When a rock festival held in Tallinn in the summer of 1988 was shut down by Soviet authorities, thousands of Estonians took to the streets, waving Estonian flags and singing patriotic songs in a bold show of defiance of Soviet rule. By the festival’s final night, some 200,000 people had joined what would later be dubbed the Singing Revolution, a catalyst for the non-violent movement that swept across Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in the early-‘90s and paved the way for independence.
Even under Moscow’s thumb the Baltics demanded to be heard. For decades the three small nations have drawn on their historical, cultural and economic ties to create a sum that’s bigger than its parts, a collaborative spirit that’s also energized the countries’ growing screen industries, which will share the stage as joint Countries in Focus at this year’s European Film Market.
The showcase, which is...
Even under Moscow’s thumb the Baltics demanded to be heard. For decades the three small nations have drawn on their historical, cultural and economic ties to create a sum that’s bigger than its parts, a collaborative spirit that’s also energized the countries’ growing screen industries, which will share the stage as joint Countries in Focus at this year’s European Film Market.
The showcase, which is...
- 2/17/2023
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
When U.K.-based Camelot Films’ “Prizefighter: The Life of Jem Belcher” was forced to relocate to Lithuania earlier this year, after the film’s Welsh financing fell through, executive producer Kestutis Drazdauskas knew the first challenge facing director Daniel Graham’s period drama would be re-creating 19th century England in 21st century Vilnius.
“It was an extensive set construction for us, because locations for us are minimal that could play as that period in England and Wales,” says Drazdauskas, who runs the production company Artbox and is chairman of the board of the Independent Producers Assn. of Lithuania. Time was of the essence for the 36-day shoot, but local crews were quick to respond, with set dressing and skillfully deployed props allowing the production to recreate the look and feel of Victorian England.
It’s a credit to what Drazdauskas describes as a “small but very efficient film industry” in Lithuania,...
“It was an extensive set construction for us, because locations for us are minimal that could play as that period in England and Wales,” says Drazdauskas, who runs the production company Artbox and is chairman of the board of the Independent Producers Assn. of Lithuania. Time was of the essence for the 36-day shoot, but local crews were quick to respond, with set dressing and skillfully deployed props allowing the production to recreate the look and feel of Victorian England.
It’s a credit to what Drazdauskas describes as a “small but very efficient film industry” in Lithuania,...
- 10/23/2021
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
When “Stranger Things” recently returned to Lithuania, where parts of season four of the Netflix supernatural drama were filmed in early 2020, the Baltic winter delivered on its usual promises of frigid temperatures and frosty weather. But it also offered a hopeful sign that 2021 might bring some relief, after the trials of a year turned topsy-turvy by the coronavirus pandemic.
“Last year we had no snow, so we had to make it all,” says Gary Tuck, of Baltic Film Services, which serviced the shoot. “This year we had lots of snow. So that was nice.”
It has been difficult to find a silver lining to a pandemic which has upended production across the globe, and which forced a shutdown in Lithuania for several months last spring. Yet 2020 was nevertheless the most successful year for the local film industry since the introduction of a tax incentive in 2014.
According to the Lithuanian Film Center,...
“Last year we had no snow, so we had to make it all,” says Gary Tuck, of Baltic Film Services, which serviced the shoot. “This year we had lots of snow. So that was nice.”
It has been difficult to find a silver lining to a pandemic which has upended production across the globe, and which forced a shutdown in Lithuania for several months last spring. Yet 2020 was nevertheless the most successful year for the local film industry since the introduction of a tax incentive in 2014.
According to the Lithuanian Film Center,...
- 3/3/2021
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
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
School of Film Agents celebrated its third edition in Wroclaw, Poland, bringing together, once again, some of the best and most promising young players active in the European film industry today. The unique, core philosophy behind Sofa is the initiative's continuous commitment to strengthening the film landscape of countries in Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus States where unstable political and economical conditions result in an underdeveloped film industry.
Sofa-Founder Nikolaj Nikitin: "Granted, many films from these countries are being successfully screened at the big film festivals. Nonetheless, they are still lacking the necessary infrastructure and institutional support that not only acknowledges and strengthens the position of film as an art form and relevant socio-cultural and economic factor, but also backs the much-needed film mediators managing these initiatives - such as film festival-makers, distributors and cinema operators."
The Program
Ten intensive days of workshop participation were made available to the eight film agents and their top-class tutors, where, together, they were given the opportunity to successfully develop and push their promising ideas forward towards realization. Strengths and weaknesses of the projects pitched were openly and constructively discussed in close dialogue with some of the biggest names in the European film industry. Lectures and panel discussions dealing with the central topics at hand were visited and numerous in-depth one-to-one meetings took place. In comparison to last year's edition, this year, an intensive exchange between mentors and participants was able to take place already in advance guaranteeing optimal preparation for the workshop activities ahead.
The film agents and their film projects
In its third year, Sofa was, once again, able to pave the way towards realization for eight particularly committed projects. The eight participants were selected out of over one hundred applicants in total - the rising number of applications in 2015 is a clear confirmation of the growing popularity of Sofa.
The goal of strengthening the regional film culture and industries in their respective countries unified most of the participants' projects in 2015. Additionally the production and distribution of European co-productions within the international theatrical market also took center stage at this year's Sofa edition.
With her project Lviv Film Commission the Ukrainian participant Olha Reiter pursued the establishment of the first regional film commission in the Ukraine, a project which already commenced with its important work in August earlier this year.
The Dushanbe Documentary Film Center from Sergey Chutkov serves as a place for film education in Tajikistan - a platform providing space, equipment and seminars for the production of documentary films by young filmmakers.
The project Criss-Cross Film Lab developed by the Serbian participant Milica Bozanic would also like to provide a space for workshops and networking. In addition to bringing together young filmmakers with producers, business skills and marketing strategies will also be taught.
A mobile film educational project will be put into motion by the Polish participant Malgorzata Tusk. With her project Cinebus - Mobile Center of Audiovisual Education she would like to bring the already well-established workshop initiative "Film Spring Open" (led by the world-renowned Dop Slawomir Idziak) into light in Poland.
With his project Cuz We Are Talented, the Czech participant Michal Kracmer plans to steer the attention to young talents from countries in Central Europe while promoting co-productions between these countries.
Conceptualized as a full-service agency, the project Kaleidoscope, developed by the Slovakian participant Katarina Tomkova, intends to offer consultation and internationalization strategies from script to theatrical release.
The Romanian participant Dorina Oarga aims to digitize student films from the National University of Theatre and Film Archive and make them available online with her project Cinepub 2nd Life - a pilot project with the intention of preserving the film heritage of Romania.
Creating new visibility for ambitious children's films is the goal of the möwe. derKinderFilmVerleih, conceptualized by the German Sofa-participant Hella Riehl.
The Lecturers
Each of the eight participants had a tutor by his/her side offering project feedback from his/her own special and professional perspective. The following mentors lent their expertise to Sofa this year: Claudia Dillmann (Deutsches Filminstitut, Frankfurt), Maciej Jakubczyk (New Horizons Association, Wroclaw), Matthijs Wouter Knol (European Film Market, Berlin), Roberto Olla (Eurimages, Strasbourg), Katriel Schory (Israel Film Fund, Tel Aviv), Riina Sildos (Baltic Event, Tallinn), Tamara Tatishvili (Ablabudafilm, Tbilisi) und Kristina Trapp (Eave, Luxemburg). An additional lecture dealing with the topic of Marketing and Consumer Psychology was presented by Domenico la Porta (Cineuropa, Brussels).
Four further experts - each of whom have been an integral part of the Sofa-Team since the inception of the initiative - accompanied the participants from the first day to the very last of the workshop. Participants were able to develop individually tailored marketing strategies for their projects with Renaud Redien-Collot (Novancia Business School, Paris), while Pitching Expert Sibylle Kurz (Frankfurt am Main) ensured that projects are presented with a sense of confidence and ease. Oliver Baumgarten (Programme Director, Max Ophüls Preis, Saarbrücken) und Oscar-Winner Ewa Puszczynska (Opus Film, Lodz) were also present, offering individual feedback-meetings aimed at stylistically and conceptually enhancing the participants' concept drafts as well as helping them to work out appropriate budgeting and realistic timeline schemes for their projects.
The Sofa-participants and lecturers were invited to attend a Film-Preview of the Cannes-premiered Swedish-Polish co-production "The Here After" in Wroclaw's largest arthouse cinema. After the screening director Magnus von Horn and producer Mariusz Wlodarski spoke about opportunities within and the challenges facing the European co-production scene.
Film culture for the future - success stories
A look back at the last two editions of Sofa proves that the pan-European Thinktank dedicated to the future of cinema is truly making waves with sustainable signs of change and the first projects bearing fruit. Many of the projects from the last two years have been able to be successfully realized or are close to realization and implementation.
The Eurimage-backed Serbian Sofa-project Fbo - Festival Box Office by Sonja Topalovic was launched as a beta version in February at the Berlinale. A presentation of the interactive online-database for film festivals followed in the Spring in Cannes. Meanwhile, Fbo is closely cooperating with the Film Center Serbia, officially evaluating for them the number of visitors and ticket sales of art house theaters participating at Serbian film festivals. Moreover, negotiations are continuously taking place with numerous international film festivals, not only keeping the project's network flow in full-swing, but also helping to supplement their valuable database at the same time. As an innovative business tool, Fbo has long-term, world-wide plans to evaluate the success of art house films screened at festivals, thereby giving key players in the industry invaluable insight into understanding public taste.
Leana Jalukse's project Doktok - a distribution initiative for Estonian documentary films was able to be realized with the help of Sofa. Leana was also able to participate in a six-week German language course in Munich where she completed a creative internship with Beta Cinema. This combination of language training with professional internship possibilities is the result of cooperation between Sofa and the Goethe-Institut Prague and will be continued in 2016. Former Sofa-participants Anna Bielak (Poland) and Gábor Böszörményi (Hungary) have also been able to take part in a German language course whilst building up their networks of German business contacts.
The Romanian Sofa-project Transilvania Film Fund by Cristian Hordila is close to being fully implemented and the Lithuanian Sofa-project Front - Film Republic of Networked Theatres by Kestutis Drazdauskas is making headway with the digitalization of cultural centers in Lithuania. The first agreements with local government administrative agencies have been reached and plans are being made to incorporate the private sector into the overall financing scheme of the project. Kestutis is also working out further financial support with Fatima Djoumer (Europe Cinemas), who plans to visit with him in Lithuania this Fall.
Sofa-Founder Nikolaj Nikitin: "Granted, many films from these countries are being successfully screened at the big film festivals. Nonetheless, they are still lacking the necessary infrastructure and institutional support that not only acknowledges and strengthens the position of film as an art form and relevant socio-cultural and economic factor, but also backs the much-needed film mediators managing these initiatives - such as film festival-makers, distributors and cinema operators."
The Program
Ten intensive days of workshop participation were made available to the eight film agents and their top-class tutors, where, together, they were given the opportunity to successfully develop and push their promising ideas forward towards realization. Strengths and weaknesses of the projects pitched were openly and constructively discussed in close dialogue with some of the biggest names in the European film industry. Lectures and panel discussions dealing with the central topics at hand were visited and numerous in-depth one-to-one meetings took place. In comparison to last year's edition, this year, an intensive exchange between mentors and participants was able to take place already in advance guaranteeing optimal preparation for the workshop activities ahead.
The film agents and their film projects
In its third year, Sofa was, once again, able to pave the way towards realization for eight particularly committed projects. The eight participants were selected out of over one hundred applicants in total - the rising number of applications in 2015 is a clear confirmation of the growing popularity of Sofa.
The goal of strengthening the regional film culture and industries in their respective countries unified most of the participants' projects in 2015. Additionally the production and distribution of European co-productions within the international theatrical market also took center stage at this year's Sofa edition.
With her project Lviv Film Commission the Ukrainian participant Olha Reiter pursued the establishment of the first regional film commission in the Ukraine, a project which already commenced with its important work in August earlier this year.
The Dushanbe Documentary Film Center from Sergey Chutkov serves as a place for film education in Tajikistan - a platform providing space, equipment and seminars for the production of documentary films by young filmmakers.
The project Criss-Cross Film Lab developed by the Serbian participant Milica Bozanic would also like to provide a space for workshops and networking. In addition to bringing together young filmmakers with producers, business skills and marketing strategies will also be taught.
A mobile film educational project will be put into motion by the Polish participant Malgorzata Tusk. With her project Cinebus - Mobile Center of Audiovisual Education she would like to bring the already well-established workshop initiative "Film Spring Open" (led by the world-renowned Dop Slawomir Idziak) into light in Poland.
With his project Cuz We Are Talented, the Czech participant Michal Kracmer plans to steer the attention to young talents from countries in Central Europe while promoting co-productions between these countries.
Conceptualized as a full-service agency, the project Kaleidoscope, developed by the Slovakian participant Katarina Tomkova, intends to offer consultation and internationalization strategies from script to theatrical release.
The Romanian participant Dorina Oarga aims to digitize student films from the National University of Theatre and Film Archive and make them available online with her project Cinepub 2nd Life - a pilot project with the intention of preserving the film heritage of Romania.
Creating new visibility for ambitious children's films is the goal of the möwe. derKinderFilmVerleih, conceptualized by the German Sofa-participant Hella Riehl.
The Lecturers
Each of the eight participants had a tutor by his/her side offering project feedback from his/her own special and professional perspective. The following mentors lent their expertise to Sofa this year: Claudia Dillmann (Deutsches Filminstitut, Frankfurt), Maciej Jakubczyk (New Horizons Association, Wroclaw), Matthijs Wouter Knol (European Film Market, Berlin), Roberto Olla (Eurimages, Strasbourg), Katriel Schory (Israel Film Fund, Tel Aviv), Riina Sildos (Baltic Event, Tallinn), Tamara Tatishvili (Ablabudafilm, Tbilisi) und Kristina Trapp (Eave, Luxemburg). An additional lecture dealing with the topic of Marketing and Consumer Psychology was presented by Domenico la Porta (Cineuropa, Brussels).
Four further experts - each of whom have been an integral part of the Sofa-Team since the inception of the initiative - accompanied the participants from the first day to the very last of the workshop. Participants were able to develop individually tailored marketing strategies for their projects with Renaud Redien-Collot (Novancia Business School, Paris), while Pitching Expert Sibylle Kurz (Frankfurt am Main) ensured that projects are presented with a sense of confidence and ease. Oliver Baumgarten (Programme Director, Max Ophüls Preis, Saarbrücken) und Oscar-Winner Ewa Puszczynska (Opus Film, Lodz) were also present, offering individual feedback-meetings aimed at stylistically and conceptually enhancing the participants' concept drafts as well as helping them to work out appropriate budgeting and realistic timeline schemes for their projects.
The Sofa-participants and lecturers were invited to attend a Film-Preview of the Cannes-premiered Swedish-Polish co-production "The Here After" in Wroclaw's largest arthouse cinema. After the screening director Magnus von Horn and producer Mariusz Wlodarski spoke about opportunities within and the challenges facing the European co-production scene.
Film culture for the future - success stories
A look back at the last two editions of Sofa proves that the pan-European Thinktank dedicated to the future of cinema is truly making waves with sustainable signs of change and the first projects bearing fruit. Many of the projects from the last two years have been able to be successfully realized or are close to realization and implementation.
The Eurimage-backed Serbian Sofa-project Fbo - Festival Box Office by Sonja Topalovic was launched as a beta version in February at the Berlinale. A presentation of the interactive online-database for film festivals followed in the Spring in Cannes. Meanwhile, Fbo is closely cooperating with the Film Center Serbia, officially evaluating for them the number of visitors and ticket sales of art house theaters participating at Serbian film festivals. Moreover, negotiations are continuously taking place with numerous international film festivals, not only keeping the project's network flow in full-swing, but also helping to supplement their valuable database at the same time. As an innovative business tool, Fbo has long-term, world-wide plans to evaluate the success of art house films screened at festivals, thereby giving key players in the industry invaluable insight into understanding public taste.
Leana Jalukse's project Doktok - a distribution initiative for Estonian documentary films was able to be realized with the help of Sofa. Leana was also able to participate in a six-week German language course in Munich where she completed a creative internship with Beta Cinema. This combination of language training with professional internship possibilities is the result of cooperation between Sofa and the Goethe-Institut Prague and will be continued in 2016. Former Sofa-participants Anna Bielak (Poland) and Gábor Böszörményi (Hungary) have also been able to take part in a German language course whilst building up their networks of German business contacts.
The Romanian Sofa-project Transilvania Film Fund by Cristian Hordila is close to being fully implemented and the Lithuanian Sofa-project Front - Film Republic of Networked Theatres by Kestutis Drazdauskas is making headway with the digitalization of cultural centers in Lithuania. The first agreements with local government administrative agencies have been reached and plans are being made to incorporate the private sector into the overall financing scheme of the project. Kestutis is also working out further financial support with Fatima Djoumer (Europe Cinemas), who plans to visit with him in Lithuania this Fall.
- 11/12/2015
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
After the successful completion of the second edition of Sofa – School of Film Agents – and just in time for the Berlinale – the Sofa-team is proud to announce their, "Call for Proposals" for a third round slated to take place in Wroclaw, Poland from August 21st – 30th, 2015 . Sofa is a workshop initiative for young film professionals and mediators from Central and Eastern Europe, the Baltic States, Central Asia, Greece and Germany with the goal of supporting and realizing innovative cinema projects.
Sofa’s first success stories are able to be told thanks to the overwhelming response derived from a visionary and unique pan-european target group, from the undying support of the initiative’s partners as well as from the hands-on contributions of exceptional expertise from some of Europe’s most knowledgeable film professionals (e.g., 2014 Eurimages’ Executive Director, Roberto Olla, "Ida," "Als wir träumten")
Sofa Director, Nikolaj Nikitin is immensely pleased with the results of Fbo, which, for Nikitin, only reaffirm the indispensability and significance of Sofa: "Fbo will revolutionize the future of the film industry. For the first time, not only will the makers of film festivals, but also producers and financiers be able to have access to the concrete numbers behind so-called 'festival films'. It has been clear for quite some time that the international success of a film can no longer be measured based on classic theatrical statistics and attendance figures. These methods of evaluation often have no relevance or do not function as well in other countries, particularly in 'low-capacity' countries where the distribution of European film content no longer finds its audience in the typical art house cinema on the corner, but rather at active and numerous film festivals. These festivals often take the place of the role of a distribution company, making a film available to viewers year round whilst collecting information on audience development. That’s why Fbo will serve as one of the most important assessment tools for a new generation of filmmakers. We are thrilled that this idea was conceived and developed in Serbia, where it has already received funding and will be further subsidized in Strasbourg by Eurimages.“
Here, some more details about this unique and innovative project from the creators / developers themselves – the company Soulfood from Belgrad:
"Fbo - Festival Box Office is an internet-based platform aggregating all relevant data and figures regarding international festivals’ presentation of films . In addition to showcasing film presentations at international festivals (with the focus on European festivals), Fbo will provide information about 1) the number of the festivals where the film was screened 2) number of films presented at festival(s) 3) actual number of festival screenings 4) total number of audience attendees and 5) the total and average income from ticket sales. The purpose of this subscriber-based service - with a detailed festival film overview – is to provide quantitative data that can be used as a powerful production tool. Information from large, one-time or occasional events will provide producers, distributors and sales agents with a more detailed account of the commercial potential of films, films that may otherwise only be seen only as showcase events.“
From Sofa’s second edition in 2014 comes the outstanding project „Transylvania Film Fund“ which is soon to become Romania’s first regional film funding body. The Romanian Sofa participant, Cristian Hordila,managed to get his ambitious project off the ground in less than one year. This project has even managed to branch out geographically and will kick-off much larger than originally planned. Hordila comments: "Before participating at Sofa, I had an idea for a project, yet still so many questions, even doubts about how to get it in gear. After 10 hard-working, super creative days with the Sofa family, I returned home with all the necessary tools and resources to create the foundation of the first regional film fund in Romania, the Transylvania Film Fund. Sofa made me go from just having an idea to absolutely nothing and then back gain; I destroyed my initial concepts during those 10 days so many times and the team at Sofa always helped me rebuild each time...better and better. I’m very proud to say that without Sofa, the Transylvania Film Fund wouldn’t be the same project with the same vision and approach as it is today. Romania will have its first regional film fund this year. The Transylvania Film Fund release is planned for mid-May and Sofa is definitely one of the founders.“
Nikitin adds: "From the very beginning, the establishment of regional / national film funding in Eastern Europe was of particular importance to us. Our years of experience have shown us that additional funding and support schemes are often exactly that needed to stimulate national film production, create new job opportunities for those seeking work in the film sector along with the establishment of new film companies, not to mention pushing forward the professionalization of the audio-visual sector. The longstanding success of one of Sofa’s partners, the Film und Medien Stiftung Nrw , illustrates this point perfectly. We wish Cristian and his colleagues the very best and are certain that the establishment of such an institution will positively nurture and support the wave of success that Romanian cinema is currently experiencing."
The Lithuanian project Front – Film Republic of Networked Theater has taken major steps forward towards realization. Sofa-Participant Kestutis Drazdauskas:
„Sofa made me realize the European dimension of my project. Following Sofa, we at the Vilnius Film Cluster conducted research which took into consideration the knowledge I acquired at the Sofa-workshop. The research received 30.000 Euro support by the Cultural Council of Lithuania. We evaluated the infrastructural needs as well as social, cultural and economical circumstances in thirty municipalities in Lithuania. At present we are working on the investment plan for the establishment of the regional cinema network.“
Many other projects from the first two edition of Sofa are on the road to success and will continue to be supported and presented by the Sofa team in the future.
New projects for Sofa 2015 may be submitted as of now here . Deadline for submissions is April 10th, 2015.
Sofa – School of Film Agents is a joint project of the Filmplus gUG (Cologne) and the Fundacja Filmplus (Warsaw) together with the city of Wroclaw (Breslau) and the Polish Film Institute, funded by the Foundation for Polish-German Cooperation, theFederal Foreign Office, the International Visegrad Fund,the Film und Medien Stiftung Nrw,The Creative Europe Desk Poland , The Alfred Toepfer Foundation and Eave – European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs and supported by theAdam Mickiewicz Institute, in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut in Poland (Krakow), Serbia, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Lithuania, Greece and its Head Office in Germany, and with the support of theFilm Commission Poland and the Wroclaw Film Commission.
Sofa’s first success stories are able to be told thanks to the overwhelming response derived from a visionary and unique pan-european target group, from the undying support of the initiative’s partners as well as from the hands-on contributions of exceptional expertise from some of Europe’s most knowledgeable film professionals (e.g., 2014 Eurimages’ Executive Director, Roberto Olla, "Ida," "Als wir träumten")
Sofa Director, Nikolaj Nikitin is immensely pleased with the results of Fbo, which, for Nikitin, only reaffirm the indispensability and significance of Sofa: "Fbo will revolutionize the future of the film industry. For the first time, not only will the makers of film festivals, but also producers and financiers be able to have access to the concrete numbers behind so-called 'festival films'. It has been clear for quite some time that the international success of a film can no longer be measured based on classic theatrical statistics and attendance figures. These methods of evaluation often have no relevance or do not function as well in other countries, particularly in 'low-capacity' countries where the distribution of European film content no longer finds its audience in the typical art house cinema on the corner, but rather at active and numerous film festivals. These festivals often take the place of the role of a distribution company, making a film available to viewers year round whilst collecting information on audience development. That’s why Fbo will serve as one of the most important assessment tools for a new generation of filmmakers. We are thrilled that this idea was conceived and developed in Serbia, where it has already received funding and will be further subsidized in Strasbourg by Eurimages.“
Here, some more details about this unique and innovative project from the creators / developers themselves – the company Soulfood from Belgrad:
"Fbo - Festival Box Office is an internet-based platform aggregating all relevant data and figures regarding international festivals’ presentation of films . In addition to showcasing film presentations at international festivals (with the focus on European festivals), Fbo will provide information about 1) the number of the festivals where the film was screened 2) number of films presented at festival(s) 3) actual number of festival screenings 4) total number of audience attendees and 5) the total and average income from ticket sales. The purpose of this subscriber-based service - with a detailed festival film overview – is to provide quantitative data that can be used as a powerful production tool. Information from large, one-time or occasional events will provide producers, distributors and sales agents with a more detailed account of the commercial potential of films, films that may otherwise only be seen only as showcase events.“
From Sofa’s second edition in 2014 comes the outstanding project „Transylvania Film Fund“ which is soon to become Romania’s first regional film funding body. The Romanian Sofa participant, Cristian Hordila,managed to get his ambitious project off the ground in less than one year. This project has even managed to branch out geographically and will kick-off much larger than originally planned. Hordila comments: "Before participating at Sofa, I had an idea for a project, yet still so many questions, even doubts about how to get it in gear. After 10 hard-working, super creative days with the Sofa family, I returned home with all the necessary tools and resources to create the foundation of the first regional film fund in Romania, the Transylvania Film Fund. Sofa made me go from just having an idea to absolutely nothing and then back gain; I destroyed my initial concepts during those 10 days so many times and the team at Sofa always helped me rebuild each time...better and better. I’m very proud to say that without Sofa, the Transylvania Film Fund wouldn’t be the same project with the same vision and approach as it is today. Romania will have its first regional film fund this year. The Transylvania Film Fund release is planned for mid-May and Sofa is definitely one of the founders.“
Nikitin adds: "From the very beginning, the establishment of regional / national film funding in Eastern Europe was of particular importance to us. Our years of experience have shown us that additional funding and support schemes are often exactly that needed to stimulate national film production, create new job opportunities for those seeking work in the film sector along with the establishment of new film companies, not to mention pushing forward the professionalization of the audio-visual sector. The longstanding success of one of Sofa’s partners, the Film und Medien Stiftung Nrw , illustrates this point perfectly. We wish Cristian and his colleagues the very best and are certain that the establishment of such an institution will positively nurture and support the wave of success that Romanian cinema is currently experiencing."
The Lithuanian project Front – Film Republic of Networked Theater has taken major steps forward towards realization. Sofa-Participant Kestutis Drazdauskas:
„Sofa made me realize the European dimension of my project. Following Sofa, we at the Vilnius Film Cluster conducted research which took into consideration the knowledge I acquired at the Sofa-workshop. The research received 30.000 Euro support by the Cultural Council of Lithuania. We evaluated the infrastructural needs as well as social, cultural and economical circumstances in thirty municipalities in Lithuania. At present we are working on the investment plan for the establishment of the regional cinema network.“
Many other projects from the first two edition of Sofa are on the road to success and will continue to be supported and presented by the Sofa team in the future.
New projects for Sofa 2015 may be submitted as of now here . Deadline for submissions is April 10th, 2015.
Sofa – School of Film Agents is a joint project of the Filmplus gUG (Cologne) and the Fundacja Filmplus (Warsaw) together with the city of Wroclaw (Breslau) and the Polish Film Institute, funded by the Foundation for Polish-German Cooperation, theFederal Foreign Office, the International Visegrad Fund,the Film und Medien Stiftung Nrw,The Creative Europe Desk Poland , The Alfred Toepfer Foundation and Eave – European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs and supported by theAdam Mickiewicz Institute, in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut in Poland (Krakow), Serbia, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Lithuania, Greece and its Head Office in Germany, and with the support of theFilm Commission Poland and the Wroclaw Film Commission.
- 2/13/2015
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
This year I attended Strategic Partners, a coproduction event held in Halifax just after Tiff. The degree of intimacy and friendliness makes it ideal for networking. There I met Kestutis Drazdauskas, a producer from Lithuania, attending Sp for the third time. Aside from producing, over the last few years as Business Development Director, he has also created the Vilnius Film Cluster.
He has been in film professionally since 1995, when he was 2nd Ad on “Undertow” by Eric Red, working his way up through television, where his fourth film in 1999 was Donna Dietch’s “The Devil’s Arithmetic” which she shot in Lithuania. He was the Coordinating Assistant Director. In 1999, he produced his first short film, “The Officer's Romance” by Vytautas V. Landsbergis and since then he has produced several more shorts. In 2006 he produced his first feature film, “Diring”. Since then he has produced or exec produced five films and is working on his sixth, “2 Nights Till Morning” about a one-night stand between two strangers without a common language which takes an unexpected turn when an ash cloud from a volcano in Iceland prevents all flights from taking off.
As an independent film producer must do, Kestutis wears several hats. Since 2003 he has been producing commercials for his bread and butter. But for his heart and soul,even in the 90s, he produced features. This was a difficult and expensive endeavor in his home country of Lithuania because there was no funding or infrastructure after the collapse of the Soviet film industry. To make movies, one had to bring in all the equipment from abroad. There were no labs so film had to be transported to Prague or Warsaw for processing.
He and his partners began investing in Cinevera - today the largest lighting and grips company providing the Baltic region. Then they moved on to Cinescope, the largest camera rental outlet in the Baltics. And then they went into set construction. In 2011 they formed the Vilnius Film Cluster, which today is comprised of three production companies, several service companies, a film festival Kino Pavasaris (Vilnius International Film Festival) and a film news portal, kinfo.lt/.
Several projects are still in the works, like a 1,100 square meter stage which will include the largest green screen in the Baltics, make up and wardrobe studios, and production offices.
Vilnius Film Cluster is going to digitize 30 screens in small towns throughout Lithuania which will develop new audiences. The country itself has 40 screens which are city-centered multiplexes which show Lithuanian films along with the usual fare of U.S. blockbusters. The average run for Lithuanian films is two weeks. There is no special treatment for Lithuanian films, but there is a need. People like hearing their own language and seeing themselves on screen. Out of 250 films released in a year only 10 are Lithuanian but they account for a market share of 12 to 15%. The countryside has not been totally bereft of films. Theaters and cultural centers in small towns have big venues, but not a lot of content aside from plays and concerts show there. Going digital in municipalities will result in job creation. The Vilnius Film Cluster will supply equipment and content. This project will take three years to complete. Spreading cinema into the countryside will improve the market share of domestic films.
The idea and implementation of this added value for European content network of cinemas was developed with the help of Sofa, a two year-old initiative creating a school of film agents founded by Nikolaj Nikitin (a delegate of the Berlinale). They are building with the European subsidy system which furnishes 50% of the financing. The other 50% is split, 30% private equity and 20% Lithuanian government funding.
European Union structural funding goes in seven year terms. The new, 2014 to 2020 cycle is beginning now for member states. In 2016, the new cinemas will be open for business.
Lithuania is the leader in Baltics. Latvia has a related language, but people from one country do not understand people from the other country. Estonia has an entirely different language, related to Finnish. So the Baltics is more of a geo-political entity rather than a cultural unit.
They don't really share cultures though ideally they do cooperate and share knowledge and initiatives. For example, Vilnius Film Cluster is consulting with Estonian colleagues who are trying to establish a similar cluster. However, there are more coproductions with Germany than with Latvia or Estonia. More productions are becoming international rather than locally centered on Lithuania.
Although there are subsidies to be found for filmmaking, there are no subsidies for distribution. There is much to do in education and audience building.
At present Kestutis is copoducing “2 Nights Till Morning”, a Finnish Lithuanian coproduction shooting in Vilnius, it stars Marie-Josée Croze star of "Tell No One”, “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” and “Barbarian Invasions" for which she won the Palme d’or in 2003 and which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Feature.
Kestutis is also developing two more features. One is by the Italian director, Gianluca Sodaro. They made the short " God's Got His Head in the Clouds” together, and this new film is an elaboration of it, dealing with matters of faith and a priest experiencing a crisis. As he journeys to renew his faith he meets people who have counterparts in biblical characters. It is funny and contemporary. They are finalizing the script now to shoot next year. The feature is called “Solo”.
Another film currently in development is an Armenian film “The Last Inhabitant”, written and directed by Jivan Avetisyan.
His feature, “Tevanik” premiered in May in Armenia. This will be his second. It is situated in the Nagorny Karabakh region which is mostly Armenian, but was incorporated by Stalin into Azerbaijan. After the Soviet collapse the Armenians declared independence. Officially the region is still at status of war, but there has been no military action for 20 years. It is, in fact, protected by Russian forces. Avetisyan was 15 when the war happened. There are lots of stories about people in the war, and the film is very humanistic. His first film was about three teenagers who become adults over night. This new one is about two people, one Azerbaijan, one Armenian who forced to help each other, although one dies in process. The story has resonance today. It has Armenian funding and will raise more through its Lithuanian partners. The films are shot on small budgets; his first was Us $250,000 with lots of equipment, tanks, etc. donated as in-kind contributions. This film will be presented at coproduction forums, like Strategic Partners, East Meets West in Karlovy Vary. It has a larger budget (but is still comparatively small) and requires three or four coproducing partners.
We hope to see this feature and more coming out of Lithuania. We know we will see Kestutis a lot more around the circuit.
He has been in film professionally since 1995, when he was 2nd Ad on “Undertow” by Eric Red, working his way up through television, where his fourth film in 1999 was Donna Dietch’s “The Devil’s Arithmetic” which she shot in Lithuania. He was the Coordinating Assistant Director. In 1999, he produced his first short film, “The Officer's Romance” by Vytautas V. Landsbergis and since then he has produced several more shorts. In 2006 he produced his first feature film, “Diring”. Since then he has produced or exec produced five films and is working on his sixth, “2 Nights Till Morning” about a one-night stand between two strangers without a common language which takes an unexpected turn when an ash cloud from a volcano in Iceland prevents all flights from taking off.
As an independent film producer must do, Kestutis wears several hats. Since 2003 he has been producing commercials for his bread and butter. But for his heart and soul,even in the 90s, he produced features. This was a difficult and expensive endeavor in his home country of Lithuania because there was no funding or infrastructure after the collapse of the Soviet film industry. To make movies, one had to bring in all the equipment from abroad. There were no labs so film had to be transported to Prague or Warsaw for processing.
He and his partners began investing in Cinevera - today the largest lighting and grips company providing the Baltic region. Then they moved on to Cinescope, the largest camera rental outlet in the Baltics. And then they went into set construction. In 2011 they formed the Vilnius Film Cluster, which today is comprised of three production companies, several service companies, a film festival Kino Pavasaris (Vilnius International Film Festival) and a film news portal, kinfo.lt/.
Several projects are still in the works, like a 1,100 square meter stage which will include the largest green screen in the Baltics, make up and wardrobe studios, and production offices.
Vilnius Film Cluster is going to digitize 30 screens in small towns throughout Lithuania which will develop new audiences. The country itself has 40 screens which are city-centered multiplexes which show Lithuanian films along with the usual fare of U.S. blockbusters. The average run for Lithuanian films is two weeks. There is no special treatment for Lithuanian films, but there is a need. People like hearing their own language and seeing themselves on screen. Out of 250 films released in a year only 10 are Lithuanian but they account for a market share of 12 to 15%. The countryside has not been totally bereft of films. Theaters and cultural centers in small towns have big venues, but not a lot of content aside from plays and concerts show there. Going digital in municipalities will result in job creation. The Vilnius Film Cluster will supply equipment and content. This project will take three years to complete. Spreading cinema into the countryside will improve the market share of domestic films.
The idea and implementation of this added value for European content network of cinemas was developed with the help of Sofa, a two year-old initiative creating a school of film agents founded by Nikolaj Nikitin (a delegate of the Berlinale). They are building with the European subsidy system which furnishes 50% of the financing. The other 50% is split, 30% private equity and 20% Lithuanian government funding.
European Union structural funding goes in seven year terms. The new, 2014 to 2020 cycle is beginning now for member states. In 2016, the new cinemas will be open for business.
Lithuania is the leader in Baltics. Latvia has a related language, but people from one country do not understand people from the other country. Estonia has an entirely different language, related to Finnish. So the Baltics is more of a geo-political entity rather than a cultural unit.
They don't really share cultures though ideally they do cooperate and share knowledge and initiatives. For example, Vilnius Film Cluster is consulting with Estonian colleagues who are trying to establish a similar cluster. However, there are more coproductions with Germany than with Latvia or Estonia. More productions are becoming international rather than locally centered on Lithuania.
Although there are subsidies to be found for filmmaking, there are no subsidies for distribution. There is much to do in education and audience building.
At present Kestutis is copoducing “2 Nights Till Morning”, a Finnish Lithuanian coproduction shooting in Vilnius, it stars Marie-Josée Croze star of "Tell No One”, “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” and “Barbarian Invasions" for which she won the Palme d’or in 2003 and which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Feature.
Kestutis is also developing two more features. One is by the Italian director, Gianluca Sodaro. They made the short " God's Got His Head in the Clouds” together, and this new film is an elaboration of it, dealing with matters of faith and a priest experiencing a crisis. As he journeys to renew his faith he meets people who have counterparts in biblical characters. It is funny and contemporary. They are finalizing the script now to shoot next year. The feature is called “Solo”.
Another film currently in development is an Armenian film “The Last Inhabitant”, written and directed by Jivan Avetisyan.
His feature, “Tevanik” premiered in May in Armenia. This will be his second. It is situated in the Nagorny Karabakh region which is mostly Armenian, but was incorporated by Stalin into Azerbaijan. After the Soviet collapse the Armenians declared independence. Officially the region is still at status of war, but there has been no military action for 20 years. It is, in fact, protected by Russian forces. Avetisyan was 15 when the war happened. There are lots of stories about people in the war, and the film is very humanistic. His first film was about three teenagers who become adults over night. This new one is about two people, one Azerbaijan, one Armenian who forced to help each other, although one dies in process. The story has resonance today. It has Armenian funding and will raise more through its Lithuanian partners. The films are shot on small budgets; his first was Us $250,000 with lots of equipment, tanks, etc. donated as in-kind contributions. This film will be presented at coproduction forums, like Strategic Partners, East Meets West in Karlovy Vary. It has a larger budget (but is still comparatively small) and requires three or four coproducing partners.
We hope to see this feature and more coming out of Lithuania. We know we will see Kestutis a lot more around the circuit.
- 10/23/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
The Europe-wide, one of a kind workshop program Sofa - School of Film Agents - which supports international film professionals and mediators in the realization of film cultural projects will take place from August 15th – 24th, 2014 in the Polish city of Wroclaw (Breslau). Founded in 2013, the second edition of Sofa’s workshop-initiative will invite young "film agents“ from Central and Eastern Europe, Germany, Central Asia, the Baltic Republics and, for the first time, Greece to work together with experts on their projects with the goal of further developing the regional film culture and industries in their respective countries.
Within the framework of the Works in Progress« screenings at the 49th International Film Festival Karlovy Vary (Czech Republic) – the most important film cultural event for the Sofa-relevant territories – Director, Nikolaj Nikitin introduced the eight participants to take part in the second edition of Sofa. "From innovative VoD solutions to a large-scale national cinema / theatrical digitialization project, to the founding of a regional film subsidy initiative: the breadth of these participating projects reflects - with impressive ideas - the film-structural challenges we are attempting to address in those respective regions“, states Nikitin.
In the presence of numerous Sofa partners and former participants, Nikitin presented the following eight participants of the second edition:
Anna Bielak, Poland : Aur! Magazine – Awesome / Unique / Radical!«. A high-quality cinema magazine in print for Poland. Dániel Deák, Hungary : Festivalised - Community Platform for Film Festival Guests«. A film festival advisory system which helps filmmakers to find the right festivals for their particular projects. Kestutis Drazdauskas, Lithuania : Front – Film Republic of Networked Theaters«. A cinema digitialization network for Lithuania. Cristian Hordila, Romania : Cluj City Film Fund. A film fund with which Cluj-Napoca intends to re-open its doors to the film world, re-creating a film production center around the city. Marija Stojanovic, Serbia : What I See - Program for Audience Development and Stimulation of Critical Approach in the Field of Audio-Visual Culture and Arts«. What we see is what we are: an educational film project for Serbia. Angeliki Vergou, Greece : Octapus - A delicious new way to watch Greek films«. A VOD-Platform for Greek films. Jakub Viktorín, Slovakia : Dds – Digital Database of Slovakia: Your Personal Online Library of All Film Content Slovakia can Provide. An internet-based database revolving around the film culture of Slovakia. Jonas Weydemann, Germany : »Directors Collection«. A b2b platform connecting producers/worldsales directly with national cinemas around Europe, providing a transparent system for licensor and licensee. From August 15th – 24th, 2014 the eight participants will work intensively on their projects with internationally experienced experts and mentors in the Polish city of Wroclaw (Breslau) - European Capital of Culture 2016. They will be supported by Sibylle Kurz (pitching expert, Frankfurt), Roberto Olla (Eurimages, Strasbourg), Ewa Puszczynska (Opus Film, Lodz), Renaud Redien-Collot (Novancia Business School, Paris), Peter Rommel (Peter Rommel Film, Berlin), Katriel Schory (Israel Film Fund, Tel Aviv) among others.
The success of Sofa has been proven: numerous projects from the first edition of Sofa 2013 have already been able to be realized or are shortly before. For example, Leana Jaluske’s project "Doktok“ – a distribution initiative for Estonian documentary films – was able to be established with the help of Sofa. Melinda Boros is currently leading the „Tiff Studio Workshops“ in Cluj and Sonja Topalovic was recently able to rejoice over Eurimages funding for her interactive database "Fbo – Festival Box Office“.
Sofa – School of Film Agents is a joint project of the Filmplus gUG (Cologne) and the Fundacja Filmplus (Warsaw) together with the city of Wroclaw (Breslau) and the Polish Film Institute, funded by the Foundation for Polish-German Cooperation, the Federal Foreign Office, the International Visegrad Fund, the Film- und Medienstiftung Nrw, The Creative Europe Desk Poland, The Alfred Toepfer Foundatio and Eave – European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs and supported by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut in Poland (Krakow), Serbia, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Lithuania and its Head Office in Germany, and with the support of the Film Commission Poland and the Wroclaw Film Commission.
Within the framework of the Works in Progress« screenings at the 49th International Film Festival Karlovy Vary (Czech Republic) – the most important film cultural event for the Sofa-relevant territories – Director, Nikolaj Nikitin introduced the eight participants to take part in the second edition of Sofa. "From innovative VoD solutions to a large-scale national cinema / theatrical digitialization project, to the founding of a regional film subsidy initiative: the breadth of these participating projects reflects - with impressive ideas - the film-structural challenges we are attempting to address in those respective regions“, states Nikitin.
In the presence of numerous Sofa partners and former participants, Nikitin presented the following eight participants of the second edition:
Anna Bielak, Poland : Aur! Magazine – Awesome / Unique / Radical!«. A high-quality cinema magazine in print for Poland. Dániel Deák, Hungary : Festivalised - Community Platform for Film Festival Guests«. A film festival advisory system which helps filmmakers to find the right festivals for their particular projects. Kestutis Drazdauskas, Lithuania : Front – Film Republic of Networked Theaters«. A cinema digitialization network for Lithuania. Cristian Hordila, Romania : Cluj City Film Fund. A film fund with which Cluj-Napoca intends to re-open its doors to the film world, re-creating a film production center around the city. Marija Stojanovic, Serbia : What I See - Program for Audience Development and Stimulation of Critical Approach in the Field of Audio-Visual Culture and Arts«. What we see is what we are: an educational film project for Serbia. Angeliki Vergou, Greece : Octapus - A delicious new way to watch Greek films«. A VOD-Platform for Greek films. Jakub Viktorín, Slovakia : Dds – Digital Database of Slovakia: Your Personal Online Library of All Film Content Slovakia can Provide. An internet-based database revolving around the film culture of Slovakia. Jonas Weydemann, Germany : »Directors Collection«. A b2b platform connecting producers/worldsales directly with national cinemas around Europe, providing a transparent system for licensor and licensee. From August 15th – 24th, 2014 the eight participants will work intensively on their projects with internationally experienced experts and mentors in the Polish city of Wroclaw (Breslau) - European Capital of Culture 2016. They will be supported by Sibylle Kurz (pitching expert, Frankfurt), Roberto Olla (Eurimages, Strasbourg), Ewa Puszczynska (Opus Film, Lodz), Renaud Redien-Collot (Novancia Business School, Paris), Peter Rommel (Peter Rommel Film, Berlin), Katriel Schory (Israel Film Fund, Tel Aviv) among others.
The success of Sofa has been proven: numerous projects from the first edition of Sofa 2013 have already been able to be realized or are shortly before. For example, Leana Jaluske’s project "Doktok“ – a distribution initiative for Estonian documentary films – was able to be established with the help of Sofa. Melinda Boros is currently leading the „Tiff Studio Workshops“ in Cluj and Sonja Topalovic was recently able to rejoice over Eurimages funding for her interactive database "Fbo – Festival Box Office“.
Sofa – School of Film Agents is a joint project of the Filmplus gUG (Cologne) and the Fundacja Filmplus (Warsaw) together with the city of Wroclaw (Breslau) and the Polish Film Institute, funded by the Foundation for Polish-German Cooperation, the Federal Foreign Office, the International Visegrad Fund, the Film- und Medienstiftung Nrw, The Creative Europe Desk Poland, The Alfred Toepfer Foundatio and Eave – European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs and supported by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut in Poland (Krakow), Serbia, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Lithuania and its Head Office in Germany, and with the support of the Film Commission Poland and the Wroclaw Film Commission.
- 7/21/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
The School of Film Agents 2014 will take place Aug 15-24 in Wroclaw and feature eight projects.
The School of Film Agents (Sofa) will have its second edition in Wroclaw from Aug 15-24, it was announced in Karlovy Vary on Monday [7].
Sofa is a workshop programme which supports international film professionals and mediators in the realisation of film cultural projects, initiated and started last year by Nikolai Nikitin [pictured], the Berlinale delegate for Eastern Europe.
Within the framework of Karlovy Vary’s Works in Progress, Nikitin introduced the eight participants from “Sofa-relevant terrtories”: Central and Eastern Europe, Germany, the Baltic countries and Greece.
“We are looking for projects that are about developing the film infrastructure of their country,” Nikitin told Screendaily. “If you look at France, Germany, UK, they are developed markets with lots of possibilities to finance, show, and archive your movie.
“Further to the east you go, there are less options to finance a film, usually...
The School of Film Agents (Sofa) will have its second edition in Wroclaw from Aug 15-24, it was announced in Karlovy Vary on Monday [7].
Sofa is a workshop programme which supports international film professionals and mediators in the realisation of film cultural projects, initiated and started last year by Nikolai Nikitin [pictured], the Berlinale delegate for Eastern Europe.
Within the framework of Karlovy Vary’s Works in Progress, Nikitin introduced the eight participants from “Sofa-relevant terrtories”: Central and Eastern Europe, Germany, the Baltic countries and Greece.
“We are looking for projects that are about developing the film infrastructure of their country,” Nikitin told Screendaily. “If you look at France, Germany, UK, they are developed markets with lots of possibilities to finance, show, and archive your movie.
“Further to the east you go, there are less options to finance a film, usually...
- 7/8/2014
- by vladan.petkovic@gmail.com (Vladan Petkovic)
- ScreenDaily
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.