Exclusive: The Europe-based Pop Up Film Residency Visegrad mentorship program has unveiled the filmmakers and mentors who will participate in its 2023 edition.
The program, which is among several feature development initiatives spearheaded by former TorinoFilmLab artistic director Matthieu Darras, consists of three-week residencies focused on mentoring filmmakers through the development of a feature project. Darras works together with Polish producers Iza Igel and Marta Lewandowska. This year the residency will be mounted in Warsaw and Wroclaw, Poland, from July 4 — 25.
Mentors for the upcoming edition include Polish director Anna Jadowska, Ukrainian director Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk, Polish director Aleksandra Terpinska, Hungarian—Canadian writer/director Anita Doron, Script consultants Michaela Sabo and Aleksandra Swierk, and Lithuanian producer Marija Razgute.
Five feature directors will join the program, including Polish filmmaker Katarzyna Trzaska, whose last feature, Nauka Latania, screened at the Warsaw Film Festival.
The program, which is among several feature development initiatives spearheaded by former TorinoFilmLab artistic director Matthieu Darras, consists of three-week residencies focused on mentoring filmmakers through the development of a feature project. Darras works together with Polish producers Iza Igel and Marta Lewandowska. This year the residency will be mounted in Warsaw and Wroclaw, Poland, from July 4 — 25.
Mentors for the upcoming edition include Polish director Anna Jadowska, Ukrainian director Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk, Polish director Aleksandra Terpinska, Hungarian—Canadian writer/director Anita Doron, Script consultants Michaela Sabo and Aleksandra Swierk, and Lithuanian producer Marija Razgute.
Five feature directors will join the program, including Polish filmmaker Katarzyna Trzaska, whose last feature, Nauka Latania, screened at the Warsaw Film Festival.
- 7/4/2023
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
With Jonathan Glazer’s Auschwitz-set Holocaust drama “The Zone of Interest” competing for the Palme d’Or and a host of Polish producers bringing buzzy upcoming projects to the Marché du Film, the Polish industry should again have Cannes talking. Here’s a rundown of some of the highlights:
The Zone of Interest
(Competition)
Director: Jonathan Glazer
Producers: James Wilson, Ewa Puszczyńska
Sales: A24
The veteran British filmmaker’s first film in nearly a decade, which will compete for the Palme d’Or, is a Holocaust drama loosely based on the novel by Martin Amis that’s sure to be among the festival’s most talked-about films.
In the Rearview
(Acid)
Director: Maciek Hamela
Producers: Piotr Grawender, Maciek Hamela, Jean-Marie Gigon
Sales: N/A
Filmed in the first days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Hamela’s documentary is a collective portrait of Ukrainians searching for a safe haven...
The Zone of Interest
(Competition)
Director: Jonathan Glazer
Producers: James Wilson, Ewa Puszczyńska
Sales: A24
The veteran British filmmaker’s first film in nearly a decade, which will compete for the Palme d’Or, is a Holocaust drama loosely based on the novel by Martin Amis that’s sure to be among the festival’s most talked-about films.
In the Rearview
(Acid)
Director: Maciek Hamela
Producers: Piotr Grawender, Maciek Hamela, Jean-Marie Gigon
Sales: N/A
Filmed in the first days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Hamela’s documentary is a collective portrait of Ukrainians searching for a safe haven...
- 5/20/2023
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Xavier Henry-Rashid’s London-based sales agency Film Republic has closed deals for multiple territories on “F*cking Bornholm,” a tart comedy of social discomfort. The film had its international premiere in the main competition section of Karlovy Vary Film Festival, where it won the Europa Cinemas Label award.
In his review, Variety’s Guy Lodge commented that Polish writer-director Anna Kazejak‘s “precise, piquant film deserves wider festival exposure and discerning distributor interest.” It has now been acquired by Iceland’s Bio Paradis, Arsenal for Germany, Austria and Switzerland, Lithuania’s Garsas, Slovenia’s Rtv, Israel’s Yes and Sweden’s Lucky Dogs. The international trailer has its debut below.
In the film, two couples with kids go away for a short holiday on the Danish island of Bornholm. Each person has different goals and expectations, and each one of them and their relationships will be tested.
It was described by Lodge as a “dark,...
In his review, Variety’s Guy Lodge commented that Polish writer-director Anna Kazejak‘s “precise, piquant film deserves wider festival exposure and discerning distributor interest.” It has now been acquired by Iceland’s Bio Paradis, Arsenal for Germany, Austria and Switzerland, Lithuania’s Garsas, Slovenia’s Rtv, Israel’s Yes and Sweden’s Lucky Dogs. The international trailer has its debut below.
In the film, two couples with kids go away for a short holiday on the Danish island of Bornholm. Each person has different goals and expectations, and each one of them and their relationships will be tested.
It was described by Lodge as a “dark,...
- 3/17/2023
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Object Permanence
Best known for putting together The Other Side of the Wind, Filip Jan Rymsza blasted off on the Lido again with his third feature film, Mosquito State. He moved into production on his fourth feature film titled Object Permanence this October in Poland with Millie Brady, Alastair Mackenzie, Jessica Frances Dukes and Debi Mazar for a project about wanting more or …. wanting less. Friends with Benefits Studio’s Marta Lewandowska and Rymsza produced the project.
Gist: This is about Brooke Brooks: a former supermodel who becomes a successful lifestyle mogul and is the first person to IPO herself.…...
Best known for putting together The Other Side of the Wind, Filip Jan Rymsza blasted off on the Lido again with his third feature film, Mosquito State. He moved into production on his fourth feature film titled Object Permanence this October in Poland with Millie Brady, Alastair Mackenzie, Jessica Frances Dukes and Debi Mazar for a project about wanting more or …. wanting less. Friends with Benefits Studio’s Marta Lewandowska and Rymsza produced the project.
Gist: This is about Brooke Brooks: a former supermodel who becomes a successful lifestyle mogul and is the first person to IPO herself.…...
- 1/6/2023
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
Scottish actor Alastair Mackenzie, recently spotted in “The Crown” and “Andor,” Jessica Frances Dukes and Debi Mazar have been added to the cast of Filip Jan Rymsza’s feature film “Object Permanence.”
They join previously announced star Millie Brady, who plays Brooke Brooks: a former supermodel who becomes a successful lifestyle mogul and is the first person to IPO herself.
Production is currently underway in Poland and will continue in Thailand and Germany. “Apples” DoP Bartosz Świniarski is lensing the film.
Set in the near future, “Object Permanence” is produced by Friends with Benefits Studio, with co-financing by the Polish Film Institute. Marta Lewandowska and Rymsza – the latter also behind “Mosquito State” – are producing, while CAA is handling North American sales.
“Filip’s script is an inspired study of the perils of celebrity and the conflictual relationships that exist within the system built up around it,” says Mackenzie, opening...
They join previously announced star Millie Brady, who plays Brooke Brooks: a former supermodel who becomes a successful lifestyle mogul and is the first person to IPO herself.
Production is currently underway in Poland and will continue in Thailand and Germany. “Apples” DoP Bartosz Świniarski is lensing the film.
Set in the near future, “Object Permanence” is produced by Friends with Benefits Studio, with co-financing by the Polish Film Institute. Marta Lewandowska and Rymsza – the latter also behind “Mosquito State” – are producing, while CAA is handling North American sales.
“Filip’s script is an inspired study of the perils of celebrity and the conflictual relationships that exist within the system built up around it,” says Mackenzie, opening...
- 10/10/2022
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Millie Brady, known for the BBC/Netflix series “The Last Kingdom” and recently seen in Apple TV + offering “Surface,” will play the lead in Filip Jan Rymsza’s “Object Permanence,” Variety has learned exclusively.
The actor is cast as Brooke Brooks, a former supermodel who becomes a highly successful lifestyle mogul and the first person to ‘IPO’(Initial Public Offering) herself.
“Having commodified herself, Brooke is forced to confront her sense of self and the identity she has created,” said Rymsza, whose last film “Mosquito State” with Beau Knapp was shown at the Venice Film Festival, where it was noticed for Eric Koretz’s cinematography. He also produced acclaimed documentary “Hopper/Welles” and John Malkovich starrer “Valley of the Gods.”
“Millie is such a force: a transfixing union of vibrance, instinct and craft. I’m deeply inspired by the soulfulness of her interpretation,” Rymsza added.
Set in the near future, the...
The actor is cast as Brooke Brooks, a former supermodel who becomes a highly successful lifestyle mogul and the first person to ‘IPO’(Initial Public Offering) herself.
“Having commodified herself, Brooke is forced to confront her sense of self and the identity she has created,” said Rymsza, whose last film “Mosquito State” with Beau Knapp was shown at the Venice Film Festival, where it was noticed for Eric Koretz’s cinematography. He also produced acclaimed documentary “Hopper/Welles” and John Malkovich starrer “Valley of the Gods.”
“Millie is such a force: a transfixing union of vibrance, instinct and craft. I’m deeply inspired by the soulfulness of her interpretation,” Rymsza added.
Set in the near future, the...
- 8/10/2022
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Polish helmer Anna Kazejak – fresh off showing “Fucking Bornholm” at the Karlovy Vary Intl. Film Festival – is now focusing on her upcoming movie “Symmetry of the Island,” based on a fragment of Nobel Prize winner Olga Tokarczuk’s ‘Flights.’
Currently in development and eyeing a 2023 autumn shoot, it will be produced by Warsaw-based Friends With Benefits Studio and co-produced by Yorgos Tsourgiannis’ Horsefly Productions, also behind “Dogtooth” and “A Tale of Three Sisters.”
“We want to make it as soon as possible and with an international cast,” says Kazejak, who has already worked with the acclaimed writer on the Netflix anthology movie “Erotica 2022.” She will co-write the script with Filip Kasperaszek, in collaboration with Tokarczuk. At the moment, the film’s set to be shot in English.
The story will see a middle-aged man going on a foreign vacation with his wife and son when suddenly both of them disappear.
Currently in development and eyeing a 2023 autumn shoot, it will be produced by Warsaw-based Friends With Benefits Studio and co-produced by Yorgos Tsourgiannis’ Horsefly Productions, also behind “Dogtooth” and “A Tale of Three Sisters.”
“We want to make it as soon as possible and with an international cast,” says Kazejak, who has already worked with the acclaimed writer on the Netflix anthology movie “Erotica 2022.” She will co-write the script with Filip Kasperaszek, in collaboration with Tokarczuk. At the moment, the film’s set to be shot in English.
The story will see a middle-aged man going on a foreign vacation with his wife and son when suddenly both of them disappear.
- 7/9/2022
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Xavier Henry-Rashid’s sales agency Film Republic has acquired Anna Kazejak’s “Fucking Bornholm,” ahead of its international premiere Saturday in the Crystal Globe competition of the Karlovy Vary Film Festival.
The Polish comedy drama potrays the generation of today’s 40-year-olds from the perspective of a woman who is in need of profound changes in her life.
Two couples with kids go away for a short holiday on the Danish island of Bornholm. Each person has different goals and expectations, and each one of them and their relationships will be tested. Each one of them has a problem to be revealed.
Henry-Rashid said: ” ‘Fucking Bornholm’ is a wonderful, fun and psychologically tormenting couples ‘melee a quatre.’ ”
The film stars Agnieszka Grochowska, Maciej Stuhr, Grzegorz Damięcki, Jasmina Polak and Magus Krepper.
It is produced by Marta Lewandowska, and the screenplay was written by Filip Kasperaszek and Kazejak. The production company...
The Polish comedy drama potrays the generation of today’s 40-year-olds from the perspective of a woman who is in need of profound changes in her life.
Two couples with kids go away for a short holiday on the Danish island of Bornholm. Each person has different goals and expectations, and each one of them and their relationships will be tested. Each one of them has a problem to be revealed.
Henry-Rashid said: ” ‘Fucking Bornholm’ is a wonderful, fun and psychologically tormenting couples ‘melee a quatre.’ ”
The film stars Agnieszka Grochowska, Maciej Stuhr, Grzegorz Damięcki, Jasmina Polak and Magus Krepper.
It is produced by Marta Lewandowska, and the screenplay was written by Filip Kasperaszek and Kazejak. The production company...
- 7/2/2022
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
An unknown, filmmaker with much experience breaks into out predictions list because of the curious bio subject, the players and a producer in Marta Lewandowska who was at the fest with Dolce fine giornata a couple of years back. A road movie with its roots in 70’s Greenwich Village, Michał Chmielewski‘s Roving Woman was shot during the pandemic and saw Lena Gora in the shoes of Connie Converse. John Hawkes and Chris Hanley co-star and Wim Wenders and Orian Williams are executive producing.
Gist: This is based on the mysterious disappearance of Connie Converse, the singer-songwriter who vanished without a trace in 1974.…...
Gist: This is based on the mysterious disappearance of Connie Converse, the singer-songwriter who vanished without a trace in 1974.…...
- 11/24/2021
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
Programme includes five completed films, six works-in-progress, nine development.
The programme for the 2021 edition of Polish Days industry event includes Lipstick On The Glass, the latest film from Polish director Kuba Czekaj.
Czekaj’s film, which is currently in post-production, is participating as one of six works-in-progress, alongside nine titles in development and five completed films.
The film follows a woman who is induced to abandon her gangster husband to join a feminist sect.
It is produced by Paweł Kosuń and Agnieszka Janowska for Poland’s Centrala Film, and Arek Gielnik for Germany’s Indi Film.
The film will be...
The programme for the 2021 edition of Polish Days industry event includes Lipstick On The Glass, the latest film from Polish director Kuba Czekaj.
Czekaj’s film, which is currently in post-production, is participating as one of six works-in-progress, alongside nine titles in development and five completed films.
The film follows a woman who is induced to abandon her gangster husband to join a feminist sect.
It is produced by Paweł Kosuń and Agnieszka Janowska for Poland’s Centrala Film, and Arek Gielnik for Germany’s Indi Film.
The film will be...
- 7/28/2021
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Wim Wenders and Orian Williams are executive producing an upcoming feature from debut director Michał Chmielewski based on the mysterious disappearance of Connie Converse, the singer-songwriter who vanished without a trace in 1974.
“Roving Woman” is produced by Marta Lewandowska (“Erotica 2022”) of Friends With Benefits and Lena Góra, who also stars alongside Academy Award nominee John Hawkes (“Winter’s Bone”) and Chris Hanley, the producer behind “Spring Breakers” and “American Psycho.” Shot in the U.S. during the pandemic, the film is currently in post-production.
Converse came of age in the Greenwich Village music scene of the 1950s, but gradually grew disillusioned with her life. One day in 1974, she packed her possessions into a Volkswagen Beetle and left New York, never to be seen or heard from again.
“Our film is a study of man as an individual seeking their place in the world, their identity. A person who doesn’t...
“Roving Woman” is produced by Marta Lewandowska (“Erotica 2022”) of Friends With Benefits and Lena Góra, who also stars alongside Academy Award nominee John Hawkes (“Winter’s Bone”) and Chris Hanley, the producer behind “Spring Breakers” and “American Psycho.” Shot in the U.S. during the pandemic, the film is currently in post-production.
Converse came of age in the Greenwich Village music scene of the 1950s, but gradually grew disillusioned with her life. One day in 1974, she packed her possessions into a Volkswagen Beetle and left New York, never to be seen or heard from again.
“Our film is a study of man as an individual seeking their place in the world, their identity. A person who doesn’t...
- 7/16/2021
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
A host of anticipated upcoming titles from the growing Polish industry have hit the Cannes Film Market.
Fools
Director: Tomasz Wasilewski
Producer: Ewa Puszczyńska (Extreme Emotions)
Logline: Marlena (62) and Tomasz (42), hidden away from the world in a small seaside town, have been in a happy relationship for many years. Their intricately woven everyday life slowly begins to crumble when, against Tomasz’s will, Marlena allows her son to move in with them. As the past comes back to them in full force, they’ll have to redefine their love, choices and life.
Sales: New Europe Film Sales
Leave No Traces
Director: Jan P. Matuszyński
Producers: Leszek Bodzak and Aneta Hickinbotham (Aurum Film)
Logline: Poland, 1983. The country is shaken by the case of Grzegorz Przemyk, a high school student beaten to death by a militia. Based on true events, the film follows the story of Jurek, the only witness to the beating,...
Fools
Director: Tomasz Wasilewski
Producer: Ewa Puszczyńska (Extreme Emotions)
Logline: Marlena (62) and Tomasz (42), hidden away from the world in a small seaside town, have been in a happy relationship for many years. Their intricately woven everyday life slowly begins to crumble when, against Tomasz’s will, Marlena allows her son to move in with them. As the past comes back to them in full force, they’ll have to redefine their love, choices and life.
Sales: New Europe Film Sales
Leave No Traces
Director: Jan P. Matuszyński
Producers: Leszek Bodzak and Aneta Hickinbotham (Aurum Film)
Logline: Poland, 1983. The country is shaken by the case of Grzegorz Przemyk, a high school student beaten to death by a militia. Based on true events, the film follows the story of Jurek, the only witness to the beating,...
- 7/10/2021
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Four Polish female filmmakers have partnered with four top female Polish authors on film project “Erotica 2022.” The producer Marta Lewandowska is in Cannes seeking financing.
The pic, set in the near future in Poland, is composed of four stories about women’s issues, loosely connected, and all with an erotic element.
The film is directed by Olga Chajdas, Katarzyna Adamik, Anna Kazejak and Anna Jadowska. The writers are Joanna Bator, Olga Tokarczuk, Gaja Grzegorzewska and Grażyna Plebanek.
In a statement, the filmmakers said: “In a world where women are products, motherhood is an obligation, sexuality is oppressed and men are as primal as ever, four female characters face the world of absurdity, sick encounters, lack of true emotions and loneliness. The film depicts a fake world – yet very believable.”
Chajdas’ debut feature “Nina” premiered at the Rotterdam Film Festival, winning the Big Screen Award, and won best Polish film at the Camerimage Film Festival.
The pic, set in the near future in Poland, is composed of four stories about women’s issues, loosely connected, and all with an erotic element.
The film is directed by Olga Chajdas, Katarzyna Adamik, Anna Kazejak and Anna Jadowska. The writers are Joanna Bator, Olga Tokarczuk, Gaja Grzegorzewska and Grażyna Plebanek.
In a statement, the filmmakers said: “In a world where women are products, motherhood is an obligation, sexuality is oppressed and men are as primal as ever, four female characters face the world of absurdity, sick encounters, lack of true emotions and loneliness. The film depicts a fake world – yet very believable.”
Chajdas’ debut feature “Nina” premiered at the Rotterdam Film Festival, winning the Big Screen Award, and won best Polish film at the Camerimage Film Festival.
- 5/21/2019
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Review by Peter Belsito‘Dolce Fine Giornata’ is a Polish movie about expats immersed in Italy.Krystyna Janda, Dymitr Solomoko and Kasia Smutniak
The current public and journalistic obsessions with immigration, terrorism, and nationalism are a running theme in Sundance this year. Including Jacek Borcuch’s Dolce Fine Giornata.
Krystyna Janda stars as a well known poet whose remote life under the Tuscan sun rapidly falls apart when her she speaks and appears to support violent suicide bombers.
Janda plays plays Maria Linde, a child of Polish Jewish Holocaust survivors who left the oppression in her homeland long ago. She has a comfortable life in the Tuscan hills with Italian husband Antonio, her alone daughter Anna, mother of the two grandkids.
It’s a casual, privileged existence in the gorgeous countryside.
Maria presides over parties and outings as if on permanent vacation, magnetizing admiration — including the Nobel Prize — that she pretends to shrug off,...
The current public and journalistic obsessions with immigration, terrorism, and nationalism are a running theme in Sundance this year. Including Jacek Borcuch’s Dolce Fine Giornata.
Krystyna Janda stars as a well known poet whose remote life under the Tuscan sun rapidly falls apart when her she speaks and appears to support violent suicide bombers.
Janda plays plays Maria Linde, a child of Polish Jewish Holocaust survivors who left the oppression in her homeland long ago. She has a comfortable life in the Tuscan hills with Italian husband Antonio, her alone daughter Anna, mother of the two grandkids.
It’s a casual, privileged existence in the gorgeous countryside.
Maria presides over parties and outings as if on permanent vacation, magnetizing admiration — including the Nobel Prize — that she pretends to shrug off,...
- 2/19/2019
- by Peter Belsito
- Sydney's Buzz
At this year’s “Meeting Point Vilnius”, the industry event of the Vilnius Film Festival, now in its 21st edition, We sat down with its head of industry, Rita Stanlytė, and discussed the event, its role in the promotion of Lithuanian films, its focus and plans for the future but also the current state of the Lithuanian film industry.
Tara Karajica: Can you introduce the “Meeting Point Vilnius” industry event and talk about its inception and the reasons behind it?
Rita Stanelytė: Of course! It’s the seventh year of the industry event and it started, I think, from the wish to know more. It was started by our executive director, Algirdas [Ramaška], because he was running the festival and he felt that he needed more information, especially about how to run the festival, how to make it economically wealthier and how to make it successful. So, we started to invite other festival directors from the region and from Central and Eastern Europe, to just share experiences and ask and see what they are doing. For several years, it was just a film festival forum with the focus of sharing experience. But then, we grew and we understood that not only festivals needed to have more experience and learn more, but also that Lithuanian producers and producers from the whole region needed to gain knowledge and experience. So, we expanded and created this bigger industry event, the “Meeting Point Vilnius”, where we have now several sections. One is the conference for producers where we usually concentrate on the final stage of the filmmaking process. Our main goal and main topic will always be film promotion and film marketing, so we invite inspiring speakers to speak about audience building, film marketing, promotion, and everything that needs to be done because we feel that this is what producers from our region lack. And then, another big part – a very prestigious part of the event – is the “Coming Soon” session, where we invite projects – unfinished films in postproduction – to be presented in the session and we invite programmers, sales agents and distributors who are scouting for new talents and new films. And, the third part is the “Film Festival Symposium” which has existed from the very beginning and where we practice the development of film festivals around the region.
Karajica: These are the three main focuses of the event? Are they always the same?
R. S.: We try to keep that focus so that we have something for producers, something for programmers and something for film festivals.
Karajica: What is the position of “Meeting Point Vilnius” among other industry events at other festivals? Where does it stand?
R. S.: Well, our position is, you know, between Berlin and Cannes. So, usually, it is at the end of March and as our focus is the Baltic countries and the Eastern partner countries from the former Soviet Union, our aim is to have films that are aiming at summer festivals, at the summer circuit. And then again, the Vilnius event is very comfortable geographically because it is halfway from the countries of the former Soviet Union and halfway from the Western block. We also have this know-how, you know, Lithuania being ten years in the European Union and a former Soviet Country so it is like a bridge between the East and the West. And, that’s why we think this is the advantage of our industry event.
Karajica: Today is the second day of the event. Are your expectations being met so far and what are the results, according to you?
R. S.: Actually, we have many international guests. We have a hundred industry guests and another hundred festival guests like for instance the representatives of the films in the Competition program and jury members. I can say that the overall interest in “Meeting Point Vilnius” is growing and I count that as the quality of the event because we want to be better. For the second day, what I can say is that I am very happy that the interest comes from the local film industry because it is one of the reasons why we are doing this event, which is for the Lithuanian film industry to grow. The producers can come – they don’t have to go anywhere – they can meet the people that they want, that they need right here in Vilnius… So, this is also one of our main goals and this is why we collaborate with the Lithuanian Film Centre. We therefore have this hub of knowledge and experience that our producers can use.
Karajica: What is the extent of involvement of the Lithuanian Film Centre in the event?
R. S.: We work closely together and we basically collaborate on the event’s content. We discuss with them what we should talk about, what we should present and who we should invite. Because the Lithuanian Film Centre has this close relation with the Polish Film Institute and the entire Lithuanian film industry wants to have closer relations with the Polish film industry, this year at the “Meeting Point Vilnius” event there is a bigger emphasis on the Polish film industry. Yesterday, we had a panel about the coproductions between Lithuania and Poland and we have many Polish films screening at the festival; we have many industry guests and journalists from Poland. So, for example, this is one of the outcomes of the collaboration between the festival and the Lithuanian Film Centre along with the Polish Film Institute.
Karajica: Can you elaborate more on the coproductions between Lithuania and Poland?
R.S.: Poland and Lithuania, although neighboring countries, have not had much of a cooperation in the field of cinema until recent years, when with the initiative that stemmed from the Lithuanian Film Center and the Polish Film Institute enforced closer collaborations. To strengthen the bond between Lithuania and Poland a special focus at this year’s « Meeting Point Vilnius » was put on Poland. Therefore, we had a special panel discussion about what could be done in order to enforce the coproductions between the two countries. During the « Coming Soon » session, three special Polish-Lithuanian coproduction projects were presented: “Crisis” produced by Marta Lewandowska (Pl) and Marija Razgutė (Lt), "Habit and armour” produced by Dorota Rozhkowska (Pl) and Kestutis Drazdauskas (Lt) as well as “The man who new 75 languages” produced by Zivile Gallego. Also, a special guest project from Poland was presented in the « Coming Soon » session, “Wild Roses,” produced by Roman Jarosz.
Karajica: But, there is also a close relationship with the Transilvania International Film Festival, right? Is this another level of collaboration?
R. S.: Yes, this is another level. It is a friendship level because the people from the Transilvania International Film Festival, from Cluj-Napoca, are very good friends of ours. We kind of feel related to them because the festivals are similar in size and stage of development. But, we also have personal relations with the people and we really like them. Our team always goes to the Transilvania International Film Festival in June and they always come to Vilnius in March or April. And, this year we are doing this Vilnius-Transilvania Express party, but it’s for fun. It’s friendship and fun.
Karajica: What is the relationship of “Meeting Point Vilnius” with the industry events of the other Baltic Film Festivals?
R. S.: The thing is that the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival has a very strong industry event, but they are in November. In terms of films, they take films that are more for the winter festival circuit and we take films for the summer festival circuit. But, we are not rivals; we work together and we have among our guests the representatives from the festival and its industry event (Industry Days and Baltic Event). They are very strong and they work very well. Their focus is coproductions and we do not focus on coproductions but rather on film promotion.
Karajica: In that sense, can you talk more about the role of “Meeting Point Vilnius” in the promotion of Lithuanian films?
R. S.: Of course! First, we want the Lithuanian films to travel and have an international career – or not necessarily – or just have viewers in Lithuania. So, among the projects of “Coming Soon” that we are selecting, the biggest part is, of course, from Lithuania. This year, for example, we have twenty projects and ten of them are Lithuanian or Lithuanian coproductions. This happens in Lithuania and we want to promote Lithuanian films and this is our biggest goal. And, we really help in every possible way Lithuanian producers to meet international people, producers, programmers… And, we have really good examples of success: three years ago, for The Gambler, the Lithuanian film that premiered in San Sebastián, the programmer of San Sebastián saw the film here during “Meeting Point Vilnius” and it traveled to more than fifty festivals around the world. But, of course, we also want to help other films… For example, last year’s success story was the Latvian film Mellow Mud that also met with their sales agent here and it was shown in the Generation section of this year’s Berlinale.
Karajica: So, it is a big booster of the Lithuanian film industry?
R. S.: I should say yes, because it is the biggest event in the film industry in Lithuania.
Karajica: Can you talk about the current state of the Lithuanian film industry?
R. S.: Well… I would say it is hopeful because we have come out of this stagnation that came after we gained the independence. The old generation of directors was making films their way and the new generation wasn’t growing up. Now, we have, I think, the third or even fourth generation of filmmakers and producers in Lithuania and I really love them; they are very enthusiastic, they work from the heart, they have knowledge, they are eager to learn more, they use new technologies and new ways of financing even – they go and look for it themselves. This is basically for art-house movies but commercial films in Lithuania are also on the rise. So, I think everything is fine in the Lithuanian film industry.
Karajica: And, last but not least, what are your long and short-term plans for the future of Meeting Point Vilnius?
R. S.: Wow! We have a lot of plans! We want “Meeting Point Vilnius” to be one of the established industry events in Europe – in this part of Europe. And, I would like it for every filmmaker that has an unfinished film to be an honor and wish to come to Vilnius, to know that Vilnius is not just saying that it helps filmmakers but that they actually see the real need and value.
Tara Karajica: Can you introduce the “Meeting Point Vilnius” industry event and talk about its inception and the reasons behind it?
Rita Stanelytė: Of course! It’s the seventh year of the industry event and it started, I think, from the wish to know more. It was started by our executive director, Algirdas [Ramaška], because he was running the festival and he felt that he needed more information, especially about how to run the festival, how to make it economically wealthier and how to make it successful. So, we started to invite other festival directors from the region and from Central and Eastern Europe, to just share experiences and ask and see what they are doing. For several years, it was just a film festival forum with the focus of sharing experience. But then, we grew and we understood that not only festivals needed to have more experience and learn more, but also that Lithuanian producers and producers from the whole region needed to gain knowledge and experience. So, we expanded and created this bigger industry event, the “Meeting Point Vilnius”, where we have now several sections. One is the conference for producers where we usually concentrate on the final stage of the filmmaking process. Our main goal and main topic will always be film promotion and film marketing, so we invite inspiring speakers to speak about audience building, film marketing, promotion, and everything that needs to be done because we feel that this is what producers from our region lack. And then, another big part – a very prestigious part of the event – is the “Coming Soon” session, where we invite projects – unfinished films in postproduction – to be presented in the session and we invite programmers, sales agents and distributors who are scouting for new talents and new films. And, the third part is the “Film Festival Symposium” which has existed from the very beginning and where we practice the development of film festivals around the region.
Karajica: These are the three main focuses of the event? Are they always the same?
R. S.: We try to keep that focus so that we have something for producers, something for programmers and something for film festivals.
Karajica: What is the position of “Meeting Point Vilnius” among other industry events at other festivals? Where does it stand?
R. S.: Well, our position is, you know, between Berlin and Cannes. So, usually, it is at the end of March and as our focus is the Baltic countries and the Eastern partner countries from the former Soviet Union, our aim is to have films that are aiming at summer festivals, at the summer circuit. And then again, the Vilnius event is very comfortable geographically because it is halfway from the countries of the former Soviet Union and halfway from the Western block. We also have this know-how, you know, Lithuania being ten years in the European Union and a former Soviet Country so it is like a bridge between the East and the West. And, that’s why we think this is the advantage of our industry event.
Karajica: Today is the second day of the event. Are your expectations being met so far and what are the results, according to you?
R. S.: Actually, we have many international guests. We have a hundred industry guests and another hundred festival guests like for instance the representatives of the films in the Competition program and jury members. I can say that the overall interest in “Meeting Point Vilnius” is growing and I count that as the quality of the event because we want to be better. For the second day, what I can say is that I am very happy that the interest comes from the local film industry because it is one of the reasons why we are doing this event, which is for the Lithuanian film industry to grow. The producers can come – they don’t have to go anywhere – they can meet the people that they want, that they need right here in Vilnius… So, this is also one of our main goals and this is why we collaborate with the Lithuanian Film Centre. We therefore have this hub of knowledge and experience that our producers can use.
Karajica: What is the extent of involvement of the Lithuanian Film Centre in the event?
R. S.: We work closely together and we basically collaborate on the event’s content. We discuss with them what we should talk about, what we should present and who we should invite. Because the Lithuanian Film Centre has this close relation with the Polish Film Institute and the entire Lithuanian film industry wants to have closer relations with the Polish film industry, this year at the “Meeting Point Vilnius” event there is a bigger emphasis on the Polish film industry. Yesterday, we had a panel about the coproductions between Lithuania and Poland and we have many Polish films screening at the festival; we have many industry guests and journalists from Poland. So, for example, this is one of the outcomes of the collaboration between the festival and the Lithuanian Film Centre along with the Polish Film Institute.
Karajica: Can you elaborate more on the coproductions between Lithuania and Poland?
R.S.: Poland and Lithuania, although neighboring countries, have not had much of a cooperation in the field of cinema until recent years, when with the initiative that stemmed from the Lithuanian Film Center and the Polish Film Institute enforced closer collaborations. To strengthen the bond between Lithuania and Poland a special focus at this year’s « Meeting Point Vilnius » was put on Poland. Therefore, we had a special panel discussion about what could be done in order to enforce the coproductions between the two countries. During the « Coming Soon » session, three special Polish-Lithuanian coproduction projects were presented: “Crisis” produced by Marta Lewandowska (Pl) and Marija Razgutė (Lt), "Habit and armour” produced by Dorota Rozhkowska (Pl) and Kestutis Drazdauskas (Lt) as well as “The man who new 75 languages” produced by Zivile Gallego. Also, a special guest project from Poland was presented in the « Coming Soon » session, “Wild Roses,” produced by Roman Jarosz.
Karajica: But, there is also a close relationship with the Transilvania International Film Festival, right? Is this another level of collaboration?
R. S.: Yes, this is another level. It is a friendship level because the people from the Transilvania International Film Festival, from Cluj-Napoca, are very good friends of ours. We kind of feel related to them because the festivals are similar in size and stage of development. But, we also have personal relations with the people and we really like them. Our team always goes to the Transilvania International Film Festival in June and they always come to Vilnius in March or April. And, this year we are doing this Vilnius-Transilvania Express party, but it’s for fun. It’s friendship and fun.
Karajica: What is the relationship of “Meeting Point Vilnius” with the industry events of the other Baltic Film Festivals?
R. S.: The thing is that the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival has a very strong industry event, but they are in November. In terms of films, they take films that are more for the winter festival circuit and we take films for the summer festival circuit. But, we are not rivals; we work together and we have among our guests the representatives from the festival and its industry event (Industry Days and Baltic Event). They are very strong and they work very well. Their focus is coproductions and we do not focus on coproductions but rather on film promotion.
Karajica: In that sense, can you talk more about the role of “Meeting Point Vilnius” in the promotion of Lithuanian films?
R. S.: Of course! First, we want the Lithuanian films to travel and have an international career – or not necessarily – or just have viewers in Lithuania. So, among the projects of “Coming Soon” that we are selecting, the biggest part is, of course, from Lithuania. This year, for example, we have twenty projects and ten of them are Lithuanian or Lithuanian coproductions. This happens in Lithuania and we want to promote Lithuanian films and this is our biggest goal. And, we really help in every possible way Lithuanian producers to meet international people, producers, programmers… And, we have really good examples of success: three years ago, for The Gambler, the Lithuanian film that premiered in San Sebastián, the programmer of San Sebastián saw the film here during “Meeting Point Vilnius” and it traveled to more than fifty festivals around the world. But, of course, we also want to help other films… For example, last year’s success story was the Latvian film Mellow Mud that also met with their sales agent here and it was shown in the Generation section of this year’s Berlinale.
Karajica: So, it is a big booster of the Lithuanian film industry?
R. S.: I should say yes, because it is the biggest event in the film industry in Lithuania.
Karajica: Can you talk about the current state of the Lithuanian film industry?
R. S.: Well… I would say it is hopeful because we have come out of this stagnation that came after we gained the independence. The old generation of directors was making films their way and the new generation wasn’t growing up. Now, we have, I think, the third or even fourth generation of filmmakers and producers in Lithuania and I really love them; they are very enthusiastic, they work from the heart, they have knowledge, they are eager to learn more, they use new technologies and new ways of financing even – they go and look for it themselves. This is basically for art-house movies but commercial films in Lithuania are also on the rise. So, I think everything is fine in the Lithuanian film industry.
Karajica: And, last but not least, what are your long and short-term plans for the future of Meeting Point Vilnius?
R. S.: Wow! We have a lot of plans! We want “Meeting Point Vilnius” to be one of the established industry events in Europe – in this part of Europe. And, I would like it for every filmmaker that has an unfinished film to be an honor and wish to come to Vilnius, to know that Vilnius is not just saying that it helps filmmakers but that they actually see the real need and value.
- 4/26/2016
- by Tara Karajica
- Sydney's Buzz
The festival, set to run in Mexico from November 11-15, has unveiled the selections in its After Dark, American Specials and Green programmes.
Entries in the After Dark genre section feature films that have garnered acclaim at other festivals and include Matteo Garrone’s Tale Of Tales and the Latin American premieres of Robert Eggers’ The Witch (pictured) and Bo Mikkelsen’s What We Become.
The American Specials selections present Mexican permieres of Scott Cooper’s Black Mass and Marielle Heller’s The Diary of A Teenage Girl.
The Green strand presented by Discovery Channel showcases the Latin American premiere of Cyril Barbançon and Andy Byatt’s Hurricane 3D and the Mexican premieres of Louie Psihoyos’s Racing Extinction and Luc Jacqyet’s La Glace Et Le Ciel.
Festival top brass have also announced entries in the Cabos In Progress initiative for films in post that are made in or being produced with Mexico.
The selections...
Entries in the After Dark genre section feature films that have garnered acclaim at other festivals and include Matteo Garrone’s Tale Of Tales and the Latin American premieres of Robert Eggers’ The Witch (pictured) and Bo Mikkelsen’s What We Become.
The American Specials selections present Mexican permieres of Scott Cooper’s Black Mass and Marielle Heller’s The Diary of A Teenage Girl.
The Green strand presented by Discovery Channel showcases the Latin American premiere of Cyril Barbançon and Andy Byatt’s Hurricane 3D and the Mexican premieres of Louie Psihoyos’s Racing Extinction and Luc Jacqyet’s La Glace Et Le Ciel.
Festival top brass have also announced entries in the Cabos In Progress initiative for films in post that are made in or being produced with Mexico.
The selections...
- 10/20/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
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