November 25-28, 2012
Transcription
November 25-28, 2012
November 25-28, 2012 Baltic Event Organizers and Team RIINA SILDOS Managing Director Phone: +372 504 8985 balticevent@poff.ee LILI PILT Co-Production Market Coming Soon Coordinator Phone: +372 5332 4618 EDA KOPPEL Event Manager Marketing, Press Phone: +372 520 3306 balticevent@poff.ee LIISI PUHK B’EST Coordinator Phone: +372 5695 8123 KADRI KILP Guest Service Manager Phone: +372 527 6039 beguest@poff.ee ANU ERNITS POWR Manager Phone: +372 522 2200 balticevent@poff.ee ALICE AASMÄE-KAHAR Guest Service Assistant Phone: +372 5664 7907 beguest@poff.ee 2 TIINA TERAS Baltic Distribution Roundtable Project Coordinator Phone: +372 557 1235 LEANA JALUKSE Co-Production Market Manager Phone: +372 5648 3490 balticevent@poff.ee KATI REMMELKOOR BE Screenings Coordinator Phone: +372 5620 1101 LIISI JALUKSE Co-Production Market Assistant Phone: +372 5669 0989 HELI JÜRISSON Industry panels Coordinator Phone: +372 5365 2303 3 Contents Programme 4 6 BE co-production market projects: All the Best / Croatia Breathing into Marble / Lithuania Eastern Business / Romania Escaping Sunshine / Lithuania The Fencer / Finland F***ing Swedes / Sweden The Hoppers / Estonia The Journalist / Kazakhstan Morten on the Ship of Fools / Estonia The Tree / Slovenia Vergo / Iceland The Year of Prophecy / Poland 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Baltic Bridge East by West - B’EST projects: Finka / Finland The General / Russia Good-bye / Germany Hogweed / Russia House of Others / Georgia Lucid Space / Armenia Mellow Mud / Latvia The Night of the 1000 Hours / Austria Saaremaa / France Sharnohoy - the Yellow Dog / Russia 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 POWR: Dance for Me / Denmark Dear Sister / Sweden Depression Comedy / Finland Metaphors / Estonia Pykeija / Finland Special Price / Lithuania Wall of Nails / Lithuania X’ANIA / Norway 34 34 35 35 36 36 37 37 BE Screenings: Demons / Estonia Pizzas / Latvia Christmas Uncensored / Lithuania Mushrooming / Estonia All Musicians Are Bastards / Estonia Fortress of Sleeping Butterflies / Lithuania Narcissus / Lithuania, Greece Vanishing Waves / Lithuania, France, Belgium Mom, I Love You / Latvia A Lady in Paris / Estonia, France, Belgium Purge / Estonia, Finland 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 BE Coming Soon. Estonia BE Coming Soon. Latvia BE Coming Soon. Lithuania BE Coming Soon. Finland 53 59 63 67 Focus on Kazakhstan Coming Soon. Kazakhstan 70 72 Plenary Presentations and Roundtable: The International Market and Working with Sales Agents Music Rights European Distributors’ Roundtable Producers and Moviegoers: A Film Marketing Strategy Searching for the Spotlight: Festival Publicity 76 76 76 77 77 Dear friends and colleagues, B altic Event 2012 is bigger than ever. We have grown year after year, constantly bringing you new program sections. We started in 2002 with just screenings, then welcomed worksin-progress from the Baltic countries in the Coming Soon section in 2003. Next, we introduced the co-production market in 2005 and the POWR script and pitch workshop in 2008. In 2010, we expanded our focus to the East by welcoming four projects from Russia and Ukraine, presented under the Baltic Event for East label. In 2012, this initiative developed into the Baltic Bridge East by West (B’EST), a training and promotion workshop designed for feature film projects from the European Union, the CIS countries and Georgia. Held in conjunction with the Eurasia Film Meetings and EAVE, the first meeting took place during the Moscow International Film Festival. At Baltic Event, the intermediary development phase of the 10 projects will be concluded, culminating in an open pitch. The line-up includes filmmakers like Georgian-born Bakur Bakuradze, whose first and second feature films were selected to the Cannes Film Festival, and Bair Dishenov, who won the Crystal Bear in Berlin for his debut short. This year, we are also proud to present two Finnish projects in our formerly Baltics-only section Coming Soon to recognize the importance of our partner, the Finnish Film Foundation. In total, we are presenting 62 projects this year! A string of 61 projects presented in our previous editions premiered in 2012. In January, it was our 2009 project Rat King by Petri Kotwica. In February, another Finnish film - the 2010 project Naked Harbour by Aku Louhimies - followed. March added two projects to our “completed” list: the 2007 project Lonely Island by Peeter Simm and our 2009 project People Out There by Aik Karapetian. A 2010 Baltic Event for East project, In the Fog by Sergei Loznitsa, premiered in the competition section of the Cannes Film Festival and won the FIPRESCI Prize in May. Congratulations! Another 2010 project, Purge by Antti Jokinen, premiered in August and was selected to be Finland’s national Oscar nomination. Included in our Screenings section this year is Janis Nords’ Mother, I Love You, a project from our 2007 project slate. We are also happy to inform you that August Fools by Taru Mäkelä, a project from our first ever co-production market in 2005, finally went into production this summer. tively. Lithuania also brings two projects to Baltic Event 2012 — Escaping Sunshine by the experienced producer Rasa Miskinyte, and Breathing into Marble, an adaptation of L. S. Cerniauskaite’s novel of the same title, which was awarded the European Union Literature Prize in 2009. From the Nordic countries, we are happy to introduce The Fencer, a project by the award-winning Finnish director Klaus Härö, F***ing Swedes, by Ronnie Sandahl, a story by one of Sweden’s most renowned young authors, produced by Cinenic Film and Anagram Produktion, and Vergo, the debut for Icelandic Ásthildur Kjartansdóttir. Central European filmmakers add All the Best by the producer of the former Baltic Event success Koko and the Ghosts, Ankica Juric Tilic from Croatia, Eastern Business, a humorous road movie by Romanian producer Iuliana Tarnovetchi, who is another professional with a string of successes in her filmography, the EAVE-developed project The Tree from Slovenia, and The Year of Prophecy, a fantasy drama from Poland, directed by Marcin Ziebinski, whose debut Coupable d’innocence screened at the Cannes and San Sebastian film festivals. The slate is rounded out by The Journalist, a project from this year’s focus country Kazakhstan - an emerging film country with an organized, high-quality industry, which has co-produced a number of European films in the recent years. There will also be plenary presentation from Kazakhstan where four additional works-in-progress will be presented. Other panels occurring in the framework of BE and B’EST include presentations on topics like the international market, working with sales agents, music rights, film marketing, and working with film festivals. European distributors will also sit down for a roundtable discussion in Tallinn. I must admit we are a bit overwhelmed at the sheer scale that Baltic Event has achieved. This is evident not only in the growing number of projects, but also in the ever-increasing number of guests. We will, however, do our best to make your time in Tallinn as efficient and useful as ever, and provide personal care to each and every one of you as we always have. Welcome (back) to Tallinn! Riina Sildos Managing Director Baltic Event But onto this year’s project slate! The BE Co-Production Market 2012 brings 12 projects from 10 countries to your attention. Estonia is represented by two projects — Morten on the Ship of Fools and The Hoppers — by internationally acclaimed directors Kaspar Jancis, a European Film Award nominee, and Jaak Kilmi respec- 5 Baltic Event BALTIC BRIDGE EAST BY WEST - B'EST POWR BE SCREENINGS PRESENTED BY ESTONIAN FILM CLUSTER TALLINN NOVEMBER 25-28, 2012 PROGRAMME TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 27 9:00-16:00 10:00-11:00 11:30-12:30 11:00-16:00 SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 25 10:00-13:00 13:00-14:00 14:00-16:00 16:00-19:00 20:00 B'EST Follow-Up Workshop Nordic Hotel Forum, Hall Arcturus Lunch Plenary Presentation: the International Market and Working with Sales Agents by Frederic Corvez Nordic Hotel Forum, Hall Capella B'EST Meetings with experts Nordic Hotel Forum, lobby Opening Event hosted by POWR and MEDIA Desks (by invitation only) Restaurant Platz, Roseni 7 12:30-14:30 16:00-16:30 16:30-18:00 BE SCREENINGS CC Plaza, A le Coq Suite 10:00-11:30 11:45-13:45 MONDAY, NOVEMBER 26 9:00-18:00 10:00-18:00 10:00-11:00 11:00-13:00 12:30-14:30 14:30-19:30 14:30-16:30 16:30-18:00 POWR Workshop Nordic Hotel Forum, Hall Vega Baltic Event Co-Production Market individual meetings Nordic Hotel Forum, Hall Capella B'EST Follow-Up Workshop Nordic Hotel Forum, Hall Arcturus Plenary Presentation: Music Rights by Laurence Kaye Nordic Hotel Forum, Hall Arcturus Lunch B'EST Meetings with experts Nordic Hotel Forum, lobby Plenary Presentation: Producers and Moviegoers: A Strategic Marketing Plan by Sarah Calderon Nordic Hotel Forum, Hall Arcturus Plenary Presentation: Focus on Kazakhstan, Works-in-Progress (Kazakhstan) Nordic Hotel Forum, Hall Arcturus BE SCREENINGS CC Plaza, A le Coq Suite 10:00-12:00 12:10-13:20 14:00-16:00 16:00-18:00 18:00-19:00 20:00 6 Screening 1: Demons (EST) Screening 2: Pizzas (LAT) Screening 3: Christmas Uncensored (LIT) Screening 4: Mushrooming (EST) Happy Hour hosted by Kazakhfilm Nordic Hotel Forum, lobby BE Gala Dinner hosted by Finnish Film Foundation and Baltic Event (by invitation only) Restaurant Gloria, Müürivahe 2 POWR Workshop Nordic Hotel Forum, Hall Vega B'EST Projects' Presentation Nordic Hotel Forum, Hall Arcturus Plenary Presentation: Working with Film Festivals by Thessa Mooji Nordic Hotel Forum, Hall Arcturus Baltic Event Co-Production Market and B'EST individual meetings Nordic Hotel Forum, Hall Capella Lunch POWR Projects' Presentation Nordic Hotel Forum, Hall Sirius BE Coming Soon presentation (works-in-progress) Nordic Hotel Forum, Hall Sirius 14:00-15:40 16:00-18:00 19:15 20:00 Screening 5: All Musicians Are Bastards (EST) Screening 6: Fortress of Sleeping Butterflies (LIT) Screening 7: Narcissus (LIT) Screening 8: Vanishing Waves (LIT) Tram ride to Baltic Film and Media School BE Award Ceremony (by invitation only) Baltic Film and Media School, Narva Rd 27 WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 28 10:00-13:00 10:00-11:30 10:00-16:30 13:00-14:30 Baltic Event Co-Production Market, B'EST and POWR individual meetings Nordic Hotel Forum, Hall Capella B'EST Follow-Up Workshop Nordic Hotel Forum, Hall Vega European Distributors' Roundtable (invitation) Nordic Hotel Forum, Hall Arcturus Lunch BE SCREENINGS CC Plaza, A le Coq Suite 10:00-11:40 12:00-13:30 14:00-16:00 19:00 BE Screening 9: Mother, I Love You (LAT) Screening 10: A Lady in Paris (EST, FRA, BEL) Screening 11: Purge (Estonia, Finland) Closing Event (by invitation only) Lounge Shahmatt, Pikk Str 39 (II floor) Advertise with Screen International and reach your markets - directly Upcoming Screen International market dailies: FILM BAZAAR - GOA DUBAI FILM MARKET - DUBAI Published Nov 21 - 24 Published Dec 09 - 16 EUROPEAN FILM MARKET - BERLIN LE MARCHÉ DU FILM - CANNES Published Feb 07 - 14 Published May 15 - 23 The most experienced and trusted source of day-by-day reporting and intelligence from the markets. Best-placed to provide the latest news, reviews and screenings information, Screen gives market attendees everything they need in a time-sensitive, must-read format. 9 out of 10 buyers recently polled chose Screen as their preferred trade magazine. THE INTERNATIONAL VOICE OF THE FILM INDUSTRY To book your advertising now, call Nadia Romdhani on +44 (0)7540 100315 or email nadia.romdhani@screendaily.com CO-PRODUCTION MARKET. CROATIA All the Best Original title: Sve Najbolje Genre: drama, romantic comedy with singing Screenwriter: Snjezana Tribuson Director: Snjezana Tribuson Producer: Ankica Juric Tilic Production company: Kinorama Language: Croatian Country: Croatia Budget: 1 201 700 Euros Financing in place: 54 300 Euros Partners attached: Croatian Radiotelevision – in negotiations Goals at BE: looking for co-producers, sales agents Synopsis Pre-Christmas time, four lonely people, poisoned gingerbread cookies. Four destinies, which become happier after some one hundred minutes of the film. Pastry-shop worker Verica, opera singer Brankica and Martin are the protagonists of this film-story about loneliness and search for love. We will also get to know two nurses who think a lot about men, a farmer with rather unusual farming talents, a gravely ill woman of an unusual sexual orientation, a handyman who adores “pretty women”, and we will watch how an accidental series of events entwines their destinies and makes unsolvable situations solvable. It is rather unlikely that several cockroaches, beetroot soup and an opera aria can play an important role in all that, but in this story they do. The lives of our characters run side by side, but the series of accidental events make them interweave. The favourable circumstance is that Christmas is near and it is the time for reconciliation. The time when everyone wants the best for everyone else. tivals. Since 2004, Tribuson teaches film and TV directing at the Academy of Dramatic Art. Producer Ankica Juric Tilic studied comparative literature at the Faculty of Arts in Zagreb, Croatia. Ankica is a 2007 EAVE graduate and a member of ACE 21 and Producers on the Move 2009. After free-lancing for production companies and TV channels, she founded her own production company Kinorama 10 years ago. Tilic has produced more than 15 features, several TV series, documentaries, and short films. In 2012, she produced the first Kinorama’s drama TV series to be broadcasted on Croatian Radiotelevision Sunday Morning, Saturday Evening and two feature films, which are currently in post-production: Be Quiet, directed by experienced director Lukas Nola, and the children’s’ film The Mysterious Boy, directed by Drazen Zarkovic. The latter is the sequel to the last year’s box office hit Koko and the Ghosts. Production company Kinorama is a Zagreb-based filmproduction company, which was founded in 2003. Within the past two years we have produced three feature films, four shorts and one TV drama series, winning more than 30 national and international film awards. In 2011, Kinorama was granted the slate funding support of the MEDIA programme. At the moment, we are about to release two new features; another eight projects are in development. We have attached some of the most promising young directors as well as already recognized Croatian filmmakers to our company. Eager to co-produce, we are always present at international co-production markets, securing partners for our own projects as well as looking for interesting others. Project presented by: Ankica Juric Tilic, producer Director’s note All the Best is a comedy set in the melancholic, holiday time – Christmas. It is a story about lonely people, in which we will follow their everyday lives and peek into their intimate problems. They escape the loneliness and find love mainly due to the web of circumstance, not their own persistence and will. One of the motives for choosing this subject is summarized by a character in the film: “There are more lonely people than you may think.” It is true, and not many of them have ever had a similar experience. We are driven by the fear of loneliness and search for love and attention, consciously or subconsciously. Loneliness is a typical malaise of our time, but we don’t talk about it enough. It is not simple, and not often treated with humour, but we have chosen to do so for its healing effects. Director Snjezana Tribuson (1957) graduated from the Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb, specializing in film and TV directing. She has worked in television since 1981, writing and directing numerous dramas, documentaries, children shows and educational programs. She has directed three feature films, the last of which, Ne dao Bog veceg zla, received with several film awards and, screened in Thessaloniki, Ljubljana, Wiesbaden, and Cairo among other fes- 8 Contact Kinorama Stoosova 25, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia Contact Person / Position: Ankica Juric Tilic / Producer Phone: +385 1 231 6787 Mobile: +385 98 464476 E-mail: ankica@kinorama.hr www.kinorama.hr CO-PRODUCTION MARKET. LITHUANIA Breathing into Marble Original title: Kvepavimas i Marmura Genre: drama Screenwriter: Giedre Beinoriute Director: Giedre Beinoriute Producer: Dagne Vildziunaite Production company: Just a moment Language: Lithuanian Country: Lithuania Budget: 800 000 Euros Financing in place: 15 000 Euros Partners attached: Lithuanian Ministry of Culture, Monoklis (LT) Goals at BE: looking for co-production partners and funding Synopsis „It is a story of a family, of man and woman, of longing for something one cannot give another, only resurrect, sharpen; it’s about unrealized closeness, about the tenderness and burden of the heart—about life, about something out of earth and light.“ (writer L. S. Cerniauskaite) It is a drama about loneliness, a poetic study of the human psyche with detective elements. The protagonist Izabele—a 35-yearold modern, intellectual woman, livies with her husband Liudas in a homestead near a big city. They are raising a son, Gailius, 8, who has a case of epilepsy and is smarter than other children his age. Izabele decides to adopt Ilja—the meanest and most secretive boy in a foster home. The adaptation of the child to the new family is difficult. Unexpectedly, Izabele finds out that her husband is having an affair with her friend, the foster home principal. Out of vengeance, she returns the boy to the foster home. The events then take a surprising turn, leading to the tragic end. the Best Short Film at Cairo International Film Festival for Children and Youth in 2010. Filmography (selected, as director and scriptwriter): City of Trolleybuses (documentary, 28 minutes, 2002); Existence (fiction, 23 minutes, VG studio, 2003); Vulkanovka. After the Grand Cinéma (documentary, 50 minutes, VG studio, 2005); Grandpa and Grandma (animated documentary, 30 minutes, VG studio, 2007); The Balcony (fiction, 48 minutes, Monoklis, 2008); An Expert (documentary, 15 minutes, Monoklis, Avantis Promo, 2012); Conversations on Serious Topics (documentary, 64 minutes, Monoklis, 2012). Producer Dagne Vildziunaite is a graduate of EAVE 2012, Ex Oriente 2011, Eurodoc 2010 and also holds BAs in both Psychology and TV and Film Management. In 2007, she and her partner established the production company Just A Moment. Production company Just A Moment is a fast-growing Vilnius-based independent production company producing documentary and fiction films. Our short and documentary films have been selected to festivals such as Message to Man (RU), Warsaw International Film Festival (PL), Pärnu Film Festival (EE), Dokubazaar (SI), Nordic Film Days Lübeck (DE), IFF Molodist (UA), Sleepwalkers (EE), and to all the film festivals held in Lithuania. Project presented by: Dagne Vildziunaite, producer Giedre Beinoriute, screenwriter and director Director’s note I’m constantly looking for a bond with another person. Everywhere, in life, in my creative work, as well as pedagogical. The adaptation of Breathing into Marble is yet another attempt to answer the question, how close can you get to somebody? When does closeness become lethal? The finale of the film does not solve the dilemmas, but only sharpens the questions and sensitizes certain themes. This is what I’d like my whole film to be like — giving no answers, but touching deeply. Director Giedre Beinoriute (born 1976) graduated from the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, Film and TV department with an MA in audiovisual arts. Since 2002, she has directed and written seven fiction and documentary films. Since 2007, Beinoriute teaches scriptwriting and film directing at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre. The author’s documentaries Vulkanovka. After the Grand Cinéma and Grandpa and Grandma earned awards at film festivals in Ukraine, Belorussia, Portugal, Canada, Lithuania, and were also awarded with Lithuanian Filmmakers Union Premiums in 2005 and 2007. Film The Balcony achieved Silver Crane 2009 award for the Best Short Film in Lithuania and Silver prize for Contact Just A Moment Pylimo 9-13, LT-01118 Vilnius, Lithuania Contact Person / Position: Dagne Vildziunaite / Producer Phone: + 370 6868 8980 E-mail: dagne@justamoment.lt www.justamoment.lt 9 CO-PRODUCTION MARKET. ROMANIA Eastern Business Original title: Afacerea Est Genre: road movie, comedy Screenwriter: Igor Cobileanski Director: Igor Cobileanski Producer: Iuliana Tarnovetchi Production company: Alien Film Language: Romanian, lines in Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Georgian Country: Romania Budget: 702 960 Euros Financing in place: 30% Partners attached: CNC Romania, Jelfilm Bulgaria, Adenium Film Romania Goals at BE: looking for co-producers and an international sales agent/distributor Synopsis Mara and Petro, two friends of 37 and 40, live in a small town in Moldavia. Mara is working on a construction site in stagnation; Petro is an ex-fiddler, neighbourhood artist, idle to the bone. The utter poverty and lack of perspectives make them think of their own business, which neither of the two know how to formulate, while it’s obvious to both that no matter what they set out for, they need some initial capital. They begin by deciding to buy 50 000 horseshoes, which they haven’t got money for, from three Caucasian gangsters, who deliver the goods in a rail car, which Mara and Petro then “borrow” and sell to pay for the horseshoes. They get into all sorts of hilarious situations while trying to escape the angry gangsters— they take the train and get robbed by a thief, get hired as clappers at election meetings, run a health marathon organized by a small town hall, sing in the street with an old man they advertise to the passers-by as Yuri Gagarin’s teacher, end up in a police station as suspects of the train robbery etc. In the end, all falls into place: the Caucasians gangsters are arrested and our heroes manage to sell the horseshoes. With the money earned, they want to buy a crane in order to start their own business. Collection of Flavours (2012) short film co-produced by Alien Film, in post-production. Producer Iuliana Tarnovetchi is a film professional whose name has been linked with over 25 projects along the 18 years that she has been active in the film industry. The majority of these projects are big international co-productions, which were highly appreciated by both the public and the professionals, some of them awarded at prestigious festivals. From 1999 until setting up her own production company in 2011, Iuliana worked for the biggest production houses in Romania. At the positions of Production Manager, Executive Producer, Producer and Head of Development and Head of Cinema Department, she handled several international co-productions, such as: Amen (2000), directed by Costa Gavras; Callas Forever (2001) by Franco Zeffirelli, Joyeux Noel (2004) by Christian Carion; California Dreamin’ (Endless) (2007) by Cristian Nemescu; Bora, Bora (2007) by Bogdan Mirica; Collection of Flavours (2012) by Igor Cobileanski. Production company Alien Film, a film production company based in Bucharest, Romania, was founded by a very experienced producer, Iuliana Tarnovetchi, who also acts as Managing Director. The company offers a wide range of development and production services for local and international cinema, TV and commercials, including consultancy and management of film and television productions, and post-production services. Project presented by: Iuliana Tarnovetchi, producer Director’s note Eastern Business is a humoristic treatment of some realities of the society, human behaviour and interaction, and the authorities in the Eastern Europe. The film is a comedy with road-movie elements and some drama that takes it to an absurd area. The viewer will discover a space that struggles between a reality with capitalist tendencies and a socialist mentality. The action is taking place in small unknown towns, where everybody knows everybody and the main goal is to make money. The characters are ordinary people in a concrete reality. Director Igor Cobileanschi is a Moldavian director, who is currently developing his second feature film after several awarded short films and documentaries: When the Lights Go Out (2006); Sasha, Grisha and Ion (2008) Public’s Award at Trieste Film Fest; Inspiration (2008) Award for the best Romanian short film at TIFF, Cluj, Romania; Tache (2008) The Silver Chest Prize at the 33rd Golden Chest International TV Festival; The Unsaved (2011) feature film; 10 Contact Alien Film 27, Theodor Aman St. Bucharest, Romania Contact Person / Position: Iuliana Tarnovetchi / Producer Phone: +40 744 659 714 E-mail: iuliana.tarnovetchi@alienfilm.ro www.alienfilm.ro CO-PRODUCTION MARKET. LITHUANIA Escaping Sunshine Original title: Escaping Sunshine Genre: drama Screenwriter and director: Allan van O. T. Andersen Producer: Rasa Miskinyte Production company: ERA FILM Language: Lithuanian, Danish, English Country: Lithuania, Denmark Budget: 1 500 000 Euros Financing in place: 25 000 Euros Partners attached: Bullitt Film, Denmark; script consultant Valeria Richter Goals at BE: find co-producers from Poland or/and Germany, distributor Synopsis Asta (18) and Ingrida (19), two best friends and newly graduates, decide to spend the summer together before going their separate ways. When Ingrida’s new boyfriend, Justas (32), suddenly offers the girls a lift to Copenhagen and work for the summer, it seems like a dream come true! The romantic journey through Poland and Denmark is a true fairytale and Asta falls in love with Justas’ best friend Michael (32). But the dream ends abruptly in Copenhagen, when Asta is informed that Ingrida has suddenly run away. Held captive and forced to work off their debt as a street prostitute, Asta is broken down. Her last hope is waiting for Ingrida’s rescue—only to discover that her best friend has betrayed her. Confronted with herself, fake smiles, and promises of sunshine, Asta draws her last chance of escape—Escaping Sunshine! Escaping Sunshine is based on a real incident, which took place in Copenhagen in June 2011. Director’s note Stumbling upon the incident, on which Escaping Sunshine is based, I was shocked. Not only that such cruelty takes place in my home town, and that while it was widely discussed in Danish media, it wasn’t even mentioned in Lithuanian—though Lithuania is one of the main transit countries for human trafficking. What shocked me the most was finding out that trafficking takes place among the people who know each other—a good friend or family member may deliberately decide to sell you. Escaping Sunshine is not a story about human trafficking or prostitution, but about friendship, betrayal and forgiveness set around a true incident of human trafficking—what does it take to sell another human being and how far can, must and should one forgive? Visually I wish to separate the two worlds—Lithuania and Denmark. I want to portray the countries in an opposite way of how we are stereotypically used to seeing them. Instead of having post-Soviet countries looking grey and colourless, the scenes mainly take place in open spaces: colourful forest, lakes and beaches. Denmark, on the other hand, is mainly depicted in closed spaces: bordello, cars, city streets, basement. The use of space will follow Asta’s emotional journey and help us feel her state of mind—from open and happy to claustrophobic and closed. The soundscape moves from open, warm, and loving to more subjective as Asta is mentally broken down. The same I imagine for the music soundtrack, ranging from diegetic “real music” in Lithuania to a mix of more non-diegetic subjectivity, when Asta arrives in Denmark and is broken down. Director bio Allan van O. T. Andersen was born in Denmark in 1979. In 1999, he moved to the Netherlands, where he was selected in the first round to Dutch Academy of Arts as screenwriter and director. He graduated with honours with a master’s degree in European Media in 2003. In 2006, he moved to Vilnius, Lithuania, where he currently lives. Producer Rasa Miskinyte first graduated with a degree in engineering. She also holds a master’s degree from Lithuanian Music Academy as producer and graduated from the European Film College in Denmark. Miskinyte has produced and co-produced several award-winning documentary and feature films. In 2009, she received the Lithuanian Silver Crane award for Best Lithuanian Producer. Since 2011, she is the Chairman of the Lithuanian Producers’ Association. Production company Established in Vilnius in 2001 by the award-winning Lithuanian producer Rasa Miskinyte, ERA FILM is known for producing successful international creative documentaries and feature films. In 2012, joined by Danish writer and director Allan van O. T. Andersen, ERA FILM entered a new era with an additional focus on new talent development and transmedia projects. Throughout the years, ERA FILM has developed a core expertise in co-productions and line productions. ERA FILM focuses on creativity, strong stories with a human impact, and high quality of execution. Project presented by: Rasa Miskinyte, producer Allan van O.T. Andersen, screenwriter and director Andrius Lekavicius, crowdfunding, marketing Contact ERA FILM K. Ladygos 1-119, LT-08235 Vilnius, Lithuania Contact Person / Position: Rasa Miskinyte / Producer Phone: +370 6829 6128 E-mail: rasa@erafilm.lt www.erafilm.lt 11 CO-PRODUCTION MARKET. FINLAND The Fencer Original title: Miekkalija Genre: drama Screenwriter: Anna Heinämaa Director: Klaus Härö Producers: Kaarle Aho, Kai Nordberg Production company: Making Movies Oy Language: Estonian, Russian Country: Finland, Estonia Budget: 1 900 000 Euros Financing in place: 100 000 Euros Partners attached: Finnish Film Foundation, Allfilm, Estonian Film Institute Goals at BE: co-producers, sales agents, finance Synopsis Fleeing from the secret police, an ambitious young fencer finds himself teaching small-town children in a godforsaken spa resort, only to realize that this is exactly what he wants to do in life. The Fencer is loosely based on the life story of Endel Nelis (1925-1993), an Estonian fencer, who started a fencing school in the small town of Haapsalu in the 1950s. The story starts in 1952 as Endel arrives in Haapsalu. Fleeing from the secret police, he has been forced to leave the prestigious Leningrad State University of Sports and take up a position as an ordinary school teacher. He has no prior experience in teaching, his fencing career is over, and there doesn’t seem to be much in his life to focus on. He has nightmares about the war, being drafted by the Germans and hiding in the woods from both the Nazis and the Red Army. His pupils are nothing like the hand-picked athletes he is used to working with. These children are a sorry-looking lot, with no proper clothing for sports, some of them malnourished children of war widows and wives of deported fathers. As part of his duties as a teacher, Endel organizes a sports club for the school. He ends up teaching the children the one thing he is passionate about—fencing. This leads him to an inevitable course of collision with the school’s principal, a cynical bureaucrat, attributing excessive meaning to discipline and form. When the local Party Committee approves of the fencing club, the defeated principal starts digging in Endel’s past. Starting with no proper equipment and with the principal breathing down his neck, Endel overcomes the obstacles with his pupils, they make progress and he gradually grows to care about them. He learns the joy of nurturing others, making oneself the instrument for somebody else’s growth. Ultimately, fencing becomes a form a self-expression for the children and their teacher, a mutual journey, through which they recuperate and become whole. The resolution of the story takes place at the all-Soviet Championships between schools, held in Leningrad in the winter of 1953. Haapsalu’s team has prepared for their first tournament for months, and is eager to participate. At the tournament, where the children fight their way to the Championship title, Endel’s past catches up with him. The principal gives him a choice between walking away or staying with his pupils and face the threat of being arrested. In the end, Endel is saved by a crowd of spectators waiting in the lobby to congratulate his team on their success. The principal chooses to avoid the awkward moment and eventually refrains from turning Endel in. Endel and the children slip away into the night. 12 The credits at the end of the film tell us that Endel Nelis died in 1993, two years after the Soviet Union fell and Estonia regained independence. The fencing club he started still exists today. Director’s note Rarely, if ever, do I find scripts that fulfil all my expectations, demand to be read, convince me with the fluent writing style and the skilful and natural way it deals with its subject. The Fencer (Miekkailija) is solid from the beginning to the end and sparkles more and more towards the end in a way I don’t think I’ve ever experienced before. I’m grateful for having found the screenplay and can’t wait to start working on it! Director Klaus Härö (born 1971) is a Finnish film director, who has worked in both Finland and Sweden. He has directed four feature films (Letters to Father Jacob, The New Man, Mother of Mine, Elina). He has won Jussi award in Finland and Ingmar Bergman award in Sweden. Producer Kai Nordberg (born 1968) studied film and journalism in Berlin before founding Making Movies Oy. He has directed several documentary films and produced five feature films as well as many short films. Kaarle Aho (born 1968) has an MA in history from the University of Helsinki. He has worked as producer and shareholder in Making Movies Oy since 1998. He has produced five feature films and approximately 50 documentary films and programmes as well as many short films. Production company Making Movies Oy was founded 1996. It has produced more than 50 documentaries, five feature films (including Black Ice and Rat King by Petri Kotwica) and many short films. Films produced by Making Movies Oy have been broadcasted and screened in over 40 countries. Project presented by: Kai Nordberg, producer Kaarle Aho, producer Klaus Härö, director Contact Making Movies Ratalatu 1 b/A 5, 00120 Helsinki, Finland Contact Person / Position: Kaarle Aho / Producer Phone: +358 40 725 3936 E-mail: kaarle.aho@mamo.fi www.mamo.fi CO-PRODUCTION MARKET. SWEDEN F***ing Swedes Original title: Svenskjævel Genre: drama Screenwriter: Ronnie Sandahl Director: Ronnie Sandahl Producers: Annika Hellström, Martin Persson Production company: Cinenic Film, Anagram produktion Language: Swedish, Norwegian Country: Sweden, Norway Budget: 1 646 470 Euros Financing in place: 980 528 Euros Partners attached: SFI, NFI, Hummel film, Norway, and Final Cut, Denmark Goals at BE: looking for Polish co-producer and TV sales Synopsis Just like 60 000 other young Swedes, Dino (23) has fled the mass unemployment of her home country for a new life in Oslo. After getting fired, she gets a job as a housekeeper in a home on the verge of chaos: Steffen (45), once a professional tennis player in the shadows of Swedish legends Borg and Wilander, now owns a restaurant about to go bankrupt. Since his wife left, Steffen is alone with his two children. His seriously overweight son Kristian (16) is no longer speaking to him. The family is completely falling apart. Dino’s arrival changes everything. A loaded triangular drama forms—with fatal consequences. F***ing Swedes is a timeless coming-of-age film about love, betrayal and sacrifice, about those defining choices—what kind of life to live, and with whom. And just below the surface lies a bigger story, one of the shifted power balance between two countries, with Norway—the former baby brother—suddenly calling the shots. Director’s note The thought of placing a young, Swedish contemporary story in Oslo, I have been carrying with me since the fall of 2009. That was when I came back to Falköping, the small town where I grew up, and realized that almost my entire generation had lost their jobs. The years after the financial crisis, Sweden has suffered the second highest youth unemployment rate in Europe. The young Swedes have been forced to move where there are jobs available—to Norway. Our former “baby brother”. The backdrop for the plot is an extremely actual and current social issue, but even so, I would point out that the film centres around quite an odd love triangle drama — in which a father and a teenage son fall in love with the same woman. Three people in different phases of life, who all feel like they are stuck, unable to take that next step. As a consequence of meeting each other, they are forced to make those impossibly difficult but essential decisions — those of how to live their lives. And even though this is a drama I think that a filmmaker should never be afraid to be generous with humour and warmth, no matter how much darkness a story may contain. Or maybe especially then. Director Ronnie Sandahl (27) works as director, author and playwright. He has been considered one of Sweden’s most renowned young authors since his breakthrough novel Vi som aldrig sa hora. In the recent years, Sandahl has mainly focused on directing. His second short The Route 43 Miracle was selected Locarno Film Festival 2012. F***ing Swedes is his first feature. Alongside directing, Ronnie has a weekly column in Aftonbladet and writes plays for Sweden’s two largest theatres. Producer Annika Hellström founded Cinenic Film in 2006. She studied film in New York in 1987-1991, and trained with EAVE in 2008. Filmography: Mirakel utmed riksväg 43 (The Route 43 Miracle), in competition at Locarno FF 2012; Den bästa utsikten - Hononary award at Göteborg FF 2011; Lyckliga Jävel (2011); and Får jag lov—till den sista dansen (2009); and together with Martin Persson: Fyra år till (2010); Karaokekungen (2009). Martin Persson, the CEO of Anagram Produktion, has had extensive training with EAVE, ACE and Media Exchange. Persson is the member of the Swedish Producers Association board since 2001, head of development and production of film and TV at Tre Vänner in 1999-2006. Recent productions: Life’s a Breeze (2012) by Lance Daly, co-produced with Irish Fastnet Film. Hassel – privatspanarna by Måns Månsson, Copenhagen DOX and Stockholm FF 2012; Äta, sova, dö (Eat, Sleep, Die) by Gabriela Pichler, in competition at Venice FF and TIFF 2012; Starke Man (2011) is nominated for the Swedish TV’s Kristallen Award for best comedy series; Gynekologen i Askim is nominated for the Swedish TV’s Kristallen Award for best drama series. Production company Anagram Produktion and Cinenic Film have collaborated on various co-productions since 2008 and aim to create long-lasting relations with directors and other talent. Anagram is a creative and visionary production company that has been running a continuous stream of film, TV and stage productions since 2003. Anagram’s productions are based primarily on original ideas using methods ranging from classical to innovative. Project presented by: Annika Hellström, producer Ronnie Sandahl, screenwriter director and Contact Cinenic film Djupedalsgatan 2, 413 07 Göteborg, Sweden Contact Person / Position: Annika Hellström / Producer Phone: + 46 70 786 6416 E-mail: annika@cinenicfilm.se www.cinenicfilm.se 13 CO-PRODUCTION MARKET. ESTONIA The Hoppers campfires on the beach, rituals accompanied by song, damsels in the nude, free love... It’s important for us to avoid getting bogged down with meaning. The image and ecstasy of the Hoppers is powerful enough in and of itself. The story around it has to be simple and fast-paced. And gripping. And playful and humorous too! Original title: Hüppajad Genre: drama Screenwriter: Tiit Aleksejev Director: Jaak Kilmi Producer: Kiur Aarma Production company: Traumfabrik Language: Estonian, Russian, Swedish Country: Estonia Budget: 1 288 980 Euros (preliminary) Financing in place: 32 000 Euros (development support from Estonian Film Foundation and the Cultural Endowment of Estonia) Partners attached: Goals at BE: finding co-producers Director Synopsis Producer August 1913. A boat bringing missionaries who call themselves Jesus’s Matchsticks lands on the island of Hiiumaa, inciting an explosive, religious awakening. Their followers’ eccentric and unbridled religious rites lead them to be called the Hoppers. At the same time, a Russian army platoon lands on Hiiumaa with a mission to fortify the empire’s Western border. Will the small, windy island become the frontline of the imperial war or the gateway to heaven? A storm is brewing... Kiur Aarma (born 1975) graduated Tartu University (majoring in semiotics and cultural theory) and studied screenwriting at Baltic Film and Media School master class. He has written and produced several documentaries and a few short films. Jaak Kilmi (born 1973) graduated from the Department of Culture of Tallinn Pedagogical University, majoring in directing. He has (co-)directed and produced a string of award-winning short films; a number of documentary films and two feature films. His films have received international recognition and have often been broadcasted abroad. Since 2001, he teaches film directing at Estonian Art Academy and at the University of Tallinn. Project presented by: Kiur Aarma, producer Jaak Kilmi, director Director’s note In 1913, Swedish missionaries land on Hiiumaa and lay the groundwork for an awakening movement. The members are called the Hoppers because of their strange, ecstatic rituals. The Hoppers start living by their own laws – “freely”, as they claim, creating a rift in the island community. Nothing will ever be the same. The Hoppers is directorially interesting because all of the activity takes place in a limited space—in one village during the span of one year. The main character, Taavet, is a 17-year-old boy whose soul rebels against his predetermined fate. He treads the organ bellows at church and does the simpler housework in the pastor’s house. But his soul is ablaze with love for the pastor’s daughter, Anna. This puts him in opposition to the pastor as well as the Staff Captain Jegorov, who has taken up residence in the pastor’s house. At the end of the first third of the film, Taavet is chased from the pastor’s house. From that moment on, the film becomes a story of revenge. Taavet exploits the Hoppers’ blind ecstasy to turn the religious movement against the system represented by the pastor and the officer. Our biggest challenge is reconstructing and recreating the religious world of the Hoppers, with their rituals and services, which will be seen in the evangelical scenes. So in parallel to a young man’s dramatic revenge story, we will playfully reconstruct the salvation story (interspersed with Biblical motifs and plot lines). Though our film is about a religious topic, our focus is rather on psychosis, its origins and nature. It’s a story about a revolution that takes place in one, small village community. We watch what happens to people when a religious awakening suddenly frees them from their culturally imposed shackles. The epic gloominess of the film is contrasted by the summer of Love—the last such summer before the demise of the old world: 14 Contact Traumfabrik Müürivahe 17-3, 10140 Tallinn, Estonia Contact Person / Position: Kiur Aarma / Producer Phone: +372 565 1560 E-mail: kiur.aarma@ruut.com CO-PRODUCTION MARKET. KAZAKHSTAN The Journalist Original title: Zhurnalist Genre: tragicomedy Screenwriter: Adilkhan Yerzhanov Directors: Adilkhan Yerzhanov, Serik Abishev Producer: Serik Abishev Production company: Kazakhfilm JSC, Short Brothers Ltd Language: Russian Country: Kazakhstan Budget: 260 000 Euros Financing in place: 100 000 Euros Partners attached: Kazakhfilm JSC Goals at BE: finding co-producer, sales agent, distributors Synopsis This is a story about journalist Aben Abuyev who came up with a mob in Karatas village, called it the Fierce Horse Rustlers and made everyone believe it was real. Some thought they were criminals, some believed they were Robin Hoods. Aben’s fabrication became so popular that in order to create new and sensational TV-stories he had to actually gather a real mob of rustlers who’d be helping the simple people. Director’s note People need a hero at all times. If there is no hero, they invent one. Human nature would never eradicate his aspiration towards the ideals—the faith is always there against the reality. The fictional, noble Fierce Horse Rustlers turn out to be so popular among the society that even the unmasking of this journalistic fabrication cannot destroy the faith in the legend. The main idea of the film is the struggle of the Ideal against the Reality, between the light of dream and the darkness of commonness. The culture of expressionism with its struggle of light and darkness will feature in the picture and to enhance this effect, the colour will be reduced to minimum, almost monochromic. Static, black-and-white sequences with balanced design are blended with colourful journalistic inserts—dynamic and shot handheld. The story unfolds by the flashbacks of eyewitnesses assembled in documentary-style interviews. This is why the dramaturgic fundamentals justify the combination of two mutually exclusive stylistics—classic black-and-white cinema and coloured documentary photography. Most interior episodes will be shot inside a specially built set because the classical ideas of cinema-expressionism demand the environment around the protagonist to clearly denominate his mood and emotions. During the most dramatic moments, when the protagonist is in danger or facing an inner struggle, the set design and light-and-shade effects become the major emotional performance messenger. Slightly deformed walls, enlarged tables, lower ceilings, lopsided windows etc. will contribute the cinematic integrity to the graphic sequence. Director Adilkhan Yerzhanov (1982) graduated from Kazakh National Academy of Arts in 2009 as film director, and participated in Damir Manabay workshop. In 1999, Yerzhanov won the JSC Khabar com- petition of the Best Screenplay of the first Kazakh animated series Kozy-Korpesh and Bayan-Sulu, which was broadcasted nationwide in 2002. Filmography, features: Constructors (2012); Realtor (2011), awards from a number of festivals. Awarded short films: Karatas (2009), Disc Seller (2009), Brothers Shorty (2008), Self-portrait (2007), Bakhytzhamal (2007) Director, Producer Serik Abishev (1986) graduated from Kazakh National Academy of Arts in 2009 as film director, and participated in Damir Manabay workshop. Abishev has played major and supporting roles in many films. Filmography as producer: Constructors (2012) and Realtor (2011) by Adilkhan Yerzhanov. Filmography as director, awarded short films: Butter (2009), Honour Keeper (2008), School (2007) Production companies Kazakhfilm, founded in 1941, the main film production company of Kazakhstan, is the largest film studio in Central Asia providing a full cycle of film production and related services in accordance with all international quality standards. The company is supported by the Ministry of Culture and state budget. It has a convenient geographical and territorial location, with favourable climate and proximity to various scenic landscapes. Kazakhfilm regularly participates in international film festivals and works with the largest film business platforms in the world. It also has a rapidly growing experience of co-production with Russia, France, Turkey, USA, Italy, Germany, etc. Short Brothers. Filmography, features: Constructors (2012), Realtor (2011). Awarded shorts films: Karatas (2009), Disc Seller (2009), Brothers Shorty (2008), Self-portrait (2007), Bakhytzhamal (2007) Project presented by: Serik Abishev, producer and director Adilkhan Yerzhanov, director Contact Kazakhfilm 176, Al-Farabi Str., 050023 Almaty, Kazakhstan Contact Person / Position: Olga Khlasheva / Head of International Relations Phone: +7 777 804 70 57 E-mail: kinostudia_kaz@mail.ru www.kazakhfilmstudios.kz 15 CO-PRODUCTION MARKET. ESTONIA Morten on the Ship of Fools Original title: Morten lollide laeval Genre: adventure Screenwriters: Kaspar Jancis, Mike Horelick Directors: Kaspar Jancis, Riho Unt Producers: Kerdi Oengo, Andrus Raudsalu Production company: Nukufilm OÜ Language: English Country: Estonia Budget: 3 000 000 Euros Financing in place: circa 50% Partners attached: Bufo OY, Finland Goals at BE: finding co-production partners, financiers, broadcasters Synopsis Morten is a curious 10-year-old dreamer. His father, Captain Viks sails his cargo ship The Salamander. Father is Morten’s only family—he tells Morten that his mother became a penguin although it is clear that she has passed away. Morten is taken care of by his strict ballet-teacher aunt Anna, who is not a kind surrogate parent but an evil taskmaster instead. To soothe his bitter days, Morten plays with his toy boat with bugs as a crew. One fine day the unexpected happens—Morten is shrunk and awakes on his toy boat. He is thrilled to be a captain. It is not easy since the bugs on the ship resemble adults from his real world. The foul weather is coming and the ship is sinking. Through crazy and surreal adventures Morten saves the ship and insects and returns to the real world to happily reunite with his father. Director’s note Morten in the Ship of Fools is a classical stop-motion animation with a S3D effect. The target group for the film are schoolchildren and grown-ups who value good and universal children’s culture. I am trying to put different levels into the script; understanding them makes the film pleasurable for viewers of any age. Above all the story has an adventurous and entertaining nature. I shall try to make the metaphorical burdens as light as possible. In the majority of the films where insects have been given human behaviour they are still friendly and cute creatures. I am going to try to be different. The general atmosphere will be more unpleasant than friendly. This certain dissonance in the development of the story will bring out the happy end more overwhelmingly. Mixing a human being and an insect into a hybrid creature will provide a lot of interesting challenges in designing the characters. The insects have to be understandable as insects and as humans. I consider the relative horizon in the ship world to be an interesting visual goal, too. The action will take place on the ceiling, walls and floor. This will allow for unusual points of view for a viewer accustomed to the horizontal-vertical paradigm. The unusual perspectives and dislocation of the background system justify the usage of stereoscopic picture. Director Kaspar Jancis has worked at Studio Eesti Joonisfilm as film director since 2002. He also acts at the VAT-Theatre as actor and artist, 16 and is a member of the film and theatre music orchestra The Criminal Elephant. Filmography as director: Crocodile (2009), Cartoon d’Or from Cartoon Forum 2010, Hungary, Best Directing diploma from the 6th European Festival of Animated Films Balkanima 09, Serbia, Grand Prix from Eksjö International Animation Festival, Sweden, etc. Producer Kerdi Oengo has worked with more than 15 full-length feature films and a number of short films. For five years, she was employed by Estonian Film Foundation as a budget and financial reports expert. Since 2004, she works at Nukufilm Studios as producer, production manager, and international relations manager. Oengo has participated in the production of all stop-animation films produced by Nukufilm since 2005. In 2013, the feature length S3D animation Lisa Limone will be released. Production company Studio Nukufilm dates back to 1957, when Elbert Tuganov shot the first animation film Little Peter’s Dream. Nukufilm is the biggest animation (stop motion) studio in Northern Europe for its size of the studio, technical supplies, and number of employees. 25 people currently work for Nukufilm. We have the workshops for producing puppets and decorations, including long-time knowhow of different technologies. Nukufilm has produced over 200 different animations and cartoons during its 55 years. In 2007, Nukufilm produced the first digital stereoscopic stop-motion puppet-film ever—the 5-minute children’s film The Scarecrow. Project presented by: Kerdi Kuusik-Oengo, producer Andrus Raudsalu, producer Madli Võsoberg Contact Nukufilm Niine 11, Tallinn 10414, Estonia Contact Person / Position: Kerdi Kuusik-Oengo / Producer Phone: +372 516 3833 E-mail: kerdi@nukufilm.ee www.nukufilm.ee CO-PRODUCTION MARKET. SLOVENIA The Tree Original title: Drevo Genre: drama Screenwriters: Sonja Prosenc, Mitja Licen Director: Sonja Prosenc Producer: Vlado Bulajic Production company: Mono o Language: Slovenian, Albanian Country: Slovenia Budget: 450 000 Euros Financing in place: 350 000 Euros Synopsis Veli (8) is struggling with his desire to go to the big old tree he sees through a small hole in a stone wall. The wall surrounds the yard of the family house and no one can see him peeking through the hole. Or even worse, climbing the wall. He knows he can never go outside. His older brother Alek and his mother Milena are constantly on their guard against an invisible foe and the air is thick with menace. Once he sneaks out and his adventure ends up with his mother Milena getting a surface shotgun wound as she grabs Veli and brings him back to the house. She hides the wound in front of the boys. She knows the shot was meant for Veli. Not long ago the big old tree claimed the life of Alek’s best friend Dritan, the neighbour’s boy. Dritan fell while racing to climb high up to the tree crown as they always did. The neighbours blame Alek for their son’s death and want to avenge it according to the law of the blood feud. Milena tries to save her sons from the threat, but the only thing she can do is lock Alek and Veli in the house, the only place where they are untouchable. As time passes, the shelter becomes a prison in the middle of a wide open country, with the big old tree inviting into freedom. Inevitably Alek’s destiny is more and more connected to the tree that has set the path of his story. Losing his friend and being torn away from his young love, Dritan’s sister Liri, Alek also knows that Veli might finally manage to escape into “freedom” where he can be killed. He makes a decision. He will become a part of the big old tree, deeply rooted in the badlands of the country. Director’s note The Tree is a chamber piece drama. Even if a big part of the story takes place outside and in open spaces, the characters are isolated in their destiny. The central image of the film is the image of characters trapped in the middle of the wide-open country. Divided into three parts, every part is built around one of the characters and has its own visual and sound features that best reveal its essence. The first part focuses on little Veli. His struggle with the entrapment without knowing the reason for it and his desire for freedom are shown as a physical struggle with his own emotional experience, through closer shots and exaggerated sound that have their response in occasional quietness—showing isolation and weariness. The second part is the chronological beginning of the story and is entitled Milena. We see life as it could have been, but it is deprived of the opportunity after the accident occurs and the feud is declared against Milena’s sons. Emotional intensity of dynamically shot scenes is combined with carefully framed stagnant shots as contemplation and reflection that the given situation of the death threat demands. The third part focuses on Alek and deals with the inner conflict of a growing boy, his feeling of guilt that intertwines with the concern for his younger brother, and his final decision to end the story his own way. With a more shallow depth of field he is visually excepted from the background, to focus on his experience and inner life that after the accident becomes more important and deep. Director Sonja Prosenc graduated from the Cultural Science at the University of Ljubljana with a degree in Journalism and continued to postgraduate in Communication Science. In 2008 and 2009, she was selected to Berlinale and Sarajevo Talent Campus, and TorinoFilmLab. In 2011, she was awarded a grant from the Association of Slovenian Filmmakers. She has written and directed short fiction films and a documentary (The Man with a Raven, Free Spirited Friends, Morning), written features that are now in development or pre-production (The Tree, Erik). The Tree will be her first feature film. Producer Vlado Bulajic (born 1977) studied History and Sociology of Culture at Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Ljubljana. For a few years he’s been working in a film and commercial production in Slovenia as a freelancer. In 2011 he joined the production company Mono o. In 2012 he was selected to EAVE with the project The Tree, which will be his first full feature as a producer. Production company Mono o, a production company based in Slovenia, started mainly as a service company, but has produced its own films since Vlado Bulajic joined it in 2011. Two have already been completed (documentary A Man with a Raven, and short film Morning). The first feature film (The Tree) received a production grant from Slovenian Film Centre and will be completed by the end of 2013. Two new projects (Erik, Hotel Bonsai) are in development. Mono o wants to tell stories with a strong personal vision, and present them to the international audience. Project presented by: Vlado Bulajic, producer Contact Mono o Kvedrova 36, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia Contact Person / Position: Vlado Bulajic / Producer Phone: +386 40 454 681 E-mail: vlado@monoo.si www.monoo.si 17 CO-PRODUCTION MARKET. ICELAND Vergo Original title: Halastjarnan Genre: drama Screenwriter: Jakob Andersen Director: Asthildur Kjartansdottir Producer: Hlin Johannesdottir Production companies: Vintage Pictures, Nepenthe Film (Denmark, co-producer) Language: Icelandic Country: Iceland, Denmark Budget: 900 000 Euros Financing in place: 60% Partners attached: Icelandic Film Centre, Icelandic Ministry of Industry, Icelandic National Broadcasting Service (RUV) Goals at BE: finding a second co-producer, sales agent/ distributors Synopsis Peter is eleven. His mother Maria is in a coma and doctors have given up all hope of her recovery. Atli, Peter’s father, is convinced that his wife can be cured. He kidnaps Maria from the hospital and takes her and Peter for a risky journey across the desolated highland of Iceland in an old Econoline. Director’s note Vergo is a moving story, humorous and serious. The beauty of it lies in the relationship between father and son and how they gradually become closer to each other as their journey progresses. This is a story I want to share and I know people will like it. The themes of love, loss, clumsiness and humour are something everyone can relate to. The mysticism and connection to the mysterious universe that surrounds us is fascinating as well. The human race is just a tiny piece of something much larger that we know nothing about but can’t stop speculating about. We only need to look at the stars in the sky to feel connected to the universe. There are people who believe in fairies and ghosts and some even believe in aliens. Aren’t people finding signs of life on other planets all the time? If we think about these things it is easier to understand Peter and Atli. Style: Everything that happens in the story could happen in real life. The unrealistic things happen in Peter and Atli’s minds. A patient in a coma who is not on a ventilator only needs an intravenous drip to survive and could easily endure a two-day car trip. All astronomy references are factual. Vergo is a dramatic and realistic film when it comes to the story itself, the surroundings and the set design. On the other hand, the set and costume design surrounding the main characters will reflect their personalities and the old-fashioned camper van is a part of that. The journey in the camper van is a large part of the film, done in a sort of “road movie” style where the journey itself is more important than the destination. Director Ásthildur Kjartansdóttir has worked in the film industry for the last 25 years. She has wide experience in writing, directing, and producing all kinds of films and TV programmes. Kjartansdóttir has 18 twice been nominated for The Icelandic Film prize (Edda award for the best documentary) and two of her dramas have been nominated for the DV cultural award in Iceland. She is now developing her first feature film. Producer Hlin Johannesdottir (1973) has been in film production from 2000, mainly acting as associate producer, production manager, and line producer at Zik Zak Filmworks, the films of which have won over a hundred international awards. Johannesdottir has worked on multiple international co-productions and with many of Iceland’s most successful directors. She established the film production company Vintage Pictures with Birgitta Bjornsdottir in 2011. Production company Vintage Pictures was established in 2011 by producers Hlin Johannesdottir and Birgitta Bjornsdottir. Johannesdottir had worked at Zik Zak Filmworks, Iceland, for 11 years, during which she either produced, line produced, managed or coordinated over 20 projects. Bjornsdottir graduated as producer, with distinction, from London Film School in 2010, and also worked at Zik Zak Filmworks. Vintage Pictures produced the short film Love Story in 2012, has two documentaries well under way and three feature films in late development. Project presented by: Hlin Johannesdottir, producer Asthildur Kjartansdottir, director Contact Vintage Pictures Raudagerdi 61, 108 Reykjavik, Iceland Contact Person / Position: Hlin Johannesdottir / Producer Phone: +354 6954230 E-mail: hlin.johannesdottir@gmail.com CO-PRODUCTION MARKET. POLAND The Year of Prophecy Original title: Córka Czarownic Genre: fantasy drama Screenwriter: Agatha Dominik Director: Marcin Ziebinski Producer: Lambros Ziotas Production company: Argomedia Production Language: English, Polish Country: Poland, France Budget: 3 585 000 Euros Financing in place: 2 185 000 Euros Partners attached: Polish Film Institute, Platige Image, Imaginarium, Donten & Lacroix Films s.a.r.l Goals at BE: complete financing, find co-producer Synopsis The Year of Prophecy is a fantasy film with a great visual, emotional and educational potential. The story is set in a faraway land, where once reigned peace and prosperity, but which, for centuries now, has been in the yoke of slavery. It is the year of Prophecy. A teenager, named Elle, is being brought up by three sorceresses. They have been preparing her since childhood for the difficult task of liberating the land from Invaders. The sorceresses’ goal is to make Elle worthy of her destiny as the Liberator. But she’s rebellious and irresponsible. Her immaturity leads to many dangerous situations, which jeopardize the only chance of liberating the kingdom from the cruel reign. Her vast knowledge and wisdom are not enough to make her the Liberator. She also needs to develop a capacity for love and faith in humanity—qualities which the soulless sorceresses were not able to teach her. Our heroine must find these truths by herself, in order to fulfil her destiny. Director’s note The main thing that entices me in the plot of The Year of Prophecy is the striking and surprising approach to the protagonist—Elle. This maturing girl, whose destiny is to liberate her country and defeat the Invaders, is in a fight against evil. Yet, to overcome evil and its agents does not mean fighting them directly. The heroine must recognize and overcome aspects of evil in herself. Only then can she fulfil the prophecy. In this manner, as she wanders in the kingdom ruled by the Invaders, in unceasing fear, surrounded by uncertainty, we feel that the story is leading her, and us, from a point where we start asking who we really are, to where we must choose who we will become. We are amazed not just by Elle’s and her magical patronesses’ adventures, but also by the spiritual breadth of the story, its simplicity and consistency. My main objective in the creation of The Year of Prophecy is to preserve its greatest asset, which is the diversity of levels in its story. I am convinced that bringing this tale to the screen will not only demonstrate this diversity, but also, through the power of beautiful imagery, strengthen and emphasize its educational, humoristic, emotional, and ethical values. Based on the eternal struggle of good and evil, or rather of the threat of evil against good, the script of The Year of Prophecy weaves a powerful emotional charge with the swift action. Director Director Marcin Ziebinski’s 1983 short film Klucz do… gathered awards from more than 20 festivals in Poland and abroad. In 1991, he directed his first feature film, the costume drama Coupable d’Innocence, a Polish-French co-production. In 1992, it received the Best Debut Award at the San Sebastian Film Festival. It was officially screened at the Cannes Film Festival, and at the ‘92 Montreal World Film Festival. At the same time, Ziebinski made the first TV commercials in post-Communist Poland, and has to date directed around 700, specializing in the use of special effects and technologically complex ideas and solutions. His feature thriller Anger starred leading Polish film actors. In 2001, he directed the TV film Siedem dalekich rejsow, adapted from a novel by Leopold Tyrmand. In 2002, Ziebinski began working on the big budget independent action-comedy Dublerzy. The film became the number two box office hit of the summer 2006, after Pirates of the Caribbean. In 2009, he began to write The Year of Prophecy. Producer Lambros Ziotas, filmography: Papusza (2013, feature film), Daas (2011, feature film), Szklane domy pani zosi (2011, documentary), Afonia i pszczoły (2009, feature film), Fundacja (2006, feature film), Ojdadana (1996, short film) Production company Argomedia Production was founded in 1996 by the film director and producer Lambros Ziotas. The company has already created a few dozen short and feature-length films, TV theatre productions and TV series. The company is actively supporting young Polish filmmaking talent in finding financing, as well as directing and producing short and feature-length films. Project presented by: Marcin Ziebinski, director Ole Wendorff-Østergaard, co-producer (Platige Image) Katarzyna Kmiecik, coordinator Contact Argomedia ul. Górno l ska 16 m 15, 00-432 Warszawa, Poland Contact Person / Position: Marcin Ziebinski / Director Phone: +48 508 069 774 E-mail: office@imaginariumstudio.pl 19 r e tn r a p e b to d u o is pr ! T N E V E IC T L A B of EAVE is a professional training, project development and networking organisation for audiovisual producers. Working with a worldwide network of partners we are involved in programmes for producers in Europe, Russia, Latin America, the Arab world and Asia. www.eave.org EAVE 238c rue de Luxembourg L-8077 Bertrange Tel.: +352 44 52 10 1 Fax: +352 44 52 10 70 eave@eave.org www.eave.org BALTIC BRIDGE EAST BY WEST / FINLAND Finka Original title: Finka Genre: drama Screenwriter: Reetta Aalto Director: Reetta Aalto Producer: Liisa Juntunen Production company: napafilms ltd. Language: Russian, Finnish, English Country of production: Finland Country of filming: Russia Budget: 1 000 000 Euros Financing in place: 35 000 Euros Partners attached: Finnish Film Fund (SES) Goals at BE: (Scandinavian) TV-sales / distribution Synopsis Having spent a month in St. Petersburg participating in entrance exams for a theatre school and partying with other expats, a Finnish girl Riina, 20, thinks she knows it all. Everything changes when she gets stuck in Russia over a weekend without a passport or friends. Flung back and forth between a cute and child-like local boy of her age (Petya) and a Russian expat-millionaire from New York (Dandy), Riina leaves her protected expat student life behind and plunges into this confusing metropolis of contradictions. When she finds out that Petya is in trouble and in desperate need for money, she decides to take a shady work assignment from Dandy. But the world is not to be her oyster, as she is soon forced to realize that she has put not only herself, but also Petya, in great danger. Director’s note St. Petersburg is a city of contradictions: it is rich, yet poor, beautiful, yet ugly and as such—a great set for drama. I spent several years there in my early twenties clashing with the scenery and formed a strong love-hate relationship with the city. With this film I want to share my experience of the diversity and different layers of this fascinating metropolis. The film Finka takes place during white nights, when the city is packed with tourists, nights bathe in pink light and the fluffy pollen of willow trees float in the air. Its people all live in the moment, like there is no tomorrow. The heroine, Riina, is a reckless and arrogant Western girl, who faces her helplessness when a foreign culture puts her taste for adventure and illusion of omnipotence to the test. At the end she learns to appreciate the things she has earlier taken for granted: people’s caring for her, freedom to come and go, and a home to return to. Finka shows contemporary Russia from a grassroot level, albeit through the eyes of a Westerner. It is a film for everyone who has ever looked further than their own back yard. Director Reetta Aalto (born 1976) is a Helsinki-based filmmaker, who writes and directs both fiction and documentary films. Her previous works include the TV-miniseries Paradise (written by Kirsikka Saari, Finnish broadcasting company/YLE Draama 2010), the short films Girls’ Night (written by Kirsikka Saari, Making Movies 2008) and To Live, to Exist (UIAH/ELO 2007) and the documentary Guardian Angel (Aalto University/ELO 2010). 22 To Live, to Exist was awarded the prize for the best student film at the Tampere International Film Festival and was selected to the Nordic educational project Norden i bio 2008/09. Girls’ Night received a resource prize and was chosen as the audience’s favourite at the Tampere International Film Festival. The film was a great success on TV as well, receiving good reviews and over half a million viewers. It was later nominated for the best Finnish drama for the Kultainen TV-award (the Finnish Emmys). The TV-miniseries Paradise was a nominee for Prix Europa 2010 in the TV fiction category. Reetta Aalto has a BA degree from the University of Arts, Design and Architecture (ARTS) and an MA degree from Helsinki University, majoring in Russian Language and Literature. She has also studied theatre directing in St. Petersburg State Academy for Theatre Arts and film directing at Deboshir Studio, a private film school in St. Petersburg. Producer Liisa Juntunen set up napafilms ltd. in 2009. She had previously held numerous positions in a number of companies within film production and marketing in Finland. Lately she has produced one-off documentaries and is constantly looking for international collaborations. Production company napafilms ltd is a fresh and curious Helsinki-based production company established in 2009 by Liisa Juntunen. Napafilms is a known base for young and up-coming talents and has open mind and creative attitude towards filmmaking and life over all. Let’s have fun! Project presented by: Liisa Juntunen, producer Contact napafilms Vanha Talvitie 1, 00580 Helsinki, Finland Contact Person / Position: Liisa Juntunen / Producer Phone: +358 41 5367636 E-mail: liisa@napafilms.fi www.napafilms.fi BALTIC BRIDGE EAST BY WEST / RUSSIA The General Original title: General Genre: drama Screenwriter: Bakur Bakuradze Director: Bakur Bakuradze Producer: Julia Mishkinene Production company: Vita Aktiva Language: Russian Country: Russia Budget: 1 200 000 Euros Financing in place: 200 000 Euros private financing confirmed, 25 000 Euros for development from MDM fund Partners attached: ma.ja.de. (Germany) Goals at BE: looking for Serbian producer; looking for co-producer, sales agent and distributor Synopsis The film revolves around the last year of a Balkan war general, just before his arrest and surrender to the Hague tribunal. The general of the Balkan war, who has hidden from the Tribunal in the basements of a closed base for ten years, is secretly transported to the mountains due to his deteriorating health. His destination is a detached house on the outskirts of the village, which belongs to an old man called Slavko. We see a former hero, now pursued as a criminal, gradually building relationships with the new reality and generations. Watching TV, he begins to discover the people’s attitude towards him. He secretly meets his son; reflects on committing suicide. Runs from the village to the capital to visit his daughter grave, works at a construction site and lives in a trailer with other workers, tries to flee the country, suffers a stroke, and comes back to life. The general often sees delirious war scenes in his dreams: bombing, refugees, dead children. During the war, he could have died a dozen times, he narrowly escaped death and yet again it hasn’t taken him. He has to face his past, rethink it daily, without any hope to return, fix, or explain anything. For some reason, fate forces him to live. The film ends with the general’s arrest. This time he doesn’t resist and quietly gives himself to the judgment of society. award in the short-film section at Kinotavr, his feature film Shultes screened at Cannes Film Festival (Quinzaine des Realisateurs) and Kiev Molodist International Film Festival, and won the Grand Prix at Kinotavr in Sochi; The Hunter screened at Un certain regard of Cannes Film Festival, won awards for Best Directing and Best Actress at Kinotavr, and the Grand Prix at Minsk Film Festival. Producer Julia Mishkinene graduated from the Moscow State University with a PhD in philosophical studies. In 2005, she founded the Institute of Communications Vita Aktiva, which she has headed ever since. Mishkinene has produced more then 10 documentaries, short and feature films. In 2009, she graduated from the EURODOC tutorial and took part of the MINI EAVE Moscow workshop. Production company Founded in 2005, Vita Aktiva (till 2011 – the part of Salvador D group) is a full circle production company managed by Julia Mishkinene. 2007 – Moscow (by Bakur Bakuradze, awarded at Kinotavr, participant of many international film festivals); 2008 – Shultes (by Bakur Bakuradze, Quinzaine des realisateurs in Cannes, the Main Prize at Kinotavr and Grand Prix at Kiev film festival Molodist, shown at London, Lisbon, Montreal, Thessaloniki, and many other film festivals); 2011 – The Hunter (Un certain regard in Cannes, Best Directing and Best Actress at Kinotavr, Grand Prix in Minsk and Split), Milana (documentary by Madina Mustafina, Main Prize of ArtDucFest Moscow, participant of Doc Leipzig); 2012 – Entropy (feature by Maria Saakyan, premiered in Vyborg at “Window to Europe”), Marina House (documentary by Dali Rust, in co-production with Justamoment). The Finnish documentary Russian Libertine, for which Vita Aktiva provided production services, was released in 2012. The film Intimate Parts (by Natasha Merkulova and Alexey Chupov) is in post-production. Project presented by: Julia Mishkinene, producer Director’s note We want to make an existential drama-reconstruction, revolving around a military man, the general who has assumed the role of a leader and ended up on the other side of history and law—in an unnatural state of isolation and inactivity. We will try to understand the consequences of such downtime for a man—whether it leads to despondency, reflection and rethinking of the offence, or repentance. Triumph and tribunal are the turning points of a soldier’s life. In this case, the triumph is in the past. Tribunal is ahead. This very period, the waiting time between the two events, is crucial to understand this man. Director Bakur Bakuradze (born in 1969, Tbilisi) studied under Marlen Khutsiev at the Directors Program of the Russian State Institute of Cinematography (VGIK). His short film Moscow earned an Contact Vita Aktiva Lyusinovskaya Str., 36/1. 31, 115093 Moscow, Russia Contact Person / Position: Julia Mishkinene / Producer Phone: +7 903 798 4095 E-mail: julia@salvador-d.ru www.vita-aktiva.ru 23 BALTIC BRIDGE EAST BY WEST / GERMANY Good-bye Original title: Poka Genre: romantic comedy Screenwriters: Anna Hoffmann, Oliver Haller Director: Anna Hoffmann Producer: Stephan Grobe Production company: Jolle-Film Languages: Russian, German Countries: Germany, Kazakhstan Budget: 1 400 000 Euros Financing in place: 900 000 Euros Partners attached: ZDF, MFG Goals at BE: 500 000 Euros Synopsis Good-bye is a love story set in the milieu of the Russian-Germans during the year of 1990. In these turbulent times, a wave of socalled ethnic Germans are moving back to Germany, and Georg and Lena are fighting for their love. He is a German, shortly about to leave for his homeland, and she is a communist’s daughter. And she is pregnant... Director’s note Good-bye is a romantic story about Russian Germans, who survived in Stalin’s GULAG, and their children who lived in Kazakhstan and Siberia. Since I’m a German, who came to Germany from Kazakhstan, this is a very personal story for me. And I’m looking forward to telling it. Georg and Lena’s fate, the couple who rebelled against the traditional patriarchal principles. It’s also a touching drama about the Russian German and his loss of values and principles in Germany. The story takes lace in 1990, there is “Glasnost” in the USSR, Germany unites. There is a wave of Russian German emigrants in Kazakhstan. In these turbulent times Georg and Lena are trying to get closer without losing themselves. Since the story takes place more than 20 years ago, I can tell about it with humour. Nowadays there are more than 5 million people with Russian immigrant background living Germany. Most of them have German roots, but some of them came because of marriage, like Lena. Their integration was very successful, but not easy. “To adapt but not attract attention”—this is still the motto of the Russian immigrants. It lead to the fact that Russian Germans are invisible in German cultural, media and political space. In spite of the fact that I’ve been living in Germany for 20 years, I couldn’t find any German-Russian politician, TV-host, pop-singer etc. This story is about who we are and where we come from. The language game is very interesting for me as well—the mixture of German and Russian languages is very typical for the immigrants. They use it as slang. I think, this slang will enrich the movie. Dominik Graf’s In Face of the Crime is a great example for me in this context. That’s why it has a great DVD-success among Russian-Germans. Director Anna Hoffmann is a Kazakhstan-born German who has lived in Germany since 1990. She studied film and theatre at the Free University of Berlin, and directing at the Film Academy Baden-Wuert- 24 temberg, specializing in documentary film. Since then, Hoffmann has worked as writer and director of a number of shorts and documentaries. Won the Kazakh Film Award in 2007, Russia German Cultural Award of Baden-Wuerttemberg in 2008, Caligari Award. In 2009, received the Diploma for the documentary film The Maid, Lola—German Short Film Award (Special Award), Horizons Price Five Lakes Film Festival 2010. Good-bye is her feature debut. Producer Stephan Grobe was born 1976 in Sömmerda, Thüringen (Germany). 1996-98 he moved to Tel Aviv (Israel) in order to work for the Action Reconciliation Service for Peace (ARSP). 1998-2001 back in Germany, he followed the studies of theology at the Humboldt University in Berlin. 2001/02 he spent a year in Vienna (Austria). 2002-07 studies at the German film school Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg in Ludwigsburg, majoring in producing. Since 2007 he works as a freelance producer. Production company Jolle-Film is a young start-up company, which was founded in 2009 by Stephan Grobe. The office is located in Ludwigsburg, Germany. He studied at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. The main goal of the company is to produce German and European films for theatrical distribution and television. The emphasis of their story development lies in Art house films as well as the buildup of young talents and their establishment on the market. Next to their own productions, Jolle-Film offers production service as calculations, production management, VFX producing, line producing, and production coordination. Project presented by: Stephan Grobe, producer Contact Jolle Film Alleenstrasse 2, 71638 Ludwigsburg, Germany Contact Person / Position: Stephan Grobe / Producer Phone: +49 7141 309 8613 E-mail: s.grobe@jolle-film.com www.jolle-film.com BALTIC BRIDGE EAST BY WEST / RUSSIA Hogweed Original title: Borshevik (Борщевик) Genre: apocalyptic action horror Screenwriters: Tikhon Kornev, Artyom Aksenenko Director: TBC Producer: Daniel Goroshko, Sergey Selyanov Production company: CTB Film Company Language: English Country: Russia Budget: 5 500 000 Euros Financing in place: 1 500 000 Euros Goals at BE: finding co-production partners, sales agent Synopsis Two noxious, destructive and ubiquitous life forms threaten to destroy the world – but no one knows, which will succeed – humanity or HOGWEED. Pyotr, an EMERCOM officer, disappears under mysterious circumstances while putting out a wildfire, leaving behind his wife, Kira, and little daughter, Alyona. What follows is a series of inexplicable events: people disappear, a contagious disease breaks out, causing sores and burns all over the body… Entire towns are covered with clouds of a strange pollen, wiping out all the inhabitants. People start to flee in panic… No one recalls the experiment on a new species of hogweed by Professor Uspenski—Pyotr’s grandfather—which he began years before but was forced to abandon by the secret police. Kira doesn’t know that her husband was part of a top-secret squad that had been trying to contain the spread of the dangerous plant for more than ten years. Marlov, an EMERCOM Colonel, heads a rescue operation into the heart of a hogweed field to save Pyotr, and invites Kira to participate. When they find Pyotr, it turns out that he had become part of the plant that is set to conquer the world and eliminate all other life forms. No one can stop the plant, or change its (now) omnipresent mind, except Alyona, Pyotr and Kira’s daughter. At the end, the child saves the world. Or does she? co-production projects including Russian Ark, Father and Son, The Sun by Alexander Sokurov, Polumgla by Artem Antonov. In 2008, Goroshko founded A-One Films, which is still the only distribution company in St. Petersburg. In three years, the company released theatrically more than 30 feature films and several short film compilations (including such films as Milk of Sorrow, Chico&Rita, Amador, Habemus Papam, Le Skylab), launched its own video-label and straightened its position in a Russian market as one of the youngest but the most promising and innovative distribution companies. In August 2012, Goroshko joined CTB Film Company (one of the oldest and biggest production houses in Russia), where he is responsible for producing international projects. Production company The CTB Film Company, with offices in St. Petersburg and Moscow, is one of Russia’s most prolific and successful producers of theatrical motion pictures. Founded in 1992, CTB has released more than sixty feature films in a whole range of styles unmatched in Russian production, from action, drama, and comedy to animation, auteur, and feature debuts. In 2007, CTB’s film The Mongol was nominated for an Oscar. Since 2010, CTB Film Company has been rated as one of Russia’s seven major filmmakers with an annual budget of federal funding. In winter 2012, the CTB’s animated feature Ivan Tsarevitch and the Grey Wolf grossed over $ 20 500 000 in domestic theatrical release. Project presented by: Daniel Goroshko, producer Producer’s note Hogweed is an action horror film with a twist, shot using a mixture of innovative and classic techniques. Think Robert Rodriguez’s Planet Terror meets George A. Romero’s iconic films, such as Night of the Living Dead and the rest of his “Dead Series”. Other references to visual and creative concept of the project are films such as Cloverfield, Planet Terror, The Birds. While it is a horror film, Hogweed is not without a small touch of self-irony. Replete with breathtaking, hair-raising killer-plant scenes, flashbacks, and narrow escapes, it also incorporates contemporary social commentary. Hogweed ends with a Tarkovskian question, visually and psychologically. Is the world really saved? Or was it all in the little girl’s imagination? Are we capable of preserving the fragile planet? Will our children be able to take over the world they inherit from us? Producer Daniel Goroshko studied law in St. Petersburg State University and Free University Berlin. After graduation in 2001, he started doing legal and business affairs for numerous international Contact CBT Film Company Kamenoostrovsky 10, 197101 St. Petersburg, Russia Contact Person / Position: Daniel Goroshko / Producer Phone: +7 911 188 3970 E-mail: d.goroshko@ctb.ru www.ctb.ru 25 BALTIC BRIDGE EAST BY WEST / GEORGIA House of Others Original title: Skhivsi sakli Genre: drama Screenwriters: David Chubinishvili, Rusudan Glurjidze Director: Rusudan Glurjidze Producers: Zurab Magalashvili, Rusudan Glurjidze Production company: Cinetech Film Production Languages: Georgian, Russian Country: Georgia Budget: 447 562 Euros Financing in place: 70 000 Euros Partners attached: Kinoskopik (Spain) Synopsis The Caucasus in the 1990s, after the collapse of the USSR. A downpour. A decrepit military vehicle covered in mud creeps up the rain-washed, bumpy road. In the distance, a village appears with its scattered houses spread along the flank of a hill. Not a single living soul can be seen through the barren fences, deserted yards and cross-shaped nailed windows. The car staggers along the uninhabited village road and stops next to one of the houses. This house had belonged to someone, but was abandoned within an hour one night, just like all the others. People left the village in fear. Driven by the instinct to survive, everything was left as it was, only the cattle were driven away. The driver, a forty-year-old military man, who was been awarded the ownership of that village after the war, brings a family of dejected citizens to one of the houses. A family who had lost their dwelling due to armed clashes. A new life has to start in that house where twilight sheds its sepulchral glow over the frozen rooms, the bleak village roads, the deserted cemetery, and the booby-trapped citrus plantations growing wild. The fertile land stands in stark contrast to the absence of the people who once lived here. Finally, the new inhabitants have to decide whether to stay or leave. Director’s note I belong to the 1990s with the memories lit by the glimmering light of the lamp. I remember the strange emotions of the war period, how armed hostilities ended in Abkhazia in 1993, and the calm. That is when a continuous flow of refugees headed for the frozen capital wrapped in darkness. One of the families found shelter in my house. They endured the situation with endless generosity, tolerance and determination, in spite of the recent collapse of their ordered world. In the space of one day, they had lost their roots, a part of their soul. Leaving home, they had been sure to return within weeks, but twenty years have passed and they are still waiting. The ascetic style of narration in the script will be thoroughly preserved in the film. I want to reach a laconic and severe expressiveness with leisured plasticity of traveling shots, fixing on the heroes and details which are stylistically characteristic for social realism. I want the film to commit to ambiguity more than clarity, with many question marks, which will increase the overall sense of mystery pervading the story. 26 Director Rusudan Glurjidze (born in 1972, Georgia). She has studied French Language and Literature at Tbilisi State University, and Film Directing and Scriptwriting in George Shengelaias’ class at Georgian State Film and Theatre Institute. She has worked in advertising and national television, shooting numerous musical and commercial clips. Since 2007, she has been an AD and producer at Cinetech Film Production. Rusudan’s films have successfully screened at Göteborg, Drama, Molodist, Cottbus, etc. Her project House of Others won the script development competition at the Georgian National Film Center. Producer Zurab Magalashvili (born in 1967, Georgia) graduated from Georgian State Film and Theatre Institute and has acted in about 20 fiction films. He debuted as producer and founded his first production company Young Cinema Promotion Fund in 1993. Magalashvili has to date produced numerous fiction and documentary films and commercial clips. In 2000, he founded CIFA—Caucasus International Festival of Advertisement. Since 2006, he is the Director General and main producer of CINETECH Film Production. Filmography: Dzma (Bother, 2012, Georgia, France) in pre-production; Chaika (2011, Georgia, Spain, Russia) Official Selection of San Sebastian IFF 2012 – New Directors; Khorosho (2010, Georgia, Spain), won numerous prizes; Farewell to Arms (2010, Georgia), consists of five shorts, awarded at more than 70 international film festivals; Ori (2009, Georgia, Spain). Production company Cinetech Film Production is one of the most dynamically developing independent film production companies in Georgia. It was founded in 2006 as a result of a merger of several successful production studios, specializing in audio, film and video production, together with administrative organizations of the film sector, who aim to produce and co-produce the work of independent filmmakers. The main objective of Cinetech Film Production is to promote the development of new Georgian film projects, to establish business relations with foreign partners and to scout interesting projects for co-production. Project presented by: Zurab Magalashvili, producer Rusudan Glurjidze, producer and director Contact Cinetech Film Production 2 Brother Kakabadze str, 0108 Tbilisi, Georgia Contact Person / Position: Zurab Magalashvili / Producer, Rusudan Glurjidze / Director, Producer Phone: +995 32 292 0143, +995 59 770 4400 E-mail: ycfgeo@yahoo.com BALTIC BRIDGE EAST BY WEST / ARMENIA Lucid Space Original title: Lusavor Shrjan Genre: drama Screenwriters: Hovhannes Galstyan, Marine Zakaryan Director: Hovhannes Galstyan Producers: Hovhannes Galstyan, Gevorg Gevorgyan, Knut Skoglund Production company: Parallels Filmproduction Llc. Language: Armenian Countries: Armenia, Norway Budget: 1 300 000 Euros Financing in place: 463 000 Euros in progress: 237 000 Euros Partners attached: Parallels Film-production Llc. (rightsholder), Pomor Film AS (Norwegian co-producer), National Cinema Centre of Armenia (state support), Paradise ltd (local distributor), Armenia TV (local TV rights) Goals at BE: Cooperation with the European film industry representatives to submit the project to the local and global European foundations. We plan to rent equipment, lab services and sound mix in Europe to provide advanced technical quality. And we hope to use the possibilities of BE for the representation of the film materials to the European sales agents and distributors. Synopsis Deciding to conceive from another donor, 42-year-old oncologist Marie provokes her husband Gabriel’s (45) infidelity with the dancer Janet (25). The consequent pregnancy reveals Janet’s cancer. While Marie starts fighting for Janet’s pregnancy, initially unaware of the link to her husband, she is inexorably drawn into in a love triangle. tween them are probably more vulnerable than new lovers, if their relationship is deprived of mutual care. The film’s internal drama will be heightened by the juxtaposition of the restrained, ascetic, object-free, schematic hospital atmosphere with the contemporary urban culture: cafe, bar, and nightclub. The light and colour expression of the ballet will form the background, on which, with an abundance of close-ups, the characters’ straightforward and appropriate encounters will be conducted. Director / Producer Hovhannes Galstyan was born in 1969 in Yerevan, Armenia. He graduated from the film directors department of Armenian State Pedagogical Institute. Worked at the Private Look Studio Ltd. as CEO from 1999 to 2003. In 2005, Galstyan established Parallels Film Production Llc. independent film company. He is currently working on his 2nd feature “Lucid Space” as well as acting as co-producer in different international film projects. Filmography: Lucid Space 2014 (pre-production), The Half Moon Bay 2013, (production), Lost Birds 2014, Turkey, Armenia (development), Bonded Parallels 2009, Our Child is Growing 2001, I Dare to Remember, 1993 Graduate work Production company Parallels Film, an independent film company based in Yerevan, Armenia, was established in 2005 for production of short and feature film projects. In 2012, the company started offering a range of services for shooting feature films, commercials, music videos, short films, and documentaries in Armenia. Project presented by: Hovhannes Galstyan, producer Director’s note The heroes of the film: the married couple Marie and Gabriel, with the young dancer Janet, are tied in a love triangle. To all appearances, it is provoked by Marie’s conviction that a child will fill out their marriage, if she manages to get pregnant from another donor. Marie’s one-sided decision brings their relationship to a deep crisis. Both become vulnerable to the apparently healthy young dancer, whose pregnancy forces each of the three characters to face their own demons—and possibilities for rebirth. Janet leaves the child with the couple, and goes away to Europe—maybe to continue her education, maybe to get treatment for her illness or maybe perish… Everything seems fine but in reality all three remain in the Lucid Space and we cannot be sure that the disease will spare them. For Gabriel and Marie, this is the moment of truth, the opportunity of a quiet break before the final decision. Lucid space is a medical term, used in cases of diseases considered incurable, when the organism regains control over the illness, and its development stops. Like a living organism, I see that a relationship is permanently subject to the attacks of antibodies. As a well-tended garden adjoining a house may wither within a number of days, because of its inability to fight diseases or absence of care, a relationship can similarly collapse because of half-truth, distrust. The spouses who have decades of life experience be- Contact Parallels Filmproduction Llc. 43 Pushkin Str, 2, Yerevan 02 Armenia Contact Person / Position: Hovhannes Galstyan / CEO Phone: +374 010 635 935; Mob: +374 091 207284 E-mail: hgalstyan@parallelsfilm.com www.parallelsfilm.com 27 BALTIC BRIDGE EAST BY WEST / LATVIA Mellow Mud Original title: Es Esmu Šeit Genre: drama Screenwriter: Renars Vimba Director: Renars Vimba Producers: Aija Berzina, Alise Gelze Production companies: Tasse Film, SIA, Language: Latvian Countries: Latvia, Iceland, Great Britain Budget: 470 099 Euros Financing in place: 69 496 Euros (Media, State Culture Fund of Latvia) Partners attached: Vintage Films, Apis Films Goals at BE: co-producers, particularly from Ireland, Germany or Great Britain, distributors, sales agent Synopsis After their father’s death and having been abandoned by their mother, siblings Roby and Raya are left alone in their small family house in the countryside. Things change when their dominating grandmother suddenly dies. The teenagers have to face a tough choice: either to report the death of their grandmother and submit themselves to being taken to an orphanage or to hide the dead body and pretend as if nothing has happened. Director’s note While drinking my morning tea, I’m going through the photos from my summer trip through the villages near the border of Russia. Here they are – a brother and sister in front of their house. And grandfather is taking care of them because their parents are abroad. These photos remind me of things I have seen in the neighbourhood of my family country house – reckless deforestation, land sold to foreigners, myopia and an absolute lack of susceptibility. At the same time, rural people’s sincerity and the priceless natural beauty - we still have it, but we are in danger of losing it as well. Coming back to the photos of the brother and sister. What do they do now – right at this moment? And what it’s like – to be there – in the countryside, when the parents are gone? And anyway – why we are talking so much about people who have left, but never about the ones who have been left behind. With anxiety in my nerves, the first draft ideas for the script come into my mind. The story about “the ones who have stayed”, the ones who don’t give up and are ready to protect what is precious and essential for them. Risk and daring, loyalty and betrayal, hope and love, a lie and a corpse in the backyard – it all has its place in the film about the young girl Raya, who is forced to step into her parents’ shoes and take their place. The film indirectly addresses several topics, but the main emphasis is put on the moral aspects of responsibility and obligation. The responsibility to yourself and your dreams, responsibility to the family and your state – this is what we see in the main character Raya and her younger brother Roby’s absentee mother relationship. It highlights the question of morality in a situation where only ethically ambiguous or illegal behavior can seemingly guarantee the freedom of their dreams. After all, Mellow Mud is a story about Raya’s growing up and 28 discovering the darker side of her personality, her self-awareness and taking a conscious decision to live differently. The events portrayed in the film take place in the countryside and its rich texture is an important part of the movie. Overall, the emotional tone of the film should evoke a harsh, but life-affirming feeling. The scenes, perspectives, angles and camera movement should reveal the tense and dynamic life of our heroes. At the same time, the camera will be intimate and reveal nuanced feelings of the main characters. Director After his Cinematography studies at the Latvian Academy of Culture, Renars Vimba became an active figure in film scene of Latvia and has since broadened his career into film directing. In 2006, he attended the Masters’ programme in Film Directing at the Baltic Film and Media School (Estonia), led by professor Boris Frumin (US), and, in 2011, he graduated from the Latvian Academy of Culture in Film Directing and Audiovisual Arts. His fiction shorts Daddy Doll (2008) and The Breakwater (2009) clearly show Renars Vimba’s talent for developing strong stories and making them work. His artistic vision, refined sense of the image and intensity give his films a special feel. Production company Tasse Film was established in early 2011 by Alise Gelze and Aija Berzina, producers with respectable experience in the film industry. In 2008, Alise Gelze participated in the Producers on the Move initiative of European Film Promotion. Tasse Film works in fiction and documentaries, TV commercials, music videos as well as providing production services for shooting in Latvia. The main focus is on producing the works of young, upcoming Latvian filmmakers. Currently in post-production is the short Wind Broke Grey Pines (by Madara Dislere). In addition to Mellow Mud, we are developing the feature projects Tepid War (by Martins Grauds), and Arena (by Ilze Kunga), both of which have received support from the State Culture Fund of Latvia. Short film The Poem (by Madara Dislere) has been selected for Scanorama Film festival (Lithuania) and received the Grand prix in the short film festival Rojal (Latvia). Project presented by: Alise Gelze, producer Aija Berzina, producer Renars Vimba, screenwriter and director Contact Tasse Blaumanu iela 11/13 - 13, Riga LV-1009, Latvia Contact Person / Position: Aija Berzina / Alise Gelze Phone: +371 26 466 014 (Aija) / +371 26 156 356 (Alise) E-mail: aija@tasse.lv / alise@tasse.lv www.tasse.lv BALTIC BRIDGE EAST BY WEST / AUSTRIA The Night of the 1000 Hours Original title: Die Nacht der 1000 Stunden Genre: drama, mystery, comedy Screenwriter: Virgil Widrich Director: Virgil Widrich Producers: Alexander Dumreicher-Ivanceanu, Bady Minck Production companies: Amour Fou (Vienna, Austria), Amour Fou (Luxembourg) Language: English Countries: Austria, Luxembourg Budget: 6 100 000 Euros Financing in place: 2 600 000 Euros Goals at BE: finding co-producers, co-financers, world sales Synopsis The Night of a Thousand Hours is the story of Philip Ullich, a young Viennese businessman, who has just taken over the family company, when he is confronted with the strange arrival of his dead ancestors, all interested in having a say in the future of the business. But when Philip discovers a dark secret in the family’s past he must decide what to do, even if that means losing what he wants. Occurring over one wild night with a murder, a séance, fake identities, a drawing-room showdown, a sprinkling of incest, a birth and a revolution, The Night of a Thousand Hours is a madcap family tragic-comedy about acknowledging the past and atoning for it. Director’s note Among the movies there is the small but appealing category of „What-if? films“. For example, “What if every day were the same day?“ (Groundhog Day) or „What if you could walk around inside somebody else‘s head?“ (Being John Malkovich). This film plays with the idea: „What if earlier generations came back into the world instead of a new one?“ For one story, set in modern-day Vienna—specifically, in a family’s old palace— this idea has historically relevant consequences. The dead bring old moral values and old ideas back into the world, and with them the history of Vienna and Europe. directed and produced have been invited to more than 600 international film festivals, including the festivals of Cannes, Berlin and Toronto. They have received numerous awards and special mentions, among them the Award for the Cinema of the Future at Pesaro 2003 (for In the Beginning was the Eye). In 2009, Bady Minck was a member of the Orizzonti jury at the 66th Venice Film Festival. She is the co-founder and managing director of Amour Fou Luxembourg and a founding member and associate partner of Amour Fou Vienna. Alexander Dumreicher-Ivanceanu (Amour Fou Vienna), Born 1971 in Vienna. Has studied philosophy and film theory in Vienna. In 1989, he started to work as an independent film critic. From 1992 on, he worked as a distributor for Polyfilm Verleih (Vienna), as a film programmer for movie theatres, and as a curator for film festivals in Germany, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg and Austria. In 1995, Dumreicher-Ivanceanu and Bady Minck created the production company Minotaurus Film in Luxembourg. In 2001, together with Gabriele Kranzelbinder, he became managing director and producer of the Vienna based production company Amour Fou Filmproduktion. Production company Amour Fou is based in Vienna and Luxembourg. We produce feature, documentary and experimental films with international, especially European, partners for the international market. Films that cross borders with their aesthetics, subjects and technologies. Films that reflect upon and question the past and present, the possibilities and future of society and cinema. Founded in Vienna in 2001, Amour Fou stands for aesthetic vision in regard to artistic as well as production and distribution strategies and is open for crossover projects with modern music, science and fine art. Amour Fou films have premiered in Cannes, Berlin and Toronto and received numerous awards. Project presented by: Alexander Dumreicher-Ivanceanu, producer Director Virgil Widrich, born 1967 in Salzburg (Austria). His feature film debut, Heller als der Mond (Brighter than the Moon, 2000) premiered at IFFR 2000 and received several awards, while his short film Copy Shop won 35 international awards and received an Oscar nomination. The short film Fast Film won 36 international awards, has been shown at 280 festivals to date and in 2006 was included in the list of the 100 most important short films of the past 100 years by 30 leading film critics at the Annecy Animation Festival. From 2001 to 2007 Widrich taught or gave guest lectures at several universities in Austria and Germany. Since 2007 he has been the professor of digital art at the University of the Applied Arts in Vienna. Producer Bady Minck (Amour Fou Luxembourg), born in Luxembourg, works as an artist, filmmaker, and film producer. The films she Contact Amour Fou Lindengasse 32, 1070 Vienna, Austria Contact Person: Alexander Dumreicher-Ivanceanu Phone: +43 199 499 110 E-mail: ivanceanu@amourfoufilm.com www.amourfoufilm.com 29 BALTIC BRIDGE EAST BY WEST / FRANCE Saaremaa Original title: Saaremaa Genre: drama Screenwriters: Guillaume André, Anne-Louise Trividic, Johanne Bernard Director: Guillaume André Producer: Charlotte Vincent Production company: Aurora Films Languages: French, English, Estonian Countries: France, Estonia Budget: 1 931 066 Euros Financing in place: 89 066 Euros Partners attached: Centre Images (French regional fund for scriptwriting) Goals at BE: finding co-producers, sales agent and distributors Synopsis In France, Sacha, 27 years old, prepares for an expedition to the Equator but the unexpected return of Eri, an Estonian, puts him off course. A shapeless, oversized T-shirt, a thick beard, dishevelled hair. Sacha, 27 years old, is only just returning to “the land of the living”. He thinks he’s doing better. He hopes to make up for lost time. He makes every effort to get his life, brutally interrupted two years ago after the death of his lover and colleague, back to normal. But he still doesn’t sleep well, or very much. Just then, Eri, an Estonian sailor he was very briefly involved with a few months ago, comes back into his life. His unexpected return confuses Sacha and throws his life off track again. When Eri suddenly disappears, Sacha abandons everything and leaves for Estonia to try and understand what happened. Sacha’s strange passage from France to Estonia takes him on an interior journey that leads him to true rebirth. Director’s note To enter Sacha’s psyche and examine the effects of these disturbances, the film will focus less on plot and more on minute observations, an accumulation of details, moods and sensations, a system of echoes, reverberations and gaps. The film will closely examine the character’s breathing, attitudes and movements in an attempt to illustrate his inner world in simple, concrete terms. This approach links Saaremaa to my two previous films. There is a strong spirit of community in Saaremaa. The light is always changing, and is nearly constant in summertime. The forest, and nature in general, come alive with real intensity, saturated with colors, noises and sounds, and the spiritual connection to nature, the euphoria that seems to permeate the entire island at that time of year, provided a perfect setting for Sacha’s reawakening and inner journey. Director Guillaume André spent two years in Warsaw where he worked on the Festival du Film Français de Varsovie, handled programming at the Institut Français and hosted a radio show. He then returned to Paris to major in scriptwriting at the FEMIS film school. He 30 became a directing assistant in theatre and co-wrote several film projects. He then directed Bleu #11, a film about the Documenta in Kassel followed by Le moindre souffle. selected to various festivals throughout France and awarded the Prix de l’Innovation at the Festival de Villeurbanne. In 2010, he completed Une autre voix, a documentary film. During this time, he developed his first feature film, Saaremaa, with co-screenwriters Anne-Louise Trividic and Johanne Bernard. Guillaume is currently in residence at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts (Fine Arts Academy) in Marseille and is preparing Luminy, a film mixing fiction and documentary styles. Guillaume is also co-writing L’Enfant hébreu with Jean-Claude Carrière, a feature film based on the life of Ben Yehouda, and is working with Laurence Ferreira Barbosa on the script for the film La vie de Pamela Rose. Producer Charlotte Vincent founded Aurora Films after graduating from HEC (the leading French business school) in 2002. Since then, she has produced shorts, documentaries and feature films. Production company Over the past few years, Aurora Films, based in Paris, France, has specialized in French and international co-productions, including: The Wound (La blessure) by Nicolas Klotz, selected to Director’s Fortnight in Cannes 2004, Domaine by Patric Chiha, featuring Beatrice Dalle and selected to the Mostra of Venice in 2009, Iris in Bloom (En ville) by Valérie Mréjen and Bertrand Schefer, selected to Director’s Fortnight in Cannes 2011, and On the Edge (Sur la planche) by Leila Kilani, also selected to Director’s Fortnight in Cannes 2011 and winner of more than 10 awards worldwide. Producing also shorts and documentaries, Aurora Films invests heavily in developing new talent and promoting debut directors, with different projects currently in financing or production stages. Project presented by: Charlotte Vincent, producer Guillaume André, director Contact Aurora Films 16, rue Bleue, 75009 Paris, France Contact Person : Mylene Guichoux / Head of Production Phone: +33 1 4770 4301 E-mail: contact@aurorafilms.fr www.aurorafilms.fr BALTIC BRIDGE EAST BY WEST / RUSSIA Sharnohoy – the Yellow Dog Original title: Шарнохой – Желтый Пес Genre: drama Screenwriter: Bair Dishenov Director: Bair Dishenov Producers: Vlad Ketkovich, Dmitry Strelayev Production companies: BuryatKino (Russia), Ethnofund (Russia) Language: Buryat, Russian Country: Russia Budget: 535 000 Euros Financing in place: 107 000 Euros (20%) Partners attached: TBC Goals at BE: finding co-producers and financial partners Synopsis On the wooden slopes along the border of Mongolia and Russia live Buryat Sharnohoy and his pregnant wife Gerelma, ordinary hard working villagers—young and happy. On her way home from a hospital visit one day, Gerelma has a disturbing vision of a rider on a black horse and becomes violently sick. Back home, she keeps the incident secret as Sharnohoy is delighted with the good news—that they will have a son. But the Black Rider returns to her in her dreams the following night. Her husband watches helplessly as her condition deteriorates rapidly—she no longer recognizes him, and eventually flees her home. Sharnohoy takes her back to the hospital, where she is sedated and tied to her bed, until the doctors’ council in the morning. But Gerelma’s mother insists on an abortion, claiming that Sharnohoy’s family is cursed and the past is now threatening her daughter’s life. Astounded by this information, Sharnohoy reluctantly seeks out an old man who can tell him the tale of his family. It appears that in the 1930s, when the collective farms were organized, his great grandfather, an ardent communist, ploughed a sacred field and destroyed ceremonial constructions. After that, a Rider began to wipe out his family. Everyone died young and tragically. Sharnohoy is the only survivor, saved by his grandmother, who gave him a new name—Sharnohoy, the “Yellow Dog”. Raised by strangers, he went unnoticed by the Black Rider until now—as he is about to have a son. The only way to save his family is to conduct a ritual to suppress the evil spirit. While the doctors plan an abortion with the approval of Sharnohoy’s mother-in-law, he asks for one more day and goes to the Buddhist temple, Datsan. A day-long prayer service is held, initiating a fight between the worlds of humans and Hungry Spirits. In order to win this challenging fight, the fate of Sharnohoy, his family and his kind rapidly depends on what Sharnohoy believes deep down about this strange spiritual unity that imbues his homeland. Director’s note In the cycle of life, according to the teachings of Tibetan Buddhism, as practiced here in Buryatia, there are six realms of sentient beings: gods, demigods, people, hungry ghosts, animals, and martyrs of hell. The people only come into contact with two worlds, people and animals. The others we can only guess on. But we are not alone in the cycle of life, there are worlds and beings beyond our command, which can be hostile and ruthless if harmony between the worlds is broken. I want to make the viewers feel another world, the world of hungry ghosts; to convince people that it really exists. Director Bair N. Dishenov (1966) is an Honoured Artist of the Republic of Buryatia. His debut, the Russian-Mongolian short film Buddha’s Smile (2008) had a successful run on the festival circuit and won the Crystal Bear at Berlinale. Dishenov’s second short film, Mother’s Will (2011), premiered at Court Metrage Festival de Cannes 2012. Producer Vladislav Ketkovich (1971) graduated from Moscow State Teacher Training University and studied at Higher Courses of Scriptwriters and Film Directors. His first filming experiences were on the field of visual anthropology: Pigmy people, Peruvian Indians, nomadic Kazakhs, etc. In 2000, Ketkovich founded the production company Ethnofund. He has published articles and photos in GEO, National Geographic, and other magazines. Ketkovich is a member of European Documentary Network, International Federation of Journalists, Russian Geographical Society, and Eurasian Academy of Television and Radio. Production company BuryatKino (formerly Geser Film Studio) is based in Buryatia and run by Bair Dishenov. The studio has cooperated with cinematographers from Russia, Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, and France. BuryatKino has focused on making films dedicated to Buryat traditional culture and the level of recognition from film festivals such as Berlinale and Cannes illustrates the demand for creative rethinking of the ideas of traditional and national arts and culture. Since 2005, Ethnogeographic Research Foundation (Ethnofund) has produced more than 20 documentaries, which have won a number of prizes from international film festivals. Since 2010, the company is working on international co-productions with the ambition of bringing Russian directors and stories to international TV and film market. Project presented by: Vlad Ketkovich, producer Dmitry Strelayev, producer Contact BuryatKino Novatorov 36/3-171, 119421 Moscow, Russia Contact Person / Position: Vlad Ketkovich / Producer Phone: +7 495 735 9568, +7 916 674 0654 E-mail: ethnofund@mail.ru www.ethnofund.ru 31 POWR Baltic Stories Exchange Welcome to this year’s POWR event! For the 5th time we look forward to present scriptwriters and stories from the Nordic and Baltic countries at the Baltic Event. This year we have become a fully integrated part of the Baltic Event family, which is a great pleasure and something we look forward to build on in the years to come. Focusing on giving writing talent a platform of their own has become a welcome addition to the existing BE-programmes, offering the attending guests more projects to be inspired by and get involved with, and experienced writing talent to become acquainted with and involve in existing film projects, as writers, co-writers, developers and script consultants. Our aim is to assist the writers in finding partners and collaborators in the international marketplace, giving them an intense development experience and a lot of opportunities for networking. We have selected 8 projects this year and the writers and writer-directors will spend an intensive day and a half developing their projects and preparing their presentations up till the pitch at 16 o’clock the 27th of November, where we look very much forward to welcoming you! put to work at a recovery centre for mental health patients; a multistrand story about relationships and dancing, inspired by a Raymond Carver short story; a story about a woman who must face her own life after discovering an old correspondence between 2 sisters; a young mermaid, who falls in love and abandons her family to pursue a new life as a human; a young woman who dreams of a big journalistic career and discovers the temptations and pitfalls of the clash of a Soviet upbringing and Western consumerism; a male medical student in 1850s Norway who falls in love with a colleague and pursues this secret relationship, alienating his fiancée and putting his medical career at risk; and a story about 2 young Lithuanian men who seek easy money abroad and meet a grumpy old man for whom they will ultimately risk their job. The presentation is an open invitation for everyone to share in an informal and story-passionate atmosphere and we look forward to meeting you! POWR is organized by Baltic Event and MEDIA Desk Estonia. Partners and supporters are The Cultural Endowment of Estonia, TorinoFilmlab, Scandinavian and Baltic MEDIA Desks. On behalf of the POWR-team, Valeria Richter tutor/co-organizer We hope you will also take advantage of this event to get to know them better at the 1:1 meetings. Now it’s time to briefly introduce the 8 new projects – you can read about them and the talents behind on the following pages: meet a couple in their 30s who are forced to face their true feelings when hosting another couple that mirror all their own vulnerabilities; a depression comedy about a career woman who collapses and is 33 POWR / DENMARK Dance for Me Synopsis Contact A man selling all of his stuff, a funeral, and a couple moving in together. Three different stories tangled together. John is looking for a new love, Susanne just lost hers, and Erik and Sara are struggling to keep their love alive. They all want something else than what they’ve got, but are the things they want out there? In the end, two of them will be dancing on a lawn in suburbia, waiting for an answer. E-mail: jonas@blikfang.biz Phone: +45 2044 8736 Jonas Poher Rasmussen Jonas began his career as a film- and radio documentary maker at the Danish Public Radio (DR), debuting in 2006 with the acclaimed one hour documentary film Something About Halfdan, followed by a series of radio documentaries from around the world. He began directing fiction after joining the Danish film collective Super16 at Nordisk Film, where he has written and directed 3 short fiction films. “Searching for Bill” is Jonas’ latest film and his feature film debut just won the NORDIC:DOX award at CPH:DOX. will be his feature film debut - a mix of documentary and fiction shot on location in New Orleans, Detroit and Southern California. Status of the project: Funding: none Project stage: early writing stage Looking for: co-writer, co-producer POWR / SWEDEN Dear Sister Synopsis Contact At the abandoned section of the institution the indifferent inmate Jovanna stumbles across a century-old heartbreaking correspondence between a former patient, Erika, and her sister Laura. Jovanna starts to read and is unwillingly drawn into the story. In 1906 Erika was placed by force at the institution by her husband, a well-respected priest, after she disgraced him in public and lost all contact with her five daughters. Laura rushed to Erika’s rescue but her determined brother-in-law and the experimental desirous medical profession was too powerful and over and over again Laura had to acknowledge her own defeat. In one last attempt Laura managed to rescue Erika, but too late? Jovanna puts the last letter aside. In the outside world her daughter is longing for contact and Jovanna can no longer stay numb. E-mail: maria.ljuslin@gmail.com Phone: +46 70376 9216 Maria Ljuslin Film (Director & screenwriter): Swim Sam (2012), King Jan (2011), Maud & Tord (2010) Theatre (Director): The Catapult (2011), No Exit (2011), Frieda Kahló (2010), Bloody Lemonade (2010), The Summer at Platonovka (2008) Status of the project: Funding: none Project stage: full length treatment Looking for: producer 34 POWR / FINLAND Depression Comedy Synopsis Eeva, 51, is a line production innovation manager in a big steel company. Her work is demanding and Eeva doesn’t rely on anybody else’s help. One day at work she has a fit of rage towards some big Japanese customers and collapses. Six months later Eeva is still on sick leave. To her horror, the doctor suggests that Eeva should try to help out at a work centre for recovering mental health patients. There, Eeva meets the centre’s leader, Merja, 50, and other recovering patients like ex-bouncer Saku, 29, and a talented student Elias, 19. Eeva decides to solve the other patients’ problems and improve the production methods at the centre. At first it seems to work, but soon it all ends up in chaos. Eeva secretly takes in a big order that the patients can’t handle. She sleeps with Elias and breaks his heart, and causes Saku to have another breakdown. Losing her job at the steel company she can’t return to the work centre either, so she is back on the couch with nothing left to lose, yet the people of the work centre will be the ones who help her back on track. Kirsikka Saari & Jenni Toivoniemi Jenni Toivoniemi has studied screenwriting in several internation- al workshops including Script&Pitch and Berlinale Talent Campus Script Station. Currently she is doing her MA in screenwriting and directing at Elo Helsinki Film School. Her latest film The Date premiered at Nordisk Panorama 2012. She has worked as a journalist, research assistant and producer of cultural events. Kirsikka Saari wrote a miniseries Paradise, for YLE (dir. Reetta Aalto), which was chosen to Prix Europa. Her other works include scripts for a short film Girls’ Night (dir. Reetta Aalto) and Do I Have to Take Care of Everything? (dir. Selma Vilhunen), which was selected to many festivals incl. Nordic Panorama. She is now doing her MA in screenwriting and directing at Elo Helsinki Film School. Contact Kirsikka Saari E-mail: kirsikka.saari@gmail.com Phone: +358 40 571 0135 Jenni Toivoniemi E-mail: jenni@toivoniemi.fi Phone: +358 40 740 2752 Status of the project: Funding: € 6000 grant for screenwriters from the Finnish Film Foundation Project stage: treatment Looking for: co-producers POWR / ESTONIA Metaphors Synopsis Andris Feldmanis & Livia Ulman Anna and Juhan are in their 30’s and have been together for the past 8 years. They just had an abortion after deciding they are not ready to have children yet. Their well-off friends offer them a chance to spend a week at their country house. While there, the two give shelter to another couple during a storm - Triin and Erik - who mistake Anna and Juhan for the owners of the house. Instead of admitting they are just visitors Anna and Juhan decide to play along. The more they get to know the other couple, the more they seem like versions of themselves. Despised by this similarity, Anna and Juhan embrace their new roles and start harassing their guests, and while doing so, reveal the uncertainties and vulnerabilities of their own relationship and the true feelings about the abortion. Trying to provoke Erik and Triin to betray each other by undermining their relationship, the night turns into a frantic game full of psychological warfare. But in the end nothing changes, as Anna and Juhan are left with just themselves and endless words to explain and reason without really getting any answers. Andris Feldmanis (1982), BA in History. Has worked as a journalist, critic, copywriter and translator. Currently living and working in Tallinn, Estonia as a freelance screenwriter and photographer. Has co-written several TV series. Livia Ulman (1982), BA in philology and literature, has worked as a translator and editor and currently works as a freelance screenwriter. Has co-written several TV series. Contact Andris Feldmanis E-mail: fandris@gmail.com Phone: +3725037593 Livia Ulman E-mail: liviadione@gmail.com Status of the project: Funding: script development from Estonian Film Foundation Project stage: first draft Looking for: co-producers 35 POWR / FINLAND Pykeija Synopsis A young mermaid rescues a teenage boy from the Arctic Sea and falls in love for the first time. Denying her underwater family forever, she chooses to become a human and spend the rest of her life with the boy, Peter. As a teenage girl with injured legs, she begins her life in an isolated fisherman’s village controlled by Peter’s oppressive father. The passionate summer with Peter begins, and her wild persona starts causing tension among the villagers. She becomes a misfit, a girl called Pykeija. Confused with Pykeija´s deep emotions, Peter gets involved with a shy girl, Marie, claiming that she was the one who saved him. Unable to reveal her true nature, Pykeija tries to make Peter jealous and gets into dangerous games with the adult men of the village, only to find out that Peter has made Marie pregnant. Pykeija has to make a choice between herself and Peter’s happiness. Heartbroken, she confronts Peter´s abusive father and kills him in order to protect her first love. outstanding short films have toured festivals in Europe, the United States and Japan. Mantela’s short film The Children won the main prize at the Blue Sea Film Festival in 2005. Mantela studies film directing at the ELO Helsinki Film School of Aalto Uni- v e r s i t y . Pykeija will be her first feature film. Contact Mari Mantela E-mail: mmantela@gmail.com Phone: +358 50 547 4929 Mari Mantela Mari Mantela (b. 1978) is a Finnish director and writer. Since 2005, she has directed commercial films for leading Finnish and international brands such as Fiskars, Nokia and Bayer. Her visually Status of the project: Funding: none Project stage: early writing stage Looking for: co-writers and co-producers from Sweden, Estonia, Norway. POWR / LITHUANIA Special Price Synopsis Aiste Ptakauske Christine has just finished high school and dreams of studying journalism at the prestigious Columbia University. In pursuit of a break-through story for her application Christine arrives in Lithuania, the homeland of her grandparents. She soon becomes underwhelmed by her internship at an intellectual magazine and decides to get a position at the biggest media group that, supposedly, use their models as elite escort girls. The more she gets to know the potential subjects of her story, the more fascinated she becomes with their lifestyle. She even starts dating one of the owners of the company and almost forgets why she started working there in the first place. When her new boyfriend finds out that she is still a virgin, he decides to sell her first time to one of his biggest clients. Christine manages to escape the rape, but her dreams and faith in “girlpower” are shaken, she learns the pros and cons of womanhood the hard way, gaining a much better understanding of what it takes to be what you want to be as a woman in the modern world. Aiste Ptakauske is a screenwriter, playwright, and novelist from Lithuania. Her bibliography includes a collection of short stories, 2 novels, and the Lithuanian translation of Leonard Cohen’s novel Beautiful Losers. A winner of multiple awards such as a national prize for the best fiction debut of the year and a Fulbright fellowship, she had her plays presented at regional and state theatres in Lithuania as well as international festivals in Europe, Asia, and North America. In 2010 she got her Master’s degree in TV, Radio & Film from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University (NY, USA) and started working full time as a television writer and producer. The lion share of Aiste’s work in television, film, theatre, and publishing is devoted to promotion of mutual understanding among different cultures and communities. For more information, please, visit Aiste’s official website: www.aiste-ptakauske.com Contact Aiste Ptakauske E-mail: aiste.ptakauske@fulbrightmail.org Phone: +370 6879 4500 Status of the project: Funding: grant from Lithuanian Ministry of Culture to develop the first draft of the script (January-September, 2012) Project stage: 1st draft Looking for: producer and/or financier 36 POWR / LITHUANIA Wall of Nails Synopsis A typical Lithuanian situation: in an attempt to escape their problems at home, two young men are planning to go to Norway with a wish to easily earn some money and enjoy some fresh air in the Norwegian fiords. They are, however, confronted with new problems when they undertake to change the wooden sidings of the house of a grumpy and unsociable Norwegian man, Bjorn, who has been living alone for many years and who hates his next-door neighbours. The young men decide to make Bjorn overcome his isolation, and gradually, ‘nail by nail’, they win his trust. But at the same time old problems begin to surface. The friendship of the three men undergoes a critical test of human values. In the end Bjorn remains all alone, but with a new desire for life. Censure, which was selected for the programme ‘Forum of Independents’ at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. In 2006 he directed his second short film Mandabalu. It won awards for best screenplay and best direction in the category of short films at the AXX film festival. He also has experience in TV advertising. Contact Sarunas Mikulskis E-mail: sharas@kitchendept.lt Phone: +370 6187 5079 Sarunas Mikulskis Šarunas Mikulskis was born in Vilnius, Lithuania, in 1972. He studied architecture at Vilnius Art Academy and graduated with a degree of Master in Arts. In 2005 he directed his first short film Status of the project: Funding: € 7240. Development support from Lithuanian Culture Support Foundation Project stage: treatment, close to 1st draft stage. Looking for: co-producers POWR / NORWAY X’ANIA Synopsis Christiania, capital of Norway, in the early 1850’s. Cornelius Werring, a promising medical student, is appointed head of a cholera hospice, where he meets a radical colleague, Mikkel Mortensen. Much to his own dismay, he falls in love with him. Under the threat of jail and social ostracism, he decides to follow his heart, and pursues a secret relationship with Mikkel. In the process, he alienates his fiancée, his friends and family, and when Mikkel dies in an accident, Cornelius finds himself emotionally isolated. Rumours abound, but nobody wants a scandal, and he is allowed to finish his medical studies. His career is put on hold, however, and when he is offered a job as a bureaucrat he discovers a new sense of integrity in his grief, turns down the humiliating offer, and decides to continue Mikkel’s medical practice among the poor. television comedy show 5080 Nyhetskanalen. Currently he can be seen as a supporting actor in The Almost Man (Best Film at Karlovy Vary 2012). He is the author (with Bjørnar Pedersen) of two crime novels, Hillman Hunter and Dead Things. A third novel, The Spirit of Evil, will be published in the autumn of 2013. Contact Egil Birkeland E-mail: egilbirk@online.no Phone: +47 4151 6843 Egil Birkeland Egil has been working as a freelance writer and actor in Norwegian radio, television and film for 25 years. Since 2009 he is a recurring cast member of the weekly satiric radio show Hallo i uken. This autumn he also appears regularly on the Status of the project: Funding: none Project stage: treatment Looking for: producer 37 Best cameras. Better prices. Professional assistant included. Arri Alexa Plus 4:3 Red Epic-x Red One MX Red Scarlet-x 1st ACs 2nd ACs DIT — Ask for an offer! We work in Estonia and abroad. info@cineunit.com www.cineunit.com Screening 1 Demons Estonia 118 min, HD, 1:1.85, Dolby Stereo Surround Original title: Deemonid Director: Ain Mäeots Scriptwriters: Ain Mäeots, Toomas “Tommiboy” Tilk Cinematographer: Elen Lotman, E.S.C. Editor: Tambet Tasuja Music: Andres Lõo Principal cast: Tambet Tuisk, Ene Järvis, Ain Lutsepp, Evelin Võigemast, Mait Malmsten Producer: Anneli Ahven Production company: Kopli Kinokompanii National premiere: November 8, 2012 When Joko, Ants and Reeda, all in their own good reasons, first enter a casino, they can’t possibly be aware of the very existence of the demons inside them. Soon enough, they will know. But then it is already too late and their lives are suddenly caught in a fatal vortex. Demons is an attempt to treat gambling and casinos from the viewpoint of a gambling addict – through the stories of three very different people. These stories are based on events that have really happened, and the experience of real people. It is a story of lies told for a noble cause and that build a spiritual and mental hell for oneself and one’s close ones. We explore and depict this process so honestly, painfully and sometimes even painfully funny, just like it actually is. 40 Director Ain Mäeots graduated from Estonian Music and Theatre Academy in 1994. He started his career as actor and theatre director. In 1999 – 2006 he was artistic director of drama department in State Vanemuine Opera,Ballet and Drama Theatre. He has directed over 30 theatre and TV productions in these years Filmography: Demons (2012), Taarka (2008) Contact Kopli Kinokompanii Gonsiori 21, 10147 Tallinn, Estonia Phone: +372 5562 2041 E-mail: anneli@kinokompanii.ee www.kinokompanii.ee Screening 21 Pizzas Latvia 66 min, DCP, 1:2.35, Digital Surround Original title: Picas Director: Laila Pakalnina Scriptwriter: Laila Pakalnina Cinematographer: Uldis Jancis Editor: Kaspar Kallas Music: Gacho Principal cast: Pauls Iklavs, Reinis Stabins Producers: Laila Pakalnina, Kaur Kallas Production companies: Hargla Company (LAT), Digitaalne Sputnik (EST) National premiere: November 11, 2012 Features: Pizzas (2012), Silence (short, 2009), Stones (short, 2008), Fire (short, 2007), The Hostage (2006), Water (short, 2006), The Python (2003), The Shoe (1998), Anna’s Christmas (short 1992) Documentaries: Snow Crazy (2012), 33 Animals of Santa Claus (2011), On Rubiks’ Road (2010), Three Men and Fish Pond (2008), Theodore (2006), Dream Land (2004), The Bus (2004), It’ll Be Fine (2004), Martins (2002), Papa Gena (2001), Wake up (2000), The Oak (1997), Ubans (1995), The Mail (1995), The Ferry (1994), The Church (1993), The Pilgrimage (1991), The Linen (1991), The Dome (1991), The Choice (1990), And (1988) People do strange things and call them PIZZAS. Oskars (almost 18 years old) and Matiss (already 18) work as pizza bakers. It’s a temporary job for them. They have huge future plans – studies at e.g. Oxford. But they turn their lives upside down in one evening. Most likely they will be charged guilty even in the kidnapping of a child. Director Laila Pakalnina (1962) graduated from the Moscow University, Department of TV Journalism. in 1986. 1991 graduated from the Moscow Film Institute (VGIK), Department of Film Direction. Director and scriptwriter of 21 documentaries, 5 shorts, 4 fiction features. So she has 30 films, 2 children, 1 husband, 1 dog, 1 bicycle. And many ideas for new films. Contact Hargla Company Valtaiku 19 Riga, LV-029, Latvia Phone: +371 2923 5618 E-mail: laila.pakalnina@inbox.lv 41 Screening 3 Christmas Uncensored Latvia 89 min, DCP, 1:1,85 Original title: Tyli naktis Director: Maris Martinsons Scriptwriter: Maris Martinsons Cinematographer: Feliksas Abrukauskas Editor: Maris Martinsons Music: Mario Basanov Principal cast: Valda Bickute, Leonardas Pobedonoscevas, Kostas Smoriginas Producers: Linda Krukle, Mars Martinsons Production companies: Krukfilms International premiere: November 2012, Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, Estonia National premiere: January 2013 this Festival that Maris came up with his idea for Loss. Shooting took place on locations both in Lithuania and Ireland, edited and completed in Beijing. During 2008 – 2010 Loss has travelled all round the world participating in numerous film festivals. It has been the first feature film from Baltic winning A class film festival awards – Best Director and Best Music in Shanghai IFF (2008). Loss represented Lithuania in the Academy Awards as the Best Foreign Language film. His film Amaya is specially devoted for Kaori Momoi, Japanese actress, who made this inspiration. Currently he releases his third feature film Christmas. Uncensored. In the development stage there are three – four feature film projects, including a new comedy feature film Tempura with Kaori Momoi. In one of the post-soviet countries, where sexual taboos are still ruling the society and strong traditions of Catholicism and homophobia are alive, family members and couple of friends come together to celebrate Christmas Eve. “Silent night, holy night”.... Lack of silence, just as holiness... Director Maris Martinsons is a film director, screenwriter, editor and producer. After graduating from Latvia Conservatoires in 1989 as a drama theatre director he worked together with Latvian musicians as an independent director/producer for music videos. He has created over 10 original TV series. In 2006 he premiered his hostage drama Anastasia at the Montreal World Film Festival. It was during 42 Contact Krukfilms Kalnciema 1a-11, Riga Latvia Phone: +371 2205 1060 E-mail: info@krukfilms.com, linda.krukle@gmail.com www.krukfilms.com Screening 4 Mushrooming Estonia 93 min, HD & 35mm , 1:1.85, Dolby Digital Original title: Seenelkäik Director: Toomas Hussar Scriptwriter: Toomas Hussar Cinematographer: Rein Kotov, E.S.C. Editor: Tambet Tasuja Music: Arian Levin Principal cast: Raivo E. Tamm, Elina Reinold, Juhan Ulfsak, Üllar Saaremäe, Hendrik Toompere jr. jr. Producer: Piret Tibbo-Hudgins Production company: Allfilm International premiere: July 1, 2012, Karlovy Vary IFF National premiere: September 20, 2012 Politician Aadu and his wife set out to pick mushrooms on a day when he gets a call from a journalist confronting him with regard to suspected corruption. By coincidence the married couple find themselves in a car with a pompous rock idol named Zäk. After discovering that the spot his wife has chosen to pick mushrooms is full of vacationers, Aadu decides to find a quieter place. The woods where he ultimately ends up, however, are perhaps too deep and inhospitable, and finding a way out may not be easy... Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Seenelkaik?ref=ts&fref=ts Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuX6-eE-gH0 Director Toomas Hussar has studied mathematics at Tartu University and acting at the Drama School of Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre. He has written and directed numerous theatre plays and TV-dramas, and received awards for his works. His short stories have been published in the different collection-books. Mushrooming is his first feature film. Selected filmography: The Jürgensons (15 parts x 25 min documentary series) 2001, 100 Years -100 Days (100 parts x 1 min. drama series) 1999, The Mayor (tv-drama) 1997 Contact Allfilm Saue 11, Tallinn 10612, Estonia Phone: +372 6729070 E-mail: allfilm@allfilm.ee www.allfilm.ee 43 Screening 5 All Musicians Are Bastards Estonia 86 min, HD, 1:1.85, Stereo 5.1 Original title: Kõik muusikud on kaabakad Director: Heleri Saarik Scriptwriter: Heleri Saarik Cinematographer: Erik Põllumaa Editor: Jaak Ollino Music: Tõnis Leemets Principal cast: Riina Maidre, Nero Urke, Jarek Kasar, Helina Risti, Lotte Jürjendal Producer: Piret Tibbo-Hudgins Production company: Allfilm International premiere: October 7, 2012 - Busan IFF - Flash Forward, South Korea National premiere: October 26, 2012 Leila is a musician who instead of conventional jazz is drawn to surrealist electronic sounds. However, avant-garde doesn’t pay the rent, so Leila needs to keep herself busy with odd jobs. Self-destructive lifestyle and the cutthroat nature of music business causes Leila to wonder about where are the limits inside a person’s head, and the outside world, where human relationships are not the highest goal but simply a means of prestige and self exhibition. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KoikMuusikudOnKaabakad?ref=ts&fref=ts Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zahr24mSgeA Director Heleri Saarik graduated from the Baltic Film & Media School as a 44 film director and continues Theatre & Film Directing MA studies at Drama School of Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre. She received the Best Music Video Director Award at 2010 Estonian Music Awards. All Musicians Are Bastards is her first feature film. Filmography: Tale of a Nixie (short film) 2010, Especially in the Mornings (short film) (2008), Till Death do us Part (short film) 2008, To Rest and Play (short film) 2007 Contact Allfilm Saue 11, Tallinn 10612, Estonia Phone: +372 6729070 E-mail: allfilm@allfilm.ee www.allfilm.ee Screening 61 Fortress of Sleeping Butterflies Lithuania 117 min, 35 mm, 1:1.85, Dolby Digital Original title: Mieganciu drugeliu tvirtove Director: Algimantas Puipa Scriptwriters: Algimantas Puipa Cinematographer: Viktoras Radzevicius Editor: Ricardas Matacius Music: Kipras Mashanauskas Principal cast: Janina Lapinskaite, Vytautas Balsys, Migle Polikeviciute, Elze Gudaviciute Producer: Uljana Kim Production company: Studio Uljana Kim National premiere: January 13, 2012 Main heroine of the story is Monika—fifty-year-old wife of the lawyer. Her life’s turning point was unexpected event—car accident, and prostitute, which was injured in it, later committed suicide in hospital. Sudden encounter with the woman of such fate has a sequel. While her husband is on business trip, Monika takes home and is trying to look after three prostitutes deported from Germany. This custody eventually turns into the revaluation of her life events. Divorce, unexpected fates of her wards, finally, car accident, in which Monika is injured, is already a beginning of her new life—“Life after Life”. Director Algimantas Puipa (1951) graduated from Moscow Institute of Cinematography (VGIK) in 1974 Selected filmography, features: Woman and Her 4 Men (1983) - screened at Berlinale, Eternal Light (1987), Fish Day (1989), Ticket to Tajmahal (1990), The Process (1994), The Wolfteeth Necklace (1997) - winner of Nordic Countries Film Festival in Rouen 1998, Elze’s Life 1999 - Official selection Berlinale 2000, Forest of Gods (2005), Whisper of Sin (2007), Fortress of Sleeping Butterflies (2012) Contact Studio Uljana Kim Antakalnio 94-25, Vilnius, Lithuania Phone: +370 5234 7060 E-mail: kim@lfc.lt 45 Screening 7 Narcissus Lithuania / Greece 98 min, DCP, 1:1.85, Dolby Stereo SR Original title: Narcizas Director: Dovile Gasiunaite Scriptwriters: Dovile Gasiunaite Cinematographer: Audrius Kemezys Editors: Martina Jablonskaite, Gitas Silga Music: Giedrius Puskunigis Principal cast: Amvrosios Vlachopoulos, Sigitas Sidlauskas, Asmik Grigorian, Susanna Perry-Gilmore Producers: Teresa Ziboliene, Nikos Moutselos Production company: Ketvirta Versija National premiere: May 10, 2012 Narcissus (from Greek Narkissos) shares the root nark- with narcosis and narcotic. All these words have the same origin in the verb narka – to intoxicate through a strong smell. In the modern interpretation of the antique myth Teodore is a handsome and multiply gifted string quartet cello player, who knows his own value. He draws people in, but ends up hurting them, yet he is impossible to resist. Teodore abandons his family, career, and friends in his quest for a true challenge. He has yet to find out that his greatest confrontation will be with himself. Director Dovile Gasiunaite studied acting at Lithuanian Music Academy, and film directing in a foreign class at FAMU, Prague. She made a number of short films and worked as a casting director for a quite 46 a few Lithuanian films. Beginning with 2003 she has attended the “North by Northwest” film production courses as well as Ateliers d’Angers Master Classes led by Jeanne Moreau. Narcissus is her first feature film. Filmography: Orange Day (1996, 16mm, short/FAMU film festival), Dialog (1997, TV, short), I, You, He, She (1997, 35mm, short), Sarajevo Film festival; “Cinema Tout Ecran” Geneva), Who Sleeps Beside You (2003, 35mm, short, Rotterdam Hot Spots programme), Nothern Spring (2005, HDV, documentary), Papillon Postale (2006, HD), Narcissus (2012, feature) Contact Ketvirta Versija Revoniu 8-2, Vilnius, Lithuania Phone: +370 6180 7994 E-mail: kt.ziboliene@gmail.com www.ketvirtaversija.lt Screening 81 Vanishing Waves Lithuania, France, Belgium 120 min, DCP, 1:1.85, Dolby Digital Original title: Aurora Director: Kristina Buozyte Scriptwriters: Kristina Buozyte, Bruno Samper Cinematographer: Feliksas Abrukauskas Editor: Suzanne Fenn Music: Peter Von Poehl Principal cast: Marius Jampolskis, Jurga Jutaite, Rudolfas Jansonas, Vytautas Kaniushonis Producers: Ieva Norviliene, Pascal Judelewicz, Ludi Boeken, Chica Benadava Production companies: Tremora (LIT), Acajou Films (FRA), Les Films 2 Cinema (BEL) World sales: Reel suspects Premiere: July 2012, Karlovy Vary IFF Vanishing Waves is a powerful science fiction romance. Two young people explore their feelings in reality and in another dimension during scientific research, exposing links and contradictions between the human body and the mind. Director Born in Lithuania in 1982, Kristina Buožyte graduated with a Master degree in Film and TV Directing from Lithuanian Music and Theater Academy (2008). Kristina was noticed for her short movie Change The Record in 2005. Her first feature The Collectress (graduation work for master degree) won The Best Movie Award in Lithuanian Silver Crane Awards (2008); The Best Director Award in Russian film festival “Kinoshock” (2008) and participated in more than 30 film festivals – Karlovy Vary, Pusan, San Paulo, Valencia, Manheim, Cottbus, Cairo among others. Vanishing Waves is her 2nd feature film. Film was awarded with Special mention at Karlovy vary international film festival “East of the west” competition; Special mention at Neutchatel film festival; Special mention at Palic film festival, Emeric Pressburger prize at Miscolic film festival; Best Film, Best Director, Best Script and Best Actress at Fantastic Fest; Méliès d’Argent at Lund international film festival; Méliès d’Or at Stiges fantastic film festival. Sales Reel Suspects 42 rue Rene Boulanger 750101 Paris, France Phone: +33 1424 01284 E-mail: m@reelsuspects.com www.reelsuspects.com Contact Tremora Gyneju 4-327, Vilnius, LT-01109 Lithuania Phone: +370 52 49 75 78 Mobile: +370 6869 7584 E-mail: ieva@tremora.com www.tremora.com 47 Screening 9 Mom, I Love You Latvia 93 min, DCP, 1:2.35, Dolby Stereo SR Original title: Mammu, es nevi milu Director: Janis Nords Scriptwriter: Janis Nords Cinematographer: Tomias Datum Editor: Tamara Meem Principal cast: Kristofers Konovalovs, Viita Varpina, Matiss Livcans, Indra Brike Producers: Alise Gelze, Gatis Smits Production company: Tanka To be released: February 2013 An adventurous and touching story of Raimonds, a misunderstood adolescent, who trying to console his relationship with mother, delves into the world of trouble and petty crime. Director Janis Nords, recently finished his master degree in directing at National TV&Film School in London, is considered to be one of the most promising upcoming directors from Latvia. Features: Amateur – 2008 (feature), Au Revoir Monkeys – 2011 (short), Freedom Day – 2010 (short), Return of Sergeant Lapins – 2010 (feature / script) Contact Tanka Dzimavu 74.76-60, Riga, Latvia Phone: +371 6727 2702 E-mail: alise@tasse.lv 48 Screening 101 A Lady in Paris France, Estonia, Belgium 95 min, 35mm, 1:1,85, Dolby Digital Original title: Eestlanna Pariisis Director: Ilmar Raag Scriptwriters: Ilmar Raag, Agnes Feuvre, Lise Macheboeuf Cinematographer: Laurent Brunet Editor: Anne-Laure Guegan Music. Dez Mona Principal cast: Jeanne Moreau, Laine Mägi, Patrick Pineau Producers: Riina Sildos, Milena Poylo, Gilles Sacutor Co-producer: Philippe Kaufmann Production companies: Amrion (Estonia), TS Productions (France), La Parti Production (Belgium) World sales: Pyramide International Estonian premiere: October 12, 2013 French premiere: December 26, 2012 International premiere: August 4, 2012 Anne leaves Estonia to come to Paris and care for Frida, an elderly Estonian lady who emigrated to France long ago. Anne soon realizes that she is not wanted. All Frida wants from life is the attention of Stéphane, her younger lover from years ago. Stéphane, however, is desperate for Anne to stay and look after Frida, even against the old lady’s will. In this conflict of strangers, Anne finds her own way… Director Ilmar Raag is the writer and director of the most successful film ever made in Estonia — Class (Amrion 2007), which was sold to 91 countries, has been shortlisted for the national Oscar nomination, won 25 awards from 70 festivals, and developed into a multi-awarded TV-series. Ilmar’s next feature, A Lady in Paris (Amrion/Estonia, TS Productions/France, La Parti Production/Belgium) premiered at Locarno Film Festival, where it won the Ecumenical Jury Prize. In 2012, he also completed the production on his next two feature films, Kertu and I Won’t Come Back (Amrion/Estonia, CTB Film Company/Russia, Helsinki-film/Finland, Belarusfilm/Belorussia). Ilmar has an MA in screenwriting from Ohio University, and works as an expert for Eurimages and MEDIA Plus. Ilmar is also an acclaimed columnist in the biggest dailies, lecturer, and requested media consultant. Sales Pyramide International 5 rue du Chevalier de Saint-George 75008 Paris, France Phone: +33 14296 0101 E-mail: rricher@pyramidefilms.com www.pyramidefilms.com Contact Amrion Nurme 45, 11616 Tallinn, Estonia Phone: +372 677 6363 E-mail: info@amrion.ee www.amrion.ee 49 Screening 11 Purge Finland, Estonia 110 min, 35 mm, Dolby Digital rivalry, lust, and loss, that played out during the worst years of Estonia’s Soviet occupation. Original title: Puhdistus Director: Antti Jokinen Scriptwriters: Marko Leino, Antti Jokinen, based on a book by Sofi Oksanen Cinematographer: Rauno Ronkainen Music: Tuomas Kantelinen Editor: Kimmo Taavila Principal cast: Liisi Tandefelt, Laura Birn, Peter Franzén, Tommi Korpela, Kristjan Sarv, Jaanika Arum, Maria Avdjushko Producers: Markus Selin, Jukka Helle, Kristian Taska, Maria Avdjushko Production companies: Solar Films Inc. (FIN), Taska Film (EST) World sales: TrustNordisk National premiere: August 30, 2012 International premiere: Director Purge is a breathtakingly suspenseful story of two women dogged by their own shameful pasts and the dark, unspoken history that binds them. Aliide has experienced the horrors of the Stalin era and the deportation of Estonians to Siberia, but she herself has to cope with the guilt of opportunism and even manslaughter. One night in 1992 she finds a young woman in the courtyard of her house; Zara has just escaped from the claws of the Russian mafia who held her as a sex slave. Aliide later learns that the girl is related to her. Each of them a survivor, Aliide and Zara engage in a complex arithmetic of suspicion and revelation to distil each other’s motives; gradually, their stories emerge in the culmination of a tragic family drama of 50 Antti Jokinen is a writer and director of film and television in Finland, the US, and internationally. In more than 20 years he has written and developed features, produced and directed documentaries and series for Finnish TV, and helmed ca 100 commercials and music videos in the US. His first US feature film is The Resident (2010), starring Hilary Swank and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. In Finland, he has the feature film Nicolas North in pre-production, written with Matthew Wilder and Eric Rochford. Sales TrustNordisk ApS Filmbyen 28, 2650 Hvidovre, Denmark Phone/fax: +45 3686 8788 / +45 3686 8750 E-mail: info@trustnordisk.com www.trustnordisk.com Contact Taska Film Tartu mnt 18-51 10115 Tallinn, Estonia E-mail: film@taska.ee Solar Films Inc. Veneentekijäntie 20 00210 Helsinki, Finland Phone: +358 9 417 44700 E-mail: markus.selin@solarfilms.com www.solarfilms.com We assist in securing rights to locations and streamlining cooperation with city services, and manage a rich database of specialised companies in the region with a constantly updated list of locations in Krakow and Malopolska. film-commission.pl R s o i u d n l r d o W e h T Viru väljak 3, 10111 Tallinn, Estonia Phone: +372 622 2900 • Fax: +372 622 2901 info@nordichotels.eu • Skype: nhf.reception www.nordichotels.eu BE coming soon / EST The Arbiter 103 min, DCP, 1:2,35, Dolby Digital Original title: The Arbiter Genre: drama Director: Kadri Kõusaar Scriptwriter: Kadri Kõusaar Cinematographer: Jean-Noel Mustonen F.S.C Main cast: Lee Ingleby, Lina Leandersson, Andrea Lowe, Sofia Berg-Böhm, Tony Aitken Producer: Aet Laigu Production companies: Tugev Tuul Filmis, Film I Väst Sales Agent: The Yellow Affair To be released: winter-spring 2013 Production budget: 1 000 000 € Project status: in post-production Looking for: Festivals, distribution John (35) is a bright Cambridge scientist, who always comes across as a pleasant fellow. When his fiancée leaves him, he withdraws from his world of academic isolation in order to try out some of his long-gestating theories on how to make the world a better place. On his journey through the English countryside, John is accompanied by his 14-year-old donor child – Ronja, whom he tries to convert to the same radical ideas that he believes in. Social engineering. Cleansing. Murder. All justifiable in the mind of a modern day European Psycho. Director Kadri Kõusaar (1980) is an Estonian writer, director and adventurer. Her media debut started at the age of 13 writing and drawing cartoons and comic strips for newspapers. She has since published numerous film, literature and music-related articles, as well as bestselling novels Ego (2001), Free Rise (2004) and Alfa (2011) in Estonia. She has also worked as a radio-DJ and TV-host, and has a university degree in Spanish language and literature. Her debut feature Magnus (2007), about a father trying to help his suicidal son, was the first Estonian film ever included at the official selection of Cannes Film Festival (Un Certain Regard, 2007) and won main awards at Wiesbaden’s GoEast and Prague’s Febiofest. The Arbiter is Kadri’s second feature. Production company Meteoriit is an independent production house founded in 2008 with the goal of producing, above all, films on an international scale that have an universal, human-interest appeal. Meteoriit focuses on the production and international co-production of feature films, documentaries and trans-media projects. Producer Aet Laigu holds M.A. in Film and TV Studies from the University of Warwick, UK. Prior to establishing an independent production company Meteoriit in 2008, she worked on the production of several short films, TV commercials and feature films in Estonia. Currently she is producing directors like Aku Louhimies, Kadri Kõusaar and Agne Nelk. Sales The Yellow Affair AB Götgatan 9, SE-11646, Stockholm, Sweden Phone: +46 8 645 1212 Mobile: +46 76 1993166 (Swe), +358 50 548 1851 (Fin) E-mail: miira@yellowaffair.com Skype: mpaasilinna www.yellowaffair.com Contact Meteoriit Film Kapi 5-17, 10136 Tallinn, Estonia Phone: +372 5825 8962 E-mail: aet@meteoriit.ee Skype: aetlaigu www.thearbiter.eu 53 BE coming soon / EST Free Range / Ballad on Approving of the World 16mm, 1:1,66, Dolby Stereo SR Director Original title: Free Range / Ballaad maailma heakskiitmisest Genre: drama Director: Veiko Õunpuu Scriptwriters: Veiko Õunpuu, Robert Kutvitz Cinematographer: Mart Taniel E.S.C. Main cast: Lauri Lagle, Jaanika Arum, laura Peterson, Peeter Volkonski, Roman Baskin Producer: Katrin Kissa Production company: Homeless Bob Production Sales: Level K To be released: April 2013 Production budget: 600 000 € Project status: in post-production Looking for: festivals, distribution Veiko Õunpuu (1972) has been a worker, a carpet salesman, a university dropout on three different occasions, a backbacker and a painter. In 2006 he founded production company Homeless Bob Production. His debut feature Autumn Ball premiered in Venice IFF in 2007 and won Orizzonti Award. He received European Talent Award for the script of The Temptation of St. Tony which later premiered internationally in Sundance in 2011 and was nominated for the best production design in European Film Awards. He has been chosen to be among 100 most intrigueging contemporary film directors in the book „10*10 in Film” by Phaidon Publishing. Filmography: Empty (2006, short), Autumn Ball (2007), The Temptation of St Tony (2010) In development: The Last One - Bufo Film (finland) The story of a promising young man with exciting career opportunities and a looming marital bliss. How to live knowing that you might never know joy in day-today life? That you will never know the true pride from your work? That there is no meaning, no goal, no hope for improvement? That life will continue and you have to get used to it and also to the idea that it might go on for a long time and, worst of all, it is almost impossible to put up with it in a dignified way? I am referring to shoddy housing, meagre food, poverty and the extensive coarseness below and stolid indifference above, and to the dreadful machinery that minces its way through the lives of most of us, evermore efficient, ceasing little by little to even pretend that this is not our murder, packed and sold to us in variable forms. Where should we head to, cattle for slaughter, and how is it possible to participate in all this, without losing our humanity and the last bits of our lust for life? Fred (29), an aspiring writer, is thrust into the middle of these questions – his girlfriend Susanna (23) is pregnant and intends to keep the baby. 54 Production company Homeless Bob Production was created by Veiko Õunpuu and Katrin Kissa in 2006. Filmography: Autumn Ball (director Veiko Õunpuu, 2007), The Temptation of St Tony (director Veiko Õunpuu, 2009), The Idiot (director Rainer Sarnet, 2011). Films on development: Out of Fashion (documentary, director Jaak Kilmi), The Last One (feature, Estonia-Finland co-production) Sales LevelK ApS Gl.Kongevej 137B 3rd fl. DK - 1850 Frederiksberg C., Denmark Phone: +45 4844 3072 E-mail: tine.klint@levelk.dk www.levelk.dk Contact Homeless Bob Production Telliskivi 57-68, Tallinn 10412, Estonia Phone: +372 56 677 855 E-mail: kissa@too.ee www.homelessbob.ee BE coming soon / EST Lisa Limone and Maroc Orange 73 min, HD, 16:9, Dolby Digital Original title: Lisa Limone and Maroc Orange Genre: family film, S3D animated stop-motion opera Director: Mait Laas Scriptwriters: Kati Kovacs, Peep Pedmanson Cinematographer: Ragnar Neljandi Animators: Märt Kivi, Triin Sarapik-Kivi Main cast: Omar, Iiris Vesik, Peeter Volkonski Producers: Andrus Raudsalu, Arvo Nuut, Kerdi Kuusik-Oengo, Mark Lvoff Production companies: Nukufilm (Estonia) Bufo Oy (Finland) To be released: February-March 2013 Production budget: 1 200 000 € Project status: in post-production Looking for: distribution This 3D animated opera deals in a socially critical manner with the topic of illegal immigrants fleeing from Africa to Europe and it is also a story of impossible love between orange boy Maroc, a singing boat refugee, and lemon girl Lisa, who collects singing seashells and dreams about love. Maroc is the brave hero-type, bound by prejudice and poverty. Lisa is the daughter of a rich businessman and tomato ketchup plantation owner. Here we have the fruitier version of Romeo andJuliet – a 3D animatred operatic extravaganza. Director Mait Laas (1970) is Estonian animation artist, author and director. He studied art at the Pedagogical University in Tallinn in 1989-1993 and completed MA degree in visual media at the Advanced School for Fine Arts in Vienna during 1993-1994. MA in art studies at Tallinn Pedagogical University followed in 1994-2000. Mait Laas has held lectures and lead programmes about animation, organized animation work-shops, he has also opened exhibitions with his paintings and graphics, his texts have been published in six books from 19932002. Recent filmography: Miriam’s Gnome (pilot project of the Miriam-series, 2003), Lost and found (2004, compilation feature film Gene+Ratio), Generatio (2005, director’s cut), Kings of the Time (2005, 72-minute documentary with animation elements) Production company Nukufilm is the biggest animation (stop motion) studio in Northern Europe for its size of the studio, technical supplies and number of employees. Currently there are 25 people working at the studio, mostly qualified directors, artists, puppet-makers, docorations and prop masters, electricians, animators, DOP-s, their assistants, editors and CGI graphists. Nukufilm has several long-term partners from Finland, Norway and Iceland, we have also cooperated with local and international advertising agencies. Films produced in Nukufilm are shown in the copmetition programmes of film festivals all over the world. Nukufilm has produced over 200 different animantions and cartoons during its 54 years. In a year Nukufilm produces 60 minutes of pure animation. Sales The Yellow Affair AB Götgatan 9, SE-11646, Stockholm, Sweden Phone: +46 8 645 1212 Mobile: +46 76 1993166 (Swe), +358 50 548 1851 (Fin) E-mail: miira@yellowaffair.com Skype: mpaasilinna Contact Nukufilm Niine 11, Tallinn, Estonia Phone: +372 641 4308 E-mail: kerdi@nukufilm.ee, andrus@nukufilm.ee www.nukufilm.ee 55 BE coming soon / EST Living Images 135 min, HD, 16:9, Dolby Stereo SR Original title: Elavad pildid Genre: drama Director: Hardi Volmer Scriptwriter: Peep Pedmanson Cinematographer: Kristjan-Jaak Nuudi Main cast: Sandra Uusberg, Anu Lamp, Ita Ever, Priit Võigemast, Tõnu Oja, Aarne Üksküla Producer: Anneli Ahven Production company: Exitfilm To be released: beginning of 2013 Production budget: 660 000 € Project status: in post-production Looking for: distribution, festivals Living Images is a historical drama that takes us through the 20th century by telling the stories of two Estonians, Helmi and Julius. The film begins with their birth in the beginning of the century, in a house belonging to Baltic Germans, and ends in the end of the century in a newly deliberated Estonia on the backdrop of the arrival of neo-capitalist values. It is a grotesque approach on the difficult turns in Estonian, as well as European history and involves a good dose of both humour and tragedy. signed TV-commercials and music videos, has designed books and theatre posters. Production company Exitfilm is Estonian based production company founded in 1992, owned by producer and director Peeter Urbla. Exitfilm is member of the Estonian Film Producers Association, working closely with local funds, film community and especially with young talents. Longterm experience working with European companies gives Exitfilm a good platform for international co-operating. The strategy of Exitfilm is targeted to the ambitious projects with high production value, both feature films and creative documentaries. Exitfilm has produced and co-produced more than 10 feature films, 40 shorts and documentaries and supplied with production services 11 feature films from Nordic countries, England, Germany, France. Filmography: Men at Arms (2005), Shop of Dreams (2005), Where Souls Go (2007), Taarka (2008), The Visitor (2008), A Friend of Mine (2011) Director Hardi Volmer a filmmaker, art director, stage designer. After graduating form the State Art Institute he started to work in the film studio Tallinnfilm as a puppet film director and production designer. At the same time he was active as a freelance scenographer in almost all Estonian and some foreign theatres. Hardi Volmer has directed and designed animated films, feature films, a documentaries, TV-serials, and TV-shows. He has made sets for theatrical productions and directed several plays. He has staged and de- 56 Contact Exitfilm Madala 1, 10313 Tallinn, Estonia Phone: +372 5562 2041 E-mail: anneli@exitfilm.ee BE coming soon / EST In the Crosswind 90 min, HD, 1:1,85, Dolby Digital Original title: Risttuules Genre: drama Director: Martti Helde Scriptwriter: Martti Helde Cinematographer: Erik Põllumaa Main cast: Laura Peterson, Tarmo Song, Ingrid Isotamm, Einar Hillep, Mirt Peegel Producer: Piret Tibbo-Hudgins Production company: Allfilm To be released: autumn 2013 Production budget: 650 000 € Project status: in production Looking for: co-producer June 14, 1941, 3 a.m. Over 40000 people from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are deported by Soviets to Siberia, among them philosophy student Erna, a happily married mother of a little girl. Her husband is sent to prison camp, while Erna and her daughter are dispatched together with other women and children to remote Siberian territories for fifteen years. Despite hunger, fear and humiliation, Erna never loses her sense of freedom and hope of returning to homeland. Based on true events and told through unconventional film language. www.inthecrosswind.com Director Martti Helde graduated from the Baltic Film & Media School as a film director and continues Theatre & Film Directing MA studies at Drama School of Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre. Martti has directed short films, TV-commercials, and Black Nights Film Festival opening trailers. In the Crosswind is Martti’s first feature film. Selected filmography: Burnt Mistakes (short film) 2010, Thibault (short film) 2009 Producer Piret Tibbo-Hudgins began her film production career with Estonian state film studio Tallinnfilm, having graduated from VGIK, Moscow in 1985. Piret worked as a freelance filmmaker and music journalist before co-founding Allfilm in 1995. Her career as a producer encompasses feature films (fiction and documentaries) and she has extensive experience of international co-production. Piret also lectures in audiovisual management and scriptwriting at the Baltic Film & Media School. Production company Allfilm holds the position as one of the strongest and biggest production companies in Estonia. Since its establishment in 1995, Allfilm’s activity ranges from producing features and documentaries to producing TV-commercials and music videos. In 17 years Allfilm has completed more than 500 projects both domestically and internationally and has currently more than 10 projects in development or in production. Sales Deckert Distribution Marienplatz 1, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany Phone: +49 341 215 66 38 E-mail: info@deckert-distribution.com www.deckert-distribution.com Contact Allfilm Saue 11 Tallinn 10612, Estonia Phone: +372 6729070 E-mail: allfilm@allfilm.ee www.allfilm.ee 57 BE coming soon / EST A Spell to Ward Off the Darkness 120 min, HD, 1:1,85, Dolby Stereo A Original title: A Spell to Ward Off the Darkness Genre: non-fiction Directors: Ben Russell, Ben Rivers Cinematographers: Ben Russell, Ben Rivers Main cast: Robert A.A Lowe Producers: Nadia Turincev, Indrek Kasela Production company: Rouge International (FRA), MTÜ Must Käsi (EST) To be completed: March 2013 Production budget: 351 558 € Project status: in post-production Looking for: sales agent, festivals, distribution A Spell is a non-fiction feature film in three parts that refers directly to the cinema of Jean Rouch (Chronicle of a Summer), Lisandro Alonso (La Libertad) and Jean-Luc Godard (Sympathy for the Devil), among others. Shot on color Super 16mm filmstock in the farther reaches of Norway by artist/filmmakers Ben Rivers (UK) and Ben Russell (USA), A Spell depicts a single character at three disparate moments in his late 20s – as a hermit in the solitude of the Arctic Circle, as an uncertain participant in a contemporary “commune” in Estonia, and as the drummer for a neo-Pagan black metal band. Taken as a whole, A Spell is a direct inquiry into what it means to lead a spiritual existence in an increasingly secular world. Directors Ben Rivers (1972) is a contemporary experimental film maker and artist based in London. His work has been shown in many film festivals and galleries throughout the world, and won numerous awards. His work ranges from themes about exploring unknown wilderness territories to candid and intimate portrayals of real-life subjects. 58 His first feature length film Two Years at Sea was presented in September 2011 in the Orizzonti section at the 68th Venice International Film Festival and won the FIPRESCI prize. Ben Russell (1976) is an American experimental filmmaker. Russell developed his reputation over the numerous shorts he made throughout the 2000s, many as part of his Trypps series, and as the curator of the Magic Lantern Cinema in Providence, Rhode Island. In 2009, he made his acclaimed feature debut, Let Each One Go Where He May, shot in Suriname. Production companies Rouge International is a production company founded in July 2007 by Julie Gayet and Nadia Turincev producing full length feature and documentary films such as: 8 Times Up by Xabi Molia (San Sebastian, 2009), Fix ME by Raed Andoni (Sundance, 2010), Bonsai by Cristian Jimenez (Cannes, 2011). Must Käsi MTÜ (Black Hand) is a distribution and production company founded in February 2010 by Indrek Kasela, that is mainly focused on art-house films distribution in Baltic States. Black Hand also operates cinema Sõprus in Tallinn that has served its audience already for 55 years and has earned its street credibility as cinema where no compromises are made. Contact Rouge International 54 rue du Fbg Saint Honore, 75008 Paris, France Phone: +33 9 5149 3844 E-mail: nadia@rouge-international.com www.rouge-internationa.com BE coming soon / LAT Escaping Riga 75 min, DCP, 1:2,35, Dolby Stereo SR Producer Original title: Escaping Riga Genre: drama Director: Davis Simanis Scriptwriter: Davis Simanis Cinematographer: Andrejs Rudzats Main cast: Gints Grube, Mihails Karasikovs, Martins Pocs, Viktors Puglejevs, Gustavs Briedis Producers: Liga Gaisa, Inese Boga Grube Production company: Mistrus Media To be released: November 2013 Production budget: 115 700 € Financing in place: 78% Project status: in post-production Looking for: Sales agent, distribution Liga Gaisa works as producer, director and editor. She has worked as audiovisual project developer since 2004. She has participated in several international film project and script development workshops and master classes (Ex-Oriente Films, ESoDoc, Four Corners, IDFAcademy Summer School a.o). In autumn 2011 she premiered her first documentary The End Game as director and got INTERFILM Award for the Best Baltic Documentary at IFF Arsenals. Education: MA, Baltic Film and Media School (Tallinn, Estonia) and the Latvian Academy of Culture Two men are born on the same street around the same time thus due to turmoils of the first half of the 20th century their lives are separated. Escaping Riga is a fascinating journey that follows twists and turns of a peculiar and tragic friendship of two geniuses – the Russian filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein and the British philosopher Sir Isaiah Berlin. Production company Mistrus Media was established in 2000 and focuses on production of creative documentaries for international audience. A couple of years ago the company started to produce fiction films. Mistrus Media is currently engaged in production of several documentaries and a full length fiction film. Director Davis Simanis works as film director, scriptwriter and editor, as well as works as a lecturer of film theory in several universities. He has received Grand Prix awards (Sounds Under the Sun, 2010) at the festivals Kameraton and Zlata Praha. He also was awarded for Best Debut (Version. LNO, 2007) and FIPRESCI Award (Valkyrie Limited, 2009) at the Latvian National Film Festival Lielais Kristaps. Contributing writer for the magazine Rigas Laiks. Education: Mag.Phil., University of Latvia; currently following PhD programme at the Latvian Academy of Culture. Contact Mistrus Media Blaumana Iela 11/13-12, LV-1011 Riga, LatviaPhone:+371 6731 3314 E-mail: birojs@mistrusmedia.lv mistrusmedia.lv 59 BE coming soon / LAT Graduation Year 100 min, HD, 16:9, Dolby Stereo A Original title: Izlaiduma Gads Genre: drama Director: Andris Gauja Scriptwriter: Lauris Gundars Cinematographer: Aleksandrs Grebnevs Main cast: Inga Alsina, Marcis Klatenbergs, Andrey Smolyakov Producers: Andris Gauja, Guna Stahovka Production companies: Riverbed, Horosho Productions To be released: May 2013 Production budget: 360 000 € Project status: in post-production Looking for: post-production financing, sales agent, distribution produced director Rolands Kalnihs’s feature Bitter Wine (2007), which won a Lielais Kristaps award for best supporting actress at the 2008 Latvian national film awards. She is producer on the feature in development The Apartments, for which scriptwriter Martinš Slishans won the 2012 Krzysztof Kieslowski Award at Cannes Film Festival for best screenplay from Eastern and Central Europe. She has produced also award winning documentaries and a animation film. Graduation Year tells the story of Zane, a young Latvian teacher. A true idealist, she tries to live her life in the most meaningful way possible. She takes her mission as a teacher seriously and works hard to help her students develop their talents. Even so, as for many younger teachers, it’s hard for Zane to keep her distance from her class -- the young people soon become a sort of family for her. When she realizes she’s falling in love with one of them, the others start to feel left out. She faces a stark choice between her personal happiness and what society expects. Director Andris Gauja graduated from the Latvian Academy of Culture’s scriptwriting and dramaturgy programme. He began making documentary films, experimenting with documentary and feature film genre elements. Graduation Year is the director’s feature debut. Producer Guna Stahovska has worked as the film development producer at Platforma Studio since 2004, participating in the creation of films such as Defenders of Riga (2007) and Rudolf’s Gold (2010). She 60 Contact Riverbed Andrejostas 4A, Riga, LV-1050, Latvia Phone: +37129473007 E-mail: info@riverbed.lv www.riverbed.lv BE coming soon / LAT European Dream Team 1935 120 min, 1:2,39, Dolby Digital Original title: Sapnu Komanda 1935 Genre: drama Director: Aigars Grauba Scriptwriter: Franciska Cimare, Aigars Grauba, Andrejs Ekis Cinematographer: Gvido Skulte Main cast: Janis Amanis, Inga Alsina, Andris Bulis, Viktors Ellers, Janis Vimba, Martins Liepa Producer: Andrejs Ekis Production company: Platforma Filma To be released: November 2012 Production budget: 2 000 000 € Financing in place: 100% Project status: completed Looking for: distribution the time has come for the company to expand into international film market. Producer Andrejs Ekis has a long and rich history as a film, TV and stage producer and writer. He was the founder of one of the biggest TV stations in Latvia – Latvian Independent Television and is the creator of some of the most popular TV programs in Latvia. He has produced such films as Rudolf’s Gold (2010), Defenders of Riga (2007) and Dangerous Summer (2000), all of which are some of the biggest film projects in Latvia. He is also the founder film studio ‘Cinevilla’ which is the only open air film decoration in Baltic States. European Dream Team 1935 tells about a very exciting event in Latvian, as well as European, history - first European Championship in basketball and Latvian team’s achievements in it. Dream Team is not a film only about basketball. It is a film about team spirit, making hard choices, dreams and victory, about a shattered Europe after World War I, rebuilding its values and seeking unity. Production company Platforma was established in 2003. Main activities of the company are production of feature films, videos, commercials, as well as renting out film equipment. Since 2003, Platforma cooperates with – Cinevilla Studio, which is responsible for technical production and services, and Platforma Film, which is responsible for creative development and production of its own films. The company is responsible for two largest national blockbusters in recent history Defenders of Riga (2007) and Dangerous Summer (2003). With the success at home Contact Platforma Filma 17 Elijas St., Riga, Latvia, LV-1050 Phone: +371 670 70 205 Email: info@platformafilm.com, aija.ansone@platformafilm.com www.platformafilm.com 61 BE coming soon / LAT Mushroomers 75 min, HB, 16:9, Dolby Digital Original title: Senatojai Genre: comedy Director: Ivars Tontegode Scriptwriter: Ivars Tontegode Cinematographer: Janis Skulme Main cast:Andrejs Mozeiko, Mareks Balmanis, Kristians Karelins, Sandra Zvigule, Dace Everss Producer: Roberts Vinovskis Production company: Locomotive Productions To be released: March 8, 2013 Production budget: 250 000 € Financing in place: 100% Project status: in post-production Looking for: sales agent Peter is just another peter, so very ordinary. He works at the office where colleagues make fun of him, the boss makes sexual advances and the sick mother harasses him at home. Step by step his life becomes completely unbearable. Once by a chance Peter happens to try magic mushrooms and this adventure turns into new move towards a different life. from Baltic States thus looking for a fresh sight and new path in Baltic movie production. Producer Roberts Vinovskis has produced a number of award winning films. Currently working with feature films – M.O.J. and Mushroomers at the stage of post - production and feature drama Sanatorium of Ashes in stage of pre-production. Roberts Vinovskis also runs filming equipment rental and post-production house BBrental.eu serving about 4-5 feature films across the Baltic’s and Russia every year and distribution company Best Baltic - main DVD distributor for films made in Baltic countries. Roberts is a member of the Latvian Filmmakers‘ Union and the Latvian Association of Film Producers. Filmography as producer: Philosopher Escaped (feature documentary, 2005), Working Class Ballet (feature documentary, 2009), Valkyrie Limited (feature documentary, 2009), People Out There (feature, 2012) Director Ivars Tontegode (1983), studied graphic design at Art Academy of Latvia, then film directing at Latvian Academy of Culture. His first short film Obsession received the award as Best short film at Latvian National film festival Lielais Kristaps 2009. Mushroomers is Ivar’s first feature film. Production company Film studio Locomotive Productions was founded in 1999. The studio’s principal activities are focused on fiction and creative documentaries. The studio’s strength is in discovering young talents 62 Contact Locomotive Productions Bruninieku str. 28 - 57, Riga, LV - 1011, Latvia Phone: +371 6729 8538 E-mail: office@locomotive.lv www.locomotive.lv BE coming soon / LIT Santa 90 min, HD, 1:2,35 Original title: Santa Genre: drama Director: Marius Ivashkevicius Scriptwriter: Marius Ivashkevicius Cinematographer: Tuomo Hutri Main cast: Tommi Korpela, Sandra Dauksaite, Ovidijus Petravicius Producers: Kestutis Drazdauskas, Asta Valciukaite, Joonas Berghall, Petri Rossi Production companies: ARTBOX, OKTOBER, Cineworks To be released: December 2012 Production budget: 1 160 000 € Project status: in post-production Looking for: Sales agent, distribution commercial ads. Artbox is working with upcoming talent and already established directors aiming to produce and co-produce films of wide international appeal. Films produced by Artbox were screened and have received awards in numerous international film festivals: International Venice Film Festival, Clermont Ferrand, Manheim, Bilbao, Siena, Trouville, Biaritz, Prague, Brno and others. A trip to Lapland leads to immense changes in the life of a single mother and her seven- year- old son. Love, hope and efforts to save the life of the little boy will change dramatically the lives of the two grown-ups. Producers Kestutis Drazdauskas graduated from the University of Vilnius. He has been working as producer since 1998. In 2003 he founded ARTBOX where he has produced a number of award winning films. Asta Valciukaite received MA in Cultural Management & Cultural Policy, at Vilnius Academy of Fine Arts, UNESCO Chair. She has been working as location manager and production manager since 2003. She works as a producer at ARTBOX since 2006. Production company Established in 2003, Artbox is one of the leading production companies in the Baltics producing feature films, documentaries and Contact ARTBOX Labdariu str. 5, LT-01120 Vilnius, Lithuania Phone: +370 6151 0699 E-mail: asta.v@artbox.lt www.artbox.lt 63 BE coming soon / LIT The Excursionist 109 min, 35mm, 1:1,85, Dolby Digital Original title: Ekskursante Genre: historical drama Director: Audrius Juzenas Scriptwriter: Pranas Morkus Cinematographer: Ramunas Greicius Main cast: Sergej Garmas, Raisa Riazanova, Igorj Savockin, Aliona Ivcenko, Anastasija Marcenkaite, Viktor Dobronravov, Ksenija Rapoport, Dmitrij Godsdiner Producer: Algirdas Semeskavicius Production company. Cinemark To be released: March 2013 Production budget: 1 000 000 € Financing in place: 900 000 € Project status: in post-production Looking for: sales, distribution, festivals studios „Warner Bross“, „Twentieth Century Fox“ and „Columbia Tristar“. CineMark was the official representative of the companies mentioned for 12 years. By its activity CineMark has stopped Lithuanian cinema theatres from complete downfall, getting back their spectators. CineMark has created a serious base for new cinema centers and general film renaissance in Lithuania. That is why today CineMark is coming back to its main and primal activity – production and distribution of Lithuanian films. So, the company CineMark is proud to present for your attention one of its most significant project – a new feature film Eksurante (The Excursionist). The power of Belief and Love makes wonders This film is based on really incredible story of 11 years old girl from Baltic’s, who escaped exile prisoners Trans-Siberian train on the way to Gulag in 50-ties and made her 6000 km long and dangerous, full of adventures way back home. This is a film about hope and destiny, love and friendship, and immeasurable humanity of people. Production company Cinema company CineMark was established in April, 1992 to implement Lithuanian film production and distribution. CineMark did its best and implemented several important themes of new and previous times. The full feature Žemes keleiviai (Earth Travelers) was born in 1993. In 1994-1995 Menulio Lietuva (Lunar Lithuania) followed. CineMark was the first to start distributing Hollywood films in Lithuania presenting to viewers films of the biggest world film 64 Contact Cinemark Konarskio 49-606, Vilnius, Lietuva Phone: +370 6994 7910 E-mail: Cinemark@cinemark.lt BE coming soon / LIT We Will Riot 80 min, HD, 1:1,85, Stereo Original title: We Will Riot Genre: coming of age drama Director: Romas Zabarauskas Scriptwriter: Romas Zabarauskas Cinematographer: Ville Piippo Main cast: Ebeneezer Nii Sowah, Beata Tiskevic, Sharunas Zenkevicius Producer: Romas Zabarauskas Production company: Naratyvas To be released: February 2013 Production budget: 100 000 € Project status: in post-production Looking for: co-producer, sales, distribution, festivals Luke is an up-and-coming DJ from an affluent New York family with a Lithuanian father and an African-American mother. When Luke hears from an estranged grandmother in Lithuania, he defies his parents and decides to visit this far-away country, flying straight to the capital city Vilnius. He falls in love with the city, a rebellious girl called Marta, and the local music scene - the beatmakers - promoted by an aggressive gay manager, Andy. Luke’s grandma’s connections get him a deal with the municipality to become the manager of a new nightclub, and he takes up the challenge... but the deal turns out to be poisoned, forcing Luke to rebel in ways he never imagined. We Will Riot portrays the innovative Lithuanian beatmaking scene alongside the shady dealings of corrupt governments. Music production and spontaneous political protest explode together onscreen, fuelled by the internet and access to new technology in Eastern Europe. Director and producer Romas Zabarauskas, openly gay 21-year-old Lithuanian film di- rector captivated international audiences and caused a national scandal with his debut short film Porno Melodrama, a Berlinale 2011 Panorama selection confronting Lithuania’s homophobic legislation. Zabarauskas is currently studying film at Hunter College, New York City. Production company Naratyvas is a newly established company of Romas Zabarauskas aimed to produce independent politically engaged yet entertaining fiction films. Contact Naratyvas Konarskio 10a-19 Phone: +370 6198 6027 E-mail: theosarapo@gmail.com 65 BE coming soon / LIT Name in the Dark 85 min, REDCAM, 16:9, Dolby Stereo A Original title: Vardas Tamsoje Genre: drama Director: Agne Marcinkeviciute Scriptwriter: Agne Marcinkeviciute Cinematographer: Feliksas Abrukauskas Main cast: Neringa Varnelyte, Gediminas Storpirstis, Gintaras Liutkevicius, Jurgita Jurkute, Deimena Drasutyte Producer: ZIivile Gallego Production company: Fralita Films To be released: October 2013 Production budget: 100 000 € Financing in place: missing 30 000 € for post-production Project status: in production Looking for: co-producer, sales, distribution, festivals A small town investigator’s job is to untangle cases, which, more than often are meaningless and egoistic to absurd. From time to time she varies her life with a glass of wine, in most cases more than one. Memories both painfull and exciting stream into her blood alongside with the wine. In those memories – a tragic experience of love for her music teacher who in a way has raised, educated her and then one day simply dissapeared. Suddenly her routine is shaken by a mysterious murder of a teenage girl. When investigating this case she is forced to face her own past, as the main suspect is her ex lover - the music teacher. Just beeing able to deal with the past she’ll be able to look in the future. Director Agne Marcinkeviciute graduated with an MA in TV directing from Lithuanian Music Academy. From 1993 to 2003 she worked at Lithuanian Film Studios on film projects as director’s assistant, film set administrator, and script supervisor. From 1997 to 2004 she was theatre studio director at Culture Centre of Vilnius Pedagogical University. 66 Marcinkeviciute has acted as program director and editor for several TV programs at Lithuanian National Television and Vilnius TV. She has also worked as journalist for the magazines Tavo Vaikas, Vyras ir Moteris, newspaper Amerikos Lietuvis and Bernardinai.lt. Since 1999 she has written and directed short films, radio plays and more than 10 documentary films. Production company Fralita Films was established in 2009 by producer Zivile Gallego, where she is currently working with documentary and feature film production. Zivile Gallego took participation in EAVE 2011 workshop. Currently in production: Name in the Dark. In development: Emilia by Donatas Ulvydas. Sangaile by Alante Kavaite, in co-production with Les Films d’Antoine (France). Ticket to Dublin by Dalia Survilaite. Filmography: 2 Cups of Yogurt (2011) – a short fiction, by Audrius Mickevicus. Lithuanian national awards nominee for best short film. 7 Sins (2010) a documentary by Kristina Inciuraite. Journey Through Lithuania (2010) a documentary by Vaidotas Digimas with participation of David Ellis. Dance in the Desert (2009) a documentary about famous Lithuanian writer Jurga Ivanauskaite, by Agne Marcinkeviciute. Contact Fralita Films Šiltadaržio g. 6, Vilnius LT 01124, Lithuania Phone: +370 64 33 00 22 E-mail: zivile.gallego@fralita.com www.fralitafilms.com BE coming soon / FIN August Fools 100 min, DCP, 1:2,35 Director Original title: Mieletön elokuu Genre: comedy Director: Taru Mäkelä Scriptwriter: Raija Talvio Cinematographer: Jouko Seppälä F.S.C Main cast: Kati Outinen, Miroslav Etzler, Elena Leeve, Krystof Hadek Producer: Markku Flink/Kinosto Co-producers: Michal Kollar, Viktor Taus/Fog’n Desire Films (Cz), Knut Skoglund/Pomor Film (NOR) Production company: Kinosto To be released: Autumn 2013 Production budget: 2 300 000 € Project status: in post-production Looking for: sales agent Taru Mäkelä has a successful career in directing comedies with a social satire and sharp humor. Latest film Storage, an (un) romantic comedy about people in a paint store, has been a box office hit in Finland in 2012. Little Sister, her first feature film, was nominated as the Finnish competitor to the contest of the best Nordic film 2000. Elsa (Kati Outinen), a middle-aged milliner and part-time clairvoyant runs a smartest little hat-shop in the heart of Helsinki 1962. She has total control of her life-until the man she once loved and lost suddenly reappears from the past – and from the dead. Jan (Miroslav Etzler), is in town to perform at the Festival with his Czech dance orchestra. For more than two decades Elsa has believed the man to be dead. Initially, Elsa wants to stay away from Jan –and especially from the Festival, which for her is just another attempt by the International Communists to brainwash the good, unsuspecting citizens of Western countries, such as Finland. But Jan is persistent, persuasive, and charming. The intoxicating blend of hot August nights, music, dance and the ice-cold political paranoia of the Age of the Iron Curtain form the circumstances in which Elsa has to make her final choice. Will she yield to the wishes of the Finnish Police, who, under pressure from the KGB, wants her to track down a Czechoslovakian defector or will she opt for an entirely new life herself? Production company Producer Markku Flink has completed several international co-productions both documentaries and feature films. The latest film is Finnish-Swedish coproduction Miss Blue Jeans, directed by Matti Kinnunen, which was released in Finland August 2012. An Eurimages supported and awarded romantic comedy Garbage Prince (dir. Raimo O Niemi) opened domestically July 2011. Mäkelä family started film business 1920 by producing and distributing films. Nowadays Kinosto produces both drama and documentaries for international audiences. Contact Markku Flink Producer Mo bile +358 40 5166 504 E-mail: markku.flink@kinosto.fi www.kinosto.fi 67 BE coming soon / FIN 8-ball 107 min, HD Original title: 8-pallo Genre: crime/ drama/ thriller Director: Aku Louhimies Scriptwriter: Jari Olavi Rantala Cinematographer: Mika Orasmaa Main cast: Jessica Grabowsky, Mikko Leppilampi, Pirkka-Pekka Petelius, Eero Aho, Mikko Kouki Producers: Tero Kaukomaa, Marko Antila Production company: Blind Spot Pictures Sales: Nordisk Film To be released: February 2013 Production budget: 1 300 000 € Project status: in post-production Pirkko has served her sentence in prison and embraces freedom with her eight month old little girl. She’s determined to start over, it’s impossible to make mistakes anymore. Her ex-boyfriend shows up, re-igniting the passion but also casting shadows for the future. But Pirkko is not going to give up, not this time. She’s gonna hold on to her new life, no matter what the cost. Director Aku Louhimies. Selected filmography: Naked Harbour (Vuosaari, 2012, feature film) - awards: Festoria, Portugal: Best Actress (Amanda Pilke), Cinematography (Tuomo Hutri), CICAE Nordic Film Days, Luebeck: Interfilm Church Prize; Tears of April (Käsky, 2008, feature film) - released in theatres in several countries including Japan, Greece and Germany; Frozen City (Valkoinen Kaupunki, 2006, feature film) - awards: Karlovy Vary, Flanders International 2006; Frozen Land (Paha maa, 2004, feature film) - awards: Göteborg FF, Sweden 2005, Best Film and 3 other awards / Moscow IFF, Jury special prize / Athens 2005, Best Screenplay / 2005 Jussi Awards 68 in Finland, 7 awards including Best Director, Best Film and Best Screenplay); Lovers and Leavers (Kuutamolla, 2002, feature film) - awards: (Finnish Film and culture Festival, Berlin , Germany, Audience’s choice award, / Cineques FF, Official Maverick Competition, Best Drama / San Jose, California, USA DurangoFF, Colorado, / Restless (Levottomat, 2000, first feature film) Production company Blind Spot Pictures is a Finnish production company established in 1997 by ACE-producer Tero Kaukomaa. They produce and co-produce feature-films for international markets. Completed films include Iron Sky, Jade Warrior, a Finnish / Chinese kung-fu film by AJ Annila, Man’s Job by Aleksi Salmenperä, Dancer in the Dark by Lars von Trier (Zentropa / Denmark), Rainbowmaker by Oscar nominated Nana Djordjadze (27 Film Production / Germany) and A Rational Solution by Jörgen Bergmark (Hepp Film / Sweden) as well as Golden Globe nominee Everlasting Moments by Jan Troell. Their films have been sold around the world by such companies as Rezo Film, Celluloid Dreams, Match Factory, Bavaria, Trust Film etc. Blind Spot Pictures has been co-producing with countries like China, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Holland, UK, Italy, Sweden and Russia. Currently Blind Spot Pictures has several features in development, and the latest film, 8-ball will be released in February 2013. Contact Blind Spot Pictures Pursimiehenkatu 26 G 4 00150 Helsinki, FINLAND Phone: +358 50 388 9479 E-mail: spot@blindspot.fi www.blindspot.fi Focus on Kazakhstan Kazakhstan: Film Industry Figures – 2011 Number of films produced: Number of films supported by the state: Average production budget (million USD): Number of films released: Number of national films released: Gross box-office (million USD): Gross box office of national films (million USD): Market share of national films: Admissions (million people): Number of cinemas: Number of screens: Average ticket price (USD): “KAZAKHFILM” today • 30 20 2 million USD 240 20 60 million USD 5 million USD 10% 11 million people 92 202 5 USD “KAZAKHFILM” JSC named after Shaken Aimanov Kazakhfilm is the main film production company of Kazakhstan, supported by the Ministry of culture & state budget. Founded: 1941 Location: Almaty, Kazakhstan Activity: Film production Main directions: • production of feature, documentary and animation films • producing • technical services • equipment rent • production and rent of costumes • construction and rent of scenery • construction and rent of shooting stages • scouting of locations • castings • film distribution • international cooperation: festivals, film education, days of cinema etc. • film projects development Area: 17 ha 70 • • • • • • The largest film studio in Central Asia providing a full cycle of film production and related services in accordance with all international quality standards; State support; Regularly updated material and technical base, with the usage of leading brands: DOLBY, RedOne, Mac, ARRI, MotionCapture, Dino, Par, SpaceLight, Dedolight, GFM, Tulip, VarioPraims, Cooke etc.; Convenient geographical and territorial location, with favourable climate and proximity to the scenic and various landscapes; Involving the best local staff in the projects – technical and creative professionals; Regular festival participation, international cooperation and work at the largest film business platforms of the world; The rapidly growing experience of co-production: Russia, France, Turkey, USA, Italy, Germany etc. www.kazakhfilmstudios.kz BE coming soon / KAZ Harmony Lessons 120 min, 35 mm, 1:1,85, Dolby Digital Original title: Uroki Garmonii Genre: drama Director: Emir Baigazin Scriptwriter: Emir Baigazin Cinematographer: Aziz Zhambakiyev Main cast: Timur Aidarbekov Producer: Anna Katchko Production company: Kazakhfilm To be released: 2013 Project status: in post-production Looking for: sales agent, promotion support Following a public humiliation in front of his classmates during a medical check-up, a boy named Asan (13) falls ill with anankastia, a mental disease with persuasive passion for perfectionism. Aslan is a student at a high crime rate village school in Kazakhstan. The dirty criminal world of the school conflicts drastically with Aslan’s perfectionism and sense for beauty and purity. Aslan sees all the evil in the school gang leader Bolat (13), who actually caused Aslan’s humiliation. Bolat is part of the established power system at school: he collects money from younger kids bitting them up severely. Out of good motives to rid his school of crime, Aslan decides to kill Bolat... Director Emir Baigazin graduated - Kazakh National Academy of Arts. Selected through all Asian competition to train at the Asian Film Academy, South Korea. Participant - Berlinale Talent Campus (2008). Filmography: Cheerful and Offended (2006, screenwriter, director, cameraman) - Best Director award at the 2007 Didar Festival. Steppe (2min., 2007, screenwriter, director, cameraman - Asian 72 Film Academy, South Korea, Berlinale Talent Campus 2008. Virgins (2007, screenwriter, one of five directors). Fatshedder (20 min., 2008, screenwriter, director) - Grand prix of the 2008 Didar Festival, Special Prize of the 2008 Stars of Shaken FF, Special Prize of the MIFF and Eurasia 2008, Special ‘Mention d’honnour’ of 2008 Milan IFF, Special Prize of the 2009 Film Camp Art House FF, Participant of 5th Sedicicorto Film Festival in Forli, Participant of the 28th VGIK IFF in Moscow. Jean’s Video Diary (28 min, 2009, screenwriter, director) - Winner of the 2009 Award in the Best Debut nomination. Producer Born in Moscow, Anna Katchko went to school in Germany, and graduated from the Faculty of TV and Film at Sorbonne University, Paris. She completed a producer’s course at the NYFA in New York and EAVE 2008. Producer’s credits: Russian-American drama Perestroika (2009), Russian-Swedish action Newsmakers (2009), German-Russian-Kazakh Baikonur (2011), Kazakh historical epic drama Myn Bala (2012), Russian-Irish Moscow never sleeps(2013), Kazakh-German drama HARMONY LESSONS (2013). Anna is one of the founders of Moscow Business Square, the yearly Film Business Platform at Moscow International FF and of Spotlight: New Kazakh Cinema, co-production event at the Eurasia International Film Festival in Almaty. Contact Kazakhfilm Al-Farabi 176, Almaty, Kazakhstan Phone: +7 (727) 302 16 42 E-mail: o_khlasheva@kazakhfilmstudios.kz, akatchko@gmail.com kazakhfilmstudios,kz BE coming soon / KAZ Hunting the Phantom 100 min, 35 mm, 1:1,85, Dolby Digital Director Original title: Okhota za prizrakom Genre: action, sci-fi, adventure Director: Marina Kunarova Scriptwriter: Marina Kunarova Cinematographers: Curtis Petersen, Azamat Dulatov, Vyacheslav Korpachev Main cast: Kristanna Loken, Armand Assante, Sandzhar Madiyev, Nikita presnyakov, Assel Sagatova, Kamilla Yermekova Producers: Yernar Malikov Production company: Kazakhfilm, MG Production To be released: 2013 Project status: in post-production Looking for: sales agent, promotion support Director, scriptwriter, producer Marina Kunarova (1973), graduated from Almaty Technological Institute and Institute of Management and Consulting, also attended Director’s Courses in Almaty. Filmography: Lave / Лавэ (2008, scriptwriter), The Reverse Side / Obratnaya Storona (2009, scriptwriter), 999 (2010, director, scriptwriter), PEERS (2010, TV Serial 43 series, scriptwriter) Awards and Nominations of the 999 film: - Best Actress – Berdyansk FF, Kiev, 2011; Official Selection – Night Horizons – ZLIN FF, 2011; The Wisest Film – Artek FF, 2010; Best Actress – Kamila Yermekova – Artek FF, 2010; Official Selection – SCHLINGEL FF, 2010; Winner – Best Foreign Film – LA Femme FFl, 2010 The action takes place in the near future. The great invention of a global corporation, code-named “Phantom”, ensures the crime eradication and security in the world. But this is only a visible side of the “Phantom”: the corporation’s sinister plan is hidden in establishing total control over the people’s mind. Their aim is to change the march of history, to turn society into obedient puppets who will never know that their mind is under control. The “Phantom” gradually breaks people’s lives, but nobody can understand what’s happening as long as the “Phantom” destroys the life of two lovers – Timur and Kira. She is charged with murder, and he must break the law to save her life. The man, whom he considered a criminal, an American hacker Zack, unexpectedly helps him to find the truth and uncover the conspiracy of a global corporation. The “Phantom” has destroyed everything Zack believed in. Those whom he loved, they betrayed him, and whom he hated, became his friend. And now they are together to save the world from the madness. However, are they protected from the madness themselves? Producer Yernar Malikov is a co-owner of MG Production company, in 2000 founded his first film company Alem Asia, which produced mainly documentaries and social films. MG Production was formed only in 2005 and focused on action films. As a producer Yernar worked on 25 projects including both documentaries and action films and is one of the most successful producers in Kazakhstan. Contact Kazakhfilm Al-Farabi 176, Almaty, Kazakhstan Phone: +7 (727) 302 16 42 E-mail: o_khlasheva@kazakhfilmstudios.kz, kazakhfilmstudios,kz 73 BE coming soon / KAZ The Book of Legends: Mysterious Forest 90 min, HD, 1:1,85, Dolby Stereo SR Original title: Kniga legend: tainstvennyi les Genre: fantasy, comedy, adventure Director: Akhat Ibrayev Scriptwriter: Akhat Ibrayev Cinematographers: Alexander Plotnikov Main cast: Alisher Khairov, Kuan Lekerov, Zhan Baizhanbayev Producers: Serik Zhubandykov, Akhat Ibrayev Production company: Kazakhfilm To be released: 2013 Project status: in post-production Looking for: sales agent, promotion support Bakha and Takha are dreamers, hooligans, fans of adventures, ancient Turkic legends and myths. They are the sons of a prominent businessman. Once, after reading a book about that the ancient queen of the Amazons the boys decided to have a journey to the magic forest and help the Queen of the Amazons. They hoped the Queen will help them to revive their mother. One day their angry stepmother hired two bandits and asked them to kidnap these boys. The bandits decided to bring two little hooligans far away to the forest. No one knew that boys were dreaming about this journey for so long! After a very long trip Bakha and Takha found themselves into a wonderful fantasy world with many fairy-tale characters: the majestic queen of the Amazons, evil Erlik – God of the Underworld, Underworld guard – Bear, sly and nasty snake Magic Swan and other. This is a story about the incredible adventures of two brothers who decided to fight the evil forces and return their mother, history of the struggle between good and evil, love, mythical gods and mythical figures. All of us should dream and love. Director and producer Ahat Ibraev (1987) studied in America for five years. Two years 74 studied in Wisconsin state as a director on TV. Director, screenwriter and editor of “Theatre - near your home” (the film about theater and art in general), this program was broadcasted in Wisconsin. For three years he studied as a film direction and film producer in Chicago in the Columbia College, as a participant of the presidential Bolashak program. Author of 21st short film. The last of them, Adagio about the Kazakh boy which was adopted by americans, earned recognition among critics of Chicago, played the Eurasia Festival 2010. Akhat Ibraev participated in several feature films “Class A” and “B” in Hollywood and Chicago. In 2009 he returned to Kazakhstan, at the end of training. He worked as an administrator of Kazakhstan side on the Kazakh-Russian project Irony of Love with Assel Sagatova and Chadov. He worked as the second director and organized the whole filming process and the preparatory Films The Tale of the Pink Bunny. He was a DoP 3rd and 4th season of the sitcom Aynalayn. Contact Kazakhfilm Al-Farabi 176, Almaty, Kazakhstan Phone: +7 (727) 302 16 42 E-mail: o_khlasheva@kazakhfilmstudios.kz, kazakhfilmstudios,kz BE coming soon / KAZ When the Dreams Come True 80 min, HD, 1:1,85 Original title: Kogda sbivayutsya metchti Genre: comedy Director: Viktor Vilks, Slavomiras Leontjev Scriptwriter: Savva Mivaev Cinematographer: Alexander Rubanov Main cast: Aisulu Azimbayeva Producers: Sino Alizoda Production company: Kazakhfilm, Vox Pictures To be released: 2013 Project status: in post-production Looking for: sales agent, promotion support Today, Kazakhfilm, the state owned company, remains the biggest studio and the only state funding body for the film industry in Kazakhstan. JCS Kazakhfilm is also the largest film company in Central Asia. In recent years, JCS Kazakhfilm is yearly producing / co-producing about 25-30 projects, including feature films, documentaries and animation. JCS Kazakhfilm has also produced many internationally acclaimed film productions such as: Nomad: the Warrier by Sergey Bodrov (Golden Globe nomination 2005), Kelin by Ermek Tursunov (Oscar shortlist 2010), Gift to Stalin by Rustem Abdrashev (Pusan IFF 2009), Sunny Days by Nariman Turebaev (Locarno IFF 2011), Student by Darejan Omirbaev (Cannes Certain Regard 2012) and many more. www.kazakhfilmstudios.kz The main character falls in love with girl, but she did not respond. To attract her attention he impersonates as a teacher at her university. Each day, the main character is closer and closer to disclosure. Series of comic events haunts our hero throughout the adventure. Director Viktor Vilks - director, VFX specialist. Collaborated with Bazelevs (production studio of Timur Bekmambetov) and with Zemfira, Bi2, Ivan Urgant, Kasta and others. Awards: 1998 - Music video of the year on MTV Russia: Mumiy Troll “Ranetka”; 2001 - Music video of the year on MTV Russia: Bi-2 “Moya Lyubov”, 2002 - Music video of the year on MTV Russia: Zemfira “Beskonechnost” Production company JCS Kazakhfilm was founded in 1941 in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The studio has merged with the biggest Russian film studios evacuated to Kazakhstan during the war period: Mosfilm and Lenfilm. It has been active in film production ever since and has been producing hundreds of titles in Kazakhstan. Contact Kazakhfilm Al-Farabi 176, Almaty, Kazakhstan Phone: +7 (727) 302 16 42 E-mail: o_khlasheva@kazakhfilmstudios.kz, kazakhfilmstudios,kz 75 PLENARY PRESENTATIONS AND ROUNDTABLES The International Market and Working with Sales Agents Sunday, November 25, 14.00-16:00 The International Market and Working with Sales Agents focuses on finding a suitable sales agent with plenty of tips how, when and where to start, legal issues, delivery lists, financial terms, festival distribution, marketing, perspective, etc. Presenter: Frédéric Corvez Frédéric Corvez started his career at Equinoxe (Sony Pictures Intl and Canal +) where he was in charge of the international development. A member of the reading group at Studio Canal, he contributed to the creation of Kanpaï Distribution. Then, he joined suc- cessively MK2 and Celluloid Dreams where he directed and developed the TV department. In 2004, he founded Urban Distribution Intl (formerly known as UMEDIA), a World Sales and Distribution Company. In 2006, he created GOMEDIA, a post-production company specialized in post-production, dubbing and subtitling. Frédéric Corvez is also the founder and manager of Urban Factory, an independent company dedicated to domestic production and international coproduction’s. In 2011, UDI has also extended its activities to theatrical distribution in France with a new arm: Urban Distribution. Music Rights Monday, November 26, 11:00-13:00 Presenter: Laurence Kaye Licensing music is never straightforward and in this session Laurence Kaye will endeavour to address some of the key issues relating to music rights for synchronisation, as well as considering how best music can be used as a promotional and marketing tool within a film. This will be a ‘round table’ questions and answers session involving participants and focussing on producers’ individual projects and the relevance of music to their productions. I hope to share some of the knowledge gathered from a 25 year career running the licensing divisions within companies such as Virgin, Polygram and Universal as well as working as an independent music consultant and supervisor. European Distributors’ Roundtable Wednesday, November 28t, 10:00-16:30 Roundtable moderator: Nikolaj Nikitin The Baltic distribution round-table is a direct continuation of the STEP IN initiative on distribution in the Eastern and Central European countries that took place earlier this year in Locarno. Debates and discussions on distribution in these regions proved that the Baltic distribution companies have similar issues to tackle and our problems are often different from our neighbouring Eastern and Central European colleagues. We acknowledged that the main complications lie in the relations with Russian buyers who still insist that the Baltic countries are “their 76 territory” as the former Soviet Union. In this round-table we bring together independent distributors of mainly European and auteur cinema from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to analyse the situation and make suggestions for improvement. Also participating are Russian buyers who acquire the Baltic distribution rights, and European sales agents who sometimes sell directly to the Baltic distribution companies and sometimes deal with Russians. The round-table is organised with the help of the Industry Office of Festival del Film Locarno. PLENARY PRESENTATIONS AND ROUNDTABLES Producers and Moviegoers: A Film Marketing Strategy Monday, November 26, 14:30-16:30 This seminar is conceived for junior and semi-junior producers preferably having experienced at least the development stage of a feature film. It has been developed by The Film Agency (Sarah Calderón—www.thefilmagency.eu) and EAVE—European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs, one of the leading programmes in producers’ training in the world (www.eave.org). The seminar has been included in more than 15 film workshops, among them the EAVE European Producers Workshop in Luxembourg, EAVE Puentes in Gijón and Montevideo, Rotterdam Film Lab and Making Waves Programme by the London Film School at the Berlinale, along with several other sessions through different Media Desks in Europe. The seminar’s objective is to create a basic and structured knowledge on film marketing, and especially a conscience of the importance of the producer’s implication in the marketing activities. Through a very simple structure producers learn how to develop a marketing plan for their films based on the knowledge about their core audience. They will discover the “4 Ps” as main chapters of their strategic thinking: Product, Promotion, Place and Price will be then declined in terms of “business to business tools” (b2b) and “business to consumer tools” (b2c). The structure of the conference and PowerPoint presentation is conceived to provide the participants a hands-on guide that they may use at any stage of their film process. Each concept will be illustrated by didactic specific examples of film marketing. A “toolbox” where they can find useful information to apply each concept will be provided after each chapter. Presenter: Sarah Calderón Sarah Calderón has an extensive background in marketing: she has a major in advertising at the PUJ of Bogotá and a Master degree in Multicultural Communication at the CELSA Sorbonne IV in Paris. She has more than ten years of work experience in the audiovisual sector in different positions such as: Head of development at Patofeofilms— Bogotá, Manager and Promoter of her own Film Festival: Toma5inco—Bogotá, Head of International Sales at Coproduction Office—Paris, and as distributor coordinator at Karma Films—Spain. Sarah recently launched her own marketing company for film: The Film Agency and in parallel works as a marketing tutor and consultant for EAVE, the Media Programme and several Media Desks. The Film Agency has been launched in January 2012 and already counts on a very interesting first slate of top-notch international films clients such as Avalon Distribution (Spain), Backup Films (France), Entre Chien et Loup (Belgium), Juliette Films (France), Neueroad Movies—Wim Wenders (Germany), Petit Film (France) and Zadig Productions (France). Searching for the Spotlight: Festival Publicity Tuesday, November 27, 11:30-12:30 As a director or producer you have worked on your film for years, from the first spark of inspiration in the screenwriting process to the arduous process of financing and beyond. You are in the post-production lab finishing the colour grading and tweaking sound effects. As the end credits fade during the final test screening, you lean back in both relief and excitement that your film is finally finished. Right? Actually, your film is about to start its public life and just bringing it from that dark screening room into the spotlight of a festival premiere involves much preparation. If they are available, well-connected specialists in marketing and publicity can help you reach that goal. Ideally you build a team to support your film, for example your national film organization, a world sales agent and a publicist. But regardless the size and genre of your film, whether a low budget documentary or an international coproduction, you should already be thinking about its promotion even before the first day of shooting. Getting attention for your film from festival programmers, press and buyers is very hard for any film. The best way to get an advantage is to start as early as possible—months in advance. Especially films with a limited budget can reap the benefits of advance planning. If your production is not flush with funding, you can still afford to carve out time. It will give you an advantage over bigger budget films, some even with international sales agents al- ready on board, which have not been as smart as you about starting early. Knowing who to approach at the right time is essential—and how you can gather a team of supporters (national film organization, sales agent, publicist, festival programmers) that will help get your film the spotlight it deserves. Presenter: Thessa Mooij, Silversalt PR Silversalt PR is a multi-lingual (German, Italian, Spanish, Russian) flexible communications firm based in New York. We offer a full range of publicity and consulting services for the international film industry, representing films in Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Toronto, Sundance, Tribeca, Rotterdam and other festivals. We have worked with renowned filmmaking talent such as Spike Lee, Nanni Moretti, Rutger Hauer, Claudia Llosa and Lech Majewski. Silversalt PR is proud to handle the international publicity for the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam and the Finnish Film Affair (Helsinki International Film Festival). Owner Thessa Mooij looks forward to share her experiences with filmmakers and producers at the Baltic Event. 77 Baltic Event and B’EST partners and supporters M U N D U S