with leading screenwriters and producers in the industry. 17 writers from 13 countries have been selected.
Scroll down for the full list of participants
Mentors and guests include directors Susanne Bier (The Night Manager...
- 4/5/2022
- by Melissa Kasule
- ScreenDaily
Polish Days is the industry event for the Wroclaw-based New Horizons International Film Festival (August 12-22).
Anna Jadowska’s Woman On The Roof was the winner of the third annual Screen International Best Pitch Award presented at this year’s Polish Days, the industry event for the Wroclaw-based New Horizons International Film Festival (August 12-22).
The €1.4m production, by Warsaw-based Donten & Lacroix Films with Paris-based Blick Productions and Sweden’s Garagefilm, is Jadowska’s latest feature film after Touch Me (2003), It’s Me (2005) and Wild Roses (2017).
She directed the Netflix series Ultraviolet 2.0. The Bear and a segment of its mini-series Erotica 2022,...
Anna Jadowska’s Woman On The Roof was the winner of the third annual Screen International Best Pitch Award presented at this year’s Polish Days, the industry event for the Wroclaw-based New Horizons International Film Festival (August 12-22).
The €1.4m production, by Warsaw-based Donten & Lacroix Films with Paris-based Blick Productions and Sweden’s Garagefilm, is Jadowska’s latest feature film after Touch Me (2003), It’s Me (2005) and Wild Roses (2017).
She directed the Netflix series Ultraviolet 2.0. The Bear and a segment of its mini-series Erotica 2022,...
- 8/18/2021
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
Programme includes five completed films, six works-in-progress, nine development.
The programme for the 2021 edition of Polish Days industry event includes Lipstick On The Glass, the latest film from Polish director Kuba Czekaj.
Czekaj’s film, which is currently in post-production, is participating as one of six works-in-progress, alongside nine titles in development and five completed films.
The film follows a woman who is induced to abandon her gangster husband to join a feminist sect.
It is produced by Paweł Kosuń and Agnieszka Janowska for Poland’s Centrala Film, and Arek Gielnik for Germany’s Indi Film.
The film will be...
The programme for the 2021 edition of Polish Days industry event includes Lipstick On The Glass, the latest film from Polish director Kuba Czekaj.
Czekaj’s film, which is currently in post-production, is participating as one of six works-in-progress, alongside nine titles in development and five completed films.
The film follows a woman who is induced to abandon her gangster husband to join a feminist sect.
It is produced by Paweł Kosuń and Agnieszka Janowska for Poland’s Centrala Film, and Arek Gielnik for Germany’s Indi Film.
The film will be...
- 7/28/2021
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Just when it felt like spirits might be flagging during this summer’s virtual edition of Polish Days—the industry program of the New Horizons Intl. Film Festival—the organizers turned to the unlikeliest of heroes: Wirginia Szmyt, better known by her stage name D.J. Wika, an 82-year-old icon of the Warsaw music scene, and the subject of director Agnieszka Zwiefka’s forthcoming documentary “Wika!”
D.J. Wika put on a rousing online set for the directors, producers, sales agents, and industry guests who might have otherwise been mixing on a dance floor in Wrocław, Poland, where New Horizons is typically held each July. But for anyone missing the energy of the buzzy summer fest, which because of the coronavirus pandemic has been postponed until the fall, “we tried our best to recreate it,” says New Horizons’ head of industry Weronika Czołnowska.
Czołnowska and her organizing crew still hope...
D.J. Wika put on a rousing online set for the directors, producers, sales agents, and industry guests who might have otherwise been mixing on a dance floor in Wrocław, Poland, where New Horizons is typically held each July. But for anyone missing the energy of the buzzy summer fest, which because of the coronavirus pandemic has been postponed until the fall, “we tried our best to recreate it,” says New Horizons’ head of industry Weronika Czołnowska.
Czołnowska and her organizing crew still hope...
- 8/30/2020
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
When production began on “Sweat,” Magnus von Horn’s follow-up to his Cannes Directors’ Fortnight player “The Here After,” no one could have predicted how prescient the film would be. As the world grapples with a protracted lockdown that’s pushed more and more of our lives online, the story of a Polish fitness instructor and social media celebrity searching for real-world intimacy feels especially timely.
“‘Sweat’ wants to embrace everything in this modern world that we otherwise love to hate, and I think that makes it unique,” says producer Mariusz Włodarski of Lava Films.
“Sweat” is one of 56 films that will receive a Cannes 2020 label as part of this year’s Official Selection. New Europe Film Sales is handling world sales. Włodarski will present the film during the Cannes virtual market, along with “Wonder Zenia,” a new feature from Małgorzata Szumowska being sold by the Match Factory, as he...
“‘Sweat’ wants to embrace everything in this modern world that we otherwise love to hate, and I think that makes it unique,” says producer Mariusz Włodarski of Lava Films.
“Sweat” is one of 56 films that will receive a Cannes 2020 label as part of this year’s Official Selection. New Europe Film Sales is handling world sales. Włodarski will present the film during the Cannes virtual market, along with “Wonder Zenia,” a new feature from Małgorzata Szumowska being sold by the Match Factory, as he...
- 6/23/2020
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Haf, New Horizons, Thessaloniki and Nfdc Film Bazaar have each contributed five.
Twenty works-in-progress from four international film events have been selected for the online Marché du Film’s Goes To Cannes showcase, which runs from June 22-24.
Five titles will be presented by each of Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum (Haf); Poland’s New Horizons International Film Festival; Greece’s Thessaloniki International Film Festival (Tiff); and for the first time, India’s Nfdc Film Bazaar.
The projects will be presented during two-hour online screenings from June 22-23. Industry professionals who attend the online screenings will be able to...
Twenty works-in-progress from four international film events have been selected for the online Marché du Film’s Goes To Cannes showcase, which runs from June 22-24.
Five titles will be presented by each of Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum (Haf); Poland’s New Horizons International Film Festival; Greece’s Thessaloniki International Film Festival (Tiff); and for the first time, India’s Nfdc Film Bazaar.
The projects will be presented during two-hour online screenings from June 22-23. Industry professionals who attend the online screenings will be able to...
- 5/26/2020
- by 1101321¦Ben Dalton¦26¦
- ScreenDaily
Agnieszka Zwiefka’s “Wika!” Angeliki Antoniou’s “Green Sea” and Wong Fei-pang’s “Dear Immigrants: What Was Your First Meal?” will all feature at the Marché du Film’s 2020 Goes to Cannes, one of the highest-profile industry events at the Cannes Film Market.
This year’s Goes to Event runs June 22-23, at the beginning of the Marché du Film added to what looks like a packed schedule of screenings.
A pix-in-post showcase traditionally running the second week of Cannes and frequented by sales agents, distributors and film fest heads, this year’s Goes to Cannes, now in its eighth edition, will source five features a piece from three traditional Goes To partners: the Hong Kong – Asia Film Financing Forum (Haf), Poland’s New Horizons International Film Festival, and the Thessaloniki International Film Festival.
Joining the Goes to Lineup for the first time is Nfdc Film Bazaar, organized by India...
This year’s Goes to Event runs June 22-23, at the beginning of the Marché du Film added to what looks like a packed schedule of screenings.
A pix-in-post showcase traditionally running the second week of Cannes and frequented by sales agents, distributors and film fest heads, this year’s Goes to Cannes, now in its eighth edition, will source five features a piece from three traditional Goes To partners: the Hong Kong – Asia Film Financing Forum (Haf), Poland’s New Horizons International Film Festival, and the Thessaloniki International Film Festival.
Joining the Goes to Lineup for the first time is Nfdc Film Bazaar, organized by India...
- 5/26/2020
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Polish Days takes place during the New Horizons International Film Festival in Wroclaw.
New films by Bartosz Konopka, Jan Komasa and Leszek Dawid are among the line-up of 25 completed films, works in progress and projects to be presented at the sixth edition of the Polish Days (July 30 - August 1) during the New Horizons International Film Festival in Wroclaw, Poland.
Konopka’s The Mute, which was presented as a work in progress at last year’s Polish Days, is among five completed films being shown in closed industry screenings to international sales agents, distributors, film funders and festival programmers.
The further...
New films by Bartosz Konopka, Jan Komasa and Leszek Dawid are among the line-up of 25 completed films, works in progress and projects to be presented at the sixth edition of the Polish Days (July 30 - August 1) during the New Horizons International Film Festival in Wroclaw, Poland.
Konopka’s The Mute, which was presented as a work in progress at last year’s Polish Days, is among five completed films being shown in closed industry screenings to international sales agents, distributors, film funders and festival programmers.
The further...
- 7/4/2018
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
The chosen projects include 23 fiction films, 6 documentaries and 1 animation.
Thirty feature projects will receive production support from European cinema support fund Eurimages, it was announced in Montreal.
A total of €6,447,783 will be invested in 23 fiction films, six documentaries and one animated feature. Contemporary political themes are prominent.
See below for selected projects
Ahmed is the 11th feature to be directed by the Dardennes brothers, which is about a Belgian teenager who plots to kill his teacher after embracing an extremist interpretation of the Koran. Wild Bunch launched the film at Cannes last month.
Also receiving funding is Daniel, the new...
Thirty feature projects will receive production support from European cinema support fund Eurimages, it was announced in Montreal.
A total of €6,447,783 will be invested in 23 fiction films, six documentaries and one animated feature. Contemporary political themes are prominent.
See below for selected projects
Ahmed is the 11th feature to be directed by the Dardennes brothers, which is about a Belgian teenager who plots to kill his teacher after embracing an extremist interpretation of the Koran. Wild Bunch launched the film at Cannes last month.
Also receiving funding is Daniel, the new...
- 6/29/2018
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
The chosen projects include 23 fiction films, 6 documentaries and 1 animation.
Thirty feature projects will receive production support from European cinema support fund Eurimages, it was announced in Montreal.
A total of €6,447,783 will be invested in 23 fiction films, six documentaries and one animated feature. Contemporary political themes are prominent.
See below for selected projects
Ahmed is the 11th feature to be directed by the Dardennes brothers, which is about a Belgian teenager who plots to kill his teacher after embracing an extremist interpretation of the Koran. Wild Bunch launched the film at Cannes last month.
Also receiving funding is Daniel, the new...
Thirty feature projects will receive production support from European cinema support fund Eurimages, it was announced in Montreal.
A total of €6,447,783 will be invested in 23 fiction films, six documentaries and one animated feature. Contemporary political themes are prominent.
See below for selected projects
Ahmed is the 11th feature to be directed by the Dardennes brothers, which is about a Belgian teenager who plots to kill his teacher after embracing an extremist interpretation of the Koran. Wild Bunch launched the film at Cannes last month.
Also receiving funding is Daniel, the new...
- 6/29/2018
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Wroclaw moves 2017 dates to accommodate World Games; Polish festival reveals 2016 New Horizons winners.
The film festivals in Wroclaw and Locarno are set for a collision course as both festivals will be held concurrently for the first time next year.
A Locarno spokesperson confirmed to Screen that the Swiss festival’s 70th edition will be held from Wednesday 2 to Saturday 12 August, while New Horizons will kick off its 17th outing a day later, from Thursday 3 August, according to the New Horizons press department.
New Horizons’ organisers were obliged to change its dates from the traditional slot in the last two weeks in July as the Polish city will be hosting the 10th edition of sports event the World Games.
Speaking exclusively to Screen, New Horizons festival president Roman Gutek explained that the decision to move to August for 2017 had been made two years ago in order to avoid a strain on resources in the city.
¨We have consulted...
The film festivals in Wroclaw and Locarno are set for a collision course as both festivals will be held concurrently for the first time next year.
A Locarno spokesperson confirmed to Screen that the Swiss festival’s 70th edition will be held from Wednesday 2 to Saturday 12 August, while New Horizons will kick off its 17th outing a day later, from Thursday 3 August, according to the New Horizons press department.
New Horizons’ organisers were obliged to change its dates from the traditional slot in the last two weeks in July as the Polish city will be hosting the 10th edition of sports event the World Games.
Speaking exclusively to Screen, New Horizons festival president Roman Gutek explained that the decision to move to August for 2017 had been made two years ago in order to avoid a strain on resources in the city.
¨We have consulted...
- 8/1/2016
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Pirjo Honkasolo’s Concrete Night and J-p Valkeapään’s They Have Escaped were among the winners at the Finnish Film Week (Sept 18-24) in Helsinki.
Honkasolo’s drama - Finland’s Best Foreign Language Film submission at the last Oscars - won awards for art director Pentti Valkeasuo and the team of gaffer Jani Lehtinen, camera operator Nea Salmisen, key grip/second unit cameraman Arttu Peltomaan and colour editor Jussi Myllyniemen.
Helsinki-Filmi’s Aleksi Bardy was named Producer of the Year for They Have Escaped, for which J-p Valkeapään was named Director of the Year.
Bardy, Valkeapään and screenwriter Pilvi Peltola have also been nominated for the Nordic Council Film Prize which will be announced during a session of the Nordic Council in Reykjavik on Oct 27.
Professional associations also recognised the achievements of screenwriter Petja Peltomaa, head of drama at Yellow Film & TV, and Iikka Vehkalahti, documentary filmmaker and Yle commissioning editor.
Actors to receive...
Honkasolo’s drama - Finland’s Best Foreign Language Film submission at the last Oscars - won awards for art director Pentti Valkeasuo and the team of gaffer Jani Lehtinen, camera operator Nea Salmisen, key grip/second unit cameraman Arttu Peltomaan and colour editor Jussi Myllyniemen.
Helsinki-Filmi’s Aleksi Bardy was named Producer of the Year for They Have Escaped, for which J-p Valkeapään was named Director of the Year.
Bardy, Valkeapään and screenwriter Pilvi Peltola have also been nominated for the Nordic Council Film Prize which will be announced during a session of the Nordic Council in Reykjavik on Oct 27.
Professional associations also recognised the achievements of screenwriter Petja Peltomaa, head of drama at Yellow Film & TV, and Iikka Vehkalahti, documentary filmmaker and Yle commissioning editor.
Actors to receive...
- 9/28/2015
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Miguel Gomes’ Arabian Nights wins Fipresci Jury prize at New Horizons festival.
Belgian director Gust Van den Berghe’s third feature Lucifer has won the $22,000 (€20,000) Grand Prix in the International Competition at the 15th T-Mobile New Horizons International Film Festival (July 23 - Aug 2) in Poland’s Wroclaw.
Set in a Mexican village at the base of a volcano, Lucifer is the third instalment in Van den Berghe’s triptych about the emergence of human consciousness after Little Baby Jesus of Flandr and Blue Bird, previously shown in Wroclaw in 2012.
Lucifer received its world premiere at the Rome Film Festival last October and won the Grand Prix at the Black Nights Film Festival in Estonia’s Tallinn in November.
The International Competition Jury, which included filmmakers Anna Sosnal, Reha Erdem, and Noaz Deshe and festival programmer Diane Henderson, also gave a special mention to Carlos M. Quintela’s Rotterdam winner The Project Of The Century.
Other awards...
Belgian director Gust Van den Berghe’s third feature Lucifer has won the $22,000 (€20,000) Grand Prix in the International Competition at the 15th T-Mobile New Horizons International Film Festival (July 23 - Aug 2) in Poland’s Wroclaw.
Set in a Mexican village at the base of a volcano, Lucifer is the third instalment in Van den Berghe’s triptych about the emergence of human consciousness after Little Baby Jesus of Flandr and Blue Bird, previously shown in Wroclaw in 2012.
Lucifer received its world premiere at the Rome Film Festival last October and won the Grand Prix at the Black Nights Film Festival in Estonia’s Tallinn in November.
The International Competition Jury, which included filmmakers Anna Sosnal, Reha Erdem, and Noaz Deshe and festival programmer Diane Henderson, also gave a special mention to Carlos M. Quintela’s Rotterdam winner The Project Of The Century.
Other awards...
- 8/3/2015
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Feature about gender reassignment wins international documentary competition.
Karolina Bielawska’s Call Me Marianna was the big winner at this year’s Krakow Film Festival (May 31 - June 7) with four awards, including the International Documentary Competition’s main prize, the Golden Horn, and the Audience Award
Bielwaska’s film about a man’s decision to undergo gender reassignment also picked up the Maciej Szumowski Award for remarkable social awareness, funded by the National Broadcasting Council; and Polish Audiovisual Producers Chamber of Commerce’s Award for the Best Short and Documentary Films Producer in Poland to producer Zbigniew Domagalski of Studio Filmowe Kalejdoskop.
The International Documentary Competition jury, headed by Wieland Speck of the Berlinale’s Panorama, remarked on the “sensitive, intense and complex portrayal of a brave approach to life”.
The jury also noted that “the journey through life from man to woman in a dualistically dominated culture, the transformation from being a family man to the...
Karolina Bielawska’s Call Me Marianna was the big winner at this year’s Krakow Film Festival (May 31 - June 7) with four awards, including the International Documentary Competition’s main prize, the Golden Horn, and the Audience Award
Bielwaska’s film about a man’s decision to undergo gender reassignment also picked up the Maciej Szumowski Award for remarkable social awareness, funded by the National Broadcasting Council; and Polish Audiovisual Producers Chamber of Commerce’s Award for the Best Short and Documentary Films Producer in Poland to producer Zbigniew Domagalski of Studio Filmowe Kalejdoskop.
The International Documentary Competition jury, headed by Wieland Speck of the Berlinale’s Panorama, remarked on the “sensitive, intense and complex portrayal of a brave approach to life”.
The jury also noted that “the journey through life from man to woman in a dualistically dominated culture, the transformation from being a family man to the...
- 6/8/2015
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
HBO Europe has re-emphasised its commitment to feature documentary as a core part of its original programming.
Antony Root, evp of programming and production at HBO Europe, said: “We want strong narratives with, in most cases, strong emotional storylines as well.”
HBO, he elaborated, aims to support docs “with a strong point of view and a directorial voice”.
Root said that provision is being made for some of these docs to have cinema releases alongside their TV showings.
“What we want is films that work well for us when they finally premiere on HBO,” said Root.
He added that cinema runs can “help recognise the merits of the film and give the film a profile we can benefit from when we finally show it on the air on our service. It is a virtuous circle, really. If something warrants going in the cinema, we are very supportive of that.”
HBO does not sell commercials and is not...
Antony Root, evp of programming and production at HBO Europe, said: “We want strong narratives with, in most cases, strong emotional storylines as well.”
HBO, he elaborated, aims to support docs “with a strong point of view and a directorial voice”.
Root said that provision is being made for some of these docs to have cinema releases alongside their TV showings.
“What we want is films that work well for us when they finally premiere on HBO,” said Root.
He added that cinema runs can “help recognise the merits of the film and give the film a profile we can benefit from when we finally show it on the air on our service. It is a virtuous circle, really. If something warrants going in the cinema, we are very supportive of that.”
HBO does not sell commercials and is not...
- 11/27/2014
- by geoffrey@macnab.demon.co.uk (Geoffrey Macnab)
- ScreenDaily
The Alliance of Women Film Journalists Inc. (Awfj) is pleased to announce the presentation of juried Awfj Eda Awards at this year’s International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (Idfa), the world’s leading documentary film festival.
Idfa 2014 takes place in Amsterdam from November 19 to 30. The Eda Award for Best Female-Directed Documentary at Idfa 2014 will presented at the festival on November 26.
Awfj, a nonprofit organization of leading female film journalists with active members in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, recognizes outstanding achievements by women filmmakers by presenting its prestigious Eda Awards at select film festivals around the world, and at year’s end.
Films Nominated For Consideration
At Idfa 2014, Awfj will present the Eda Award for Best Female-Directed Documentary. The festival has nominated five superb female-directed feature length documentaries for consideration for the Eda Award. All five films are having their international premieres at the festival. All are...
Idfa 2014 takes place in Amsterdam from November 19 to 30. The Eda Award for Best Female-Directed Documentary at Idfa 2014 will presented at the festival on November 26.
Awfj, a nonprofit organization of leading female film journalists with active members in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, recognizes outstanding achievements by women filmmakers by presenting its prestigious Eda Awards at select film festivals around the world, and at year’s end.
Films Nominated For Consideration
At Idfa 2014, Awfj will present the Eda Award for Best Female-Directed Documentary. The festival has nominated five superb female-directed feature length documentaries for consideration for the Eda Award. All five films are having their international premieres at the festival. All are...
- 10/23/2014
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The Alliance of Women Film Journalists (Awfj) will jury the Awfj Eda Awards at this year's International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, which is one of the world's leading documentary film fests. This year's iteration runs November 19 to 30. A nonprofit organization of leading female film journalists with members in the Us, Canada and UK, the Awfj annually recognizes women filmmakers with the prestigious Eda Awards at select film festivals and at the end of the year. At Amsterdam, Awfj will present the Eda Award for Best Female-Directed Documentary. The fest has already nominated five female-directed feature-length docs. The films, which are all world premieres, are: "My Beautiful Broken Brain" by Sophie Robinson (England) "The Queen of Silence" by Agnieszka Zwiefka (Germany/Poland) "Something Better to Come" by Hanna Polak (Denmark/Poland) "Tea Time" by Maite Alberdi (Chili) "Unearthed" by Jolynn Minnaar...
- 10/20/2014
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Thompson on Hollywood
More than 80 documentaries to receive world premieres.
The line-up for the 27th Idfa (International Documentary Festival Amsterdam) has been unveiled.
A total of 298 titles, selected from 3,200 submissions, will be screened from Nov 19-30 in Amsterdam - of which 81 will receive their world premiere.
This year, a special themed programme, titled The Female Gaze, is dedicated to the role of women in documentary.
Another strand, Of Media and Men, will focus on how opinions are shaped within a democracy through the media.
This year’s Top 10 is provided by Heddy Honigmann, and a retrospective of her work will also be screening. Her film, Around the World in 50 Concerts, opens this year’s Idfa and also plays in Competition.
Idfa and Eye, the Netherlands national museum for film, will be present a joint themed programme concentrating on hybrid film: Framing Reality.
The festival’s main locations will once again be Pathé Tuschinski, Pathé de Munt...
The line-up for the 27th Idfa (International Documentary Festival Amsterdam) has been unveiled.
A total of 298 titles, selected from 3,200 submissions, will be screened from Nov 19-30 in Amsterdam - of which 81 will receive their world premiere.
This year, a special themed programme, titled The Female Gaze, is dedicated to the role of women in documentary.
Another strand, Of Media and Men, will focus on how opinions are shaped within a democracy through the media.
This year’s Top 10 is provided by Heddy Honigmann, and a retrospective of her work will also be screening. Her film, Around the World in 50 Concerts, opens this year’s Idfa and also plays in Competition.
Idfa and Eye, the Netherlands national museum for film, will be present a joint themed programme concentrating on hybrid film: Framing Reality.
The festival’s main locations will once again be Pathé Tuschinski, Pathé de Munt...
- 10/10/2014
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Tonislav Hristov’s Love & Engineering is to open the 20th edition of the Visions du Réel documentary film festival.
The film about a Bulgarian computer engineer searching for a formula to create irresistible seductive power for four desperate digital geeks searching for analogue love will open this year’s festival in Nyon, Switzerland tomorrow (April 24). The festival runs from April 25 to May 3.
The German-Finnish-Bulgarian co-production won the Audience Award at DocPoint Helsinki and is set to be screened at Hot Docs Toronto and the Tribeca Film Festival this month.
Nyon’s 2014 edition will see the festival celebrating two anniversaries: in 1969, the Festival international de cinéma Nyon was founded by the later Berlinale director Moritz de Hadeln, and the name change to Visions du Réel was taken by present artistic director Luciano Barisone’s predecessor Jean Perret in 1995
19 feature-length documentaries from 17 countries in the festival’s main competition will be judged by an International Jury comprising UK producer...
The film about a Bulgarian computer engineer searching for a formula to create irresistible seductive power for four desperate digital geeks searching for analogue love will open this year’s festival in Nyon, Switzerland tomorrow (April 24). The festival runs from April 25 to May 3.
The German-Finnish-Bulgarian co-production won the Audience Award at DocPoint Helsinki and is set to be screened at Hot Docs Toronto and the Tribeca Film Festival this month.
Nyon’s 2014 edition will see the festival celebrating two anniversaries: in 1969, the Festival international de cinéma Nyon was founded by the later Berlinale director Moritz de Hadeln, and the name change to Visions du Réel was taken by present artistic director Luciano Barisone’s predecessor Jean Perret in 1995
19 feature-length documentaries from 17 countries in the festival’s main competition will be judged by an International Jury comprising UK producer...
- 4/23/2014
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
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