IDFA FORUM 2017
film , s r e c u d o r p , s r o t s e v n i funds & 58 pitch teams IDFA Forum Catalogue 2017
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Industry Venues
Cinemas/Theatres 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Pathé Tuschinski – Reguliersbreestraat 26 Pathé de Munt – Vijzelstraat 15 EYE – IJpromenade 1 Vlaams Cultuurhuis de Brakke Grond – Nes 45 Melkweg – Lijnbaansgracht 234a Kleine Komedie – Amstel 56-58 Koninklijk Theater Carré – Amstel 115-125 Het Ketelhuis – Pazzanistraat 4 De Balie – Kleine-Gartmanplantsoen 10 Podium Mozaïek – Bos en Lommerweg 191 Tolhuistuin – IJpromenade 2 Bijlmer Parktheater – Anton de Komplein 240 DeLaMar Theater – Marnixstraat 402
14 15
16 17 18 19 24 20 21 22 23 24 25
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Café de Jaren – Nieuwe Doelenstraat 20 Festival Cafe & Restaurant/Guests Meet Guests Zuiderkerk – Zuiderkerkhof 72 Guest Meet Guests/IDFA Forum Lunches, Filmmakers dinner Hotel NH Carlton – Vijzelstraat 4, 1st floor Industry Office/Guest Services/Guest Box Office Compagnietheater – Kloveniersburgwal 50 IDFA Forum/IDFAcademy Arti et Amicitiae – Rokin 112 Docs for Sale NFA – Markenplein 1 IDFA Film Academy Day Vlaams Cultuurhuis de Brakke Grond – Nes 45 IDFA DocLab Koninklijk Theater Carré – Amstel 115-125 Opening Night Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam – Leidseplein 26 Awards Ceremony & Ball Het Groene Paleis – Rokin 65 Forum kick-off drinks De Rode Hoed – Keizersgracht 10 Global Impact Assembly IDFA Office – Frederiksplein 52
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Hotels
Hotel NH Carlton – Vijzelstraat 4 Volkshotel – Wibautstraat 150 28 Mercure Amsterdam Centre Canal District – Noorderstraat 46 29 The Albus Hotel – Vijzelstraat 49 30 Hampshire Hotel Rembrandt Square – Amstelstraat 17 26 27
10
20 4 23 15
17
18
19 14
6 26 16
2
1
30
29 5
22
13
9 7 21
28
25
12
27
IDFA Forum for international co-financing n o i t c u d o r p o c d an of documentaries IDFA Forum Catalogue 2017
The IDFA Forum 2017
Colophon IDFA Board Chairman – Derk Sauer Treasurer – Anton Kramer Members – Sonja Barend, Femke Halsema, Bessel Kok, Marischka Leenaers, Joumana El Zein Khoury Organization Artistic Director 2017 – Barbara Visser Managing Director – Cees van ’t Hullenaar Head of IDFA Industry – Adriek van Nieuwenhuijzen Head of Production & IT – Dirk Blikkendaal Managing Director IDFA Bertha Fund – Isabel Arrate Fernandez Docs for Sale & Guest Services Coordinator – Laurien ten Houten Senior Programmers – Joost Daamen, Laura van Halsema, Raul Niño Zambrano, Martijn te Pas Head of Education – Meike Statema Head of New Media / IDFA DocLab – Caspar Sonnen Head of Communication – Martine van Duijn Senior Sponsoring & Fundraising – Martijn van Dijk IDFA Forum Staff Head of Industry Office – Adriek van Nieuwenhuyzen IDFA Forum Coordinator – Yorinde Segal IDFA Forum Producer – Veerle Egbers IDFA Forum Producer – Agnieszka Musialska IDFA Forum Producer – Lara Sitruk IDFA Forum Producer – Jenni Tuovinen IDFA Industry Office Coordinator Talks & Industry Office – Stien Meesters Editor Industry Talks – Jelte Zonneveld Industry Office Producer – Anneleen Naudts The IDFA Forum Catalogue Editing and Production – Veerle Egbers, Agnieszka Musialska Lay-out – Gerald Zevenboom Cover Design – Kessels Kramer Print Management -Drukkerij Damen, Werkendam Thank you! Moderators – Axel Arnö, Rudy Buttignol, Ingrid Kopp, Karolina Lidin, Ove Rishøj Jensen, Catherine Olsen, Jess Search Consultants – Isabel Arrate Fernandez, Jason Brush, Cecilie Bolvinkel, Patrica Finneran, Serge Gordey, Oli Harbottle, Diana Holzberg, Brian Newman, Mark Stucke, Milton Tabbot Matchmakers – Florian Pfingsttag, Lea Maria Strandbæk Sørensen, Daan Vermeulen IDFA Forum One-on-One Desk – Rudolf Katz, Charlotte Reekers IDFA Forum info desk – Judith Eicheman, Evelien Frenkel Pitch Trainers – Gitte Hansen, Mikael Opstrup, Paul Pauwels Pitch reporters – Nikki Habraken, Abigail Prade Technicians – Kees Fopma, Patrick Janssens, Marco Kouwenhoven, Wim Timmermans The pre-selection and final selection committee Claire Aguilar, Marie Balducchi, Christine Camdessus, Kim Christiansen, Peter Jager, Fleur Knopperts, Ingrid Kopp, Philippa Kowarsky, Cecilia Lidin, Sydney Neter, Adriek van Nieuwenhuyzen, Opeyemi Olukemi, Mikael Opstrup, Emelie Persson, Yorinde Segal, Tereza Simikova, Caspar Sonnen, Alex Szalat, Louis-Richard Tremblay, Daan Vermeulen, Ana Vicente, Yaniv Wolf, Luis González Zaffaroni © IDFA, 2017 International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam Frederiksplein 52 1017 XN Amsterdam The Netherlands T: +31 20 6273329 www.idfa.nl
[email protected]
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IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
Table of Contents 5 6 7 9 10 12 14 15 16
Welcome General Information Services & Practical Information Social Events Forum projects included in IDFA 2017 Daily Program Consultants Matchmakers Moderators
Central Pitch 18
Confessions of a Military Dictatorship
Bullitt Film ApS
21
Ehud Barak – The Elusive Nature of Reality
Lama Films
103
Love & Stuff
106
Occupation 1968
109
The Pianist from Ramallah
112
Price Wars
115
Scheme Birds
117
Story of B. The Disappearance of My Mother
120
What Ever Happened to Rosemary Kennedy?
123
With Love
Medalia Productions, Judith Helfand Productions Peter Kerekes Ltd. Evanstone films Yaddo
Sisyfos Film Production
Nanof Srl
Hauteville Productions Auto Images
24
Hiding Saddam Hussein
27
Journey to the Morgenland
30
Krogufant
33
Madame Tran’s Last Battle
36
The Mole Agent
39
People’s Hospital
42
The Rise and Fall of Bhutto
45
The Self Portrait
48
Via Découvertes Films
Sunken Eldorado Woodstock
Round Table | Arts & Culture
51
146
Aalto - Architect of Emotions
54
Writing with Fire
149
Cunningham 3D
Stray Dog Productions
Muyi Film, Selfmade Films Sant & Usant
Films for Humanity
Micromundo Producciones Wooden Fish Pictures
BEW TV, Crescent Films Speranza Film AS
Ark Media
Black Ticket Films
Central Pitch | Crossmedia 57
Container
Electric South,
SaltPeter Productions CC
60
The Internet of Shit
63
Pre-Crime - A Simulation
EyeSteelFilm
Kloos & Co OST
Round Table 66
Anbessa
Rake Films
Round Table | Crossmedia 126
-22.7°C
129
Breathe
131
Killer, Penguin, Tom, Doll Face
134
The Master’s Vision (VR)
137
No Visible Trauma
140
Putin Roulette
143
The Racial Terror Project (working title)
Zorba Production New Reality Co.
Institute for Transmedia Design, Joni Art Gebrueder Beetz Filmproduktion Lost Time Media Hyper Epic
Rada Film Group, SCATTER STUDIO
Euphoria Film Oy
Achtung Panda! Media GmbH, Arsam
International, Chance Operations
152
Doctor Zhivago - the Novel about the Novel
155
Maestro Morricone
158
Marceline
161
The Passion of Anna Magnani
164
A Prince from Outer Space: Zeki Müren
167
The World of Tsai Chin
Pumpernickel Films
Piano b Produzioni, Potemkino, Fu Works Kobalt Documentary Les Films du Poisson Parabola Films
Medalia Productions
69
Aswang
72
Belly of the Beast
74
Blood on the Trident
76
Day Zero Films UG
A Boarding School Born in China
Rough Cut Project
79
176
A Comedian in a Syrian Tragedy
82
Born to Be Second
179
The Devil’s Drivers
85
Busy Inside
182
On the Couch
88
Family on the Run
185
The Trial of Ratko Mladic
91
House of Real
Gabi
The Invisible Border
Index
94 97
The Labudovic Reels (working title)
100
Lights Camera Uganda
190 191 192 193 194 196
Cinematografica films Idle Wild Films
Forbidden Mirror Films
Pumpernickel Films
Richard Liang, S. Leo Chiang Diplodocus LLC
Danish Documentary Production
Casatarantula
Dribbling Pictures Salted Media
Round Table Pitch Youth 170
Kids on the Silk road 6-15
173
Maiden of the Lake
Toolbox Film
Pohjola-filmi Oy
Final Cut for Real, OSOR Daniel Carsenty
Pieter van Huystee Film Sandpaper Films
Index 1: Production Companies Index 2: Producers Index 3: Directors Index 4: Broadcasters Index 5: Financiers & Distributors Index 6: Countries
IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
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Meet the IDFA Forum Team
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Adriek van Nieuwenhuyzen Head of Industry Office
Yorinde Segal Coordinator
Agnieszka Musialska Producer
Jenni Tuovinen Producer
Veerle Egbers Producer
Lara Sitruk Producer
Rudolf Katz One-on-one Desk
Charlotte Reekers One-on-one Desk
Judith Eigeman Info Desk
Evelien Frenkel Info Desk
IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
Welcome to the 25th edition of the IDFA Forum! This year, IDFA is celebrating its 30th anniversary. Under the inspiring leadership of Ally Derks, the festival has grown into a trendsetting documentary institution that is also future-proof. Twenty-five years ago, IDFA’s co-financing market the Forum made its debut. The event embodied the desire of filmmakers and producers alike to work beyond their own country borders and find international collaborations. In the beginning, the partnerships were mostly between European nations. Back at the first Forum edition in 1993, many representatives of European public broadcasters met each other for the very first time. Broadcasters and filmmakers explored opportunities for collaboration, and during the pitches it sometimes became painfully clear that editorial viewpoints differed greatly. The cultural differences between the audiences that the various broadcasters hoped to reach were also visible. Nonetheless, there was consensus that international collaboration was good for the documentary genre, if only for the financial impulse that it provided. The first Forum finished with a feeling of euphoria about what could be achieved together. That said, there was also uncertainty and hesitation, fed by the fear that international financing would lead to documentaries without their maker’s signature, and general loss of identity. The term “Euro-pudding” expressed this skepticism, and it was clear that there would be a long road ahead to build solid relationships and mutual trust. Nowadays, co-financing and coproduction are permanent fixtures in the documentary landscape. We’ve also learned a lot, from mistakes but especially from good examples. In 25 years, IDFA Forum has developed from a mainly European financing platform in which public broadcasters were the primary financiers to a true international meeting place where private and public funds, online platforms and distributers contribute to the realization and dissemination of creative documentaries. Over the years, the selection of IDFA Forum projects has become less European and even Western. IDFA Forum reflects IDFA’s desire to offer a stage to filmmakers from all over the world, which contributes to the development of an international film community. We’re proud that this year’s festival is opening with Amal, by the Egyptian director Mohamed Siam. The film was pitched last year at IDFA Forum and also received financial support from the IDFA Bertha Fund. It was ultimately made as a co-production between seven different countries. In addition to Amal, there are 20 other Forum projects screening at IDFA this year. See page 10 for the full list. Amal is an example of a local project that grew into a creative documentary with an international feel, without losing its own identity. This year, I had the pleasure of evaluating more than 680 projects from every corner of the globe. The variety of subject matter and the unique cinematic translation of our complex reality were truly striking. I recognized the talent and the resilience of the filmmakers, and I noticed how ambitious they all are. They want to gain an international platform for their stories and reach as large an audience as they can. We ended up choosing 58 projects, which together form a rich and diverse palette of documentaries from 23 countries. There are docs about great artists and their work, human-interest stories that use personal histories to make the larger world more comprehensible, investigative journalism pieces, and historical documentaries that look at the past to better understand the present. There’s also an extensive selection of cross-media projects this year, including 6 VR projects. IDFA Forum gives young, emerging filmmakers a chance, but it certainly doesn’t lose sight of the celebrated and experienced ones. The internationalization of the documentary industry is essential if it’s to remain vital and relevant. Thanks to international collaborations, countless ambitious projects by filmmakers with their own special signature have been realized. The skepticism about international collaboration may have vanished, but the challenges facing the documentary industry are still numerous. Securing financing remains an arduous process, and the constantly changing media landscape forces the industry to think very critically about its position. An impetus to do just this is provided in our series of Industry Talks, which address various aspects of the current documentary climate. In this series, IDFA is hosting two meetings with its international partners European Documentary Network (EDN) and International Documentary association (IDA) in which this climate and the future take center stage. In an increasingly complex society in which context and reflection are needed more than ever, filmmakers should have more means at their disposal to represent their stories in a cinematic form. Support from the public sector remains indispensible to ensure that this important but vulnerable film genre continues to flourish. I’d like to thank everyone who has contributed to IDFA Forum over the past quarter-century. A special thanks to the organization Documentary, the predecessor of EDN, with whom IDFA began the Forum adventure back in 1993. And of course much gratitude to the 2017 Forum team for their unbridled hard work. I wish you a fruitful, enjoyable and inspiring Forum!
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General Information General Information IDFA Forum, our international co-financing and co-production market, is one of Europe’s most important breeding grounds for new documentary projects, and an essential meeting place for filmmakers, independent documentary producers, television commissioning editors, documentary funders and other stakeholders. This 25th edition of the IDFA Forum will take place from November 20 to 22, 2017. Over the course of these three days, 58 projects will be presented to a group of commissioning editors and other decision makers from around the world. The IDFA Forum provides a platform for projects in various stages of development, funding and offers a variety of (public) pitch setups. We will start off this year’s edition with the IDFA Forum and interactive drinks hosted by Documentary Producers Netherlands Sunday November 19 from 21.00 to 22.30 at Het Groene Paleis. We are very pleased to welcome again our Forum regulars Axel Arnö, Rudy Buttignol, Ove Rishøj Jensen, Karolina Lidin, Jess Search and Ingrid Kopp who will moderate the pitches. You will find their profiles on page 16. Pitches 16 producer/director teams will pitch in the main hall on Monday and Tuesday morning. Some of the producers already have a commissioning editor or other funding partner aboard, while others have no commitments as yet. The teams take turns pitching their newest projects to a large audience of broadcasters and decision makers from around the world. 37 projects in all stages of production and different genres/categories will be pitched in the more intimate setting of a Round Table, to a smaller group of commissioning editors and decision makers.
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IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
Cross-media projects Three cross-media projects will be presented in the Central Pitch set up. As part of the Round Table pitches, we have selected 7 cross-media projects. All these projects show how various multimedia techniques and alternative distribution methods can strengthen the content of projects and reach beyond the limits of traditional documentary filmmaking. The Crossmedia Forum and IDFA DocLab are supported by the Netherlands Film Fund. Arts & Culture projects It has become a Forum tradition to present Arts & Culture projects suitable for the arts slots of various broadcasters at IDFA. This year we have selected 8 projects in this category. Documentaries for Children There will be two projects presented that are intended for a young audience: Maiden of the Lake of director Petteri Saario and producer Elina Pohjola (page 173) and Kids on the Silk Road 6-15 of director Jens Pederson and producer Maria Stevnbak Westergren (page 170). These pitches are also part of a special industry program concentrated on Documentaries for Children on Wednesday November 22. On these two days IDFA, EDN and the Financing Forum for Kids Content are joining forces in the context of RealYoung, to lift documentaries for kids and young audience to the next level. Rough Cut Project The Rough Cut Project section is a category for documentary projects in the last stages of production. 4 projects were selected. The Forum and Docs for Sale are partnering in this category which will include a secured video presentation online on the IDFA website and pre-arranged individual meetings at the Forum and/or Docs for Sale venue. On Sunday November 19, these 4 projects will showcase their films in Munt 4.
One-on-One Meetings Parallel to the Round Table sessions, we are holding one-on-one meetings between the pitching teams and various commissioning editors and other decision makers. The afternoons of the first two days and the entire third day of the IDFA Forum are reserved for approximately 1000 prearranged one-on-one meetings. The cross media projects also have one-on-one meetings on Tuesday morning. Independent Filmmaker Project Since two years IDFA Forum has a partnership with Independent Filmmaker Project in New York. This year 3 projects that are presenting at IDFA were also part of IFP Week 2017: Busy Inside (page 85), A Prince from Outer Space (page 164), Madame Tran’s Last Battle (page 33). For a detailed overview of the IDFA Forum program see the schedule on page 12-13.
Services & Practical Information IDFA Forum services The IDFA Forum Information Desk The IDFA Forum Information Desk operates as a reception and information desk. During the three Forum days, the desk will be open to assist delegates and provide them with information. The IDFA Forum Information Desk also offers additional services, including pitch reports, contact with matchmakers, luggage depot and general festival information. Open during IDFA Forum hours (see daily program) | Compagnietheater (ground floor) Pitch Reports During your pitch, our pitch reporters will keep a record of the comments from decision makers. The day after your pitch, you can pick up your Pitch Report at the IDFA Forum Information Desk. Matchmakers In addition to the Forum staff, there are three matchmakers on hand to provide assistance for all participants. This year’s matchmakers are Lea Maria Strandbæk Sørense, Florian Pfingsttag and Daan Vermeulen. Their role is to facilitate meetings between participants, and they can be contacted through the Forum Information Desk. You can find their profiles on page 15. The IDFA Forum One-on-One Desk The IDFA Forum One-on-One Desk operates as a booking desk for the one-on-one meetings. Pitch teams and decision makers can request meetings or pick up their most recent schedule. Open during IDFA Forum hours (see daily schedule) | Compagnietheater (first floor) Moderator’s Hat An unique chance for one observer to pitch his or her project in the Central Pitch! Those who wish to be eligible should put their business card in the Moderator’s Hat. During the Central Pitch sessions on Monday, a business card is drawn and the winner gets the opportunity to prepare and present a pitch the next day. Dutch Clog All Forum delegates can vote during the Forum for their favorite pitch. The price is the Dutch Clog itself which will include nice perks. The best pitch prize will be announced during the Forum closing drinks.
Services Consultancies Forum delegates can book meetings with a range of experts who offer specific advice on all aspects of the documentary business, such as distribution and sales, marketing and outreach, etc. The meetings can be booked at the Industry Office. We highly recommend that you take this opportunity to pick the brains of these international experts. You can find their profiles on page 14. Monday, November 20 & Tuesday, November 21 | 14.45-18.00 | Wednesday, November 23 | 10.00-16.45| NH Carlton Hotel-1st floor Drinks and food at Compagnietheater Coffee, tea and cold beverages are free at Compagnietheater, except during lunch hours. During lunch hours, drinks, food and alcoholic beverages are available at the café at your own expense. Please note: cards only, no cash! Lunch at Zuiderkerk The venue for our 3 course complimentary vegetarian lunch is the Zuiderkerk, which is the church on the other side of the canal when you stand in front of the Forum venue (Zuiderkerkhof 72). Internet Access Wi-Fi is available throughout the building. Access codes are available at the Information Desk and displayed near the bar (ground floor & first floor)
Industry Office
Guest Desk and Guest Box Office Here, accredited guests can pick up their festival pass, obtain tickets and get general information about the festival. November 14, 12:00-21:00 November 15-25, 9:00-21:00 November 26, 10:00-14:00
Industry Desk At the Industry Desk, we can help you with any questions regarding our program for professionals. We guide you through the industry side of the festival, connect you with other professionals in various disciplines, and keep you informed about our array of talks, meetings and sessions. Members of the press can also request a room to conduct interviews. November 16-22, 9:30-13:00 & 14:00-18:00 Industry workspace A convenient and comfortable open space with a Wi-Fi connection for all accredited guests to work individually and communally. Guest can also access a quiet workroom. A limited number of laptops can be signed out at the Industry Desk. Nov 16-23, 9:00-18:00 | NH Carlton Hotel, E-floor Meeting Room with screening facilities Accredited guests have the opportunity to reserve a meeting/screening room for groups of up to 10 people. Reservations can be made in advance by emailing
[email protected] and during the festival at the Industry Desk. Nov 16-22, 09:30-18:00
The past years the Industry Office successfully gathered all of IDFA’s existing festival services under one roof and introduced a few new ones to boot. The Industry Office is back this year, offering an extensive program of services, sessions, talks and consultancies to inspire our professional festival guests and to keep them up-to-date on the latest developments in the documentary industry. The Industry Office is open to all pass holders to meet up, network and do business. Location NH Carlton Hotel (opposite Pathé De Munt cinema) Vijzelstraat 4 1017 HK Amsterdam E-floor and 1st floor
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Industry Program Talks and Sessions Various types of talks and sessions bring you up to speed on the latest developments in the industry. The Industry Sessions at the NH Carlton hotel cover a broad range of topics in an intimate setting. Six Industry Talks at De Brakke Grond cover bigger trends and developments. And the newly introduced Filmmaker Talks puts 5 renowned filmmakers in the spotlight with hour-long conversations, masterclasses about their work. Next to the talks IDFA is organizing, there are a few Industry Talks hosted by partner organisations. Industry Sessions: November 17-22 10:00 & 12:00 at the NH Carlton Paganini Room Industry Talks: November 17-22 at the Rode Zaal Brakke Grond and hosted talks at de Rode Hoed and de Filmacademy Filmmaker Talks: November 16-22 in Tuschinski, Rode zaal Brakke Grond.
Industry Meetups The Industry Office offers two types of consultancies: pre-registered one-on-one meetings with experts in a specific field, and walk-in consultancies offering general advice. Detailed information and availability for all consultants is available at the Industry Desk and idfa.nl/industryoffice. Preregistered Consultancies Renowned industry experts are on hand for consultancies focusing on a different subject every day, such as handing film rights, impact producing, educational distribution and many more. Book your one-on-one meeting a day in advance at the Industry Desk. November 17-22, 10:00-18:00 | NH Carlton Hotel, E-floor Walk-in Consultancies Documentary experts Jannie Langbroek and Marijke Rawie are on hand for daily walk-in consultancies, answering questions about various aspects of the documentary industry, such as possible co-production partners, funding possibilities, or finding a sales agent. November 17-23, 10:00-17:00 | NH Carlton Hotel, E-floor
Meet the Experts Various experts share their knowledge with small groups of participants in hour-long sessions guided by a moderator, offering first-hand insight into different subjects and creating networking opportunities. Accredited guests can register for these sessions one day in advance at the Industry Desk. See idfa.nl/ industryoffice for full details. November 19-22, 13:30-14:30 | NH Carlton Hotel, 1st floor (Caruso Room) Industry Screenings Films from the IDFA Competition Programs are screened during Industry Screenings. You don’t need a ticket to attend these screenings, but you will be required to present your IDFA Pass at the door. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. The Industry Screenings include several documentaries that were pitched at previous editions of the IDFA Forum. The complete program can be found on our website and in the program guide. November 19-24 | Pathé Tuschinski and Pathé De Munt
Daily Program Sunday Nov. 19 Monday Nov. 20
13.30-16.40
21.00-22.30
Rough Cut Screenings at Pathé De Munt
Forum Kick-Off at Het Groene Paleis
08.30-09.15
09.30-12.45
12.45-14.45
14.45-18.00
Producer’s Breakfast
Central Pitches
Lunch
Round Table pitches
Central Pitches Cross Media
Round Table pitches Cross Media Round Table pitches Arts & Culture One-on-One Meetings
Tuesday Nov. 21
Central Pitches
Round Table pitches
Cross Media One-On-One Meetings
Round Table pitches Arts & Culture One-on-One Meetings
Wednesday Nov. 22 Daily Nov. 20-22
One-on-One Meetings
One-on-One Meetings (- 17.00)
Round Table pitches
Closing Drinks (17.00)
Round Table pitches Youth Industry Talks at De Brakke Grond (15.00-16.30) Guests Meet Guests at De Zuiderkerk (18.00) Consultancies for observers at Hotel Carlton, Industry office (14.45-18.00, Wed. 9.30-17.00)
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IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
Social Events IDFA Forum and interactive kickoff drinks
IDFA Forum Lunch
IDFA Forum Closing Drinks
Ccelebrating the future of documentary storytelling: The IDFA Forum is starting off this year’s edition with an informal meet and greet. No pitching allowed! On invitation only.
IDFA Forum offers complimentary vegetarian lunch for all IDFA Forum pass holders during the three Forum days. November 20-22 |12.45-14.45 | Zuiderkerk (Zuiderkerkhof 72)
Say farewell to your Forum friends and find out who wins the Dutch Clog award for best Central Pitch and best Round Table pitch. November 22 | 17.00-17.45 | Compagnietheater (foyer downstairs)
The Forum and interactive drinks of Sunday 19 November is supported by Documentary Producers Netherlands.
IDFA Forum Lunch on Monday November 20, made possible by Chicken & Egg Pictures and Firelight Media.
documentaire producenten nederland
Documentary Producers Netherlands is the association of Dutch documentary producers. We represent the majority of Dutch documentary producers and promote their common interests. The Dutch Film Industry has a strong tradition in documentaries and is known for its open attitude towards international co-production and distribution between Dutch documentary producers and international partners.
Chicken & Egg Pictures is a US-based media organization that supports women nonfiction filmmakers whose artful and innovative storytelling catalyses social change. We empower women directors from a range PINK C76 M38 / BLACK K17 of diverse backgrounds and experiences to realize their artistic goals and visions, build sustainable careers, and achieve parity in all areas of the film industry.
Docs for Sale Happy Hour The daily cocktail hour at Docs for Sale. November 17-21 | 17.00-18.00 | Arti et Amicitiae (Rokin 112) For Docs for Sale and IDFA Forum pass holders
Guests Meet Guests The daily cocktail hour of IDFA and its markets where all guest have the opportunity to meet up. November 16/17/23 | 18.00-19.30 | Café De Jaren (Nieuwe Doelenstraat 20-22) November 18-22 | 18.00-19.30 | Zuiderkerk (Zuiderkerkhof 72) For all pass holders
documentaireproducenten.nl
Sunday, November 19 | 21.00-22.30 | Het Groene Paleis (Rokin 65)
IDFA Forum Producer’s Breakfast All producers with a Forum pass, either pitching or observing, are invited to signup for this event. The Producer’s Breakfast provides an informal setting to meet producers from countries you would like to work with in the future. Our prearranged table settings assist you in making connections with the producers you would like to meet. November 20-22 | 08.30-09.15 | Compagnietheater (first floor) Advanced sign-up required
Firelight Media is a U.S. based organization led by artists of color. We support talented, diverse, documentary filmmakers who tell compelling stories about people, places, and issues that are underrepresented in the mainstream media, and we seek to maximize the impact of documentaries by connecting them to underserved audiences. chickeneggpics.org | firelightmedia.org
IDFA Forum Lunch on Tuesday November 21, made possible by Netherlands Film Fund
The Netherlands Film Fund is the national agency responsible for supporting film production in the Netherlands and activities such as festivals and training. Its focus is to develop and strengthen Dutch cinema and film culture both domestically and internationally. The Film Fund offers various selective support schemes on production and distribution for minority Dutch coproductions. It also runs the Film Production Incentive, offering a cash rebate up to 35% on production costs spent in the Netherlands and oversees the activities of the Netherlands Film Commission. filmfund.nl
IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
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Former IDFA Forum projects
included in the selection of IDFA 2017 IDFA Competition for Feature-Length Documentary
IDFA Competition for First Appearance
IDFA DocLab Competition for Digital Storytelling
Amal (Egypt, Lebanon, Germany, France,
The Distant Barking of Dogs (Denmark,
Cosmic Top Secret (Denmark, 2017) Director Trine Laier Producer Klassefilm: Lise Saxtrup Co-producer Trine Laier World Sales Klassefilm: Lise Saxtrup Pitched in 2013
Norway, Denmark, Qatar, 2017) Director Mohamed Siam Producer Abbout Productions: Myriam Sassine Producer ArtKhana: Mohamed Siam World Sales Doc & Film International Pitched in 2016
IDFA Competition for FeatureLength Documentary / IDFA Competition for Dutch Documentary
The Long Season (The Netherlands, 2017) Director Leonard Retel Helmrich Producer Pieter van Huystee Film; Pieter van Huystee Involved TV Channel EO World Sales Films Transit Pitched in 2015 IDFA Competition for FeatureLength Documentary
Time Trial (United Kingdom, 2017)
Director Finlay Pretsell Producer Cycling Films; Finlay Pretsell Producer SDI Productions; Sonja Henrici Pitched in 2013
IDFA Competition for Mid-Length Documentary
Raghu Rai, an Unframed Portrait
(India, Finland, Norway, 2017) Director Avani Rai Producer IV Films; Iikka Vehkalahti Involved TV Channel YLE, ARTE France, TVO, Al Arabiya, SVT, KRO, MCOT World Sales Autlook Filmsales Pitched in 2016
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IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
Sweden, Finland, 2017) Director Simon Lereng Wilmont Producer Monica Hellström / Final Cut for Real Co-producer Mouka Filmi Oy: Sami Jahnukainen Co-producer STORY: Tobias Janson Involved TV Channel DR2, SVT, YLE, ERR, BNT, Yes/DBS, BHRT, RTV, Ceska Televize, Against Gravity, G&GA Supported by Danish Film Institute, Swedish Film Institute, Finnish Film Foundation, Avek, Nordisk Film & TV Fond, The Sundance Film Institute World Sales – Cinephil Pitched in 2016
Stronger than a Bullet (Sweden, 2017) Director Maryam Ebrahimi Producer Nima Film: Nima Sarvestani Involved TV Channel SVT, YLE, DR, TVO, Al Arabiya World Sales Deckert Distribution GmbH Pitched in 2014 IDFA Competition for Kids & Docs
Tongue Cutters (Norway, 2017) Director Solveig Melkeraaen Producer Ingvil Giske Co-producer Bautafilm AB: Fredrik Oskarson; Hansen & Pedersen: Malene Flindt Pedersen; Dealine Media: Caroline Meier Involved TV Channel NRK, SVT, TV2 Denmark World Sales CAT & Docs Pitched in 2015
Masters
A Year of Hope (Denmark, The
Netherlands, 2017) Director Mikala Krogh Producer Danish Documentary Production: Sigrid Jonsson Dyekjær, PGA Co-producer Submarine Film: Femke Wolting, Bruno Felix Involved TV Channel DR , VPRO, VGTV, YES Docu World Sales CAT&Docs Pitched in 2015
... when you look away (Denmark, 2017) Director Phie Ambo Producer Viola-Lucia Film: Phie Ambo Co-producer Hansen & Pedersen Film og Fjernsyn: Malene Flindt Pedersen Involved TV Channel DRK, YLE, KRO-NCRV World Sales CAT&Docs Pitched in 2016
Best of Fests
Panorama
Music Documentary
City of the Sun (Georgia, United States, Qatar, The Netherlands, 2017) Director Rati Oneli Producer OFA: Dea Kulumbegashvili & Rati Oneli Co-producer Jim Stark World Sales Syndicado Pitched in 2015
Aleppo’s Fall (Norway, Denmark, France, 2017) Director Nizam Najjar Producer Stray Dog Productions: Henrik Underbjerg Co-producer YUZU Productions: Christian Popp Involved TV Channels NRK, IKON, DR, YLE World Sales DR Sales Pitched in 2016
Betty – They Say I’m Different
Big Time (Denmark, 2017) Director Kaspar Astrup Schröder Producer Sonntag Pictures: Sara Stockmann Involved TV Channel DR, SVT, YLE, AVROTROS World Sales Autlook Filmsales Pitched in 2015
Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda (United States, Japan, 2017) Director Stephen Nomura Schible Producer Cineric Inc: Eric Nyari Producer Borderland Media: Stephen Nomura Schible Producer Documentary Japan Inc: Yoshiko Hashimoto Involved TV Channel NHK, AVROTROS World Sales Doc & Film International Pitched in 2016
Cocaine Prison (Bolivia, Australia, France,
United States, 2017) Director Violeta Ayala Producer UNF Pty Ltd: Daniel Fallshaw, United Notions Film LLC: Redelia Shaw, Pinches Gringos: Violeta Ayala Co-producer Seppia Involved TV Channel Latino Public Broadcasting World Sales UNF Pty Ltd Pitched in 2010
Ghost Hunting (France, Palestine, Switzerland, Qatar, 2017) Director Raed Andoni Producer Les Films de Zayna: Palmyre Badinier Co-producer Akka Films Co-producer Dar Films Production Involved TV Channel Arte France, RTS Switzerland World Sales Urban Distribution International (UDI) Pitched in 2015 Muhi – Generally Temporary
(Israel, Germany, 2017) Director Rina Castelnuovo-Hollander Director Tamir Elterman Producer Medalia Productions: Hilla Medalia Co-producer Neue Celluloid Fabrik: Jürgen Kleinig Involved TV Channel YES Docu, EO Pitched in 2015
Moldovan Miracle (Moldova,
Norway, 2017) Director Stian Indrevoll Producer Flimmer Film AS: Johnny Holmvåg Involved TV Channel TV2, SVT World Sales DR Sales Pitched in 2015
(United Kingdom, France, 2017) Director Phil Cox Producer Native Voice Films: Giovanna Stopponi Producer Damon Smith Producer La Compagnie Des Taxi-Brousse: Laurent Mini Involved TV Channel ARTE France Pitched in 2013
The Visual Voice
Toto and His Sisters (Romania, Hungary, Switzerland, Canada , 2014) Director Alexander Nanau Producer Strada Film: Marcian Lazar Producer HBO Holding ZRT: Alexander Nanau Co-producer Alexander Nanau Productions Involved TV-Channel RST, TVO, YLE, YES Docu World Sales Autlook FilmSales Pitched in 2011
The Prince and the Dybbuk
(Poland, Germany, 2017) Director Elwira Niewiera Director Piotr Rosolowski Producer FILM Art Production: Malgorzata Zacharko Producer Kundschafter Filmproduktion GmbH: Matthias Miegel Co-production Zero One Film GmbH Co-production Adam Mickiewicz Institute Co-production Chimney Poland Co-production National Audiovisual Institute Involved TV Channel Rundfunk BerlinBrandenburg, TVP Kultura World Sales Wide House Pitched in 2015
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Daily Program Sunday November 19 13.30-16.40 21.00-22.30
Rough Cut Screenings IDFA Forum and interactive kick off drinks
moderator Catherine Olsen
Munt 4 Het Groene Paleis
pre-arranged tables
Compagnietheater, Foyer Upstairs Compagnietheater, Grote Zaal
The Self Portrait Madame Tran’s Last Battle Confessions of a Military Dictatorship The Mole Agent Woodstock BREAK
Margreth Olin, Katja Høgset Alan Adelson, Kate Taverna Karen Stokkendal Poulsen Maite Alberdi Barak Goodman
Speranza Film Films for Humanity Bullitt Film Micromundo Producciones Ark Media
The Internet of Shit Pre-Crime - A Simulation Container Lunch Industry Talk Consultancies for observers One-on-One Meetings for selected projects
Brett Gaylor Jan Joost Verhoef, Michaela Pnacekova Simon Wood, Meghna Singh
EyeSteelFilm Kloos & Co Electric South De Zuiderkerk De Brakke Grond NH Carlton Hotel, Industry Office Compagnietheater, Grote Zaal
Michele Stephenson, Yasmin Elayat, Joe Brewster Mike Robbins, Georg Tschurtschenthaler, Nicolas Thépot Elizabeth Rocha Salgado
Rada Film Group, SCATTER STUDIO Gebrueder Beetz Filmproduktion Hyper Epic
Tomas Tamosaitis Jan Kounen Marc Serpa Francoeur, Robinder Uppal Milica Zec, Winslow Porte
Institute for Transmedia Design Zorba Production Lost Time Media New Reality Co. De Zuiderkerk
pre-arranged tables
Compagnietheater, Foyer Upstairs Compagnietheater, Office Upstairs Compagnietheater, Grote Zaal
Halkawt Mustafa Frank Scheffer Ran Tal
Stray Dog Productions, Fenris Film Selfmade Films, Muyi Film Lama Films
Sushmit Ghosh, Rintu Thomas
Black Ticket Films
Ziad Zafar Denis Delestrac, Didier Martiny Siyi Chen Victor Kossakovsky
BEW TV, Crescent Films Via Découvertes Films Wooden Fish Pictures Sant & Usant De Zuiderkerk De Brakke Grond NH Carlton Hotel, Industry Office Compagnietheater, Grote Zaal
Round Table Pitches Zuilen Zaal- Session moderator Rudy Buttignol (5 Arts & Culture and 2 regular) The Passion of Anna Magnani / Arts & Culture 14.45 Aalto - Architect of Emotions / Arts & Culture 15.10 Maestro Morricone / Arts & Culture 15.35 Doctor Zhivago - the Novel about the Novel / Arts & Culture 16.00 Cunningham 3D / Arts & Culture 16.25
Enrico Cerasuolo Virpi Suutari Giuseppe Pietro Tornatore Nino Kirtadze Alla Kovgan
Les Films du Poisson Euphoria Film Piano b Produzioni Pumpernickel Films Achtung Panda!, Arsam International, Chance Operations
16.45 17.15 17.40
BREAK A Boarding School Busy Inside
Shalahuddin Siregar Olga Lvoff
Day Zero Film Diplodocus
18.00
Guests Meet Guests
Monday November 20 Producers’ Breakfast 08.30-09.15 Central Pitches First session moderators Rudy Buttignol & Axel Arnö Welcome 09.30
11.15 Second session moderators Ingrid Kopp & Jess Search Moderators Hat draw 11.45
12.50-14.45 15.00-16.30 14.45-18.00 14.45-18.00
Cross Media Presentations Zuilen Zaal- Session moderator Ingrid Kopp The Racial Terror Project (working title) 14.45 The Master’s Vision (VR) 15.10 Putin Roulette 15.35 BREAK 15.55 Killer, Penguin, Tom, Doll Face 16.25 -22.7°C 16.50 No Visible Trauma 17.15 Breathe 17.40 Guests Meet Guests 18.00
Tuesday November 21 Producers’ Breakfast 08.30-09.15 One-on-One Meetings for selected Cross Media projects 09.30-12.45 Central Pitches First session moderators Karolina Lidin & Jess Search Hiding Saddam Hussein 09.30 Journey to the Morgenland Ehud Barak – The Elusive Nature of Reality
Moderator’s Hat pitch Writing with Fire BREAK 11.05 Second session moderators Rudy Buttignol & Axel Arnö The Rise and Fall of Bhutto 11.30
12.45-14.45 15.00-16.30 14.45-18.00 14.45-18.00
Sunken Eldorado People’s Hospital Krogufant Lunch Industry Talk Consultancies for observers One-on-One Meetings for selected projects
De Zuiderkerk
Wednesday November 22 Producers’ Breakfast 08.30-09.15 One-on-One Meetings for selected projects 09.30- 17.00 Consultancies for observers 10.00 - 17.00 Round Table Pitches Zuilen Zaal- Session moderator: Jess Search/ Ove Rishøj Jensen (after break) The Invisible Border 09.30 Family on the Run 09.55 Story of B. The Disappearance of My Mother 10.20 BREAK 10.40 Gabi 11.10 Anbessa 11.35 Kids on the Silk road 6-15 12.00 Maiden of the Lake 12.25 Lunch 12.45-14.45 Industry Talk 15.00-16.30 Farewell drinks 17.00-17.45 Guests Meet Guests 18.00
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pre-arranged tables
Compagnietheater, Foyer Upstairs Compagnietheater, Grote Zaal Hotel Carlton, Industry office
Alejandro Quijano Eva Mulvad Beniamino Barrese
Casatarantula Danish Documentary Production Nanof Srl
Engeli Broberg Mo Scarpelli Jens Pedersen / Pedersen&co. Petteri Saario
House of Real Rake Films Toolbox Film Pohjola-filmi De Zuiderkerk De Brakke Grond Compagnietheater De Zuiderkerk
13.30
A Comedian in a Syrian Tragedy
Rami Farah
Final Cut for Real, OSOR
14.15
The Devil's Drivers
Daniel Carsenty, Mohammed Abugeth
Daniel Carsenty
15.00
Break
15.15
The Trial of Ratko Mladic
Rob Miller, Henry Singer
Sandpaper Films
16.00
On the Couch
Klaartje Quirijns
Pieter van Huystee Film
Round Table Pitches Kleine Zaal- Session moderator Karolina Lidin (3 Arts & Culture and 4 regular) 14.45 15.10 15.35 16.00 16.20 16.50 17.15 17.40
Marceline / Arts & Culture A Prince from Outer Space: Zeki Müren / Arts & Culture The World of Tsai Chin / Arts & Culture Aswang BREAK Price Wars Scheme Birds Born in China
Cordelia Dvorak Beyza Boyacioglu Hilla Medalia, Michelle Miao Chen Alyx Ayn G Arumpac
Kobalt Documentary Parabola Films Medalia Productions, Shanghai Seedling Film Cinematografica films
Rupert Russell Ellen Fiske, Ellinor Hallin Nanfu Wang, Lynn Zhang
Yaddo Sisyfos Film Production Pumpernickel Films, Motto Pictures
Round Table Pitches Kleine Zaal - Session moderator Axel Arnö 14.45 15.10 15.35 16.00 16.20
Lights Camera Uganda What Ever Happened to Rosemary Kennedy? With Love Love & Stuff BREAK
Cathryne Czubek, Hugo Perez Patrick Jeudy Magnus Gertten Judith Helfand
Salted Media, M30A Films, Laboratory NYC Hauteville Productions Auto Images Medalia Production
16.50 17.15 17.40
Born to Be Second The Labudovic Reels (working title) Occupation 1968
Jian Fan Mila Turajlic Stephan Komandarev, Marie Elisa Scheidt, Linda Dombrovszsky, Magdalena Szymkow, Evdokia Moskvina
Richard Liang, S. Leo Chiang Dribbling Pictures Peter Kerekes Ltd.
Vlady Antonevicz Avida Livny
Forbidden Mirror Films Evanstone films
Round Table Pitches Kleine Zaal- Session moderator Axel Arnö 12.00 12.25
Blood on the Trident The Pianist from Ramallah
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Consultants Cecilie Bolvinkel – EDN Network and Partnerships Manager & Financing Guide Editor Cecilie holds a Masters Degree in Film Studies, and before joining EDN she worked as a festival coordinator for shorts & documentaries at the Danish Film Institute. At EDN Cecilie is responsible for overall partnership coordination. Furthermore she produces several events and workshops and coordinates EDNs involvement in the distribution network Moving Docs. Cecilie is also the editor of the EDN Financing Guide, which contains detailed information on a wide range of financing and co-production possibilities in Europe. Besides her work at EDN Cecilie is the founder and organiser of a monthly documentary event in Berlin. Areas of expertise: Pitching and project presentation, how to operate on the international market, co-production and financing possibilities, opportunities in Asia. Isabel Arrate Fernandez – IDFA Bertha Fund Isabel finished her MA in Film Studies from the University of Amsterdam in 1996, and worked in festival production, programming and film financing. Since 2002 she is in charge of the IDFA Bertha Fund and responsible for the different support programs of the fund. She is a member of the selection committee and oversees the mentoring of the supported projects. Next to the Classic funding program the IDFA Bertha Fund runs a program for the support of the production and distribution of documentaries realized through coproduction between European producers and producers form Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and parts of Eastern Europe, called IDFA Bertha Fund Europe. For 2018 the fund is looking to support the production of six feature length documentaries (deadline 1 May) and three distribution plans (applications accepted between December 2017 and October 2018). Consultancy meetings are only available for producers/sales agents from EU, Norway, Iceland, and Bosnia Herzegovina interested in IDFA Bertha Fund Europe. Patricia Finneran – Story Matters Patricia recently joined the Doc Society team as producer of Good Pitch Local after many years on team Good Pitch whilst at Sundance Documentary and her own consulting firm Story Matters. Passionate about connecting creative changemakers, evolving forms of documentary storytelling, and reaching new audiences, her expertise is in both story development and impact distribution, with a focus on funding and partnership building. She previously ran SILVERDOCS for AFI and was artistic director of IFP Market. Past impact projects include: Shadow World, Care, Revolutionary Optimists, How to Survive A Plague and Bully. She’s currently developing Cumari: Rainforest to Table a series that connects Latin American cuisine to Amazon conservation, consulting on features Tribes on the Edge by Céline Cousteau and One Bullet Afghanistan by Carol Dysinger. Areas of expertise: story development, impact distribution, funding and partnership building.
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Jason Brush – POSSIBLE
Jason Brush directs the Experience Design practice of the global design and marketing agency POSSIBLE, where he has lead innovative projects for organizations such as Google, Sony, IMAX, BMW, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and teaches at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. He lives in Los Angeles. Areas of expertise: interactive content design and development, mobile app and website design, digital marketing, social media strategy
Serge Gordey – Temps Noir Serge Gordey is a French based international documentary producer (Gaza-Sderot, Five broken cameras , the Wonderful kingdom of Papa Alaev). He was the president of the documentary committee of CNC (French national cinema center) until 2017. Serge Gordey just joined Temps Noir (Paris), after producing creative documentaries and current affairs at Point du Jour, Bo Travail ! and Alegria. Areas of expertise: project development, editorial guidance, distribution strategy, producing and coproducing with France, Middle Eastern projects. Oli Harbottle – Dogwoof Oli has been at London-based international sales agent and UK theatrical distributor Dogwoof since 2006, and was part of the original team who made the decision to specialise in documentaries the following year. As Head of Distribution and Acquisitions, he is responsible for acquisitions and overseeing all film releases, which in recent years have included successes such as The Act of Killing, Blackfish, The Look of Silence, Cartel Land, Weiner, Life, Animated, Dancer, and Whitney: Can I Be Me. Oli is now also actively involved in the sourcing of projects for Dogwoof’s new production fund. Areas of expertise: Acquisition and distribution of feature docs for both UK and international markets, including both traditional and digital release strategies. Diana Holzberg- East Village Entertainment Diana Holtzberg is a producer, agent, writer, consultant and CEO of East Village Entertainment, which she opened in 2007. Diana has won two Emmy Awards and received two nominations. She executive produces and acts as a producer / creative producer / consultant on a select number of film projects each year, including Recruiting for Jihad, RUMBLE, The Indians Who Rocked The World, Mr. Gaga, THE ART OF FAILURE, Chuck Connelly Not For Sale; Oscar shortlisted GENIUS WITHIN, The Inner Life Of Glenn Gould, Imaginary Witness, Hollywood And The Holocaust, Still Doing It, The Intimate Lives of Women Over 65 and END OF THE CENTURY: THE STORY OF THE RAMONES. Diana conducts workshops at film markets and festivals throughout the world. She was VP of Development, Acquisition and Sales at Films Transit International from 2001-2016, a leading worldwide
Matchmakers documentary film sales company with a catalogue of highly acclaimed documentaries. Diana has worked on over 300 films. Areas of expertise: international co-production, acquisition, distribution, choosing a subject and writing a log line and treatment, production issues, pitching, festival and distribution strategy. Brian Newman – Sub-Genre Brian Newman, founder of Sub-Genre, consults on content development, financing, distribution and marketing to help connect brands and filmmakers with audiences. Clients include: Patagonia, New York Times, Sonos, Sundance, Vulcan Productions and Zero Point Zero. Brian is the producer of The Wild, and executive producer of Shored Up. Areas of expertise: Branded content, fundraising , brand partnerships & sponsorship, distribution marketing, digital marketing, audience development, impact campaign strategy, episodic content, understanding the VOD landscape. Mark Stucke – Journeyman Pictures Founder and managing director of Journeyman Pictures. At the age of 21 Mark was dodging bullets in the Russian Afghan war working on his 1st conflict documentary. In 1990 he established Journeyman and molded it into a support and sales hub for freelancers operating in conflict zones around the world, establishing strong relationships with all the world’s leading broadcasters. If selling short news films was the crucible of his distribution training, the decision in 2000 to focus on documentary distribution and co-production was what branded the company as one of the leading factual distributors globally. Today that expertise has embraced the digital age with Journeyman becoming one of the few factual distributors to achieve direct partnerships with Apple, Google, and Amazon. Areas of expertise: Content acquisition/ distribution (digital)international sector, digital/traditional rights and pragmatic business / legal affairs, hybrid distribution. Milton Tabbot – IFP Milton Tabbot is Senior Director of Programming at the Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP) in New York. He supervises all documentary programs including Spotlight on Documentaries of IFP Film Week, overseeing the documentary project selection; the documentary module of IFP’s Independent Filmmaker Labs for first-time feature directors. He served as the U.S. Consultant for the Locarno International Film Festival from 2006-2009 under Artistic Director Frédéric Maire and has served on multiple festival juries and review panels for P.O.V. and BritDoc Foundation’s Good Pitch. Areas of expertise: all aspects of documentary funding, broadcast, sales, festivals and distribution in the US market.
Florian Pfingsttag
After earning an MA in Arts Policy and Management in London, Florian Pfingsttag was appointed Programmes Coordinator at the Geneva International Film Festival, where he worked at programming features, shorts, TV series and transmedia works. From 2012 to 2017 he was Coordinator of the Doc Outlook – International Market of Visions du Réel Intl Film Festival in Nyon (Switzerland). Together with Gudula Meinzolt, he organised project development activities such as the Pitching du Réel – Co-production Forum, Docs in Progress and Rough Cut Lab, as well as conferences and networking events. Since August 2017, Florian is Funding Consultant at MEDIA Desk Suisse. This office was created to carry out the promotion of the European MEDIA Programme in Switzerland. Since the implementation of the MEDIA Compensating Measures by the Swiss Federal Office of Culture in 2014, the desk runs several national funding schemes supporting project development, distribution, festivals & markets and training programmes. Lea Maria Strandbæk Sørensen Lea is the interim manager of Nordisk Panorama Forum for Co-financing of Documentaries, the main funding event for documentaries in the Nordic region. Nordisk Panorama Film Festival presents the best Nordic shorts & docs and gathers the Nordic film community once a year. She has been working with NP Forum and promoting Nordic films and filmmakers since 2014. Previously, Lea has worked within the film industry in various positions. She holds degrees in Social Anthropology from the University of Copenhagen and Global Political Studies from the University of Malmö. Daan Vermeulen
Daan Vermeulen (1985) is in charge of marketing, public relations and acquisition of new documentaries at the Dutch film distributor Cinema Delicatessen. Before joining Cinema Delicatessen, he worked at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), first as producer of its educational program IDFAcademy, later as producer of IDFA’s international co-financing market the IDFA Forum. Vermeulen holds master degrees in Cultural Analysis and Film Studies from the University of Amsterdam.
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Pitch Moderators Axel Arnö
xel has been a commission editor at SVT A since 1998. At SVT’s documentary department he deals with international current affairs, special series and creative documentaries. He has commissioned numerous award winning international co-productions. In 2006, Axel was elected chairman of the EBU Documentary Group. He is a regular at the big documentary festivals and forums where he is frequently seen as moderator. Axel is 54, married, has three kids, two cats, five bikes and lives just outside Stockholm. Rudy Buttignol
Rudy Buttignol is the President and CEO of Knowledge Network, British Columbia’s public broadcaster, and President of BBC Kids. As TVO’s Creative Head of Network Programming and Commissioning Editor from 1993-2006, notable commissions included The Corporation, Manufactured Landscapes and Emmy/Grammy-winner Yo-Yo Ma: Inspired by Bach. From 1975 to 1993, he worked as an independent writer, director and producer of children’s series and documentaries. Honors include the Hot Docs Doc Mogul Award and nine Canadian Academy Awards; he is a Member of the Order of Canada, and an Honorary Doctor of Letters. Buttignol is a graduate of the Faculty of Fine Arts, York University, and Executive programs at Stanford and Harvard. Ingrid Kopp Ingrid Kopp is a co-founder of Electric South, a non-profit initiative to develop virtual reality and mobile non-fiction projects across Africa. She is also a Senior Consultant in the Interactive Department at the Tribeca Film Institute where she works at the intersection of storytelling, technology, design and social change. Along with MIT’s Open DocLab, she leads the Interactive Media Impact Working Group, exploring how emerging media engages audiences and launched Immerse, a new publication for Medium, as an extension of this work in 2016. She curates the Tribeca Storyscapes program for interactive and immersive work at the Tribeca Film Festival. Ingrid is a frequent mentor, juror and speaker at festivals and conferences around the world. She started her career at Channel 4 Television in London before moving to NYC in 2004 and has been based in Cape Town since 2015. You can always find her on Twitter: @fromthehip
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Karolina Lidin Karolina Lidin is a documentary consultant primarily engaged at Nordisk Film & TV Fond as Documentary Advisor and at Sheffield Doc/Fest as Executive Producer, Marketplace & Talent. In addition, Karolina Lidin is continuously involved in mentoring/ training schemes, developing projects with international potential, lately with DocsPort Incheon, DocEdge Kolkata, Docs by the Sea and Dhaka DocLab. Karolina has previous experience as producer, film commissioner, distributor and as CEO of Nordisk Panorama and Nordisk Forum. Karolina’s activities also include moderating the IDFA FORUM and numerous other film festival and market events – in addition to festival jury duty, panel & selection committee participation and tutoring worldwide. Ove Rishøj Jensen Ove has been with EDN since Winter 2003 and is in charge of running workshops, pitching forums and seminars in both online and offline versions. This includes Docs in Thessaloniki, EDN Online Pitching Sessions, Meet the Docs in Berlin, RealYoung, Cinema Verite DocPro in Tehran and much more. Ove has a Masters Degree in film studies with additional studying of cultural journalism and humanistic computer informatics.
Jess Search
Jess Search is Chief Executive of DOC SOCIETY (previously BRITDOC), an independent organization supported by Bertha Foundation, Ford Foundation and the BBC, which innovates with doc funding, distribution and impact models. DOC SOCIETY runs international production funds and puts on The Good Pitch around the world. Recent films granted by the foundation include All These Sleepless Nights, Risk, The Opposition, Notes on Blindness, An Insignificant Man, Hooligan Sparrow, CITIZENFOUR, Virunga, Dirty Wars, Pussy Riot and The Square. DOC SOCIETY also trains Impact Producers, publishes the Impact Field Guide and runs the Impact Award, an annual event recognizing films that have created the most social impact and does a whole load of other things. Jess is the proud owner of Albert Maysles spare glasses frames, thanks to IDFA 2004.
Forum s t c e j o Pr IDFA Forum for international co-financing and co-production of documentaries
CENTRAL PITCH
Confessions of a Military Dictatorship The Rohingya people are subjected
to ethnic cleansing, says the UN.
The world blames Aung San Suu Kyi for not reacting. She is trapped in
power together with the military.
Synopsis
Myanmar, September 2017. Aung San Suu Kyi is being singles out as a traitor. The Muslim minority, the Rohingyas, are subjected to genocide by the military and 500.000 have fled to Bangladesh. Everyone blames Aung San Suu Kyi, the once respected, democracy icon. She doesn’t speak up. She seems to dismiss the tragedy, which makes the international society lynch her. They want her Nobel Peace Prize back. They believed she was an angel, but now they see the devil. But Aung San Suu Kyi and the military have been in the same power game for years. They are trapped in each other’s grips. This is the film about the political power struggle between the military and Aung San Suu Kyi, which from its outset involved a third player: the international community. From her house arrest, Aung San Suu Kyi was praised by the world and received in 1992 the Nobel Peace Prize. The international community put heavy pressure on the military through targeted sanctions - and they made an icon of the woman that non-violently fought the military with her persistent demand for democracy. When the military launched democratic reforms and in 2010 released Aung San Suu Kyi, it was in regard to have the sanctions lifted. The military wanted to be able to spend their money abroad and befriend the West to balance China. However, they knew very well that the West only exchanges such a deal for one currency: democracy.
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DIRECTOR Karen
Stokkendal Poulsen
PRODUCTION Bullitt Film ApS
STATUS Start Production COUNTRY
Denmark, Sweden
FORMAT HD cam | 80’ & 52’ | DCP PITCH TYPE Central Pitch
In March 2016, Aung San Suu Kyi formally took over power in Myanmar after a convincing election victory. Everyone thought she stepped instead of the military, but in reality she got in power together with the military. She promised not to prosecute them for any sins of the past and to obey to the constitution they had written in which the military keep key powers on their hands. Why? Because the alternative was to leave it all to the military. Today, the world is astonished by the tragedy of the genocide on the Rohingas unfolding in Rakhine state. How could this happen with Aung San Suu Kyi as the country’s leader? Confessions of a Military Dictatorship tells the story we didn’t hear in the international media of why the military and Aung San Suu Kyi ended up in this situation - and how the international community happened to praise a democratic miracle that ended up with a genocide.
Project Description
Access For 4 years the director has been filming in Myanmar and followed the historic moment of the power negotiation and transition taking place. She has spoken directly to the military regime that has held the country in a tight grip since they coup’ed the country in 1962. Their fiercest enemy has been a distinct woman, Aung San Suu Kyi, who sternly refused to give in to the military in her non-violent fight for democracy. She has already given one interview for the film and the director has been promised another one for the final shooting. The main character in the director’s previous film, The Agreement, the British senior diplomat, Robert Cooper, is a close friend of Aung San Suu Kyi. They studied at Oxford together and he met her several times while she was in house arrest and he communicated between her and her British husband, Michael Aris. As a top diplomat for the EU Foreign Service he dealt with the military in 2011 and made a deal with them to release political prisoners and start a dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi – in return for lifting EU
sanctions of Myanmar. Robert Cooper has personally helped paving the way for the director’s access in Myanmar – by setting up meetings on her behalf with Aung San Suu Kyi and the military regime. He has vouched for her credibility and fairness in portraying political conflicts and it gave her the opportunity to get directly in touch with the most powerful people in Myanmar. She managed to build trust to leading figures and they have exclusively let her film them and given her lengthy in-depth interviews on their own role in the country’s history. The film language and characters Our main characters are the top leaders in the military regime as well as Aung San Suu Kyi and her allies. The story is told through in-depth interviews, uncompromising archive material, observational footage with the characters and a steered narration. The film has its own unique style, especially carried by the narration and the set-up of the interviews. Every scene relates clearly to the narrative structure and is told with the dramatic drive of a political thriller. Meanwhile, the shooting of the characters in their context and the courage to dwell on the character’s expressions allow for a deep psychological insight in the powerful people’s minds. The narrator gives the director’s subjective analysis and linking of the story’s complex dramatic and human aspects and the style of the narration is very thought-through: it has a simple elegance and poetic tone with a touch of humour. The story The film tells the story of how the military of Myanmar stepped into the shadow after 50 years of dictatorship, while the democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, who the military had kept in house arrest for 20 years, became the leader of the country. The story is unusual because the two parties keep having a strange grip on each other: the military with their control of the countries’ resources, Aung San Suu Kyi with her control of the people. It’s the story of
how power struggles unfold and how political enemies can end up being closer than the ones they claim to fight for: the people. They play in the same field and get to know each other on close hold and it changes them. It is a two-egged sword, though: compromise can be the way forward to reconcile a painful past. It can unfortunately also be a way of trapping each other and leave the visions behind. In Myanmar it is a complex mix of both. We begin the story in 2011 and follow the dramatic development in the power struggle before the country’s first free elections in 25 years are to be held in 2015. The military sets the rules of the game though, and they don’t live up to many democratic standards, despite their claim to be just that: a new democracy. Aung San Suu Kyi wins a stunning victory in the elections of 2015. The military won’t pass on power to the election winner so easily. They have secured their fortunes and a powerful role in politics through their constitution, but they need something more. They need Aung San Suu Kyi to promise not to prosecute them for the sins of the past. They need her to be loyal to their military actions and behaviour if she is to lead the country – together with the military. The negotiations take place behind closed doors, but the insiders know what their deal looks like. She ends up agreeing and is proudly inaugurated as the country’s leader. The military keeps working under the surface, however, now without sanctions and recognized by the world for their democratic miracle. The situation explodes as the military starts an ethnic cleansing of Rakhine’s Rohingya people disguised as retaliation for a terror attack. Aung San Suu Kyi is the formal leader of the country but is unable to control the military’s actions. If she criticizes them, she will lose her power. If she doesn’t, what is the purpose of that power? She is stuck in the grip she has put herself in; she is in power with the military. What is the alternative? To leave it all to the military? Power is no simple game, especially not in a country that has been a military dictatorship for 50 years.
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CEN Biographies
Vibeke Vogel Producer
Karen Stokkendal Poulsen Director
Vibeke Vogel – Producer Vibeke Vogel is the managing director and producer at Bullitt Film. Vibeke has worked with moving images as a producer and curator for more than 20 years and has introduced Danish talents such as Max Kestner (Max by Chance, 1st Appearance Idfa) and Karen Stokkendal Poulsen (The Agreement, F:ACT/ Cph:Dox and Prix Europa Spec Commendation) to the international film world, alongside working with film makers such as Charles Atlas (Turning) and Anne Wivel (Land of Human Beings). Her starting point in the business was in video art, and she has curated several shows focusing especially on American artists, in Denmark and the Nordic countries. She holds a master from Film and Media Studies, Cph, and a bachelor in arts/culture leadership, University College Sjælland. Born in Sweden. Karen Stokkendal Poulsen – Director Karen Stokkendal Poulsen is a documentary film director. She graduated with a Master of Arts in Screen Documentary from Goldsmiths College, London, in 2008. In addition to her work as a director, Karen has an educational background in Political Science, in which she holds a masters degree from the University of Copenhagen. Parallel with her studies she has worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and has lectured a course in International Relations at the University of Copenhagen. Her documentary The Agreement was selected for competition at CPH:DOX 2013, HotDocs in Toronto 2014 and for the Dragon award at Göteborg International Film Festival 2014 and many more. It received a special commendation at the Prix Europa.
Production Details | CONFESSIONS OF A MILITARY DICTATORSHIP PRODUCTION COMPANY Bullitt Film ApS Wildersgade 32, 1. floor 1408 Copenhagen K Denmark CREDITS PRODUCTION:
DIRECTOR:
CO-PRODUCTION: DISTRIBUTOR/SALES: SCREENPLAY: EDITING: PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED BROADCASTERS OTHER FINANCIERS OWN INVESTMENT
[email protected] +45 26125001 www.bullittfilm.dk
Vibeke Vogel Sumé The Sound of a Revolution (co-producer/2014) The Agreement (2013/producer) Days of Hope (2012/producer) Karen Stokkendal Poulsen The Agreement (2014/director) Villy Søvndal; The Road to Power (2009/director) Auto Images – Magnus Gertten – Sweden Stefan Kloos – Rise and Shine World Sales Karen Stokkendal Poulsen Claudio Hughes December 2017 – September 2018 November 2018 Start production
€ 642.427 € 252.194 DR Anders Bruus € 26.881 SVT Axel Arnö € 8.000 VPRO Nathalie Windhorst € 5.000 TVE Manuel Sanchez Pereira € 4.500 YLE Erkko Lyytinen € 3.000 RTV Slovenia Majda Gantar € 1.500 Estonian Public Broadcasting Katrin Rajasaare € 600 ERR Katrin Rajasaare € 600 RTSH Thoma Gëllçi € 500 Danish Film Institute Cecilia Lidin € 228.493 Danida Fund/Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs Aase Mikkelsen € 57.795 Bullitt Film ApS € 48.364 Auto Images € 5.000
Budget € | CONFESSIONS OF A MILITARY DICTATORSHIP Development / Pre-Production Writer Producer/director Travel/subsistence Editing Equipment and cinematographer
10.753 35.000 10.000 13.747 10.000 € 79.500
Production Archival rights & reproduction Hotels, travel & food Production personnel Director Technical staff: (DOP/Sound/Light) Equipment Producer and co-producer Social costs Location
40.323 15.748 35.108 65.000 13.441 17.518 57.013 35.818 4.435
€ 284.404
Post-Production Editor/editing system 50.000 Sound design and mix 44.374 Titles and animation, grading, online 28.050 Music 7.392 Insurance and legal 5.882 Social costs 15.240 Outreach and distribution Outreach producer Trailer and stills
IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
10.000 5.000 € 15.000
Overhead Overhead 10 % (calculated excluding writing fees and development) 45.034 Contingency 10 % (calculated excluding writing fees and development ) 45.034 Other 5% Total budget (summed)
20
€ 150.938
22.517 € 112.585 € 642.427
CENTRAL PITCH
DIRECTOR Ran Tal
Ehud Barak – The Elusive Nature of Reality Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak
is a war hero and Statesman,
pummeled by setbacks and success, as historical circumstances spun
out of control. His story is the
story of the modern State of Israel, with all its bold achievements
Synopsis
and jarring disappointments.
Ehud Barak is Israel’s most decorated war hero. He fought in all of Israel’s wars since the pivotal Six-Day War, participated in many of its most harrowing battles, and risked his life in daring commando raids far beyond Israel’s borders. Some of his past exploits made headlines. Some never will. They never can. He served in virtually every capacity, as soldier, commander, chief of staff, and defense minister, as the fate of Israel hung in the balance. Like late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Ehud Barak also made the transition from soldier to Statesman. He served only briefly as Israel’s prime minister, but in less than two years, he was able to bring Israeli troops home from Southern Lebanon and embark on peace negotiations with his mortal enemy, PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat, a man he once tried to assassinate. Then it all unraveled. Arafat would not sign the historic agreement at the very last moment, and Barak was soon ousted from office. Since then, Israel has been plunged into almost two decades of stalemate and conflict with the Palestinians. One small step forward; one giant step back. This film probes the life of a remarkable man, a true tragic figure in the classical sense. And it is the story of the State of Israel, whose history is reflected in Ehud Barak’s life. It
PRODUCTION Lama Films
STATUS Start Production COUNTRY Israel
FORMAT 2K | 90’ | DCP GENRES
• History • Politics / Society PITCH TYPE Central Pitch
is the story of intense hope and complex realities, which sometimes intersect, but not always. It is the story of whether leaders, even great leaders, can really mold history in their image, or whether they will inevitably fall victim to its forces. As he reflects on his past, we hear Barak in his own words talk about the international challenges facing him then and facing us now: the Islamic State, a nuclear Middle East, and the rise of political fundamentalism. As someone who confronted these issues on a day-to-day basis, we would do well to listen to him.
Project Description
This is the story of former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, a soldier turned Statesman, whose life paralleled the life of his country. It is the story of the State of Israel, now almost seventy years old, and all the changes it went through – the optimism of youth, the challenges of adulthood, and the disappointments of its older years. And it is the story of world leaders everywhere, who take office only to encounter forces much more powerful than them. We follow Barak as he makes the transition from minor witness to historical catalyst, trying to reshape events. We will hear his thoughts about his successes and failures, as he struggled against the inevitable forces of history. The film will consist of six parts: a Prologue and five chapters, each depicting a major period in Barak’s life, which mirrored Israel since its founding. It will follow a linear approach with thematic interjections. It will cover key historical events, showing how his life is intertwined with the life of his country: Israel’s early days; the great wars of 1967 and 1973; the war on terrorism and targeted assassinations; the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin; and Barak’s brief but eventful term as prime minister.
IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
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The Prologue will focus on Barak’s meeting with his archnemesis Yasser Arafat in Barcelona, soon after Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination. Barak already knew Arafat intimately. For years, had tried to kill him. Now the two men were meeting to discuss peace. The first chapter The Early Days takes us to the kibbutz where Barak was born and raised. He was an astute fiveyear-old when Israel fought its War of Independence, and he still remembers the neighboring Arab villages, which disappeared overnight, together with all of their inhabitants. Years later, he would speak to Yitzhak Rabin about the circumstances that led to the villagers’ expulsion, and how that cast a pale over any hope of reconciliation. As Barak himself later said, if he had been born Palestinian, not Israeli, he would likely have joined one of the Palestinian militant groups. The second chapter The Great Wars revisits Barak’s career as a young officer in the Six-Day War of 1967. That war led to the occupation of Jerusalem, the West Bank, the Golan Heights, and the vast Sinai Peninsula. Militarily, it was a stunning victory, but it was a pyrrhic victory in many ways too, resulting in rampant messianism, which still threatens Israel’s character as a democratic Jewish state. The other great war, in 1973, jolted Israelis out of the euphoria that took hold of the country six years earlier. Barak was a student at Stanford when it broke out, but like so many men of his generation, he rushed back to join the fighting, while Israel’s future teetered on the edge of disaster. He went straight to the Sinai, and participated in the “Battle of the Chinese Farm” as commander of an armored battalion. The casualties were heavy, and Barak lost many close friends in the fighting. The tragedy still haunts him today (ironically, he later met his Egyptian counterpart in the fighting, Muhamad Hussein Tantawi, when they were serving as their respective countries’ ministers of defense).
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IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
Shortly before the Yom Kippur War, Israel was rocked by horrific images of its athletes mowed down at the Munich Olympics (1972). As we see in the chapter Assassination, the response was quick in coming. Barak played a key role in Operation “Spring of Youth” to assassinate the perpetrators of Munich. This was the beginning of the targeted assassination policy, which Barak still advocates today. While discussing the program’s morality, Barak provides insider information on some of the most important killings, including prominent PLO strategist Khalil al-Wazir (Abu Jihad), Hezbollah leader Abbas al-Musawi, and even a failed attempt to assassinate Saddam Hussein. Barak was in the U.S. again, when Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated. It was then that he decided to follow his mentor’s example and run for prime minister. As he reflects on the incident, he considers the fragility of Israeli democracy and how a “black swan” event can change the course of history. Barak’s tenure as prime minister was brief but eventful. He orchestrated the controversial Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon after 18 years of occupation, and met with Bill Clinton and Arafat in Camp David to hammer out a lasting peace agreement. But the summit failed, and the bloody second intifada erupted. It was the most important event in Ehud Barak’s life, and ultimately, he failed. Barak is a profound thinker and visionary. His in-depth interviews spare no punches. They are deeply reflective, but also offer a daring action plan for confronting the challenges facing us today. History may take its course, but even now, long after his retirement, Ehud Barak is not willing to give up without a good fight.
Biographies
Production Details | EHUD BARAK – THE ELUSIVE NATURE OF REALITY PRODUCTION COMPANY Lama Films Hashoftim 20 6416627 Tel Aviv Israel CREDITS PRODUCTION:
DIRECTOR:
DISTRIBUTOR/SALES:
EDITING: PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED OTHER FINANCIERS
Amir Harel – Producer After a career in film editing, Amir Harel turned to film producing, and established Lama Films in the year 2000, with the goal of concentrating on social, political and cultural oriented projects, both in feature films and documentaries, with special emphasis on international co-productions.
www.lamafilms.com
[email protected] +972 544708295
Amir Harel Paradise Now (2005/producer) Jellyfish (2007/producer) Barash (2015/producer) Ran Tal The Museum (2017/director) The Garden of Eden (2012/director) Children of the Sun (2007/director) Philippa Kowarsky – World Sales Cinephil Keshet International Nili Feller December 2016 – December 2018 2019 Start production
€ 457.470 € 279.470 Keshet Broadcasting Noa Karvat Foundation Rabinovich for the Arts Yoav Abramovich
€ 131.000 € 47.000
Budget € | EHUD BARAK – THE ELUSIVE NATURE OF REALITY Development / Pre-Production Writer Producer/director Travel/subsistence
7.000 30.000 8.000 € 45.000
Production Archival rights & reproduction Hotels, travel & food Production travel and expenses Production personnel Director Technical staff: (DOP/Sound/Light) Equipment / Studio Stock Material
75.000 2.000 2.000 7.000 30.000 40.000 30.000 2.000
€ 188.000
Post-Production Editor/editing system Sound design and mix Titles and animation Music Visual research Copies Outreach and distribution Sales Miscellaneous Miscellaneous Overhead Overhead 7% Contingency 10% Total budget (summed)
40.000 18.000 60.000 15.000 12.000 3.000 € 148.000
5.000
Lama Films – Production Company Since the turn of the millenium, Lama films produced a line of internationally acclaimed and successful films, thus established itself as a major production company in the local scene, as well as a first-choice addressee for production companies from around the world, who seek co-productions in the MiddleEast. Lama Films filmography include about 50 titles, among others US box-office success Walk on Water, Golden Globe winner and Oscar nominee for best foreign film Paradise Now, Cannes Camera d’Or Winner Jellyfish and critically acclaimed Children of the Sun and The Garden of Eden.
Amir Harel Producer
Ran Tal Director
Ran Tal – Director Ran Tal is an independent director. His films present a view of Israeli reality through a social and historical perspective. His films won many awards in Israel and abroad. Tal is the Editor of Takriv, a journal of documentary cinema. He teaches cinema at Tel Aviv University and Sapir College. Among Ran’s most prominent films are The Museum (2017), The Garden of Eden (2012), Children of the Sun (2007), My Dream House (2005), 67 Ben Tsvi Road (1998).
€ 5.000
5.000 € 5.000
27.370 39.100 € 66.470 € 457.470
IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
23
CENTRAL PITCH
DIRECTOR Halkawt
Mustafa
PRODUCTION Stray Dog Productions STATUS Development COUNTRY
Hiding Saddam Hussein After the Iraq War, Saddam Hussein
was found after thousands of
American soldiers had been
searching in nine months.
Alaa Namqi; the peasant who
concealed Saddam, is telling his story.
Synopsis
The Iraq War commenced on March 20, 2003, and after only twenty days of battle the American led coalition forces could overthrow Saddam Hussein’s regime. Yet it took them more than nine months to find the deposed dictator, in a massive manhunt. Thousands American soldiers looked for him without finding a trace. But an ordinary Iraqi farmer who scratched most of his livelihood hunting in the remote mountains above the Tigris River had an unexpected guest knock at his door. The guest was Saddam Hussein; he did not escape from the country; but to the countryside very close to Al-Awja where he was born 66 years before. Father of four children, Alaa Namiq, found himself in a difficult position. When guests come to your house, you invite them in, protect them and provide hospitality. But on the other hand, with this particular guest, hospitality could be a very dangerous undertaking. Alaa accommodated Saddam’s need for help. He felt an obligation to do so; to him Saddam Hussein was still the president of Iraq. Alaa had been living in his small village all the 32 years his life had lasted at that point. What he knew of the World outside was brought to him by state controlled media; he had never heard of CIA, never heard of weapons of mass destruction. But he knew there was a price on Saddam’s head – and he wanted to make sure that nobody would take the bounty.
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IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
Norway, Denmark, France
FORMAT 4K | 90’ & 52’ | DCP GENRES
• History • Human Interest / Social Issues • Politics / Society PITCH TYPE Central Pitch
The Norwegian/Iraqi director Halkawt Mustafa has spent years finding Alaa and gaining his trust; and now Halkawt holds the exclusive rights to tell Alaa’s story. During the months on the farm, Alaa got to know the dethroned dictator like no one else. And he tells a story of loyalty and moral set up against reason. He tells a story of the simple peasant that suddenly lives side by side the most wanted man in the World.
Project Description
Who was Saddam Hussein and how did he rule one of the World’s richest countries as president for life? Saddam Hussein spent 35 years as Iraqi president and lived in luxury. How did he manage the nine months with a poor farmer and what happened while he was there? What challenges came with this brutal change. How can these nine months give an insight into what he was - and why did Iraq’s president choose to hide under the protection of Alaa? Halkawt Mustafa is Norwegian/Iraqi director who fled from Iraq because of Saddam Hussein. But he never got to know the regime. What was his goal and what would he do with his country? Throughout this story, we get to know Saddam Hussein, told by Alaa. Today both Iraqis and Americans regret that Saddam Hussein was removed. Latest former CIA executive James Woolsey Jr. confirmed that US had no information that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction when hunting Saddam. And the map for the entire Middle East changed after the war. Halkawt was born and raised in Iraq and came to Norway in 2000. Still Iraq is his home country and he has been working on Alaa’s story for many years to bring forth the story of the man who concealed the Iraqi president. This has been a both risky and comprehensive work for Alaa and Halkawt.
Much would look different today if Saddam was still in power. In addition, Alaa’s narrative is an eyewitness depiction from an era where Saddam Hussein was the world’s most sought-after man. The film lets the audiences into an extraordinary relationship between a regular peasant in the countryside in Iraq and a president that the whole world hunted for nine months. This unique encounter that developed into a close and respectful friendship is still an unknown story that is now ripe for being told. A real true-war-crime story. Exclusive access Halkawt is Kurdish like Alaa Namqi, and he has been chasing this story for several years. Last year his efforts were rewarded; Alaa and his brothers welcomed him to a talk in Istanbul. They spent some days together, and gradually the trust between Alaa and Halkawt were established, and in the end, Alaa granted Halkawt the exclusive access and rights to tell his story. Shortly after this meeting, we managed to fly Alaa to Norway where we filmed a series of interviews where Alaa told his story. His story is amazing; both because of the subject matter, the friendship and the profound knowledge that his nine months with Saddam Hussein yielded. And also, because Alaa has the gift of an almost photographic memory; his remembrance is vivid and visually detailed. When he is telling the story, it is almost like he is wandering on the banks of Tigris with Saddam on his side once again. This spring we travelled to Alaa’s house near Tikrit. The aim was to test, if we could have sufficient access to the original locations, and furthermore, we needed to start discovering how we can shoot the story.
We assembled a production team, stand-in actors and did four days of shooting the initial meeting between Alaa and Saddam. Through this dummy production we have confirmed our access to the right locations; and we experienced the gifts of history, as the original locations let the team into their ‘memory’. Furthermore, Halkawt secured a full and very positive corporation and support from the regional authorities. Inspirations Hiding Saddam Hussein is primarily told through the backbone of Alaa’s story; his storytelling that can be supplemented by more detail, more retelling, more detailed memories. This backbone is one of three layers in the film. The two others are archive and reconstructions. During his research to the film, Halkawt has gained access to the archives of regional TV stations and other relevant and valuable archives – and these are relevant sources to provide the needed context for our audiences. We aim at using the most recognizable clips and only expose ‘new’ material when absolutely needed. Most prominent is the clips from Operation Red Dawn where the American soldiers finally found Saddam and dragged him out of the hole. Still letting the story told by Alaa remain the backbone of the film, the reconstructions are ‘iconic’ meaning that we only use these as a vehicle of identification with the scenes in themselves. This means that we do not at any point let the reconstructions ‘take over’, as if pretending we were there at the time. No one was there. But our reconstructions are used as a gentle reminder that these events actually happened.
IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
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CEN Biographies
Henrik Underbjerg Producer
Halkawt Mustafa Director
Tore Buvarp Executive Producer
Henrik Underbjerg – Producer Henrik Underbjerg has produced almost 40 fiction and documentary films including Sepideh, Law of the Jungle, How Are You and has achieved wins and nominations on IDFA, Sundance, Berlinale, Hot Docs, Grierson, Sheffield, Los Angeles, Nordisk Panorama, Gothenburg, London, Tehran. Henrik is founder of Stray Dog Productions. He is a EAVE 2003 graduate and has attended Film Business School and Twelwe for the Future. He comes with a university background from Literary History, American Studies and Mathematics/Economics. Halkawt Mustafa – Director Halkawt Mustafa is a Norwegian-Kurdish director. He studied directing at Nordic Institute of Stage and Studio in Oslo and has made several films. Mustafa came to Norway in 2000 with his family. His films are shown around world and have won several awards. El Clasico represented Iraq in the Oscar run for Best Foreign Language Film in 2017. Tore Buvarp – Executive Producer Tore Buvarp is partner and producer in Fenris Film and has produced 65+ documentaries, amongst these are two of Aslaug Holm’s awarded feature length documentaries, The Rich Country and Brothers. He has also produced Sarajevo Ricochet (2010), Nitrate Flames (2014) with a wide festival distribution, Taliban Oil (2015) and co‐produced the awarded Law of the Jungle (Radiator Film, 2012). Buvarp was Norwegian board member/vice chairman in Filmkontakt Nord/Nordic Panorama 2009‐2013.
Production Details | HIDING SADDAM HUSSEIN PRODUCTION COMPANY Stray Dog Productions Thorvald Meyers gate 17B 0555 Oslo Norway CREDITS
Henrik Underbjerg The Fall Of Aleppo (2017/screenwriter/producer) The Islands and the Whales (2016/co-producer) Sepideh (2013/producer) DIRECTOR: Halkawt Mustafa El Clasico (2015/producer/screenwriter/director) The Women ISIS Fears (2015/director) Red Heart (2011/screenwriter/director) CO-PRODUCTION: YUZU Productions – Christian Popp – France EXECUTIVE PRODUCTION: Tore Buvarp – Fenris Film SCREENPLAY: Henrik Underbjerg – Stray Dog, Halkawt Mustafa PRODUCTION:
PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED BROADCASTERS OTHER FINANCIERS OWN INVESTMENT
26
IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
April 2018 – March 2019 May 2019 Development
€ 704.587 € 628.972 DR Anders Bruus Norwegian Film Institute Lars Løge Stray Dog Productions
€ 10.000 € 50.325 € 15.290
Budget € | HIDING SADDAM HUSSEIN Development / Pre-Production Writer Producer/director Travel/subsistence
27.861 97.559 65.039 € 190.459
Production Archival rights & reproduction Hotels, travel & food Production travel and expenses Production personnel Director Technical staff: (DOP/Sound/Light) Equipment Stock Material Broadcast requirements
Stray Dog Productions – Production Company We focus on director-driven feature films and creative documentaries. Films that inspire change and give voices to challenging views and takes on life and culture, and provide upcoming filmmakers with experience and network allowing them to follow their visions and ideas. The producers are Kristine Ann Skaret and Henrik Underbjerg. Stray Dog is based in both Denmark and Norway.
[email protected] +45 22157022 www.fenrisfilm.com
33.443 5.805 30.986 12.615 46.478 18.633 3.154 3.726 7.457
€ 162.297
Fenris Film – Production Company Fenris Film (est. 1992) is one of Norway’s most experienced production companies with a portfolio of 65+ films. Fenris produce feature length documentaries, character driven films, investigative projects; many awarded, and with a wide range of distribution. Fenris has been nominated best TV‐documentary six times in eight years. Feature length doc The Rich Country (2006) won the FIPRESCI PRIZE at Tromsø Intl. Film Festival, and Brothers won the Norwegian Emmy 2015 for best direction, first time awarded to a documentary film.
Post-Production Editor/editing system Sound design and mix Titles and animation Music Lab Adminstration, office rental, etc. Overhead Overhead 7 % Contingency 8 % Total budget (summed)
120.283 28.549 10.685 20.835 31.199 49.654 € 261.205
43.887 46.739 € 90.626 € 704.587
CENTRAL PITCH
DIRECTOR Frank
Scheffer
PRODUCTION Muyi Film, Selfmade Films STATUS Development
COUNTRY The Netherlands
FORMAT 16mm, 2k/4k | 90’ & 55’ | DCP GENRES
• History • Art / Music / Culture • Politics / Society PITCH TYPE Central Pitch | Arts & Culture
Journey to the Morgenland
The more the composer and
musician Kinan Azmeh is cut off
by war from his homeland Syria,
the stronger his desire becomes to
discover and express his cultural
tradition through his music.
Synopsis
him. And the Syrian Ibrahim, whose family came from Armenia and who, as no-one, attempts to preserve the rich and ancient traditional music in the Middle and East. Ibrahim had to flee with his family to Germany. And because of the hatred of the Turks against the Kurds, Aynur sought her refuge in Amsterdam. With Aynur and Ibrahim, Kinan undertakes travel to the cradle of their music, Morgenland, de Oriënt, where Europeans get to the sun, but where dark clouds of extremism and wars have ruined the climate for years.
It is the war that makes Kinan realize that his personal and musical identity has much more layers than he thought. Take his family history, he only has to go back two or three generations to find his Turkish and Kurdish roots. It is a complex identity, of himself and of his country.
A trip that ends up in a performance of Kinan and his music friends at the Holland Festival 2018, where the achievements of their travels will be audible and tangible. A performance that expresses the hope through music, which unifies people who are driven apart.
The history of Syria go back for more than ten thousand years when the first human settlements in that region arose and cultural expressions could develop. Since the war in Syria has broken out, Kinan feels the urgency to engage in his music the musical traditions of the region he comes from. It is his dream in his compositions to bring together the soul of music from the Middle East with Western musical traditions to conduct a true musical dialogue. But he feels something is missing in him – in the prestigious Julliard School of Music in New York he is trained for Western classic music, but his knowledge about the music of his homeland still does not have the real depth. By looking for it, he hopes to fight against the violence in the Middle East with his music so that we can hear the deeply rooted sounds which bear the traces of highly developed cultures that have now become even more emotional because of the heart-breaking bloodiness that the region now suffers.
Project Description
We witness how Kinan, together with his friends Aynur Dog˘an and Ibrahim Keivo, is looking for his/their musical home inside. The powerful and earthly vocals of Kurdish Aynur from Turkey come up with tears of emotion with
Characters
Kinan Azmeh, the versatile The Syrian composer and clarinetist Kinan Azmeh (1979) was 21 when he left his birthplace Damascus’s to study in New York at the prestigious Julliard School of Music. He plays with Yo-Yo Ma’s renowned Silk Road Ensemble and has built up his musical fame worldwide. Trained with Western classical music, he creates from there a wide range of styles and genres, jazz, opera etc. As to Arabic music he remembers in his youth, Kinan thinks that he really first discovers it in New York: ‘The more you deepen in the culture of your host country, the more you want to deepen in your own culture.’
In the first year of the Syrian war 2011 Kinan couldn’t compose. When he starts again, he expresses his emotions and sorrow in his music. Together with his friend and visual artist Kevork Mourad, he starts the project ‘Home within’ project. “I must keep my musical voice alive. More than all other art forms, music shows the best the nature of people and their sorrow and hope’. His new piece of music ‘The IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
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Fence, The Rooftop and The Distant Sea’ premiered in the Elbphil Harmony in Hamburg with cellist Yo-Yo Ma. There are two musician friends whom he admires for their strong commitment to those traditions and whose music deeply touches him: Ibrahim Keivo and Aynur Dog˘an. With them, he wants to find more about their traditions in the purest form by returning to the sources. Ibrahim Keivo, the enchanting voice of ancient Syria Singer Ibrahim Keivo (1966) is a son of Armenian refugees in Al-Hasakah, born in a Jesuit-Kurdish village in northeastern Syria, a melting pot of religions and cultures, where Arabs, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Kurds, Yezidi’s, Arameans and Armenians live together and share their music with each other. Curious in nature, Ibrahim gets deeply engaged in the stories and songs from the region between the Euphrates and the Tigris. During a study at the music academy in Aleppo, he dived into the finesses and secrets of the authentic music of his youth. His musical career takes a quick flight, but Keivo chooses to return to his village to teach at the local music school. He travels around to collect songs and stories and to deepen himself into the musical heritage of his region. When the war violence in his homeland makes life impossible, Ibrahim had to flee to Germany in 2015. Aynur Dogan, the nomad who comforts the wind Aynur was born in the settlement Çemis¸gezek between the mountains in Dersim in East Anatolia. She’s a Kurd. “The Turks hate us, they call us devils because we love life, and in our culture, women and men are equal.” Music is deeply rooted in the culture. ‘Our tradition has always been musical, we have no ‘holy book ‘, all knowledge went through music’. For over 15 years, Aynur sings traditional Kurdish songs and writes her own music. Her texts are about the life and suffering of the Kurdish people and Kurdish women in particular. Her vocals are raw and resemble the enchanting mountain scenery. When she was bullied in 2010 during a concert in Istanbul because
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IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
she was singing too many Kurdish songs, she had to break her performance. Eventually she left Turkey and has been living in Amsterdam for two years. Her latest album is called ‘Rewend’ meaning nomad in Kurdish and is about traveling and feeling at home. Director’s Note This film is the third part of a quadruple of my works along the Silk Road, in which the disappearance of cultural traditions is the theme. Ever since I met Kinan Azmeh and Ibrahim Keivo in Damascus in 2010, I wanted to make a movie with them. The New York based Kinan is confronted by the war which cuts him off from his home country Syria. This actual situation intensifies his inner need to learn more about his cultural roots and to express it his music creations: ‘Home within’ as the title of his project. His journey is shared with the Kurdish zinger Ayur and Armenian Syrian singer Ibrahim. Whether it concerns the special knowledge of Ibrahim about the traditional music culture or Aynur’s earthly beauty in her voice, it will help Kinan to dive deeper into his own identity and to respond creatively. During their journey, the sadness of war will be felt. Especially the vulnerability of the Yezidi’s and Kurds will give the film emotional gravity. The film is a journey for me as well, to find out more about the root of our own European civilization and beyond. When wars and political agenda’s ruthlessly separate people, and the diaspora leads to discrimination and exclusion which seed deep fear to our societies, only reciprocal cultural understanding can bring us together again. It is not just a naïve wish but a conviction that I have experienced during my film making with other cultures. This film is intended to be an ode to our shared musical and cultural heritages, but above all, a story of trustfulness expressed in music and traditions deeply rooted in the region which is lately torn into pieces by barbarism and extremism. I am sure, music will tell stories that can touch all human souls, cross all geography and political borders.
Biographies
Production Details | JOURNEY TO THE MORGENLAND PRODUCTION COMPANY Muyi Film President Brandstraat 13 1019 XD Amsterdam The Netherlands
www.muyifilm.com +31 653488758
[email protected]
2ND PRODUCTION COMPANY Selfmade Films Nieuwpoortkade 2a 1055 RX Amsterdam The Netherlands
[email protected] +31 6 55855857
[email protected] +31 653705840
CREDITS PRODUCTION:
Jia Zhao, Niek Koppen, Jan de Ruiter
JIA ZHAO:
DIRECTOR:
PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED BROADCASTERS OTHER FINANCIERS
Muyi Film – Production Company
Muyi Film is founded in 2012 by Jia Zhao, a Chinese producer based in Amsterdam. Muyi film focuses on documentary films with intercultural themes and collaborates with starting and experienced directors from Europe and Asia and. Its mission is to create international documentary films that embrace cultural differences and express respect for human lives. Some recent works include: Lady of the Harbour by Sean Wang (IDFA 2017); The Crow is Beautiful by Frank Scheffer/Jia Zhao (IDFA 2017); Fallen Flowers Thick Leaves by Laetitia Schoofs (co-production with ARTE/ZDF, IDFA 2016); The Perception by Frank Scheffer (KNF award, IFFR 2016); Angelus Novus by Aboozar Amini, IFFR 2015; Mr Hu and the Temple by Yan Ting Yuen (IDFA 2015).
Inner Landscape (2017 / producer) Bezness as Usual (2016 / producer) Fallen Flower Thick Leaves (2016 / producer) Frank Scheffer Inner Landscape (2017 / director) The Perception (2016 / director) Gozaran Time Passing (2011 / director)
Selfmade Films – Production Company
April 2018 – November 2018 April 2019 Development
€ 509.028 € 208.309 NTR Oscar van der Kroon NPO Fund The Netherlands Film Fund Dutch Cultural Media Fund
€ 37.000 € 142.719 € 90.000 € 31.000
Budget € | JOURNEY TO THE MORGENLAND Development / Pre-Production Writer Producer/director Travel/subsistence test shooting
5.000 13.500 10.000 3.500 € 32.000
Production Archival rights & reproduction Hotels, travel & food Production travel and expenses Production personnel Director Technical staff: (DOP/Sound/Light) Equipment Stock Material Broadcast requirements Animation artist 16mm film location compensation
18.000 67.860 7.000 35.775 50.150 32.250 25.625 4.425 8.200 20.000 1.050 2.000
€ 272.335
Post-Production Editor/editing system Sound design and mix Titles and animation grading online, scan films, final mixage translation/transcription post-Production coordination
Overhead Overhead 7,5 % Contingency 5 % producer fee 10% Total budget (summed)
Niek Koppen Producer
Frank Scheffer Director
Frank Scheffer – Director 52.250 17.400 6.250 7.300 12.700 5.500 5.625 € 107.025
Outreach and distribution Promotion and marketing consulting 2.500 poster/premiere/trailer/submission festivals etc 7.550
In August 1999, documentary maker Niek Koppen and executive producer Jan de Ruiter founded Selfmade Films. The company aims at ensuring director’s independence while allowing the sharing of working experience and producers documentaries for TV and cinema, national and international. In March 2001, the first production by Selfmade Films premiered at the Amnesty International Film Festival in Amsterdam: The Making of the Revolution by Katarina Rejger and Eric van den Broek. Some works: Naomi’s Secret by Saskia Gubbels (IDFA 2016); Bezness as Usual by Alex Pitstra (o.a. Toronto International Film Festival 2016); Piet Hein Eek (2015) by Niek Koppen.
Jia Zhao Producer
€ 10.050
29.206 19.471 38.941 € 87.618 € 509.028
Frank Scheffer (1956) directed over 40 artistic documentary films. He has received many international awards and was honored with a retrospective at the MoMA New York. He worked with the prominent post-war composers like Pierre Boulez, John Cage, Elliott Carter, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Frank Zappa. In his films, image and sound orchestrate into a unique visual and audial experience. His The One All Alone (2009) premiered at Venice International Film Festival in 2010 and Gozaran, Time Passing (filmed in Iran) premiered at IDFA 2011. The Perception about the Dutch painter Robert Zandvliet was the winner of the KNF award at IFFR 2016. The 30min version of his latest film Inner Landscape (2017) about the contemporary Chinese composer Guo Wenjing opened the world premiere of Guo’s composition ‘Si Fan’ at Holland Festival.
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CENTRAL PITCH
DIRECTOR Victor
Krogufant A film about the intelligence,
emotions and sensibility of animals we normally only get familiar with when they are served as food on our plates: pigs, cows and hens!
Synopsis
Pigs, Cows, Hens. The main characters of Krogufant are familiar, even commonplace animals. Their daily lives appear so devoid of interest that we hardly notice them. They peck, graze and roll in the mud, catching worms and brushing away the flies. There is no mystery; there are no riddles. From the first day of their lives until the last, it seems that nothing could divert the animals from the simple biological process that urges them to defend themselves and sustain. An endless cycle of days destined to repeat themselves with no surprises nor evolution, as though nothing should ever change. The dead make way for the newly born with neither anxiety nor regret, as long as the survival of the species is assured. Between these interchangeable elements, no unusual adventures or particularities. There is nothing which resembles a hen more than another hen, or so it is said. A cow = a cow = a cow. Take one away and it will suffice to put another in its place for the matter to be resolved. Or could this equality be a sign of our own inability to see. A sign of our hypocrisy as well. Our denial. Our desire to maintain and go against all ancestral classification which makes human beings superior. We’re the ones who laugh, who speak, think, who are conscious of our sense of destiny.
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IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
Kossakovsky
PRODUCTION Sant & Usant
STATUS Start Production COUNTRY
Norway, France
FORMAT HD | 90’ | DCP PITCH TYPE Central Pitch
Such is the principle which appears to always have been justified; man has always exercised over the animal species. Because if animals are caught up in a blind, unconscious biological process, there is no harm in lining them up in rows in dark buildings which they never leave, right? What difference does it make since, in any case, their existence is nothing more than a simple succession of senseless acts. But what if, on the other hand, it turned out that this principle was wrong, then the whole system would need to be reconsidered. In fact, more than a system. A whole society. It would then be necessary to revise our relationship with other species, our conception of language and thought. And above all, we would need to reconsider how we feed ourselves. And that is what this film, Krogufant invites us to do. To sit down and watch. Allow the truth of what the ethologists have been saying for so long, to come out: animals have a thinking without language, the capacity to anticipate, the power of insight and decision. And therefore a destiny. This is the vision of a man who has always refused, when he looks at a cow, to see the food he could get from it. An acknowledgement which, as always in cinema, says as much about the person watching as the person being watched.
Project Description
Gunda is a huge and extraordinary friendly pig. She lives in a Norwegian farm with unusual freedom and almost unlimited space. She is in her latest stage of pregnancy. One morning a little piglet appears. That tiny being has no time to relax. His fight for survival has just begun! He needs to be fast and find his way to his mother’s breast because a second, a third, a fourth... a sixteenth piglet is coming! A battle for the best nipples takes place. There are only 12 nipples for 16 piglets. A big challenge for the weak ones, not everyone will survive.
After that, Gunda becomes the most tender and caring mother. Specially with Linda, the weakest piglet who was injured during the birth battle. She limps and can’t follow her siblings. But her mum licks her wound, helps her to walk and protect her from the active siblings. The family has moments of happiness, anger, fear, sorrow, love and sympathy. It is a normal family with joys and difficulties. But the family life only last for two months and ends when the truck is coming to take the piglets away. We feel the emotional part when a mother is separated from her children, through the stages of suffering, fear and grief. Luna and Rita are two female cows who have been rescued from the slaughterhouse. Now they live in the Pyrenees mountains, between Spain and France, in a place called Santuario Gaia where more than 300 mistreated farm animals have found a second chance in life. Luna and Rita have a very special relationship, they are best friends. And both of them have the capacity to feel empathy for other members of the herd. Especially for the weak ones. Every month cows that have been mistreated by the food industry arrive at the Santuario Gaia. Some of them are injured if not traumatized. As a result is difficult for them to integrate into a new herd. But Luna and Rita help them. It is especially visual when a calf arrives. He can cry during days. But Rita and Luna will lick his tears, won’t separate from him and will sleep side by side with him. They will behave like real mothers. In France the hens raised for the egg industry are killed at the age of 18 months when their production decreases, while they naturally could live as long as 5 years. They never seen the sunlight, they never opened their wings, they never even walked! When hens are not profitable anymore they are sent to this special ‘poulehouse’. For the first time they experience freedom. At the begining they almost don’t move but little by little they start to explore their body. First they stretch one leg, then the other. They walk a bit. Then they discover that they can open without limits their wings. First one, then the other. Then both at the same time. They can even walk and move their wings at the same time. They can even run and try to fly! The combinations of movements are infinite, as freedom. Across these three stories, we will experience motherhood, friendship and the importance of freedom through the eyes of animals.
Visual Concept The main style of our film will be what we call ‘Owl glance’. The owl was considered in Antique as a symbol of knowledge and wisdom, who is able to see invisible things. Knowledge of world scientists who studied such animals for decades will help us to notice elements of their behaviour, which are normally unnoticed. In order to make our film more cinematic, we constructed a special ‘transparent’ pigs-house with a circular track around in order to film their life from any of 360-degree angle needed. Another tool is a low steadicam with the camera almost on the point of view of the smallest piglet of the family. Krogufant is a black and white film. This artistic approach makes a difference from the aesthetic of a naturalistic animal film. It also helps to focus on the personalities of our characters, their feelings, emotions, and thoughts - rather than in the biological aspects of their lives. We are going to film animals as we normally do with humans - with full respect and dignity. Shooting monochromatic also indicates a classic story, positioning the film into a historical photographic and cinematic context. Director’s Note I think there is a strange contradiction. From one side there are more than one billion people on the planet who are daily suffering without access to a clean water. From another side: there are 1.5 billion cows, 1.5 billion pigs, 2 billion sheep and goats and about 20 billions chickens, - who drink much more water than all humans together. From one side: we are trying to downsize our impact on climate change by using public transportation, using reusable bags, and taking shorter showers. From another side, we do not pay attention to the biggest and leading culprit - animal agriculture. Raising animals for food damages the environment more than just about anything else that we do. It generates more greenhouse gas emissions than all the cars, trucks, trains, ships, and planes in the world combined. To produce food we are destroying our land, cutting forests and changing the whole ecosystem. With Krogufant I want to use my cinematic language which I have developed through 30 years as director to say something about our common future.
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CEN Biographies
Anita Rehoff Larsen – Producer
Anita Rehoff Larsen Producer
Victor Kossakovsky Director
Started working as a producer for Norwegian and international directors in 2010. Educated in film and tv production from UK, and at EURODOC in 2012. Anita started working with Victor Kossakovsky four years ago and in 2015 they released the film Varicella. Krogufant is their second film together.
Sant & Usant – Production Company
A Norwegian company well established in the Nordic and European documentary landscape, producing films for recognized filmmakers and new strong voices. Their films have been distributed on all platforms and premieres regularly in all the major international film festivals. Recent title: 69 Minutes by 86 Days (2017) awarded at CPH:DOX/Hotdocs/Sheffield. Selected for Best of Fest, IDFA 2017.
Victor Kossakovsky – Director
He began his career in motion pictures at the Leningrad studio of Documentaries in 1978. He graduated from the Higher Courses of Film Writers and Directors in Moscow in 1988. In 1993, his first feature Belovy (The Belovs) won both the VPRO Joris Ivens Award and the Audience Award at IDFA. Since then Kossakovsky has received over 100 award and prizes.
Serge Lalou – Co-producer Serge Lalou Co-producer
After attending veterinary studies, Serge joined the team of Les Films d’Ici in 1987. He has produced more than 350 movies for both the television and the cinema (documentary, fiction and animation).
Camille Laemlé – Co-producer
After working as a production manager for more than ten years, she joined Les Films d’Ici company in 2009 where she produces documentaries with Serge Lalou.
Camille Laemlé Co-producer
Le Films d`ici - Co-production Company
Created in 1984, is one of the largest and best known documentary film production companies in France. Their catalouge includes over 700 films that have been broadcasted all over the world and 25 feature-length documentaries released in theatres. Recent title: Fire at Sea Golden Bear 2016 Berlinale/Nominated for Césars and Oscars 2017.
Tone Grøttjord-Glenne – Executive Producer Tone GrøttjordGlenne Executive Producer
32
In 2005 Tone established “Sant & Usant Documentaryfilm” and has worked as a producer and director in the company since then. She holds a master in directing from National Film and Television School in London. Her latest film as producer: 69 Minutes of 86 Days.
IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
Production Details | KROGUFANT PRODUCTION COMPANY Sant & Usant St Olavsgate 9 0165 Oslo Norway
www.santogusant.no
[email protected] +47 95033305
CREDITS
Anita Rehoff Larsen Varicella (2015/producer) Dancing for you (2015/producer) Maiko Dancing child (2015/producer) DIRECTOR: Victor Kossakovsky Varicella (2015/director) Demonstration (2015/together with 32 students) Viva las antipodas (2012/director) CO-PRODUCTION: Les Films d’Ici – Camille Laemlé, Serge Lalou – France EXECUTIVE PRODUCTION: Tone Grøttjord-Glenne – Sant & Usant PRODUCTION:
PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED OTHER FINANCIERS
June 2018 – December 2018 May 2019 Start production
€ 792.682 € 626.182 Norwegian Film institute Helle Hansen Creative Europe Fritt ord Bente Roalsvig Storyline studios Arild Karlsen
€ 90.100 € 35.855 € 31.535 € 9.010
Budget € | KROGUFANT Development / Pre-Production Writer/translator Producer/director Travel/subsistence Crew, DOP, sound, assistant, grip, focus puller Camera equipment admin, accounting, revision Production Hotels, travel & food Production travel and expenses Production personnel Producer, co producer, line producer
2.000 53.610 15.768 37.129 29.734 13.696 € 151.937
47.934 4.505 99.570
Director 89.275 Technical staff: (DOP/Sound/Light) 63.969 Equipment , camera, dolly, crane, editing on set 34.000 harddrives Broadcast requirements Translations
3.604 6.307 3.000 € 352.164
Post-Production Editor/editing system 67.530 Sound design and mix 21.000 Titles and animation 2.500 Music 35.000 online and grading 24.327 Masters DCP, tv master, trailer, teaser, serverhire, transfeer 13.336
€ 163.693
Outreach and distribution Design 13.514 Festivalpremiere, marketing, press 18.020 outreach and distribution producer 9.010 Miscellaneous producer association Revision Lawyer Overhead Contingency 7% Accounting 3% Total budget (summed)
€ 40.544
1.532 9.010 1.802 € 12.344
50.400 21.600 € 72.000 € 792.682
CENTRAL PITCH
DIRECTOR Alan
Adelson, Kate Taverna
PRODUCTION Films for Humanity STATUS In Production
COUNTRY United States
FORMAT 2K | 86’ | Digital file
Madame Tran’s Last Battle One woman’s fight against the corporate giants that
Synopsis
produced Agent Orange
At 75, battling cancer, the indomitable Madame Tran is suing the manufacturers of Agent Orange for the devastation it wrought on the people and ecosystem of Vietnam. Groundbreaking revelations expose the deceptions and lies that led to the deadliest use of chemicals in the history of warfare. Tran To Nga is facing the greatest challenges of her life. Born in Vietnam from a line of renowned activist women, Tran began working for the anti-colonial resistance at the age of eight. By the time the U.S. was dropping bombs and spraying toxins on her country, she was reporting for the National Liberation Front news service in the Vietnamese bush. She is now the sole plaintiff in a landmark lawsuit in France against the 24 American companies that produced and supplied Agent Orange for the 10-year chemical war. Will she succeed in holding these corporate giants, including Monsanto and Dow-Chemical, accountable when previous lawsuits have not? Tran was pregnant when she was sprayed with the herbicide. Her baby daughter died a year after birth. She has been plagued by multiple illnesses including an advanced cancer attributable to the dioxin in Agent Orange. She is one of the millions of people around the world whose health and lives are being taken today by the herbicide’s toxic legacy. The film interweaves Tran’s legal battle and her personal struggles with our own investigation into the decisions that enabled the Agent Orange catastrophe.
GENRES
• Human Interest / Social Issues • Politics / Society • Investigative PITCH TYPE Central Pitch
U.S. Air Force scientist Dr. James Clary breaks decades of silence to detail the most important breakthrough in the struggle to bring out the truth about Agent Orange. Tasked with writing a top-secret report on the defoliation campaign, he quotes correspondence between Dow Chemical and the government exposing that both knew the herbicide was toxic. ‘The chemical industry did not want the world to see that they were willing to poison the world,’ observes Agent Orange legal expert Peter Sills. “It was tantamount to a cover-up... at far higher levels than I would like to acknowledge,” says former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle. In Vietnam, Tran works tirelessly for the thousands of children born with devastating deformities, transmitted across four generations by genes mutated by the dioxin in Agent Orange. As she makes her stand in the court near Paris, Madame Tran is fighting not just for herself but for the millions of victims around the world whose care still awaits accountability.
Project Description
In Vietnam’s Central Highlands, births of deformed children are still commonplace generations after a family’s first exposure to the American herbicide, Agent Orange. At the village care center, children with the most devastating deformities tremble and writhe in painful discomfort: ballooning skulls enlarged by water on the brain, withered limbs, children born with no eyes and others with bulging eyes. ‘If I could only bring representatives of Monsanto and Dow here...’ Madame Tran says. A child with no eyes cries. Four generations after the U.S. military sprayed 20 million gallons of Agent Orange and other defoliants on Vietnam, babies in both countries are being born with deformities IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
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caused by the dioxin-contaminated herbicide. “The chemical companies want me to die so my case will be closed,” Tran says. “It’s because of these kids that I want to fight this last battle.”
What did the key players know and when did they know it? What actions did they take or fail to take with that knowledge? To pursue this investigation, the documentary was awarded a Bertha/Doc Society Journalism Grant.
“How do you define this crime legally?” asks Agent Orange activist and historian André Bouny. “As genocide? Ecocide? It was an attack on the human genome!”
“It just blew my mind to see documents, internal memos from chemical companies that would say, ’We know this is toxic, we’re gonna sell it anyway,’’ says Peter Sills, who spent twenty years studying the Agent Orange documentation.
Meanwhile the Agent Orange manufacturers absolve themselves of responsibility and continue to sponsor false science to sell the most widely used agricultural chemicals on the planet despite World Health Organization findings that they are ‘probably carcinogenic.’ America’s attempt to defoliate the country’s jungle canopy and to contaminate its rice crops epitomizes everything that was misguided about the American war effort in Vietnam: the reliance on technology, a willingness to sacrifice civilians, and callous disregard for the war’s long-term consequences. The fatal decisions that enabled the Agent Orange catastrophe are the underpinnings of our film’s investigation.
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IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
Documents detail a key scene in March 1965: toxicologists from five major chemical companies helicopter into Dow Chemical headquarters in Midland, Michigan, to discuss alarming lab results. The herbicides the companies are producing are highly contaminated with dioxin, the most toxic chemical Dow’s scientists have ever observed. A huge domestic agricultural market is at risk. The dogs, rats and rabbits Dow’s toxicologists have exposed to Agent Orange are contracting chloracne, a brutal skin disorder. Birth rates are frequent deformities and cancers are occurring. Correspondence reveals fear spreading across the industry that the government will ban their most lucrative products. The companies keep the dioxin secret and continue producing and selling the contaminated herbicides.
Biographies
Production Details | MADAME TRAN’S LAST BATTLE PRODUCTION COMPANY Films for Humanity 150 Franklin Street #1W 10013 New York United States
CREDITS PRODUCTION: DIRECTOR:
Alan Adelson – Director & Producer
Alan Adelson works in both film and print. His film and television credits include: One Survivor Remembers, (HBO),1995, European production co-ordinator, winner of the Best Short Documentary Oscar and three Emmy Awards; as producer, director and writer: Lodz Ghetto, (PBS, Channel Four, 9 other countries) short-listed for Best Feature Length Documentary Oscar, 1989, winner, International Film Critics Prize, 8 international film festivals; Two Villages in Kosovo, 2006, (ARTE, RTE), and In Bed With Ulysses, 2012. Adelson made worldwide headlines with his investigative articles in Esquire and the Wall Street Journal revealing the disappearance of enriched plutonium from a nuclear reprocessing plant in the United States.
[email protected] +1 9178642749
[email protected] +1 2122261275
[email protected] +1 6462878451
Alan Adelson, Kate Taverna, Véronique Bernard Alan Adelson, Kate Taverna ALAN ADELSON:
Lodz Ghetto (1989/director/producer) Deux Villages au Kosovo (2006/director/producer) In Bed with Ulysses (2012/director/producer) KATE TAVERNA:
Lodz Ghetto (1989/director) Deux Villages au Kosovo (2006/director/producer) In Bed with Ulysses (2012/director/producer) VÉRONIQUE BERNARD:
Enter The Faun (2015/executive producer) The Man Who Invented Himself (2012/co-producer) E2: The Economies of Being Environmentally Conscious (2008/director) EXECUTIVE PRODUCTION: Abigail Disney – Fork Films, Gini Reticker – Fork Films SCREENPLAY: Alan Adelson – Films for Humanity EDITING: Kate Taverna – Films for Humanity PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED OTHER FINANCIERS OWN INVESTMENT
July 2013 – July 2018 September 2018 In production
€ 721.220 € 427.140 The Doc Society Maxyne Franklin Threshold Foundation Maxyne Franklin Fork Films Aideen Kane Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund Emily Mason Dobkin Family Office Marianne Flayhan Wellspring Philanthropic Fund Cecilia Moreno Mara & Ricky Sandler Foundation Atlantic Philanthropies David J. Morse Miller Buckfire Inc. Wolf Kahn & Emily Mason Foundation Adelaide De Menil Yip Harburg Foundation Private Funds Films for Humanity
€ 54.348 € 50.400 € 33.600 € 21.000 € 21.000 € 21.000 € 8.400 € 8.400 € 7.140 € 4.200 € 4.200 € 1.470 € 5.040 € 53.882
Budget € | MADAME TRAN’S LAST BATTLE Development / Pre-Production Producer/director Travel Research materials Production Archival rights & reproduction Travel expenses Producer/Directors Production personnel Local personnel Technical staff Equipment Production office costs Broadcast requirements
21.000 2.520 2.352 € 25.872
50.400 50.854 79.800 105.000 24.024 55.944 42.042 32.130 26.926
Post-Production Editor/editing system Sound design and mix Titles and animation Music Final finishing Total budget (summed)
140.070 11.130 30.240 21.000 25.788 € 228.228 € 721.220
Alan Adelson Producer/Director
Kate Taverna – Director & Producer
Kate Taverna has edited more than 50 films and with Alan Adelson co-directed the feature length Lodz Ghetto and In Bed With Ulysses, both of which had nationwide theatrical releases. She also co-directed and edited Two Villages in Kosovo, for ARTE France/Germany, broadcast throughout Europe. Two documentary shorts she edited, Asylum and Killing in the Name were nominated for Oscars in 2004 and 2011 respectively in Best Short Documentary category. Pray The Devil Back to Hell won Best Documentary at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival and is on Netflix. She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry won the Audience Award at the 2014 Boston Independent film festival, screened theatrically nationwide, was translated into 22 languages, and is available on Netflix.
Kate Taverna Producer/Director
Véronique Bernard Producer
Véronique Bernard – Producer
Véronique Bernard has more than 20 years experience as a producer, director and senior executive in film and television including for WNET Culture & Arts Documentaries, Sundance Channel Original Programming, New York Times Television, National Geographic Television, ABC News Productions and SBS Television in Australia where she was Head of Production. Credits include doc series E2: The Economies of Being Environmentally Conscious (PBS/Sundance, Grantham Prize for Excellence in Environmental Journalism Award of Merit 2009), French co-production doc The Man Who Invented Himself: Duane Michals (Special Mention Prize International Festival of Film on Art FIFA 2013), PBS series Art in the Twenty-First Century, and feature doc Enter The Faun (America Reframed, 2017.)
€ 467.120
IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
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CENTRAL PITCH
DIRECTOR Maite
Alberdi
PRODUCTION Micromundo Producciones STATUS Start Production
The Mole Agent Romulo, a private investigator, must
study a retirement home where
residents might be victims of abuse. To this end, he trains Sergio, an 86-year-
old man, to become a Mole Agent.
Synopsis
The Mole Agent is a documentary feature that follows Romulo, a former Police Detective who is now selfemployed, running a lucrative Private Investigation service. His niche in criminal investigation now involves solving a spate of non-violent crimes that the overburdened Police system can’t manage. When a new client arrives expressing concern that her mother is being repeatedly robbed and is suffering psychological abuse at her residential retirement home, Romulo knows how to investigate the case: he will place a Mole Agent. To avoid generating suspicion among the staff, he must recruit an elderly person to work as an undercover detective and reside at the home for an extended period. After interviewing several senior citizens without successfully finding someone, Romulo hires Sergio, who is 86 years old and has never done anything like this before, but of all the candidates, he is the most enthused by the challenge. Sergio’s wife had just past away and he´d been looking for a job to avoid spending all day alone at home. And now Romulo must train him to become a covert detective. He must be taught to use specialized technology, and to act without being discovered.
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IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
COUNTRY
Chile, France, United States
FORMAT 4K | 80’ | DCP GENRES
• Human Interest / Social Issues • Author’s Point of View PITCH TYPE Central Pitch
Inside the home, the agent records with his hidden camera what at first seems like irregular behavior from the nurses, which makes him very angry. His camera is always late to capture the denouncing material, which does not yield any concrete evidence other than normal life within the premises. His reports do not provide any proof of crime, just perceptions of injustice. Romulo tries to focus his efforts and retrain him. As days go by, Sergio starts to identify with the residents’ loneliness and begins to feel abandoned as well. His family members don’t tend to call him often and haven’t visited for a while, so he starts to feel a common attitude with his companions. He tells Romulo he wants to leave the place soon - this is not how he wants to spend the remaining years of his life. From the absurd comedic humor of crime novels crossed with the potential to truly identify alleged illicit behavior, The Mole Agent is an anthropological investigation that leads to the central question: how does one distinct population choose to deal with the exclusion of the elderly from daily life?
Project Description
Director´s Note of Intention My personal interest in this project stems from gathering with a character that works a style similar to mine: the detective. His work methodology is similar to my process as documentary filmmaker. We both do follow ups and observations on the field to find what we need. He seeks proof, I search for the scenes in my script, we both prepare before hand with information and we wait for situations to unfold before our eyes. We both feel like visual anthropologists observing social behavior. Romulo also seeks and follows his character, the mole, and awaits results. We have this character in this common. The detective and documentary filmmaker, watch him live and discover himself and his own dramatic journey. My interest as director is to build a police documentary, which begins looking like a traditional fiction without being it. At the beginning, the detective and his agent´s mission bring us closer to traditional narrative. But through observation documentary we will lead into a revelation, embodying what the mole agent experiments at the home, beyond the mission assigned. The result of an alleged abuse at the retirement home is not more important than the experience of living another life in that place. I want to create an unusual gender crossover, unlinking the exclusive association of the private detective character in the fiction. In the non-fiction, we have been limited to journalistic programs or documentaries decrying police cases, but not creative observation documentaries regarding secret investigations. I hope to crossover traditional police fiction with observation documentary, portraying a social microcosm from a gender narrative structure, building humor from contrast: a police man in a home with no illicit activity, an elderly private detective, etc. Contrast between daily humor and the drama of facts will lead me to build a story that states in an original way, a deep reflection about the elderly lifestyle nowadays.
Artistic Approach
Follow-up and observation The documentary tale is built mainly as an observational documentary that blends with another type of recording (such as those generated by the mole agent with his hidden camera). The crew will work in a retirement home shooting the residents and Sergio´s daily events. To this point, the film is constructed on a long-term follow-up. The camera witnesses the characters’ actions and conversations without interviews or direct intervention from the director, seeking an intimate portrait. The characters’ development and the story line are built from the actions and dialogues of the characters during their normal daily lives.
The hidden camera The documentary’s observational style breaks as it mixes with the mole agent’s recordings captured by his hidden camera. The protagonist doesn’t know how to handle these items well, which becomes clear when his recordings are seen. His camera footage is in motion and uncontrolled, and despite conveying the surroundings, it never reveals any delinquent behavior. This makes the different camera’s footage identification easy. In the documentary follow-up, we see him turning on the hidden equipment (i.e. pushing the camera-pen button), and we cut directly to the images he captures. The editing will alter some of the material in order to reveal the investigator’s alleged failure and show how his claim cannot be quantified since it lacks visual proof. It’s more of a qualitative matter, an emotional issue regarding the injustices within the place, which are registered by the observational documentary. The police story Due to privacy issues, Romulo cannot show his real office. This location will be re-created especially with some of the character’s real belongings and other items that approach the black comedy genre. The art will imitate classic detective places and we will play with those referential points when staging the situation’s fictional quality. The situations are real, only the location of the private detective is recreated. The lighting will be designed to create contrast between shadows and harsh lighting that enhances key details; fostering the contrast existent in the detective-like world and the retirement home, to create a comedic tone in a tale that finally ends in drama.
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CEN Biographies
Marcela Santibáñez – Producer
Marcela Santibañez Producer
Maite Alberdi Director
Marcela Santibáñez is a Fulbright Scholar. In the year 2014, she acquired her MFA in Film Producing at UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television. She produced the TV Show Chile Suena,winner of the Chilean National TV Fund. During the years 2012-2015 she resided in Los Angeles, where she interned at Participant Media and Tugg Inc, and produced a TV pilot and three award winning shortfilms. Upon her return to Chile she has worked with award winning documentarian Maite Alberdi. She was in charge of the Goya Awards campaign for her film Tea Time, and is now producing her upcoming feature The Mole Agent. She´s also producing the documentary Flow from director Nicolás Molina, shot half in Chile and half in India.
Micromundo – Production Company
Micromundo is a Chilean company, which has produced some of the most successful Latin American documentaries in the past years. Every film has premiered in recognized film festivals, received several awards, and achieved high audience reception. The company has produced the following films: The Grown Ups (2016). Best film Docs Barcelona, Zeno mountain award Festival de Miami, Best female director AWFJ- Alliance Woman of film Journalist, EDA Award, IDFA. Tea Time (2015). AWJF-EDA Best Female-Directed Documentary IDFA, Best Documentary Award at Miami International Film Festival, EIDF-EBS Korea, DocsBarcelona, FICCI Cartagena, FICG Guadalajara. The Lifeguard (2011). Best Documentary Cinema Tropical, Best Documentary New Talents Docs Barcelona.
Director – Maite Alberdi
Maite Alberdi has emerged as one of the most important voices of the new Latin American documentary world. As director she has developed a distinctive authorial seal, creating an intimate portrayal of the characters with whom she works. She was nominated for the Goya Awards in 2016 with Tea Time as Best Ibero-American Film, first time for a documentary film. She directed the feature films The Lifeguard (2011), Tea Time (IDFA 2014) and The Grown Ups (2015), and the short film I´m not from here (2015), all premiered and winners of important international festivals, in addition to having achieved high audience reception in multiple territories.
Production Details | THE MOLE AGENT PRODUCTION COMPANY Micromundo Producciones Huelen 285 apt 10 7500658 Santiago Chile
[email protected] +56 983683874
CREDITS
Marcela Santibañez Flow (2017 / producer) Tea Time (2015 / head of distribution) DIRECTOR: Maite Alberdi The Grown Ups (2016 / director) Tea Time (2014 / director) The Lifeguard (2011 / director) CO-PRODUCTION: Mandra Films – Denis Vaslin – France, Motto Pictures – Julie Goldman – United States EXECUTIVE PRODUCTION: Marcela Santibañez – Micromundo Producciones SCREENPLAY: Maite Alberdi EDITING: Menno Boerema, Sebastián Brahm PRODUCTION:
PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED OTHER FINANCIERS
September 2017 – October 2018 November 2018 Start production
€ 503.217 € 261.717 CNTV Constanza Penna CNCA Fondo Audiovisual Ana Carolina Arriagada CAACI-EFAD Grant San Sebastian Film Festival CORFO Maria Jose Gatica Tribeca Film Institute Amy Hobby Cinereach Leah Giblin IDFA Bertha Fund
Budget € | THE MOLE AGENT Development / Pre-Production Writer Producer / Director Travel / Subsistence Research Shoots Script Consultant Production expenses
5.000 12.500 5.000 9.000 4.500 6.000 € 42.000
Production Director Production Personnel Technical Staff (DOP/Sound/Light) Technical Equipment Travel & Food Digital Storage Production Expenses Post-Production Editor / Editing system Sound Design / Mixing Facilities / M&E
40.000 61.200 63.520 41.800 16.081 7.000 34.000
€ 263.601
50.000 25.000
Picture Post Production / Color Grading facilities 14.000 Music (Rights & Original Composition)
10.700
Digital Masters/ Copies / Deliveries 12.000 Subtitles 5.000
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€ 125.000 € 56.500 € 20.000 € 18.000 € 8.500 € 8.500 € 5.000
€ 116.700
Outreach and distribution Screeners & DVDS 500 Trailer 5.000 Website / Design / Still photography 10.500 Miscellaneous Shipping (Postal & Courier) Legal & Accounting Press Agent Overhead Overhead 7 % Contingency 5 % Total budget (summed)
€ 16.000
3.000 6.000 2.000 € 11.000
31.451 22.465 € 53.916 € 503.217
CENTRAL PITCH
DIRECTOR Siyi
Chen
PRODUCTION Wooden Fish Pictures STATUS In Production COUNTRY
People’s Hospital As the Chinese society criticizes
dysfunctional hospitals, a doctor’s
daughter revisits the small-
town hospital where she grew
up – this time with a camera, in
the middle of a chaotic ER.
Synopsis
The last time filmmaker Siyi Chen spent days and nights inside this hospital was almost two decades ago, where she relentlessly killed dozens of her mom’s prescription notepads with her meaningless doodles. Now that she’s back as an adult, she started to see things that she missed as a child, most notably the two parallel universes right under her nose. There’s the crying, the screaming, and sometimes silent sorrows of patients from all walks of life. Like an illiterate Christian couple who cries, prays and chants on the hospital bed, begging for help from God. Or a loner construction worker who lies unconscious and unclaimed in the hospital for months, despite the nurses’ desperate attempt to call for help on his Wechat. There’s also the world of medical workers, which is mostly mundane drudgery, but occasionally, singing, flirting, discussion of the stock market, debates on the pros and cons of plastic surgery and streaming late night football games - after all what do you expect doctors to do if they have a 14-hour night shift? These two worlds of doctors versus patients have always co-existed with an invisible wall in between. But in recent years, a failing medical system has made the wall even higher and thicker.
China, Taiwan
FORMAT HD cam | 80’ | DCP GENRES
• Author’s Point of View • Politics / Society • Human Interest / Social Issues PITCH TYPE Central Pitch
Disputes over money have intensified. Patients are overwhelmed by expensive bills, whereas doctors get squeezed paychecks as hospitals struggle to make ends meet. On the other hand, patients are in desperate need of compassion and empathy, something the doctors cannot afford to offer. Most of them are too strangled by overwork. Told with an intimate personal voice, People’s Hospital weaves together bittersweet and sometimes absurd moments, to create a mosaic portrait of the ER of a smalltown Chinese hospital and the struggles facing the people within. While it’s a place where strangers share some of the most intense and intimate moments in life (which is amazing!), it’s also a place often shadowed by a constant feeling of coldness and estrangement. Can Siyi find the real villain that caused the pain of both worlds? Can love and humanity ultimately penetrate this sterile intimacy between the doctors and patients? The film is a journey to find out.
Project Description
Overview People’s Hospital explores the delicate relationship between doctors and patients in China through the intimate lens of a doctor’s daughter. It is shot from the inside and told with a young, compassionate and witty tone. It’s a story that will not only resonate with the Chinese viewers but also the international audience, as the human experience in hospitals is universal. The film will also show the world something to which they had never had access – a close, unflinching view of the Chinese medical system, which is going through a crisis in some ways common to many other systems and in other ways so unique.
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Background Growing up as the daughter of a doctor, I always thought patients were the bad guys: they were aggressive, emotional and hard to reason with. Things changed after I had my first surgery. The frustration and pain made me understand the vulnerability of patients. Then came a harder question: if patients are not the bad guys, who is to blame for the rising violence against Chinese doctors? A 2015 national survey showed that more than 13% of Chinese doctors have experienced physical violence from patients. The severity of the issue struck home in 2013, when a patient who was unsatisfied with the result of a nasal surgery murdered one of my mom’s college schoolmates. If you want to understand the issue from an intellectual perspective, I will tell you this: doctors are scapegoats of a problematic system. The Chinese healthcare system is supposed to be socialist where all hospitals are public and everyone is covered by government-subsidized insurance. In reality, however, it’s a system that can easily bankrupt the poor. Insurance only covers a small portion of the cost and people are unhappy how much they pay out of pocket.
40
In the first chapter, viewers will experience shock, bewilderment and even anger as they learn about the issue through News clips. Conflicts will slowly unfold in the hospital - yet somehow staying on a surface level, focusing on money issues. We will meet a few patients, some left, not able to afford treatment. Others argue with the doctors. We also sit in a weekly meeting of the ER where we discover, to our surprise, that the hospital is in dire financial situation. Complaints from the doctors also start to bubble up. The second chapter reveals a deeper problem: the loss of compassion. We see cases where doctors are reluctant to treat already dying patients because they think it’s a waste of resources. I, as a filmmaker also start to question myself: why am getting numb after months of filming? What is it about this place that robs empathy off people? In the third chapter, the viewers will recover from the bewilderment and start to develop empathy and understanding. Doctors open up to talk about their dreams, their initial passion, and their trauma dealing with violence from patients. We will also start to see more humanity in the relationship between doctors and patients, against all odds.
On the other hand, public hospitals are forced to go after profit because government funding is a drop in the bucket. Some doctors even get illegal kickbacks from drug companies to compensate their low salary. These issues created a conundrum within the Chinese medical system, one that the government has been trying for years to solve, though with little success.
The fourth chapter will wrap up the film with a reflective and critical look on how medical workers cope with the reality and what price they pay. Some adopt a strategy of “blind” optimism. Others couldn’t bear the numbness in their heart and plan to leave. The films end with a fundamental question that every scene earlier touches on: is humanity the necessary trade off for an “efficient” system?
However, instead of taking an investigative approach, I want to show the day-to-day reality of a typical small-town public hospital as a microcosm of the Chinese medical system and even the Chinese society at large. I want this film to take viewers behind the doors to see the most intimate feelings and witness the hard choices people have to make.
Visual Approach People’s Hospital is a hybrid between personal and observational documentary. There will be narration but also significant cinéma vérité. The personal, intimate tone of the narration will strike an interesting balance with the detached and observational visual texture.
Story Development The story will develop with a strong emotional arc. It starts with humor and tenderness. A short intro takes us ‘backstage’ to experience the funny and humane moments in the hospital, a hospital that I remembered as a child. Intimate narration will help viewers “parachute” into the heart of the hospital.
The narration is intimate and filled with dark humor, something that will distinguish my film from many other hospital films. I believe it will bring out the absurdity of the situation and alleviate the heavy subject matter.
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An important visual style is what I call ‘empathetic voyeurism’. Hospitals are dramatic places and witnessing other people’s life and death can always feel voyeuristic. I want to acknowledge that voyeurism and consistently remind the viewer of its existence by breaking the fourth wall. I believe the uncomfortable feeling of being a ‘voyeur’ will force the audience to ask themselves some hard moral questions, and present them a mirror, from which they can see some of themselves.
Biographies
Production Details | PEOPLE’S HOSPITAL PRODUCTION COMPANY Wooden Fish Pictures Yujing Gongguan, Building 11, Room 102 Wukang, Deqing 313200 Huzhou China CREDITS PRODUCTION:
Ruohan Xu – Producer Ruohan Xu is a documentary director, producer and editor. She was born and raised in China, and is dedicated to telling untold stories and lives of unexpected. She received an M.A. in News and Documentary from New York University and a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism and Social Psychology from University of Missouri. As a freelance storyteller, she has worked on projects for Guggenheim museum, POV, BBC, CNN, and Asia Society. She directed and produced short documentary Dai’s Garden, and worked for filmmaker Nanfu Wang on her films including Hooligan Sparrow and I am Another You.
[email protected] +86 15201474437
[email protected] +86 15201474437
Ruohan Xu, Siyi Chen RUOHAN XU:
Dai’s Garden (2017 / producer) Siyi Chen People’s Hospital is Siyi Chen’s feature doc debut. EXECUTIVE PRODUCTION: Jean Tsien DIRECTOR:
PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED OTHER FINANCIERS OWN INVESTMENT
May 2015 – October 2018 January 2019 In production
€ 282.700 € 268.562 IDFA Bertha Fund CNEX National Academy of Telvision Arts and Science Wooden Fish Pictures
€ 5.000 € 4.154 € 830 € 4.154
Budget € | PEOPLE’S HOSPITAL Development / Pre-Production Producer/director Travel/subsistence Production Hotels, travel & food Production travel and expenses Production personnel Director Equipment Broadcast requirements
4.000 3.000 € 7.000
16.000 5.000 44.000 33.000 7.000 5.000 € 110.000
Post-Production Editor/editing system Director Producer Sound design and mix Titles and animation Music Writer/Story Consultant Color Correction Outreach and distribution Publicity Festival Application and Delivery
40.000 20.000 20.000 10.000 5.000 10.000 10.000 16.000 € 131.000
4.000 5.000 € 9.000
Overhead Total budget (summed)
€ 25.700 € 282.700
Siyi Chen – Director & Producer Siyi Chen is an aspiring documentary filmmaker and a journalist. She holds a M.A. in News and Documentary from New York University and a B.A. in World History and Arabic from Peking University. Siyi has produced short digital documentaries for multiple outlets, like PBS, CNN, and Quartz. Among her short docs, Siyi profiled a unique Jewish community in Morocco, featured sex workers in a legal brothel in Nevada and covered the thriving new industry of professional cuddling. She’s obsessed with stories about China’s transition and the commercialization and automation of intimacy. People’s Hospital is her feature documentary debut.
Ruohan Xu Producer
Siyi Chen Producer/Director
Jean Tsien – Executive Producer Jean Tsien has been working in documentary for over 30 years as an editor, producer, and consultant. Films she edited have received awards from Sundance Film Festival (Something Within Me), Peabody Awards (Malcolm X: Make It Plain, Travis and Solar Mamas) and the Grierson Awards (Please Vote For Me) and one has won nomination of the Academy Award (Scottsboro: An American Tragedy). She was also the executive producer for The Road to Fame for BBC/Storyville and The Storm Makers for POV/PBS. Jean has served as an editing advisor at the Sundance Institute Edit and Story Lab since 2010. She’s also a member of American Cinema Editors and The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
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CENTRAL PITCH
DIRECTOR Ziad
Zafar
PRODUCTION BEW TV, Crescent Films STATUS In Production COUNTRY
United Kingdom, France
FORMAT HD 1080p | 90’ | Digital file
The Rise and Fall of Bhutto The dramatic untold story of
Pakistan’s first democratically
elected leader Zulfikar Ali
Bhutto who was toppled and
executed by an American-backed
military dictator in 1979.
Synopsis
Mercurial, charismatic and larger than life, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto electrified the masses and swept to power after Pakistan’s first free elections in 1970. He was hailed as a messiah by the poor and enjoyed popular support from virtually every corner of the country. Less than 10 years later he was hanged like a common criminal as the nation watched in silence. No other individual in the history of Asia achieved such colossal power and suffered so ignominious an end. ZAB’s story is an astonishing political parable with distinctly Shakespearean dimensions. An infinitely complex and paradoxical figure, his unique charisma and eloquence matched equally deep-rooted failings that brought him to an early and violent death. With demons that seemed more personal than political, his greatest excesses targeted friend and foe alike, even as he presided over revolutionary changes at the helm of the country. This unique psychology and inner conflict is explored deeply in the film as it unfolds against iconic events of 20th century power politics in Pakistan and the wider world. Part political thriller, part Athenian drama, the film examines his meteoric rise and fall from the perspective of friends, enemies and closest family members, some who have broken their silence after decades. Relying on never before seen evidence and testimony, the film will investigate claims
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GENRES
• Politics / Society • History • Human Interest / Social Issues PITCH TYPE Central Pitch
that the United States was involved in Bhutto’s removal from power and subsequent execution. While the film is rooted in historical subject matter, it also an attempt to contextualize the making of modern Pakistan, its struggles with democracy, dictatorship and radical Islam. The filmmakers hope that through its central narrative the film can unlock a window into understanding this complex nation that is so vital to global security today.
Project Description
The film charts the rise of ZAB’s career in Pakistani politics against the backdrop of seismic changes happening in Asia amidst the battle to shape the post war world. It explains why Pakistan was important in the geopolitical chess game of the Cold War and how Bhutto tried to forge an alliance based on third world solidarity and nationalism which angered the United States. In addition to exploring Bhutto’s role in key events that shaped Pakistani history (like the civil war that dismembered the country and resulted in the creation of Bangladesh) the film takes a broader look at these events through the prism of the world powers. It also provides ground-breaking new insight into how the United States faced off against the Soviet Union to secure the balance of power in South Asia during the Cold War. Along the way, we will meet many great characters of the age who knew Bhutto well, those who admired him and despised him alike, including John F Kennedy, Jahwarhal Nehru, Nelson Rockefeller, Bertrand Russell, Indira Gandhi, Lyndon B Johnson, Yasser Arafat, Colonel Gaddafi, Idi Amin, Mao se Tung and Chou en Lai. Archives and materials: After years of research and negotiation, the filmmakers have secured access to precious archives that were lost for many decades. After General Zia executed Bhutto, he ordered the state television corporation PTV (the sole broadcaster at the time) to burn every spool of film that featured the former Prime Minister. A conscientious Producer given the order,
instead risked his life and quietly locked the footage away in a damp broom closet many floors beneath the television building. Forgotten for almost a generation, these never before seen archives have been rediscovered and are in the process of being restored by the producers of the film. They provide an astonishing breadth of visual history on the subject that was almost lost forever. · The filmmakers have poured through recently declassified transcripts of recordings made in the Oval office that relate to Nixon and Kissinger’s role in the East Pakistan crisis (the last tapes were made public in 2013). These private conversations reveal in astonishing detail the interpersonal dynamic between Bhutto and Nixon, and how it imprinted on history. This never before seen material gives groundbreaking new insight into US cold war policy in South Asia. In addition to the recorded conversations between Nixon, Kissinger and Bhutto, declassified material released by the US State department also reveals fascinating behind the scenes details about Pakistan’s critical role in engineering a dialogue between the US and China, now considered the Nixon’s most far reaching foreign policy triumph. · The film features a rare interview with late Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto sharing intimate recollections of her father and also the last exclusive interview with his wife Nusrat Bhutto before her death · The Bhutto family has given the producers prized access to rare photographs from its private collection. · The filmmakers have come into possession of a rare trove of documents from Bhutto’s personal paper’s that give a day by day account of his last year in office to the moment of his downfall in 1977. These documents contain startling revelations that havenever been seen by any member of the public.
Access · Virtually every member of the Bhutto dynasty met with violent deaths, including 3 of his 4 children. His last surviving child who has lived an intensely private life for 30 years has agreed to speak about her father for the first time on camera. · Features interviews with closest cabinet members, aides and former Generals of the military dictatorship that hanged ZAB giving unprecedented accounts. · The Filmmakers are hopeful about securing one of the last interviews with Henry Kissinger, a close friend of Bhutto’s, as well as George H. W. Bush a close contemporary. (Despite his friendship with Bhutto, many Pakistanis still hold Kissinger responsible for Bhutto’s execution)
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Biographies
Ziad Zafar Director/Producer
Faris Kermani Producer
Vincent Nguyen Producer
Katia Pinzon Producer
Ziad Zafar – Director & Producer Ziad Zafar is an award-winning journalist and documentary filmmaker who has worked for the BBC for several years. Previously with Guardian Films in London, he has worked on films for a number of international broadcasters including National Geographic International, Arte, Canal Plus, France Television and NBC. He divides his time between London and Karachi. Faris Kermani – Producer Faris Kermani is a British film director of Pakistani descent who has been producing films for British Television for over thirty years. A graduate of the London Film School his work consists primarily of documentaries but includes drama series and fiction films. He has worked extensively for the BBC, Channel 4 and Al Jazeera amongst others. He now heads Crescent Films in London. Vincent Nguyen – Producer Vincent Nguyen is a producer and filmmaker with 22-years experience in television production. He has a long association with France Televisions where he has worked as director, producer and international correspondent for news and documentaries, and also served as editor-in-chief for the highly acclaimed 13.15 series on France 2. He now lives in Barcelona and works as a senior producer for BEW TV. Katia Pinzon – Producer Katia Pinzon has 15-years of experience working in TV production based in Paris. She has produced across a range of documentary and non-factual genres for organisations such as AB Group, Flab and Tetra Media Group/ITV. She now heads factual production at BEW TV in Barcelona.
Production Details | THE RISE AND FALL OF BHUTTO PRODUCTION COMPANY Crescent Films 72 Shelgate Road SW11 1bq London United Kingdom
www.crescentfilms.co.uk
[email protected] +44 7543868447
2ND PRODUCTION COMPANY BEW TV 14, rue Jean Giono 21000 Dijon France
www.bewtelevision.com
[email protected] +33 648478416
CREDITS PRODUCTION:
Katia Pinzon, Ziad Zafar, Vincent Nguyen, Faris Kermani FARIS KERMANI:
Growing up Guantanamo (2015/Director) The Life of Muhammad (2014/Producer/Director) VINCENT NGYUEN:
Bamiyan Ski Club (2017/Producer/Director) Les Enfants du Nouveau Monde (2010/Director) KATIA PINZON:
DIRECTOR:
PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED
Les petites reines de Kaboul (2015/Producer) Running Rose (2016/Producer) Ziad Zafar Doctor Brides (2017/Producer/ Director) A Secret History of Pakistan (2016/Producer/ Director) January 2017 – August 2018 September 2018 In production
€ 408.800 € 408.800
Budget € | THE RISE AND FALL OF BHUTTO Development / Pre-Production Writer Producer/director Travel/subsistence
5.000 6.000 4.500 € 15.500
Production Archival rights & reproduction 215.000 Hotels, travel & food 12.000 Production travel and expenses 3.000 Production personnel 16.000 Director 20.000 Technical staff: (DOP/Sound/Light) 8.000 Equipment 7.000 Stock Material 2.000 Broadcast requirements 10.000
€ 293.000
Post-Production Editor/editing system Sound design and mix Titles and animation Music Outreach and distribution Reedit 52mn version Dubbing Asia & Latin America Miscellaneous Financial expenses Legal expenses Overhead Overhead 5 % Contingency 3% Total budget (summed)
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21.000 8.500 4.500 6.000 € 40.000
8.000 5.000 € 13.000
10.000 7.000 € 17.000
19.000 11.300 € 30.300 € 408.800
CENTRAL PITCH
DIRECTOR Katja
Høgset, Espen Wallin, Margreth Olin
The Self Portrait Lene (30) suffers from severe anorexia. Since the age of ten she has been
hiding from the Norwegian Health Care System. Then she taught
herself the art of photography.
Synopsis
Lene Marie (30) stopped eating when she was 10 years old. She didn’t want to grow up. The Norwegian health services knew little about extreme anorexia 20 years ago, and Lene was subjected to gross malpractice. She was force-fed until one day her heart stopped. She was clinically dead. They managed to revive her, and she promptly left the hospital. Ever since then she has avoided the Norwegian health service. Lene lives with her mother on a small farm, and she is dependent on her parents in her everyday life. She rarely goes out. Her days are divided into four. Four nutritional drinks which must be taken at a fixed time, otherwise she won’t be able to drink them. She suffers from obsessivecompulsive disorder and the need to control her environment to the last detail. When Lene was 15, she received a SLR kamera as a gift from her parents. She pointed the camera towards other people’s secrets. If you carry a secret darkness within, Lene will know what that means. If you are dying, she has already been dead. If she lies completely still, her body looks like a child’s corpse. She has not yet been through puberty. The doctors don’t know if her body can recover. Lene reads your story looking at your face. She reads light and has a knack for dramaturgy. Once a year she travels to work. Visiting Lesvos and Chios she portrays refugees. It’s stunning. Timeless. Provocative. The beauty in pain and fear.
PRODUCTION Speranza Film AS STATUS Development COUNTRY Norway
FORMAT HD | 58’ | Digital file PITCH TYPE Central Pitch
The exclusive exhibition Melancholia is Lene’s goal. The staging of a self: I’m suffering, therefore I am. Well-known galleries in several countries now want to exhibit her selfportraits. Can she rid herself of her shame by exposing it? The anxiety. Death just a breath away. Raw, naked, honest. You have never seen self-portraits like these. Norway’s foremost psychiatrist starts treating Lene this winter. We will follow Lene’s struggle to heal. We also meet her parents in the film. They are carrying guilt and the inability to act. Are they «co-dependent»? How can they challenge their daughter when she’s only a few steps away from death? The Self Portrait will reveal what´s behind anorexia, the psychiathry’s deadliest disease. We have a unique access, told also through Lene’s own photos.
Project Description
Background Several years ago, Lene Marie Fossen startet sending photos via e-mail to Espen Wallin. Espen is a stills photographer and photography teacher. He thought her photos were sensationally good. For a long time, they only e-mailed about the photos and their qualities. Espen was Lene’s advisor. One day she wanted to meet him. Espen didn’t then know that this girl in her mid 20s looks like a 12-year-old. He didn’t know she was suffering from very serious anorexia. Espen got to know a unique photo talent before he met the disease. Espen Wallin came to Speranza Film with footage that he’d made of Lene Marie Fossen in 2014-2016. He said that he wanted to make a film about Lene, in co-operation with Speranza Film. He called his project, «The girl who wanted to stop time».
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Director’s note Lene Marie Fossen is facing an international breakthrough, as one of the best stills photographers in our present time. Gallery owners in several countries want to exhibit her photos. They talk to each other – behind her back – but dare not say it to her: That they want her and the photos because she appears to be dying, from anorexia. Lene is now about to realize that she has to change, that she has to control her disease. Today it controls her. And it’s killing her, slowly. It appears as if Lene has a split mind. On one hand she’s a child with an endless need for security. As a sensible child Lene took on a lot of responsibility. That’s why she always has been missing someone holding her, comforting her. Lene stopped eating when she was ten years old. Her parents sought help. Serious damage was made to her due to gross malpractice in treatment . After this no one has been able to help Lene. She’s starved away all her feelings., When you meet Lene she appears mild, kind, considerate. On the other hand you have the illness; a rigid, controlling, fearful mind. In danger to herself.
It’s the wise and caring Lene that is the artist. We can call this the original mind, that knows she’s ill and knows what she can do to be happy, develop and have rewarding relations to others. This is the Lene that doesn’t give up, that meets strangers, that gains their confidence and captures stunning moments with a camera. The negative mind is irrational and self-destructive. This is the disease. The negative mind is characterized by reality-distorted delusions, both by other people’s words and actions and by their own bodies, feelings, thoughts and attitudes. The negative mind controls feelings, thoughts and actions. If Lene is going to get well, we will have to strengthen the original mind and weaken her eating disorder. The original mind must win and regain control to give her a more free and rewarding life. If the pain by living gets too big so that a child doesn’t know how to endure life, then the eating disorder can become a resolution strategy. An eating disorder is a psychiatric disease with mental and physical symptoms. On the mental side, the patient is controlled by emotional nervousness and chaotic thoughts that make it difficult to live, sleep, eat, concentrate and be yourself. Thoughts and actions are controlling and forced. It’s the eating disorder that controls your everyday life. On the physical side, Lene is suffering from malnourishment. This is diminishing the body’s functions, and in Lene’s case we don’t know if her body still can be restituted. These days she gets weekly examinations and treatments for accompanying diseases, painful muscles, joints, osteoporosis, prolapsed cervical discs, eye infections, etc. After she has been hiding herself for 20 years on the little farm, Lene Marie travels alone to Oslo to meet the founder of Villa Sult, Finn Skårderud. He’s Norway’s foremost psychiatrist and has a unique success rate to show for when it comes to helping girls out of the deadliest of all diseases in psychiatry: anorexia. We want to film Lene when she is working as an artist, and follow her photos and her as they travel. We will follow Lene with a camera during treatment and in touch with the health services. We have unique access to follow Lene and her parents and really get on the inside of what a serious disease does to a family. An important part of this film is the photos Lene is taking. Her own photos give us a unique insight into her situation. It is as if she’s connected to a universal pain, that she has access to the outer limits of human experiences. When she’s portraying others, she always sees the others’ strengths. She also finds this in herself, and this makes all her photos enormously beautiful, even though they might be almost unbearable to watch. The ruthless honesty of her photos also comes out in situations when we’re filming her. That’s why we want to make a crude and unvarnished picture of anorexia which is matching her own honesty. We have a wish of creating a greater understanding for and knowledge of anorexia. Putting the theme of atypical anorexia on the agenda. Our aim is to create a greater reflection around what causes the disease, how to live with it and hopefully treat it. At the same time: Lene´s photos open up a much wider story about pain and suffering, strength and beauty. The Self-Portrait is a film meant for everybody. Her art tells a universal story. Her honesty you will never forget.
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Biographies
Production Details | THE SELF PORTRAIT PRODUCTION COMPANY Speranza Film AS St. Halvardsgt. 12 0192 Oslo Norway CREDITS
[email protected] +47 90144391 www.margretholin.com
DIRECTOR:
Margreth Olin Childhood (2017/director/producer) Doing Good (2016/director/producer) Cathedrals of Culture (2013/director) Nowhere Home (2012/director/producer) My body (2002/director) In The House of Angels (1998/director) Katja Høgset, Espen Wallin
KATJA HØGSET:
PRODUCTION:
SCREENPLAY: EDITING: PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED OTHER FINANCIERS OWN INVESTMENT
Margreth Olin – Producer Margreth Olin is a Norwegian award winning director and producer, most known for her documentaries. In 1998 her first full-length documentary In the House of Angels was released theatrically in Norway. Her international breakthrough came with the film My Body in 2002. Olin’s documentary Doing Good has been seen by 170 000 at Norwegian cinemas. Many of her films are released abroad and have won prices at numerous festivals. Speranza Film – Production Company Speranza Film is a Norwegian film production company, founded in 1995 by Thomas Robsahm and Margreth Olin, producing feature films, documentaries and Tv-series. Speranza’s feature documentary Doing Good is the second highest grossing documentary ever in Norway.
Forgotten (finish 2018/director) The Best (2014/director) Dropouts (2013/director) Else (2012/director) Espen Wallin, Margreth Olin – Speranza Film AS Helge Billing January 2018 – October 2019 December 2019 Development
€ 368.421 € 247.368 Extrastiftelsen Charlotte Elvedal Norwegian Film Institute Helle Hansen, Fridrik Mar Viken Filmsenter Kalle Løchen Fritt Ord Speranza Film
€ 52.632 € 31.579 € 15.789 € 15.789 € 5.263
Budget € | THE SELF PORTRAIT Development / Pre-Production Writer Producer/director Travel/subsistence Other
4.211 11.393 8.680 44.137 € 68.421
Production Archival rights & reproduction Hotels, travel & food Production personnel Director Technical staff: (DOP/Sound/Light) Equipment Broadcast requirements Other Hard drivers
10.526 15.339 10.105 37.077 20.149 21.842 4.737 16.842 1.053
Post-Production Editor/editing system Sound design and mix Music Lab Production coordinator Other
60.590 8.842 9.474 21.053 13.474 48.897
Total budget (summed)
€ 162.330 € 368.421
Katja Høgset – Director Katja Høgset graduated in 2014 from Lillehammer University College as a documentary film director. Her graduation film ‘The best’ was screened at several festivals in Norway. Since then she has done short documentaries, commissioned films, music videos and information films, beside working in Speranza film AS developing a longer documentary ‘Forgotten’, about the situation for prisoners with mental illnesses and a psychiatrist fighting for their humanity.
Margreth Olin Producer
Katja Høgset Director
Espen Wallin Director/ Photographer
Espen Wallin – Director/ Photographer Espen Wallin is a Norwegian photographer, who has published his documentary images, portraits and own work in the major Norwegian magazines. Lately he has been focusing on filming and has done several music videos and commercials for social media. He has also been working with Lene Marie Fossen for 8 years, and has through that relationship earned an exclusive and unique position to capture the essence of her work.
€ 137.670
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CENTRAL PITCH
DIRECTOR Denis
Delestrac, Didier Martiny
Sunken Eldorado The three million shipwrecks over
past centuries have left hundreds of
tons of gold on the seafloor. This time, the Eldorado lies in sunken ships and
treasure hunting is a new global issue.
Synopsis
Gold has been the most treasured and coveted of all metals for thousands of years. Yet, extraction sites are dwindling: it is estimated that ‘Peak gold’ was reached in 2015 and that most of the currently exploited mines will be exhausted by 2050. To keep supplying an ever-growing demand, mining companies - which see their operating costs increase as they have to dig deeper and deeper for less gold - are starting to look at the world’s oceans as a new Eldorado. Out of the estimated 3 million shipwrecks that litter the ocean floor, 3500 sunk with precious metals on board. Gold, but also silver, platinum and copper account for hundreds of billions of euros. But how can this sunken treasure be recovered? And who has the right to do so? Who is the real owner of these cargoes? The nation whose territorial waters host the wreck, the country plundered years ago for its resources, or indeed humanity as advocated by UNESCO? Nobody knows exactly... This is a real windfall for 21st century treasure hunters: high-tech companies specializing in underwater exploration who care little for heritage, national law and protection of the sites haven joined the new race for sunken gold.
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PRODUCTION Via Découvertes Films STATUS In Production COUNTRY France
FORMAT HD | 70’ & 52’ | Digital file PITCH TYPE Central Pitch
Confronted with the urgent need to act in order to not see their treasures disappear, nations organise themselves, even going so far as to consider these wrecks as new strategic geographical points. Can modern geopolitics be unsettled by a new economic datum: the capturing of history’s forgotten riches? Between diplomatic battles and great buccaneers, this film investigates actors and consequences of what could become a new gold rush.
Project Description
Director’s Note Geopolitical stakes, mystery, discovery, high-risk exploration, treasure hunt, a new gold rush - this project involves several elements which resonate strongly with us. The words that come to mind to define the film seem familiar, drawn from the vocabulary of childhood as much as from the adult world. More seriously, the concept of searching the past for resources that have today become scarce is revolutionary. Historical exploration is traditionally the work of archaeology and the historical field, not that of economists or industrialists. The human sciences are now seeing their discoveries challenged by the world of finance. How will this new Eldorado be shared, exploited by totally opposed nations? The battle for Exclusive Economic Zones, the famous 200 nautical miles which entitle countries on the water access to the seabed, will enter into a new era. Conflicts will arise from the interpretations that are made: will it be possible to accurately determine what can be found in international waters or in maritime space where laws are devolved from one to another? There is little doubt – and it is already the case – that a war of gold and precious metals will be waged between the rightful claimants. The Laws of the Sea and colonial hegemonies will come together in the court of History which each player will revisit to stake their claim. An endless debate where the weakest will likely never have the upper hand.
Between the men who extract the gold, who are generally subjugated or exploited, and those who transport it, conquerors and conquistadors, a story has been written that the depths of the ocean have been able to preserve up until now. To make this film, it is therefore necessary to put the periods into perspective. For example: how does the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 16th Century intersect with the unrivaled hunger in the 21st Century for the sunken gold of ancient conquerors? It is also necessary to show the legal complexities to determine to whom these treasures extracted from the ocean belong. Is it the property of the discoverer? Of the mining sponsor? Of the state who owns the Exclusive Economic Zones? Or even the descendants of the shipowner, the purchaser at the time, of a shipwreck now unearthed? So many candidates, ready to battle. If throughout History, territorial differences have always been the catalysts of interstate relationships, we are entitled to wonder whether we are, today, on the point of witnessing the birth of a new geopolitics, the geopolitics of gold? Whatever they may be, these treasures, stolen, extorted, discovered and finally lost, can be resurfaced thanks to an unparalleled technological leap. It is up to men that they become something other than the stake of renewed wars, and that they allow the establishment of a common law, in the absence of an ideal fraternity. To conclude, we would say that it is strange, and even rather poetic, that the bottom of the ocean conceals the traces of distant conflicts, as the transfer of gold is always a result of terrestrial confrontations.
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CEN Biographies
Via Découvertes Films – Production Company
Cécile de la Garanderie Producer
Founded in 1993, Via Découvertes Films is a French production company specializing exclusively in documentaries and reports. Over the past twenty years, they’ve worked with all the main French channels, include France Televisions and ARTE, and their documentaries have been broadcast across Europe. Previous films include Banking Nature and The Altruism Revolution.
Denis Delestrac – Director
Denis Delestrac Director
Didier Martiny Director
In 2009, Denis Delestrac signed Pax Americana. The theatrical documentary examines the origins and today’s reality of the militarization of space. It received numerous accolades and led Denis to his next film Sand Wars, an epic eco-thriller unveiling a disturbing fact: after water, sand is the most consumed resource on Earth and the world’s beaches are disappearing. Sand Wars has been selected in over 40 festivals and won 15 awards, placing Delestrac as one of Europe’s most bankable non-action directors. In multi-award winning Banking Nature (with Sandrine Feydel), he investigates how the same banks and institutions that provoked the 2008 meltdown are now seeing biodiversity and endangered species as the next nancial Eldorado. His films unstitch the hidden mechanics of our society, ones that blatantly stare us in the face and yet we are completely oblivious to. The force with which Delestrac exposes controversial issues has sparked public debate and in influenced political decision-making internationally, positioning him as one of the most in influential investigative filmmakers this past decade. In his latest film Freightened (Spring 2016) he reveals the perils of freight shipment; an all-but-visible industry that holds the key to our economy, our environment and the very model of our civilization.
Didier Martiny – Director
Didier Martiny is a director and writer, known for: Les chrétiens d’Orient sont-ils condamnés à disparaître? (2016); Les misérables, du roman à la réalité (2011); Une plongée au Pôle Nord (2008); Une vie en prison (2007); Freud, l’empreinte d’un génie (2007); Auschwitz, Le monde savait-il? (2005), Qui a tué Massoud? (2004); L’Homme derrière l’ennemi (2004); 12 gentlemen en Antarctique (2002); Mahal; Mémoire d’armée; Erythrée, 30 ans de solitude; Naissance du grand Louvre.
Production Details | SUNKEN ELDORADO PRODUCTION COMPANY Via Découvertes Films 12 Rue Chalgrin 75116 Paris France CREDITS
DIRECTOR:
Cécile de la Garanderie Oceans, the Mystery of the Missing Plastic (2016 / producer) The Altruism Revolution (2015 / producer) Banking Nature (2015 / producer) Denis Delestrac, Didier Martiny
DENIS DELESTRAC:
PRODUCTION:
DISTRIBUTOR/SALES: PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED BROADCASTERS OTHER FINANCIERS DISTRIBUTORS OWN INVESTMENT
IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
Freightened (2016 / director) Banking Nature (2015 / co-director) Sand Wars (2014 / director) Kathryn Bonnici – Java Films July 2017 – May 2018 Septembre 2018 In production
€ 520.956 € 140.000 France 5 Renaud Allilaire SRF Christa Ulli RTBF François Tron RTS Irène Challand VPRO Nathalie Windhorst Other presales CNC Région Pays-de-la Loire Procirep & Angoa Java Films Kathryn Bonnici Via Découvertes Films
€ 133.000 € 10.400 € 9.150 € 7.000 € 5.000 € 16.750 € 70.000 € 25.000 € 16.200 € 22.000 € 66.456
Budget € | SUNKEN ELDORADO Development / Pre-Production Writer Producer/director Travel/subsistence
32.000 10.000 2.750 € 44.750
Production Archival rights & reproduction Hotels, travel & food Production travel and expenses Production personnel Director Technical staff: (DOP/Sound/Light) Equipment Broadcast requirements Cast Executive production Post-Production Editor/editing system Sound design and mix Titles and animation Music Laboratory Supplies
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[email protected] +33 145253684 www.viadecouvertes.fr
25.000 78.045 5.700 63.430 23.000 23.450 25.407 4.110 4.000 8.500
€ 260.642
36.250 9.640 8.750 6.300 3.500 6.610 € 71.050
Outreach and distribution Print & Advertising Website hosting, design and maintenance
2.500 3.000
Social media publicisit/marketing/ advertising Miscellaneous Social security / charges Overhead Overhead 10 % Contingency 7 % Bank credit costs 2 % Total budget (summed)
1.500 € 7.000
58.647 € 58.647
41.509 29.056 8.302 € 78.867 € 520.956
CENTRAL PITCH
DIRECTOR Barak
Woodstock
Goodman
PRODUCTION Ark Media
STATUS In Production
COUNTRY United States
FORMAT HD | 120’ | Digital file PITCH TYPE Central Pitch
Fifty years after half a million
people gathered in upstate New
York for a three-day concert that
became the defining event of a
generation and marked the end of
one of the most turbulent decades
in the nation’s history, ‘Woodstock’ examines what it all meant to
them and to America itself.
Synopsis
In August 1969, nearly half a million people gathered at a farm in upstate New York to hear music. What happened over the next three days, however, was far more than a concert. It would become a legendary event, one that would define a generation and mark the end of one of the most turbulent decades in modern history. Told through the eyes of those were there and timed for the 50th anniversary, Woodstock is a two-hour special directed by Academy Award nominee Barak Goodman for American Experience, television’s longest-running history series.
Occurring just weeks after an American set foot on the moon, the Woodstock music festival took place against a backdrop of a nation in conflict over sexual politics, civil rights and the Vietnam War. A sense of an America in transition—a handoff of the country between generations with far different values and ideals—was tangibly present at what promoters billed as ‘An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace and Music.’ The event was both an ending and a beginning. For the Sixties counter-culture movement as a whole— a strange amalgam of protest, rebellion, self-indulgence, and idealism—Woodstock was the last gasp, the bow before the curtain rang down. Not long afterwards, violence at the Altamont rock festival and shootings at Kent State put a period at the end of the sentence. But for the tens of thousands of men and women, boys and girls, who made the journey to a New York, Woodstock was a transformative experience, the start of a new way of thinking and being that, for many, would last a lifetime. How did a music festival that was thrown together at the last minute by an improbable group of twenty-something impresarios become a defining moment for a generation? Why has it become a Rosetta stone for one of the most contentious social movements in the past century? What explains the fascination of people around the world with what has become sacred ground for yet another generation?
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Mention Woodstock today and most people think of the music memorialized in the best-selling album and the wildly popular concert film, both released in the early 1970’s. But as Woodstock will reveal, there is much more to the story. While the original film focused on what happened on stage, our lens will be directed primarily back at the audience, at the swarming, impromptu city that grew up overnight on a few acres of farm land.
Project Description
In telling this larger and more resonant story for the first time Woodstock will employ a technique seldom used in historical documentaries. In place of on-camera interviews, the film will rely on audio-only interviews with a diverse cast of participants, from those who planned and executed the concert to those who attended to those who looked on in horror or admiration. Without the distraction of ‘talking heads’, the audience will experience complete immmersion in the story’s time and place. The filmmakers have secured an unprecedented collection of visual material, including dozens of hours of home movies, network and local news coverage and thousands of photographs, which together will bring the experience of the greatest festival in history to life.
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Biographies
Production Details | WOODSTOCK PRODUCTION COMPANY Ark Media 325 Gold Street, Suite 602 NY11201 Brooklyn United States www.ark-media.net CREDITS PRODUCTION: DIRECTOR:
Barak Goodman – Producer & Director Barak Goodman is co-founder of Ark Media and a principal producer, director and writer with the company. His films for Ark Media have been nominated for an Academy Award and won multiple Emmys, DuPont-Columbia and Peabody Awards, the RFK Journalism Prize, and three times been official selections at the Sundance Film Festival. He was the series director and producer of Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book by Siddhartha Mukherjee, and he directed, produced and wrote Makers, the first comprehensive history of the modern women’s movement. In addition to Oklahoma City his work for American Experience includes Ruby Ridge, about the 1992 FBI siege that helped launch the modern militia movement, Clinton, a four-hour biography of Bill Clinton, and My Lai, the story of America’s most notorious war crime.
[email protected] +1 7819359745
[email protected] +1 7819359745
Barak Goodman, Jamila Ephron Barak Goodman JAMILA EPHRON:
Far from the Tree (2017/Producer/Co-Director) Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies (2015/Field Producer) Makers: Women Who Make America (2013/Co-producer) , BARAK GOODMAN:
Oklahoma City (2017/producer) Clinton (2011/producer) My Lai (2010/producer) EXECUTIVE PRODUCTION: Mark Samels – WGBH DISTRIBUTOR/SALES: Tom Koch – PBS Distribution EDITING: Don Kleszy PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED OTHER FINANCIERS
January 2017 – May 2018 January 2019 In production
€ 1.308.497 € 304.348 American Experience
€ 1.004.149
Budget € | WOODSTOCK Development / Pre-Production Writer Producer/director Travel/subsistence Other
68.801 78.530 3.819 13.788 € 164.938
Production Archival rights & reproduction 347.826 Production travel and expenses 27.513 Production personnel 249.520 Technical staff: (DOP/Sound/Light) 11.783 Equipment 6.565 Stock Material 2.609 Broadcast requirements 10.435 Other 57.296
Post-Production Editor/editing system Sound design and mix Titles and animation Music Other Overhead Overhead Total budget (summed)
160.783 34.783 21.739 86.957 16.696 € 320.957
109.056
Barak Goodman Producer/Director
Jamila Ephron Producer
Jamila Ephron – Producer Jamila Ephron has been an essential part of Ark Media since 2007. Her work at Ark includes the Emmy and Peabody award winning My Lai, The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln and Clinton, each for the American Experience series on PBS. Jamila co-produced the three-hour documentary Makers: Women who Make America for WETA and The Story of Cancer, based on the Pulitzer Prize winning book, The Emperor of All Maladies. Prior to joining Ark, Jamila worked on the American Experience and Frontline co-production The Mormons.
€ 109.056 € 1.308.496
€ 713.546
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CENTRAL PITCH
DIRECTOR Sushmit
Ghosh, Rintu Thomas
PRODUCTION Black Ticket Films STATUS In Production
Writing with Fire This is the story of a courageous
woman journalist’s dream of
battling all odds to create the
world’s first digital news agency
run entirely by rural women.
Synopsis
In one of the most socially oppressive and patriarchal states of India emerges a newspaper run entirely by rural women belonging to the Dalit or ‘untouchable’ community. Meera, its popular political reporter, decides to magnify the local paper’s impact with an audacious move - to transform from print to a digital news agency. Working in media dark villages, mocked and discouraged, this is the story of a visionary woman’s feisty spirit in building what will be the world’s first digital news agency run entirely by rural, Dalit women.
Project Description
Background Information India’s caste system is among the world’s longest surviving social hierarchies. A person’s caste is defined from birth and cannot be changed. Dalits are considered so inferior, they’re excluded from the caste system completely as ‘untouchables’. Although the Indian law has banned caste system, incidents of Dalits murdered with impunity, publicly beaten, paraded naked and raped are common occurrences. Characters and Plot In Uttar Pradesh – the Indian state notorious for brutal oppression of Dalits by the ‘upper-castes’ and a region infamous for maximum cases of violence against women – lives Meera, the central protagonist of our film, Writing with Fire. Married at 14, Meera went against her conservative culture to study and decided to become a journalist by
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COUNTRY India
FORMAT High Definition | 52’ & 80’ | DCP GENRES
• Politics / Society • Human Interest / Social Issues PITCH TYPE Central Pitch
joining ‘Khabar Lahariya’ – a local newspaper written, edited and distributed entirely by rural Dalit women. As a 31-year old chief political reporter, her persistence in reporting on issues that affect marginalized communities is a non-violent way of challenging every space traditionally dominated by conservative, ‘upper-caste’ men. In order to maximize the impact of her newspaper’s work, Meera realizes it’s critical to change the way they reach people. With the boom of internet penetration and smartphones in rural India, she makes a risky business decision – to shift from print to digital. Meera’s reporters meet this suggestion with skepticism and nervousness since none of them has ever seen a smartphone. But with her feisty spirit and steely resolve, Meera convinces the women and begins to train them in using smartphones to record videos, WhatsApp to transfer data, YouTube to publish videos and Facebook to share their news stories. Our camera observes these rural women, clad in colourful sarees, gingerly learning to operate smartphones and use the internet, experiencing their first taste of digital democracy. Their short news videos on political corruption, violence against women, missing public infrastructure and other sociopolitical themes, are stories that are completely missing from mainstream news media. Their videos begin to become popular in the region and people start to take notice - within a single month, viewership on their Youtube channel jumps by 3,000%, bigger news brands begin to feel insecure and the administration is pushed to act. However, along the way to achieving her dream of building India’s largest Hindi digital news agency, Meera faces numerous obstacles - personal, organisational, and political – that threaten her work. The rise of right-wing politics in India, mirroring a global trend, puts at risk much of the work done by Khabar Lahariya. Since the coming to power of the BJP, a Hindu-nationalist party led by PM Narendra Modi, there has been a significant rise in violence against Dalits, minorities and women across India. In the last 6-moths
alone, many respected journalists who have been openly critical of this new wave of religious fundamentalism, have been murdered with impunity by Hindu extremists. Threatened by the growing ‘Hinduisation’ of culture in her own state and working in an environment with a heightened sense of risk and fear, Meera sets out to negotiate a new set of obstacles in the coming months. Joining Meera in the narrative, as secondary characters, are fellow reporters Shyamkali and Sunita. 29-year old Shyamkali is a shy woman who is battling a bitter domestic violence case against her husband and needs the financial security of her job to support her two sons’ education. In Shyamkali’s quiet resilience, Meera sees the makings of a sensitive journalist and begins taking a special interest in coaching her. 21-year old Sunita is both bold and ambitious and reckless in defence of what she feels is right. She is a foil character to the quiet rebellion that Meera represents. A daughter of a miner, Sunita harbors a deep desire for fame and money and in Khabar Lahariya’s success, she sees the fulfillment of her own dreams. Filmed in the backdrop Uttar Pradesh’s colourful yet haunting landscape, Writing with Fire embarks on this unusual journey to see what Meera and her reporters will go through to be able to freely report on issues that need to be urgently shared with the world. With her husband increasingly resisting her rising popularity and financial independence, what choices will Meera be faced with to fulfill her dream of inspiring more young women to live their dreams? As Shyamkali and Sunita begin to develop into strong reporters, will Meera be able to keep them motivated
to stay at Khabar Lahariya, or will they be tempted by rival newspapers? And most importantly, will Meera be able to rewire the patriarchal minds of the community that stands in her way to creating her news agency, to script a better destiny for India’s rural poor? With exclusive access to the lives of these women, Writing With Fire paints an intimate portrait of India’s first and only rural, women journalists, as they transition into the world of digital journalism and find a new voice for themselves and the many millions they represent. Director’s Note We find in Meera, our central protagonist, a rare sense of calm and courage. There is grace in her rebellion and depth in her dreams. Despite growing amongst injustice and violence, she does not address these issues from a space of anger or begrudging. Hers is an incisive understanding of her reality which she fights without alienating herself - it’s a revolution of the mind that she’s after. Through this film, we hope to amplify the work being done by Meera and her team, so that more people are inspired to act and to transform their communities, their futures and the world.
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CEN Biographies
Sushmit Ghosh Producer/Director
Rintu Thomas Producer/Director
Sushmit Ghosh – Director & Producer Sushmit has directed and shot several award-winning shorts, many of which have been used globally as education and social impact tools. Winner of the National Film Award of India, Sushmit’s work is also supported by the Sundance Institute, The Bertha Foundation and the Gucci-Tribeca Fund. His interest lies in using new technologies and creative strategies to enhance both the visibility and impact that storytelling can create in the digital era. In his spare time, Sushmit enjoys biking and trekking in the Himalayas. Rintu Thomas – Director & Producer Rintu is an award-winning director-producer whose films have been used as advocacy tools for social impact, included in the curriculum of global universities and used by Governments as policy tools. Her work has been supported by The Japan Foundation, Bertha Foundation and the Sundance Institute. A recipient of numerous awards, including the National Film Award of India, Rintu enjoys producing films that have transformative social impact and has had these films screened at key global platforms like the United Nations Climate Change Conference and broadcast on international television networks. Rintu loves bookshops, dogs and seashores. Black Ticket Films – Production Company Black Ticket Films (BTF) is a creative and film production agency based in New Delhi, India that designs communication for social transformation. Through its multi-award winning films, BTF has showcased development and responsible business as exciting spaces charged with tangible outcomes. Filmmakers Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh founded BTF in the summer of 2009.
Production Details | WRITING WITH FIRE PRODUCTION COMPANY Black Ticket Films G-39A, 1st floor, East of Kailash 110065 India www.blackticketfilms.com CREDITS PRODUCTION:
DIRECTOR:
PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED BROADCASTERS OTHER FINANCIERS OWN INVESTMENT
[email protected] +91 9811426264
[email protected] +91 9810927850
Sushmit Ghosh, Rintu Thomas This is the first feature documentary produced by Sushmit Ghosh & Rintu Thomas. Sushmit Ghosh, Rintu Thomas Edible Cutlery (2016 / director / producer) Timbaktu (2012 / director) Dilli (2011 / director) August 2017 – September 2018 1 October 2018 In production
€ 214.650 € 119.500 SVT Axel Arnö YLE Erkko Lyytinen Knowledge Network Rudy Buttignol Sundance Institute Tabitha Jackson IDFA Bertha Fund Tribeca Film Institute Jose Rodriguez Alter-Cine Danièle Lacourse Yes Bank DocEdge Award Black Ticket Films
Budget € | WRITING WITH FIRE Development / Pre-Production Writer 2.100 Producer/director 3.700 Travel/subsistence 2.750 Researcher 800 Teaser development shoot 6.200 Insurance, legal, accounts for development phase 1.000
€ 16.550
Production Production travel and expenses Hotels, travel & food Production personnel Director Technical staff: (DOP/Sound/Light) Equipment Producer Executive Producer
2.950 4.400 4.150 24.000 40.500 8.500 20.000 16.000
€ 120.500
Post-Production Editor/editing system/ Consultant/ Edit Assistant 29.000 Sound design and mix 8.300 Music 5.050 Supplies/ tapes/ DVDs 850 Outputs, Subtitling, Sundry expenses 700
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€ 7.000 € 6.000 € 5.500 € 33.500 € 17.500 € 12.500 € 6.850 € 1.300 € 5.000
€ 43.900
Outreach and distribution Publicity Stills Impact Producer and Website Miscellaneous Administrative costs Legal Insurance Overhead Overhead Contingency Total budget (summed)
650 16.000 € 16.650
1.500 1.850 3.500 € 6.850
5.100 5.100 € 10.200 € 214.650
CENTRAL PITCH | CROSSMEDIA
DIRECTOR Simon Wood,
Meghna Singh
PRODUCTION Electric South,
SaltPeter Productions CC
STATUS Development COUNTRY
South Africa, United Kingdom
PLATFORM
• VR • Installation
FORMAT 8k | 20’ | cross-platform
Container Container is a multi sensory journey positioned at the intersection of
virtual reality and installation
art. In a surreal maze of shipping containers, you witness the
truth behind the ‘invisiblized’.
Synopsis
Imagine being adrift at sea, trapped inside a sinking shipping container as water gushes through the ceiling and a man screams desperately for help. Suddenly the same container morphs into one full of coca cola bottles, the glass clinking as a crane moves it onto a truck. The Container resets itself again and huddled in a corner, we witness a woman with her child as they struggle to breath. Playing on the theme of the ‘invisible’, we invite people to peek into the hidden life of goods and people crisscrossing around the globe. As trade flows around the world in coded boxed containers, their contents anonymous, one wonders about the nature of these circulating objects. In the era of Trump’s America and a post Brexit Europe, where large numbers of migrants are risking their lives and being denied entry into the West, huge segments of migrants, just like flows of trade, are concealed from common view. Boxes resist images, but also offer an invitation to the curious. Our work here follows from such a curiosity. Positioned at the intersection of virtual reality and installation art, the project invites people into a surreal maze like world of containers, where they witness the truth behind the ‘invisiblized’. Once inside the installation of the Container, the viewers are invited to wear a Vive VR headset that transports them into the virtual space of an identical container, built using photogrammetry in Unity where they can walk around and explore the space. There are four benches set
GENRES
• Human Interest / Social Issues • Politics / Society PITCH TYPE Central Pitch | Crossmedia
up inside the installation. Each bench works as a trigger that transports the viewer into a 360 world of multiple containers with goods and humans. A mix of documentary and constructed reality, we create a window into the journey and lives of migrants in foreign lands. The ocean cannot speak but has ways in which it reminds us of those who were chained, those who drowned, those immersed in new forms of economic servitude and those made invisible. Inspired by the discovery of the remains of a working Portuguese slave ship, San Jose paquette de Africa, in Cape Town in 2014, that sank with 212 slaves onboard in 1794, their hands and legs shackled as they drowned, Container engages with the contemporary politics of migration and highlights the invisible millions that still sail our oceans trapped in economic servitude.
Project Description
Background Within spitting distance of Clifton beach in Cape Town, a playground to the rich white folk, lie the remains of San Jose paquette de Africa, a Portuguese slave ship on its way to north Brazil. Since 2013 the Smithsonian’s History Museum, South Africa’s Iziko museums and the Slaves Wrecks Project have carried out underwater expeditions to uncover remains of this ship. In the memory of the people who drowned aboard this ship, Container reflects on the capitalist system and highlights the life of those who continue to be enslaved in new forms of modern day slavery.
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Directors’ statement The setting of the container allows the viewer to step inside a largely unknown world. We watch the movement of container ships, like ‘arrows of trade’ piercing through the sea but their contents, legal and illegal, remain invisible to society. By placing the viewer face to face with subjects in a virtual reality world, we seek to establish an awareness of migrants’ journeys and their struggles to survive in a foreign country. Visual approach Using a hybrid of mediums, the project lies at the intersection of virtual reality and installation art creating a multi sensory immersive experience. The set up includes: a. A container as an installation experience b. A container as a tactile virtual walkthrough experience built using photogrammetry and the Unity program using a Vive VR headset c. A container as a full motion 360degree video experience Guided into the space of a dark old wet container, the viewer is given a few minutes to absorb the environment of the installation and then asked to wear a VR headset. There are four benches inside the container. Once they wear their headset, they find themselves inside an almost identical virtual container space where they can walk around, touch, feel and smell the space of the container. This container is built using photogrammetry and rendered in unity enabling the viewer to move around.
Four benches are positioned in the same spots inside the virtual container and the viewer is invited to sit on any of the benches. These benches are set up as hotspots for them to be transported into a 360-degree video world. For instance as person ‘A’ walks around in the virtual container and sits down on one of the benches they are led into a 360 world of a container where we see Sanjay, an Indian man, screaming in Hindi as water gushes inside the container. In the midst of watching this desperate scene, the video cuts to an empty container being filled up with coca cola, as a bored man guides the fork lift with automatic gestures. We are then transported back to the previous container space where the water has risen creating further urgency. We are now transported to the space of a sweltering kitchen where we watch Sanjay putting bread in a clay oven as the owner screams at him to work faster. The viewer is allowed to get up from the bench and exit this 360 film whenever they choose to. If they decide to sit down on another bench, they will find themselves going into a 360 space of a different container with a different narrative. The films will continue to lead the audience into a surreal maze of multiple spaces and experiences with goods and people. There will be a total of eight 360 films, assigned in a random order to each bench. Our aim is that each viewer exits the container with a different experience. Subjects Placed inside the Container are individuals from different nationalities speaking different languages and an array of commodities. While the filming of the goods inside the containers is done in a documentary style, the lead characters, immigrants in Cape Town, are currently being finalized after much research. They will be filmed inside a staged set up of the container. Some of the identified individuals are: Amaka, a transgender refugee from Uganda, forced into prostitution, mostly finds clients under a dark bridge next to a busy road in Salt River, Cape Town. Anong, who recently arrived in South Africa, works as a masseur in a Thai Massage parlor. Sanjay, an Indian chef from Delhi, works at Food Inn on the busy Long Street. Abdullah, a Somali man, works for another Somali shop owner inside a container in a township. Emmanuel, an engineer from Congo who works as a car guard. Production progress We recently completed the New Dimensions Electric South workshop funded by the Ford Foundation in South Africa. We are currently in the production stage of the project. We have been filming 360 video documenting Cape Town’s container terminal. We are also currently building a container to film the staged sequences with our documentary subjects. We have identified a postproduction team to execute the Unity development, visual design, programming, editing and sound design. Access The project will be set up as an art installation inside a container space and requires a Vive VR headset to be able to walk around the constructed container space and view the 360 videos. However, to increase access without compromising the experience, Container will also be distributed both as an interactive application and a 360 video without the entire installation setup. It will be available through an app compatible with any smart phone and the virtual reality viewing will be possible through Samsung Gear VR as well as Google cardboard.
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Biographies
Production Details | CONTAINER PRODUCTION COMPANY Electric South 1st Floor, R-Data House 114 Hout Street 8001 Cape Town South Africa
PRODUCTION:
Simon Wood’s latest film The Silent Form recently won four awards at the 2017 SAFTAS (South African Film and Television Awards). This capped a successful year for the project which had its world premiere in Toronto at Hot Docs. This was the second year running that Wood has had a film selected for Hot Docs following his 2015 film Orbis, which still features on the international festival circuit and was recently screened at Visions du Réel 2017. His previous documentary Forerunners was selected for IDFA in 2011. Most recently, his next film Untamed was selected for the IFP’s 2017 feature slate at Independent Film Week in New York City.
www.electricsouth.org
[email protected] +27 713689710
[email protected] +27 832611044
2ND PRODUCTION COMPANY SaltPeter Productions CC 42 Kloof Street Gardens 8001 Cape Town Western Cape South Africa CREDITS
Simon Wood – Director
www.saltpeter.co.za
[email protected] +27 799745050
Ingrid Kopp, Steven Markovitz, Simon Wood
Meghna Singh – Director
INGRID KOPP & STEVEN MARKOVITZ:
Meghna Singh is a visual artist and a researcher. Working with mediums of video and installation, blurring boundaries between documentary and fiction, she creates immersive environments highlighting issues of ‘humanism’. She is an international fellow at the Institute of Creative Arts, University of Cape Town for 2016-2017 and an associate fellow at the Centre for migration and Society, WITS University, Johannesburg. Meghna has been awarded numerous international residencies and has exhibited widely. Some of them include: Oriental foundation Lisbon 2016, Hangar Art institute, Lisbon 2015, Remaking Place, public art festival, Cape Town, 2015, Cittadellarte Fondazione Pistoletto, Biella, Italy 2013, Greatmore Studios, Cape Town 2011, Kashi art gallery, Kochi 2010. Currently she is working on exhibiting at the Speilart festival in Munich in October 2017.
The Other Dakar (2017/producer) Let This Be a Warning (2017/producer) Nairobi Berries (2017/producer) STEVEN MARKOVITZ:
DIRECTOR:
Silas (2017/producer) High Fantasy (2017/producer) Beats of the Antonov (2014/producer) Stories of our Lives (2014/producer) Simon Wood, Meghna Singh SIMON WOOD:
The Silent Form (2016/director/cinematographer) Orbis (2014/director) Forerunners (2011/director) MEGHNA SINGH:
The Rusting Diamond (2017/visual artist) Our story in this ocean (2016/ visual artist) Arrested Motion (2015/ visual artist) CREATED BY: Simon Wood, Meghna Singh DISTRIBUTOR/SALES AGENT: Electric South PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED OTHER FINANCIERS
November 2017 – June 2018 November 2018 Development
€ 91.850 € 61.850 African Centre for Migration and Society
20.000 € 20.000
Production Hotels, travel & food 3.650 Production travel and expenses 4.200 Production personnel 7.500 Technical staff: (DOP/Sound/Light) 10.000 Equipment 3.000 Art Direction for Container 4.000 Cast 1.750
€ 34.100
Post-Production Editor/editing system Sound design and mix Unity Build Grade
Meghna Singh Director
Ingrid Kopp Producer
Ingrid Kopp – Producer
€ 30.000
Budget € | CONTAINER Development / Pre-Production Producer/director
Simon Wood Director
12.500 7.500 5.500 2.500 € 28.000
Ingrid Kopp has worked in documentaries and interactive media since 2000. In addition to her work with Electric South, she is a senior consultant in the Interactive Department at the Tribeca Film Institute in NYC where she works at the intersection of storytelling, technology, design and social change.
Steven Markovitz – Producer
Steven Markovitz has over twenty years experience on feature films, documentaries, short films, distribution and festivals. He has an extensive production and distribution network across Africa.
Steven Markovitz Producer
Electric South – Production Company
Outreach and distribution Installation buidl/rental VR Headsets/Computer
3.750 6.000
Total budget (summed)
€ 9.750 € 91.850
Electric South works with African storytellers and artists on virtual reality, providing funding support and mentorship to them in the development and production of their ideas, and introducing African and international audiences to African produced VR. The New Dimensions workshop is presented by the Goethe Institute and Big World Cinema with further support from Blue Ice Docs, Bertha Foundation and SDK Digital Lab.
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CENTRAL PITCH | CROSSMEDIA
DIRECTOR Brett
Gaylor
PRODUCTION EyeSteelFilm
STATUS Development COUNTRY Canada
FORMAT 4k | 52’ | cross-platform PLATFORM • Documentary
• Snapchat/online • Campaign
GENRES
• Art / Music / Culture • Human Interest / Social Issues • Science / Technology PITCH TYPE Central Pitch | Crossmedia
The Internet of Shit
The “internet of things” is flooding our world with an array of interconnected products that range from the
supremely stupid to the absolutely terrifying. Who’s really in control?
Synopsis
The Internet of Shit is a cross platform documentary that examines the hype and hubris hurtling towards the next frontier in the Internet’s evolution. Using the stupid and pointless connected devices we will be told to want this coming holiday season, the documentary will provide a landscape for a broader discussion about whether the Internet has indeed been a democratizing force, or whether instead it has been fertile ground for the formation of new empires. The Internet of Things (IoT) isn’t just the newest chapter in the tired old ‘Home Of The Future’ meme - it’s life inside late capitalism, where we have built the means to charge ourselves for things we don’t need by collecting data that we aren’t supposed to care about. The Internet Of Things is Silicon Valley’s way of trying to move into new industries, and everyone else trying to catch up to them - ensuring the supremacy of the libertarian ‘Californian Ideology’. As Bruce Sterling summarized in The Epic Struggle of The Internet of Things, it is ‘an international effort to bring everything that wasn’t internet within the purview of the techno-elite that currently dominates the internet.’ Could these dildos and connected fridges be the vanguard of a new societal epoch as history-defining as the industrial revolution? Just as the industrial revolution created winners and losers, so too could this orchestrated technological swindle.
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Directed by Brett Gaylor (Rip! A Remix Manifesto, Do Not Track), the film tracks the author’s own increased pessimism and paranoia. What were we thinking connecting everything and everyone to the internet, and is it too late to salvage the good things about the internet that excited us in those halcyon days of the early 2000s?
Project Description
Format #1: A feature documentary The documentary will be the third in a trilogy, following Rip! A Remix Manifesto and Do Not Track. Using the current hype cycle around the Internet of Things (IoT), it will explore how the centralization of power in the hands of a few Silicon Valley companies now sits in direct contrast to a more democratic, egalitarian vision for the internet. Once a repository for our hopes for humanity, today’s Internet has brought us ‘fake news’, climate change denial, Donald Trump, screen addiction, bubble economies, Airbnb property speculation, rape threats and Uber douchebaggery. The documentary isn’t just nostalgia for 90s cyberculture - it’s a wake up call for how the internet is. Like Rip! A Remix Manifesto and Do Not Track, it follows a polemical essay style. Like those projects it will have a sense of humour and be narrated by director Brett Gaylor, who will inhabit the character of a disillusioned internet booster who wants to see where we went wrong. Beginning with an exploration of the IoT, it will then explore how the internet became colonized (or was in fact created by) a neo-liberal agenda. Interviews and visits with both the deflated technoutopians and their fiercest critics will help our audience understand our present moment. The film will end with a search for the empowering and democratizing forces of the internet - citizen scientists collaborating thanks to open data, human centric designers protecting our homes with craft and intelligence, indigenous activists mapping territories in the face of expropriation, political resistance organized and protected using networked organizing.
The film is a reminder that the internet can and must be a people’s medium. Format #2: Episodic micro content There is a constant stream of ridiculous stories about the Internet of Things involving everyday people. These stories would be perfect for mobile platforms, and in particular the Snapchat format. We will create Snapchat stories such as the following: • Check if you own this bluetooth dildo - its spying on you • This guy was locked out of his own garage for a bad Amazon review • Meet the kid who discovered how to hack his smart teddy bear • This juicer company thinks you are stupid Each episode of this social-native content will include a video plus rich content such as quizzes, mini-games, and helpful guides for how NOT to make yourself the perfect fodder for hackers taking advantage of IoT devices lack security. This content is meant to be useful and shareable, and will be shared throughout the production of the film, building audience.
Maybe that last one sounds creepy, but we can explore and play by building an engaged audience that is actively interacting with a set of objects and services. One of the exciting (but dangerous) aspects of the Internet of Things is the speed at which projects are being brought to market - via rapid prototyping, and manufacturing in emerging production centres such as Shenzen, China, an idea can be manifested as a physical product in a matter of months. By building the products with us, our audience will have a perspective on the Internet of Things that would be impossible to gain otherwise. Via these devices, we can also explore how they could interact with the other formats. Could we create microcontent that would play via our own custom home assistant? Could we create Amazon Alexa ‘services’ that alert you to news specific to the characters in our film? This aspect of our documentary project will bring a sense of empowerment and participation back to the internet.
Format #3: Create a better Internet of Things The Internet of Things doesn’t have to be stupid. In fact, the only thing that will save us from the boring future being planned for us is citizen involvement. Rather than block-chain hairbrushes and encrypted q-tips, we can design things that make our lives better and our homes healthier. With this campaign, we’ll partner with practitioners and academics to prototype objects that contain more humanitarian values. For instance: What if you could have a knob on your kitchen counter that you could dial to increase the privacy settings of your phone, turning off all home assistants and internet connectivity if you are having a private conversation? Or an artificial intelligence ‘agent’ that sits between you and Amazon Alexa that can monitor and announce when private information has been shared? A whimsical ‘smart mirror’ that detects your age and then plays a song that was popular when you were 15?
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CEN Biographies
Brett Gaylor Director
Bob Moore Producer
Brett Gaylor – Director Brett Gaylor is a documentary filmmaker and the commissioning editor for Advocacy Media at the Mozilla Foundation. His most recent project, Do Not Track, is a co-production of Upian, the National Film Board of Canada, Arte France and Bayerischer Rundfunk, in association with Radio-Canada, Radio Télévision Suisse and Al Jazeera’s AJ+ network. It is the recipient of the International Documentary Association award for best nonfiction series, the 2016 Peabody Award, and the Prix Gemaux for Best Interactive Series, the International Association of Broadcasters Online Factual Prize, the Deutscher Prize for online communications, and the 2016 Peabody award. His 2008 feature documentary Rip! A Remix Manifesto is an official honoree of the Webby Awards, was the recipient of Audience Choice prizes at festivals from Amsterdam to South Africa, was broadcast in 20 countries, and seen by millions of people worldwide. Bob Moore – Producer Bob Moore is co-president and producer at EyeSteelFilm in Montreal. EyeSteelFilm is a film and interactive media company dedicated to using cinematic expression as a catalyst for social and political change. IDFA highlights include Let There be Light (IDFA 2017), I Am the Blues, Forest of Dancing Spirits, Last Train Home, Up the Yangtze and Rip: A Remix Manifesto. EyeSteelFilm has been the recipient of numerous awards, including Emmys, Golden Horses, Canadian Screen Awards, and numerous festival grand jury prizes. Bob also oversees EyeSteelFilm’s dedicated theatrical distribution company and its newly formed creative reality lab, which explores meaningful interactive storytelling. He was the subject of a ‘Producer’s Spotlight’ at the Cannes Marche du Film in 2017.
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Production Details | THE INTERNET OF SHIT PRODUCTION COMPANY EyeSteelFilm 7095 Marconi St, Suite 201 H2S3K4 Montreal Canada CREDITS PRODUCTION:
DIRECTOR:
CREATED BY: PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED OTHER FINANCIERS OWN INVESTMENT
www.eyesteelfilm.com
[email protected] +1 5149374893
Bob Moore Let There be Light (2017, producer) Tokyo Idols (2017, producer) RiP!: A Remix Manifesto (2009, line producer) Brett Gaylor Do Not Track (2015, director) RiP!: A Remix Manifesto (2009, director) Brett Gaylor December 2017 – December 2018 March 2019 Development
€ 466.530 € 397.000 Tax credits EyeSteelFilm
€ 62.000 € 7.030
Budget € | THE INTERNET OF SHIT Development / Pre-Production Writer Travel/subsistence Director - full fee (10% direct costs) Producer - full fee (10% direct costs)
€ 90.900
Production Archival rights & reproduction Hotels, travel & food Production travel and expenses Production personnel Director Technical staff: (DOP/Sound/Light) Equipment Stock Material Broadcast requirements Post-Production Editor/editing system Sound design and mix Titles and animation Music Online / Color Outputs / Distribution copies
20.000 5.000 32.950 32.950
20.000 10.000 15.000 25.000 35.000 35.000 13.000 1.000 4.000
€ 158.000
60.000 17.500 7.500 12.000 7.000 2.500 € 106.500
Outreach and distribution Unit publicity Publicist Viral video / VR production (allocation) Miscellaneous Tax credit admin Interim financing Overhead Overhead 10% of direct costs Contingency 4% of direct costs Total budget (summed)
1.000 2.000 55.000 € 58.000
3.500 3.500 € 7.000
32.950 13.180 € 46.130 € 466.530
CENTRAL PITCH | CROSSMEDIA
DIRECTOR Jan-Joost
Verhoef, Michaela Pnacekova
PRODUCTION Kloos & Co OST STATUS Development COUNTRY
Pre-Crime - A Simulation Immerse yourself in the world of Predictive Policing, where
predictions are made based on
data and algorithms, and where
everyone is a potential suspect.
Synopsis
Pre-Crime – A Simulation is an interfactual simulation for browser and mobile devices that that places the user into the world of predictive policing, where big data and algorithms turn us all into potential participants of crime, as either perpetrator or victim. Pre-Crime wants you to experience how predictive policing is impacting you and society. Each user will create their own avatar and through their IP address they will set up their ‘own floating tile’. This tile will co-create a part of a Babylon-like city where crimes are solved only through predictive policing. The goal of the game is to reduce the crime rate in this hybrid city through predictive policing and at the same time protect the citizens rights and be as objective and non-discriminatory as possible - basically to come up with the best predictive software possible. The user will see how choosing different objectives for the algorithm (e.g. number of arrests, unemployment rate, racially motivated crimes) produces different outcomes with far fetching consequences. Will the user and their choices of pre-crime systems be able to assure the public and reduce criminal activity? Can they predict future crimes and criminals whilst also protecting the citizens’ fundamental rights?
Germany, Canada
FORMAT App and browser experience
| 10’-180’ | cross-platform
PLATFORM
• Interactive website • Game
PITCH TYPE Central Pitch | Crossmedia
Not only does our simulation offer a testing method to predictive policing, it also shows how your personal qualities and failures influence what comes next: the self-learning machines that we give birth to but that we continuously lose control of. Our project questions the relationship between ourselves and the big data we constitute. Where does this data end up and what does it do? How can this data be misused and what role does bias play? How does our moral code relate to our feelings of security? How much freedom do we want to give up to feel safer?
Project Description
Authors’ statement When we wake up, we photograph our food and post in on social media, we post where we go, where we jog and where party. Our digital shadows get longer and we stopped caring where our data ends up. This project similarly to projects such as Do Not Track or Digital Me wants to be a wake up call to the public. Predictive policing has become one of the aspects of our lives where our data might be used against us. And no, this is not Minority Report, this is real. While working on the project, early on we have realized, interactivity and immersiveness were the main points of our idea. We are convinced that the only way we can ‘show’ the viewer the complexity of the digital world and predictive policing, is to experience it. User journey In Pre-Crime - A Simulation, as in any role-playing experience, you are essentially two personae: you and yourself playing another. The opening part – the prologue of the simulation places you directly into the system interrogating you. We will use real-life techniques of predictive policing, so you basically get into a simulated situation – what if a crime happened in your proximity? Would this put you on the police radar although you had nothing to do with it? As a result of deep learning processes from facial recognition softwares, your IP address and the interrogation by our AI IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
63
Agatha, your DigitalYou is assigned a certain score which could have you end up on the so-called Heat List. Your Digital Avatar will also assume its own ‘life’ on the grid, due to its score, its pre-crime predictions but also due the machine-self learning process, it’ll make changes to its own character according to the algorithm. In the main part of the simulation, you play the role of a ‘God’, ‘Boss’, ‘Data Scientist’ who is in charge of developing a perfect and objective pre-crime system. The immediate goal of the simulation is several-fold: reduce crime and at the same time protect the citizens rights while being objective and non-discriminatory. However, the general aim of the experience as a whole is to test your own biases and confront moral dilemmas when you’re on the other side of the fence. You have the power to change things, but at the same time you will see how little control you have over the actual consequences of using such machine predictions. Your aim is to develop a pre-crime system in a kind of Babylon of all cities of every person who logs into the simulation, where every person will recognize their own street and neighbourhood. Moreover, thanks to a sudden life gaming approach you will be able to see the hot spots in their proximity - the areas where crime might occur. Once you appear physically in such an area, you will be warned about the hot spots through your GPS, the app will also signal whether there are other users/suspects in your proximity, urging you to act. Once you are there, through your mobile device, you will see a mixed reality of data visualization and the real world. You will also be able to zoom out of one part of the city and see other citizens and their scores in other parts including their real life stories. As you can see the others, they will see you. Your digital persona will end up on grids of other users. You will get notified by the system that you are a suspect. This will be achieved by sudden life gaming tools, such as instant messaging, emails, phone calls. This system will essentially become collective conscience - every person of the audience is actually policing your ‘DigitalYou’.
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According to the crime, you have to chose data sets for your algorithm, then the algorithm and then select ‘generate prediction’. After completing each task, see which users were arrested by your software. Were these the people you aimed for? You will get a summary about your algorithm’s success or misjudgement. After your summary, there will be consequences – either rewards or punishments that will actually take your DigitalYou into account. So if you make bad predictions as the scientist, your DigitalYou avatar will pay for it. If you want to win the game, you should keep innocent people (including yourself) out of prison. The experience can last either ten minutes or three hours. The longer you spend on the app, the more it gives you a strategic gaming experience: what universe am I creating with my predictive policy in the end? Your past choices will be remembered, and can have long term consequences within your simulated world. You want to achieve a world without crime where machines will prevent it. But what happens when you let give control of the code away? Can it be used against you? Main Partner Helios Design Labs, our Canadian co-producer, is a Toronto and Berlin-based multidisciplinary design studio. They design experiences that combine the art of traditional storytelling with new and emerging technologies in web, mobile and animation. They work with clients and collaborators such as the BBC, National Film Board of Canada, Harvard University, Copenhagen Philharmonic, the Red Cross. Their work is diverse, ranging from campaigns for multinational corporations to experimental collaborations with artists and musicians, across multiple platforms. Their work has been featured in prominent international venues like IDFA, SXSW, Tribeca Film Festival, Sheffield DocFest and others. Winners of the Peabody, Emmys, Canadian Screen Awards, CommArts and others.
Biographies
Production Details | PRE-CRIME - A SIMULATION PRODUCTION COMPANY Kloos & Co OST Industriestraße 29/30 04229 Leipzig Germany
CREDITS PRODUCTION:
Michaela Pnacekova – Director & Producer
Michaela Pnacekova is author and producer. Since 2015, she has been working for the German documentary company Kloos & Co Medien, heading its subsidiary in Leipzig where she focuses on young talents and interactive media. In the past, she worked for festivals and markets such as European Film Market, FilmFestival Cottbus, achtung berlin – new berlin film award and QFF Mezipatra. Winner of the Golden Frog in the Czech Republic for her play Roma - Notes on the Doll’s House. Bosch Stiftung European Co-Production Prize 2014 Nominee. Alumnus of MAIA 2015, Ex Oriente Workshop 2015, Doc Tank 2017, id workshop at Visions du Reél 2017 and !Flab Prototype Booster.
[email protected] +49 34149276340
[email protected] +49 1724030435 www.kloosundco.de
Michaela Pnacekova, Stefan Kloos STEFAN KLOOS:
DIRECTOR:
Pre-Crime (2017/producer) Last Men in Aleppo (2017/co-producer) Transit Havanna (2016/producer) Jan-Joost Verhoef, Michaela Pnacekova JAN JOOST VERHOEF:
Plunge (short) (2011/director) UPQI (short) (2015/director) EYE (short) (2016/director) MICHAELA PNACEKOVA
CREATED BY: CO-PRODUCTION: PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED OWN INVESTMENT
Jan Joost Verhoef – Director
Border Cut (2017/producer) Pre-Crime (2017/line producer) Papa Baer(2016/producer) Jan-Joost Verhoef, Michaela Pnacekova – Kloos & Co OST Helios Design Labs – Mike Robbins – Canada February 2018 – September 2018 October 2018 Development
€ 209.630 € 189.000 Kloos & Co & Helios Design Labs
€ 20.630
Budget € | PRE-CRIME - A SIMULATION Development / Pre-Production Author’s fee 1 4.000 Mood board, mock ups, wireframes 1.000 Trailer, Presentation and marketing 3.000 Prototype 10.000 Travel costs 2.000
€ 20.000
Production Author’s fee 2 4.000 Licences 2.000 Legal 3.500 Production Team DE 16.000 Production Team CA 16.000 Creative Team 15.000 Additional costs to salaries (DE: Social security, artists insurance) 10.000 Design and Art UI/UX Design and Testing Technical equipment Frontend production Backend production
6.200 17.000 3.000 12.000 40.700 € 145.400
Post-Production Sound design and mix Titles and animation Music Outreach and distribution PR: Design Website, Social Media Campagne Copies, print Translation Overhead Overhead 7,5% Contingency 5% Financing fees 3% Total budget (summed)
Michaela Pnacekova Director/Producer
Jan Joost Verhoef is a digital artist living and working in Berlin. He holds a BA in Design from ArtEZ, Zwolle in the Netherlands. His animated video work serves a wide range of clients, from stage projections for the Deutsche Oper to an animated awareness campaign video for Save the Children, to explainer animations for the giant machines of KranUnion Germany. In both his animated and interactive work, he works with a combination of traditional techniques supplemented by generative forms of design, driven by all manner of input, from open data to voice recordings. He is part of Ernst 3000, together with Markus Günther and Stefanie Kolb.
Jan-Joost Verhoef Director
Stefan Kloos Producer
Stefan Kloos – Producer 2.000 2.000 3.000 € 7.000
5.000 2.000 3.000 € 10.000
13.177 8.783 5.270 € 27.230 € 209.630
Stefan Kloos has been producer of award-winning documentaries and crossmedia projects since 2002. With a well-balanced mix of social issues, human interest/human rights related topics, social phenomena, pop culture and arts, Kloos and his company are among the most active players for international cinema and TV productions. He also heads Rise and Shine, one of the leading sales agents for documentary films. Kloos is a member of the German Film Academy, the European Film Academy, EDN and an alumnus of Sundance Documentary Film Programme.
Mike Robbins Co-producer
Mike Robbins – Co-producer
Mike Robbins is creative technologist and a partner at Helios Design Labs, where he has been for the last 15 years. He oversees the interactive part of Helios’ creative output. Recent storytelling projects that he has worked on include The Disaster Resilience Journal with the European Red Cross, Highrise with Kat Cizek and the NFB, Offshore with Brenda Longfellow, 17,000 Islands with Thomas Østbye and Edwin, World Online Orchestra with the Copenhagen Phil among others. His work has collectively won a number of major awards and nominations. IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
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ROUND TABLE
DIRECTOR Mo
Scarpelli
PRODUCTION Rake Films
STATUS In Production
COUNTRY United States
FORMAT Digital HD | 75’ | DCP
Anbessa A young boy living at the very edge
of the modern world seeks his place within it, exploring and exposing
the tensions around “progress” engulfing him and his country.
Synopsis
Asalif is a ten-year-old boy who lives on the edge of a modern world. His home is a toolshed on the divide of an unfinished condominium complex, and the farmland eclipsed by its construction. Asalif lives in uncertainty of being displaced again. He watches a condo take shape and is reminded in small and big ways that his country’s dream of ‘progress’ is not for him. But Asalif wants a slice of modernity, too. This requires courage, so Asalif channels the persona he most reveres: the lion. In Ethiopia, the ‘anbessa’ — ‘lion’ in Amharic — is the premier symbol of strength for a troubled world. Asalif the Lion can take on anything, when he makes reality into stories about animals and good versus evil. Inspired by Asalif’s imagination, Anbessa is told as partverité film, part fairytale. A narrator guides us along adventures of young lion coming of age; visually, the film unfolds as an observation of one child’s real-life struggles. When Asalif builds technology which accesses news outside his neighborhood, he taps into serious tensions in his country. News heard on his home-made radio reveals how Ethiopia’s leap into modernity is also causing a slide into civil war.
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GENRES
• Human Interest / Social Issues • Youth • Politics / Society PITCH TYPE Round Table
Asalif must learn to be strong when the tides of change and violence usurp a community, a country and his identity. Through a coming-of-age story, Anbessa captures one boy taking on modernization on his own terms, revealing a unique and magical perspective on the myth of ‘progress’ that entraps us all.
Project Description
Background Info In the last two years, Ethiopia has been on the edge of civil war. The government’s heavy push for new construction projects has ignited tensions with farmers who have had their land seized or appropriated. Protesters have faced off against the military; as a result, over 1,000 people have been killed and more than 25,000 detained. In late 2016, the government issued a State of Emergency and banned most foreign journalists access to reporting in the country, while harshly suppressing voices of dissent from inside. Reports of demonstrators experiencing violence, even execution, have left Ethiopia wrapped in a veil of tense silence. It is within this context that I began exploring an unfinished condominium complex spanning swaths of land on the outskirts of Addis Ababa. I had been filming other projects in Ethiopia for the past eight years; in 2015, I watched the city transform by huge condos. I was curious about what this space evoked for Ethiopians, a people which prides themselves on independence from the West and colonial power. Roaming the condo’s then-empty structures, I met a young friend who was – in his own ways – confronting ‘progress’ as it steamrolled his world. His imagination and openness sucked me in, while with time and care, the community around him took me in. They have since allowed me access to film in a unique and contentious space (built as a part of the plan which has spurred riots across the nation) and in a time when very few outsiders have the privilege to film anything in the country.
On the surface, Ethiopia is a globalization success story, leading Africa in economic growth, and attracting foreign investors like China and Saudi Arabia for new industrialization and manufacturing. Yet the new developments leave millions like Asalif out of the picture. Ethiopia is the ideal place at present to examine and air these complexities and tensions of ‘progress’ unfolding not only here, but everywhere in our rapidly changing world. Artistic Style Fairytales offer us ways to face the forces that affect us, ones too large or complex to comprehend as they unfold. This is what our ten-year-old protagonist does in his daily life: he spins elaborate stories in order to deal with the intense forces of change and domination. Anbessa is a verité film, presented as a fairytale. An Amharic narrator starts the film with, ‘Once upon a time in a land far away, lived a young lion...’ We see Asalif and understand right away that the ‘lion’ and other animals in this narration are representatives of people in Asalif’s life. Through Act I, the narrated fairytale brings us along Asalif’s adventures. In Act II, Asalif begins to inhabit the lion persona in real ways: by roaring, creating a lion mane out of an empty grain sack, growling at a garbage truck and at the kids who threaten him. By Act III, the narrator has faded into the background and Asalif is leading us to confront what it means to face the ‘real’ world: to emerge from the fairytale of his lionized self and face adult challenges ahead of him.
Anbessa is told completely through Asalif’s perspective: shot at Asalif’s eye-level, the camera reflects his experience, and then takes stylized sidesteps into a fantastical world when imagination takes over. A cohesive cinematic style and pacing in the edit allows us to navigate fluidly between the fantasy and the real-life. Like our protagonist Asalif, we almost never leave the condominium’s grounds, but the physical threat of hyenas in the forest and political chaos unfolding outside seeps in. Through radio and TV bulletins, and clandestine conversations in a local cafe Asalif hangs around, we discover how the state of the country has affected everyone here. Tensions are palpable, and the adults around Asalif are gripped by fear of their country’s political unrest. We use a subtle score to enhance the film’s tensions and conflict, but never guide the viewer too heavily; we allow Asalif’s emotion to carry itself in the film.
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RO Biographies
Caitlin Burke Producer
Mo Scarpelli Director
Caitlin Mae Burke – Producer Caitlin Mae Burke is an awardwinning producer of documentary and dramatic feature films and non-fiction television. Caitlin produced Nuts! (Special Jury Prize Sundance 2016, Critics’ Choice Award 2016) and Obit (Tribeca 2016). She produced documentary features We Could be King (2015 Sports Emmy for Outstanding Sports Documentary) and Sex And Broadcasting (DOC NYC 2014). Caitlin co-produced the 2015 Gotham Awards, Cinema Eye Honors, and Independent Spirit Award nominated Approaching the Elephant (True/False 2014.) Caitlin has produced and directed television and web series for YouTube, ESPN, TLC, OWN, Discovery, Sundance Channel, and CNBC. Mo Scarpelli – Director & DP Mo Scarpelli is a director and cinematographer of non-fiction cinema. Her debut featurelength documentary Frame by Frame screened at SXSW 2015, Hot Docs (Top 10 Favourite Film), London Film Festival (Grierson Documentary Competition nominee), AFI DOCS, and has won over a dozen jury and audience awards at festivals. The film will be released in 2017 by TIME Inc. Mo is a recipient of Catapult Film Fund support, the Speranza Foundation Female Filmmaker Award, the Lena Sharpe Award for Persistence of Vision (Seattle Intl Film Festival) and the Reel Women Direct Prize (Cleveland Intl Film Festival).
Production Details | ANBESSA PRODUCTION COMPANY Rake Films 183 Lorraine Street Third Floor #57 11231 Brooklyn United States
[email protected] +1 6095290525 www.caitlinmaeburke.com
CREDITS
Caitlin Burke Nuts! (2016/Producer) Obit (2016/Producer) We Could be King (2015/Producer) Sex And Broadcasting (2014/Producer) Approaching the Elephant (2014/Co-producer) DIRECTOR: Mo Scarpelli Frame by Frame (2015/Director/Producer/Cinematographer) El Hara (2017/Director/Producer/Cinematographer/Editor) Speaking is Difficult (2016/Cinematographer) EXECUTIVE PRODUCTION: Damon Smith – Goodest Films, Martin Marquet – Goodest Films EDITING: Nico Leunen PRODUCTION:
PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED OTHER FINANCIERS OWN INVESTMENT
November 2015 – June 2018 November 2018 In production
€ 288.134 € 252.072 Catapult Film Fund Lisa Kleiner-Chanoff Rake Films
Budget € | ANBESSA Development / Pre-Production Producer/director 1.678 Travel/subsistence 3.472 Other (trailer editing / translations of material) 1.065 € 6.215
Production Hotels, travel & food Production travel and expenses Production personnel Director, Cinematographer, Sound Equipment International Bank Fees
3.523 13.042 23.986 16.774 2.323 210 € 59.858
Post-Production Editor/editing system 47.302 Sound design and mix 8.387 Titles and animation 839 Music 25.160 Color, Conform, Review, Deliverables 5.451 Director 20.128 Producer 18.116 Writer 11.608 Translation 20.967 Travel for Post Production 10.484 Assistant Editor 4.193
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€ 15.095 € 20.967
€ 172.635
Outreach and distribution Publicist Poster Design & Printing Administrative Festival Premiere Four-Wall Screenings in Ethiopia Website Development
2.516 1.510 2.516 2.684 1.677 839 € 11.742
Miscellaneous Errors & Omissions Insurance, Title & Copywright 2.432 Legal Fees Bookkeeping & Accounting Grant Submission Fees Office Rent Office Supplies & Postage Overhead Contingency (10 %)
4.193 1.677 420 1.510 1.258 € 11.490
26.194
Other Total budget (summed)
€ 26.194 € 288.134
ROUND TABLE
DIRECTOR Alyx
Ayn G. Arumpac
PRODUCTION Cinematografica films STATUS Development COUNTRY
Aswang When men turn up dead, the old folks whisper of the aswang, a
shape shifting beast from folklore. In Manila, bodies pile up and lives
entwine as the state wages a brutal
war against drugs and crime.
Synopsis
Aswang is a film about people whose fates entwine with each other during a season of killings in Manila. When Rodrigo Duterte is voted president of the Philippines, he immediately sets in motion a machinery of death to smalltime drug peddlers and petty criminals in the city. In a year, almost 13,000 men, women, and children have been killed. Ruel, 14, is shot on the leg as he begs his father’s killers to spare him a last breath. His father dies before his eyes. His mother Teresita is also a target and flees during the night, leaving her four children behind. They eventually reunite and try to rebuild their lives in a shanty in the outskirts of the city. Teresita lives in constant fear for her life, but her teenage sons insist on slipping back to their old neighborhood to see their friends and earn money. Six year old Jomari’s parents are both imprisoned on drug charges. He is left alone to fend for himself and survive in Manila’s streets. Like any child, his reality drifts between truth and fantasy as he waits for his mother to get out of jail. Orly, boss at a funeral parlor, feels the burden of having to collect more and more bodies during the night. When unidentified or unclaimed bodies pile up, he has to bury them in mass graves in the already crowded cemeteries. He starts passing on tips to journalists to make sure no death is left undocumented.
Philippines, Norway, France
FORMAT 2K | 70’ | DCP GENRES
• Human Interest / Social Issues • Author’s Point of View • Politics / Society PITCH TYPE Round Table
Weaving their stories together is a missionary, Brother Jun, who spends his evenings going from one funeral to another, trying to help people bury their dead and go on with living.
Project Description
Director’s Note Aswang is a creative documentary about the state killings of suspected drug users and criminals in the Philippines. I have been documenting the aftermaths of these murders since September 2016 as part of the “night shift”, a group of local journalists who stake out during the early mornings to cover the drug war. The film follows people affected by, involved in, and working against the killings and documents these visceral moments based on my point of view and visual language. Aswang is a shape shifting monster from Philippines folklore and the stuff of nightmares for every Filipino child. It supposedly comes out at night to hunt its prey. The Americans who were trying to quash the Philippine rebellion used this as psychological warfare to sow fear in the countryside, where belief in the supernatural is rife. They would take a rebel, puncture his neck, and drain him of blood before leaving his body back on the trail. This spread fear among the locals and insurgents and emptied the mountainsides. Half a century later, the same kind of fearmongering shrouds Manila’s poor communities. In the slums, men and children alike flee at the sight of masked men on motorcycles or plainclothes drug agents coming to hunt down their prey. Anyone who runs is guilty and shot. They kill on the spot or take their target to be tortured and disposed elsewhere. Bodies are dumped in the same dark areas and those who escape are hunted down or replaced with their loved ones. It was a year ago when I first saw those images of men who were tortured, suffocated, faces taped and stabbed IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
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to death. Cardboard signs taunting and warning others not to follow suit would be left behind. I would eventually see them myself in literal flesh and blood, as many as eight in a night, several nights in a week. It felt like playing hide and seek with killers. The narrative is almost always the same: a cruel death, the families that arrive to the scene in hysteria, trips to the morgue, the wakes, the long march to the cemetery with the funeral music blaring through the car, the moment right before the coffin is closed for the last time, and the dull silence that follows the burial. There is a feeling of a need to document everything – for evidence, in the hopes of culpability and accountability in the future. To capture the singular human emotion of utter inconsolable grief. But after doing this again and again, a feeling of futility arises. It has been over a year since President Rodrigo Duterte took to power and declared his hardline stance on drugs. He and the drug war still enjoy great support from millions of Filipinos. It was a long and brutal year of immersion that, at this point, seems to have been necessary to reach a certain understanding of the situation. While I no longer negate man’s capacity to inflict evil, seeing death and pain repeatedly has made me realize that the story should not lie in the horror but in defiance of this evil and fear. Thus, I decided to focus on the people who are fighting to live within this fog of fear. Nowadays, I would like to believe that protest and dissent are slowly mounting. Project History Aswang was selected for development at the Berlinale Talents Docstation 2017 (Berlin, Germany). In August 2017, it was pitched at the Docs by the Sea (Bali, Indonesia). In September 2017, it was awarded the Sarah Jacobson Film Grant (USA), the DMZ Docs Fund Development Grant (South Korea), and the Talents Tokyo Next Masters Grant (Japan). It was also selected for the Dok Leipzig Co-Pro Market in October.
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Biographies
Production Details | ASWANG PRODUCTION COMPANY Cinematografica films 353 Vicente G. Cruz St. Sampaloc 1008 Manila Philippines CREDITS PRODUCTION:
DIRECTOR:
CO-PRODUCTION:
PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED OTHER FINANCIERS OWN INVESTMENT
Armi Rae S. Cacanindin – Producer Armi Rae Cacanindin graduated from the University of the Philippines Film Institute with a degree in Film. In a span of 12 years, she has worked on films that premiered at Cannes, Berlin, Busan, Locarno, Tribeca, among others. Since 2012, she started to produce films under Cinematografica, her first was How To Disappear Completely (Locarno 2013) and the latest short film Jodilerks dela Cruz, Employee of the Month (Critics’ Week 2017).
[email protected] +63 9179549021 www.cinematografica.org
Armi Rae S. Cacanindin Whether the Weather is Fine (2018 / producer) Jodilerks dela Cruz, Employee of the Month (2017 / producer) Kusina (2016 / producer) Alyx Ayn G. Arumpac Beast (2016 / director) News from the Garden (2016 / director) Garazs Inventory (2015 / director) Stray Dog Productions – Kristine Skaret – Norway Les productions de l’oeil sauvage – Quentin Laurent – France December 2017 – September 2018 March 2019 Development
€ 320.360 € 288.441 DMZ DOCS Cho Jae-hyun Talents Tokyo Next Masters Support Program Sarah Jacobson Fund Katie Bradshaw & Sam Green Les productions de l’oeil sauvage Cinematografica
€ 7.495 € 3.775 € 1.678 € 10.000 € 8.971
Budget € | ASWANG Development / Pre-Production Author Rights Translations Fees Travel/subsistence Markets and Pitching Miscellaneous
7.000 2.000 8.000 1.800 2.000 € 20.800
Production Archival rights & reproduction Hotels, travel & food Production travel and expenses Production personnel Director (salaries) Technical staff: (DOP/Sound/Light) Equipment Stock Material Broadcast requirements (Insurance, etc)
4.000 15.000 18.000 32.000 30.000 17.000 12.000 8.500 3.200
Translation and subtitling adaptation 5.000 Miscellaneous (postal service etc.) 2.500
€ 147.200
Post-Production Editor/editing system Sound design and mix Titles and animation Music Colorgrading Outreach and distribution Exports - Bluray - DVD Graphic Communication Presskit - Visuals - Posters
27.000 17.000 9.000 7.000 12.000 € 72.000
2.300 5.000 3.000 € 10.300
Cinematografica – Production Company Cinematografica is a Philippinebased company founded in 2005 by leading Filipino independent producers and filmmakers Arleen Cuevas, Armi Rae Cacanindin and Raya Martin. Films and co-productions include Independencia (Un Certain Regard 2009), La Ultima Pelicula (Toronto IFF 2013), How to Disappear Completely (Locarno 2013), God, Church, Pills and Condoms (2013), Buenas Noches, España (Locarno, 2011), and more. It aims to craft innovative local stories with emerging and established voices, while also promoting fresh new ways of seeing them all over the world. Alyx Ayn G. Arumpac – Director Alyx Ayn Arumpac is a Filipina documentary filmmaker. She studied at the Docnomads Master Course (Portugal, Hungary, Belgium) and the University of the Philippines and attended Berlinale Docstation and Talents Tokyo. Her short documentaries have screened in Clermont-Ferrand, Winterthur, Zurich Film Festival, Jihlava, Kasseler Dokfest, Uppsala, doclisboa, Timishort, Makedox, Belgrade, Budapest, and more.
Armi Rae S. Cacanindin Producer
Alyx Ayn G. Arumpac Director
Quentin Laurent Co-producer
Miscellaneous Overhead Overhead 10% Contingency 10 % Producers Total budget (summed)
€0
25.030 25.030 20.000 € 70.060 € 320.360
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ROUND TABLE
DIRECTOR Erika
Belly of the Beast Synopsis, Project Description and the Budget Available upon request
Belly of the Beast intimately
chronicles the journey of women fighting reproductive injustice
in their communities.
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Cohn
PRODUCTION Idle Wild Films STATUS In Production
COUNTRY United States
FORMAT HD | 90’ | DCP PITCH TYPE Round Table
Biographies
Production Details | BELLY OF THE BEAST PRODUCTION COMPANY Idle Wild Films Erika Cohn
[email protected] + 1 8018594638 idlewildfilmsinc.com
Angela Tucker
[email protected] +1 917 8039149
CREDITS
Erika Cohn, Angela Tucker, Christen Marquez DIRECTOR: Erika Cohn The Judge (2017/Director/Producer) In Football We trust (2015/Co-director/Producer) EXECUTIVE PRODUCTION: Geralyn Dreyfous, Mark Lipson PRODUCTION:
PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED OTHER FINANCIERS
In production – December 2018 January 2019 In production
€ 574.030 € 251.647 Gucci Tribeca San Francisco Foundation Pacific Pioneer Fund ITVS Diversity Development Fund Berkeley Film Foundation Fork Films Perspective Fund Individual Donors
Mark Lipson – Executive Producer & Post-production Supervisor Mark Lipson is an independent film producer best known for producing The Thin Blue Line and Tabloid for Errol Morris and is a post-production supervisor on several current TV shows and films.
Erika Cohn – Director & Producer Erika Cohn is an Emmy award winning Director & Producer who Variety recognized as one of 2017’s top ten documentary filmmakers. Most recently, Erika completed The Judge, a film about the first woman judge to be appointed to the Middle East’s Shari’a courts, which premiered at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival and will be broadcast on PBS’ 2018 Independent Lens series. Erika co-directed/produced, In Football We Trust, an Emmy awardwinning, feature documentary about the unique faith and culture that ultimately drives young Pacific Islander men into the NFL, which premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and was broadcast on PBS’ 2016 Independent Lens series. Her work has been supported by IFP, the Sundance Institute, Tribeca Institute, Hot Docs, Sheffield, ITVS, Women in Film, BAVC and the CPB Producer’s Academy among others. The Judge is screening at IDFA.
Erika Cohn Director/Producer
Angela Tucker. Producer
Angela Tucker – Producer Angela Tucker is a writer, director and Emmy nominated producer. She is the Series Producer for the PBS documentary series, AfroPoP, in its 10th season. She was a Co-producer on The New Black (PBS’ Independent Lens), a feature length documentary about the complicated histories of the African American and LGBT civil rights movements. She was the Director of Production at Big Mouth Films, a social issue documentary production company where she worked on several award-winning documentaries, including Pushing the Elephant (PBS’ Independent Lens), Dreaming Nicaragua (IDFA, 2009) and Deadline (NBC’s Dateline). She received her MFA in Film from Columbia University. Geralyn Dreyfous – Executive Producer Geralyn Dreyfous is a philanthropist, entrepreneur and Academy Award-winning filmmaker with a wide, distinguished background in the arts. Geralyn’s passion for implementing social change through film inspired her to found the Utah Film Center and co-found IMPACT Partners with Dan Cogan. In 2013, Geralyn co-founded Gamechanger Films, a film fund dedicated to women directors. She has produced and executive produced over 100 feature-length films including the Academy Award winning Born Into Brothels; Emmy nominated The Day My God Died; Academy Award nominated The Square; Academy Award nominated The Invisible War and multiple film festival winners. IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
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Vlad Direc
DIRECTOR Vlady
Blood on the Trident Mini series “Blood on the Trident” chronicles a DIY investigation/
journey of two friends seeking the
truth behind a viral murder posted
on Youtube. Adaptation and sequel of “Credit for Murder” (2015)
Synopsis
Episodes 1-3 Period: 2007-2014. A viral video of brutal execution surfaces on Youtube. Russian Neo-Nazis take responsibility yet the crime goes unsolved by apathetic Russian police. In response, Israeli filmmaker Vlady Antonevicz and his cynical to the bone Moscow friend Dima ‘Shurawi’ set out on a detective quest into the depths of the neo-Nazi underground in Russia. Under the guise of an ultra-right American journalist, Antonevicz collects evidence in order to decipher the mysterious case and confront the killers. The suspicion falls on the members of the neo-Nazi group called - The National Social Society, but as the evidence continues to pile up, Antonevicz and ‘Shurawi’ realize that the murder on video hides a much darker secret: the Russian FSB infiltrated the neo Nazi group to provoke bloodshed on the streets of Moscow as part of the election campaign run by Putin’s party. The involvement of the FSB, along with the mysterious disappearance of the FSB mole responsible for the bloodshed, leads the filmmakers to a dangerous crossroads, and the investigation comes to a halt... Episodes 4-6 (the follow-up): Period: 2014-2018: With the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war, the missing undercover FSB agent (the main suspect in the murder on video) surfaces on the other side of the aisle, as a military adviser of the newly elected Ukrainian president. But is he still working for Russian FSB? The other suspect, Maxim Martsinkevich (aka ‘Tesak’) founds a popular
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Antonevicz
PRODUCTION Forbidden Mirror Films STATUS Development COUNTRY Israel
FORMAT HD | 6 x 45’ | Digital file PITCH TYPE Round Table
(and extremely sadistic) anti-gay movement ‘specialized’ in the ‘hunt’ and physical abuse of LGBT members. Backed by national media, Tesak is spreading homophobic hysteria across the country and becomes Russia’s viral ‘badass hero’, with over 400K online followers. Meanwhile, a cache of police internal investigation leaked to the film director, expose financial transactions of 1.5 billion rubles (50 million $ USD) in the bank accounts related to the members of The National Social Society, (the neo-nazi organization responsible for 49 racial murders). Russian officials claim that the money came from the EU countries, interested in destabilizing Russia, but the names of the financiers mentioned in the documents suggest otherwise... As if the situation wasn’t complicated enough, the filmmaker is contacted by the Russian Investigation Committee interested to re-open the investigation of the decade old case, but to do so, on their own terms...
Project Description
Blood on the Trident is a 6 x 43 minutes mini tv series, that tells the story from day one (2007) and then continues the plot where it ended in Credit for Murder. All the materials for the first three episodes - are already in the editing room. The follow up story (episodes 4-6), has four major plot ‘engines’: 1. The rise and the dramatic fall of Maxim ‘Tesak’ Martsinkevich (and his army of sadistic homophobes). 2. The financiers of the deadly neo-Nazi organization. Who financed the deadliest neo-Nazi gang in Russia’s history, and why? 3. The Russian FSB mole that operated undercover among the neo-Nazis, surfaces at the side of Kremlin’s new fiercest enemy, the newly elected Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko. 4. The dramatic aftermaths of an email sent by the filmmaker Vladi Antonevicz to the President of Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin.
Biographies
Vlady Antonevicz Director/Producer
Vlady Antonevicz – Director & Producer Vlady Antonevicz is an Israeli filmmaker of Russian origins. Prior to studying arts, he served as a sniper in IDF Special Forces Unit ‘Duvdevan’. The military service lead to his fascination with photography and in 2008 Vlady graduated in Film Directing from Sam Spiegel Film and TV school, Jerusalem with an awards winning documentary In the Company of a Dead Cat, recipient of the Best Documentary Award of the Israeli Documentary Forum. This 54 min. documentary became an important educational tool for social workers and psychologists working with the homeless people in Israel. His first feature length documentary Credit for Murder, about the infamous ‘Russian Neo Nazi Beheading Video’ murder case, lead to the re-opening of the investigation by the Russian Investigation Committee. The movie, produced for Channel 8 /Israel, premiered at IDFA, HotDocs, ZagrebDox, Motovun FF, won the Special Jury award at Artdocfest Moscow, Audience Choice Award at Riga FF, Excellence in Cinematography both at Doc Aviv, and Israeli Documentary Forum. Vlady lives in Qiryat Shmona, Israel. Blood on the Trident is his third project as director/ producer.
Production Details | BLOOD ON THE TRIDENT PRODUCTION COMPANY Forbidden Mirror Films Keren Ha Yesod st. POB 5285 Qiryat Shmona Israel CREDITS PRODUCTION:
DIRECTOR: PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED OTHER FINANCIERS OWN INVESTMENT
[email protected] +972 775470335 www.forbiddenmirror.com
Vlady Antonevicz Credit for Murder (2015/Producer/Director) In the Company of a Dead Cat (2007/Producer/Director) Vlady Antonevicz March 2018 – December 2018 May 2019 Development
€ 848.600 € 750.000 Rabinovich Cinema Project Film Fund Yoav Abramovich Forbidden Mirror Films
€ 47.000 € 51.600
Budget € | BLOOD ON THE TRIDENT Development / Pre-Production Writer Producer/director Travel/subsistence Research Script Adviser
7.400 6.000 4.500 8.000 5.000 € 30.900
Production Archival rights & reproduction Hotels, travel & food Production travel and expenses Production personnel Director Technical staff: (DOP/Sound/Light) Equipment Stock Material Broadcast requirements
12.000 26.000 32.000 74.000 84.000 98.000 37.000 2.500 28.200
€ 393.700
Post-Production Editor/editing system Sound design and mix Titles and animation Music Translation (4 languages) Online, Color correction
124.000 60.000 8.000 26.000 8.000 22.000 € 248.000
Outreach and distribution Distribution
14.000 € 14.000
Miscellaneous Production House fee 10%
72.000 € 72.000
Overhead Overhead and legal cost 5 % Contingency 7.5% Total budget (summed)
36.000 54.000 € 90.000 € 848.600
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ROUND TABLE
DIRECTOR Shalahuddin
A Boarding School A Boarding School offers rare access
inside an Islamic boarding school. It invites the audience to delve
deep into the inner workings of
an Indonesian school that fosters
democracy and tolerance against the
rise of extremism in today’s world.
Synopsis
A Boarding School is an observational documentary offering an intimate look at life inside a pesantren (an Islamic boarding school) in Cirebon, West Java and five characters inside the school – their problems, dreams and struggles. The main protagonist of the film is Bibah (24), who has been living in the pesantren for seven years. This year, Bibah prepares a performance for two big events that will be held at the pesantren: the Indonesian Women’s Ulema Congress and the graduation night.
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Siregar
PRODUCTION Day Zero Films UG STATUS In Production
COUNTRY Germany, Indonesia FORMAT HD | 90’ | DCP PITCH TYPE Round Table
Diding (22) is a teacher who shows us what kind of values, thoughts and ideas Islamic schools provide to the students. Although still young, he has been given the responsibility of teaching the final grade. He is also responsible to select students to be interns in the outside community, where not all are welcome. Dika (21) who was elected by the final year students to be their chairperson for the year, is one of those sent by the school to serve the community as an intern in a mosque. Yolanda (17) is more into sports and misses her friends from her hometown and tries to see them whenever she gets a chance to go home. She was chosen to represent the girl’s dormitory for the stand-up comedy competition, but unfortunately didn’t win. As students undergo personal issues such as relationship with their parents, and the conflicts between their dreams and reality, the film is also a coming of age film. We will see how different characters in the film deal with those challenges as they prepare for the graduation night through lighthearted and intimate moments.
In preparation for the show, we find out that Bibah has enrolled at one of the universities in Java. Bibah is accepted to study what she has been dreaming of, but has difficulties to pay the tuition. Through the film, we will find out whether Bibah will manage to go to university.
Project Description
There are four other supporting characters. One of them is Dul Yani (18), who is very popular in the school because he is funny. He is the winner of the annual stand-up comedy competition. But we understand that he tries to hide his misery by being funny. His mother left him in the care of his grandmother to go and work as a maid in the Middle East, and he is not close to his father.
The director started this project because in his previous film, a 12-year old boy went to an Islamic boarding school because his parent could not afford anything else. When he released the film, he found out that some audiences reacted negatively towards the boy. They even thought that he would become a terrorist.
IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
As conservative politics, fake news and religious extremism grow influentially across the world, it is becoming more and more necessary to tell stories that show a different reality.
Even though there are many Islamic boarding schools in Indonesia, the director knows very little about them. For the director, this film is a search for and discovery into what happens in a boarding school. And his search has developed to be more and more a story about young people today who are struggling to reach their dreams when the constant lack of money makes the life of the pupils in pesantrens very difficult. Indonesia is the largest Muslim country in the world and has over 25,000 Islamic schools which cater to the poorest in the country. They have become known to be places that nurture terrorism through those who have been arrested for acts such as the Bali bombing and stories about their recruitment by ISIS and Al-Qaeda. Despite the constant talk of a free, democratic world, segregation, discrimination and violence rooted in prejudice against people seen as ‘different’ remains rampant. We imagine that this antagonism towards those who are different is often rooted in ignorance about how they operate in real life. Our aim with this documentary film is
to challenge preconceptions of the pesantren, or Islamic boarding schools; to show the life and teachings inside it as the boarders and teachers see and feel it. The film is set in one of the largest Islamic boarding schools in Java, Indonesia, called Pondok Kebun Jambu, one of the few in the country run by a woman, Nyai Masriah Amva. Currently, the school provides housing and education for over 1,200 students, aged between 12 and 22. With a tuition fee of only US$15 per month, the boarding school plays an important role in educating children from lower-income families. We have unique and exclusive access from the school’s board to shoot throughout the whole compound. The boarding school is part of the Nahdlatul Ulama network — NU, the largest and oldest Islamic organization in Indonesia — and follows NU traditions closely. Since its inception the NU has been known to promote Islamic teachings that are rooted in Indonesian culture, including religious tolerance.
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RO Biographies
Don Edkins Producer
Shalahuddin Siregar Director
Don Edkins – Producer Don Edkins is a South African documentary filmmaker and producer based in Cape Town, who started Day Zero Films in South Africa after the first democratic elections and recently in Berlin. He is co-founder of the non-profit media company STEPS, and has produced documentary film projects that have been broadcast and screened to audiences around the world, such as Steps for the Future, Why Democracy? and Why Poverty? He is currently executive producer of AfriDocs, a Bertha Foundation/STEPS online African VOD platform and weekly prime time documentary film strand on TV across sub-Saharan Africa. He is also executive producer of Dare to Dream Asia, a project with Asian filmmakers that includes A Boarding School. Shalahuddin Siregar – Director Shalahuddin Siregar was selected as one of the participants of Doc Station Berlinale Talents 2009 and Tokyo Talents 2016. His first feature documentary project The Land Beneath the Fog has travelled to international film festivals such as Dok-Leipzig and won numerous awards, including the Special Jury Prize from the Dubai International Film Festival 2011. In 2013, Rolling Stones Indonesia magazine included The Land Beneath the Fog as one of the best Indonesian films of the decade.
Production Details | A BOARDING SCHOOL PRODUCTION COMPANY Day Zero Films UG Reichenberger Strasse 88 10999 Berlin Germany CREDITS
Don Edkins Coming of Age (2015 / producer) Why Poverty? (2012 / producer) Mama Africa (2011 / co-writer / co-producer) DIRECTOR: Shalahuddin Siregar The Land Beneath the Fog (2011 / director) EXECUTIVE PRODUCTION: Amelia Hapsari – In-Docs, Iikka Vehkalahti – IV Films, Don Edkins – Day Zero Films UG PRODUCTION:
PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED OTHER FINANCIERS OWN INVESTMENT
IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
April 2017 – June 2018 January 2019 In production
€ 110.000 € 75.500 Ford Foundation JustFilms Cara Mertes Danish Embassy Jakarta Shalahuddin Siregar
€ 17.000 € 9.000 € 8.500
Budget € | A BOARDING SCHOOL Development / Pre-Production Producer/director Travel/subsistence Trailer Development workshop
2.500 1.000 2.500 4.000 € 10.000
Production Hotels, travel & food 9.500 Production travel and expenses 3.000 Production personnel 500 Director 10.000 Technical staff: (DOP/Sound/Light) 2.500 Equipment 9.000 Stock Material 2.000 Broadcast requirements 2.000 Character support 1.000 Location fees 2.000
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[email protected] +27 832596437
€ 41.500
Post-Production Editor/editing system Sound design and mix Titles and animation Music Colour grading, mastering DCP Subtitling Miscellaneous Marketing Overhead Overhead 2,7 % Contingency 2,7 % Production fee 5,4% Total budget (summed)
18.000 10.000 1.000 2.000 10.000 2.000 1.000 € 44.000
2.500 € 2.500
3.000 3.000 6.000 € 12.000 € 110.000
ROUND TABLE
DIRECTOR Nanfu Wang, Lynn
Zhang
PRODUCTION Pumpernickel Films STATUS Start Production
COUNTRY France, United States FORMAT HD | 90’ & 52’ | DCP
Born in China Nearly 40 years after China
enacted one of the most brutal
population-control policies in history
-the infamous “one-child” policy,
aimed at launching China “from
poverty to prosperity”- Born in
China explores the ongoing human
Synopsis
consequences of that policy.
China’s one-child policy officially ended on the first day of 2016 – but that didn’t end the government’s efforts to control the population through heavy-handed means. Proclaiming the policy a success – with the prevention of some 400 million births – the government expanded family restrictions to two children, prompting criticism from human rights and reproductive rights activists about the government’s continued interference in family planning. Today, China occupies the world stage as an economic powerhouse. Little, if any, attention is paid to the consequences of its population control policies. Born in China will challenge widely held misconceptions including the notion that China’s fertility rate has fallen significantly since the launch of the one-child policy in 1980 and that most children in Chinese orphanages were abandoned by their families. The film exposes the horrific crimes perpetrated against mothers, fathers and children and how unsuspecting parents from outside of China helped grow an industry that trafficked in stolen children.
GENRES
• Investigative • Human Interest / Social Issues • Politics / Society PITCH TYPE Round Table
The film asks one key question: what does it mean to be born in China? In a country where a woman’s womb and the size of a family are under the strict control of the government and a baby actually needs a permit to be born, where unwanted fetuses are thrown alive in the garbage, what magnitude of struggle does a person have to go through just in order to survive? Through the interwoven and interconnected stories told by people in and out of China, the filmmakers uncover an alarming effort on the part of the government to cover up the crimes of its past policy. In making this film, there are many personal risks involved for both the characters and for the filmmakers. One of our biggest challenges is to protect our subjects, our footage, and ourselves. This is why the challenges of filming under government surveillance and harassment will also be part of the story.
Project Description
Born in China is the first in-depth exploration of the staggering social and personal costs of China’s controversial onechild policy – which has been called ‘the worst systematic abuse of rights in human history’. This policy has taken a toll on the lives of millions of Chinese citizens, as well as thousands of families in other countries. Born in China explores the personal and the political consequences of this policy through the untold stories of the policy’s casualties and survivors. Mi Caixia was 30 weeks pregnant with her second child 23 years ago when a group of men burst into her home in a remote rural village and kidnapped her. These agents of the government were inducing labor – a forced abortion. Caixia’s story is one of many millions from China’s 35-year one-child policy, which criminalized multi-child families and led to nearly 13 million forced abortions a year. Caixia’s case is unique because the procedure didn’t kill her baby. She describes how the following day, her daughter was born, premature and clinging to life. She knew that IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
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keeping the baby would mean her husband would lose his job, there would be crippling financial penalties and her extended family would pressure her to throw the baby into a dumpster - but Caixia kept her daughter. Xiao Yin is now 23 years old. People like Xiao Yin, known as ‘out-of-plan’ children, have no legal identity in China today. They are denied residency permits that would give them access to housing, education, employment, healthcare and even ID cards. Jiang Shuqin is an official of the national family-planning model who has won numerous national awards for her work in carrying out the one-child Policy, often by use of forced abortions, sometimes performed on women who were eight and even nine months along in their pregnancies. Pregnant women would flee their homes and villages to avoid forced abortions. Local authorities would in turn find ways to force the women back by arresting relatives and even demolishing homes. When mothers managed to carry a second child to term, in many cases local officials would simply steal the child and sell it to a far-away orphanage. Long Lan is a Chinese-American woman living in Utah. She and her American-born husband have adopted three children from her homeland, but after discovering that one of her adopted children’s documents was fake, Lan ultimately learns that her daughter was stolen from her birth parents and sold to an orphanage. She and her husband decide to endeavor to reunite their daughter with her birth mother and family back in China and to this end they create an organization with the mission of uncovering the true-life stories of Chinese children adopted by overseas families. Lan has spent years poring through newspaper clippings and official documents spanning decades in search of clues that will help her connect adopted children with their birth parents... In her travels, Lan meets Duan, a former smuggler of stolen infants who would receive between $300 to $500 for delivering a child to an orphanage, which in turn would often sell the child to another orphanage. Ultimately, adoptive parents from outside China would be charged $15,000 as an ‘adoption fee.’ After the scandal was exposed in 2006, many traffickers like Duan were imprisoned for the roles they played in the conspiracy. In an interview, Duan exposes the details and scale of the plot, including how he was caught and
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sentenced to years in prison. Since he was released last year, he has committed himself to work along with Lan, reuniting families he helped break apart years ago. As these personal stories unfold, the film also weaves in background about the one-child policy and its effects on the culture at large, using archival footage to trace the lingering visual reminders of the campaign – crudely painted warnings in China’s farthest-flung villages, and training videos issued to family planning officials that make it clear that the state’s goal of controlling population growth was meant to be pursued by any means necessary. This will provide a more complex picture of the culture and politics which set the policy in motion, earning countless loyal party enthusiasts willing to enforce it. In 1979, when China enacted this heavy-handed, abusive population control measure to slow its tumultuous population growth and to move the country out of poverty, the entire program was widely criticized as a human rights violation. Born in China takes a deep analytical dive into the consequences of poorly thought out large scale social engineering projects such as the one-child policy by looking at the range of individual journeys taken by those enforcing the policy and those coping with the personal devastation the policy has wrought. Using a combination of interviews and cinema vérité shooting, traveling across the entire country, Born in China will paint a vivid picture of the country’s unique and diverse landscape and culture. By following the character’s daily lives and ongoing fights, we will put human faces to the statistics. The narrative will be constructed through intimate, in-depth interviews with victims, lawyers, family planning officers, healthcare workers, writers, and scholars. We’ll also fully utilize stylized repetitive ironic elements from the official propaganda material relating to the one-child policy and juxtapose it with the real-life denial of our subjects’ human rights. Directors Nanfu Wang and Lynn Zhang were both born in China in the mid-1980s. They grew up mostly with only-child peers and have intimate knowledge of what it means to be the only child in the family as opposed to an ‘out-of-plan’ child.
Biographies
Production Details | BORN IN CHINA PRODUCTION COMPANY Pumpernickel Films 49, Rue de Bretagne 75003 Paris France CREDITS PRODUCTION:
DIRECTOR:
Christoph Jörg – Producer Christoph Jörg has been producing and commissioning documentaries for over twenty years. From 1994 to 2008, he was Commissioning Editor at ARTE France in Paris. Christoph Jörg founded Pumpernickel Films in 2009 in Paris. Christoph is producer of Winnie, which premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival and co-producer of Lovers and Despot which premiered in Sundance 2016.
[email protected] +33 672271510
Christoph Jörg Winnie (2017 / producer) The Lovers and the Despot (2016 / co-producer) The End of Eden (2016 / co-producer) Nanfu Wang, Lynn Zhang NANFU WANG:
I Am Another You (2017 / director) Hooligan Sparrow (2016 / director) LYNN ZHANG: CO-PRODUCTION:
PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED OTHER FINANCIERS
Who Pays the Price, the Human Costs of Electronics (2016 / director) Motto Pictures – Julie Goldman – United States Life animated (2016 / producer) Weiner (2016 / producer) November 2017 – December 2018 January 2019 Start production
€ 787.319 € 695.319 IDA Chicken & Egg Pictures
Carrie Lozan Jenni Wolfson
€ 63.000 € 29.000
Budget € | BORN IN CHINA Development / Pre-Production Pre-Production and Development Production Director Co-Director Crew and Personnel (DOP, Sound, Light)
8.640 € 8.640
83.000 83.000 75.200
Producers 99.000 Camera & Sound packages, hard drives and backups 22.184 Rights, Music and Talent (Composer, Archives, Stock Footage) 44.782 Travel and Related Expenses
50.203 € 457.369
Post-Production Editors (OffLINE) 114.240 Online editing and color correction 24.480 Sound Edit, Design, Mix 22.500 Translations 4.150 Masters & Deliveries 11.630 Edit Suite 31.900 Outreach and distribution Promotion and Festival
€ 208.900
31.405 € 31.405
Miscellaneous Insurance, Legal and Finacial costs 14.186 Office and Administration Costs 29.328 Overhead Overhead 5% Total budget (summed)
€ 43.514
Julie Goldman – Co-producer Julie Goldman founded Motto Pictures in 2009. She is an Oscar nominated and Emmy Awardwinning producer and executive producer of documentary feature films. Julie is producer of Life, Animated and executive producer of Weiner, both of which premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. Nanfu Wang – Director Nanfu Wang is an award-winning documentary filmmaker based in NYC. Her work has been supported by the Sundance Institute, Britdoc, IFP, IDA, POV, among others. Her feature debut Hooligan Sparrow premiered at Sundance Film Festival 2016 and has been shortlisted for an Oscar in the Best Documentary Feature category. Wang was honored by the International Documentary Association with the 2016 Emerging Filmmaker Award. Her second film I Am Another You premiered at SXSW 2017. Lynn Zhang – Director Lynn Zhang is an independent filmmaker based in Beijing. She is co-director and editor of feature documentary Who Pays the Price, the Human Costs of Electronics. Lynn also freelanced as a local producer for various programs and media including Vice on HBO, Fusion TV, the New York Times and independent feature documentary projects.
Christoph Jörg Producer
Julie Goldman Co-producer
Nanfu Wang Director
Lynn Zhang Director
37.491 € 37.491 € 787.319
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ROUND TABLE
DIRECTOR Jian
Fan
PRODUCTION Richard Liang, S. Leo Chiang
Born to Be Second After a disaster takes away their
only child, a tormented couple
copes with the loss of their
daughter while struggling to raise
the son born to replace her.
Synopsis
The 2008 Sichuan Earthquake devastated China. Ye and Zhu, a working-class couple in their early 40s, ran a small neighborhood eatery outside of Chengdu in Sichuan Province. When the earthquake hit, Zhu, the father, tried to rescue his beloved daughter from the rubble but failed, plunging the couple’s happy life into darkness and uncertainty. Ye and Zhu tried to have another daughter. Due to Ye’s age and poor health, she struggled to conceive even with multiple attempts of in vitro fertilization, and both were surprised when an unexpected natural pregnancy in 2011 yielded a new life and hope. Yet when Ye gave birth to a baby boy, Zhu felt little joy. Ye and Zhu are now entering their 50s, while their son Chuan just turned 6. Zhu works in construction, and Ye stays home to raise their little boy. Ye often takes her son to the cemetery to pay tribute to Xingyu, their daughter, and demands Chuan never to forget the disaster that took his sister. In Ye’s mind, the death of Xingyu gave Chuan life, and he owes her his eternal gratitude. While Ye does love her son, she expresses this love in unusual ways. When Chuan was younger, Ye would dress him up as a girl, hoping to replicate her daughter’s presence by her side. Zhu, however, has had a much harder time finding affection for his son. For Zhu, Chuan will never measure up to his lost daughter. The father-son relationship grows more distant as the boy gets older, which worries Ye. Even after ten years,
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STATUS Development COUNTRY China, Japan
FORMAT Digital, UHD, HQ Prores
| 70’-90’ | DCP
PITCH TYPE Round Table
Zhu is still tormented by his inability to save his daughter on the day of the earthquake, and endlessly longs for her. Chuan is very close to his mother. Zhu could only feel more lost in how to stay together with his son. He also struggles to support the family financially with his dwindling construction work. Ye realizes she must turn things around to keep their family together. Ye hopes her husband can be stronger, and be more like a father, because her son needs his father’s company and help to get stronger. Ye and Zhu’s friends will serve as supporting characters in our film. Most of them are also couples whose children perished in the disaster. We’ll pick up one or two such families and let them tell their different stories.
Project Description
My 2011 film, The Next Life, followed Ye and Zhu’s struggle to have a new child. I spent two years with them and their friends as they tried to put their families back together with their second babies. The proposed new film, Born to Be Second, will pick up the story where The Next Life left off. For Ye, Zhu, and Chuan, the next two years will be a pivotal transition period in the family’s life. There are tensions in the three sets of relationships in this family. Firstly, the father-son relationship: father will do something to improve his relationship with his son, but probably would fail to succeed. Secondly, the husband-wife relationship: the two gradually have conflicts because of their son, and there might be a time of pierce collision after two years of accumulated complains. Thirdly, Ye will influence many of Chuan’s behaviors, especially during the age between 6 to 8 which could be an important time for the establishment of personality. I think Chuan will be more introverted, and not a tough boy. There could even be psychological trauma in Chuan’s little heart. And little Chuan’s increasing awareness of his role in the conflict
between his parents has made him withdrawn, preferring to spend time with his mother while avoiding his father. Having just begun elementary school, he sees how other families interact, and becomes even more confused by the dynamic within his own. As Chuan turns 8, the age when Xingyu died, the family will find her shadow even harder to escape, inevitably leading to a collision between memories, expectations, and the psychological fallout from a fateful moment that continues to redefine what it means to be a family. One possible ending for the story is like this: Zhu and his son are getting away from each other, the relationship of the couples become worse and worse, and Ye decides to act both as a mother and a father to her son. Another possible ending might be: Zhu finally gets over this psychological barrier, finds a way to get along with his son, and their relationship gradually gets better, and the family is finally in peace and harmony. Ye and Zhu’s friends will serve as supporting characters in our film. Ye and Zhu are especially close with two couples -one couple was successful in having a new son after their first son passed away, while the other was not able to conceive and adopted a daughter instead, but the adopted daughter is too close to father and keeping a distance with mother. Compounded by the loss of the first children like Ye and Zhu, these couples face their own sets of challenges. The families get together regularly, with their conversations often revolving around their children of today and of yesterday. The story of Born to Be Second transcends Chinese culture. When a major disaster takes place, the world pays attention for the brief period when the destruction and acute suffering takes place, but few of us understand the longterm human cost of these traumas, how people suffer for the rest of their lives from one fateful moment in time. In our film, the examination of loss, death, and the complicated love between parents and children cuts across place and time.
Visually, we will build a strong cinematic experience on a character-driven story. My team’s ability to create this cinematic experience is evident in our most recent film Still Tomorrow, which won a Special Jury Award in the IDFA 2016 Feature-Length Competition. The jury said ‘this film explores the complexity of the human experience in a poetic, intimate and powerful way.’ The cinematographer of Still Tomorrow will collaborate with me again on Born to be Second. While we emphasized the poetic image in our previous film, our new film will take on a more realistic visual style. We will use a lot of hand-held shooting, with the camera close to our subjects to bring audience inside the life of our characters. Our visual realism does not depend on interviews or dialogues. We will capture the raw emotions of the characters and the changing atmosphere in the family. We’ll present multi-angle relationships through our lenses, the father-son, mother-son and husband-wife relationships. We will not use any voice-over or narration and will use a limited amount of atmospheric music, avoiding outright manipulation of emotions and trusting the power of the image itself to move our audience. I plan to continue telling the story of this family beyond The Next Life and Born to Be Second. The third installment for the series, which I hope to begin in 10 years, will shift the story’s point-of-view from the parents, who will be 60 years old, to a teenage Chuan as the family’s life further enfolds. It is my hope that this series—much like Leonard Retel Helmrich’s Indonesian trilogy—sheds insights on the life of an ordinary Chinese working-class family in the depth and breadth that has not been done before in the long-form documentary medium.
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RO Biographies
Richard Liang Producer
S. Leo Chiang Producer
Jian Fan Director
Richard Liang – Producer Richard Liang is a documentary producer based in China. He has produced several documentaries with international funding, including The Next Life, and The Road, both had been selected into IDFA’s competition. Richard has been scouting Chinese films for IDFA since 2013 and was in the jury in 2015. S. Leo Chiang – Producer S. Leo Chiang is a documentarian based in Taipei & San Francisco. His Emmy-nominated film, A Village Called Versailles, picked up eight film festival awards and aired on PBS’ Independent Lens series. Out Run, his recently completed film, received support from ITVS, Sundance, and Tribeca. His other films include Mr. Cao Goes to Washington (Inspiration Award, Full Frame 2012) and To You Sweetheart, Aloha (PBS broadcast 2006). He is a consulting producer for CNEX, the Chinese documentary foundation, and an AMPAS Documentary Branch member. Jian Fan – Director Jian Fan is a documentary director with a focus on Chinese social issues and human interest. After graduation from Beijing Film Academy, he has made more than 5 feature documentary films, which has been selected into Berlinale, IDFA, Hot Docs, Full Frame and other film festivals. His previous film The Next Life, a co-production with NHK & Al Jazeera, had won many awards. My Land has been selected into Panorama of Berlinale 2016. His latest work Still Tomorrow won Special Jury Award of IDFA feature length competition 2016.
Production Details | BORN TO BE SECOND PRODUCTION Richard Liang
[email protected] +86 13910406900 CREDITS PRODUCTION:
S. Leo Chiang
[email protected] +1 3238995556
Richard Liang, S. Leo Chiang RICHARD LIANG:
The Road (2015 / producer) The Next Life (2011 / producer) LEO CHIANG:
Out Run (2015 / producer) Mr. Cao Goes To Washington (2012 / producer) A Village Called Versailles (2009 / producer) DIRECTOR: Jian Fan Still Tomorrow (2016 / director) My Land (2015 / director) The Next Life (2011 / director) EXECUTIVE PRODUCTION: Jean Tsien EDITING: Matthieu Laclau PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED
January 2018 – March 2019 November 2019 Development
€ 268.389 € 268.389
Budget € | BORN TO BE SECOND Development / Pre-Production Research Development travel Fundraising cost (travel, fees, etc) Production Director Production personnel Crew & personnel Travel and related expenses Equipment Stock material Clone driives Log keeping Post-Production Offline editor Sound design and mix Graphic design Music On-line/Color correction Translation DCP masters
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IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
18.754 10.419 4.362 € 33.535
27.088 40.377 41.174 22.087 5.418 1.667 1.642 3.251 € 142.704
25.005 15.003 1.667 1.667 8.335 2.500 2.500 € 56.677
Outreach and distribution China domestic exhibition permit Web design/maintenace Publicity material Miscellaneous Insurance Legal and accounting Office & administration costs Overhead Contingency 5% Total budget (summed)
1.250 2.500 2.500 € 6.251
5.001 2.500 8.335 € 15.836
13.386 € 13.386 € 268.390
ROUND TABLE
DIRECTOR Olga
Busy Inside Karen, a therapist, helps people
who suffer from Dissociative
Identity Disorder—the condition
she has herself, juggling seventeen
alter egos of her own.
Synopsis
Busy Inside tells the true story of Karen and Marshay, two idiosyncratic women with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). Karen Marshall is a respected therapist who treats patients with DID - the condition of having multiple personalities often resulting from child abuse. Among her patients is Marshay, a biracial musician, who sometimes struggles to believe that she really has DID. Marshay works with Karen to overcome her painful childhood memories, embrace her multiple selves, and find peace. But, Karen is still haunted by her own past, juggling seventeen of her own alter egos. Shot in cinéma vérité style, with bursts of creative montage, playacting and reenactments of Karen and Marshay’s internal dialogues, the film follows these women closely in their daily lives, in happy and sad, casual and intimate moments. Rather than a film about a therapist leading a patient, Busy Inside is a poetic documentary about two fellow travelers supporting each other in their quest for unity and inner truth. Busy Inside works to return dignity to those with DID and bring better understanding of it by creating an honest film about people who live with it every day, giving audiences a direct window into their inner world. The film will inspire audiences to question their own identity - is it a function of our brain, a social mask, or an illusion? After all, don’t we sometimes behave differently than our ‘norm’ - at a party compared to at work, for example, or we may keep some emotions buried, we may have reclusive days and outgoing days. How different are we, really, from those with multiple
Lvoff
PRODUCTION Diplodocus LLC STATUS In Production
COUNTRY United States
FORMAT HD cam | 80’ | DCP PITCH TYPE Round Table
personalities? We hope that audiences will begin to understand that DID is a more nuanced and also a more arduous version of the different selves we present.
Project Description
Topic importance Busy Inside works to return dignity to those with DID and bring better understanding of it by creating an honest film about people who live with it every day, giving audiences a direct window into their inner world. People develop Dissociative Identity Disorder as a result of physical and mental trauma caused by child abuse. It is important to change the way the society views DID. The media have been sensationalizing it for years. I want to return dignity to those with DID and have society empathize with them. I believe that film is a perfect medium for achieving this goal because it is best at giving people with DID a voice. It is through a personal and intimate documentary that I want to share the main characters’ Karen and Marshay living experience with the viewer. Experience in working with trauma – from the director Olga Lvoff I have experience of working with severely traumatized people. Thus, I have been involved in the social project Child Sex Trafficking Victims Initiative, one version of it organized at the University of Maryland School of Social Work and another at the Oregon Department of Human Services. The participants of these two programs, victims of sex-trafficking, made short videos about their traumatic experiences. I had to supervise the process: edit the scripts with the participants, work with them on voice-over, teach editing software, and, overall, help them express themselves through storytelling. The videos are now used at conferences on sex trafficking and in curricula for social workers. The terrifying stories I heard there affected me on a very deep level, and I became even more determined to continue IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
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helping trauma survivors cope with this burden by making their voices heard. In my previous full-length film, When People Die They Sing Song, I also worked with trauma, filming a Holocaust survivor and her family’s struggle to talk about their past. In my current project, I am working with child abuse survivors. The work I have done previously proves that I know how to communicate with victims of trauma and represent their experiences in film with mindfulness and accuracy. Access and ethics We have established a stable relationship with the main characters of the film and have full access to their stories. Exclusive releases had been signed with all main characters of the film. Rare as it is, this access is even more so in case of a DID person, given the reluctance of the majority of people with this diagnosis to reveal their condition. There are two advisers on the project. Dr. Elaine Ducharme, a clinical psychologist, author of Assessment and Treatment of Dissociative Identity Disorder, has worked with DID patients for twenty years. Her expertise ensures the accuracy of DID-related information in the film. Robert Oxnam, a DID patient and activist, author of A Fractured Mind, consults me regarding the veracity and accuracy of the film’s representations of DID experience.
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Biographies
Production Details | BUSY INSIDE PRODUCTION COMPANY Diplodocus LLC 165 East 118 Street 10035 New York United States
Victor Ilyukhin – Producer Victor Ilyukhin received an MFA in Social Documentary from the School of Visual Arts in NYC in 2014. His feature documentary Taste aired in 2013 on Russia 2 TV channel. Ilyukhin’s film Two and Twenty Troubles has screened at many festivals worldwide, has received funding from New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, Puffin Foundation, NYU Community Fund, and was featured in The New York Times in 2015.
www.diplodocusfilms.com +1 9172540279
[email protected] +1 3474846540
[email protected]
CREDITS
Victor Ilyukhin Two and Twenty Troubles (2016/Director/Producer) DIRECTOR: Olga Lvoff When People Die They Sing Songs (2014/Producer/Director) EXECUTIVE PRODUCTION: Alexandra Shiva – Gidalya Pictures PRODUCTION:
PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED OTHER FINANCIERS
September 2015 – December 2018 March 2019 In production
€ 383.173 € 342.266 Salomon Partners Medical Excellence Private funding Gidalya Pictures Diplodocus LLC
€ 8.307 € 4.154 € 4.154 € 13.292 € 11.000
Budget € | BUSY INSIDE Development / Pre-Production Writer Producer/director Travel/subsistence Other: Research Materials Other: Development and Fundraising
8.972 2.344 183 11.631 € 23.130
Production Hotels, travel & food Production travel and expenses Production personnel Director Technical staff: (DOP/Sound/Light) Equipment Stock Material Broadcast requirements Other: Location Fees
28.179 3.884 16.781 14.704 34.725 16.006 1.384 18.941 2.243
€ 136.847
Post-Production Editor/editing system Sound design and mix Titles and animation Music Other: Director and Producer Other: Color Correct and Finishing
Miscellaneous Administrative Fees Overhead Contingency 7% Total budget (summed)
Olga Lvoff Director
€ 152.395
Outreach and distribution Publicity and Advertising Festivals (Applications and Travel) Community and Educational Screenings
78.376 17.196 12.877 8.307 9.969 25.670
Olga Lvoff – Director Olga Lvoff is an award-winning documentary filmmaker. Her recent full-length documentary film, When People Die They Sing Songs was nominated for a Student Oscar in 2014, won a CINE Golden Eagle Award, and participated in many festivals including DOC NYC. The film was released theatrically in Documentary Film Center (Moscow), received educational distribution all over the world, and aired in Japan on NHK World Documentary in 2015. The film was featured in The New York Times in 2015. Olga splits her time between Harlem and Moscow. Busy Inside is her first feature.
Victor Ilyukhin Producer
25.753 4.154 4.154 € 34.061
11.672 € 11.672
25.068 € 25.068 € 383.173
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ROUND TABLE
DIRECTOR Eva
Family on the Run “Family on The Run” is a film about
one of the most relevant political
topics at the moment: refugees. But
it is also a love story describing a
family’s fight for a life together.
Synopsis
It is winter in Istanbul. A plane from Teheran has just landed. A couple – Leila and Abdullah – have succeeded in fleeing Iran with their five-year-old son, Mani, without being arrested. In Iran, they committed a crime. Leila and Abdullah had a secret love affair, while being married to other people, and in Iran they were not allowed to get divorced. Neither could they tell their son, that he was an illegitimate child, since adultery can be punished with the death penalty in Iran. So, up till the escape Mani had only known his biological father as ‘uncle’. We have followed the family, since they spent their first night in a cheap hotel in Istanbul, their numerous trips to the UN office to plea for asylum, and their struggle to form a normal family life for the very first time. After three years, Leila and Mani obtain refugee status approved by the UN, but Abdullah is rejected because he has been an informer for the intelligence service back in Iran. He was a small fish among the bad guys, snitching on students and strangers. He claims, that he was forced to do so and didn’t have a choice, but his attempt to ‘go clear’ and plea for asylum in the free world is not successful. Abdullah appeals the UN rejection, and starts to investigate the reason why they won’t approve him. Soon he is involuntarily enrolled in a world of money laundering, black mailing and espionage.
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Mulvad
PRODUCTION Danish Documentary Production STATUS In Production COUNTRY Denmark
FORMAT HD Cam | 90’ & 58’ | DCP PITCH TYPE Round Table
Abdullah’s past, as an informer, is not easy to escape, and the family is to this day stuck in a Kafkaesque scenario, where the faceless UN-system and Iranian spies become unanimous enemies of the family’s future. They are still in Istanbul and have only a small chance to be relocated. Family on The Run is a very intimate story and easy to identify with. The mother Leila is strong, transparent and very likeable, while Abdullah is more complex. Their son Mani is innocent and a measure for whether the escape was successful or not. They are all very expressive characters, without any fear of sharing their dreams, hopes, paranoia, frustration sadness and love. This film is a strong love story on a backdrop of the current political landscapes: the enormous humanitarian crises of the Syrian War, resulting in an overwhelming number of refugees, which leave all others last in line, the rise of Erdogan’s dictatorship in Turkey and Trump’s immigration ban in the States.
Project Description
This film shows what it’s like to flee and have to start over again in an unknown country and establish a daily routine there. We experience this through a “modern” family which has fled, not from war and devastation, but for other reasons. There are no bombs falling, no death waiting on the Mediterranean, instead we follow a mother and a father, who have had an affair outside of marriage, and now have a child – a bastard – that they can’t raise in their home country of Iran. A country they have been forced to flee to avoid social exclusion – or stoning. Our story is focused on their struggle to keep their love alive, and on the all-encompassing care and concern for their child born under all the wrong circumstances, in a conservative and extremely religious society. We believe that these universal aspects of our story are strong enough to make the audience identify with the family. Through their
eyes, the viewer will experience the life of a refugee from the inside. We find great strength in the scenes of daily life, where you really feel the weight of the difficult situation the family finds itself in – be it arguments about the choices they need to make, or simple things like arranging a birthday party. Here one feels the loneliness, the powerlessness, the absence of family, the poverty and the fight for a normal life in an uncertain and precarious constellation as a new family in a foreign country. The overriding emotion of the film is love: The family’s love for each other is pure and touching, and instantly recognizable, despite the cultural roadblocks which threaten it. Much of the strongly emotional material plays out around the boy. The uncertainty regarding his future is evident in his parents’ concern. Today, he is ten-year-old, without rights or security – just one of many in the enormous lottery of refugees. One among the more than 20 million displaced children around the world, who live life constantly on the run, eking out an uncertain existence somewhere in the world. These years, we see many strong and highly relevant stories from war zones and refugee camps. This story is not inherently as dramatic; on its surface, it is more subtle, with the drama unfolding between the characters, in their reckoning with the past, their escape from a fundamentalist regime, their fight to remain love for each other, and to secure their son a proper future. It is an intimate story with very expressive central characters fighting for their right to be a family. Family on the Run is, first and foremost, a love story, set amid the uncertainty of refugee life.
A review of the material clearly shows that the mother Leila is the character easiest to like and to empathize with. There is something very pure about her, and she is forthright and expressive of her emotions. Her love and care for Mani is touching and easy to understand, and she is very believable in her analyses of the family’s situation. The things that plague her are of a private, emotional nature. She is haunted by shame, guilt, and loss. She has lost her daily life with her family in Iran, and instead has made a life for herself with a husband and child. This makes it very easy to judge her reactions. You’re never in doubt as to whether she is telling the truth, and viewers quickly drop their guard when they sense that she doesn’t have many skeletons in the closet. Her husband is another story. Abdullah is a very complex character. In front of the camera, he often seems obsessed with getting his political messages across, or else he seems lost in long explanations of simple matters. Abdullah has a dark side, which comes across when he feels pressured and frustrated. He is struggling with his role as a father, as a refugee with a problematic political past, and with finding his way in daily life in a family with children. Mani is the innocent child, whose joy and happiness becomes a measure for whether things are going well or badly for the family. He is at once their hope and greatest concern. He is a schoolboy who speaks and writes Turkish. He has friends and has settled down in Istanbul. As a character, he serves to help gauge whether the family’s escape from Iran was worth it – his mood, happiness, and success serve as an indicator of whether the story will have a happy ending or not.
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RO Biographies
Sigrid Jonsson Dyekjær – Producer
Sigrid Jonsson Dyekjær Producer
Eva Mulvad Director
Sigrid Jonsson Dyekjær, PGA has produced more than 20 documentary films during the last 17 years. She is one of the most experienced producers in Denmark, when it comes to financing and production of international documentary films. She has also experience with the serial format, both from Bugs (2016) by Andreas Johnsen and with the coming Scandinavian Star (in development) by Mikala Krogh. Because of her brilliant international track-record, and the great success of Hanna Polak’s Something Better to Come, Sigrid was accepted as a member in the renowned Producers Guild of America in 2016. In 2015, she was awarded the Ib Award, given by the Danish Directors Association to honor the best producer in the Danish film industry.
Danish Documentary Production – Production Company
Danish Documentary Production is co-owned and run by three awardwinning directors, and their producer: director Pernille Rose Grønkjær: The Monastery – Mr. Vig and the Nun (IDFA winner), Love Addict, Genetic Me, by director Eva Mulvad: A Modern Man (CPH:DOX competition 2017), The Good Life (winner of Karlovy Vary, and Doc Alliance award), Enemies of Happiness (Sundance & IDFA winner), by director Mikala Krogh: A Normal Life (CPH:DOX Audience Award), Cairo Garbage, Everything is Relative, The Newsroom- off the record, and by producer Sigrid Jonsson Dyekjær, PGA: Ai Wei Wei - The Fake Case, Something Better to Come, The Newsroom – off the record, Bugs, Amateurs in Space and many more.
Eva Mulvad – Director
Eva Mulvad graduated as documentary film director from the Danish Film School in 2001. From here she embarked on her career, winning the Nordivision Award for Best Documentary in 2005 for her poetic portrait of aging The Last Dance. Mulvad’s The Good Life (2010), was screened at IDFA and won the Best Documentary Award at Karlovy Vary. While working on The Good Life Eva also made The Samurai Case, the first film to follow a Danish trial from within the courtroom. In 2011 Mulvad received the prestigious Roos Award for her entire filmic oeuvre. Most recently Mulvad released the film A Modern Man (2017), which in a sincere and beautiful way portrays the life of the internationally acclaimed violinist Charlie Siem.
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Production Details | FAMILY ON THE RUN PRODUCTION COMPANY Danish Documentary Production Kvæsthusgade 5C, 1st. floor 1251 Copenhagen Denmark
[email protected] +45 26162535 www.danishdocumentary.com
CREDITS
Sigrid Jonsson Dyekjær Comedian Mind (2017/Producer) A Modern Man (2017/Producer) Bugs (2016/Producer) DIRECTOR: Eva Mulvad A Modern Man (2017/Director) The Good Life (2010/Director) Enemies of Happiness (2006/Director) EXECUTIVE PRODUCTION: Mikala Krogh, Pernille Rose Grønkjær, Eva Mulvad, Sigrid Jonsson Dyekjær – Danish Documentary Production DISTRIBUTOR/SALES: Salma Abdalla – Autlook Filmsales SCREENPLAY: Eva Mulvad – Danish Documentary Production EDITING: Adam Nielsen, Thor Ochsner PRODUCTION:
PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED BROADCASTERS OTHER FINANCIERS
Budget €
January 2018 – January 2019 February 2019 In production
€ 567.380 € 351.518 DR Anders Bruus Danish Film Institute Anders Riis-Hansen Creative Europe Private funding
| FAMILY ON THE RUN
Development / Pre-Production Writer Producer/director Preproduction Cast
670 140.885 8.712 4.021 € 154.288
Production Hotels, travel & food Production travel and expenses Production personnel Technical staff: (DOP/Sound/Light) Equipment Materials Location
€ 5.000 € 116.662 € 87.500 € 6.700
18.868 5.897 14.476 20.107 23.324 2.681 1.340
€ 86.693
Post-Production Post-Production facilities Post-Production saleries Post-Production lab+edit Music Insurance Miscellaneous Total fringes Overhead Administration 10 % Contingency 10 % Producers fee 5 % Total budget (summed)
44.704 100.537 22.521 16.823 8.043 € 192.628
20.296 € 20.296
45.390 45.390 22.695 € 113.475 € 567.380
ROUND TABLE
DIRECTOR Engeli
Broberg
PRODUCTION House of Real STATUS Development
COUNTRY Sweden, Denmark
FORMAT HD | 75’ & 90’, 58’ &
Gabi From age eight to thirteen we follow
Gabi, a child refusing to be put in a
box, who is struggling to find a place
in a gender confirmative society.
Synopsis
“Everyone thinks I’m trying to be a boy but I’m not. I can’t, I can only be Gabi”. [With no English pronoun to describe Gabi, we will use s/he and her.] At 8 Gabi feels that s/he is different from other girls and often reflects on her behavior. For Gabi, her way of being is perfectly natural. S/he is not afraid to speak her mind when it comes to what s/he thinks is wrong with the world, and in particular, how there should be no differences between boys and girls. In school however, s/he is teased for wearing boys underpants and falling in love with girls, but the biggest conflict comes from the school staff, and other adults outside of her family, who want to shape Gabis’ behavior in ways that s/he finds constrictive. S/he therefore lashes out repeatedly and after an incident where her teacher declares her behavior as ‘not being acceptable for a girl’, Gabis’ family decides to change schools. Gabis’ full name is Gabriella Jude Fletcher, but as a 9 year old, s/he would rather be named something cool like Brad, Mike or Paulo, just like her biological father. Gabi has never met Paulo, but thinks a lot about him - imagining how it would be to be with him and that her personality traits, the ones s/he does not detect in her mother, comes from him.
60’ | Digital file
GENRES
• Youth • Human Interest / Social Issues PITCH TYPE Round Table
Her best friend, Henry, gets tired of hearing her talk about her father, and boys versus girls, but most of all he thinks that s/he is the best - being both braver and louder than him. Gabi lives with her stepfather Thomas and mother, Tracy. Thomas is unemployed, job searching, but dreams of being a stay-at-home-dad, spending his days with the kids playing video games. Gabi’s mother Tracy, an English teacher and former musician, battles with the alienation that comes with being from England and not speaking Swedish fluently. The balance between being supportive of Gabi expressing who s/he is, and being afraid of the responses s/he might receive from people, is a struggle for the parents to navigate. When Gabi is ten the family moves to Mora, a small town in northern Sweden. Gabi struggles to get accepted in this new place where everybody has known each other since birth. S/ he misses Henry and spends most of her time alone playing video games. Gabi is now eleven and her body is starting to show early signs of puberty. At the same time kids are becoming more divided into girls and boys, being more intrigued by falling in love and the opposite sex. Entering puberty, Gabi is losing control. S/he feels alienated with her friends at school and her changing body. Time is now her worst enemy. We will continue to follow Gabi until s/he is 13.
Project Description
A film about a child cannot be made without involving the family and others around her. Gabis’ entire family is very supportive of the film and has opened up their home to Engeli both as a filmmaker and as a friend. In addition to this we have full access to both her school and after school activities. IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
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With Gabi not being an adult, it is very important to think about where s/he is in life and the consequences of being part of this film - now and in the future. To ensure Gabi and her family feel included, we have been very transparent with what we are capturing on film and what it means to be in a film. They acknowledges the importance of the film which they feel is helping to create awareness and understanding of other children in similar situations. They want no other child to be treated the way Gabi has been treated in school. To give Gabi the freedom to be whoever s/he wants to be, now and in the future, we are telling a story about a person who is struggling to find her place. Meaning, we are not interested in labeling her. The film is not about finding ones gender, but the right to be who you want to be. Who Gabi is and will be is her choice. The point of the film is to raise questions such as: ‘What is gender?’ ‘Can it maybe even be fluid?’ ‘How do we behave when someone is different from the norm?’ We want to explore how gender structures affect a child who does not identify with the norm, during a time in life when identity and sense of belonging becomes increasingly important. It is impossible to predict what will happen to Gabi in the future, but we can be certain that during the five years we are following her, a lot will take place. Gabis’ way of identifying might change over time, even after the film is done. Therefore it is important to create a film where Gabi has room to change both while we are filming but also after the film is done. By interweaving vérité footage from Gabis’ everyday life with interviews, her observations and reactions to her environment, and vice versa, the film depicts Gabi’s story during a very transformative part of life. The interviews with Gabi will be used as a voice over with her observations of adult life, gender, her peers, herself and what s/he views as right and wrong with the world. Other characters in the film such as family and classmates, will be interviewed for research purposes, to demonstrate how they see and react to Gabi, however this will be shown through live action scenes, and not interviews. The photography will emphasize Gabis’ perspective by using a handheld camera at her eye level with short depth of field, soft muted colors, and by following her closely to give it a cinematic look, while at the same time creating the feeling of being in her world. Throughout the film, we will move between being inside
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Gabis’ thoughts and inner world, to the experiences s/he has in the world outside of herself. As s/he grows, s/he will become increasingly aware of the life outside school and family. These changes will be brought to light through the sound work. To start, we will exist in Gabis’ world, where the sound work is built upon a combination of voiceover and music which is made to empathize her feeling of being protected in a space that s/he can somewhat control. As the film progresses and Gabi gets older, the environmental sound will become stronger and more present, making her more aware of the world outside, and the one thing s/he has no control over- puberty. The cinematic feel of Gabi is an adult visual language that makes it accessible for an adult audience. At the same time Gabi is told from a child’s’ perspective, which makes it equally accessible for both children and adults. An example of another film who has this combination is for instance the film Bully . The plan is to continue filming more frequently now when Gabi is approaching puberty, until the end of production in 2019. Editing will be done simultaneously to handle all material that is produced over the 5 years of filming. In 2020 we will finalize the editing of the film, as well as the rest of the post production. Gabi is a universal film with a huge potential audience, which means that we will work both with traditional distribution, outreach/impact and audience engagement. Most societies are built on the premise that there are two kinds of human beings, women and men. Being defined by our physical body affects our personalities, how we behave and our position in society. People who act outside this thought pattern, this norm, are regarded as different. An example is Gabi. S/he goes against the preconceived notions of how a girl should ‘be’ and this leads to her constantly needing to defend herself and her behavior. This harms her, and all other children who do not fit in. It is urgent that we start to question the way we interpret gender; that we start to question the norm by which we are living.
Biographies
Production Details | GABI PRODUCTION COMPANY House of Real Furesøvej 161 2830 Virum Denmark
CREDITS PRODUCTION:
Anna Ljungmark – Producer Anna is one of Scandinavia’s most progressive producers with a special focus on creative storytelling and new media. She has previously founded arenas such as BoostHbg and SWIM, Scandinavian World of Innovative Media. Today she is co-founder of the Danish/ Swedish company House of Real. Anna has been a part of the film industry since 1994, mainly working as a producer, consultant and commissioning editor. She has her heart in creative development.
www.houseofreal.dk
[email protected] +46 723999033
[email protected] +46 761898786
Anna J. Ljungmark, Jacob Eklund ANNA LJUNGMARK
Venus - let’s talk about sex (2016/ Producer) Dream Empire (2016/development consultant) Syriatypes (transmedia) (2017/Creative Producer) Afripedia dancebattle 360 (VR) (Producer) JACOB EKLUND
DIRECTOR:
EDITING: PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED OTHER FINANCIERS
Homo Sacer (2015/Producer) Kjell (2015/Producer) A scene (2014/Producer) Engeli Broberg The Last Dance (2017/director) Gone (2015/director) Happy End- A documentary about aging in the Nordic countries (2015/ Director/DoP) Therese Elfström 2018 – January 2020 January 2021 Development
€ 438.997 € 395.250 Swedish film Institute Klara Grunning Film i Dalarna Mattias J Skoglund Filmbasen
€ 35.934 € 5.246 € 2.567
Budget € | GABI Development / Pre-Production Producer/director (whole project) 148.871 Travel/subsistence 20.524 Reaserch filming 10.000
€ 179.395
Production Production travel and expenses Hotels, travel & food 19.917 Production personnel 60.071 Technical staff: (DOP/Sound/Light) 10.000 Equipment 26.874 Stock Material 1.232
€ 118.094
Post-Production Editor/editing system/facilitys 33.162 Sound design and mix 9.856 Lab and digital post-production /staff and facilities 11.858 Music Travel accomedation /per diem
14.887 739 € 70.502
Miscellaneous Marketing Export Other costs Overhead Overhead Contingency Inscurance Total budget (summed)
6.416 3.583 16.512 € 26.511
10.000 30.390 4.106 € 44.496 € 438.997
Jacob Eklund – Producer Jacob Eklund began his career producing music videos in 2009. For the last seven years Jacob has produced film, TV and commercials, mainly for the production companies Acne Film and B-reel Films in Stockholm. In 2015 Jacob post-produced the feature-length documentary Homo Sacer by Lode Kylenstjerna which premiered at CPH:DOX. Jacob’s willingness to constantly evolve coupled with his openness and motivation makes him an amazing asset to the film and a great collaborator. Engeli Broberg – Director Engeli is a director driven by themes and topics such as loneliness, exclusion, and identity. In her film Happy End , she explore these matters by following characters at Nordic nursing homes. In The Last Dance she explored similar themes through the perspective of retired dancers who solely identify with their profession.
Anna J. Ljungmark Producer
Jacob Eklund Producer
Engeli Broberg Director
Therese Elfström – Editor The team also include Therese Elfström, editor and a member of SFK (Swedish Film Editors Association). She edited her first award-winning feature, The Girl, in 2009 and has since then edited numerous feature films, shorts and commercials but her main focus lies in editing documentaries. In 2017 she won a Gudlbagge (the Swedish equivalent of the Academy Awards) for best film editing of the documentary Martha and Niki. Martha and Niki also got awarded with a guldbagge for best documentary. House of Real – Production Company House of Real is a Danish/Swedish production company that produces high-end documentary filmmaking with grand selection of films from Dream Emipre to Venus - let’s talk about sex.
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ROUND TABLE
DIRECTOR Alejandro
Quijano
PRODUCTION Casatarantula STATUS In Production COUNTRY Colombia
FORMAT Full HD | 72’ | DCP
The Invisible Border This immersive documentary portrays
the daily life of an Afro-Colombian
community living in a context of cyclical violence within invisible
borders, where there is no way out.
Synopsis
In the Colombian Pacific coast there is an Afro-Colombian population living in the midst of a cyclical violence. Modern slavery in sugar cane fields as the only labor alternative, extreme poverty, State’s abandonment, and revenge — transmitted from generation to generation— have led the youth to organize into gangs. Each gang lives locked inside its own “invisible border”: imaginary lines that define their territory. It is there where, day after day, they kill each other. Poncho, the most feared killer of the neighborhood, is the point of reference that allows us to immerse in this universe; it is through him that we are able to see. With Poncho we have access to different situations, that articulated, allow us to live in this world without escape: a jail of invisible bars. Sequence to sequence, the daily life of the community is portrayed, permeated at all levels by violence. As time goes on, tension increases and creates a sense of suffocating closure -the same this community lives in, where “the only way out is prison, death or a wheelchair”, as Poncho says.
Project Description
Director’s Note The current talk in Colombia on peace and post-conflict ignores other types of violence and wars. To achieve true peace, we must take into account all the actors in the Colombian conflict. War begins in the most abandoned places, which is precisely why it is vital to engage in the
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GENRES
• Human Interest / Social Issues • Author’s Point of View • Youth PITCH TYPE Round Table
regions that have remained hidden and marginalized for so long. It is tempting to turn to crime when you live in absolute abandonment and cannot find a decent job. Exposing a world without possibilities or hope, whose inhabitants live eternally on the edge, led me to question whether any possible solution exists. My goal is to represent not the invisible boundaries, but instead the visible cycle that continues to go unnoticed. This cycle of violence exists and those trapped inside it are aware of it. They recognize the problem, their own misery and apathy, but cannot find an alternative. The social acceptance of violence by a community, and -even worse- their resignation to it, is a phenomenon that must be exposed. When you enter a community living outside every parameter established by society it’s like arriving in a different world. In Puerto Tejada, everything socially incorrect is acceptable and part of day-to-day life. The swing between good and evil and the freedom of illegality are to an extent visible proof of the human horror. To know something, you must first observe it, which led me, as a documentary filmmaker, to commit to observing a misunderstood phenomenon. Access and safety Generally speaking, no one is welcome in this territory. My passage was made possible by the ‘Legion del Afecto’, a group of victims and perpetrators who once embodied the terror in the neighborhoods and war, but managed to channel this criminality into alternative languages such as dance, music, graffiti, painting, theater, juggling, etc. They are known as “Jupiterians” –visitors from another planet that come to achieve something impossible here. The Legion is well received by the entire community, including criminals, so I was granted protection and unheard of access to both victims and perpetrators. I’m considered just another “Jupiterian” and my film is just another alternative language. There are strict codes in these areas and nobody dares transgress them because they know the consequences. An established hierarchical structure dictates that gang leaders
are in command and make the rules. In this case, Poncho, the neighborhood gang leader, has ordered everyone to watch over my safety. Visual Treatment This is an immersive documentary: the camera is part of the situation, it observes, it listens and it breathes. Prolonged sequence shots allow for intimate involvement in the events and provide a glimpse of daily life. These sequences are static, shot from an open window, for example, and allow for observation of actions and dialogues. But when the action is violent and dynamic the camera becomes versatile, adapts, composes, hesitates, and turns subjective. Production team The film crew is just me: it would have been risky to bring a larger crew along and would have limited the intimacy that I had when approaching people. Photography When there are many people, close medium shots dominate. This allows us to see how are their relationships, as well as the degrees of power between them. Close-ups are used when a character is alone, reflecting his introspection and sense of imprisonment. Neither the camera nor my presence intervenes in the development of the scenes. It is, however, necessary at times to abandon this observational stance in order to develop the story. I become an interlocutor and talk with them. Music plays a fundamental role in the story. Poncho uses it to break through the fourth wall. He suddenly begins to sing, facing the camera, directly to the viewer, making him feel disturbed and uncomfortable, forced to react intensely
and emotionally. For the first time, a killer is looking him in the eye while singing a horrifying song. This creates a sense of urgency: there is no escape. This is “cinema of the real”, where the viewer is drawn into the story and the cinematic space, to experience the characters’ reality. Most of the documentary takes place in a single location: Poncho’s barbershop. This barbershop is an enclosed space representing imprisonment and with the passage of time and the repetition of days, the place emanates a kind of claustrophobia. Sound Direct sound will be used to reinforce the sense of immersive cinema. Any music will be recorded at the moment. Ambient sound will include children playing in the distance, Poncho’s TV (always on), and music, which plays a very important role and is always present. When there is no dialogue, song lyrics will be subtitled on the screen. These lyrics represent their ambiguity: sometimes very violent rap songs and other times salsa love songs. Editing The film will be structured by recreating the passing of time: from day-to-day. The narration will be developed by sequences that, one after the other, create the sensation of being in that community, with no way out. At the beginning we feel attracted to this esthetics (the music, the bodies, the weapons). Like a staircase, each sequence takes us to a higher level: as we climb, the tension of that violent ambient leaves us breathless, asphyxiated. As we felt attracted to them in the beginning, at the end we feel trapped by their violence, but also responsible for it.
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RO Biographies
Nicolás Van Hemelryck – Producer
Nicolás Van Hemelryck Producer
Nicolás Van Hemelryck is a filmmaker, photographer and architect. He is co-founder of Casatarantula where he currently produces and co-produces several features. His debut Amazona premiered at IDFA 2016. He constantly goes to markets and encounters around the globe.
Clare Weiskopf – Producer
Clare Weiskopf is a filmmaker and a journalist. She has worked on themes ranging from sexual violence as a weapon of war to the spread of cumbia music through the world. She is co-founder of Casatarantula where she works both as a director and a producer, and was winner of the Colombian National Journalism Award twice. Her debut Amazona premiered at IDFA 2016. Clare Weiskopf Producer
Alejandro Quijano Director
CasaTarántula – Production Company
CasaTarántula is a Colombian film production company specialized in author-driven documentaries. It combines the experience of Clare Weiskopf and Nicolás Van Hemelryck, who have worked for over 10 years in the design, development and production of audiovisuals. The company was created in 2014 to produce Amazona, their first featurelength documentary that premiered at IDFA and won the Audience Award at the Cartagena International Film Festival (FICCI 2017), the Andriy Mastorov Award in Docudays UA (Ukraine) and was the opening film at DocsBarcelona. Their projects have received the support from the IDFA Bertha Fund, the Tribeca Film Institute, and the Colombian Film Fund (Proimagenes), and have been selected for IDFAcademy, Dok. Incubator, Tribeca-TFI Network, and DocMontevideo Pitching Forum, among others. Both Clare and Nicolas are founding members of DOC.CO, a collective of documentary filmmakers in Colombia.
Alejandro Quijano – Director
Alejandro Quijano is a visual artist focused on photography and storytelling. He has a special interest in giving a voice and face to discriminated communities. He began the audiovisual site of Las2orillas, the most important independent journal in Colombia, but finally divorced from journalism. His project The Invisible Border won Best Pitch in DocMontevideo 2017 and was selected for Dok. Leipzig Copro Market 2017. He has been director and DOP of several documentary projects: Luces en Huelga (2013, 16’), Piedras y Espinas (2014, 16’), Samnyasin The Path of Renunciation (2014, 16’, DOP) and the documentary series Pajaros de Alas Rotas (2016).
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Production Details | THE INVISIBLE BORDER PRODUCTION COMPANY Casatarantula Cra 25 # 40-56 ap 301 NA Bogota Colombia
CREDITS PRODUCTION:
DIRECTOR: EDITING: PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED OWN INVESTMENT
www.casatarantula.co
[email protected] +57 3132331717
[email protected] +57 3214904588
Nicolás Van Hemelryck, Clare Weiskopf Homo Botanicus (2018 / producer) Amazona (2016 / director / producer / dop / sound / writing) Alejandro Quijano This is the director’s first feature-length documentary. Gustavo Vasco February 2017 – August 2018 August 2018 In production
€ 183.882 € 153.882 Casatarantula Alejandro Quijano
€ 15.000 € 15.000
Budget € | THE INVISIBLE BORDER Development / Pre-Production Writer Producer/director Travel/subsistence Camera tests/Hard drives Translations and copies Teaser editing Production Archival rights & reproduction Hotels, travel & food Production travel and expenses Production personnel Director and producer Equipment Translations
1.515 9.091 2.424 2.348 242 909 € 16.530
3.030 6.364 2.424 10.606 12.121 1.212 758 € 38.030
Post-Production Editor/editing system 16.667 Sound design and mix 14.242 Director/Producer 13.939 Postproduction coordinator 11.485 Editing Consultant 3.515 Color, conform, finalization, hard drives, master and deliveries 18.182 € 78.030
Outreach and distribution Promotion and disitribution (Only Colombia) Miscellaneous Financial costs Legal consultant Overhead Overhead 12% Contingency 5 % Total budget (summed)
21.212 € 21.212
1.364 1.515 € 2.879
19.200 8.000 € 27.200 € 183.882
ROUND TABLE
DIRECTOR Mila Turajlic PRODUCTION Dribbling Pictures STATUS In Production
COUNTRY Serbia, France FORMAT HD | 95’ | DCP
The Labudovic Reels (working title) An archival road trip with Stevan
Labudovic, cameraman of Yugoslav
President Tito and cinematic
eye of the Algerian revolution,
investigating the role of cinema in the liberation movements of
the Third World and the birth of
Synopsis
the Non- Aligned Movement.
In an unexplored vault in Belgrade, the capital of the former Yugoslavia, lies a collection of films known as ‘the Labudovic reels’. On them are images of African and Asian liberation movements and revolutionary leaders that defined the era of the 60s and 70s, from guerilla actions of Mosambique’s FRELIMO to footage of PLO training camps. How is it that the archive of these revolutions lies on another continent, forgotten in a film archive? The answer to this question takes us into the story behind the images, on an intimate voyage with the man who filmed them. Stevan Labudovic was assigned at the age of 27 to be the cameraman of Yugoslav president Tito. For more than two decades he travelled with Tito on ‘Voyages of Peace’ - trips undertaken to newly-independent countries during which the Non-Aligned Movement was born. From Burma to Mali, from Ethiopia to Indonesia and the halls of the United Nations, Labudovic’s camera captured an era of politics, personality and promise. He claims that when he filmed people through a 50mm lens, he could read their soul. But was this the case when he was filming Ho Chi Minh, Nehru, Nasser, Sukharno, Kwame Nkrumah, Fidel Castro, JFK, Emperor Haile Selassie, Kim Jong Il, Saddam Hussein, Shah Reza Pahlavi, Colonel Qaddafi?
GENRES
• Human Interest / Social Issues • Politics / Society • History PITCH TYPE Round Table
While unknown in Serbia, where he lives today at the age of 90 on the outskirts of Belgrade, in Algeria Stevan is celebrated as ‘the cinematic eye of the Algerian revolution’. Sent on a mission by President Tito to support the war of independence by providing them with images of their struggle, Stevan continued to use his camera as a weapon of solidarity filming with liberation movements. The Labudovic Reels is built on the trove of archive filmed by Stevan Labudovic in the Non-Aligned world. As the last living cameraman of the newsreels, Labudovic takes us on an intimate voyage through a life dedicated to the filmed image. Through the friendship that develops with the young director the question of the role of the camera in defining a political moment comes to the fore, and a handover between two generations of filmmakers plays out. A story of a political movement emerges through its cinematic legacy, reminding us that epic ideas are born in the heart of adversity and that such ideas have the power to change the world.
Project Description
Director’s note When I was 10 years old, my class was taken from school one day to line the main street of Belgrade and wave. It was 1989, and Belgrade was hosting the summit of the NonAligned Movement. Our job was to welcome Gaddafi, the Libyan president, who had just arrived, bringing 6 camels as a gift to the Belgrade zoo. I knew nothing about Gaddafi, but I was very excited to see those camels. Growing up, the Non-Aligned Movement stayed with me as an impression of exciting and exotic energy, gathering people who took pride in dressing in their local clothes and not the uniform suitand-tie costume of the West, and this spirit is something I have wanted to explore in a film for a long time. A few years ago I was invited to the Festival of Engaged Cinema in Algiers with my film Cinema Komunisto. Stevan Labudovic was there as the festival’s guest of honor. IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
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Everywhere we went Stevan was greeted with deep respect, from ordinary people to generals and former ministers. I began to understand that the power of the links that were created at that moment in history was still present today. And I realized that if this Third World* movement had always fascinated me, it was because I felt that it still had the power to inspire. And in the current situation where the international community is falling apart, as the superpowers seem intent on igniting a new Cold War, I feel the time to make this film has arrived, to remind people that there was a third way, there was another voice, and other possibilities. *The term ‘Third World’ was initially coined in 1952 by economist and geographer Alfred Sauvy in a political characterisation of distinction from the two great powers: ‘This third world ignored, exploited, despised like the third estate also wants to be something.’ Frantz Fannon would reclaim this term as a badge of honor to delineate a new political vision, non-aligned to either of the two blocs. Though the term has shifted to be seen as a disparaging way of describing ‘developing countries’, part of this film’s aim is to reclaim the proud heritage of that concept. Treatment During the Cold War, Yugoslav filmmakers enjoyed a special position in-between. Their solidarity with anti-imperial and socialist struggles opened the doors to countries closed off to the foreign press. Stevan is a unique main character of this archive-based documentary, as he comments on his own images, providing us with an insight behind-thescenes. Moreover, as cameraman of the president he had privileged access to the great personalities of the day. The emotional core of this film is the evolving relationship between Stevan and myself. During my repeated visits to his apartment in Belgrade, where I would film his recollections,
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or dig through his personal archive, he began not only gave me pointers on what to shoot with a bit of friendly sarcasm, but also deepen my dedication to filmmaking as a political struggle. From questions of history and legacy that open the film we progress to more personal considerations. My visits to his apartment provide the architecture of the film, sparking a flashback into archival scenes. Other times my visits serve as preparations for my travels to countries he had travelled to, which is where we build the links of the history with the present. The narration unfolds thematically rather than chronologically. The historic background of the story is narrated not only by Stevan, but also by the voiceovers in the newsreels themselves, whose specific vocabulary also speaks to the ideology of those times. Through extensive archive research of Yugoslav but also Indian, Indonesian, Cuban and European archives, the different narrations of key historical events will be juxtaposed, revealing the battle of information taking place to win over global public opinion to the cause of decolonialisation and greater justice at the UN. Archival images conveying the energy and swell of public enthusiasm that marked the era will be contrasted with travels to these countries in the present-day. At the start of the film Stevan and I travel together, and later on I travel alone, going to India, Algeria and the United Nations in New York. Thus the film retraces the scale of Tito’s extraordinary voyages, creating a cinematic map of the Third World. Marking the places that played a role in the history of the Non-Aligned movement, I will seek out people who can help me retrace the legacy of this extraordinary project and the spell this political vision still casts today.
Biographies
Production Details | THE LABUDOVIC REELS (WORKING TITLE) PRODUCTION COMPANY Dribbling Pictures Bitoljska 2 11030 Belgrade Serbia
CREDITS PRODUCTION:
DIRECTOR: CO-PRODUCTION: PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED BROADCASTERS OTHER FINANCIERS
www.dribblingpictures.com
[email protected] +381 63302345 www.dissimila.rs
Mila Turajlic The Other Side of Everything (2017 / producer) Cinema Komunisto (2011 / producer) Mila Turajlic Survivance – Carine Chichkowsky – France January 2017 – August 2018 September 2018 In production
€ 464.750 € 295.000 Arte / ZDF Anne-Kathrin Brinkmann Knowledge Network Rudy Buttignol Film Center Serbia Boban Jevtic Creative Europe Isabelle Houman CNC Afridocs Don Edkins
€ 65.000 € 4.250 € 57.000 € 25.000 € 16.000 € 2.500
Budget € | THE LABUDOVIC REELS (WORKING TITLE) Development / Pre-Production Writer 10.000 Producer/director 20.000 Travel/subsistence 18.500 Archival research 8.000 Production financing and pitching (Ex Oriente / EAVE ) 9.000 Pitching trailer shoot and edit
6.000 € 71.500
Production Archival rights & reproduction (including 2K digital scan) 65.500 Hotels, travel & food 8.500 Production travel and expenses (Serbia, Algeria, NY, India, Croatia) 35.000 Production personnel Director Technical staff: (DOP/Sound/Light) Equipment Stock Material Broadcast requirements
30.000 25.000 14.000 12.000 4.000 7.000
€ 201.000
Post-Production Editor/editing system 65.000 Sound design and mix 25.000 Titles and animation 6.000 Music 16.000 Image post production (online, color correction, etc) 22.000 Outreach and distribution Website, marketing materials Educational package Overhead Overhead 5% Contingency 5% Total budget (summed)
€ 134.000
7.000 9.000 € 16.000
21.125 21.125 € 42.250 € 464.750
Mila Turajlic – Producer & Director Mila Turajlic is a documentary filmmaker from Belgrade, Serbia, whose film Cinema Komunisto premiered at IDFA and the Tribeca Film Festival, and went on to win 15 awards including top prize at the Chicago International Film Festival in 2011, and the FOCAL Award for Creative Use of Archival Footage. Her most recent film The Other Side of Everything premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2017. After obtaining a degree in politics and international relations at the London School of Economics, Mila left her activities in student debate and acitivism in the belief that art would always be more subversive than politics. She specialised in documentary filmmaking at La Fémis in Paris and gained experience on series for Discovery and ARTE, as well as fiction films; Apocalypto (Mel Gibson), Brothers Bloom (Rian Johnson). She is an alumni of EURODOC, Berlin Talent Campus, Discovery Campus, and teaches at Archidoc and the Balkan Documentary Center. Mila produces the ‘Magnificent 7 Festival of European Documentary Films’ in Belgrade since 2005, and is a founder of DokSerbia, the association of Serbian documentary filmmakers.
Mila Turajlic Producer/Director
Carine Chichkowsky Co-producer
Carine Chichkowsky – Co-producer After a career in sales and marketing in machinery industry in Canada, Carine Chichkowsky decided to work for her passion, cinema and documentary films. She went on to be production manager for several companies producing short movies, videoclips and documentaries for almost ten years. Since 2009, she followed for the Films de la Villa the production and distribution of Mafrouza, a monumental documentary cycle of 5X150’, Golden Leopard in Locarno Film Festival. Together with Guillaume Morel, in 2010 she founded Survivance, an independent production and distribution company. She graduated in 1996 with a double Master Degree in Business and Administration from Laval University in Quebec and from the Grenoble Business School. In 2008, she graduated with a Master Degree in documentary cinema from Paris 7 University. She is an alumni of EURODOC and is currently completing EAVE.
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ROUND TABLE
DIRECTOR Cathryne
Czubek, Hugo Perez
PRODUCTION Salted Media
STATUS In Production
COUNTRY United States, Uganda FORMAT 4K Video | 95’ | DCP
Lights Camera Uganda Against all odds, former brickmaker
and teacher Isaac Nabwana turns
his slum into Uganda’s first action
movie studio, “Wakaliwood.” When
the international press takes
notice, things change forever.
Synopsis
Lights Camera Uganda tells the story of filmmaker Isaac Nabwana, founder of the ‘Wakaliwood’ action movie studio in Wakaliga, the slum the slum outside Uganda’s capital city Kampala, where he grew up and currently lives. Twelve years ago, Isaac was a brickmaker. One day he woke up and decided to pursue his dream of making action movies. With no money, no training and a great love of Chuck Norris, and using homemade prop guns and costumes, Isaac has made forty-six films in that time - including Uganda’s first action film Who Killed Captain Alex. This improbable accomplishment was achieved with the collaboration of aspiring action movie stars who came from all across Uganda to work with him. What started off as Isaac’s quixotic quest to make Ugandan films inspired by 80s American action movies, has evolved over time into a desire to weave his country’s difficult recent history and politics into the films that he makes. Isaac first posted his movie trailers on YouTube in 2010. They became a viral hit and an international fan-base for Wakaliwood blossomed, including one Alan Hofmanis, a film programmer from New York City. Alan was so inspired by Wakaliwood that he moved in with Isaac in Uganda to work as his collaborator. In the process, he became a Ugandan action movie star in Isaac’s films and has devoted his life to Isaac’s work and Wakaliwood. Alan feels he’s finally discovered pure cinema - something he’d been searching for his entire life.
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GENRES
• Art / Music / Culture • Politics / Society • Human Interest / Social Issues PITCH TYPE Round Table
Since 2015, major international news outlets including the BBC, CNN, VICE, Der Spiegel, the Economist, the Wall Street Journal and even Playboy have covered the underdog Cinderella story of Wakaliwood. With all of the international attention, Isaac has finally achieved recognition within Uganda for his work and dreams of using Wakaliwood’s success to build a film industry in Uganda. The film chronicles two years in the life of Wakaliwood, beginning with the last days of Wakaliwood’s ‘golden age’ before a tsunami of international media attention added the pressure of high expectations. Isaac and Alan have now embarked on Wakaliwood’s biggest production to date even as they face issues of losing collaborators who can no longer afford to work without getting paid, the threat of Wakaliwood’s home being sold out from under them, and a personal rift as they realize their individual dreams for the future and continued success of Wakaliwood may be at odds.
Project Description
Director’s Statement We were drawn to the Wakaliwood story by the sheer joy of filmmaking expressed both in front of and behind the camera: from the homegrown way that props and film equipment are made from scrap metal and wood, to the intense devotion and commitment that every member of the cast and crew has to Isaac Nabwana’s directorial vision, to the sheer adrenaline and humor that seeps out of the setpieces Isaac creates in his films. Isaac Nabwana has created more than a movie studio, he has created a dream factory that fuels the aspirations of the many who have come from all over Uganda to work with him. We were inspired by what we felt was a unique and unconventional story of Africa, and also by the opportunity to make a documentary that at times would be comic and funny in spite of the serious underlying cultural history and issues it deals with.
Through Isaac’s life story, we will look at the last halfcentury of Ugandan history and politics: the Idi Amin era, the civil war, the current President Museveni who has been in power for thirty years. Through Isaac’s films and his own efforts to deal with this history in his work, we’ll paint a picture of a society trying to move past a violent and complicated past. Making use of active interviews and re-enactments, we will have Isaac guide us through this history from the perspective of his own life experience. As we move into the present, we’ll make use of verite scenes filmed at the last presidential election, as well as the history classes taught to Isaac’s children at school to give a sense of the contemporary political landscape. And we’ll further explore Uganda’s complicated political present through a supporting character: Idi Amin’s third son Jaffar Amin, who in addition to being a fan of Wakaliwood is a political activist who promotes the idea of reconciliation with the past. All of these elements will be woven into the fabric of our narrative as background and context for the personal story of Isaac and Wakaliwood that will be our foreground narrative. This historical/political context will provide grounding and context for a documentary that will make extensive use of humor.
Our humorous approach and tone will mirror that of Isaac, the Wakaliwood community, and the films they make. Wakaliwood films are driven by a brash populist energy whose DNA is equally composed of ’80s American action movies and ’70s Shaw Brothers Kung Fu. From a stylistic perspective, our approach to shooting and editing the documentary is inspired by both Sergio Leone spaghetti westerns and the kinetic energy of Wakaliwood’s own films.
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RO Biographies
Cathryne Czubek – Producer & Director
Cathryne Czubek Producer/Director
Cathryne Czubek is the first director to ever receive a Television Academy Honor for a digital series from the Emmys for Screw You Cancer (CNÉ/ Glamour). She is the director of the feature documentary A Girl and a Gun (First Run Features/Films Transit International) that premiered at the 2012 DOC NYC film festival. In addition to documentary, she has directed branded/commercial series and spots for Porsche, Patrón, Vogue, Vanity Fair, GQ, Revlon, Tampax, and WIRED.
Hugo Perez – Producer & Director
Hugo Perez Producer/Director
Hugo Perez is Producer and Director of the feature documentaries Neither Memory Nor Magic, narrated by Patricia Clarkson and Viggo Mortensen, and Summer Sun Winter Moon, broadcast on PBS. Perez served as Executive Producer and Co-Writer of Rodrigo Reyes feature documentary Purgatorio, broadcast as part of the PBS series America ReFramed. He is currently directing The Last Diva, a concert film spotlighting Buena Vista Social Club’s Omara Portuondo. Perez is the recipient of the Estela Award for Documentary Filmmaking presented by NALIP, the Rockefeller Foundation/ Tribeca Film Institute Emerging Artist Fellowship, the HBO Short Film Award.
Gigi Dement – Producer Gigi Dement Producer
Matt Porwolll Co-producer
Gigi Dement has produced numerous award-winning films, including God of Love, winner of the 2011 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short — making her the first Filipino in history to produce an Oscar-winning film. Since then, Gigi produced the indie gem, Bastards of Young, and the critically acclaimed feature films Babygirl and The Light of the Moon. Gigi also produces commercial, branded and editorial content and is a double alumna of NYU undergraduate and graduate film, where she currently holds a faculty position.
Matt Porwoll – Co-producer & DOP
Matt Porwoll won the Emmy for best cinematography for Oscar nominated feature Cartel Land. His other work includes HBO’s Emmynominated By the People: The Election of Barack Obama.
Ark Martin – Co-producer
Ark Martin is an experienced producer for international productions in Uganda and Central Africa. As a production manager for Talking Film Productions, Uganda’s leading Ark Martin production house he has worked on Co-producer numerous productions such as the feature film Queen of Katwe, and television productions for NatGeo, Discovery, CNN, and other networks. When not on set, he’s busy working on his personal cooking show in development and hanging out with 102 IDFA Forum catalogue 2017 his family and two kids.
Production Details | LIGHTS CAMERA UGANDA PRODUCTION COMPANY Salted Media 86 Horatio Street 3D 10014 New York United States
CREDITS
www.salted-media.com
[email protected] +1 917 5841532
[email protected] +1 917 2794846
[email protected] +1 9178221654
DIRECTOR:
Cathryne Czubek, Hugo Perez, Gigi Dement Cathryne Czubek, Hugo Perez
CATHRYNE CZUBEK
PRODUCTION:
Screw You Cancer (2015/Director) A Girl and A Gun (2012/Director) HUGO PEREZ
Neither Memory Nor Magic (f2010/Director) Summer Sun Winter Moon (2010/Director)
GIGI DEMENT
PRODUCTION SCHEME
August 2015 – August 2018 November 2018 In production
God of Love (2011/Producer) Babygirl (2013/Producer) The Light of the Moon (2017/Producer) CO-PRODUCTION: Matt Porwoll – United States Talking Film Productions – Ark Martin – Uganda EXECUTIVE PRODUCTION: Sarah Dowland
RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED OTHER FINANCIERS OWN INVESTMENT
€ 845.550 € 643.063 Chicken & Egg Pictures Jenni Wolfson New York State Council for the Arts Salted Media M30A Films
€ 29.081 € 20.772 € 95.552 € 34.299
Budget € | LIGHTS CAMERA UGANDA Development / Pre-Production Writer Producer/director Travel/subsistence Script & Title Clearance Miscellaneous
0 112.172 34.291 2.742 1.674 € 150.879
Production Archival rights & reproduction 29.081 Hotels, travel & food 31.574 Production travel and expenses 36.197 Production personnel 38.286 Director 104.692 Technical staff: (DOP/Sound/Light) 48.843 Equipment 85.588 Stock Material 2.825 Broadcast requirements 6.855 Props for Re-Enactments 589
€ 384.529
Post-Production Editor/editing system Sound design and mix Titles and animation Music Post Production Film & Lab Outreach and distribution Fundraising Events/Audience Engagement Miscellaneous Deliverables Production Insurance Total budget (summed)
117.398 30.327 12.796 56.500 41.877 € 258.897
6.647 € 6.647
30.078 14.520 € 44.598 € 845.550
ROUND TABLE
DIRECTOR Judith
Helfand
PRODUCTION Medalia Productions,
Judith Helfand Productions
Love & Stuff Grieving her beloved mother and living amidst 63 boxes of dead
parents’ stuff, one transformative
“YES” turns filmmaker Judith Helfand
into a 50-year-old new mother.
Synopsis
How do you live without your mother? I ask this unbearable and universal question twice: first as a daughter to my 83-year-old mother Florence in the precious weeks before she dies from terminal cancer, and then seven months later as a ‘new, old’ mother, worried about how long I’ll get to parent my much-longed-for adopted newborn daughter Theodora, who overnight made me a single mother at age 50. Quirky, bold and personal, the feature documentary and its companion series of five 10-minute digital shorts explore the love and ‘stuff’ linking me to my mother and my daughter. Over five years and from both sides of the camera, I face a series of life cycle challenges, universal rights of passage, and the stress of ‘following my own unique path’ to actively parent a toddler in my fifties. Along the way I must deal with my ‘stuff’ - the 63 boxes of dead parents’ heirlooms overwhelming my office-turned-future-baby’s room, the weight my mother had begged me to lose before she died so she could die in peace, and the reality of what it really means to be a half-century older than my daughter. There is a literal and figurative cost to the stuff I have to deal with, which is in boxes under my bed, in closets, in my brother’s attic, in a free office I’m poised to lose, and two rather expensive storage facilities where all of the master pre-digital tapes and archives from my past films about my family are stored, taking the place of monthly deposits in a college savings account for little Theo. Love & Stuff explores the exhilaration and sheer insanity of being a new ‘old’
STATUS In Production
COUNTRY Israel, United States FORMAT HD | 90’ | DCP PITCH TYPE Round Table
single parent in your fifties and the struggle for spiritual and physical transformation - be it the weight loss surgery I choose as my best chance to attain health and a normal weight while my daughter is still little, re-learning how to eat and live ‘for two’ since Theo is both my mirror and a sponge, or the hard won pleasure of being able to sit down and get up from Theo’s little table - and really be a part of her tea party. Love & Stuff is a multi-generational mother-daughter love story that starts with a ‘good death’, takes off with an unexpected birth, gets Theo almost all the way to kindergarten and commits to the ride of a lifetime.
Project Description
In summer 2013, my family, led by our mother, decided to stop her treatment for terminal colon cancer. Somewhere between the morphine pills and the ice chips, our dark humor appeared, as if on call to help us connect, cope, and laugh our way through what would be an all-too soon, inevitable goodbye. But despite over twenty years of filming with my family, including three first-person films ‘starring’ my parents, I couldn’t simply ask ‘Mom, can I film us helping you live a good death?” I did pull out my iPhone to document the whacky, out of this world exchanges that come with literally learning how to ‘parent’ your parent and create a home hospice. I did take pictures of everyone who came to say goodbye and celebrate our mom. I posted under the heading: ‘From the Frontlines of Chez Helfand Hospice.’ And my Facebook page quickly turned into a semi-public primer for how to talk about death and have fun with your dying mother. A community appeared and I realized that my voice, tone and images were hitting a critical nerve. Love & Stuff follows a set of universal, life-changing moments: death, birth, new life, the burden and blessing IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
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of your dead parent’s stuff, the exhilaration of being a new ‘old’ single parent in your fifties and the possibility of transformation. My parenting trajectory includes everything from the struggle to deal with all that additional baby ‘stuff’, to the hell of strapping baby Theo into a stroller while she’s wearing a snowsuit [and I’m overweight and sweating in my winter coat], to the shame of not really being able to get down on the floor with the other parents and kids, to navigating ‘the terrible twos’ while healing from gastric sleeve surgery, to facing the psyche-crushing threes to the thrill of losing 85lbs and actually being able to sit at Theo’s little table in a little chair – and get up. Our individual ‘growing up’ challenges are oddly parallel: Theo has to give up her beloved pacifier and I have to give up sugar, carbs and eating at night. Theo has to learn how to sleep in her ‘big girl bed’ and I have to commit to an exercise routine or suffer a serious recurring spine problem. The stakes are high. My first-person narration is real. The fantasy that fuels me: I am that mom who rides her bike along the river with her kid on the back. The stressful calculus of this new life is on my side. I get to 95. Theo gets to 45. I’m not a burden to her. I’m still a storyteller. Love & Stuff uses multiple shooting styles. The home hospice iPhone footage has a homey, intimate quality. My mother’s personal effects are captured using highly stylized and quirky micro-dolly shots, detailed close-ups and wide ‘scenics’. My evolving relationship with Theo, our extended family and community of caregivers to help me singlemother is captured with loose verite. I regularly break the third wall. Many of the DP’s and Sound Recordists are old friends, parents themselves and quick to offer advice. Our Upper West Side neighborhood and ‘Theo’s park’ become touchpoints as we both get older, taller or trimmer. We walk to school in every season, time passes, stuff gets moved, physical and psychological transformation happens. I’m experimenting with the quirky and luminous sounds of the clarinet, alto sax, cymbals and trumpet. I’m interested in ‘natural sounds’ – Dad’s favorite balcony wind chimes, my 60-year-old brother’s childlike piano playing on Mom’s upright as well as the occasional ethnic reference - like the gypsy brass band underscoring mom’s elephant collection. Silence is as important as music. I promise my mother that after she dies I’ll say the ritual mourners Kaddish prayer everyday. She listens and sheepishly suggests: ‘and if you walk to shul each morning you’ll lose weight’. My incredulousness is palpable behind the camera: ‘That’s not going to be the last thing you say to me, right?’ She pauses, finally grins and says ‘No.’ I used a bold, first-person approach with my early autobiographical films, A Healthy Baby Girl (Sundance, ‘P.O.V.’, Peabody 1997). It’s 2002 Sundance award-winning sequel Blue Vinyl (IDFA Central Forum 2000). Crafting these films, and the 2004 epilogue Ek Velt: At The End of the World
taught me about the power of an honest, warm, selfdeprecating tone. Audiences were thrilled to watch a gutsy, relatable woman tackle serious issues with humor,and transparency. Excerpts from these films,and the archive amassed from twenty plus years of shooting, will be artfully woven into Love & Stuff bringing back my deceased but ever wise parents at key moments in the story. Alongside the 80-minute feature we’re producing a series of five x 10-minute digital shorts. Each short will be uniquely constructed to take a deeper dive into one of the film’s core story strands. Why a companion series? There’s a growing need for high quality digital shorts to accompany long form documentaries, especially longitudinal films with multiple and layered themes. We see the series as a dynamic asset. For the demographic that prefers to watch short content on small screens, the series will be an on-ramp to the feature. For those who have seen and loved the feature - the shorts will extend and deepen the story. Together they’ll build community, audience and essential buzz around Love & Stuff.
Budget € | LOVE & STUFF Development / Pre-Production Archive research Trailers (Production) Trailers (Editing) Development marketing material
Production Rights, Music & Talent Production personnel Production travel and expenses Equipment Technical staff: (DOP/Sound/Light) Insurance Office and Administration costs Production Manager Post-Production Prep for editing Offiline editor and suite Titles and animation Post Coordinator Online and color correction Sound Design and Mix Hard drives for masters Mastering Subtitles Outreach and distribution Community screenings Study Guide Social Media Campaign Website
Miscellaneous Editing of 5X10 min Digital Series Overhead Director/Writer Producers Contingency 10 % Total budget (summed)
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€ 8.400
104
1.260 2.520 2.520 2.100
30.240 18.480 22.260 26.040 58.800 12.600 37.632 16.800
€ 222.852
33.600 124.320 16.800 4.200 8.400 15.540 1.680 5.040 840 € 210.420
12.600 1.680 2.520 2.100 € 18.900
47.460 € 47.460
108.864 108.864 72.572 € 290.300 € 798.332
Biographies
Production Details | LOVE & STUFF PRODUCTION COMPANY Medalia Productions 2 Barzilai Street suite 16, 3rd floor 6511304 Tel Aviv Israel 2ND PRODUCTION COMPANY Judith Helfand Productions 10024 New York United States CREDITS
www.medaliaproductions.com
[email protected] +972 544791124
www.judithhelfand.com
[email protected] +1 9175451161
DIRECTOR:
Hilla Medalia, Judith Helfand Judith Helfand
HILLA MEDALIA
JUDITH HELFAND
PRODUCTION:
Muhi - Generally Temporary (2017/Producer) Censored Voices (2015/Producer) Web Junkie (2014/Producer/Director)
A Healthy Baby Girl (1997/Director) Blue Vinyl (2002/Director) Everything’s Cool (2007/Director) EXECUTIVE PRODUCTION: Julie Parker Benello, Geralyn White Dreyfous, Susan Margolin, Regina Scully EDITING: David Cohen PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED OTHER FINANCIERS
August 2013 – November 2018 February 2019 In production
€ 798.332 € 468.427 Artemis Rising Foundation Grant Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program The Tides Foundation Cap Charitable Foundation Rosenthal Family Foundation Hartley Film Foundation The Fine Fund The Wooden Nickel Foundation The Pittsburgh Foundation Grant Me the Wisdom Foundation Beth Sackler Foundation Sundance Catalyst/Zions National Bank Private individual donors
€ 126.000 € 42.840 € 42.000 € 26.040 € 12.600 € 8.400 € 4.200 € 4.200 € 4.200 € 4.200 € 4.200 € 3.780 € 47.245
Judith Helfand – Director & Producer Judith Helfand is best known for her ability to take the dark worlds of chemical exposure, heedless corporate behavior and environmental injustice and make them personal, highly-charged and entertaining. Three of her films premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, with national broadcasts on PBS (POV), HBO and The Sundance Channel. Her films include The Uprising of ‘34, the Sundance award winning and 2X Emmy nominated Blue Vinyl, its Peabody Award-winning prequel A Healthy Baby Girl, and Everything’s Cool. A committed field-builder and educator, Helfand co-founded Working Films in 1999, and Chicken & Egg Pictures in 2005. As part of her work at Chicken & Egg Pictures, where Helfand was Creative Director for almost a decade, she was a Producer on the Oscarnominated, Dupont winning short, The Barber of Birmingham, and Executive Producer for the awardwinning films Brooklyn Castle, Semper Fi: Always Faithful, Private Violence and Hot Girls Wanted. In 2007 Judith received a United States Artist Fellowship, one of 50 awarded annually to ‘America’s finest living artists.’ In 2016 she was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. She is currently in post-production on Cooked, a feature documentary about extreme heat, the politics of disaster and survival by zip code.
Judith Helfand Director/Producer
Hilla Medalia Producer
Hilla Medalia- Producer Peabody Award-winning filmmaker and producer has received three Emmy® nominations. Her projects have garnered critical acclaim and screened internationally in theaters and on television including HBO, MTV, BBC and ARTE. Her range of titles include To Die in Jerusalem 2007 (HBO), After the Storm 2009 (MTV), Numbered 2012 (ARTE), Dancing in Jaffa 2013 (Tribeca, IFC Sundance selects), Web Junkie 2014 (Sundance Film Festival, POV, BBC) The Go Go Boys 2014 (Cannes Film Festival), Censored Voices 2015, (Sundance Film Festival and Berlinale), Muhi - Generally Temporary 2017 (San Francisco Film Festival, Hot Docs, AFI). Hilla is a board member of The Israeli Director’s Guild, and a member of the American Academies of Film and Television. Hilla holds an M.A. from Southern Illinois University.
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ROUND TABLE
DIRECTOR Linda
Dombrovszsky, Stephan Komandarev, Evdokia Moskvina, Marie Elisa Scheidt, Magdalena Szymkow
PRODUCTION Peter Kerekes Ltd. STATUS Start Production COUNTRY
Occupation 1968 Occupation as occupants see it. 5 countries occupied
Czechoslovakia in 1968.
50 years later, 5 directors from
these countries are going to shoot
a short film about the invasion.
Synopsis
The documentary project about August 1968 is a collective subjective look on the soldiers of ‘friendly’ armies and their thoughts and impressions about Czechoslovak occupation and their tasks within it. The main question is, how ‘a small person in Europe’ behaves in front of so known ‘big history’. What role plays the personal responsibility, preservation of personal point of view or moral, and what happens to it in the moment, when they have to choose between saving their life or obeying the rules? What feelings had the soldiers, who were sent to foreign country to ‘make the order’ there? In this film we would be interested in soldiers of different nationalities and different ranks - from privates to generals. In order to get the most diverse views on this topic, we decided to choose five directors from five countries of the former Warsaw Pact, which participated in the occupation of Czechoslovakia. Evdokia Moskvina from Russia, Linda Dombrovszky from Hungary, Magdalena Szymkow from Poland, Stephan Komandarev from Bulgaria and Elisa Marie Scheidt from Germany. The result will be five 26-minute documentaries - five different views from five countries.
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Slovakia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland FORMAT HD cam | 120’ | DCP GENRES • History • Politics / Society PITCH TYPE Round Table
Project Description
Occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1968. 50 years later, 5 countries of Warsaw agreement, 5 directors, 5 points of view. Last Mission of General Gorelov directed by Evdokia Moskvina, Russia Lev Gorelov is a 93 year-old man who lives in Odessa and in august 1968 he commanded his unit to occupy the airport in Prague. He has a dream. He wants to collect all ex-comrades who were with him in 1968 in Czechoslovakia. It might be his last mission. How do they remember their past together? The main protagonist will search for the rest of the team to complete their last ‘military’ mission. A road movie from Odessa through Kiev, Minsk and Moscow to Prague. The Red Rose directed by Linda Dombrovszky, Hungary The main character is a Hungarian soldier taking part in the operation. They were expecting war, but they found peaceful people. The biggest enemy was the boredom. Soldiers had love stories with local girls, and friendships with local man. Somewhere between a documentary and a fiction movie, the short reenactment scenes show exciting, funny, and at times painful episodes from the lives of the Hungarian occupants in Czechoslovakia. Soldiers & Wives & Spies directed by Magdalena Szymkow, Poland The wives of three soldiers who took part in the invasion relate the previously unknown circumstances of their husbands’ deployment. The women didn’t know that their men would participate in an attack on the neighboring country. They talk about the disinformation and describe the surreal atmosphere of waiting for the men to come back. The women’s stories go with footage of the Warsaw Pact
invasion of Czechoslovakia and the everyday life of the coastal city in the 1960s. This compilation documentary will consist of archival footage, coded telegrams to the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party read off-screen and the women’s stories. It will contrast a regime-centered perspective with a personal view of reality. An Unnecessary Hero directed by Stephan Komandarev, Bulgaria Sergeant Nikolov Tsekov was one of Bulgarian soldiers who was in Czechoslovakia to lead a counter-revolution. Most of these were in charge of guarding the airport Ruzyne. September 9, around 9 pm Nikolov acted like he needs to go to the bathroom. He left and never returned. Nikolov decided to leave for a better life and moved to the West. He goes through the green border to West Germany. He tried to stop a car along the way, finally after a long time he succeeded to catch one. What will happen afterwards? Will he survive or is his destiny going to meet him? Voices in the Forest directed by Elisa Marie Scheidt, Germany In the summer of 1968, more than 16.000 East-German soldiers stayed in the Saxonian forests and barracks close to the Czechoslovakian border: youngsters on the verge between boyhood and adult life, anticipating a mission that would never happen. A lieutenant solves a crossword puzzle by filling out random letters. Hoard of men wear gas masks and stumble through the forest. Others get drunk and shoot at each other. In middle of this time of absurdity and stasis, a secret little radio keeps a man from losing his mind. Voices in the Forest is a light-hearted and playful semifictional documentary and explores the young soldiers’ inner struggles and their survival in a world of lies and make-believe.
Biographies
Evdokia Moskvina – Director From 2013 to 2015 Evdokia Moskvina studied film production at the Sorbonne University in Paris. In 2011 she directed the film Our dreams come true, which was successfully presented on the Cannes festival. Currently Evdokia is post-producing a documentary filmed in Syria in 2016, a story about civil people living in the war. Linda Dombrovszky – Director Linda Dombrovszky studied and graduated at Media and Film Faculty at Pázmány Peter Catholic University and as a director at Faculty of Film and TV at Academy of Drama and Film in Hungary. Linda’s latest documentary Once Upon a Time There Were Two Ballerinas has just started it’s festival career at Brussels International Short Film Festival, Sao Paolo International Short Film Festival, Budapest International Short Film Festival. Her short documentary Duty (2011) took part in the panorama selection: Cannes Critic’s week. Magdalena Szymkow – Director Magdalena Szymkow is a documentary filmmaker, screenwriter and film archives researcher with a journalistic background, graduated from Wajda School in Warsaw. Her previous film My House Without Me (2012), a cinematic essay about displacement was nationally broadcasted, awarded and screened across the festivals all over the world. Stephan Komandarev – Director Stephan Komandarev studied directing at the New Bulgarian University in Sofia, took part in the number of workshops and trainings either at home or abroad. His films The Balloon (1997), Dog’s Home (2000), Bread over the Fence (2002), Alphabet of hope (2003), The World is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner (2008), The Judgement (2014) and Directions (2017) were awarded by numerous prestigious festivals. Marie Elisa Scheidt – Director Marie Elisa Scheidt is a documentary filmmaker based in Munich, Germany. Elisa studied documentary film at the University of Television and Film Munich as well as at the School of Image Arts Toronto (Ryerson University). Her films Loly H (2013), Sobota (2014), Through the Lens of Inkedkenny (2013), and Our Wildest Dreams (2017) have been screened and awarded at numerous major film festivals around the world.
Evdokia Moskvina Director
L inda Dombrovszsky Director
Magdalena Szymkow Director
Stephan Komandarev Director
Marie Elisa Scheidt Director
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RO Biographies
Production Details | OCCUPATION 1968
Peter Kerekes Ltd. – Production Company Peter Kerekes Ltd. is a film production company based in Slovakia, that has produced the films Velvet terrorists (2013), Cooking History (2009), and 66 seasons (2003) among others.
PRODUCTION COMPANY Peter Kerekes Ltd. Vistuk 277 900 85 Vistuk Slovakia CREDITS
Peter Kerekes Producer
PRODUCTION:
Budget € | OCCUPATION 1968
DIRECTOR:
Filip Remunda Co-producer
Post-Production Editor/editing system Sound design and mix Titles and animation Music Visual postproduction Outreach and distribution PR Miscellaneous Legal and accounting costs Insurance Overhead Overhead 5% Contingency 5% producers fee 7% Total budget (summed)
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Alphabet of Home (2003 / director) Dog’s Home (2000 / director) The Baloon (1997 / director)
18.000 21.125 14.000 16.000
MARIE ELISA SCHEIDT:
Through the Lens of Inkedkenny (2013 / director) On a Trip Down Memory Lane (2009 / director) LINDA DOMBROVSZSKY:
€ 69.125
Production Archival rights & reproduction Hotels, travel & food Production travel and expenses Production personnel Director Technical staff: (DOP/Sound/Light) Equipment Stock Material Broadcast requirements Props & locations Protagonists
Peter Kerekes Velvet Terrorists (2013 / producer / director) Cooking History (2008 / producer / director) 66 Seasons (2003 / producer / director) Linda Dombrovszsky, Stephan Komandarev STEPHAN KOMANDAREV:
Development / Pre-Production Writer Producer/director Travel/subsistence researchers
[email protected] +421 905255698 www.kerekesfilm.com
26.000 19.000 8.000 23.400 32.300 35.300 47.800 2.700 10.300 7.200 10.400
€ 222.400
24.257 9.500 3.750 7.800 18.100 € 63.407
14.000 € 14.000
8.000 5.000 € 13.000
19.000 19.000 27.000 € 65.000 € 446.932
Once Upon a Time There Were Two Ballerinas (2011 / director) MAGDALENA SZYMKOW:
My House Without Me (2012 / director) EVDOKIA MOSKVINA:
CO-PRODUCTION:
DISTRIBUTOR/SALES: PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED BROADCASTERS OTHER FINANCIERS OWN INVESTMENT
Unlimited possibilities (2012 / director) Our dreams come true (2011 / director) Hypermarket Film – Filip Remunda, Vít Klusák – Czech Republic, ELF Pictures –Agnes Horváth-Szabó – Hungary, Agitprop – Martichka Bozhilova – Bulgaria, Silver Frame – Stanislav Zaborowski – Poland Manuela Buono – Slingshot Films August 2017 – February 2018 February 2018 Start production
€ 446.932 € 105.432 Radio & Television of Slovakia RTVS Tibor Búza TVP- Justyna Karnowska Public Funding Slovakia Czech Cinematography Fund Jana Pisvejcová Agitprop Elf Pictures Silver Frame
€ 70.000 € 10.000 € 82.500 € 57.500 € 66.000 € 38.500 € 17.000
ROUND TABLE
DIRECTOR Avida
Livny
PRODUCTION Evanstone films STATUS In Production COUNTRY Israel
FORMAT HD | 60’ & 90’ | DCP
The Pianist from Ramallah The life of a middleclass family in
Ramallah in current Palestinian
reality through the eyes of 14-year-
old Mohammed “Misha” Alsheikh
– gifted classical pianist and
Katya, his Russian-born mother.
Synopsis
Lately, the attention of the Alsheikh family has been focused on their second son. Mom calls him Misha, Dad calls him Mohammad, and at 14 he is one of the most promising young pianists in the world. Having won international competitions and performed around the world, Mohammed/Misha decided to become a professional pianist. But that’s not an easy task when you live in Ramallah, surrounded by a raging conflict and a Separation wall. Reaching the piano lessons in Jerusalem can take up to 3 hours, but only if you manage to pass the blockades, the soldiers and if the checkpoint is open... Mohammed parents, Katya and Nasser, belong to the scarcely mentioned Palestinian middleclass; surrounded by difficulties, they’re struggling to lead a normal life, providing a safe and nourishing environment for their four sons. Nasser is a Muslim, Katia – a Christian, their home is secular and when the grand piano in the living room begins to play, the neighbors gather on the staircase to hear Rachmaninoff, Beethoven and Chopin. While Nasser, an MD, works around the clock in the hospital and his clinic, Katya, with the help of her relentless nature, is busy shattering all the necessary walls. The film will document Mohammed/Misha and his family during two crucial years in the former’s life, reflecting the tension between his demanding ambitions and his life as a teenager. He’s a Russian-Palestinian living in Ramallah, part
GENRES
• Politics / Society • Youth • Human Interest / Social Issues PITCH TYPE Round Table
Muslim and part Christian studying music with a Jewish teacher in Jerusalem and being forced, from time-to-time, to represent Israel during international competitions (since for most of the world Palestine doesn’t exist). But how does he define himself? The film is also a window to a much broader world – the story of the Alsheikhs, the reality, family and society surrounding them – providing a rare glimpse into the struggle of those who chose to overcome cultural and religious differences, leading a normal life, when this choice is seemingly impossible. Will the child that many consider a prodigy become an international pianist or is he doomed to remain in the Middle East and live a life of multiple identities in one of the most complex places on earth?
Project Description
Mohammed ‘Misha’ Alsheikh is an amiable teenage boy of 14, living a life of multiple identities in the capital of the Palestinian Authority, in the midst of one of the staunchest conflicts in the world. At the age of 10, he was declared a musical prodigy and decided to become a professional pianist. Since then, his career has been on a constant rise, creating a multitude of new challenges for him and his family. World renowned Maestros Zubin Mehta and Daniel Barenboim heard him play and are convinced he has a great future in front of him. But for that to happen, so many things depend on Mohammed and his family and too much is out of their hands... Mohammed’s father, Nasser, is a Palestinian Muslim MD; his mother, Katya, a Russian Christian chemical engineer. Nasser met Katya at a local post office of the Saratov State University in 1992 and immediately fell in love. At first, she wasn’t that interested, but they kept bumping into each other and finally shared a coffee. Ten years later, during the Second IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
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Intifada (Palestinian national uprising), they chose to build their home and raise their four sons under the scorching Ramallah sun, Nasser’s home town. Nasser knew he would return and Katya chose to replace the endless open spaces of Russia with checkpoints, soldiers and walls. Mohammed’s piano teacher, Emma, is a Jewish-Israeli woman. Some 25 years ago, she also left Russia and the prestigious halls of Moscow Music Academy for a small Jerusalem apartment. Recognizing in Mohammed the student she has been waiting for her whole life, Emma and the Alsheikhs are doing all in their power to push his career, assigning him a growing number of tasks and responsibilities. The grownups surrounding him know that the only way for him to reach his goal, is to leave Palestine. In the meantime, crossing checkpoints and getting to his lessons takes almost 3 hours, in each direction. Entering Israel requires permits which has to be renewed monthly. If the checkpoint is closed, due to security reasons or holidays, Mohammed and Katya, always accompanying her son, are forced to turn back home and have a Skype lesson instead. According to the devised plan, he will finish school at 16 and concentrate on his music, preferably in Europe or the US. The stereotypes attached to the Palestinian society shatter in the Alsheikhs’ cozy modern living room, overlooking the shinning new buildings of the Mukataa and Arafat’s tomb. Katya’s choice – to leave Russian culture and rebuild it in Ramallah – shapes the family life. The shelves are lined with books in Russian and the complicated world is drowned out by these walls brimming with ambition, hope, aspiration and talent. From the framed photos on the grand piano, to a Christmas tree and local Russian community evenings dedicated to the works of Pushkin and Evtushenko – when you are in the home of the Alsheikhs, you feel as if you’re in
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Russia. But outside, it’s Ramallah, Kalandia refugee camp, the Separation wall, armed soldiers and Kalandia checkpoint. This poignant contrast alone is a story worth telling and retelling, at least while it still exists. The movie will depict daily life and the progress during two critical years in Mohammed’s career and life, but won’t focus on him alone. It will unveil the story of the people surrounding him: his parents, family and friends, the story of those who chose to overcome the cultural and religious differences, and lead a normal life in a place where seemingly this choice is impossible. The Alsheikhs would open their home for us, providing access to their society, family, school and vacations in Russia. Politics will have a presence, without being the center: this film is political since it’s being filmed right now. These are decisive times in Mohammed’s young life in a difficult and unpredictable Israeli-Palestinian reality. Documenting his story may expose the struggles of ordinary people against forces that are bigger than them, not just political; after all, the film focuses on a boy blessed with an exceptional talent, confronting the difficulties such talent can entail. This struggle and Mohammed’s strong desire to succeed, are a substantial part of the film: A teenager of 14 bearing the hopes of so many grownups, trying to meet their expectations and remain himself. In a short while Mohammed will face the most fundamental questions: Will he realize his dream? Does he possess the talent and determination to become a professional pianist? Will he choose to leave home and travel abroad? And where is home for him? No one knows how our movie and Misha’s story will end. One way or another, the journey promises to be dramatic.
Biographies
Production Details | THE PIANIST FROM RAMALLAH PRODUCTION COMPANY Evanstone films 18 Beit Hillel st 00 Tel Aviv Israel CREDITS PRODUCTION:
DIRECTOR:
CO-PRODUCTION: PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED BROADCASTERS OWN INVESTMENT
Eitan Evan – Producer Owner of Evanstone Films, Eitan Evan has a long filmography. Apart from producing, he was also highly active in the local industry (former head of the Producers’ Guild, former member of board of directors of the Israeli Film Fund and former President of the Israeli Academy for Motion Picture and Television). This has placed Eitan Evan at the top of the Israeli film industry for many years. Among the films he produced are: The Summer of Aviya (Berlin - Silver Bear), Under the Domim Tree, Bonjour Monsieur Shlomi, Aviva My Love, The Little Traitor, and The Debt. He was recently one of the producers of the English language remake of The Debt – produced by Miramax, directed by John Madden, and starring Helen Mirren. Many of his films were internationally acclaimed, winning numerous awards and prizes.
[email protected] +972 54296297 evanstone-films.com
Eitan Evan The Debt (2011, executive producer) The Little Traitor (2009, producer) Aviva My Love (2006, producer) Avida Livny Only with White Gloves (2017 / director) There and Here (2014 / director) Looking for Moshe Guez (2011 / director) On the Move (2008 / director) TH production – Udi Zamberg – Israel January 2017 – December 2018 December 2018 In production
€ 400.746 € 314.808 YesDocu Guy Lavie Evanstone Films
€ 75.938 € 10.000
Budget € | THE PIANIST FROM RAMALLAH Development / Pre-Production Writer
15.413 € 15.413
Production Archival rights & reproduction Hotels, travel & food Production personnel Director Technical staff: (DOP/Sound/Light) Equipment Broadcast requirements Producer’s fee Post-Production Editor/editing system Sound design and mix Titles and animation Music
8.700 63.600 32.750 30.826 25.050 28.000 3.000 46.240
€ 238.166
74.500 12.000 3.500 12.500 € 102.500
Miscellaneous Marketing, PR & registrations Shipments Accounting and legal Overhead Overhead Contingency 5 % Bank Fee Total budget (summed)
5.500 2.500 11.000 € 19.000
5.500 14.405 5.762 € 25.667 € 400.746
T.H. Productions – Production Company T.H. Productions is an independent Israeli TV production company specializing in documentary and promotional films. Since its establishment in 1994 by Udi Zamberg, it has grown into a leading force in the television market, producing major events for broadcast, including the annual Israeli Academy of Film Awards, the Israel Theater Awards, the “People of the Year” awards and the Israeli Television Awards. T.H. Productions works with all Israeli channels, developing documentary films and TV series, including the hit drama TV series, Florentine and a documentary about the first Israeli NASA astronaut Ilan Ramon.
Eitan Evan Producer
Avida Livny Director
Udi Zamberg Co-producer
a
Avida Livny – Director Born in London, Livny is a graduate of the Tel Aviv University Film School. He directed many documentary films and TV series in Israel such as Traffickers (2008), Looking for Moshe Guez (2011), There and Here (2014) and Not Without White Gloves (2017). He wrote and directed the drama Max Baer’s Last Right Hook (2006), the short film Moishe Adolph (2003) and was the Scriptwriter of the TV drama Mother V (2001).
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ROUND TABLE
DIRECTOR Rupert
Price Wars A film about the global rise of violent
conflicts over essential commodities - water, food, oil, minerals – and the
chaotic market forces that fuel them.
Synopsis
In early 2010, a little known mathematician named Yaneer Bam Yam submitted a short report to the U.S. government. Speculation on food commodities, he argued, was driving up prices and, if the UN’s food price index hit 210, riots would break out worldwide. Just a few months later, the index went north of 210 and Mohamed Bouazizi, a young Tunisian street vendor, set himself on fire. The Arab Spring erupted. Revolutionaries overthrew the governments of Tunisia, Libya and Egypt. Syria was plunged into a protracted civil war, spawning a refugee crisis that, when it reached the shores of Europe, caused cascading political crises — nationalist parties rose, Britain left the European Union, and Donald Trump, playing on fears of Muslim refugees, won the American presidency. The proposed documentary will capture this butterfly effect in real time by taking the audience to the front lines of the many emerging price wars. In the Horn of Africa, they’ll see how food aide trucks are guarded with machine guns from looting terrorists and how urban food riots now break out like clockwork. In Brazil, they’ll see how the struggle over farmland ‘investments’ is violently displacing local indigenous people. In Venezuela, they’ll see how countries rich in commodities can be disrupted – and even collapse – by sudden drops in commodity prices. In Mississippi, the audience will discover how people living in the world’s richest country are unable to afford three meals a day.
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Russell
PRODUCTION Yaddo
STATUS Development
COUNTRY United Kingdom
FORMAT 4K ProRes | 52’ & 90’ | DCP PITCH TYPE Round Table
In each case study, we re-trace the butterfly’s path through the commodity supply chain to the world of international finance. Interviews with leading financial analysts and commodity traders explain how the markets for essential commodities can be thrown into chaos. Like The Big Short, complex financial instruments will be simplified for the audience by focusing on the characters that use them in real-life case studies. The result will be a fast-paced, character-driven, interwoven narrative that brings together the worlds of warzones and finance. The documentary will be the first big-picture look at the global commodity markets, connecting the dots between disparate economies, price bubbles, corrupt regimes, and a variety of violent conflicts. It will reveal the economic forces that will drive the protests, revolutions, and interstate wars of the twenty-first century. And it will show what the audience can do to stop them.
Project Description
Director’s vision My vision for the film is to create a fast paced, visually stylistic, character-driven story that delivers a simple and shocking argument. I will do this by marrying strong visuals and characters with an interwoven storyline that cuts between disparate worlds as seen with dramas such as Traffic or documentaries such as The Ivory Game. We cut between the financial speculators who are making the bets, investment gurus (such as George Soros) who can explain the logic behind the investments, the producers who grow the food or mine the iron, and those who are directly involved in the conflicts: be they urban rioters, militia men, terrorists, cartels, cattle raiders, indigenous people, or environmental activists. This fusion of form and function will make simple a complex dynamic. It will break down, for the first time, how the global commodity market works as a complex whole. Research The research has been conducted by the director who has a PhD in Sociology from Harvard University, where he specialized in economic sociology. The arguments proposed in the film are supported by dozens of peer-reviewed academic papers in economics, political science, and sociology journals. These findings have also been supported by investigations by U.S. Senate Committees in 2009 and 2014 as well as numerous research reports published by the U.S. State Department, the Department of Defense, and the Central Intelligence Agency.
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RO Biographies
Nick Fraser – Producer
Nick Fraser Producer
Lawrence Elman Producer
Nick Fraser is renowned internationally as a producer of award-winning documentaries. He is the founder of documentary streaming platform, Yaddo, and founder/former commissioning editor of the BBC’s Storyville strand, through which he broadcast over 600 feature documentaries. Films shown on Storyville have gone on to win Oscars, Sundance Awards, Peabody Awards, IDFA Trophies and Grierson Awards. Nick has also written five non-fiction books, and is a contributing editor of Harper’s Magazine, New York, and The Observer, London. He is currently writing a book about the history of documentaries. Nick has also worked as series editor for the global documentary project Why Democracy? and as executive producer of Why Poverty?. He will be a series editor for the upcoming Why Slavery? global documentary project. Nick is also the honorary president of Sheffield Doc/Fest.
Lawrence Elman – Producer
Rupert Russell Director
Lawrence Elman has produced and directed numerous award-winning documentaries including the BAFTA winning Nine Lives of Alice Martineau (2003). He has worked extensively with BBC Storyville, in documentaries such as The Biggest Chinese Restaurant in the World (2008), Pablo’s Hippos (2013), Decadence and Downfall (2016) and Murder in Italy (2017). In 2009, his documentary, Team Qatar won the Best Feature Film Prize in Tribeca/ Doha film festival. In 2016, Lawrence along with former BBC Storyville Commissioning Editor, Nick Fraser, founded Yaddo - a global streaming platform for documentary films.
Rupert Russell – Director
Rupert Russell is a documentary filmmaker. He started his career in academia, receiving a Double-Starred First from Cambridge University and a PhD from Harvard University, where he was National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow. When he transitioned into film, he kept his academic eye for detail as well as his passion for big ideas with global impacts. His first feature documentary, Freedom for the Wolf, was executive produced by Nick Fraser and premiered at Sheffield Doc/Fest 2017. It is scheduled to screen at IDFA 2017. Filmed in the United States, India, Tunisia, Hong Kong, and Japan, the documentary explores the spread of illiberal democracy across the globe. He has just completed a series of animated short films, How the World Went Mad, that explains the rising tide of political insanity through the sociology of madness.
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Production Details | PRICE WARS PRODUCTION COMPANY Yaddo Suite 506, Liberty House, 222 Regent Street, W1B 5TR London United Kingdom CREDITS PRODUCTION:
[email protected] +44 2072972454
Nick Fraser, Lawrence Elman NICK FRASER:
India’s Daughter (2015 / executive producer) Project Nim (2011 / executive producer) Man on a Wire (2008 / producer) LAWRENCE ELMAN:
DIRECTOR:
DISTRIBUTOR/SALES: PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED
Decadence and Downfall: The Shah of Iran’s Ultimate Party (2016 / producer) Pabblo’s Hippos (2010 / director) The Biggest Chinese Restaurant in the World (2008 / producer) Rupert Russell Modern Madness (2017 / director) Freedom for the Wolf (2017 / director) Uber Lives (2015 / director) Philippa Kowarsky – Cinephil October 2017 – April 2018 January 2017 Development
€ 433.860 € 433.860
Budget € | PRICE WARS Development / Pre-Production Director
6.000 € 6.000
Production Archival rights & reproduction Hotels, travel & food Hard drives Security Director Technical staff: (DOP/Sound/Light) Equipment Broadcast requirements Producer
19.500 49.260 12.000 10.000 44.700 59.500 17.450 9.000 19.500
€ 240.910
Post-Production Editor/editing system Sound design and mix Titles and animation Score Outreach and distribution Festival Submission Miscellaneous Legal E&O Insurance Overhead Contingency Total budget (summed)
90.750 16.000 22.000 13.000 € 141.750
1.200 € 1.200
3.000 6.000 € 9.000
35.000 € 35.000 € 433.860
ROUND TABLE
DIRECTOR Ellen
Fiske, Ellinor Hallin
PRODUCTION Sisyfos Film Production STATUS Development COUNTRY
Scheme Birds The story of Gemma, a teenage troublemaker, growing up in a
world of pigeons and violence.
From childhood to motherhood,
her life unfolds as innocent games
turn towards serious crime.
Synopsis
Caught between the vibrant cities and traditional landscapes of Scotland there is a forgotten wilderness of housing estates – known locally as ‘schemes’. One of these, Jerviston, is famous for its brutal violence and love of pigeons. Gemma, is Jerviston’s most infamous teenager, a ‘scheme bird’ who never backs down from a fight and the police recognise her by the way she runs. She contends: ‘here you either get knocked up or locked up’. Abandoned by her mother at a young age, Gemma has been raised by her grandfather Joseph. His attempts at keeping the locals off the streets and out of jail have made him a leading figure in the community. He has run the local boxing gym but when he transforms the gym on Fridays into beauty pageants for pigeons it makes a change in the environment. However despite his successes with other people from the scheme, he has more difficulty taming Gemma. Gemma meets Pat, a cocky jail bird who has been in and out of prison more times than she can count. She falls in love with him then unexpectedly falls pregnant. They run away together to start a new life, Gemma leaves the safety of Joseph’s home and begin nesting with Pat in the towerblock nearby. They have something to live for – and Pat has a reason to stay out of jail. When baby Liam is born, she starts to question being abandoned as a baby by her own mum. She is struggling to put the baby to sleep while Pat is out
Sweden, United Kingdom
FORMAT HD | 90’ & 52’ | DCP GENRES
• Politics / Society • Human Interest / Social Issues • Youth PITCH TYPE Round Table
and up to no good. From building treehouse with friends to paying gas bills everything is changing. But when her best friend is beaten half to death by a neighbouring gang of lads leaving him in a coma, Gemma’s left shocked and questioning the life she and her newborn son are destined to live. Will she end up like her own mother leaving her baby on Joseph’s doorstep? Can she be the one to change the fate of her family? Or to survive will she fly off never to return?
Project Description
Scheme Birds is the story of a charismatic young woman, Gemma, during the pivotal time between child – and adulthood. Many significant moments in her life are captured on film, along with the people who come into and leave her life during this time. She appears boastful yet shy; stubborn and humble; and further, an engaging witness to a lifestyle seldom seen in documentary. The games, the heartbreak, her strength and her difficulties reveal a compelling narrative told from her own point of view. Thematically, the film focuses on three major events – being abandoned as a baby, giving birth to her own child in this environment and the impact of her best friend’s near-death experience. The film explores the claustrophobia in the scheme and the freedom of youthful dreams – paralleled with the confinement and flight of the birds. Through observational scenes – from building a treehouse with her friends one summer to furnishing a home; and from raising hell in the neighborhood to raising her son, this feature documentary will methodically explore this world and stylistically reveal her unique story. Through fresh cinematography, intimate access to an exceptionally strong main character Scheme Birds becomes the portrait of today’s lost youth. IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
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RO Biographies
Mario Adamson – Producer
Mario Adamson Producer
Mario Adamson, owner and founder of Sisyfos Film Production, studied at The Stockholm Dramatic Institute (StDH) and Stockholm Film School and has produced films such as the multiple award-winning short films Still Born (2014) and I am Round (2011). Mario is also a successful sound designer/composer with a career spanning three decades in the film industry and has recently done the sound design for the documentaries I am Ingrid by Stig Björkman and I called him Morgan by Kasper Collin. Since 2014 the main focus lies in production of feature documentaries, short films and non-linear storytelling in AR.
Sisyfos Film Production – Production Company
Ellen Fiske Director
Sisyfos Film Production, former Medusa Productions, is an independent production company based in Stockholm, Sweden that produces short films and documentaries.
Ellen Fiske – Director
Ellen Fiske studied Documentary Film Directing at the Stockholm Academy of Dramatic Arts. She has directed the award-winning short films Keep Me Safe (2014) screened on SVT and Lone Dads (2015) which premiered at Tempo Documentary Festival 2016 to critical acclaim, both of these films are set in deprived areas in Scotland. She is also currently co-directing a further feature documentary Josefin & Florin. Ellinor Hallin Director
Ruth Reid C0-producer
Ellinor Hallin – Director
Ellinor Hallin is a classically trained documentary cinematographer. She has been shooting drama and documentaries for television, web and cinematic distribution for over 5 years. Together Hallin and Fiske have collaborated on a number of projects including co-directing The Red, which received an honorary mention at the After Bergman awards and premiered at Gothenburg Film Festival 2015. Ellen and Ellinor received the prestigious Malik Bendjelloul Memorial Foundation Grant 2017 for their work on Scheme Birds.
Ruth Reid – Co-producer
Ruth Reid/GID LTD is a Scottish BAFTA-nominated producer specializing in documentaries for both network television and theatrical distribution. She has worked with many high profile directors and production companies, including Sue Bourne, The Garden and Matchlight, directing and producing a variety of documentary singles and series for the BBC and Channel 4. Now based between Scotland and Sweden, she is working with artist Petra Bauer, actor Gillian Anderson and academic Ingrid Ryberg
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Production Details | SCHEME BIRDS PRODUCTION COMPANY Sisyfos Film Production Fogdevägen 54 12841 Bagarmossen Sweden CREDITS PRODUCTION:
DIRECTOR:
CO-PRODUCTION: PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED OTHER FINANCIERS
[email protected] +46 706202443 www.sisyfosfilm.com
Mario Adamson Still Born (2014/producer) I am round (2011/producer) Ellen Fiske, Ellinor Hallin ELLEN FISKE
Lone Dads (2015/director) Keep me safe (2014/director) Leather Pleasure (2013/director) GID Films Ltd – Ruth Reid – Scotland January 2018 – December 2018 January 2019 Development
€ 624.313 € 380.796 Swedish Film Institute Juan Pablo Libossart Creative Scotland Mark Thomas British Film Institute Lizzie Francke Filmbasen Joakim Blendulf GID Sisyfos
€ 78.350 € 57.768 € 57.768 € 18.281 € 15.675 € 15.675
Budget € | SCHEME BIRDS Development / Pre-Production Producer/director Travel/subsistence Financing Additional Crew Equipment, insurance and office Production Archival rights & reproduction Hotels, travel & food Production travel and expenses Production personnel Director(s) Equipment Broadcast requirements Production Offices Legals and Auditing
69.929 11.808 6.804 12.248 23.512 € 124.301
15.702 20.936 6.857 98.402 62.810 14.813 13.609 7.170 33.500 € 273.799
Post-Production Editor/editing system Sound design and mix Titles and animation Music Exports Outreach and distribution Marketing Overhead Overhead 7% Contingency 5% Total budget (summed)
71.185 23.030 27.427 28.264 8.427 € 158.333
14.656 € 14.656
41.873 11.351 € 53.224 € 624.313
ROUND TABLE
DIRECTOR Beniamino
Story of B. The Disappearance of My Mother 1960s iconic supermodel Benedetta
Barzini, now in her seventies,
carefully plans her disappearance
while having to cope with her son’s
attempt to make a film about her.
Synopsis
Iconic model in the 1960s – muse to Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, Salvador Dalì and Andy Warhol – feminist and communist activist in the 1970s, later journalist and writer, Benedetta Barzini (74) today leads a solitary and ascetic life in Milan. While continuing to be a central figure in the international fashion scene, she is teaching her last course in Fashion Anthropology at the New Fine Arts & Design Academy in Milan, providing her students with a method to interpret the language of beauty and the meaning and power of images. Despite her charismatic public persona, her private life is cluttered with uncertainty. Tired of family conflicts and financial problems, struggling to define a purpose for her future, she carefully plans a radical exit strategy: getting rid of all her belongings and disappearing to a far-away island in the Pacific to live her life in complete isolation, breaking away from the Western capitalist world, with all its imposed roles, obligations and conventions.
Barrese
PRODUCTION Nanof Srl
STATUS In Production COUNTRY Italy
FORMAT HD + mini DV + 16mm +
35mm | 90’ & 52’ | Digital file
PITCH TYPE Round Table
Worried for her, her photographer and cinematographer son Beniamino returns to Milan after several years abroad. Wishing to understand the reasons for her extreme resolution, determined to keep her close by capturing her through his lens – while also looking for a direction for his own life– he decides to make a film about her. He starts following her with his camera, just like he used to do as a kid and teenager, and starts searching through the multitude of scattered archive footage in which Benedetta’s past has been preserved and fragmented. As he comes to unveil some of the mysteries behind her silence and stubborn resolution, Beniamino is forced to confront his own ghosts, wishes and fears. Determined to further understand and coherently tell the story of his mother, Beniamino uses all the tools at his disposal, from casting different girls to play ‘B’ in reconstructed memories, up to convincing Benedetta to help him stage her own imaginary disappearance, as a closing sequence for the film. However, Beniamino’s project is soon met with a strong resistance from Benedetta, slowly turning into an obstacle course wherein mother and son help and hinder each other in the attempt to define a separation strategy before it’s too late.
Project Description
Production note To some extent, the director has been working on this film for over twenty years (he started shooting his mother with his mini dv back in 1999). On the other hand, he started to develop it more coherently since the project was selected in the European scheme Archidoc, run by the French film school La Femis. From then on, the film was pitched at several festivals (Thessaloniki in April 2016, Rome MIA in October 2016, HotDocs’ ‘Deal maker’ in April 2017, Venice Film Festival’s ‘Venice financing gap’ in September 2017 ), obtaining pre-buy offers from several international broadIDFA Forum catalogue 2017
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casters and distributors. In the meantime, the film secured funds from the Italian MIBACT (Ministry of Arts and Culture), and the involvement of RAI Cinema, RAI Teche (archives) as well as the support of private investors who believed in the vision of the story: Italian actor Giovanni Storti and American model Lauren Hutton. From its first inception the film has grown, and despite all the help we have gathered so far we are still looking for a consistent portion of our budget (70-80.000€), to complete the shooting (including the ‘fiction’ sections of the film which will have to be shot on a mixture of 16mm and 35mm) and covering the costs of archival rights (among them archives from Andy Warhol’s Foundation and other US archives) and post production (editing, sound and music). We have decided to work with a talented French/ German editor, and we are therefore considering the option of seeking co-productions (or post production funds) both in France and Germany, as well as considering eventual support from US companies to help us with the American archives. Director’s note At its core, this film is a love story - that between a mother who wants to disappear, and her son, who tries his hardest to keep her close but finally comes to learn that to love her means to let her go. As the film starts, my mother Benedetta and I are caught in surprisingly similar moments of our lives. We are both looking towards important thresholds which we both feel unprepared to face: while I turn thirty, quickly journeying into adulthood, she is about to step in the very last phase of her life. Confronting the unknown, we are both confused,
worried, and slightly lost. But while my mother wants to ‘disappear’, I want to ‘appear’, defining my voice as an image-maker through representing people and places into my photos and stories, trying to capture what I am about to lose through my lens, which is why I start working on this film. The alternative attitude we develop towards image-making is actually truly relevant to understand the inner conflicts we carry around as characters in this story, and our opposing goals. Benedetta utterly refuses images and the visual language, considering it superficial and detrimental; as a result of her own life experience, she developed a ‘rage against the images’, which culminated in her choice to progressively disappear. The ocean of images that people created of her, inspired by her, has ultimately kept her captive, making it harder and harder for her to express other, less visible, parts of herself. On the other hand, I have possibly the exact opposite need. Not only I use films and photos as a medium to shape my voice and try to earn a living – ultimately, I am truly dependant on images. I look for them and produce them with equal obsession. To some extent, I fall into the worst stereotypes of my generation: filming rather than living, replicating crucial life moments in the form of images that can be streamed, shared, posted, commented online. Mainly, though, and way before social media appeared, making images has always been to me a way to understand, celebrate and preserve those close to me from the passing of time. This is why I have always photographed and filmed the people I loved. And this is why I have done the same with my mother, always meeting her fierce resistance and stubborn opposition. Deciding to work on this project is therefore at the same time an act of love and an act of betrayal. It is an act of love because it stems from my wish to visually portray what I most love and fear to lose. And it is an act of betrayal because as I observe my mother growing older and planning her departure I do exactly what she hates the most: I use her as a muse, a silent object of inspiration to satisfy my need to tell a story. In order to find an original an authentic point of view which could help me avoid the safe shortcut of the ‘biopic’, I have conceived Story of B, as a film which combines documentary elements (private and public archives, interviews and observational scenes) with some fiction sequences which reproduce my imaginary reimagining of fragments of Benedetta’s past and future life and mine and her inner worlds. I do hope that anyone wondering about the power of images, nowadays more ambiguous and uncontrollable than ever, as well as anyone looking for a balanced relationship with his own roots, may find in this film challenging questions and reasons of interest.
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Biographies
Production Details | STORY OF B. THE DISAPPEARANCE OF MY MOTHER PRODUCTION COMPANY Nanof Srl Via Marco Aurelio 5 00184 Rome Italy
Filippo Macelloni – Producer Filippo Macelloni (1965) is an Italian producer and director. He directed and produced feature films, documentaries, short films, TV and Home Video programs, distributed and broadcasted in Italy and internationally. He also produced installations and contents for exhibitions on art, history, architecture.
[email protected] +39 3465042304 www.nanof.it
CREDITS
Filippo Macelloni Storie di Altromare (2017 / producer) The Lost World Cup (2012 / director / co-producer) Silvio Forever (2011 / director / co-producer) DIRECTOR: Beniamino Barrese Sodom (2016 / director of photography) Silent Movie (2013 / director) A short summer tale (2009 / director) EXECUTIVE PRODUCTION: Giulio Luciani SCREENPLAY: Beniamino Barrese PRODUCTION:
PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED BROADCASTERS OTHER FINANCIERS OWN INVESTMENT
Budget €
January 2017 – April 2018 September 2018 In production
€ 195.000 € 85.000 Rai Cinema Gabriele Genuino LaEffe TV Riccardo Chiattelli ERT Depi Vrettou Italian Ministry of Culture Private funding Nanof Srl
3.000 7.500 5.000 € 15.500
Production Archival rights & reproduction Hotels, travel & food Production travel and expenses Production personnel Director Technical staff: (DOP/Sound/Light) Equipment Stock Material Broadcast requirements Actors
Beniamino Barrese Director
€ 25.000 € 10.000 € 1.000 € 20.000 € 38.000 € 16.000
| STORY OF B. THE DISAPPEARANCE OF MY MOTHER
Development / Pre-Production Writer Travel/subsistence Executive Producer
Beniamino Barrese – Director Beniamino Barrese was born in 1986 in Milan. He graduated in Philosophy at Università degli Studi di Milano and, after that, moved to London where he graduated in Cinematography at National Film and Television School in Beaconsfield and International Political Economy at King’s College London. Since 2011 he has been working as photographer, DoP, filmmaker and director, shooting shorts, music promos and commercials. Story of B is his first creative documentary as a director.
Filippo Macelloni Producer
50.000 6.000 3.500 15.000 10.000 18.000 13.000 4.500 3.000 5.000
Post-Production Editor/editing system Sound design and mix Music Color correction Overhead Overhead 4 % Contingency 3,5 % Producer’s fee 7,5% Total budget (summed)
17.000 4.000 5.000 2.500 € 28.500
6.525 5.710 10.433 € 22.667 € 194.667
€ 128.000
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ROUND TABLE
DIRECTOR Patrick
Jeudy
PRODUCTION Hauteville Productions STATUS Development COUNTRY France
FORMAT HD | 52’ | Digital file PITCH TYPE Round Table
What Ever Happened to Rosemary Kennedy? In 1941, JFK’s sister, Rosemary,
mysteriously disappeared from public sight after a lobotomy ordered by
her own father… This film explores what has remained to this day
the Kennedy’s darkest secret.
Synopsis
They called her Rosie and it was said that she was the prettiest of the Kennedy girls. In the thirties, Rosemary shines on the family photos alongside brothers JFK or Bobby. But then in 1941, she suddenly disappeared from the public eye. Hidden from the world, Rosemary became the best kept secret of America’s most famous dynasty. To shed light on the Rosemary enigma, this film will take us deep within the famous Kennedy’s youth, revealing the mad ambition of the parents who wanted to turn their model family into an instrument to rise to political power.... But Rosemary was always different, suffering from birth of a slight mental handicap and abrupt mood swings. Her parents refused to admit it, not wanting to concede to something that was considered a stain by society. Sent from one school to the other, stuffed with medication, often behind her brothers and sisters, the little Rosie did her best, and succeeded in making a good showing amid the clan. In 1938 she followed her family to London where her father Joseph had been named ambassador. These were the best years of her life. Her condition improved, she caught up in school, mixed with British high society – she was beautiful and courted...
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World War II led to a sudden return to the US... Rosemary found it unbearable, had increasingly hysterical and violent temper tantrums. Her nocturnal meanderings and interest in boys sent out warning signs of a scandal. Without warning the family, her father then took a terrible decision: to have her lobotomized. The operation proved disastrous. Rosemary emerged half-paralyzed, with the mental age of a 3 year-old child. She had to disappear! Joseph Kennedy had his daughter institutionalized, and imposed a veil of silence upon the family, which became complicit in this erasure effort. It was only after the patriarch’s death that her brothers and sisters allowed themselves to occasionally, and secretly, see her again, never publicly confronting this taboo that might still have tarnished the Kennedy’s gilded legend. Diving into the many official archives, photos and family films, letters and diaries, this documentary will tell the story of a child sacrificed by her own family – because her psychological fragility didn’t fit within the clan’s ambitions.
Project Description
Director’s Statement The film is above all about a child who is not like the others. She suffers from being different, from being handicapped. Unable to blend into the budding ‘Kennedy myth,’ there is no outlet for her distress. What exactly was the slight mental disability that Rosemary suffered from birth? We have only an array of hypotheses about Rosemary’s condition. If she were born today, perhaps the current educational approaches could have allowed her to lead a normal life. But fate had her in the wrong place at the wrong time, a milieu where there was no place for people like her.
Taken on its own, this is the heartrending story of a girl alone with her pain. But Rosemary was a Kennedy, and this was surely her greatest misfortune. In a family such as hers, one obsessed with success and excellence, what might have been considered a family hardship took a turn towards tragedy – the story of a child butchered by her father in order to safeguard the clan’s political ascension. My 2010 film There is No Such Thing as a Happy Kennedy centered on the lives of JFK, Bobby and Eunice’s sons and daughters, exploring how the Kennedy heritage and curse was handed down to them. Benefitting from revelations of two American investigations published in 2015, this new film takes the viewer forty years back, to what might be called the Kennedy’s ‘original crime’. Before all the other family tragedies – Joe Jr’s death during the war, or Kathleen’s in a plane accident, or the assassinations of JFK and Bobby – there had been the ordeal of their sister Rosemary. At its core, this is the story of a disappearance, an erasure. As director, one of my main challenges will be to recreate a place and a voice for Rosemary in this story, to bring her feelings to life. Rosemary appears in pre-war family films, magazines and newsreels alongside her brothers and sisters, as part of the great story that her father sold to America. She’s beautiful, radiant – nothing hints at her fears or pain. Maybe we’d see things differently if we took more time to look closely at her, to seek out what she might have said in those family photos and films. My aim is to question the archives, to revisit them alongside a motion-designer – freezing frames, isolating details, underlining expressions – to see what Rosemary might have been thinking at a time when she was still part of the ‘Kennedy dream.’ With the narrator’s voice, I wish to get as close as possible to her, keeping her at the story’s heart, including extracts from her correspondence and from her diaries, in which she expresses her joys and worries. We’ll discover her uneven writing, but moreover her incessant desire to please her parents, that they be happy and proud of her... This empa-
thetic voice-over will allow us to be alongside her during her darkest moments: the lobotomy and the severe mental and physical handicap and isolation that ensued. Afterwards, she can no longer express herself, but Rosemary’s presence is evoked in her mother’s memoirs and her brothers and sisters’ letters following the death of the patriarch who had imposed silence upon them, or Eunice’s struggle for the rights of the mentally handicapped... I want to film the story’s key locations: the Kennedy’s birthplace in Boston; one of the many institutions where she spent time in her youth; Cape Cod’s beach holidays; the St. Coletta convent in Wisconsin where she spent more than 50 years up until her death... I will seek out Rosemary in these unchanging settings. While the abundant archival Kennedy ‘propaganda’ footage will structure the film’s chronology, and the current footage will evoke Rosemary, I am considering the possibility of adding drawings, to go over to the other side of the mirror and penetrate the family’s inner-circle, showing Rosemary at the key moments of this drama (her panic attacks in the Catholic boarding schools where she was sent to ‘heal’; the operating room where she was mutilated for life; or sitting before the television, mute and infirm, watching as her brother JFK is assassinated...). I am currently inclined to collaborate with Christian de Metter, the acclaimed illustrator of the graphic novel of Shutter Island, with whom I previously worked on the film Inside JFK’s Assassination. His hyper-realistic drawings will blend easily amid the archives and present-day footage. The music will be used to evoke several filmic references, including the soundtracks to Alfred Hitchcock’s A Lady Vanishes or Joseph Mankiewicz’s Suddenly Last Summer, thus infusing the documentary with a mood somewhere between that of a flamboyant melodrama and a film noir... Thus, alongside Rosemary I’ll explore the Kennedy’s childhood, their father’s mad ambition and his ability to impose a deathly silence on the family... It’s the birth of the Kennedy myth that will be exposed – not only its shine, but its shadows.
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RO Biographies
Karina Si Ahmed Producer
Patrick Jeudy Director
Karina Si Ahmed – Producer Karina Si Ahmed, executive and creative producer of over 20 documentaries and news magazines. She was previously head of documentaries at Flach Film Production from 2011 to 2017, producing films of international scope that were acquired by networks and broadcasters across the world, such as Barack Obama – Great Expectations by William Karel, The Sad People Factory by Michèle Dominici, The Last Days of Mussolini by Emmanuelle Nobécourt. Guillaume Allary – Producer Guillaume Allary founded the publishing house Allary Editions (The Arab of the Future by Riad Sattouf, Three Friends in Search of Wisdom by Christophe André, Alexandre Jollien & Matthieu Ricard). Hauteville Productions – Production Company Hauteville Productions is an independent documentary production company, born of a desire to make sense of the world, favoring an auteur’s approach. It was recently founded by Karina Si Ahmed & Guillaume Allary Patrick Jeudy – Director Director Patrick Jeudy is a talented storyteller, expert in the art of infusing archival material with a vivid dramatic dimension. Pulling the viewer into the lives of the 20th century’s greatest icons, his documentary films have received international praise and awards. The central themes of his work include: the Vietnam War (Dien Bien Phu, The Secret Report, 2004; Adventure in Indochina 1945-1954, 2012); photographers, including Robert Capa (The Man who Believed his Own Legend, 2005, selected for the Chicago Film Festival, Input San Francisco and the 2003 IDFA Forum); Marilyn Monroe (Marilyn vs. Marilyn, 2002; Marilyn’s last sessions, 2009); and foremost, the Kennedy family – a dynasty to which he has devoted many films, several of which have met with international acclaim – (What Jackie Knew, 2003, selected for the New York, Chicago and San Francisco Film Festivals; Bobby Kennedy, The Man Who Wanted to Change America, 2004, selected for the New York, Washington and Chicago Film Festivals; There is No Such Thing as a Happy Kennedy, 2010, broadcast on TLC and on BBC 2 and BBC 4; Inside JFK’s Assassination, 2013...).
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Production Details | WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO ROSEMARY KENNEDY? PRODUCTION COMPANY Hauteville Productions 5 rue d’Hauteville 75010 Paris France CREDITS
[email protected] +33 184174239
PRODUCTION:
Karina Si Ahmed, Guillaume Allary
KARINA SI AHMED:
DIRECTOR:
DISTRIBUTOR/SALES: EDITING: PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED BROADCASTERS DISTRIBUTORS OWN INVESTMENT
Budget €
Secrets of the World’s Richest Woman (2017 / producer) Teenage Occupations (2015 / producer) Barack Obama – Great Expectations (2012 / producer) Patrick Jeudy Eleanor Roosevelt, First Lady of the World (2016 / director) Inside the Spanish Civil War (2015 / director) Jacky without Jack (2013 / director) Charlotte Tachet – ZED Christine Marier November 2017 – July 2018 September 2018 Development
€ 314.623 € 256.500 France Télévisions Caroline Behar ZED Charlotte Tachet Hauteville production
| WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO ROSEMARY KENNEDY?
Development / Pre-Production Writer Producer/Director Travel/subsistence Teaser (editing, post-production) Translations/Documentation
5.055 5.810 1.050 3.500 1.500 € 16.915
Production Archival rights & reproduction Hotels, travel & food Production personnel Director Technical staff: (DOP/Sound/Light) Equipment Translations/Documentation Post-Production Editor/editing system Sound design and mix Titles and animation Music
€ 7.000 € 15.000 € 36.123
66.000 3.584 20.980 23.589 13.965 1.300 3.300
€ 132.718
61.691 4.080 6.500 4.129 € 76.399
Outreach and distribution Voice over Miscellaneous Miscellaneous Insurance Financial fees Overhead Overhead 15 % Contingency 7 % Producer Total budget (summed)
2.628 € 2.628
5.800 2.345 4.689 € 12.834
36.224 16.905 20.000 € 73.129 € 314.623
ROUND TABLE
DIRECTOR Magnus
Gertten
PRODUCTION Auto Images
STATUS Development
COUNTRY Sweden, Germany,
Finland, Norway
With Love A documentary thriller about
love, betrayal, spies, assassins
and the longing for a brother, lost in a remote desert prison
called The Place of No Return.
Synopsis
From Uzbekistan with Love is a documentary thriller about love, betrayal, spies, assassins and the longing for a brother, lost in a desert prison called The Place of No Return. The main character Dilya is 35 years old and lives with protected identity somewhere in Sweden. She became a human rights activist in Uzbekistan, when her brother was sentenced to life in prison, accused of being a terrorist. The personal consequences of her activism were more brutal than she ever could imagine. The man she married turned out to be a spy for the regime that imprisoned her brother. The story begins in 2001, when Dilya’s older brother Iskandar Kudayberganov was arrested in Tashkent. It was his work as translator for the outspoken imam Obid Nazarov, which caused accusations of terrorist activities. Amnesty International described the trial as parodic. Today Iskandar is still confined in the remote desert prison, Jaslyk. Iman Nazarov was lucky and escaped to Sweden. Dilya became a human rights activist the very day her brother was arrested. BBC and other covered her struggle. The British ambassador in Tashkent personally tried to help her. In 2007 Dilya married Anvar Karimov and the following year she gave birth to their firstborn, a son. Soon after, the family
FORMAT HD | 58’ & 80’ | DCP GENRES
• Investigative • Human Interest / Social Issues PITCH TYPE Round Table
had to flee Uzbekistan and received asylum in Sweden. In the beginning, life in Sweden was easy. But soon Dilya’s situation became complicated. Her husband Anvar suddenly showed an aggressive side and started beating her. During these difficult times Dilya gave birth to the couple’s second child, a girl. Anvar started to act even more strange: making odd phone calls and collecting information on Uzbek refugees. When Dilya asked Anvar about this, he answered: ’Shut up! Or your brother will get into even bigger problems!’ She then realized the truth: Her husband was a spy working for the Uzbek regime. In the middle of Dilya’s turmoil an Uzbek assassin was sent to Swedish small town Strömsund, where he shot the imam Nazarov from Tashkent. Miraculously the imam survived. Did the hitman locate Nazarov via information from Dilya’s husband? One dark day in December 2012, Anvar tried to kill Dilya and their children in an arranged car accident. Dilya then fled to a women’s shelter. Anvar travelled back to Uzbekistan. It took Dilya several years to re-start life. Today she has started a new family. Dilya is still fighting for her brother Iskandar in Jaslyk. She has not heard from him since 2009.
Project Description
In addition to the strong back story, the narrative structure in From Uzbekistan with Love is formed by two storylines unfolding in present time. One is Dilya’s fight for getting her brother out of the Jaslyk Prison, the other is Dilya’s struggle to rebuild life and get rid of the ‘ghost from the past’, being the threat from her former husband Anvar. Dilya has a strong and unique personal story, with several obvious turning points and suspense elements. We will build the film as a thriller, not immediately giving away the surprise of her husband being a spy. The film will start IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
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as a love story, where young Dilya gets married. Then the changes will come gradually and the growing suspicion around her husband will build tension during the film. We intend to also finish the film with a wedding. Despite her harsh story, Dilya still believes in love and has plans for getting married to her new man. Dilya’s strong personal story has many elements to build an intense emotional drama. But it is also a good dramaturgical motor for telling a story about a political system and a geographical region that we hear very little about. In this film, we will also tell a bigger story about the political systems and human rights condition in Central Asia. Storylines in the Film Looking for brother Iskandar We follow Dilya’s search for her brother as she is determined to get Iskandar released. She is now active with Amnesty International on the case. The last time someone heard from him was in 2009. The work with getting Iskandar out of prison will bring Dilya in contact with her large network of Uzbek human rights activists, former prisoners and exiled opposition leaders now living around Europe. This ‘spider’s web’ structure of contacts will throughout the film bring a deeper understanding of the political system and human rights situation in Uzbekistan. Building a new life We follow Dilya in her attempt to rebuild life. She has met a new man, who is an Uzbek refugee, working as a truck driver, and they are planning to get married. But Dilya is carrying the ‘ghost’ from the past with her, and it influences her on all levels. Recently Anvar has been seen in the Nordic countries. She feels unsure if he is still a threat to her, and she constantly feels the need to ‘look over her shoulder’. But the ghost from the past also has some very concrete influences. For instance, it is very difficult to be a refugee trying to divorce a spy that you married in your native country. Dilya’s marriage with Anvar The story is told by Dilya with the help of unique and personal archive, including the wedding video when she and Anvar gets married in Tashkent in 2007. The film will come close to Dilya’s former husband. He will be visible in videos, still photos, archive interviews, police investigations etc. Dilya will give a personal picture of a man she loved, but who turned against her. The storyline includes reflections on the personal story about love, marriage and betrayal as well as life as a political refugee.
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Characters Dilya Erkinzoda Her family once belonged to the political opposition in Uzbekistan. Now she is starting life again, after facing brutal personal consequences from the Uzbek regime. She is determined to find information about her brother in the Jaslyk Prison and come to terms with her experienced from being married to the spy, Anvar. In the film Dilya’s story will unfold her transformation from a young woman in a conservative Muslim society to her present time fight for her brother. Iskandar Kudayberganov Iskandar was working as a translator in Tashkent and spoke several languages, including Arabic. He was a friend of the imam Obid Nazarov. According to his family, Iskandar was not politically active and it was his connection to the imam that caused his arrest in 2001. Amnesty International claims that the accusations are fabricated. In 2002, he was sentenced to death, later changed to lifetime in prison. Since 2009 no one has heard anything from him in The Jaslyk Prison. Imam Obid Nazarov Nazarov was addressing the political oppression in Uzbekistan and in strong words defended religious freedom. Even though he rejected violence as a political method he was considered as a dangerous threat to the Uzbek regime. Obid Nazarov had to flee to Sweden during dramatic circumstances. He lived under protected identity in Strömsund up til the day when he was shot in 2012. Miraculously he survived a shot in the head. Anvar Karimov Anvar Karimov has been active as a refugee spy in Norway, before he went back to Uzbekistan and got married to Dilya in 2007. He has also been back in Europe in 2016, trying to infiltrate refugee communities in Eastern Europe, pretending to be critical against the Uzbek regime. He is now living in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, working for a website. The Jaslyk Prison Here 7-8000 prisoners are locked up under primitive conditions in the remote desert close to the Aral Sea in Uzbekistan. Dilya’s brother Iskandar is one of them. Torture and violence is a daily routine. Among Uzbeks the prison is called The Place of No Return. The only known public photo of the prison is a satellite photo from Amnesty International. This photo will form part of the filmic elements building a thriller feeling in the film.
Biographies
Production Details | WITH LOVE PRODUCTION COMPANY Auto Images Monbijougatan 17e 211 53 Malmö Sweden CREDITS PRODUCTION:
DIRECTOR:
CO-PRODUCTION:
EDITING: PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED BROADCASTERS OTHER FINANCIERS OWN INVESTMENT
Ove Rishøj Jensen – Producer Ove has worked with production and outreach at Auto Images since 2011. Ove has over 14 years of experience as a consultant on international documentary financing, as he since Winter 2003 has been working with EDN – European Documentary Network; which he still continues to do. He has a master degree in film studies with additional studying of cultural journalism and humanistic computer informatics. Besides working for EDN and Auto Images he also serves as a board member of Doc Lounge.
www.autoimages.se
[email protected] +45 30311150
Ove Rishøj Jensen Every Face Has a Name (2015/Producer/Outreach Manager) Cutting Loose (2014/Producer/Outreach Manager) Harbour of Hope (2011/Outreach Manager) Magnus Gertten Becoming Zlatan (2015/Director) Every Face Has a Name (2015/Producer/Director) A Thousand Pieces / Tusen Bitar (2014/Producer/Director) Kloos & Co. Medien – Stefan Kloos – Germany Mouka Filmi - Sami Jahnukainen - Finland Gammaglimt AS - Christian Falch - Norway Jesper Osmund May 2018 – October 2018 November 2018 Development
€ 585.107 € 475.000 SVT Charlotte Gry-Madsen Swedish Film Institute Klara Grunning Creative Europe Film i Skåne Lisa Nyed Auto Images
€ 7.869 € 26.350 € 25.000 € 5.250 € 45.908
Budget € | WITH LOVE Development / Pre-Production Writer Producer/director Creative consultant Music rights
5.263 31.575 9.473 10.525 € 56.835
Production Archival rights & reproduction Hotels, travel & food Director Technical staff: (DOP/Sound/Light) Equipment Stock Material / disks / servers Broadcast requirements Line producer / driver / fixer Post-Production Editor/editing system Sound design and mix Titles and animation Grading Assistant editor Translation Composer
21.050 66.308 36.838 94.725 11.578 30.733 7.368 31.575
€ 300.173
50.362 8.420 2.105 10.525 8.420 12.630 12.630 € 105.092
Outreach and distribution Outreach Producer Outreach materials Partners and promotion Miscellaneous Accountant & auditing Curier and shipping Legal consultant Overhead Overhead 7% Contingency 7% Total budget (summed)
10.104 5.157 9.052 € 24.313
14.735 1.579 10.525 € 26.839
35.928 35.928 € 71.855 € 585.107
Auto Images – Production Company Auto Images is making creative documentaries and delivering digital stories across all platforms. Our films are produced with international partners and screened worldwide at festivals, by broadcasters, in cinemas and through online platforms. Most recent titles include:Becoming Zlatan: Premiering at IDFA 2015. It has been released in cinemas worldwide and bought by Netflix. The film was made in collaboration with WG Film. Every Face Has a Name: International awards include a FIPRESCI Award, screened at over 50 festivals globally. A Thousand Pieces/Tusen Bitar: Selling over 160.000 cinema tickets in the Nordic countries. The Auto Images track record includes many award-winning documentaries, a strong tradition for international co-productions and a trusted relationship with key financiers. Adding the recent years’ cinema successes with Becoming Zlatan and A Thousand Pieces have brought further commercial strength to the company.
Ove Rishøj Jensen Producer
Magnus Gertten Director
Magnus Gertten – Director Magnus Gertten’s latest works include feature length documentaries Becoming Zlatan and Every Face Has a Name. Becoming Zlatan, co-directed with Fredrik Gertten premiered at the 2015 IDFA festival and sold worldwide. Every Face Has a Name was co-produced and pre-sold to 11 broadcasters worldwide and has received several international awards, including a FIPRESCI Award. Tusen Bitar / A Thousand Pieces, co-directed with Stefan Berg, has sold over 160.000 tickets in Nordic cinemas. Magnus is a former TV and radio journalist. Since 1998 he has directed a large number of documentaries, shown internationally at film festivals and by broadcasters.
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ROUND TABLE | CROSSMEDIA
DIRECTOR Jan
Kounen, Vincent Bonnemazou
PRODUCTION Zorba Production STATUS Development COUNTRY France
FORMAT video 4K | VR 7’ to 10’ /
Documentary 70’ / Webseries 3x3’ | cross-platform
PLATFORM
• VR • Webseries • Documentary • Live tour
GENRES
• Author’s Point of View • Nature / Environment • Art / Music / Culture Round Table | Crossmedia
-22.7°C An immersive experience into the Arctic Circle based on the trip of
the artist Molécule who went to
Greenland to compose his new album.
Synopsis
An iceberg is cracking, the ice floe is breathing and a sled dog is howling... Electronic music producer Molécule cut himself off in Greenland to compose his new album from the Arctic sounds he recorded there. -22.7°C is an online/offline immersive experience into the Far North based on Molécule’s adventure. It combines the best of immersive technologies, cinematic creation and sound experiementation for a unique adventure. At the heart of -22.7°C is an initiatory trip in virtual reality, along with a webseries, a documentary, a sound-book and an international 360° tour combining an A/V live show and the VR experience.
Project Description
Author’s intention My adventure in Greenland has been a true life experience. I went there to compose my next album with the desire to cut myself off, to face extreme conditions, to get closer to the nature and to listen to it fully. My trip in this nearly virgin territory, has been like a return to the origins and their mysteries. During these 5 weeks in Greenland, I listened and recorded the deep sounds of the earth, the sea and the air, and the ones of the rare living beings there. I want the audience to be transported into this fantastic universe, to experience the sensations of this beautiful and fragile world. I want them to take the time to listen to the nature and to themselves. In this way, I want them to realize,
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PITCH TYPE
like I did, that the earth does not belong to humans but that humans belong to the earth. The music will be at the heart of this immersive trip on the edge of the Far North because music is a bridge to access pure emotions. As it was for me, the sound will be the guide through this initiatory experience. Content presentation • The VR experience: an initiatory trip into the Far North Writing: Molécule, Jan Kounen, Amaury La Burthe Direction: Jan Kounen Sound creation and design: Amaury La Burthe (AudioGaming) In development with: ARTE Duration: 7 to 10 minutes Format: Linear experience composed of CGIs and real shots of Greeland. -22.7°C VR experience is a docu-fiction inspired by the adventure of the musician Molécule in Greenland. It immerses the user in this polar universe and invites him to live his own adventure. During the experience, the user is in a deep listening state and he’s guided by the sounds. It impulses a reconnection with the nature and his inner self. The user navigates between an outside dimension, composed of real shots of Greenland, where he discovers a powerful, majestic but dangerous nature; and an inside dimension in CGIs, where he faces his inner self, his sensations and fears. Little by little, these two dimensions merge and lead the user to a final state of harmony where the outside and inside worlds are reconciled in a beyond. A confusing and fascinating adventure that invites the user into a virtual world in which the inside and the outside resonate.
• A web series and a documentary Directed by Vincent Bonnemazou who went to Greenland with Molécule. Webseries: 3x3 minutes Documentary: feature length for TV and festivals We follow the musician Molécule in his initiatory journey in Greenland. A mysterious character, lost in a hostile universe, a prey to dark and intimate dreads and concerns. Beyond the human adventure, which itself generates inspiration, it is also the artistic approach of the musician that catches our attention: recording the sounds of the Arctic and the boreal environment to feed his musical creation. Through this artistic process, Molécule invites us to perceive the polar world through the filter of sound and musical perceptions. For this artist, it’s also a first encounter with Greenland and its inhabitants. The encounter with the Inuit people puts two cultures face to face: the one of a European city-dweller, freshly landed on an inhospitable land, and the one of this people of exceptional intelligence with a system of values very diferent from our own.
Distribution: Special events: • In Société des Arts Technologiques SAT dome in Montreal and in the domes of the SAT international network (the presentation of the VR experience coupled with a live performance by Molécule). • In VR rooms or local VR cinemas (in partnership with Diversion Cinéma TBC). In festivals with a VR or transmedia section. In music festivals: the A/V live concert of Molécule along with the VR experience presented in a transportable dome or with free-access VR headsets. Our partners • AudioGaming • Mille Feuilles (Molécule’s music label) • Because Music • Headbangers Publishing • Miala (booking agent) • Arte • French Institute • CNC • Atelier Grand Nord VR in Montreal (Mutek & Sodec)
The narrative thus proposes an alternation of point of view between that of Molécule and that of Ole, an Inuit with a craggy face and piercing eyes. Like an old sage, Ole brings us a dreamlike and poetic point of view, inspired by Inuit beliefs, about the emotions Molécule is going through. When Molécule discovers the mysterious sound of the ice floe on the edge of the fjord, Ole reminds us that it is the cry of those who live in the depths... • An augmented live tour: The association of an A/V live show and the VR Experience In collaboration with Miala (Molecule’s booking agency), we’re setting up an international immersive tour combining the presentation of the VR experience with Molécule’s new A/V live performance. Start in the winter of 2018, until the end of 2019.
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RO Biographies
Zorba Production – Production Company
Guillaume de la Boulaye Producer
Jan Kounen Director
Founded in 2003 by Guillaume de la Boulaye and Olivier Mardi, Zorba Production produces author-driven films and transmedia projects from diverse cultural backgrounds like Mia Hansen-Love, Elie Wajeman, Oxmo Puccino, Jero Yun (South Korea) and Song Chuan (China). Zorba Production dynamics are fully directed towards international collaborations and interconnected medias. Zorba Production is affiliated to Zorba Group, a company based in Paris, Shanghai and Singapore that creates digital content through its production studios. Previous works include: Ciao Ciao/2017/feature film French Waves/2017/transmedia project (documentary, webseries, website, international tour) Mrs B, A North Korean Woman/2016/ feature documentary
Jan Kounen – VR Director
Vincent Bonnemazou Director
French director, screenwriter and producer of Dutch origins, Jan Kounen graduated from the School of Decorative Arts (France). In 1997, he directed his first feature film Dobermann with Vincent Cassel and Monica Bellucci. Followed by Blueberry (2004) and documentaries inspired by his travels in South America and his studies in shamanism. In 2007, he directed the fillm 99 francs, adapted from the novel by Frédéric Beigbeder, with Jean Dujardin and Jocelyn Quivrin (Raimu award for direction). In 2009, he directed Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky which closed the Cannes Film Festival that same year. He is currently developing three virtual reality experiences: Kosmik Journey (Okio Studio); Seven Lives, co-directed with David Calvo (Red Corner) and -22.7°C (Zorba & AudioGaming).
Amaury La Burthe – VR sound creation
After several years in the computer industry, Amaury La Burthe devoted himself to his true passion: he completed a Master’s Degree in Acoustics and Signal Process Applied to Music at IRCAM. He has worked as a research assistant for Sony Computer Science Laboratory and as an audio designer at Ubisoft (Prince of Persia: Warrior Within; Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory). He then founded the company AudioGaming. In 2016, he was the artistic director and executive producer of the VR experience Notes On Blindness: Into Darkness (Sundance, Storyscapes Award at Tribeca Film Festival, Alternate Realities VR at Sheffield Doc Festival).
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Production Details | -22.7°C PRODUCTION COMPANY Zorba Production 23 rue des Jeûneurs 75002 Paris France CREDITS PRODUCTION:
DIRECTOR:
www.zorba-group.com
[email protected] + 33 660635506
Guillaume de la Boulaye Ciao Ciao (2017/producer) French Waves (transmedia project) (2017/producer) Mrs B, A North Korean Woman (2016/producer) Jan Kounen, Vincent Bonnemazou JAN KOUNEN:
Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky (2009/director) 99 Francs (2007/director) Blueberry (2004/director) VINCENT BONNEMAZOU:
CREATED BY:
PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED OTHER FINANCIERS OWN INVESTMENT
Terres de Femmes (2016/director) Tempête de son (2013/director) Romain De la Haye Serafini, Vincent Bonnemazou, Jan Kounen, Amaury La Burthe December 2017 (for the VR) – October 2018 August 2018 Development
€ 588.813 € 484.980 CNC Mille Feuilles Zorba Production
€ 60.000 € 36.333 € 7.500
Budget € | -22.7°C Development / Pre-Production Writers Producer/director Moodboard Travel/subsistence Shooting material Clothes for extreme weather conditions
25.000 10.625 2.100 12.858 9.785 1.500
Graphic designers (3D 360 stereo animatic)
13.400 € 75.268
Production Archival rights & reproduction Hotels, travel & food Production travel and expenses Production personnel & technical management
2.000 24.000 2.500 18.000
Director & artistic director Technical staff (DOP/Sound/Light) Equipment Shooting material Broadcast requirements 3D production & animation (VR) Programming & UX design (VR)
39.440 25.566 3.000 11.700 5.000 123.600 10.000
€ 264.806
Post-Production Editing (image & sound) 35.552 Sound design, spatialisation (VR) & mix 40.010 Graphics and flame Music Color correction Post-production assistant and equipment
10.375 5.000 8.000 25.000
Format conversions & deliverables 13.800
€ 137.737
Miscellaneous General transmedia coordination (project direction) 34.200 Overhead 10% Contingency 5% Total budget (summed)
€ 34.200 51.201 25.601 € 76.802 € 588.813
ROUND TABLE | CROSSMEDIA
DIRECTOR Winslow
Porter, Milica Zec
PRODUCTION New Reality Co.
STATUS Start Production COUNTRY United States
FORMAT Unreal Engine | 10’-18’
| cross-platform
Breathe You will step into the shoes
of a young girl orphaned in a
war-torn country, and witness key
moments of her growth. Breathe
explores the power of the human
spirit in both life and death.
Synopsis
Breathe is the final piece of New Reality Co.’s VR trilogy, consisting also of Giant and Tree. Giant, a cinematic VR piece depicting a fictional family in a conflict zone, made its debut at Sundance New Frontier in 2016 before going onto Cannes, GDC, and 20 other festivals. The next year, Tree, a virtual experience transforming users into a rainforest tree, also began its festival journey at Sundance and then traveled to Tribeca, TED, IndieBo in Colombia, and is currently screening at the Phi Centre in Montreal. Both pieces utilized narrative virtual reality with an eye out for social good, while also making use of multi-sensory haptic elements. A communal experience connecting us through the simple power of existence, Breathe transforms users into Rose, a young girl orphaned after a devastating war. Rose’s life changes drastically after the trauma of living out formative years inside a conflict zone. Through her eyes, viewers live out the greatest joys and most profound struggles from her adolescence to adulthood. Each moment inextricably shaped by her upbringing - yet she is able to find strength in small interconnected moments with those she loves. While Giant explores the destruction man brings upon man and Tree delves into what humanity does to nature, Breathe acts as a meditation on hope in collective life. Even as humanity continues to fail and harm each other, Breathe seeks to remind us of the solace we can find in our similarities; we are all human, and we are all connected.
PLATFORM
VR • Human Interest / Social Issues • Youth PITCH TYPE Round Table | Crossmedia GENRES
Project Description
A communal experience through an individual lens, Breathe transforms users into Rose, the six-year-old girl featured in Giant. The piece begins with participants entering a small room with a column in the center as they are equipped with a haptic vest and asked to kneel. Once the user places on a headset and headphones, the sound and light surrounding become scarce and muffled. It becomes apparent the participant must dig themselves from a claustrophobic environment, later revealed to be the rubble left from devastating bombings. Once the user is rescued, they realize they are a young girl in a state of shock and trauma. Each user’s headset is secured with breath sensors and a microphone to amplify their breathing. Afterward, participants are taken through 5-7 key eras in Rose’s life after trauma as she rises from the ashes of adversity. Each new scene reveals the ways Rose’s trauma strengthens and emboldens her throughout her unique life. The piece features a communal element at the end wherein viewers watch themselves as Rose, now in her 80s, begin to pass on. We represent Rose’s death by showing her dissipate into small particles that slip into the wind and intermingle with the stars. Users once again hear themselves breathe, this time becoming aware that their breath is moving stars and swirling constellations. Viewers then witness celestial manifestations of other participants breathing out stars as well - until everyone, together, is creating a giant skyscape, a communal project spurred by the simple power to breathe. Breathe is co-directed by Milica Zec and Winslow Porter of New Reality Co. and written by Luke Davies, screenwriter of the Oscar-nominated and BAFTA-winning film Lion.
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RO Biographies
New Reality Co – Production Company
Winslow Porter Director/Producer
Milica Zec Director/Producer
Co-founded by Milica Zec and Winslow Porter, New Reality Co. is a creative studio dedicated to synthesizing storytelling, art and technology into groundbreaking and emotional projects. New Reality utilizes virtual, augmented, mixed and actual reality to tap into positive social change and explore the human experience, with a goal to invigorate viewers whether in a large-scale experiential installation or an intimate at-home viewing. As a highly collaborative company, New Reality partners with corporations, foundations, and artists from all disciplines to help elevate their message. For two years, New Reality sustained a membership at NEW INC, the New Museum’s art, technology and design incubator program. Zec and Porter are also Robert Rauschenberg Fellows, alumni of the Sundance New Frontier Lab, and artists-inresidence at creative agency Droga5 (14-time agency of the year winner by Adweek), the Technicolor Experience Center, and A/D/O, a creative space in Brooklyn exploring boundaries in design. Zec and Porter together were named to Adweek’s Top 100 Creatives as Digital Innovators. At the 2016 Sundance New Frontier festival, New Reality premiered Giant, a VR film portraying an American family in an active war zone. Giant is one of the first VR projects to combine semi-volumetric live action video with game engine software. Tree, an experiential piece in which the viewer takes on the body of a growing tree, premiered at 2017 Sundance New Frontier and continued its run at Tribeca Film Festival’s Virtual Arcade, TED2017, NAB Show Vegas and IndieBo in Colombia. Tree was also written up in the New York Times as a must-see experience at Sundance. The socially connected experience Breathe represents the final leg of New Reality’s VR trilogy and is now in early stages of development. Prior to founding New Reality Company, Zec collaborated with performance artist Marina Abramovic as a filmmaker for 9 years, and was the editor of Fire Under the Snow (IDFA Official Selection 2008). With a background in film-making and interactive, Winslow has directed and/or produced five VR projects, including Clouds (IDFA Official Selection 2014).
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Production Details | BREATHE PRODUCTION COMPANY New Reality Co. 234 North 7th Street Garden Apartment 11211 Brooklyn United States CREDITS PRODUCTION: DIRECTOR:
[email protected] +1 8607050232
[email protected] www.newreality.co
Winslow Porter, Milica Zec Winslow Porter, Milica Zec MILICA ZEC:
Tree (2017/director) Giant (2016/director) Christina (2012/director) WINSLOW PORTER:
CREATED BY: SCREENPLAY: PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED
Tree (2017/director) Giant (2016/producer, co-creator) CLOUDS (2014/producer) New Reality Co. Luke Davies August 2017 – January 2018 2019 Start production
€ 734.000 € 734.000
Budget € | BREATHE Development / Pre-Production Writer Producer/director Producer/director Travel/subsistence Storyboard artist Art director
20.000 15.000 15.000 5.000 4.000 25.000 € 84.000
Production Hotels, travel & food 6.500 Production travel and expenses 6.000 Production personnel 4.000 Director 25.000 Director 25.000 Art director 25.000 Volumetric capture, processing and editing 120.000 Equipment Broadcast requirements
4.000 3.500 € 219.000
Post-Production Game engine engineers Game engine artisits Art director Sound design and mix Titles and animation Music Outreach and distribution PR Miscellaneous Website Overhead Contingency Total budget (summed)
175.000 75.000 25.000 40.000 20.000 18.000 € 353.000
20.000 € 20.000
18.000 € 18.000
40.000 € 40.000 € 734.000
ROUND TABLE | CROSSMEDIA
DIRECTOR Tomas Tamosaitis PRODUCTION Institute for Transmedia
Design, Joni Art
STATUS Development COUNTRY
Lithuania, Slovenia, France, Germany, Poland FORMAT Animation + footage | Documentary 80’, Web series 26 x 3’, VR 5 x 5’ | cross-platform
PLATFORM
Killer, Penguin, Tom, Doll Face Killer, Penguin, Doll Face is a
• Documentary • Web series • VR
GENRES
• Author’s Point of View • Human Interest / Social Issues • Youth PITCH TYPE Round Table | Crossmedia
in the Universe - the HOUSE for
If you are a parent of a troubled child or you have met one at school, or seen one in your neighbour, you’ve probably wondered what makes this child so sad, so angry at life and angry at you, and destructive towards himself and the others. Although it may feel like they hate the world, that might be far from the truth.
of space and time do not apply.
Project Description
story of socially excluded and alienated teenagers, who live
troubled - where the usual laws
Synopsis
Killer, Penguin, Tom, Doll Face is a 360 degree concept. An animated documentary film, an animated web series (26 x 3’) and a VR experience are the key elements of the project, giving a view on social exclusion and alienation of troubled children. Killer, Penguin, Tom, Doll Face should evoke reconsideration of the social values and social phobias that result in systematic discrimination of those who appear to deviate from perceived norms and thereby become subject to coarse exclusion. All the formats of the project are based on the personal stories of children – the patients of the Child Psychiatric Development Centre in Vilnius, Lithuania. The Centre is a special, extraordinary place. It is neither a real psychiatric hospital, nor an orphanage, nor a children’s rehabilitation institution. On the other hand, the House is also all of these things. In any case, it is a very handy place to hide out of sight - and all sorts of troubled teenagers that neither their parents nor society know how to deal with do so: juvenile suicides, sexually abused children, those suffering from pathological anger, panic attacks, and most often children with no clear diagnosis.
Director’s Statement For the last four years, I worked as a volunteer and gave animation workshops in the Child Development Centre. I met all my protagonists of the project there. During the workshops together with the children, we create and write the tales based on the children’s own experiences. After that, we make short 2-3 minutes animated films of the stories. On the one hand this process is a fun game, and on the other hand it is also a therapy, a method to get closer to the hidden truth behind the troubled children traumas and find the way to help them, to show them that they are part of society, to stop them from feeling alienated, rejected and unwanted. The starting point of these workshops is always an improvisation. I suggest to question the fairy tales that children have already heard by asking simple and concrete questions like ‘have you ever wanted to change something in your favourite tale’ or ‘if you would be the author, how your tale would start?’, etc. And so we begin. Sitting in the circle, one after another every child suggests a sentence or two on how the story could twist and this way we develop the plot of the tale. The result is usually an incredibly imaginative and unexpected story full of symbolism coming from the personal experience of these children who have lived through the things that would damage even an adult. IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
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The general aim of this project is to reduce the alienation by raising the awareness through the different formats of media, and encourage questioning and the interaction between the different social groups, which do not naturally intersect in everyday life. Also, we seek to encourage creativity in children by making them participants and contributors - creators of the different aspects of the project. This project also seeks to provide the troubled and marginalized children the possibility to be heard, to give them the voice.
Budget € | VR – KILLER, PENGUIN, TOM, DOLL FACE Development / Pre-Production Writer Producer/director Travel/subsistence Animation prototyping Participatory workhops Production Archival rights & reproduction Hotels, travel & food Production travel and expenses Production personnel Director
25.000 15.000 5.000 35.000 3.000 € 83.000
10.000 5.000 3.000 120.000 30.000
Post-Production Editor/editing system Sound design and mix Titles and animation
25.000 10.000 7.000 € 42.000
Outreach and distribution Website 25.000 Social media, PR, Advertising, Events 47.000 Total budget (summed)
€ 72.000 € 365.000
€ 168.000
Budget € | WEB SERIES – KILLER, PENGUIN, TOM, DOLL FACE Development / Pre-Production Writer web series Producer/director Travel/subsistence Animation prototyping Production Archival rights & reproduction Hotels, travel & food Director Animation production
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34.000 17.000 5.000 20.000 € 76.000
10.000 8.000 20.000 70.000 € 108.000
Post-Production Editor/editing system Sound design and mix Titles and animation Outreach and distribution WebDoc platform Social media, PR, Advertising Total budget (summed)
26.000 15.000 15.000 € 56.000
15.000 35.000 € 50.000 € 290.000
Biographies
Production Details | KILLER, PENGUIN, TOM, DOLL FACE PRODUCTION COMPANY Institute for Transmedia Design Borovnjakova 6 9000 Musrka Sobota Slovenia
www.transmedia-design.me
[email protected] +386 31696037
2ND PRODUCTION COMPANY Joni Art Vokieciu 9-7 LT-01130 Vilnius Lithuania
www.joniart.com
[email protected] +370 68437807
CREDITS PRODUCTION:
Sara Bozanic, Tomas Tamosaitis
SARA BOZANIC:
DIRECTOR:
CREATED BY: CO-PRODUCTION:
SCREENPLAY: PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED OTHER FINANCIERS OWN INVESTMENT
Ukrainian Sheriffs (2016/transmedia producer) Selector Slovenia (radio show) (2015/transmedia director/producer) Migrations (transmedia exhibition) (2014/transmedia producer) Tomas Tamosaitis Guilt (Short) (2013/producer) Lithuanian Children’s Book Illustrators (TV documentary series) (2012/ author/director) Spanish for Adults (2008/author/director) Tomas Tamosaitis – Joni Art Now Films – Bettina Morlock – Germany Braidmade Films – Monika Braid – Poland Ikki Films – Edwina Liard, Nidia Santiago – France Tomas Tamosaitis January 2018 – November 2019 March 2020 Development
€ 2.290.357 € 2.136.268 Ciclic Creative Europe Lithuanian Film Centre Nordic Culture Point Joni Art Now Films Institute for Transmedia Design Braidmade Films
€ 25.000 € 25.000 € 22.156 € 2.420 € 29.827 € 21.505 € 20.000 € 8.181
Budget € | ANIMATED FILM – KILLER, PENGUIN, TOM, DOLL FACE Development / Pre-Production Writer 16.650 Producer/director 15.000 Travel/subsistence 8.000 Archivals 1.000 Animation (pre-production, teasers, bible, etc) 72.272 Other
2.648 € 115.570
Production Archival rights & reproduction 9.000 Hotels, travel & food 58.390 Production travel and expenses 21.580 Production personnel 324.047 Director 41.418 Technical staff: (DOP/Sound/Light) 61.050 Equipment 121.240 Animation 268.980 Insurances 12.877 Other 150.919
€ 1.069.501
Post-Production Editor/editing system Sound design and mix Titles and animation Animation Other
16.940 63.278 12.500 70.000 76.949
Outreach and distribution Marketing, promotion, stills, etc
Miscellaneous Post-production Overhead Overhead Contingency Total budget (summed)
The Institute for Transmedia Design (ITD) The Institute for Transmedia Design is a smart institution focused on story and technologydriven innovation. A pioneer in transmedia design methodology and practice (research, development and production), the Institute has been actively involved in co-creating international projects with partners such as the British Council, Edinburgh Napier University, the Arts Academy, Split, Croatia, MEDIA Desk Slovenia, etc. In 2014, the Institute received an Electoral Design Management Award for its collaborative transmedia project for the Slovenian State Election Commission, (International Electoral Awards, Kuala Lumpur). In 2015, it was awarded special recognition for its transmedia design project Stigmarella - The Story about a Girl and a Shoe (BIO50, Biennale of Design, Ljubljana). In 2016 the Institute produced the transmedia side of the film Ukrainian Sheriffs, which was awarded with the IDFA Winner Special Jury Award for Best Feature-Length Documentary.
Sara Bozanic Producer
Tomas Tamosaitis Director/Producer
€ 239.667
Joni Art – Production Company Joni Art is a young and dynamic production company created in 2008 and based in Vilnius, Lithuania. The trademark of Joni Art is to experiment with multiple techniques, through combining innovative and traditional approaches, creating entertaining and convincing films that leave a memorable and long-lasting impact. Joni Art is committed to developing and producing films that reflect emotions and stories beyond borders. The films produced by Joni Art are very successful at the film festivals and were awarded various international and national awards. Joni Art is organizing and conducting training, where the techniques of animation and filmmaking process are being introduced to a young audience.
20.000 € 20.000
13.800 € 13.800
103.135 73.684 € 176.819 € 1.635.357
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ROUND TABLE | CROSSMEDIA
DIRECTOR Mike
Robbins, Nicolas Thépot
PRODUCTION Gebrueder Beetz Filmproduktion STATUS Development
The Master’s Vision (VR) A VR series discovering the hidden
emotions inside masterpieces of art.
Synopsis
The Master‘s Vision is a VR series focusing on the underlying emotions of three world-famous artworks: Monk by the Sea by Caspar David Friedrich, Edvard Munch’s The Sun, and Claude Monet’s Blue Water Lilies. Each painting explores the relation between human beings, and nature in a different way. By giving an emotional understanding of this relation, and by revealing an unknown story related to the creation of the artwork, the series catapults us in the thoughts of the Master, and his vision. The episode Monk by the Sea lets the user grasp the loneliness and longing that the monk at the seashore emanates. For Munch’s The Sun, we experiment with the ‘Ganzfeld’ effect, and give an emotional understanding of light, and darkness. Meanwhile, in Monet’s Blue Water Lilies we create an experience that blurs the boundaries between time, and space. The user is not a passive observer, but he is at the center of the experience by interacting with the painting, and immerses in the thoughts and visions of the artists. The series is developed in strong association with the ‘home’ museums of the artworks: The Old National Gallery in Berlin, Musée d’Orsay in Paris, and the Munch Museum in Oslo, and is co-produced with experienced partners: French production house Camera Lucida, who just launched the much acclaimed VR project The Enemy, Norways Oya Interaktiv, and the Fraunhofer Institut, one of the world-leading research institutions in the field of VR. The series addresses art-lovers from around the globe that are new to VR and curious what benefits the technology brings. In addition to the licensing of location-based
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COUNTRY
Germany, Norway, France
FORMAT Mostly CGI, some shooting in
360° | 3x5’ | cross-platform
PLATFORM
VR
PITCH TYPE Round Table | Crossmedia
versions of the series, The Master’s Vision will be accessible as mobile experience, and as desktop VR project. The series will be launched in autumn 2018.
Project Description
The creation of art is driven by emotion, and so is its reception. When we look at an artwork, the feeling it evokes is what matters and what creates a connection between the vision of the artist and the spectator. Creating an emotional understanding of masterpieces in European art is the motivation for the VR series The Master‘s Vision. For the exploration in VR we have selected these iconic artworks: 1. T he Monk by the Sea by Caspar David Friedrich, Alte Nationalgalerie 2. The Scream by Edvard Munch, Munch Museum Oslo 3. B lue Water Lilies by Claude Monet, Musée d’Orsay Paris These artworks are featured in the series as they all meet the following criteria: 1. H idden Story: The first impression the artwork creates is misleading and stands in contrast to the actual story of its creation, which is not commonly known. 2. Sensual Experience: The artwork creates a strong emotional atmosphere that appeals to all senses, which makes it relevant for an exploration in virtual reality. 3. Popularity: The artwork itself is known by a broad public, highly popular and attracts visitors from around the globe. Each episode of the series is 4-7 minutes long, narration driven, and uses various stylistic elements (volumetric video, photogrammetry, documentary materials such as diaries, fiction scenes) in order to make the user dive into the virtual reality. The interaction is subtle as the experience is supposed to work on mobile devices without controllers. Yet, each episode has strong moments of surprises where the user realizes that he/she can influence the VR experience.
To illustrate the use of narration, style and interaction, we outline the episode Monk by the Sea in more detail. This episode will be the prototype for the series. Background of the Painting Friedrich’s composition of Monk by The Sea was radical for the time: An almost empty painting, no “golden section” but straight lines and clearly separated colors. The monk on the dunes is the only element the viewer’s eye can stick to. He radiates a loneliness that extends to the basic mood of the whole picture. The painting was a scandal - and today anticipated as a modern and abstract painting. Restoration works in 2015 revealed that Caspar David Friedrich had originally planned the painting differently. By radiographs, a “painting under the painting” became visible, in which Friedrich had sketched seagulls over the water and ships in the waves. Friedrich eventually decided deliberately against this classical composition. The emergence of the picture fell into a time when he had to cope with the death of his father and his sister and suffered from severe depression. Just like the monk, Friedrich often walked along the stormy coast of the Baltic so seek comfort. Therefore, art historians often interpret the figure of the monk as a self-portrait of the painter. Storyline and interaction You start in the “secret underpainting” of Monk by the Sea, walking through a stark line drawing, towards the monk figure in the distance. You can hear the wind, water, birds and scrunch of the beach under your footsteps. You can see the monk’s robes flap in the wind, the white caps move on the water, the seagulls swarm overhead, sometimes flying perilously close. From time to time, rain drops spatter, and the wind whips up sand and debris. The scene is built out of 3D meshes, textured to look flat and drawn, like the underpainting it is meant to represent.
There is a simple mechanism for your movement through the scene: when you look away from the monk, you stop walking. When you look at the monk, you continue closer. The field of vision for drawing extends for 180°. It fades into grey behind. You can see your footsteps receding from view after a couple of meters. As you approach, the monk speaks. The words are a combination of real quotes from Friedrich and imagined phrases. His voice is attenuated at first by the distance, and the sounds of the sea, but grows clearer and more present, as you draw closer. The monk addresses you as ‘Caspar David’, letting you understand that you are in the role of the artist himself. The monk talks about how he feels overwhelmed by the nature in front of him, reminding him how little our human lives matter when facing the Godly creation. ‘Deep are our footsteps on the empty sandy beach; but a soft wind blows over them and our traces are no longer seen’. When you look behind you, you see how your footprints vanish in the wind. By this point, you are standing where the monk was, and have adopted his point of view. The seagulls start ‘painting’ layers of colour over the grey of the underpainting. The birds are animated with a flocking algorithm that causes them to follow the direction of the headset gaze. The clouds and the water are also animated, and layered in such a way to present an impression of swirling depth. The field of vision for drawing extends for 180°. It now fades into black behind. You can see the birds disappearing and reappearing from the vanishing point in this darkness. When you look up into the now coloured sky, you can see a stripe or light bright blue – a glimpse of hope.
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RO Biographies
Georg Tschurtschenthaler – Concept & Creative Producer
Georg Tschurtschenthaler Producer
Grimme Award winner Georg Tschurtschenthaler oversees the editorial department as Senior Producer Film & Cross Media for gebrueder beetz filmproduktion in Berlin. Among feature-length documentaries and award-winning TV documentaries and series, he launched cross media TV events such as SUPERNERDS, The Wagner Files and Farewell Comrades winning several awards, including a nomination for the Innovation Award at SXWS in 2016.
Mike Robbins – Director & Creative Technologist
Mike Robbins Director
Mike is Creative Technologist at Helios Design Labs, where he has been for the last 15 years. He oversees the interactive part of Helios’ creative output and current European operations. Recent storytelling projects that he has worked on in include Highrise with Kat Cizek and the NFB, Offshore with Brenda Longfellow, 17,000 Islands with Thomas Østbye and Edwin, World Online Orchestra with the Copenhagen Phil among others. The work has collectively won a number of major awards and nominations, and has been featured in such venues as IDFA, Sheffield DocFest, smartFip@, others, including a nomination for activism at 2014 SXSW Interactive awards.
Harmke Heezen – Writer
Harmke Heezen is a freelance director, writer and creative producer, based in Berlin. She directed and produced for the Arts & Culture department of the Dutch national public broadcaster AVRO, before moving to Berlin in 2011.
Chlóe Jarry, Camera Lucida – Co-producer, France
Camera Lucida is one of the most reknowned French production houses, and gathers producers and authors/directors who share the same passion for artistic and innovative creations. The company just launched the much acclaimed VR-project The Enemy by Karim Ben Khelifa. The project is currently exhibited at the MIT, and was recently awarded with the Rose d’Or.
Kristian Mosvold, Øya Interaktiv, Norway – Co-producer Norway Norwegian co-producer Kristian Mosvold at Øya Interaktiv has worked for over 9nine years in documentary filmmaking. He is currently working on the VR project EXODE in Brazil with the United Nations.
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Production Details | THE MASTER’S VISION (VR) PRODUCTION COMPANY Gebrueder Beetz Filmproduktion Heinrich-Roller-Straße 15 10405 Berlin Germany
www.gebrueder-beetz.de
[email protected] +49 1633116960
CREDITS
Georg Tschurtschenthaler Uploading_Holocaust (2016/producer) Falciani’s Swissleaks - The Great Bank Data Robbery (2015/producer) Supernerds (2015/producer) DIRECTOR: Mike Robbins, Nicolas Thépot Digital Me (2016/ co-producer/co-creator/technical and creative direction) Open Orchestra Online (2016/co-producer, creative technologist) Quipu (2015/creative technologist) CREATED BY: Georg Tschurtschenthaler CO-PRODUCTION: Camera Lucida Productions – Chloe Jarry – France, Øya Interaktiv – Kristian Mosvold – Norway EXECUTIVE PRODUCTION: Christian Beetz – Gebrueder Beetz Filmproduktion Berlin SCREENPLAY: Harmke Heezen EDITING: Mike Robbins PRODUCTION:
PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED OTHER FINANCIERS
January 2018 – September 2018 Fall 2018 Development
€ 370.015 € 275.015 Creative Europe – Slate Funding Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg
€ 50.000 € 45.000
Budget € | THE MASTER’S VISION (VR) Development / Pre-Production Writer Creative producer Creative technologist Travel/subsistence Prototype production
8.400 7.000 5.000 900 20.000 € 41.300
Production Programming (Unity 3D) 95.000 Photogrammetric reconstructions 30.000 Volumetric video shootings 45.000 Creative technologist 22.500 Project manager 18.000 Technical staff: (DOP/Sound/Light) 6.500 Production travel and expenses 5.000 Archival rights & reproduction 8.400 Equipment (VR Hard- and Software) 3.000 Broadcast requirements 1.500
€ 234.900
Post-Production 3D Sound design and mix Music Testing and debugging Translations & recordings Rendering, deliveries for different platforms
15.000 6.000 12.000 2.500 6.000 € 41.500
Outreach and distribution PR Campaign 15.000 Launch events (Berlin, France, Oslo) 9.000 Miscellaneous Social Security Costs Overhead Overhead 7,5 % Total budget (summed)
€ 24.000
2.500 € 2.500
25.815 € 25.815 € 370.015
ROUND TABLE | CROSSMEDIA
DIRECTOR Marc
Serpa Francoeur, Robinder Uppal
PRODUCTION Lost Time Media STATUS Development COUNTRY Canada
FORMAT Multimedia, HD video |
Variable length (online interactive) | cross-platform
No Visible Trauma An interactive documentary series set in Calgary, Canada, No Visible
Trauma investigates the disturbing
experiences of Godfred, an immigrant
from Ghana who was kidnapped,
beaten, tasered, and abandoned in -28°C weather by police. Charged
with “assaulting an officer”, Godfred insists that video footage of the
incident will vindicate him.
Synopsis
“I can’t help but wonder, what if there was no video? We would have a young man standing in this court with no support and no evidence on his own behalf other than to say these police officers are all lying.” - Joan Blumer, defence attorney No Visible Trauma is an interactive documentary web series that takes a deep dive into incidents on the night of December 28, 2013, in which Godfred Addai-Nyamekye, a 26-year-old immigrant from Ghana, was the victim of horrific police violence. Godfred was kidnapped, beaten, tasered, and abandoned without winter clothing in -28°C weather by police officers in Calgary, a city of roughly one million people in Western Canada. Charged with ‘assaulting a peace officer’ by the police, Godfred insists that video footage and a careful examination of the facts will vindicate his version of events. Weaving together court proceedings and video interviews with 911 calls, police helicopter footage, and officers’ notes, the abuses and subsequent trial are put under a microscope to illuminate a wide range of deception, malevolence, and dereliction of duty on the part of both the police and prosecution.
PLATFORM
Interactive web series • Investigative • Human Interest / Social Issues • Politics / Society PITCH TYPE Round Table | Crossmedia GENRES
The narrative of No Visible Trauma is laid out over the course of ten chapters in a mystery-esque/”whodunnit” style that allows users to “participate” in the investigation and come to their own conclusions about who is telling the truth: Godfred or the police. The June 2015 trial, in which all charges against Godfred were dismissed, figures heavily throughout the documentary as the foundation for examining the incidents in detail and from multiple perspectives. The trial also offers a basis from which to approach broader policy issues, such as the shortcomings of due process, the culture of policing, and accountability for public servants. The concluding chapters of No Visible Trauma trace Godfred’s journey to rise above his trauma and seek justice, compelled by a determination to help prevent the same abuses from befalling others. In the process of unravelling the incident and its complex and ongoing legal aftermath, the documentary uncovers the profound dysfunction of a policing and legal system that lacks fundamental safeguards to prevent the abuse of power, or the ability to rectify that abuse when it does occur.
Project Description
Conceptual overview and design: No Visible Trauma will be a ten-part multimedia web series, with new chapters released on a weekly basis. Each chapter will begin with a short video that lays out the chapter’s theme, following which the user can delve into the “Investigation”. Various materials (documents, audio, transcripts, etc.) that represent the official narrative (police and/or prosecution) are employed as a foundation for exploring counter-perspectives (Godfred, his attorneys, and the judge), and for presenting evidence and legal challenges to the claims of the police, the prosecution, and others involved in the incident.
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This design approach will broaden and diversify the audience by allowing for “multiple levels of engagement” (i.e. depending on their interest level, users can spend 2-20 minutes per chapter, and everything in-between). The interface will include an “interactive timeline” that fills in with materials and content as the chapters progress, giving a sense of scope while allowing users to move backwards and forwards as needed. Like with our previous work, this project will stand apart from many other interactive documentaries because of its compatibility across a wide range of mobile devices, a crucial element as roughly half of web traffic is mobile. The experience will be particularly dynamic on touch devices, owing to the uniquely tactile experience of manipulating documents and images we will incorporate. Basic overview of the incidents and aftermath: • ~3:00am, December 28, 2013 — 26-year-old Godfred Addai-Nyamekye is acting as a designated driver for friends who have been drinking. The car slips on an icy patch and gets stuck in the snow. All four men are black; Godfred is originally from Ghana, the others from Ethiopia. • ~3:10am — Members of the Calgary police, Officers Donockley and Kwasnica, happen to pass by the scene. Alleging public intoxication, they quickly detain and confine Godfred in their vehicle despite never administering a breathalyzer nor bringing him to the “drunk tank” of the nearby police station. • ~3:30am — Officers Donockley and Kwasnica drive Godfred to an isolated location (i.e. kidnap him, according to standard legal definitions) and eject him from their vehicle into -28°C weather without adequate clothing to withstand the elements (he was dressed only in a track suit, without coat, hat, or gloves). • ~3:45am — Godfred finds himself stranded in a massive construction site. The battery on his phone is dead, but he does have a phone belonging to one of his friends, who dropped it while trying to push the car out of the snow; as such, the phone is “locked” and can only be used to call 911. Freezing and panicked, Godfred calls 911 to ask for help. After being dismissed and hung-up on by one operator, a lengthy and confused conversation (10+ mins) with a second operator results in a police officer arriving at Godfred’s location. • ~4:00am — Officer Lindsay arrives and proceeds to repeatedly taser Godfred and beat him on the face, head, neck, and back. Lindsay claims that he was acting in self-defence and Godfred is charged with assaulting a peace officer.
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• ~4:30-7:00am — Godfred is placed in the “drunk tank” while Officer Lindsay is sent to have his hand x-rayed in case he was injured during the altercation. • June 2015 — Godfred’s case goes to trial eighteen months after the incidents. He remains adamant that video footage of the alleged assault would support his version of events. Shortly before the trial begins, footage recorded from a police helicopter surfaces that depicts Officer Lindsay beating Godfred while he was handcuffed. The testimonies of Officers Donockley and Lindsay are riddled with inconsistencies and perjury; the court rejects the credibility of their testimony and the charges against Godfred are dismissed. • January 2016 — Godfred files a Statement of Claim (i.e. civil law suit) that names Officers Donockley, Lindsay, and other employees of the Calgary Police Service who were involved directly or indirectly in the incidents of December 28, 2013 and their aftermath, as well as members of the prosecution. The suit alleges a wide range of charter violations and seeks damages stemming from physical and emotional trauma that has impacted Godfred’s scholastic, professional, and personal life. He has been diagnosed with PTSD and ostensibly permanent neurological damage to his spine. Additional info: The working title, No Visible Trauma, is drawn from Godfred’s “Arrest Care Report” from the night of the incidents, which features a number of factual inaccuracies, including contradictions with the “EMS Patient Care Report” from only moments before, which detailed injuries on his face. As mentioned in the synopsis, the trial proceedings against Godfred for “assaulting a peace officer” offer a basis from which to approach a number of broader policy issues, owing to the way in which the key actors, both as individuals and archetypes, are brought together in one contained and unusually candid setting, namely: • The public (Godfred and his attorney, Joan Blumer) • The police (Officers Donockley, Lindsay, and Curtis) • The crown (the prosecution, headed by Andrew Barg) • The judiciary (Judge McIlhargey) Others who will feature prominently include: • Tom Engel — Godfred’s attorney in the civil suit filed in 2016, Engel is the highest profile legal advocate in the province regarding police abuse and official misconduct. • Chief Constable Roger Chaffin — Having assumed the role in 2015, Chaffin inherited a department embroiled in scandal and at historic lows of public confidence in the police.
Biographies
Production Details | NO VISIBLE TRAUMA PRODUCTION COMPANY Lost Time Media 20 Vanauley St. #413 M5T 2H4 Toronto Canada
CREDITS PRODUCTION: DIRECTOR:
www.losttimemedia.com
[email protected] +1 6474596438
[email protected] +1 5878896027
Marc Serpa Francoeur, Robinder Uppal Marc Serpa Francoeur, Robinder Uppal MARC SERPA FRANCOEUR:
The World in Ten Blocks (2016/co-director/co-producer) League of Exotique Dancers Interactive (2016/co-director) Boardwalk Músico (2015/director) ROBINDER UPPAL:
The World in Ten Blocks (2016/co-director/co-producer) League of Exotique Dancers Interactive (2016/co-director) Boardwalk Músico (2015/producer) CREATED BY: Marc Serpa Francoeur – Lost Time Media EXECUTIVE PRODUCTION: Geoff Morrison – Big Cedar Films PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED OWN INVESTMENT
January 2018 – December 2018 December 28th, 2018 Development
€ 140.000 € 125.000 Lost Time Media
€ 15.000
Budget € | NO VISIBLE TRAUMA Development / Pre-Production Producer/director/writer 8.200 Researcher 6.400 Research expenses 1.600 Video production 5.600 Travel/subsistence 6.400 Project proposal/grant prep/promo materials 10.400
€ 38.600
Production Producer/director/writer Production supervisor/project manager
7.800 3.800
Technical director/creative lead Consultants (legal scholar/expert) Production travel and expenses Technical staff: (DOP/Sound/Light) Equipment UI designer/architect Back-end developer Front-end developer Testing labour
4.800 2.400 4.800 7.600 2.800 7.200 5.600 5.400 1.800
€ 54.000
Post-Production Producer/director/writer Editor/editing system Sound design and mix Colour correction Titles and animation Score
6.200 7.400 3.200 1.200 2.000 2.400 € 22.400
Outreach and distribution Deployment and distribution expenses
2.100
Promotions/social media Hosting and maintenance
3.600 1.400
Miscellaneous Content manager Insurance/legal Accounting/bookkeeping labour Overhead Overhead 3% Contingency 7% Total budget (summed)
€ 7.100
1.400 1.800 700 € 3.900
4.200 9.800 € 14.000 € 140.000
Lost Time Media – Production Company Lost Time Media is a documentary production company that creates engaging social issue film and interactive projects, focusing primarily on immigration. Their feature-length interactive documentary, The World in Ten Blocks, explores the diversity of Toronto’s Bloorcourt neighbourhood through the stories of its immigrant small business owners. It premiered at Hot Docs 2016 before launching online in partnership with The Globe and Mail, Canada’s major national newspaper, followed by its International Premiere at Sheffield Doc/Fest 2017 (www. theworldintenblocks.com). Other recent work includes League of Exotique Dancers Interactive (2016), which was produced for Toronto’s Emmy Award-winning Storyline Entertainment (www.exotiqueinteractive.com). Lost Time Media has produced short films set in Europe, Latin America, India, and Canada, and projects in development include a mini-series that explores Canada’s unique public/ private refugee settlement system through the experiences of Syrian families.
Marc Serpa Francoeur Producer/Director
Robinder Uppal Producer/Director
Lost Time Media was co-founded by Marc Serpa Francoeur and Robinder Uppal, whose current work builds on lifelong interests in immigration and diversity issues. Lost Time Media has collaborated on a diverse range of projects, including Queerstory, a geo-locative mobile app that uses 40+ short documentaries to explore the queer history of Toronto, and Collective Threads, an online resource of immigrationthemed videos produced by the Textile Museum of Canada. Serpa Francoeur and Uppal hold MFAs in Documentary Media from Ryerson University. Born in Calgary to immigrant parents, they believe that diversity is Canada’s greatest asset and seek to create work that embodies this belief and fosters inclusivity. As Calgary natives, Serpa Francoeur and Uppal are well-positioned to produce No Visible Trauma, given their familiarity with the local environs and culture, as well as their substantial personal connections and networks in the city.
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ROUND TABLE | CROSSMEDIA
DIRECTOR Elizabeth
Rocha Salgado
PRODUCTION Hyper Epic
STATUS Start Production
Putin Roulette Putin Roulette is a ‘randomised interactive documentary’ that reveals the many different
Putins that Russians see.
Synopsis
Everyone has their own image of Vladimir Putin. Depending on who you ask, a different Putin will emerge: the evil tyrant, the strong leader, the ex-KGB hero, the strategist, the human, the master media manipulator... We travelled to Russia and around the world to ask different Russians about their Putin. Putin Roulette is a ‘randomised interactive documentary’ that tells their stories and reveals the many different Putins that Russians see.
COUNTRY The Netherlands
FORMAT HD cam | 99 x 1’ | cross-platform PLATFORM
Interactive website
PITCH TYPE Round Table | Crossmedia
Project Description
Who is Putin? For the past 18 years, Vladimir Putin has been in power in Russia; controlling the media, silencing journalists, hacking elections, getting rid of political opponents, running the country as a dictator. At least, that is what we overwhelmingly get to see and hear in the west. Our image of Putin is largely constructed from what we get from the media and the big western news agencies. But who is Vladimir Putin to Russians? What face do they see when they look at their president? Why do they continue to elect a leader who seems to be oppressing them? What better way to answer these questions than by compiling the many different points of view of the people who live or have lived under his regime. Those who support him as well as those who denounce him, those who love him, those who hate him and those who fear him. This project is about discovering the many faces of Putin through the eyes of the Russian people. Russian eyes To be able to show Putin through Russian eyes and present a nuanced, perhaps unexpected image of the Russian president, we plan to speak to Russians in and outside of the country. Putin supporters at home and abroad, as well as local activists and Russians in exile. More than just showing the stances of pro and against, we hope to show the many views on Putins in between. We aim tell a variety of stories about Vladimir Putin and there are as many Vladimir Putins as there are Russians. We will meet people whose lives have somehow been reshaped at some point during the 18 years of Putin’s rule. It could have been an image, a historical moment, a public speech, a big change in the daily routine or even an improvement or worsening of the place/community in which these people live, that made them build their own Putin. It is this imaginary Putin of each of these characters that we want to reveal.
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99 Putins To represent the idea of the multitude of viewpoints and personal stories about the Russian president, we plan to produce 99 short video portraits. Each portrait will have a maximum length of 1 minute. The selection of people in the portraits and their stories will be as diverse as possible, to present the user or viewer (interactor) a broad and complex spectrum of Putins. The stories will be told from a first person narrative to give the portraits a feeling of personal urgency, as if the character took the camera and made the material him- or herself. In each portrait we will try to dive deep into the soul of its character, try to briefly experience his or her life and see Putin through his or her eyes. In this way, we hope to give you the possibility to experience ideas about the Russian president in a more personal way. But, as a contrast, they’ll share their stories relatively anonymously, as we don’t provide their names, but solely a number: PUTIN#39, PUTIN#65, PUTIN#19, etc.
Roulette Putin Roulette explores a mode of storytelling which enables us to approach a subject from multiple perspectives in a non-linear, interactive way. We will present the 99 portraits, the 99 images of Putin, in a random order, as a kind of Russian roulette. To achieve this, we will use a web based video player in which the interactor can ‘swipe to roulette’ and randomly gets to see the next portrait in the series. The experience is optimised for mobile viewing/use. Presenting the 99 portraits in such way, as a ‘randomised interactive documentary’, will help make the narrative around Putin as elusive and ambiguous as the man himself. It means the order in which people get to see the portraits is randomised and the experience will be different for everyone. It also means that we take some of the control away from the ‘maker’, and give it to the ‘swiping’ interactors. By controlling their viewing experiences, they construct their own documentary to a degree, never fully in control because of the element of chance. We feel that this ‘randomised documentary’ approach would actually provide a perfect way to present an essentially linear viewing experience, while adding interactivity, an element of chance and the possibility to view a subject from a broad range of perspectives. As a format it could provide useful and relevant way to explore subjects with many perspectives: surely a format worth exploring further.
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RO Biographies
Lyangelo Vasquez Producer
Elizabeth Rocha Salgado Director
Lyangelo Vasquez – Interactive concept developer & Creative producer Lyangelo is digital director, historian and co-founder of Hyper Epic, a creative studio bringing together content, technology and design. Hyper Epic explores exciting, new ways to engage with meaningful stories, ideas and information. Elizabeth Rocha Salgado – Director Graduated as Director of Documentary from the Dutch Film and Television Academy in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Ever since, she has been working as a documentary director first in Holland and more recently between two countries - Brazil and the Czech Republic. Her films were screened at many festivals, winning public and critics’ appraisal and many Dutch and international awards. For more information see website: www. elizabethsalgado.com.
Production Details | PUTIN ROULETTE PRODUCTION COMPANY Hyper Epic NDSM-Plein 97 1033WC Amsterdam The Netherlands CREDITS PRODUCTION:
DIRECTOR:
CREATED BY: PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED OTHER FINANCIERS
Lyangelo Vasquez Goede Hoop (2016/creative production studio) Ondersteboven (2015/creative production studio) 14-18: Dutch War Stories (2014/writer) Elizabeth Rocha Salgado River of Death (2016/director) Czech Castration (2015/director) À beira de um colapso (2015/director) Elizabeth Rocha Salgado, Lyangelo Vasquez – Hyper Epic March 2018 – July 2018 October 2018 Start production
€ 139.241 € 129.241 De Correspondent
Production Archival rights & reproduction Hotels, travel & food Production travel and expenses Production personnel Director Technical staff: (DOP/sound/light) Design & ux Tech development
IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
€ 10.000
Budget € | PUTIN ROULETTE Development / Pre-Production Writer Producer/director Travel/subsistence
142
www.hyper-epic.com
[email protected] +31 624905797
9.499 3.025 9.874 € 22.398
1.815 6.050 7.986 9.922 19.360 24.321 6.171 13.068 € 88.693
Post-Production Editor/editing system Sound design and mix Grading Translation & subtitles Testing (technical) Outreach and distribution Campaign design Campaign editor Ads Total budget (summed)
10.000 1.634 2.904 3.630 3.630 € 21.798
2.420 1.513 2.420 € 6.353 € 139.241
ROUND TABLE | CROSSMEDIA
DIRECTOR Michèle
Stephenson, Yasmin Elayat, Joe Brewster
PRODUCTION Rada Film Group,
SCATTER STUDIO
STATUS Start Production COUNTRY United States
FORMAT photogrammetry, depth-kit,
3D audio and others | 20’-30’ | cross-platform
PLATFORM
VR
PITCH TYPE Round Table | Crossmedia
The Racial Terror Project
The Racial Terror Project VR user
time-travels to sites where Claude
Neal was dragged and lynched
by a mob of white men in 1934
Florida. We accompany Claude’s
ghost to meet his enslaved
ancestors, and his contemporary
Synopsis
and future descendants.
‘Slavery never ended, it has just evolved.’ — Bryan Stevenson, Equal Justice Initiative The lives of people everywhere have been profoundly shaped by the legacy of slavery, racial terror and white supremacy. In America, the evolution of racial terror is rooted in settler colonialism and slavery, leading to the end of Reconstruction through to the racial apartheid Jim Crow period that produced the civil rights movement of the 1960s, and has now transformed into a racial caste era of mass incarceration. Facing our global collective histories of racial terror, it is necessary to lean into and open ourselves to facing the truth and reconciliation that is required to overcome our common legacy of historic injustice. Reclaiming a denied historical narrative through powerful storytelling coupled with new interactive technologies presents an unprecedented opportunity with The Racial Terror Project (working title) to reach and transform large audiences, starting with those most directly affected by racial terror in America. The Racial Terror Project (working title) is a landmark project that uses cutting-edge reality capture techniques with profound storytelling to create an innovative, immersive documentary that is truly native for this medium. Volu-
(working title)
metric filmmaking, pioneered by Scatter and made possible with DepthKit, allows us to combine the narrative power of filmmaking with game-engine interactivity. The user-perspective in the experience is that of the ghost of Claude Neal, surrounded by a chorus of voices from the community of Marianna who have lived a variety of different experiences over the centuries. The user will travel through the lived experiences of community members from slavery, to lynching to mass incarceration, to a different, potentially hopeful near-future. The user begins the journey in present-day Marianna and meets Lamar Wilson — a young man who commemorates the anniversary of Claude Neal’s lynching by running to the various sites in the community where he was dragged and lynched on that fateful night of October 26 1934. It’s a respectful, haunting, story infused with magical realism, about the uninterrupted cycle of history of white racial oppression — past and present. But this VR experience also lifts the user into a visually poetic speculative afrofuturism, dreaming a destiny of healing for our collective humanity.
Project Description
Background: The Claude Neal Lynching On October 26, 1934, Claude Neal was brutally lynched by a group of white men who stormed the county jail in Brewton Alabama where Neal was being held after being accused of the murder of a 20 year-old white woman, Lola Cannady. Efforts had been made to protect him from a growing lynch mob, and Claude Neal had been moved through multiple jails. But Claude was hunted down across a stateline in Alabama. The men brought him 135 miles back to Marianna Florida, tortured him for several hours in the woods, then murdered him. The lynching party then tied Mr. Neal’s body to the back of an automobile and dragged the body to the IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
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home of Lola Cannady’s family where a larger mob had gathered. By 7:30 p.m. more than 2,000 people from 11 states had gathered to witness and participate in the lynching. The murder victim’s family members drove knives into Claude Neal’s chest and torso, after which the lynching party hung his nude body from a tree in the courthouse square in Marianna Florida. White riots ensued the rest of that week as more people came from across the region, arriving too late to take part in the spectacle. Black residents of Marianna feared for their lives for months to follow. Claude Neal’s daughter and wife fled for their lives, while other family members escaped to other communities and changed their last names. For those who stayed, certain white families clandestinely came to their aid and protection. Today, members of the black community remember those white family surnames like it was yesterday. The story of Claude Neal’s death ran in newspapers from New York to Los Angeles, detailing how a small band of men killed him, and how a mob mutilated his corpse. They called it a spectacle lynching, and historians say it was perhaps the worst act of torture and execution in 20th century America. The killing became Florida’s shame. Yet today, no physical markers exist to remind us of the brutal history and reflect on the legacy of that racial terror. Instead, people from both sides of the track try to bury and forget, thinking it might help. But the ghost of Claude Neal remains and hovers over the community. Death threats persist for those who stray from the unwritten rules and people continue to mind their place in order to survive. Lamar’s run Since 2011, every October 26 Lamar Wilson, a native of Marianna, Florida who now teaches in Alabama, comes home to run a very particular marathon to commemorate the lynching of Claude Neal. Lamar retraces the route Claude Neal took on that fateful night where he ended up hanged on the courthouse grounds. Though unrelated to Claude Neal’s family, Lamar feels a sense of duty for the community to never forget and to commit to doing better for each other. Community is front and center of our piece. The entire community has paid a price for the silence and denial. That run is the beginning of our virtual journey through time and space.
We start on the dirt road in present day Marianna. Lamar Wilson’s character is by our side. We jog through the portal—a canopy of trees and road that bring us to: a slave warehouse. We are squeezed like sardines among voices of different accents and maybe languages — the auction block can be heard from far. We step forward and the dirt road suddenly appears. The portal takes us to: the site of the lynching of Claude Neal. A cracker house is morphed into: a prison, we are back again in a room squeezed like sardines. But this time it is in the prison outdoor pen area. Can we escape? The prison pen morphs into a magical world of blue Cypress trees and moss— multicolored ghosts pass us by — we see the river and the trees grow out of the water. What does the future look like? Social relevance and mission Unearthing America’s continued history of racial terror is arguably the most crucial path to collective healing, reconciliation. VR uniquely allows users the embodiment of perspective, unearthing painful buried layers all at once and the ability to travel through time and show us maybe the possibility of healing in the future. We are working closely with the community of Marianna, and with seasoned VR experts, especially within the context of working in such a new, uncharted medium. We will ensure the ethics, sensitivities, challenges and implications of decisions all along the way throughout the production process are incorporated in the design and experience. Trauma and healing: Truth and reconciliation How does a VR storytelling project deal ethically and responsibly with potentially triggering, traumatic subject matter? Can healing happen in a VR headset? This project emerges in the context of two key contemporary movements to confront the past, experience trauma, and initiate collective healing. On site 3D capture One of the goals of the project is to memorialize unmarked sites of racial terror in this community. Our team visited sites where Claude Neal’s lynching took place on that fateful night of October 26. Our team also visited other locations with historical significance in Marianna, Florida where racial terror has taken place. The 3D images of these sites featured in our visual presentation were captured and rendered in June 2017 by James Goodwin, a Florida-based 3D artist, in collaboration with Rada, Scatter and MIT Co-Creation Studio.
Co-Creation Studio at MIT Open Documentary Lab – Co-Creation
The Co-Creation Studio at MIT Open Documentary Lab is a new, emerging production and research initiative that teams up media-makers with citizens, community groups, scholars, and technologists to collaborate on transforming the systems that perpetuate inequality.
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Biographies
Production Details | THE RACIAL TERROR PROJECT (WORKING TITLE) PRODUCTION COMPANY Rada Film Group 254 Adelphi St. 11205 Brooklyn United States
www.radafilm.com
[email protected] +1 7188649312
2ND PRODUCTION COMPANY SCATTER STUDIO 56 Bogart St, Suite LH6 11206 Brooklyn United States
www.scatter.nyc
[email protected] +1 3475702494
CREDITS PRODUCTION: DIRECTOR:
Michèle Stephenson – Co-creator Filmmaker, artist and author, Michèle Stephenson, pulls from her Panamanian and Haitian roots and international experience as a human rights attorney. She tells compelling, deeply personal stories that are created by, for and about communities of color and resonate beyond the margins. Her most recent film, American Promise, was nominated for three Emmys and won the Jury Prize at Sundance. She is a 2016 Guggenheim Fellow.
Yasmin Elayat – Co-creator
Michèle Stephenson, Yasmin Elayat, Joe Brewster Michèle Stephenson, Yasmin Elayat, Joe Brewster
Scatter co-founder and creative director Yasmin Elayat is a new media artist whose work pushes the boundaries of immersive and collaborative storytelling experiences ranging from new media documentary to immersive environments. Yasmin is the co-creator of 18DaysInEgypt: a participatory interactive documentary project about the Egyptian Revolution. Most recently, Yasmin directed Zero Days VR Scatter’s award-winning VR documenary about cyber warfare and the Stuxnet virus.
MICHÈLE STEPHENSON:
Hispaniola (forthcoming/director/producer) The Conversation Series (2016, director) American Promise (2013/director) YASMIN ELAYAT:
Blackout (2017/co-director) Zero Days (2017/director) 18daysinEgypt (2011/co-creator)
JOE BREWSTER:
Hispaniola (forthcoming/executive producer) The Conversation Series (2016/director) American Promise (2013/director) CREATED BY: Michèle Stephenson – Rada Film Group, Yasmin Elayat – SCATTER STUDIO, Sarah Wolozin – MIT Open Documentary Lab, Katerina Cizek – MIT Open Documentary Lab PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED OTHER FINANCIERS OWN INVESTMENT
€ 25.000 € 8.500
Budget € | THE RACIAL TERROR PROJECT (WORKING TITLE) Development / Pre-Production Writer Producer/director Travel/subsistence Designer Creative producer Brain trust
7.000 7.000 8.000 5.000 7.000 10.000 € 44.000
Production Archival rights & reproduction 2.500 Hotels, travel & food 5.000 Production travel and expenses 5.000 Production personnel 30.000 Director 50.000 Technical staff: (DOP/sound/light) 20.000 Equipment 10.000 Stock material 4.000 Broadcast requirements 3.000 3D/reality capture (locations, people) 30.000 VR design and build 250.000
Post-Production Editor/editing system Sound design and mix Titles and animation Music VR Build QA + Publishing
20.000 15.000 10.000 8.000 25.000 € 78.000
Marketing/PR design and packaging 10.000
Overhead Overhead 3 Contingency 7 Total budget (summed)
Two-time Emmy winner Katerina Cizek is leading the emergent Co-Creation Studio at MIT Open Documentary Lab. The studio champions ethical co-creative and collaborative practices in documentary and journalism. Her previous projects include the pioneering interactive projects Highrise (2008-2015) and Filmmaker-in-Residence (2006) at the National Film Board of Canada, as well as Seeing is Believing:Handicams Human Rights and the News (2002).
Joe Brewster Producer/Director/ Co-creator
Scatter – Production Company
Outreach and distribution Installation design and build (festival, permanent) 25.000
Yasmin Elayat Producer/Director/ Co-creator
Katerina Cizek – Co-creator
January 2018 – July 2018 September 2018 Start production
€ 623.150 € 589.650 Sundance Institute Richard Ray Perez Co-Creation Studio at MIT Open Documentary Lab
Michèle Stephenson Producer/Director/ Co-creator
€ 35.000
16.995 39.655 € 56.650 € 623.150
Scatter is pioneering an exciting new genre of immersive media called volumetric filmmaking. We combine the interactivity of game engine virtual reality with the craft and sensibility of filmmaking. Our award-winning virtual reality projects feature real people and their stories, three-dimensionally captured inside of interactive virtual reality experiences.
Sarah Wolozin Co-Creator
Rada Film Group – Production Company
The Rada Film Group is a media production company committed to creating compelling visual stories by, about and for communities of color that provoke thought and dialogue about our complex multicultural world and amplify voices and perspectives often neglected in dominant culture spaces.
Katerina Cizek Co-Creator
€ 409.500
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ROUND TABLE | ARTS & CULTURE
DIRECTOR Virpi
Suutari
PRODUCTION Euphoria Film Oy STATUS Development COUNTRY Finland
Aalto - Architect of Emotions A love story of Alvar and Aino
Aalto, Finnish masters of modern architecture and design, and
enchanting journey to their creations
and influence around the world.
Synopsis
Aalto tells the story of Alvar and Aino Aalto, Finnish masters of modern architecture and design. This enchanting couple shared their lives and great passion for organic human-scale architecture. Together they were creating a better and more democratic modern world. In their philosophy, the ‘little human’ was always at the center of the work. Great tragedy struck them, however, with Aino’s death in 1949. Alvar eventually got married again to another architect, Elissa Aalto, and had one of his most significant professional periods in the 1950s. He kept working until his death 1976. Alongside the personal story, the film paints a bigger picture of modernism through the critical thinking and revolutionary ideas the Aaltos brought into architecture since 1930s. The film takes the viewer on a cinematic journey to iconic buildings and designs all over the world created by the Aaltos. The locations include for example Paimio Sanatorium (FIN), Sunila Factory (FIN), Villa Mairea (FIN), Aaltos´ home and office (FIN), Baker House MIT (US), Woodberry Poetry Room (US), Kunsten Museum of Modern Art (DK), Maison Carré (FRA), Wolfsburg Cultural Center (GER), Nordic House (IS) and Riola Church (IT), among others. The spaces created by Alvar and the design work of Aino and Elissa are the film’s main focus-point. The film evokes questions about what their organic and humanistic ideology can teach us today, as well as providing profound insight into the architectural thinking behind the projects.
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FORMAT HD | 52’ & 90’ | DCP GENRES
• History • Art / Music / Culture PITCH TYPE Round Table | Arts & Culture
Contemporary people – building users, Aaltos relatives, colleagues, and researchers both in Finland and abroad - interpret these spaces and share their knowledge. We’ll meet eccentric design collectors, Pritzker Prize-winning architects like Frank Gehry and Shigeru Ban, and acknowledged researchers and historians. In addition to these testimonies and analyses, there are a lot of archive audiointerviews from the 1960-80s made by the leading Aalto biographer – the film will have access to these rare recordings and creatively use them. These testimonies create entertaining and educational layers for the film. Dramaturgically the film provokes an intense dialogue between the Aaltos´ intentions and contemporary voices of the people who interpret the meaning and legacy of their work. Alvar Aalto is called the architect of emotions.
Project Description
Dramaturgically, there are two layers to the film. The personal level tells about the intimate life and tension between Alvar and Aino, two pioneering colleagues creating something exceptional together: the DNA and the tool package of the unique Aalto design. The personal story of these creative and ambitious people, their love and loss, is the undercurrent of the film. We tell the intimate story mainly through letters written by them. The professional level we approach through both the Aaltos’ and the interpreters’ voices. The Aalto’s voice is represented via original sound, image and architectonic material from archives. We plan to use letters, drawings, and interviews with the Aaltos and their former workers. The Interpreter’s voice is that of contemporary people; foreign architects and top researchers who analyze Aalto’s buildings and design.
This is a creative documentary with different material combined creatively and organically. We will use archives: video, audio, photographs, drawings, and letters. On the other hand, we will shoot interviews, Aalto’s buildings and objects very cinematically. In the narration, the film creates strong associations and dialogues as well as variations in the rhythm with the help of editing and rich sound design and composed music. There is no main-narrator in the film, as the tale is told through a weaving of stories and analyses conducted by dozens of speakers. Often the interviews will be heard in the background when space is being studied or archive footage shown. The interiors of Aalto’s buildings will be shot with long tracking shots in order to enable the viewer to move from one space to another and experience them. The wide shots will be followed by meticulously designed details that are important in their architecture. The mood of the film is spontaneous, charming and vivid— an entertaining, extraordinary lecture in modern architecture and creative work. Why Aalto? ‘Alvar Aalto is a genius’ – Frank Lloyd Wright Over the years, several smaller-scale documentaries have been made about the Aaltos but nothing that would generate an overall synthesis of their personas and life’s work. There are no films that have recorded their architecture and design with the precision and beauty they deserve. Until this day, the general public hasn’t been made aware of how great an influence Alvar Aalto has been, and still is, in the work of architects around the world. Alvar Aalto is considered one of the greatest modern architects, who however moved away from the strictest modernist principles of the Bauhaus movement in the 1930´s and brought warmth and humanity into architecture. The Aaltos were also very innovative in design, and they were known for their experimental approach to bending wood which had later influence on American designers like Charles and Ray Eames. It is curious that Aalto-furniture was the single most popular furniture brand in the States in the 1940´s and represented new humanistic and democratic design in 1930´s Great Britain where for example many Health Centers were furnished by Aalto-products. Millions of their famous chairs have been sold, and they remain popular to this day.
Alvar Aalto has been described as the bridge between the modern and the postmodern, an ecologist before ecologic thinking became popular. He also developed the idea of flexible standardization and how it could be used for the refugee crises after World War II – ideas that are highly relevant today. After everything, his architecture remained free of strict definitions, and that’s what makes his work timeless and lasting. Director’s Statement I have loved Alvar Aalto´s architecture since I was a child and spent most of my afternoons in a library designed by him in Rovaniemi. I understood I was in the presence of exceptional beauty and scale. Alvar Aalto became one of the greatest modern architects when he moved away from pure cold functionalism and developed his organic style where humankind is at the center. My personal experience in the Aalto spaces gives me the emotional incentive to make this film. I am excited to be able to dive into the inspiring and sometimes contradictory story of Alvar and Aino, these exceptional people, and their radical ideas about how we should be able to live. I want to entertain the viewer with cinematic beauty and with deep and critical knowledge of how Aalto´s ideas were translated into great architecture. This film will give the audience unique access to rare archives as well as to new material shot in Aalto-buildings all over the world. Producer’s Statement Virpi Suutari is best known for her cinematic visual style and emotional narratives. The story of the Aalto’s is perfect for her; it has the epic love story that will move the viewer profoundly, paired with the beauty of architecture and design. As an experienced filmmaker, she can focus the vast amount of material to an immersive narrative. We have secured unique access to personal and professional material of Aalto. The researchers and architects at the Alvar Aalto - Foundation have given their full support for our film. We have access to all research, image and sound archivematerial they have. There are over 200,000 drawings by Aalto and over 20,000 letters in the archives, etc. In addition to this, we will have full access to the material collected by the main Alvar Aalto – biographer: over a hundred soundrecordings, 8-mm films, and photographs. We have secured access to significant Aalto-buildings around the world and interviews with relevant researchers.
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RO Biographies
Timo Vierimaa Producer
Timo Vierimaa – Producer Timo is a producer mostly focused on international co-productions and documentaries. Documentaries he has worked on have been distributed all over the world. In the past 10 years, Timo has participated in several workshops and pitched projects in numerous forums. Within the last year, three feature documentaries produced by Timo premiered, Via Crucis (2016), Every Other Couple (2016) and Boiling Point (2017). Euphoria Film Oy – Production Company Euphoria Film Oy Is that develops and produces creative documentaries.
Virpi Suutari Director
Virpi Suutari – Director The scriptwriter and the director of the film, Virpi Suutari, has directed creative documentary films over 20 years. She is a highly experienced professional who has received numerous national and international awards and nominations including a nomination for the Best European Documentary (EFA) and several awards as the Best Nordic Documentary. She has also had retrospectives and master classes in numerous festivals like Crossing Europe Linz, Nordisk Panorama Malmö, Tampere Film Festival, in Rennes France and in Århus Denmark. Her films have had festival premieres in competitions at IDFA, Locarno Film festival, Leipzig Film Festival and at Visions du Réel. Virpi has received Finnish Jussi Award, the national film award, twice.
Production Details | AALTO - ARCHITECT OF EMOTIONS PRODUCTION COMPANY Euphoria Film Oy Liiketie 32 00730 Helsinki Finland CREDITS PRODUCTION:
DIRECTOR:
EDITING: PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED OTHER FINANCIERS OWN INVESTMENT
IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
Timo Vierimaa Boiling Point (2017 / producer) Every Other Couple (2016 / producer) Via Crucis (2016 / producer) Virpi Suutari Elegance (2015 / director) Garden Lovers (2014 / director) Hilton! (2013 / director) Jussi Rautaniemi June 2018 – December 2019 March 2020 Development
€ 670.000 € 573.000 Finnish Film Foundation Piia Nokelainen TAIKE Suvi Paavola AVEK Outi Rousu Euphoria Film Oy
€ 36.000 € 18.000 € 8.000 € 35.000
Budget € | AALTO - ARCHITECT OF EMOTIONS Development / Pre-Production Writer 8.000 Producer/director 25.753 Travel/subsistence 7.760 Pre-production, crew 18.275 Pre-production, shootings and trailer 10.045 Marketing, forums, financing and admin costs 7.167
€ 77.000
Production Archival rights & reproduction 12.000 Hotels, travel & food 36.400 Production travel and expenses 20.500 Production personnel 116.433 Director 45.882 Technical staff: (DOP/Sound/Light) 54.492 Equipment 53.350 Stock Material 6.250 Locations (permissions, arrangements) 14.880
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[email protected] +35 8407079619
€ 360.187
Post-Production Editor/editing system Sound design and mix Picture post production (grading, graphics…)
39.124 26.660 17.000
Music 38.340 Marketing costs during production 15.480 Screening copies 6.290
€ 142.894
Miscellaneous Administration, office and jurdical costs Insurances Overhead Overhead 3% Contingency 8% Total budget (summed)
16.700 7.400 € 24.100
18.125 47.694 € 65.819 € 670.000
ROUND TABLE | ARTS & CULTURE
DIRECTOR Alla
Kovgan
PRODUCTION Achtung Panda! Media
GmbH, Arsam International, Chance Operations
STATUS Development
Cunningham 3D “The only way to do it, is to
do it.” Merce Cunningham
Synopsis
Cunningham 3D is a cinematic experience about the legendary American choreographer Merce Cunningham, orchestrated through his iconic works and performed by the last generation of his dancers. This film traces Merce’s artistic evolution over three decades of risk and discovery (1944-1972), from his early years as a struggeling dancer in New York to his emergence as one of the most visionary American artists. 3D technology weaves together Merce’s stories and ideas, creating a visceral journey into the choreographer’s world.
Project Description
Director’s Statement A formalist at heart, I am drawn to the genius of Merce Cunningham––the intricacies of his mind; the approaches invented in making dance; and the philosophy followed, living his life while re-defining ideas about being human. I am particularly moved by his story––an incredible triumph of a human spirit during the first 30 years of his career, when he worked without any support from audience, press or foundations. He was always ready to get outside himself, to place himself in unknown situations to find new solutions. Merce’s dances evoke a sense of timelessness— a moment between rational/irrational, intellectual/emotional, immediate/eternal––that offers the possibility to ‘renew’ us. 3D technology invites new ways of thinking about dance in cinema by clearly articulating the relationship between dancers in space and with a precise choreography of the camera, allowing viewers an experience reminiscent of ‘stepping inside” the dance. 3D cinema gives dance life outside the theatre, opening future generations to an experience of a choreographer’s work anew. This technology
COUNTRY
Germany, United States, France
FORMAT HD 4k | 90’ | DCP GENRES
• History • Art / Music / Culture PITCH TYPE Round Table | Arts & Culture
can tackle a great challenge of the 20th century by extending a choreographer’s legacy beyond his/her time. Merce’s own interest in every technological advancement of his time, his collaborative spirit, his willingness to adapt to unconventional settings/locations, and to have his dances to be seen from all different directions suggest 3D as an ideal fit. Summary Rooted in both imaginary worlds and moving life experiences, Cunningham tells the story of Merce becoming Merce in three acts through dance. The film finds a delicate balance between facts and metaphors, exposition and poetry, blending documentary and narrative approaches. The choreographic legacy embodied by his last group of dancers extends his vision and boundless imagination. Excerpts from his iconic dances, re-imagined for 3D cinema indoors and on location, consume approximately 2/3 of onscreen time. The overarching goal of each shot/sequence is to achieve a cinematic virtuosity equal to the precision and perfection of Merce’s dances. By breaking away from proscenium stage POV and re-conceiving the dances in 3D terms the viewer experiences ‘stepping’ inside the dance as though traveling through the choreographer’s mind... Archival and animated sequences constitute 1/3 of the film. Newly discovered footage (16mm and 35mm) and photos evoke the atmosphere of the time, while Merce’s choreographic hand drawn diagrams and notes rendered as 3D motion graphics provide insights into his creative process. All archival materials have a distinct coherent look in synergy with the dances. A layered soundscape – of spoken word distilled from audio recordings of Merce and his contemporaries, original and newly composed music and sound set out a distinct rhythm and momentum which drives the narrative forward.
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Budget € | CUNNINGHAM 3D In keeping with Merce’s spirit, the film does not attempt to literally explain what each dance is about. The dance sequences adhere to a certain narrative linearity/logic by matching the chronology of personal events in Merce’s life with his creative work exposing connections between life & art. Merce was never an elitist. He would dance for children, nuns and New York art snobs alike. He thought that ‘everyone is born to dance.’ Cunningham seeks to share this notion with a diverse range of audiences as a total immersive experience, celebrating the dancer and the dance at the advent of his centenary in 2019. Key-Collaborators Joséphine Derobe – Stereographer One of very few female 3D filmmakers, Joséphine is an award-winning director of stereography with over a decade of experience. She frequently works with director Wim Wenders (Pina, Cathedrals of Culture, Everything Will...) and continues developing “Natural Depth Method” devised by her father Alain Derobe, a pioneer of stereoscopic 3D. She also creates her own 3D and VR projects at the crossroads of cinema, visual art and interactive storytelling. Robert Swinston – Director of Choreography Swinston joined the Merce Cunningham Dance Company (MCDC) in 1980. Following Cunningham’s death in 2009, he was named Director of Choreography, and oversaw the MCDC, the Repertory Understudy Group, and the Cunningham Educational Outreach Program until the closure of the MCDC in 2011. Swinston reconstructed many Cunningham dances for the MCDC and staged Cunningham works for other companies, including Boston Ballet, White Oak Dance Project, New York City Ballet, the Paris Opera Ballet, and others.
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Mko Malkhasyan – Director of Photography Hailed as a true master of light, Mko is an Armenian-born cinematographer living in the US. For the last 15 years, he has worked on features, docs, music videos and commercials in the US, Europe and Russia. Considered the top cinematographer from Armenia, he won multiple awards including Armenian National Cinema Award (2013) and the Best Cinematography at such festivals as Kinoshock (2013), Golden Eye (2012), Newport Beach Festival (2011). Andrew Bird – Editor Born in London Andrew lives in Hamburg for most of his professional live. He has worked as editor on all Fatih Akin’s films as well as with filmmakers such as Miranda July, Xioalou Gou, Omer Fast and many others. His documentary credits include films such as Comrades in Dreams, Under the Bridge and many more. Volker Bertelmann (Hauschka) – Composer German composer Hauschka is best known for his Prepared Piano recordings. He worked on numerous film soundtracks, received many awards including an Academy Award nomination for his soundtrack of Lion.
Development / Pre-Production Writer 30.000 Travel/subsistence/technical recce 12.452 Research, Development, Scouting 12.000 € 54.452
Production Archival rights & reproduction 56.900 Travel and Transport 111.790 Salaries: Production Crew 150.400 Salaries: Directors Crew 254.310 Technical equipment and rentals: Scenery, Costume, Makeup 142.756 Salaries: Art Department 136.976 Salaries: Cast/Dancers 110.554 Insurance 44.000 Additional Expenses Cast&Crew: Catering, Per Diems. etc. 162.714 Technical equipment, rentals&permissions: DOP, Light, Sound, Construction 255.704
€ 1.426.105
Post-Production Picture Post: Grading, Mastering, 3D Editing 141.547 Sound Post 37.000 VFX 64.000 Titles, Graphics and Animation 42.000 Editing Suite, Screening rooms etc 13.650 Other: Subtitles, barrier-free version, FSK 9.300
€ 307.497
Outreach and distribution PR, Making of etc.
9.300 € 9.300
Miscellaneous General Expenses: Office, rentals, postage, translation etc. 11.658 Legal Fees and Accounting Financing Costs and auditing fees Overhead Overhead 7,5% Contingency 7% Producers Fees Total budget (summed)
26.500 63.670
€ 101.828
74.245 140.671 185.901 € 400.817 € 2.300.000
Biographies
Production Details | CUNNINGHAM 3D PRODUCTION COMPANY Achtung Panda! Media GmbH Potsdamer Strasse 96 10785 Berlin Germany PRODUCTION COMPANY Arsam International 28 Rue de Turin 75008 Paris France PRODUCTION COMPANY Chance Operations
CREDITS PRODUCTION:
[email protected] +49 177 3061825 www.achtungpanda.com
[email protected] +33 142815654
www.cunningham3d.com
Helge Albers, Ilann Girard, Elisabeth Delude-Dix, Kelly Gilpatrick HELGE ALBERS
DIRECTOR:
CREATED BY: EDITING: PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED OTHER FINANCIERS DISTRIBUTORS OWN INVESTMENT
Imagine Waking up Tomorrow and all Music has Disapeared (2015 / Producer) Above and Below (2015 / Producer) Que Caramba es la Vida (2013 / Producer) Alla Kovgan Nora (2012 / director) Traces of the Trade (2009 / author / Co-director) Alla Kovgan Andrew Bird May 2018 – January 2019 March 2019 Development
€ 2.300.000 € 546.496 BR / ARTE Monika Lobkowicz German National Film Board CNC German Ministery of Culture and Media HHSH Filmfunding MFG Film Fund Filmstiftung NRW Dance Films Association Cambridge Trust Company Independent Filmmaker Project Robert Rauschenberg Foundation Private Investment Sophie Dulac Distribution Camino film distribution Sidewalk Films
€ 130.000 € 497.225 € 300.000 € 190.000 € 120.000 € 80.000 € 80.000 € 73.420 € 47.034 € 27.225 € 13.500 € 48.600 € 50.000 € 20.000 € 76.500
Achtung Panda! GmbH – Production Company Established in 2015 achtung panda! is a joint venture between Dor Film, Vienna and 27Films, Berlin. The company’s films are produced by Helge Albers, who has worked as independent producer since 1998. Since then he has produced and co-produced 30 feature films and theatrical documentaries of which Havanna, Mi Amor, Silent Waters, Full Metal Village, Summer Palace, The Loneliest Planet, As Time Goes By in Shanghai, This Lovely Shitty Life, Imagine Waking Up Tomorrow and all Music has Disappeared and Above and Below. Arsam International – Production Company ARSAM is an integrated group of corporations based in Paris offering business affairs consultancy and finance packaging services to the film and television production community all over the world. through its production entity , Arsam International, the company is developping its own projects but is also teaming with coproduction partners. The very ecclectic line up of the company is quality driven with budgets from $1M to $30M. Chance Operations – Production Company Chance Operations is a LLC founded with the purpose to produce Cunningham 3D.
Helge Albers Producer
Ilann Girard Producer
Alla Kovgan Director
Alla Kovgan – Director Born in Moscow, Alla brings 15 years of experience working with dance and film and as a documentary writer/director/editor. Alla’s film NORA about Zimbabwe-born dancer Nora Chipaumire, has been presented at over 120 festivals, at MOMA, Louvre and TATE Modern. It represented the United States at INPUT 2011 and received 30 awards. It was broadcast on ARTE/ZDF, PBS, TV3, NRK and SVT. Alla co-directed, wrote and edited an Emmynominated Traces of the Trade (Sundance, PBS) and Movement Revolution Africa (ZDF/ARTE) about Contemporary Dance traditions in Africa, which “Village Voice” described as a ‘knockout’. Alla edited My Perestroika (Sundance, PBS, Silverdocs, Full Frame). She is a recipient of many grants and awards including a Poynter Fellowship at Yale University (2012), a Bogliasco Foundation Fellowship (2011), a Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellowship (2009) and Brother Thomas Fellowship (2009) for artists working at a high level of excellence and creativity.
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ROUND TABLE | ARTS & CULTURE
DIRECTOR Nino
Doctor Zhivago - the Novel about the Novel The film tells the dramatic story
of how Boris Pasternak smuggled
several manuscripts of his novel
Doctor Zhivago outside the USSR
where his book was suppressed by the authorities, and takes
us back to a remarkable Cold War era when literature had
the power to stir the world.
Synopsis
One sunny morning in May 1956, the poet Boris Pasternak came out of his dacha in the Moscow suburbs carrying a bundle wrapped in newspaper and string. With a big smile on his face, he handed it over to the Italian visitor Sergio d’Angelo, standing in his garden. “You are hereby invited to my execution”, he said. D’Angelo left carrying the manuscript of Pasternak’s only novel, Doctor Zhivago. From there the life of the book entered the realm of a spy novel. It had been a decision of Khrushchev’s Politburo not to publish Doctor Zhivago because it was written by a “bourgeois individualist”, moreover a Jew, whose work was marked by “estrangement from Soviet life”. After failing to publish Doctor Zhivago in the Soviet-Union, Pasternak sent it to the young, eccentric, communist publisher Giangiacomo Feltrinelli, in Italy. The Soviet authorities brought immense pressure on Pasternak to get the novel back, and the Italian Communist Party put pressure on Feltrinelli. But Feltrinelli would resist and published the Italianlanguage edition of ‘Doctor Zhivago’ in November 1957. Denounced in the Soviet Union, the novel received enormous publicity abroad, partly through the efforts of the
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PRODUCTION Pumpernickel Films STATUS Start Production
COUNTRY France, The Netherlands
FORMAT HD | 52’ & 90’ | Digital file GENRES
• Art / Music / Culture • History PITCH TYPE Round Table | Arts & Culture
CIA, and this got Pasternak in even deeper trouble at home. In 1958, he was awarded the Nobel prize for literature but had to turn it down, under Soviet pressure. A Soviet hate campaign followed. Rejecting the option of emigration, he stuck it out in his dacha outside Moscow, where he died in 1960 at the age of 70. During the Cold War, books were considered weapons, and if a work of literature was unavailable or banned in the Soviet Union, it could be used as propaganda to challenge the Soviet version of reality. Over the course of the Cold War, as many as 10 million copies of books and magazines were secretly distributed by the CIA behind the Iron Curtain as part of a political warfare campaign. In this light, Doctor Zhivago was a golden opportunity for the CIA. As cold war operations go, the publication of the novel in a first Russian edition was one of the good ones: relatively little collateral damage; support for literature; international fame for the main protagonist, who thought his work deserved it; and, for the Soviet intelligentsia, a perhaps salutary lesson that the old Stalinist traditions of scapegoating and collective persecution had still to be overcome.
Project Description
What is known internationally as the ‘Pasternak Affair’ is one of the most complex literary events in the twentieth century and the story is still very much alive today. The story of the publication of Doctor Zhivago saw the involvement of governments, political parties, secret services, family members and publishers from all over world. All parties involved have a slightly different version to tell of what happened and often contradict each other in their accounts and interpretations. It’s a sort of Russian ‘Rashomon’. We will use these different versions and variations to let the truth slowly come to surface. Until the end of the film we never really know what is wrong and what is right.
The film will constantly navigate between the past and the present, using Pasternak’s passionate letters as an important stylistic element and a tool to understand Pasternak’s mindset. We will not try to give a complete picture of what happened and It will never feel like an archive film. We rather tell the story in a way that we always wonder what will happen next. More like a detective story or a mystery novel... A few years ago, Paolo Mancosu, a professor of philosophy at Berkeley, became obsessed with the secret history of the typescripts of Doctor Zhivago and the network of relationships that allowed the publication of the Russian editions in the West. He investigated the story in three books and found out that the foreign publication of Doctor Zhivago was an even more complex process than anyone could have imagined. He will be the ‘detective’ in our film, leading mostly the investigation and trying to resolve some of the riddles that have haunted Pasternak scholars for more than half a century. He will take us on a whirlwind tour covering the network of contacts that, from the Soviet-Union to Italy, from Poland to England, from France to the United States, brought about the publication of Doctor Zhivago in Russian and other languages. He will do this is in a very unpretentious way, linking events and locations, providing context and building transitions between the characters of the film. Key interviews with Carlo Feltrinelli, Sergio d’Angelo, Jacqueline de Proyart etc. will complete the picture. Drawing from a rich trove of archival documents, including the declassified CIA files and so far unpublished documents from Russian archives, we will reveal details of events that were treated as top secret by all those involved in the story. The story of how the CIA handed out the Russian edition of Doctor Zhivago at the World’s Fair in Brussels in September 1958 for example is one of the most extraordinary parts of the film. Doctor Zhivago could not be handed out at the U.S. pavilion at the world’s fair, but the CIA had an ally nearby, the Vatican. The Vatican pavilion was called Civitas Dei, the City of God, and Russian emigre Catholics had set up there a small library, a place to reflect on the suppression of Christian communities around the world.
There, the CIA-sponsored edition of Doctor Zhivago was pressed into the hands of Soviet citizens. Soon the book’s blue linen covers were littering the fairgrounds. Some who got the novel were ripping off the cover, dividing the pages, and stuffing them in their pockets to make the book easier to hide...The CIA was quite pleased with itself. ‘This phase can be considered completed successfully,’ read a Sept. 10, 1958, memo. We will discover more details through Mancosu’s ‘Detective eyes’: • Early smugglings of the typescript of the book and Pasternak’s state of mind as he entertained the thought that sending the novel abroad might force publication at home • The story of how the first typescript of Doctor Zhivago left the Soviet Union—and how the KGB came to know that Pasternak’s novel had been smuggled abroad • How the Hungarian revolt of 1956 had a direct impact on the history of the publication of Doctor Zhivago • The roles of the different foreign visitors in his Datcha in Pereldelkino: Isaiah Berlin, Hélène Peltier, George Katkov, Jacqueline de Proyart, and other key players in the adventure (some of them are interviewed in the film) • The events that led to the book’s publication in Italy, France, England, and the United States • The details of the publication of the CIA sponsored Russian edition published in Holland in 1958 and the involvement of the Dutch Intelligence service BVD • The question which of the six typescripts was the source of the microfilm that the CIA received and used. An ironic note will conclude the film: Khrushchev, after his ouster from power in 1964, would finally get around to reading Doctor Zhivago in a samizdat copy given to him by his son, and he came to the conclusion, somewhat belatedly, that “We shouldn’t have banned it. I should have read it myself. There’s nothing anti-Soviet in it.” While under virtual house arrest himself, the former Soviet leader would dictate his memoirs and have them smuggled out of the Soviet Union to be published abroad. It was an irony that would surely have brought a small smile to Pasternak’s face.
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RO Biographies
Christoph Jörg Producer
Céline Nusse Co-producer
Nino Kirtadze Director
Christoph Jörg – Producer Christoph Jörg has been producing and commissioning documentaries for over twenty years. From 1994 to 2008, he was Commissioning Editor at ARTE France in Paris. Christoph Jörg founded Pumpernickel Films in 2009 in Paris. Since then, he has produced or co-produced a wide range of award winning feature length documentaries, working with a line-up of talented and acclaimed filmmakers. Céline Nusse – Co-producer After receiving a master’s degree in history, Céline Nusse spent 10 years learning the ropes of film production at Roche Productions, where she had the opportunity to work with many renowned documentary filmmakers such as Nino Kirtadze, Pavel Lounguine, William Karel and Patrick Jeudy. In 2007 she joined Zadig Productions first as a production manager and then as a producer. Nino Kirtatdze – Director Director Nino Kirtadze was born in Tbilisi, Georgia and lives in Paris for 20 years now. She is internationally renowned for her sensitive and compassionate approach to difficult issues and her intense visual sense. Her powerful featurelength documentaries deal with controversial subjects, always placing the accent on the human drama underlying her stories and creating deep insightful human portraits. Her feature work includes: Durakovo-village of fools, Pipeline next door, Something about Georgia and Don’t Breathe.
Production Details | DOCTOR ZHIVAGO - THE NOVEL ABOUT THE NOVEL PRODUCTION COMPANY Pumpernickel Films 49, Rue de Bretagne 75003 Paris France
[email protected] +33 672271510
CREDITS
Christoph Jörg Winnie (2017/ producer) The Lovers and the Despot (2016/ co-producer) The End of Eden (2016/ co-producer) DIRECTOR: Nino Kirtadze Don’t Breathe (2014 / director) Durakova-Village of Fools (2008 / director) Pipeline Next Door (2005 / director) CO-PRODUCTION: Submarine – Femke Wolting – The Netherlands, Zadig Productions – Céline Nusse – France PRODUCTION:
PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED BROADCASTERS OTHER FINANCIERS
May 2017 – October 2018 November 2018 Start production
€ 598.435 € 363.435 ARTE France Karen Michael CNC Creative Europe
Budget € | DOCTOR ZHIVAGO - THE NOVEL ABOUT THE NOVEL Development / Pre-Production Writer Producer/director Travel/subsistence Fixer Markets and Development
8.080 11.160 6.900 2.400 5.000 € 33.540
Production Archival rights & reproduction 52.000 Hotels, travel & subsistence 33.770 Music rights (original soundtrack & licensing) 12.500 Production personnel 48.500 Director 50.000 Technical staff: (DOP/Sound/Light) 35.525 Archiv researcher 9.500 Camera & Sound packages, hard drives and backups 22.572 B-Rolls Customs & authorizations Offices, courriers and Fedex Translation/Transcriptions
18.000 9.000 2.250 9.000 € 302.617
Post-Production Editing crew 54.462 Editing package 13.600 Titles and animation 4.300 Online editing and color correction 12.900 Voice over recording (including talent) and mix 17.500 Masters & Deliveries 14.000 Miscellaneous (DVD, copies, servers) 3.400 Outreach and distribution Flyers and EPK Publicity Screenings
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€ 120.162
2.000 2.000 1.000 € 5.000
Miscellaneous Insurance & Entertainment package 3.500 Legal costs 3.000 Financial costs 9.477 Overhead Overhead 10 % Contingency 7 % Producer’s fees (flat) Total budget (summed)
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€ 145.000 € 45.000 € 45.000
€ 15.977
47.729 33.410 40.000 € 121.139 € 598.435
ROUND TABLE | ARTS & CULTURE
DIRECTOR Giuseppe
Pietro Tornatore
PRODUCTION Piano b Produzioni,
Maestro Morricone Maestro Morricone is a documentary
about Ennio Morricone, one of
the most important musicians
in the history of cinema.
Synopsis
Maestro Morricone is a documentary about one of the most important musicians in the history of cinema: Ennio Morricone. It will be an autobiographical story for audiences worldwide that love Morricone’s music, but at the same time, through the use of clips from the films he scored and reenactments, this extraordinary existential and artistic parable of one of the most cherished musicians of the 20th century will enthrall all viewers.
Project Description
Guiseppe Tornatore, the director of Maestro Morricone, has worked with Ennio Morricone for more than 25 years now. His friendship with this great musician - who is famous worldwide for his soundtracks - has become increasingly stronger and they got to know each other very well. Tornatore began to wonder what sort of documentary he would make about Morricone and thanks to the trust Morricone has in him, he now gets the chance to realize this dream. The documentary will not only be based on Ennio Morricone telling about his life and his magical relationship with music. Archives around the world are and will be scoured for interviews and other clips of Morricone’s countless collaborations with major filmmakers of the past such as Sergio Leone, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Gillo Pontecorvo, Henri Verneuil, Elio Petri, Valerio Zurlini, Don Siegel, Alberto Lattuada.
Potemkino, Fu Works
STATUS Development
COUNTRY Italy, Belgium, The Netherlands FORMAT 2K | 52’ & 90’ | Digital file
PITCH TYPE Round Table | Arts & Culture
But above all, the documentary will be based on interviews with the protagonists of Morricone’s most important artistic encounters who are still active today: Brian De Palma, John Carpenter, Carlo Lizzani, Warren Beatty, Giuliano Montaldo, Terrence Malick, Marco Bellocchio, Barry Levinson, Bernardo Bertolucci, Mike Nichols, Damiano Damiani, John Boorman, Roland Joffè, Dario Argento, Roman Polansky, Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, Adrian Lyne, Franco Zeffirelli, Carlo Verdone, Oliver Stone. Through their stories, opportunely woven with the Italian musician’s personal story - with clips from his films, with the most important compositions of his extensive 50-year career - the objective is to convey Morricone’s personality and the secret behind his craft. Not only will the many singers who’ve worked with him (Edda Dell’Orso, Gianni Morandi, Mina, Ornella Vanoni, Joan Baez, Dulce Pontes) be involved, but also other musicians who consider Morricone a respected colleague and an inspiration (Hans Zimmer, Gabriel Yared, Nicola Piovani, Angelo Badalamenti, Francis Lai, Vangelis, Mychael Danna, Mike Patton, Philip Glass). It would also be interesting to involve modern day musicians who’ve chosen to reinterpret the beloved Italian musician’s compositions (Yo Yo Ma, Enrico Pieranunzi, Pat Metheny, Muse, Metallica, Quincy Jones, Chick Corea, Bruce Springsteen). We will also shatter the traditional structure of documentaries through the use of scenes reenacting crucial moments of Morricone’s life. For example: when he played the organ for church weddings and amused himself by transforming Schubert’s Ave Maria into improvised jazz tunes, hence infuriating the bride, groom, and priest. Or when he played the trumpet in an American band in a Rome that had just been freed of the Nazi-Fascist regime, or in Renato Rascel’s revue orchestra. Or when, in 1963, he was contacted by a director who was making a Western film who asked him to compose its soundtrack, and while they were chatting they realized IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
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they’d met in elementary school and had been classmates: Sergio Leone and Ennio Morricone. Or when producers David Puttnam and Fernando Ghia showed him The Mission a few weeks before its Cannes screening and Ennio refused the job because he felt the film didn’t need music, but was then convinced to create the soundtrack in only a few days’ time. Or lastly, when Bernardo Bertolucci showed him ‘1900’ and while watching the film, without taking his eyes off the screen, Ennio composed the film’s most important theme on a piece of paper. To conclude, we intend for this documentary to display Ennio Morricone’s story for audiences worldwide that love his music, but at the same time, through the use of clips from the films he scored and the reenactments, this extraordinary existential and artistic parable of one of the most cherished musicians of the 20th century will enthrall all viewers.
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Biographies
Production Details | MAESTRO MORRICONE PRODUCTION COMPANY Piano b Produzioni Via di Prato Rotondo 96 00139 Rome Italy
[email protected] +39 3483202169 www.pianobproduzioni.com
PRODUCTION COMPANY Potemkino Vlaamse Steenweg 79 1000 Brussel Belgium
[email protected] +32 476211250
PRODUCTION COMPANY Fu Works Arie Biemondstraat 111 1054 PD Amsterdam The Netherlands
[email protected] +31 205307111 www.fuworks.com
CREDITS PRODUCTION: DIRECTOR:
DISTRIBUTOR/SALES: PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED OTHER FINANCIERS DISTRIBUTORS
Gianni Russo, Peter De Maegd, San Fu Maltha Giuseppe Pietro Tornatore The Best Offer (2013 / director) Ogni Film un’Opera Prima (2012 / Producer) Malèna (2000 / director) Cinema Paradiso (Nuovo Cinema Paradiso) (1988 / director) Atlas International
Giuseppe Tornatore – Director Giuseppe Tornatore (born 27 May 1956) is an Italian film director and screenwriter. He is considered as one of the directors who brought critical acclaim back to Italian cinema. In a career spanning over 30 years he is best known for directing and writing drama films such as The Legend of 1900, Malèna, Baarìa and The Best Offer. Probably his most noted film is Nuovo Cinema Paradiso, for which Tornatore won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Gianni Russo Producer
Peter De Maegd Producer
December 2017 – October 2018 November 2018 Development
€ 2.284.200 € 1.158.200 Bvlgari Tax credit Atlas International Sales Periscoop Piano B equity
€ 100.000 € 290.000 € 300.000 € 30.000 € 406.000
San Fu Maltha Producer
Budget € | MAESTRO MORRICONE Development / Pre-Production Writer Producer/director Travel/subsistence
100.000 300.000 47.000 € 447.000
Production Archival rights & reproduction 140.000 Hotels, travel & food 34.000 Production travel and expenses 16.000 Production personnel 141.000 Director 100.000 Technical staff: (DOP/Sound/Light) (Fiction + Interviews) 124.000 Equipment (Fiction + Interviews) Stock Material Broadcast requirements Concert captation
Post-Production Editor/editing system 70.000 Sound design and mix 112.000 Image Post prodcution & delivery 127.000 Music 530.000 Overhead Overhead 4 % Contingency 4 % Total budget (summed)
€ 839.000
84.600 84.600
Giuseppe Pietro Tornatore Director
€ 169.200 € 2.284.200
76.000 76.000 36.000 86.000 € 829.000
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ROUND TABLE | ARTS & CULTURE
DIRECTOR Cordelia
Marceline A cinematic encounter with
Marceline Loridan-Ivens: radical
chronicler, political filmmaker, Auschwitz survivor, and long-
standing companion of the legendary
documentary filmmaker Joris Ivens.
Synopsis
A cinematic encounter with the great French director, screenwriter, and actress Marceline Loridan-Ivens and an assesment of her eventful life as radical chronicler, political filmmaker, Auschwitz survivor, and long- standing companion of the legendary documentary filmmaker Joris Ivens. Marceline Loridan-Ivens is 15 when she and her father are deported – she to Birkenau, he to Auschwitz; she survives, he does not. When he dies, she stops growing. Even today her shoe size is that of a child. 70 years later she writes him a letter that he never reads: A response to a message on a scrap of paper from her father, smuggled to her by a warden in the camp. In 2015 her book, Tu n‘es pas revenue‘, is published in France and a year later in other European countries. - to enormous response. The reactions to the book are overwhelming: 20.000 copies and translations in more than 20 languages. An unsentimental account of a Holocaust survivor who went on to become one of the most politically uncompromising film directors of the post-war period. It is also an unflinchingly honest memoir and a look back at the great controversies of the 20th century. The film follows the ruthlessly honest and exceptional story of the 89 years old Marceline Loridan-Ivens - one of the most extraordinary witnesses of the 20th century. Decisive stages
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Dvorak
PRODUCTION Kobalt Documentary STATUS Development
COUNTRY Germany, The Netherlands
FORMAT HD Cam | 90’ & 52’ | Digital file PITCH TYPE Round Table | Arts & Culture
in her life, reflected in her numerous films and in her blissful, lifelong filmic and political comittment with her husband Joris Ivens, are juxtaposed with passages taken from the intimate letter from a daughter to her father.
Project Description
“Une vieille dame intranquille” - a restive old lady - Marceline is being called today. And she is proud of her reputation: at almost 90 years old she is still radical and emphatically unadjusted. Today Marceline Loridan-Ivens is one of the last surviving witnesses in Europe of the Holocaust. And she is a woman who found her voice and identity in filmmaking. She dedicated her life to a critical and engaged cinema; a life, that, in a most extraordinary way,reflects the major political intersections of the 20th century. While her friends were still debating in Parisian rive-gauche Cafés about France’s participation in the Algerian war, she procured a camera and, in 1962, shot her first film on the streets of Algir. (Algérie, Anné Zero). Some years later, she accompanied Dutch film revolutionist Joris Ivens, her second husband, to the front in Vietnam (Le ciel, la terre, 1965; Loin du Vietnam, 1967; La 17e parallèle, 1968; Rencontre avec le President Ho Chi Minh, 1969), to the independence struggle in Indochina (Le Peuple et Ses Fusils, 1969) and in the seventies, in the aftermath of the Cultural Revolution, to China (Comment Yukong Déplaça les Montagnes, 1972-75). Only in her own political exposure she seems to have found a valid justification of her existence as a survivor. After Ivens’ death in 1989, she started working on a very personal project, her autobiographical feature film (The Birch-Tree Meadow, 2003). It is a courageous look back on her deportation and her return to life “afterwards” that she specifically dedicated to the female survivors of the concentration camps. It is also the first fiction film ever
permitted to be shot on location in Auschwitz-Birkenau. Currently she is writing a new book, a kind of “Female Manifesto” and “Ode to life”, she says, dedicated to love and the female body. Indeed a vibrant affirmation of life - at the age of almost 90! The dramaturgy of the film follows three different narrative strings and Marceline herself will lead us through the film.
The French actress Anouk Aimé will finally share her experiences of working with Marceline as the leading character in her feature film: The Birch-Tree Meadow.
The film starts in the present, in Marceline’s sunny apartment above the roofs of Paris where she moved sixty years ago. Here we witness her measured everyday life of today. Her eyesight having become limited, she rarely goes out any more. Her telephone and doorbell keep ringing constantly, though, and friends of all ages call or stop by.
The three narrative strings of the film will follow a multi-layered and rather more ‘polyphonic’, than linearchronological dramaturgy. In order not to compete with the visual strength and power of Ivens’ camera the film pursues a personal, intimate visual language which will also be focussing on the strength of Marceline’s face and the impressive presence of her physical and mimic expression in the interview sequences with her.
We see her with her sister Jacqueline, the only other survivor of the family, doing the accounting for her still working production company, Capi-Films. We accompany her to the weekly Sabbath dinner with Jewish friends. A prominent Jewish accomplice will be introduced: Simone Veil, a lawyer, activist and important French politician, also a former deportee to Birkenau. Marceline calls her ‘her contradictory twin sister”: Despite their lifelong political discussions they have always been very much attached to one another. We will also witness the development of Marceline’s new book in work sessions with French journalist Judith Perrignon: The disarmingly honest gaze of an almost 90-year-old on love and partnership, and what she wants to pass on from her experiences to the next generation. In a second narrative string the film will follow Marceline’s genesis as a filmmaker: her very first experiences in Jean Rouch’s film: Chronicle of a Summer, which she will discuss with Jean-Pierre Sergent, her first love. Their friendship continues to this day. Both were important protagonists of this classic of Cinema-Verité.
Excerpts from the letter to her father, read by Marceline in off, - as her own, self-critical introspection towards her life will create the third and most intimate narrative line.
Slow camera movements and long close-ups - with Marceline’s voice in off - are complemented by precise stills in Marceline’s apartment: a cosmos en miniature between French bourgeoisie and cosmopolitan unconventionality, extravagant femininity and the rag bag of an old woman, Asian eminiscences from her many trips to the Far East and an international production office and film archive as meticulously ordered as ever. Marceline will be shown in all her contradictoriness; her delicacy as well as her vehemence. The blend of intriguing archive material from the film archives in China and Vietnam, and the Joris-Ivens archive in the Netherlands, will help us to understand the complexity of the life story of this extraordinary personality. The excerpts from Marceline’s letter to her father, as the intimate, extremely honest inner dialogue between a daughter and the lifelong shadow of her absent father will create a kind of sublime, but intriguing ‘pulse’ throughout the film. This ‘pulse’ will give the film its breath and rhythm.
Along excerpts of their most important films, Marceline will comment on her experiences as a filmmaker at the side of the 30 year older Joris Ivens: How did they live, love and complement each another? How convey their political beliefs?
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RO Biographies
Eva Rink Producer
Annemiek van der Hell C0-producer
Cordelia Dvorak Director
Eva Rink – Producer Eva Rink has been an independent producer of documentaries over the past 17 years. As lead producer for international co-productions at major German documentary film production companies, such as filmtank hamburg, gebrueder beetz filmproduction, ma.ja.de, filmquadrat.dok, she produced a multiplicity of documentaries for the international market – both for TV and cinema. Since 2016 she works for Kobalt Documentary, a branch within Kobalt Productions, dedicated to international co-productions and feature lengths documentaries. Annemiek van der Hell – Co-producer Windmill Film is an independent production company for documentaries, features and animation. Annemiek van der Hell founded Windmill Film in 2010 after working for VPRO TV as line producer for documentaires, short fictions for EBU and satirical comedies. Ever since she started Windmill Film she produced several documentaires for the national and international market. Cordelia Dvorák – Director Since 1998 Cordelia Dvorák works as author and director of international documentary film productions in cooperation with: NDR, ZDF, SWR, Canal 22, BBC; the Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung and the Goethe Institute. Her films had been shown at film festivals worldwide.
Production Details | MARCELINE PRODUCTION COMPANY Kobalt Documentary Torstrasse 105-107 10119 Berlin Germany CREDITS PRODUCTION:
DIRECTOR:
CO-PRODUCTION: SCREENPLAY: PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED BROADCASTERS OTHER FINANCIERS OWN INVESTMENT
IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
Eva Rink Unbinding Our Minds (2016 / Producer) Drought! (2016 / Producer) With or Without You (2014 / Producer) Cordelia Dvorak John Berger or The Art of looking (2016 / director) Bailar para vivir - Salon Mexico (2003 / director) One day in the life of Peter Jonas (1999 / director) Windmill Film BV – Annemiek van der Hell – The Netherlands Cordelia Dvorak January 2018 – October 2018 November/December 2018 Development
€ 260.000 € 224.500 AVROTROS DEFA Foundation Ursula Lachnit Fixson Foundation Kobalt Documentary
Marijke Huijbrechts Ralf Schenk Hermann Simon
€ 12.500 € 3.000 € 1.500 € 9.500
Budget € | MARCELINE Development / Pre-Production Writer Producer/director Travel/subsistence Other/Production Trailer Other
12.000 5.000 4.000 5.000 300 € 26.300
Production Archival rights & reproduction Hotels, travel & food Production travel and expenses Production personnel Director Technical staff: (DOP/Sound/Light) Equipment Broadcast requirements
160
[email protected] +49 3024089617 www.kobalt.de
82.000 12.000 3.000 14.000 18.000 12.000 9.000 500
€ 150.500
Post-Production Editor/editing system Sound design and mix Titles and animation Music
32.000 7.000 2.000 8.000 € 49.000
Outreach and distribution
€ 7.000
Miscellaneous Overhead Overhead 4% Contingency 5% Total budget (summed)
€ 3.000
11.200 13.000 € 24.200 € 260.000
ROUND TABLE | ARTS & CULTURE
DIRECTOR Enrico
Cerasuolo
PRODUCTION Les Films du Poisson
The Passion of Anna Magnani Who can forget Anna Magnani’s
face and body when she fell in
“Rome, Open City”? Star and anti-
star, working class woman and
queen: she is a unique volcano of
contrasts, on stage and in life.
Synopsis
Rome, Open City 1945. Anna became ‘La Magnani’ as a new Italy emerged from the twenty years’ shackles of Fascist dictatorship. To the rest of the world, her running, her cry of despair and her fall embodied Rome and Italy at the end of the war. Few movie sequences have managed to immortalize a historic moment like Pina’s assassination by the Nazis. Anna Magnani’s face and body became an icon at that very moment. Before Rome, Open City, she had climbed the rungs of the theatre world, one by one. That was where she learned her craft and became a prima donna. Propelled onto the international stage as the face of Italian Neorealism, she embodied a fundamentally different feminine model than the stars who came before or after her. Amidst the sexism of Fascist Italy, where women were portrayed either as mere childbearing vessels or mistresses, Anna Magnani created a different model of an independent, forceful woman. In most of her roles, she fought against and subdued other male actors. Unlike other stars who were shaped on male desire – Sophia Loren, Gina Lollobrigida, or Lucia Bosè– and who all began their careers in beauty pageants, Magnani embodies the ‘Italianness’ and the ‘real’ woman. She became a colossus who worked with the greatest directors, from Rossellini to Visconti, Fellini, Pasolini, Renoir, and Sidney Lumet, to name a few.
STATUS Development COUNTRY France, Italy
FORMAT HD | 52 | DCP
PITCH TYPE Round Table | Arts & Culture
However, the truthfulness of her acting perhaps contributed to the misperception that Anna Magnani was her character: a working-class woman, harsh, and passionate. At times this misperception confined her within certain stereotypes during her career in Italy: as a variety singer, the lost woman, the commoner, or the tragic mother. This would prevent her from playing a wider range of roles. Although Hollywood celebrated her, it in turn assigned her the role of the passionate, sensual Italian immigrant. The freedom she was given in playing Serafina in The Rose Tattoo, which brought her to win an Oscar in 1956, was then denied by the system. In Italy she became such a sacred monster that directors and producers were scared, keeping her in the margins of cinema industry during the sixties. On one hand this brought her back to her first love, theatre. On the other, she accepted for the first time to play in a series of films made for television, a medium she did not like at all. Italian audience watched her in one of them the night she passed away and Roman people greeted her corpse as a queen on the day of her funeral.
Project Description
Emblem of neo-realism and icon of world cinema, she brought the lacerations of war to the eyes of the world and became the symbol of a new concept of cinema that hit the streets to bring reality to light. Anna was unique. She revolutionized the way women were portrayed in movies. She embodied a model that was different from all the leading ladies who had come before her, as well as those who would follow. ‘La Magnani’ used her enormous acting skills to bolster the realism of passions and feelings, and inspired some of the greatest directors in Europe and in the United States. She may have won an Academy Award for Best Actress, but Hollywood would strive in vain to confine her to a stereoIDFA Forum catalogue 2017
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type that did not suit her exuberant, volcanic personality. She was a free woman, a single mother, with deep bonds to Rome and Romanness. Anna experienced friendship, love and passion with dangerous and vital intensity, incorporating them within her art, and embodying a style that was truly unique in terms of its originality and extraordinary modernity. Anna Magnani’s passion and contradictions reveal themselves in her interviews, in the statements of other famous personalities, and through her roles. As Marlene Dietrich said: ‘She’s a force of nature. I don’t know whether she’s an actress or not. I am unable to judge that. But in any case, on the screen, what counts is the force of your nature more than your acting.’
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Rome, the city that Anna Magnani loved and embodied, will be the main set of the film. Like all the world’s other great cities, Rome can be filmed in any number of ways. Our purpose is to pass the feeling of a city from a very individual perspective, from Anna Magnani’s. We will film the Rome that she loved. Anna lived on the top floor of the Palazzo Altieri, from which she enjoyed an unrestricted view of the city’s rooftops. She loved going out at night to walk or drive through the streets of the historic city center around her home, close to the Pantheon and Piazza Navona. The film will also play on the contrast between these iconic sites as they appear in the golden age of cinema and what these same places look like today. The contemporary images will also create space for comments and pauses for music.
In Anna Magnani’s case, even more than for other great actors, her personal life melded and even became confused with her screen persona. It is for this reason that excerpts of her films will also serve to narrate her life. The many rich archives in existence contain exceptional interviews with giants of the silver screen talking about Anna Magnani (Jean Renoir, Tennessee Williams, Roberto Rossellini, Luchino Visconti, Franco Zeffirelli, Federico Fellini, Suso Cecchi D’Amico, and Marcello Mastroianni, among others).
Certain objects may be filmed, especially from Luca Magnani’s personal archive such as original screenplays with Anna’s notes, press reviews, photographs, and even a few Super8 family movies. The film uses extraordinarily rich archival materials drawn from the Luce Institute, RAI, American TV shows, and interviews with some of the greatest names in film to narrate the trajectory of an exceptional actress who left a major mark on her time.
Given the richness of these materials, there is no need to add interviews conducted in the present day. The narrator’s voice will lead the storyline, and it will constitute the framework for a documentary in four movements: her beginnings and the revelation of Rome, Open City; Anna’s rise until her winning the Oscar; the difficult, uncompromising period of the 1960s, which distanced Anna from Italian cinema until ‘Mamma Roma’; and her fierce defense of her independence as she returned to the stage and began acting on television towards the end of her life.
We will also use some of the many songs Anna sang, both in films and in separate sound recordings, to give a sense of rhythm and structure to the narrative.
IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
Biographies
Production Details | THE PASSION OF ANNA MAGNANI PRODUCTION COMPANY Les Films du Poisson 54 rue René Boulanger 75010 Paris France CREDITS PRODUCTION:
DIRECTOR:
CO-PRODUCTION: DISTRIBUTOR/SALES: PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED BROADCASTERS OTHER FINANCIERS OWN INVESTMENT
[email protected] +33 675565387 www.filmsdupoisson.com
Estelle Fialon The Settlers (2016 / producer) Eat That Question: Frank Zappa in His Own Words (2016 / producer) The Gatekeepers (2013 / producer) Enrico Cerasuolo Last Call (2013 / author / director) The Face of Fear (2008 / author / director) The Sputnik Years (2007 / author / director) Zenit Arti Audiovisive – Massimo Arvat – Italy Daniela Elstner – Doc & Film December 2017 – April 2018 November 2018 Development
€ 397.018 € 158.000 ARTE France Nathalie Verdier CNC Tax credit Piemonte Doc Film Fund Les films du Poisson
€ 140.000 € 48.000 € 23.000 € 18.000 € 10.018
Budget € | THE PASSION OF ANNA MAGNANI Development / Pre-Production Writer Producer/director Travel/subsistence Traductions Documentation Production travel and expenses
10.000 10.000 1.800 7.500 1.400 1.250 € 31.950
Production Archival rights & reproduction 106.859 Hotels, travel & food 2.250 Production travel and expenses 6.500 Production personnel 37.000 Director 15.000 Technical staff: (DOP/Sound/Light) 4.090 Equipment 3.300 Broadcast requirements 800 Voice over (writer) 4.000 Documentalist 6.700 Social charges 43.931
€ 230.430
Post-Production Editor/editing system Sound design and mix Title, animation, subtitles Music Video lab Transfers - Hard disks Calibration Outreach and distribution speaker
21.405 4.754 7.000 8.000 5.950 2.000 5.700 € 54.809
4.000 € 4.000
Miscellaneous Office expenses 2.000 Associate production 18.800 Screening and various expenditure 1.650 Overhead Overhead 7% Contingency 5% Financial & legal fees, publicity Total budget (summed)
€ 22.450
Estelle Fialon – Producer Estelle Fialon is Associate Producer at Les Films du Poisson, a Paris based production company. Her TV and feature documentaries have been remarked in France and abroad for their strong commitment to quality. She notably received a nomination in 2013 for an Academy Awards for The Gatekeepers. She is also responsible for The Settlers, Eat That Question (Frank Zappa in his own words) or The Stone River. Working with broadcasters all over the world, she has seen her work compete in major film festivals, such as Cannes, Locarno, San Sebastian, Venice, Sundance, Telluride, IDFA. Massimo Arvat – Co-producer Massimo Arvat is Associate Producer at Zenit Arti Audiovisive he co-founded in 1992. EAVE and Eurodoc graduate, he is a board member of Eurodoc and Documentary in Europe. He is producing awarded documentaries, factual programs and cross-platform projects for major national and international broadcasters. He is a member of the board of directors of the Italian Doc Screenings & Italian Doc Screenings Academy. After being head of studies at Instituto Europeo di Design in Turin, he now works as an expert in professional workshops & universities. Enrico Cerasuolo – Director A graduate in Political Science and Contemporary History, Enrico Cerasuolo presides over Zenit Arti Audiovisive. He writes & directs documentaries for international channels, awarded in worldwide festivals. Among them: Last Call (2013, 52 ‘/ 90’, ZDF Arte, Zenit, Skoftland); From Garibaldi to Berlusconi (2011, 118 ‘, ARTE France, Les Films d’Ici, Zenit); The Face of Fear (2008, 52 ‘, ARTE France, Les Films d’Ici, Zenit); Space Hackers (2007, 52 ‘, Zenit, Studio International, ARTE France); Checosamanca (2006, 98 ‘, Eskimosa, RAI Cinema), The Enigma of Sleep (2004, 60’, Zenit, Les Films d’Ici, ZDF-ARTE).
Estelle Fialon Producer
Massimo Arvat C0-producer
Enrico Cerasuolo Director
26.320 16.059 11.000 € 53.379 € 397.018
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ROUND TABLE | ARTS & CULTURE
DIRECTOR Beyza
Boyacioglu
PRODUCTION Parabola Films STATUS Development
A Prince from Outer Space: Zeki Müren A Prince from Outer Space: Zeki
Müren unpacks the mythology of
modern Turkey’s greatest pop star and legendary queer musician, through
his archives and fan messages
collected by Zeki Müren Hotline.
Synopsis
In 1996, ninety-thousand people attended the state funeral of Turkey’s first popstar, the beloved queer musician Zeki Müren, who had been fondly nicknamed ‘The General’. To an untrained eye, the funeral scene might have come as a shock: A male-dominated crowd, guarded by the military and led by an imam; people holding an aging queer man’s portrait with grief and pride. The scene begs the question: How did a cross-dressing gay man become Turkey’s greatest pop icon, beloved by people from all walks of life and generations? In 1951, Müren emerged as a state-sponsored radio star and quickly became the young Republic’s golden boy. He recorded hundreds of albums, turning his voice into a national institution. In his movies, he played a sentimental musician—also named Zeki Müren—solidifying his myth through cinema. In 1955, he began performing in ‘gazino’ nightclubs, a venue that would soon become synonymous with his name. In these shows, Müren transitioned from a classical musician into a cross dressing performer. He executed his ‘coming out’ so well that by the time he wore a mini dress and 30 cm boots, Turkey’s conservative public had long been in love with him, and he had already established indispensable relationships with the state and the industry.
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COUNTRY Canada, United States, Germany FORMAT HD | 54’ & 75’ | Digital file GENRES
• Politics / Society • Human Interest / Social Issues • Art / Music / Culture PITCH TYPE Round Table | Arts & Culture
Müren died of a heart attack on live television, shocking millions of fans all over Turkey. When it was announced that he had left his wealth to a military organization, he was praised further as a ‘nationalist citizen.’ Two decades after his death, his image has reemerged as a resistance symbol and a queer icon — even though he had never admitted to be queer — offering a subversive alternative to his ‘model citizen’ narrative. A Prince from Outer Space investigates how Müren became the greatest popstar of the country by tapping into his life’s work in his archives, speculates on his mythology through interviews and voice-over commentary, and chases the star’s ghosts into the present by using a cross-media project ‘Zeki Müren Hotline’ that crowd sources people’s stories about Müren. On a national level, the film will reveal Müren’s ever-growing importance today and his relevance to the country’s current crises. On a universal perspective, the documentary will comment on the global themes of pop culture and fandom; it aims to be a tribute to the transcendental influence of pop icon and his/her power to move and unite people.
Project Description
A Prince from Outer Space tells the story of Turkey’s first, greatest, and the most controversial pop star. As every national pop icon of his calibre, Zeki Müren is a mirror to his society; in his star image Turkish people’s values, concerns, and tastes crystalize. He is the single public personality upon whom everyone in Turkey agrees. He is beloved by modernists and traditionalists, liberals and conservatives, military and LGBTQ community, women, men and gendernonconforming people, four consecutive generations and more to come... He represents high art and kitsch, visual plenitude and aural intimacy all at the same time. His music is still alive in the big cities as well as rural Anatolia. No matter how much
time passes, Müren’s popularity just does not fade. He accommodates so many different qualities in his personality that he can cater to different publics all at once and get away with it – and he does it with grace! How can a documentary talk about Müren when he has so many layers, nuances and such quirkiness? A Prince from Outer Space is an ambitious undertaking that unpacks Zeki Müren in multiple layers and colors. It uses a collage aesthetic — like Müren himself — mixing archives, interviews, voice-over, and, most uniquely, Zeki Müren Hotline messages. It is not a ‘biopic’ that tells an authoritative narrative but the film lets the story be told through different sources and methods. Müren’s narrative has always been a mixture of fact and fiction, life and art, gossip and self-mythologizing; the style of the film will follow the same manner. The documentary will interweave three narrative threads: First, the birth of Zeki Müren’s myth as a popstar and his life’s work will be told through his archives, occasionally against the context of Turkey’s history. Second, speculations on Zeki Müren’s inner world – a lonely queer man – will be explored in his less popular creative work: His poems and illustrations. Lastly, his meaning for Turkey’s society will be explored through reenactments based on Zeki Müren Hotline – an already successful cross-media documentary that accompanies the feature film. Zeki Müren’s immense archives have wonderful materials that include hundreds of images, costumes, records, films and videos that are sufficient to portray his public persona and artistic production. He is best documented in still photographs, which clearly reveal his visual transformation over time — from a naive, straight, young man and a classical musician into a flamboyant nightclub legend and an influential pop star. I would like to utilize an aesthetic approach similar to Sergio Oksman’s A Story of the Modlins in which archival materials tell a history, while at the same time, revealing the fictitious nature of image production. By occasionally using interviews and voice-over with archival materials, I would like to point to the artificial nature of a pop star and suggest that it is a creation of the star himself, the institutions around him, and also his audiences. Within these commentaries, one significant sub narrative will always be Turkey’s troubled history, as Müren’s story and Turkish modernization project go hand-in-hand on many levels.
Archival narrative will be intervened by more expressionistic sections where Müren’s inner world is alluded to. His underappreciated book of poems ‘A Quail Rain’ (1965) and visual artwork open a door into his private world. The lack of gender pronouns in Turkish language provides a safe space to the closeted queer man; his desperately melancholic writing and childish fondness of simplistic rhymes reveal a person with unfulfilled emotional world. His abstract and lively illustrations will provide the raw material for animations that will accompany his poems (recited by himself), in order to speculate on his inner struggles as a celebrity with a hidden identity. The third and perhaps the most important thread within the film is the reenactments based on “Zeki Müren Hotline” messages. I launched the Hotline in 2015 as a phone number everyone can call and leave a message to. In less than a year, the Hotline received more than a thousand messages; an interactive experience based on the calls was premiered at IDFA DocLab 2016 and presented at RIDM, Freiburg Film Forum and !f Istanbul. While the collected messages vary immensely in content, they reveal the pop star’s relevance in contemporary Turkey as an icon of hope and resistance. Their most striking common aspect is the intimacy in the callers’ voices. For instance, one woman called the Hotline the day after a bombing in Istanbul. Her trembling voice was seeking support from the ghost of a deceased pop star! Another man left a message, reminiscing about his late mother; he said he found refuge in Müren’s songs at his darkest moments. A child, perhaps discovering his/her own sexuality, asked Zeki Müren: ‘Were you in love with someone?...’ I found it fascinating that a long-dead pop star could move people like this. I wanted to imagine who these people are and what motivation is behind their calls. Therefore, I want to create short vignettes into the selected callers’ worlds, exploring the wide spectrum of Müren fans. Translating the aural intimacy of the phone calls into a visual narrative would certainly open up an uncanny space; the methodology reminds me of Clio Barnard’s The Arbor in which actors lip-sync to the documentary recordings. This uncanniness is incredibly valuable in chasing Müren’s ghosts into the present; in addition it also speaks to the larger and universal themes of stars and fandom.
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RO Biographies
Selin Murat – Producer
Selin Murat Producer
Co-founder of Parabola Films in Montreal, Selin Murat has spent the past decade working in film and television in Canada, producing awardwinning documentaries for audiences at international film festivals, in cinemas, for broadcast, and community outreach. Her production credits include The Devil’s Trap (CPH:Dox 2017), Nuestro Monte Luna (Hot Docs 2015), A City Is an Island (CPH:Dox 2014), Ariel (IDFA 2013) and À St-Henri le 26 août (Hot Docs 2012). Selin splits her time between Istanbul and Montreal, developing European market co-productions and documentary initiatives.
Production Details | A PRINCE FROM OUTER SPACE: ZEKI MÜREN PRODUCTION COMPANY Parabola Films 210 B Avenue Mozart Ouest H2S 1C4 Montreal Canada PRODUCTION COMPANY Steady Orbits LLC 314 South Alexandria Avenue, #405 Los Angeles United States CREDITS PRODUCTION:
Beyza Boyacioglu – Director
Beyza Boyacioglu Director
Beyza Boyacioglu is an award-winning documentarian and artist from Istanbul. Her work has been exhibited at MoMA Documentary Fortnight, IDFA DocLab, Anthology Film Archives, MoMA PS1, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Venice Biennial, Creative Time Summit, and Morelia International Film Festival. She was a fellow at UnionDocs in 2012-2013. She has an MSc in Comparative Media Studies from MIT and she works as a Producer at MIT Open Documentary Lab.
Steve Holmgren – Executive Producer
Steve Holmgren Executive Producer
Antje Boehmert Co-producer
Steve Holmgren specializes in business and legal affairs in film and the arts. His producing credits include Far From Afghanistan (John Gianvito), The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye (Marie Losier), I Used to be Darker and Putty Hill (Matthew Porterfield), as well as INAATE/SE/ [it shines a certain way. to a certain place./it flies. falls./] (Adam and Zack Khalil). He was the Programmer at UnionDocs (2009-2014). He worked at Sundance, Tribeca, and the Flaherty Seminar, served on film juries at Oberhausen, Black Maria, and CPH PIX, and contributed to granting organizations IFP, Creative Capital and the Brooklyn Arts Council. He has also worked with HDNet Films, Gartenberg Media Enterprises, and Cactus 3 in film sales.
Antje Boehmert – Co-producer
Antje Boehmert has served as Executive Producer on a variety of documentary films and factual programs - most of them international co-productions. Antje holds an MA in American History from the University of Cologne. She started her career in documentary 15+ years ago as a freelance Visual Researcher and Associate Producer in Washington, DC. She runs Berlin based indie DOCDAYS Productions. Antje has executive produced for Smithsonian Channel, APT, Al Jazeera America, ARTE, ARD, ZDF, 3sat, NRK, SVT, DR and others. For her work on EBOLA: DEATH IN A VILLAGE she received Germany’s GRIMME Award.
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[email protected] +1 514889-4289 www.parabolafilms.ca
[email protected] +1 9174064669
Selin Murat, Steve Holmgren SELIN MURAT
The Devil’s Trap (2017 / Producer) Nuestro Monte Luna (2015 / Producer) A City Is an Island (2014 / Producer) STEVE HOLMGREN
Far From Afghanistan (2012 / Producer) The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye (2011 / Producer) Putty Hill (2010 / Producer) DIRECTOR: Beyza Boyacioglu Zeki Müren Hotline (2016 / Director / Producer) Toñita’s (2014 / Director / Producer) CO-PRODUCTION: Docdays Productions – Antje Boehmert – Germany EXECUTIVE PRODUCTION: Steve Holmgren – Steady Orbits LLC SCREENPLAY: Beyza Boyacioglu PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED OTHER FINANCIERS
January 2018 – June 2019 November 2019 Development
€ 379.725 € 360.625 LEF Foundation SALT Research MIT Council for the Arts Melodika Services Istanbul
€ 4.230 € 2.450 € 5.070 € 7.350
Budget € | A PRINCE FROM OUTER SPACE: ZEKI MÜREN Development / Pre-Production Research Fundraising Expenses Script Consultation Trailer Editing Production Director Producers Fee Production Shoot Travel/subsistence Archives Insurance/legal/accounting Production Office Expenses
10.000 4.000 3.000 4.000 € 21.000
40.000 52.000 30.000 6.100 35.000 24.000 7.975 € 195.075
Post-Production Offline Editing Offline Postproduction Online Postproduction Sound Postproduction Outreach and distribution Interactive Media Marketing & Distribution Festivals Focus Overhead Overhead 8% Contingency 7% Total budget (summed)
30.400 15.300 9.450 23.500 € 78.650
10.000 9.500 7.500 € 27.000
30.000 28.000 € 58.000 € 379.725
ROUND TABLE | ARTS & CULTURE
DIRECTOR Hilla
Medalia, Michelle Miao Chen
The World of Tsai Chin The dramatic tale of Tsai Chin, one of the first Chinese actresses to
break to the West. From celebrity to anonymity and back, bringing
significant representations of
Asians to mainstream-media.
Synopsis
Tsai Chin is one of the first Chinese actresses to make it in the West. Her career spans more than five decades and three continents. She was the first Chinese who played in both the West End and Broadway and was even a Bond Girl twice. Tsai is the daughter of Zhou Xinfang, father of the traditional Peking Opera who was brutally killed during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Tsai left China to study at the Royal Academy of Drama in 1953 and didn’t see him ever again. Tsai’s acting career starts in London. She was given small stereotypical roles, being the submissive and exotic woman, usually the ‘bimbo’. Parallel to her success in acting, she started singing and immediately was signed by Decca, the same record label as the Beatles. Her quick rise to stardom was followed by a big and painful fall. She lost all her fortune, was very depressed and even attempted suicide. She found herself alone and anonymous, waiting tables at her brother’s restaurant, ’Mr. Chow’s’, to survive. After 20 years away from acting and the public eye, and while she already built for herself an academic career, in a very dramatic turn of events, she managed to rise back to the exact place where she left off, acting in many plays and movies. Her tenacity and big personality didn’t allow her to
PRODUCTION Medalia Productions STATUS In Production COUNTRY Israel, China
FORMAT 4K | 90’ | DCP
PITCH TYPE Round Table | Arts & Culture
let go until she managed to break the stigma and make a real change in the way Asian women were depicted on TV and film. She acted as one of the leads in the groundbreaking Joy Luck Club which, for the first time, portrayed Asian Americans in leading roles changing their portrayal on the screen forever. Asian Americans finally saw themselves and their parents through that film. Saw them for the first time not as exotic sidekicks but as real characters they could relate to. Tsai is larger than life. Her dramatic life story begins in a different, almost magical place and time. One that is gone forever. With the help of her unique and dramatic storytelling we are transferred to The World of Tsai Chin: from the Peking Opera, to the cultural elite of China and from it to the Western world, the biggest stages, the limelight and the stardust that covered her life. Her fall from grace after being in the highest of places is a dramatic tale of resilience.
Project Description
Tsai Chin’s role in The Joy Luck Club was groundbreaking and changed forever the portrayal of Asian Americans, especially women, in American culture. But this benchmark was not an easy or obvious one for Tsai Chin. It came after a life filled with ups and downs, the peaks of fame and fortune and the lows of loneliness and anonymity. Tsai Chin was born in 1933 in China, ‘on the road’ with the Peking Opera crew led by her father, the grand master Zhou Xinfang. Tsai was raised on and behind the biggest and most prestigious stages in China. In 1953 she moved to London, and became the first ever Chinese student at the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Leaving China in those days was very unusual and a privilege saved for a select few. After leaving, Tsai never saw her father again. Both IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
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her parents were brutally killed during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. ‘I think it’s terrible to say this, but I think it made me a better actor’. At the Academy she was expected to be quiet, small and submissive. ‘There were people there who said - ‘You will never get a job when you get out of here’. But inside me I already knew. I will show you.’ Expectations were never something to stop this tenacious woman. Even at the cost of huge sacrifices. At the age of 19 she had a son but decided to leave him. As she said, ‘I wanted a career and in those days you could not be both.’ Her first job was as a presenter for the Taiwanese opera. After her first performance, the critics couldn’t get enough of her. Her career skyrocketed overnight. Tsai Chin’s little brother, Michael Chow, traveled with her to London in 1953. To this day she feels she deserves credit for his success with the chain of restaurants he opened in the ‘70s in London and LA, the famous ‘Mr. Chow’s’. When Tsai first started acting in the UK and the US, Asians were given minor stereotypical roles, especially women who were mainly portrayed as small, submissive and exotic, usually typed cast as ‘bimbos’. She was a Bond Girl twice and was the only Chinese to have played in both in the West End and Broadway. In the UK her fame was growing and in 1962 she was given a record deal at the iconic Decca and recorded ‘The World of Tsai Chin’. Tsai was on top of the world. She led an extravagant lifestyle. However, that success didn’t last long, a chain of events led her to lose everything. Her homes were repossessed and she was left with nothing. Tsai turned to her brother for help, but she claims his attitude was insulting. He had turned into a ‘Trump wannabe.’ He gave her a job as a waitress, a demeaning job for such an international star. Their relationship hit rock bottom as Michael had her sleeping on the floor. ‘He humiliated me and wanted to control me. One day I said goodbye. He turned white, he thought he had me.’ Tsai made the decision to leave LA and never look back. She moved to Boston and took a clerical job at Harvard University. As far as she was concerned, her acting days were behind her.
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For almost 20 years she disappeared from the public eye until one day she was invited back to China to teach. It was 1981, and the country was just opening up to the world after the Cultural Revolution. She was welcomed with great honor as a famous actress and as the daughter of Zhou Xinfang, who was purged and persecuted by the “Red Guards” 15 years before. Following her visit to China, in 1989 Tsai gets a renewed wave of recognition and is cast in David Henry Hwang’s ‘M. Butterfly’ in London’s West End alongside Anthony Hopkins. During that time, Amy Tan, the author of ‘The Joy Luck Club’ offers her a role in the film. Her role in The Joy Luck Club was groundbreaking as it was the first time Asian Americans were featured in leading roles as round characters and as individuals. It gave Asian Americans a real, authentic representation they could relate to and identify with. Tsai was back. This time with a purpose. She became the go-to actress for the Asian mother role and became a sort of matriarch and mentor to young Asian actresses. The film is based on the vast amounts of archival material from Tsai’s performances and interviews over the years as well as interviews with Tsai herself and people who knew her or worked with her throughout her life. Tsai’s story reflects the story of the depiction of Asians in American culture, and the journey that many Asians had to make in order to find their identity within the stereotypical perception people had of them. Tsai is a real-life larger-than-life, over-the-top personality. Her way of talking and her gestures are mesmerizing and her storytelling can transport any listener into another place and time. Her story begins in the backstage of the magical Peking Opera in the 30’s and passes through West End royalty parties and Hollywood red-carpet events in the ‘60’s and ‘70’s all the way to a painful fall and deep anonymity from which she only emerged to portray the roles she waited for her entire life.
Biographies
Production Details | THE WORLD OF TSAI CHIN PRODUCTION COMPANY Medalia Productions 2 Barzilai Street suite 16, 3rd floor 6511304 Tel Aviv Israel CREDITS PRODUCTION:
[email protected] +972 544791124 www.medaliaproductions.com
Michelle Miao Chen, Hilla Medalia MICHELLE MIAO CHEN
Son of the Stars (2013 Director) A Girl Thirteen (2007 Producer/Director) The Snake Boy (2002 /Producer/ Director) HILLA MEDALIA
Censored Voices (2015 / Producer) Web Junkie (2014 / Producer/Director) Dancing in Jaffa (2013 / Director/Producer) DIRECTOR: Hilla Medalia, Michelle Miao Chen EXECUTIVE PRODUCTION: Long Xiao PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED OWN INVESTMENT
January 2017 – September 2018 September 2018 In production
€ 534.800 € 178.800 Shanghai Seedling Film
€ 356.000
Budget € | THE WORLD OF TSAI CHIN Development / Pre-Production Director and production services fee trailer (Hilla and Medalia Productions) 12.600 Director fee trailer (Michelle) Teaser production Production DP Sound Mixer Equipment Gaffer/ AC+ 2nd AC Location Fees Production Assistant Gas/ Tolls/ Parking Hard Drives Meals Transportation Flights and Hotels Insurance
6.300 21.285 € 40.185
10.990 8.165 20.994 10.618 4.134 3.192 1.746 1.457 2.382 4.351 16.204 2.150 € 86.383
Post-Production Archives Offline Editing Post Producer Online Editing Graphics and After Versioning and Mastering Music VO, Sound Post Miscellaneous Production Services Office Expenses Overhead Producer Director Contingency 4 % Total budget (summed)
95.466 67.284 10.080 8.064 5.040 11.220 31.690 € 228.844
40.000 43.218 € 83.218
37.800 37.800 20.570 € 96.170 € 534.800
Michelle Chen Miao – Producer & Director Chen Miao is one of the wellknown film directors of China New Cinema. A graduate of Beijing Film Academy, she went to study and work in Fox Worldwide and ESPN, before returning to China to apply her Western experience to filmmaking. Her feature film Son of the Stars (2012) won the Best Upcoming Director’s Awards at China American Film Festival, won the Best Actress Award and the Best Humanity Awards at Beijing Youth Film Festival, won the Best Young Writer/Director Award from Shanghai Culture Development Funds, etc. Her first feature film Mi Ni (2005) starring Angelica Lee and Liu Ye was theatrically released nationwide in greater China. A Girl Thirteen was entered into the 60th Cannes Film Festival for the Junior Competition and won Best Digital Film at the Beijing Youth Film Festival.She is a seasoned documentary filmmaker. Her documentaries The Snake Boy, Shanghai Dreams, Lulu and Me have been critically acclaimed at various international film festivals and have been broadcasted by TV channels throughout China and Asia. Chen Miao is the founder of ‘? Temperature Movie’, a multiple media platform in China.
Michelle Miao Chen Producer/Director
Hilla Medalia Director/Producer
Hilla Medalia – Director / Producer Hilla Medalia is a Peabody Awardwinning and three-time Emmy® nominated director and producer. Hilla’s projects have garnered critical acclaim and have been screened internationally in theaters and on television including HBO, MTV, BBC and ARTE. Some of her works include To Die in Jerusalem (HBO), Dancing in Jaffa (Tribeca, IFC), Web Junkie (Sundance, POV (PBS), BBC), The Go Go Boys (Cannes Film Festival), Censored Voices (Sundance Film Festival and Berlinale) and most recently Muhi Generally Temporary (San Francisco FF, AFI, HotDocs). Hilla acts as lector and judge at film festivals and forums, she is a board member of The Israeli Director’s Guild and The Israeli Academy of Film and Television and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Hilla holds an M.A. from Southern Illinois University.
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ROUND TABLE PITCH YOUTH
DIRECTOR Jens
Pedersen, Kasper Astrup Schroder, Simon Leren Wilmont
PRODUCTION Toolbox Film
STATUS Development COUNTRY
Kids on the Silk road 6-15 10 unique stories about 10
extraordinary lives of young
children from 10 different countries
along the colorful Silk Road from
China to Venice directed by 3
Danish award winning directors
Synopsis
10 countries along the old ancient Silk Road, 10 different children age 11-14 years with 10 ways to live their lives. Each little individual fate has a dream or something to overcome and they all have an extraordinary inner bravery! Kids on the Silk Road is a documentary series with honest portraits told from the children’s perspective. Through the 10 documentary short films, we get an insight into the lives of children from countries like Turkey, Armenia, Tajikistan and China. Common to all the stories is the way the children show courage by acting according to their beliefs and their hearts. They may not always be rewarded, as in life you do not always succeed. But we get an intimate look into the way these children grow up, deal with problems, and get a glimpse into the world of the grown ups. The stories evolve around themes such as; standing up to your parents; struggle to fulfill their dreams; dropping out of school. These are all universal themes regardless if the children are in countries like China, Mongolia, Germany or Denmark.
Project Description
Kids on the Silk Road is a documentary series about children acting towards their heart, shot beautifully by 3 awardwinning directors who have a unique and close access to
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Denmark, Norway
FORMAT HD, 2K | 10 x 25’ | DCP GENRES
• Art / Music / Culture • Human Interest / Social Issues • Youth PITCH TYPE Round Table Pitch Youth
their characters. It is about universally relatable themes with genuine portraits of various cultures. The stories are clear and easy to follow with surprising twists, which can engage even the parents of the children and youth. The length of the shorts is suitable for online distribution and supports the international potential. Background China is right now investing billions in rebuilding some of the Silk Road. The Silk Road was an ancient network of trade routes that were central to cultural interaction connecting the East and West. It created curiosity among cultures, for example with tea and silk from China suddenly sold in Venice and with stories of Marco Polo. The trading may be a thing of the past, but the culture is still there... We chose the Silk Road because we want to show the kids how colorful the world is and to create understanding and curiosity of the different cultures. What if we all had less prejudice and more curiosity? Would the world be more colorful and less hierarchical? Would there be more empathy? Could we in the West try to learn from other cultures? Director’s Note of Intention On many occasion I have met children in conflict areas or in other humanly and materially impoverished surroundings where adults have done everything they could to remove all hope from the children’s daily lives. Still, some children surprisingly and almost instinctively become aware of their personal will and ambition. They insist that they want to shape their own future and they start moving towards a goal they want to achieve. At the same time they create a narrative that I can film and turn into a story. These children refuse to become a victim, even if this would be an obvious position. They become living examples that we can learn from. - Jens Pedersen Kids on the Silk Road is a project close to heart, where stories portraying identity, religion and the acceptance of different
cultures feel more important than ever. I wish to portray and enlighten nuanced and personal stories from remote places in our world, that we seldom hear about. Places where nature and environment dictates a different kind of living and survival that both young and old viewers can learn from. I wish to make these stories universal, so that it is not only an enlightening experience, but also an emotional experience, that will force the viewer to look at his/hers own life and evoke universal emotions of identity, belongingness and love needs, that isn’t bound to a certain location, religion or culture, but a universal emotional human need. – Kaspar Astrup Schröder I find pre-adolescences so fascinating and important to portray, because this time is where most of our lives are first touched by the serious realities of adulthood with all its requirements, challenges and demands. Childhood naiveté is exchanged for experience, and we discover new truths and possibilities that broaden our horizons. Stories like this should be shared as widely as possible, so they can inspire, help and empower other children in their lives, even though they might be worlds apart. – Simon Lereng Wilmont
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RO Biographies
Maria Stevnbak Westergren Producer
Jens J. V. Pedersen Co-producer/ Director
Kasper Astrup Schröder Director
Simon Lereng Wilmont Director
Knut Skoglund Co-producer
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Maria Stevnbak Westergren – Producer Maria’s career started in 2001 working at a bar in Darwin where a jug of free beer started a 3 month journey at sea from Australia to Indonesia, meeting pirates on the international documentary project Kijana 5 lost at sea. Since then, documentary film making has flourished into also producing animation and fiction for Toolbox Film.
Production Details | KIDS ON THE SILK ROAD 6-15 PRODUCTION COMPANY Toolbox Film Slagtehusgade 32c 1715 Copenhagen V Denmark CREDITS
www.toolboxfilm.dk
[email protected] +45 61686225
Jens J. V. Pedersen – Co-producer & Director Jens has directed about 20 documentaries for Danish and international audiences, among other Nicaragua - dictatorship restored?, The King of Calls, A diagnosed Boy and City of Cigars. Kids on the Silk Road is his 2nd documentary series for kids, the first being the award winning Faith Hope Afghanistan.
DIRECTOR:
Maria Stevnbak Westergren The Arctic Camels (2017/Co-producer) My Auntie’s Tall Tales (2017/Producer) Great Grandad’s Tall Tales (2015/Producer) Asylum/Child (2014/Producer) Jens Pedersen, Kasper Astrup Schroder, Simon Leren Wilmont
JENS PEDERSEN:
Kasper Astrup Schröder – Director Kaspar has directed 3 documentary series for children like Storm at school (2015) and I’m Thai (2013) and long documentaries like The Invention of Dr. Nakamats (2009) and Rent a Family Inc. (2012). Among Schröder’s other films are Big Time (2017), a portrait of the internationally acclaimed Danish architect Bjarke Ingels, and Waiting for the Sun (2017) about life in a Chinese orphanage.
PRODUCTION STATUS
Simon Lereng Wilmont – Director Simon graduated as a Documentary Film Director from The National Danish Film School in 2009. Simon is premiering at IDFA with his first feature documentary The Distant Barking of Dogs, and his two previous films The Fencing Champion (2014) and Chikara – The Sumo Wrestlers Son (2013) both pre-miered at IDFA, won the Jury Award for Medium length Documentary and Best Short Children Documentary Award at Al Jazeera Film Festival 2015. Knut Skoglund – Co-producer Knut Skoglund has worked with film production since 1985. After a few years of director and line producing, he now works in recent years as a producer of documentaries, as well as co-producer for several foreign feature films. For two years he was a high profile leader of the producer association’s department in Northern Norway, establishing the production companies Original Film and Pomor Film in Tromsø.
IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
PRODUCTION:
CO-PRODUCTION: DISTRIBUTOR/SALES: EDITING: PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED BROADCASTERS OWN INVESTMENT
Seeds of debt (2014/Director) Faith-Hope-Afghanistan (2013/Director) A Diagnosed Boy (2012/Director) Nicaragua - Dictatorship restored? (2011/Director) Relation04 Media AS – Knut Skoglund – Norway Autlook Filmsales GmbH Jesper Osmund, Adam Nielsen April 2018 – April 2019 November 2019 Development
€ 660.990 € 596.156 DR Ultra Jonas Kryger Hansen Toolbox Film Relation04 Media
€ 26.846 € 21.233 € 16.755
Budget € | KIDS ON THE SILK ROAD 6-15 Development / Pre-Production Writer Producer/director Travel/subsistence Equipment Finding cast Edit Production Hotels, travel & food Production travel and expenses Production personnel, Producer, co-producer and local crew
13.673 8.204 3.009 3.788 13.202 1.743 € 43.619
21.277 29.148 48.055
Directors: Jens, Kaspar & Simon 71.153 Technical staff: (DOP/Sound/Light) and local crew 32.841 Equipment Broadcast requirements Location
47.206 5.000 18.767 € 273.447
Post-Production Editor/editing system Sound design and mix Titles and animation Music Back up Grading Subtitling DK UK Outreach and distribution Promotion and delivery Miscellaneous Fringes all in all Overhead Overhead 5 % Contingency 10% Administration10% Total budget (summed)
74.855 23.829 3.351 28.150 2.681 14.999 4.826 € 152.691
15.650 € 15.650
43.385 € 43.385
26.440 52.879 52.879 € 132.198 € 660.990
ROUND TABLE PITCH YOUTH
DIRECTOR Petteri
Saario
PRODUCTION Pohjola-filmi Oy STATUS Development COUNTRY Finland
FORMAT HD | 4 x 15’ & 80’ | cross-platform GENRES
• Youth • Nature / Environment PITCH TYPE Round Table Pitch Youth
Maiden of the Lake
12-years-old Emika spends her
vacations on a small island. With
her cousin Antti they build the most
magnificent hut, and pick berries. Until it’s time to swim with birds.
Synopsis
Maiden of the Lake is a multiplatform project for elementary school children. It tells about Emika’s and his cousin Antti’s joyful times in the magnificent nature of Lake Saimaa. Maiden of the Lake consists of TV-series (4 x 15 minutes), feature length film and web documentary. Unlike in other nature documentaries, the wonders of the wild are experienced through the eyes of 13-year-old Emika, a pubescant bird whisperer who lives between three cultures. Emika loves nature and the element of water. Her mother is Thai, her father a Finn, and her home is in rural Swedish Lapland. Antti, 21, who lives urban East Helsinki, is Emika’s cousin but more importantly a trusted friend. Maiden of the Lake tells also about friendship and is a coming of age story. The cousins meet several times every year in an island in Finland’s Saimaa, one of the largest lakes in Europe. In Maiden of the Lake Emika explores the lakeside environment in all four seasons, and learns many new skills from Antti. They stay overnight on the frozen lake under the Aurora Borealis. They build a nest for a ringed seal. They swim and fish. In early summer they discover the world’s rarest seal in the maze of thousands of islands. Emika tends to talk to Antti candidly about the questions of life – both the small and the big.
Together the cousins enter a pristine forest to build the best cabin tree house in all of Saimaa. They gather berries and mushrooms, and build baskets out of tree bark. At times Emika teaches Antti acrobatics and throws bilberries in his mouth. Emika proves to be a bird whisperer who can feed while waterfowl from the palm of her hand. Visually we present nature as a gateway to another reality, which is full of opportunities for experiences both playful and educational. By lakeside there are no pressures to look a certain way and no constant stream of stimuli. In the Maiden of the Lake nature is not pompous decoration but everything is seen through Emika’s eyes. Maiden of the Lake consists of four parts, where each part covers one season of the year. Emika and Antti spend all their vacations in Lake Saimaa, so we will visit the country cottage at summer, autumn, winter and spring. Besides following the wonders of nature, we also learn more about Emika and Antti in each part.
Project Description
From the Director During the last 25 years I have made lots of documentary films, shorts and TV-documentaries in which nature has played a principal role. I regularly visit film festivals and I follow closely the developments of this field. High quality nature documentaries, aimed for children and made with a creative touch, are currently missing in our field. Several sources say that now there is a great demand and need for this kind of films. The nature fascinates both children and their parents. In Maiden of the Lake, the nature represents another reality where there is room for play and developing activities. Throughout the project, the perspective of portraying nature is concentrated on emphasizing Emika’s observations IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
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and experiences and we aim to let the children enjoy nature with full senses. The major theme in our project is the beneficial, developing and comforting effect of spending time in nature for the young people who are at the threshold of teenage. At the same time, it’s offering thrilling experiences by letting its audience peek in the gorgeous nature of the lake Saimaa from a young girl’s point of view. There are unlimited possibilities to play and have fun in the nature. Maiden of the Lake includes lots of high quality nature footage, but above all it offers some exciting and ground breaking material and a strong sense of immersion to its audience to identify with. Just like Emika and Antti, one can go in the nature to explore and experience all its wonders. This project inspires, encourages and proves that it is possible to do several things in the nature that are impossible elsewhere. The production method, in which the web documentary supports the TV-series and the documentary film, offers unique and interesting possibilities for promotion before the actual TV-series or film is released. Main Characters: Emika Emika is a brave girl who is especially fascinated by water and nature. Water is natural element to her. Emika is particularly skilled in dolphin diving. Emika is not only a dreamy soul but also an active doer. At one time she can stare at the water and another she is doing cartwheels, stands with one hand or swims with wild waterfowls and feeds and imitates them. At first Emika might seem a bit self-contained and shy but with Antti she is lifelike, unreserved and curious. When the opportunity comes, Emika will take the wheel of even a big motorboat without hesitation. Since she was a little girl Emika’s dream has been to become a veterinarian. Despite her young age Emika is charismatic and used to perform. She has taken dance, guitar and circus lessons. Emika’s interest towards nature has become stronger yearby-year and aquatic environment, space and stories about natural phenomena with their big questions about the existence fascinates her. Emika is exotically beautiful and talented. Because of her ethnic background she however stands out from her
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surroundings. At best, it flatters the young girl’s self-esteem, but at its worst it can be stigmatizing and life-limiting. So far, Emika has almost been able to avoid harassment and racist comments but the experiences of her older sister anticipate that Emika too will have to face the prejudices caused by diversity and unpleasant reactions. Puberty is knocking at the door. Many classmates use make up, wear high heels and organize home parties. Like her peers Emika has also begun to feel attracted by the temptations of teenage culture. At the same time the pressure for appearance and behaviour have increased. Fortunately, there is the comforting nature, which doesn’t require, expect, label or categorize. In nature you can still be a playful, wondering and enthusiastic child, even if the commercial teenage culture and role models defined by fashion are hard to resist elsewhere. Antti According to Emika her cousin Antti is ‘a nice guy who reminds a bit of stork because he is so tall.‘ Antti is a handy young man to whom nature is like second home. However, he doesn’t look like an outdoorsy kind of young man but an urban rapper with brand caps and hoodies. Two meters tall Antti can laugh to incidents of life and also to himself. Antti lives in Eastern Helsinki. Like many of his peers Antti is also interested in skateboarding, rap music and eye-caching (and not so legal) graffiti painting. In the winter he enjoys downhill skiing and doing slope tricks. Nature, especially Lake Saimaa, has always been a close part of Antti’s life. He knows what to do and how to move in nature in any time of year. Antti handles fire making, fishing, cooking in the nature, building a shelter, paddling and getting close to shy animals. Antti also scuba dives and films nature from the ground and sky. Emika is like a little sister to Antti. He likes to teach her outdoor skills and give tips for surviving in nature. Despite the age difference hanging together is natural for both of them, and they also inspires each other. Emika and Antti seemingly enjoy each other’s company and their dialogue as well actions in front of camera are exceptionally natural. Discussions and topics of interest varies from big bang theory to how to put a worm in a fishing hook. To Emika Antti is not only ‘a big brother’ but also kind of an idol, whom skills and stories fascinates her.
Biographies
Production Details | MAIDEN OF THE LAKE PRODUCTION COMPANY Pohjola-filmi Oy Rahakamarinportti 3 A 00240 Helsinki Finland CREDITS PRODUCTION:
DIRECTOR:
PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED BROADCASTERS OTHER FINANCIERS OWN INVESTMENT
Elina Pohjola – Producer Elina Pohjola (b. 1981) has produced numerous award winning short films, documentaries and feature fictions. She got her MA in Film and Television Producing at the Aalto University of Art and Design. Before founding Pohjola-filmi in 2009 she worked in the production of several feature films.
[email protected] +35 8445031881 www.pohjolafilmi.fi/en
Elina Pohjola My Father from Sirius (2016/Producer) Marzia, My Friend (2015/Producer) My Godfather, His Thai Bride and Me (2012/Producer) Petteri Saario Activist (2017/Director) Arctic Desert (2011/Director) Sergei The Healer (2008/Director/Producer)
Pohjola-filmi – Production Company Pohjola-filmi is a film production company that specializes in northern cinema. We make feature-length and short films, documentaries and fiction. What counts is not the form but the content: we want to say something important about this world and the people in it.
December 2017 – December 2018 February 2019 Development
€ 370.000 € 285.000 YLE Jarmo Oksa The Finnish Film Foundation Piia Nokelainen Pohjola-filmi Oy
€ 40.000 € 25.000 € 20.000
Budget € | MAIDEN OF THE LAKE Development / Pre-Production Writer 5.000 Producer/director 10.000 Travel/subsistence 4.232 Equipment Camera and sound 11.513 Production personnel, recordist, editor 5.206 International financing 2.820
€ 38.771
Production Archival rights & reproduction Hotels, travel & food Production personnel Director Technical staff: (DOP/Sound/Light) Equipment
4.000 11.817 57.941 37.000 15.184 31.479
Outreach and distribution Marketing planning, information officer, graphic designer etc 13.684
Overhead Overhead Contingency Total budget (summed)
Petteri Saario Director
€ 13.684
Miscellaneous Classification, auditing of accounts
Petteri Saario – Director Petteri Saario (b. 1961) is a documentary filmmaker, who specializes in depicting the endangered relationship between man and nature. Besides directing and producing he is also familiar with underwater and wildlife filming. His films have been winning awards at numerous international film festivals.
Elina Pohjola Producer
1.249 € 1.249
16.087 32.174 € 48.261 € 370.000
€ 157.421
Post-Production Editor 26.207 Sound design and mix 19.274 Titles and animation 2.300 Post Production crew (coordinator, editing assistant) AND WEB DOC 22.103 Music 22.500 Digital Post Production, grading, other image correction 10.130 Copies
8.100 € 110.614
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ROUGH CUT PROJECT
DIRECTOR Rami
Farah
PRODUCTION Final Cut for Real, OSOR STATUS Rough Cut Stage COUNTRY
Denmark, France, Norway, Jordan
FORMAT HDV | 90’ | DCP
A Comedian in a Syrian Tragedy A portrait of Syrian actor Fares Helou, who calls for freedom, is forced out
of his country and experiences the
absurdities of exiled existence, by
Rami Farah, who shares his struggle.
• Human Interest / Social Issues • Author’s Point of View • Politics / Society PITCH TYPE Rough Cut Project
My friends, colleagues and I, took part in the newly organized underground opposition movement. Some of us got arrested, some disappeared, others got killed, and the rest were forced to flee the country. As a filmmaker, I witnessed the revolution in its early stages through my camera. When I saw Fares Helou among the cheering crowd during a demonstration, I decided to turn my camera on him.
Synopsis
Project Description
A Comedian in a Syrian Tragedy is an intimate observation of the absurdity of (exiled) existence. This is a very personal film by the director/cinematographer Rami Farah. He writes: When the wave of the Arab Spring hit Syria in March 2011, I, Rami Farah, went into the streets of Damascus with other young artists to call for freedom. The regime of Bashar al-Assad responded with extreme violence, justifying its behavior by denouncing the peaceful demonstrators as ‘terrorists’. Early on, I felt that as a filmmaker I had a role to play in this uprising. We needed to make our voices heard.
Soon after I started shooting, Fares had to go into hiding (a very difficult thing to do as a celebrity). I followed him underground and stayed with him and his friends until he finally left Syria after two months in September 2011. Fares fled to France and I came along to film him and his family as they traveled to this new place. I first thought I would be there for a week, but before long I realized that a new chapter had begun in Fares’ life, in my own life, and in the film. We were now in exile. In France the all-encompassing fear we had experienced in Syria vanished, but we were still somehow in shock. Fares was partly living in Syria via Skype and partly trying to cope with France – the weather, the language, the traffic... As a result I started filming Fares with a new perspective. I stuck to Fares because I needed a
This film is a chronicle of an uprising and of exile. In the midst of the early months of the Syrian revolution director Rami Farah decides to follow the Syrian actor Fares Helou with his camera. Fares is one of the first Syrian star actors to take a stand publicly against the Bashar al-Assad regime. Fares joins a demonstration and soon after he and his family start to receive threats. Fares has to go underground, which is not easy when your face and voices is recognized by everyone everywhere. He worries about his Art Center – Al Bustan, which he is trying to create as a free space for artists of all kinds. Soon after the art center is smashed by the regime. Fares leaves Syria and go to France. Rami follows with Fares’ wife and children. They both believe that they will soon be back in a free Damascus. But Syria falls apart, and neither the actor nor the director has a script for this new chapter in their lives: Exile. A chapter full of questions, disappointments and alienation, but also of hope and of cultural confusion that calls for laughter.
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GENRES
IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
As all Syrians of my generation I had known about Fares Helou since I was a child, through television dramas and comedies. At 50, Fares Helou was loved and celebrated as a comedy and drama actor, not just in Syria but also across the Arab world. He was also one of the first famous artists who spoke out against the regime – and through the creation of his art centre (Al Bustan) he was known as an artist, who loved the arts, not just drama, but sculptures and painting too and were keen to establish an independent space for free thinking artists – an unusual and very inspiring thought and practice in Assad’s Syria. I thus wanted to tell the story of (what was then) a peaceful struggle against the regime through his experiences – until, I thought, the regime would fall.
protagonist – someone to see and experience through - and he hung on to me because he needed a director – someone who could see him and co-experience the chaotic situation he was thrown into. He was breathing through my camera. If Fares was a knight, I was a squire - with no shield but a camera in my hand. I kept on filming, not to share our disillusion with the political situation, but rather to capture the most intimate human moments that can speak of the struggles of an exiled and disillusioned human being. He had just lost the battle, if not yet the war. Our shared dream of a swift return was shattered. In Syria the uprising turned into a terrible war that is still going on to this day.
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RO Biographies
Signe Byrge Sørensen – Producer Producer Signe Byrge Sørensen is a Danish producer from Final Cut for Real. She produced The Act of Killing and The Look of Silence, amongst other films.
Signe Byrge Sørensen Producer
Lyana Saleh Producer
Rami Farah Director
Cindy Le Templier Co-producer
Lyana Saley – Producer Producer Lyana Saleh is a Palestinian/French filmmaker, producer and journalist. In 2014, she established her film company OSOR for documentary and multimedia productions in Paris. Lyana has 10 years of experience in Radio, TV and film, and has worked as a producer for many radio shows in Monte Carlo Doualiya (Radio France International). In 2009, she joined France 24 TV channel where she works as a cultural editor. Lyana has participated in the MFD program in 2007 in Morocco, and she was part of Input TV conference in 2009 in Berlin & Warsaw. In 2015 Lyana Saleh became a Eurodoc graduate. She has also been a Juror in many film festivals in Italy, Spain and Iraq. Rami Farah – Director Director Rami Farah is a Syrian filmmaker born in 1980. He studied dance in Damascus at the High Institute for Dramatic Arts and has attended courses in contemporary film and dance fx organized by the Danish Film School/Arne Bro. His first films both use a blend of dance and audiovisual material. ZamKan, made in 2004, unfolds as a dialogue between a ceiling fan and a chair in a silent room. It was followed by Point, a short arts video that was screened in several exhibitions and festivals around the world. He also co-created the work Not a matter of If But When with Julia Metzer and David Thorne. After graduating in 2007, Rami shot and produced a 35-minute documentary about the Golan Heights entitled Silence. Rami was involved in the peaceful protest movement in Syria. He distributed cameras to young people all over the country.
Production Details | A COMEDIAN IN A SYRIAN TRAGEDY PRODUCTION COMPANY Final Cut for Real Forbindelsesvej 7 2100 Copenhagen Denmark
www.finalcutforreal.dk
[email protected] +45 41184890
2ND PRODUCTION COMPANY OSOR 49 Boulevard Picpus 75012 Paris France CREDITS
Signe Byrge Sørensen, Lyana Saleh Strong Island (2017 / co-producer) The Look of Silence (2014 / producer) The Act of Killing (2012 / producer) Rami Farah Silence (2008 / director / cinematographer) Not a Matter of If But When (2006 / co-creator) Zamkan (2004 / director) SHASHAT Multimedia Productions – Cindy Le Templier – Jordan Gladys Joujou, Khaled Salem
PRODUCTION:
DIRECTOR:
CO-PRODUCTION: EDITING: PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED OTHER FINANCIERS
Budget €
[email protected] +33 619010706
July 2011 – March 2018 March 2018 Rough cut stage
€ 380.446 € 174.000 IDFA Bertha Fund Europe Sundance Institute Kristin Feeley Arab Fund for Arts & Culture Rima Mismar Fritt Ord Bente Roalsvig Doha Film Institute Khalil Benkirane Screen Institute Beirut Reine Mitri Final Cut for Real
| A COMEDIAN IN A SYRIAN TRAGEDY
Development / Pre-Production Producer/director
20.000 € 20.000
Production Archival rights & reproduction Hotels, travel & food Production personnel Director Technical staff: (DOP/Sound/Light) Stock Material Broadcast requirements (Insurance etc) Technical assistance Logging and transcoding
14.094 5.880 41.437 52.617 28.459 2.416 6.491 3.356 6.711
€ 161.461
Post-Production Editor/editing system 81.554 Sound design and mix 23.490 Titles and animation 3.000 Music 18.792 Mastering and subtitles 7.000 Travel/subsistance 2.946 postproduction manager and colour correction 15.991
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€ 40.000 € 28.188 € 23.490 € 21.345 € 18.792 € 7.517 € 67.114
€ 152.773
Outreach and distribution Screening copies 348 Deliverables + poster + website + epk 8.758 Distribution consultancy 2.000 Miscellaneous Auditor Overhead. 8% Contingency... % Total budget (summed)
€ 11.106
8.456 € 8.456 24.174 2.476 € 26.650 € 380.446
ROUGH CUT PROJECT
DIRECTOR Daniel
Carsenty, Mohammed Abugeth
PRODUCTION Daniel Carsenty
STATUS Rough Cut Stage COUNTRY Germany
The Devil’s Drivers Chased by the Israeli army two
Bedouin cousins smuggle migrant workers through the Negev desert
- an intimate portrait of men living on the edge in one of the most
fragile regions of the world.
Synopsis
The area south of Hebron with its vast landscapes of biblical proportions is home to an indigenous population of Beduins. In their midst Israeli settlers have built highly fortified villages on the hilltops. Exhausted through the years of conflict over land and water rights the Palestinian Beduins seek today a living as migrant workers on construction sites in Israel. Hamouda and Ismael, two cousins, drive twice a day with their jeeps up to seven migrant workers without permits into the border region hoping to find a gap in the Separation Wall to cross into Israel. In 2012 when the work on this documentary began the cousins were 26 and 29 years old, reckless young gangsters taking high-risks and enjoying the thrills of life – modernday versions of Robin Hood, using their extraordinary driving skills to help the poorest of the poor to make a livelihood. In and out of jail, spending the money that they earned on big houses and flashy cars, hanging out with their friends in the evenings smoking Shisha pipes, doing barbecues and listening to Egyptian Chaaby-pop – life seemed to them like an endless string of adventures. But with the years the economic situations of the population in the Westbank got more and more distressed until in October 2015 a new round of escalations began, which have cost until the Summer of 2016 more than 400 lives on both sides - suddenly the soldiers shoot to kill in the border region.
FORMAT HD | 90’ | DCP GENRES
• Human Interest / Social Issues • Politics / Society • Author’s Point of View PITCH TYPE Rough Cut Project
Ismail, the younger cousin, used to be the most reckless driver of the region. But after becoming father in the summer of 2015 he decided, with the outbreak of the Intifada, to quit the smuggling business all together and start a construction company. His older cousin Hamouda continue to work under more dangerous circumstances, but finds it impossible to cross the heavily guarded frontier. His only chance is to drop off the workers close to the Separation Wall and co-ordinate with Israeli Beduins to pick the men up - Hamouda who has been always proud of being an independent smuggler finds himself forced to cooperate now with the Israeli mafia. Once a slim and handsome guy he has become over the years a disillusioned heavy set man, chain-smoking away his sleepless nights, bearing heavy under the responsibility of keeping a smuggling business alive during a civil war and being a good father for his kids. But also for Ismail who is working now in the construction business the times are difficult. He finds it very hard to earn a living during the violent uprising in the southern Westbank when investments in construction dry down to zero. And then in the summer of 2016 he is offered a lot of money to drive once more. The next day he is arrested by special forces and locked in military jail, accused of assisting the first ISIS attack in Tel Aviv which left four people dead.
Project Description
Director’s Statement The co-director’s Daniel Carsenty from Berlin and Mohammed Abugeth from Jerusalem met in 2011 at the coffee machine of the Film university ‘Konrad Wolf’ in Potsdam-Babelsberg and discovered quickly that they were both big fans of Werner Herzog and Hubert Sauper. They decided spontaneously to watch Lessons of Darkness in the cinema together and since then they became friends and co-directors. IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
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Imprisonment and being forced to work in dangerous jobs are two central motives of their documentary work. They feel strongly attracted to people who live in situations of moral ambiguity - committing crimes as a way to earn money for the survival of their families, living constantly on the edge, searching for liberty, always in fear of being caught and punished. Regarding the situation of the Westbank today with it’s political stalemate and the absence of an imaginable future without an eight meters high Separation Wall creates the impression that confinement has become the Palestinian destiny. In this sense the smugglers appear as modern day versions of the ancient Greek figure of Prometheus who rebelled against the powerful and found himself chained to a rock punished to relive over and over the same painful day. By crossing the border during the day-time they put themselves into danger of being shot or arrested, just to return in the evening to their families and spend their hard-earned money on groceries, construction of their houses and repair of their cars. And the next day all over again: without a rest, without a break they walk continuously on the edge with one leg in prison, hospital or even cemetery.
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Mohammed (who also does sound) and Daniel (who is responsible for the cinematography) developed a method of ‘fly-on-the-wall’ documentary work in a micro-team with a compact hand-held 4K camera. They sit almost unnoticed on the back-seats of the smuggler’s jeeps and tail along, their existence mostly forgotten after a couple of minutes by their protagonists. And by doing so they managed to create images of raw intensity about a group of young individuals living a life of crime. As young aspiring filmmakers with mixed Middle Eastern and European backgrounds they don’t believe in portraying Palestinians the way they are mostly shown throughout the media and also often enough by Palestinian activists and artists themselves too: as victims. Mohammed and Daniel believe in showing Palestinians the way they really are: as three-dimensional characters, as people with flaws and strength who do mistakes and struggle hard to survive, who even commit crimes and dare to make money – as heroes and more often as anti-heroes – but never as mere victims. The smugglers are masters of their own decisions and fight with their own means in a environment of injustice. They are genius drivers and if they would have been born in Europe or America they would have become for sure champion stock-car drivers. But in their world these possibilities don’t exist so they are who they are and The Devil’s Drivers tells their story.
Biographies
Production Details | THE DEVIL’S DRIVERS PRODUCTION Daniel Carsenty
[email protected] +49 1731868683 www.danielcarsenty.com CREDITS PRODUCTION:
DIRECTOR: EDITING: PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED BROADCASTERS OTHER FINANCIERS OWN INVESTMENT
Daniel Carsenty Wicked Fever (2017 / co-producer / director) After Spring Comes Fall (2015 / co-producer / director) Cottbus Trailer (2013 / director) Daniel Carsenty, Mohammed Abugeth Oliver Stumpf August 2012 – September 2018 October 2018 Rough cut stage
€ 150.000 € 17.000 RBB/ARTE Christian von Behr Arab Fund for Arts and Culture RIma Mismar Wave-Line Daniel Carsenty and Mohammed Abugeth
€ 85.000 € 15.000 € 3.000 € 30.000
Budget € | THE DEVIL’S DRIVERS Development / Pre-Production Director: Muhammed Abugeth 1.000 Producer/Co-Director: Daniel Carsenty 2.000 Travel/subsistence 2.000
€ 5.000
Production Archival rights & reproduction/ TV Footage and CCTV Footage 1.500 Hotels, travel & food 12.000 Production travel and expenses 8.000 Production personnel: Local fixer 1.500 Director and Co-Director 30.000 Technical staff: (DOP/Sound/Light) 5.000 Equipment 8.000 Stock Material/Electronic Harddrives 700 Broadcast requirements 3.000
€ 69.700
Post-Production Editor/editing system Sound design and mix Titles and animation Music/Composer Musicians Color Correction Subtitles Outreach and distribution DCP Blue-Ray and DVD Authoring Poster, Postcard, Webpage and Press-Kit
15.000 22.000 3.000 2.500 2.000 8.000 3.000 € 55.500
6.000 1.000 3.000
Daniel Carsenty – Director & Producer Daniel Carsenty has been born in 1982 in Frankfurt. He graduated in 2014 from the Film university ‘Konrad Wolf’ in PotsdamBabelsberg with his first feature film After Spring Comes Fall about a Kurdish woman comings as a refugee to Germany and being forced by the Syrian security service to work as an informer. The film had it’s premiere 2015 at the Hofer Filmfestspiele in Germany and has afterwards been screened internationally at GIFF in Göteburg, the Mostra in Sao Paulo and the Cameraimage Festival in Bygoszsz. It has been awarded Best Feature at the Vilmos Szigmond Festival in Hungary, Best Production at the Achtung Berlin Festival and has won the Michael Ballhaus-Award for Best Cinematography at the First Steps Award in 2015. Besides his work on the postproduction of The Devil’s Drivers he is currently developing a dramaseries for German Television.
Daniel Carsenty Producer/Director
Mohammed Abugeth Director
Mohammed Abugeth – Director Mohammed Abugeth has been born in 1986 in Jerusalem. He studied computer sciences at the Al-Quds university in Jerusalem and worked as a production assistant for Idioms Films in Ramallah. In 2013 he moved to Germany to study International Media Management at the academy of the ‘Deutsche Welle’, the German foreign channel, in Bonn and graduated in 2015 with a Masters of Fine Arts. Since then he works in Berlin as a TV freelancer. The Devil’s Drivers is his first feature length film.
€ 10.000
Miscellaneous Overhead Contingency 5 % Legal Support: Total budget (summed)
€0
7.500 2.300 € 9.800 € 150.000
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ROUGH CUT PROJECT
DIRECTOR Klaartje
Quirijns
PRODUCTION Pieter van Huystee Film STATUS Rough Cut Stage COUNTRY The Netherlands
On the Couch From the moment we are born we play roles created by our parents or those who bring us up. What
GENRES
• Author’s Point of View • Human Interest / Social Issues PITCH TYPE Rough Cut Project
therapy sessions to see how patterns were being formed between parent and child: fear, abandonment, grief, loss and disappointment.
Back in 2000, when filmmaker Klaartje Quirijns moved to New York, she was struck by the fact that almost everyone she met was in therapy.
But looking at them she realizes she needs to turn the camera on herself: She has to face her own demons now and takes her own inner conflict as a further exploration of the premise of the film. In an essayistic form, she approaches everything from a personal perspective: her story as a daughter and her story as a mother. Her questions derive directly from her own complicated family history. During the course of the film she will gradually discover that her family has a secret. A secret she has always been part of, with devastating and far-reaching consequences.
For various reasons people withdrew from the hectic life into the safety of the therapy room, to boost low selfesteem, to stop drug dependency or to be able to ‘feel’ again. Driven by a curiosity as a filmmaker, she asked permission to film other people’s therapy sessions.
As spectators we recognize these stories, so we also take an excursion through dozens of other anonymous faces to whom we feel connected. Sadness, frustration, loneliness are universal concepts, yet they invariably evoke individual, subjective feelings.
While making the film, she was confronted with a tragic turn in her life and she felt she could no longer hide behind stories of other people. Just like the others she searches for identity, memories, the influence of families and their patterns. Just like the others she is trying to write a personal narrative that makes sense, that makes life more understandable and tolerable.
The goal of this journey is to go inside the psyche of Errol, Michael, the two men she is following during their therapy sessions, and into her own psyche, to understand where our fears and doubts come from and maybe to understand how to get rid of them. But the main and ultimate goal of the film is that these stories will eventually dissolve in the minds of the audience, that they will experience the film as a mirror in which they see themselves. If this happens, the film will represent our stories as audience as well.
are these roles our parents impose
on us? Why do we keep on playing
them? And how, can we break free?
Synopsis
With the use of super 8 home movies, the film is a visual tour of dozens of anonymous faces we feel connected with. Together with editor Boris Gerrets, Klaartje Quirijns is looking for the universal emotions: we all recognize the first steps, smiling for a camera, a judgmental look of a parent, a mother who wants you to be happier in the picture than you are. As an observer she chooses to look at two men, a black dancer and a Jewish therapist. She follows them in their
182
FORMAT HDV | 85’ | DCP
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Project Description
Without realizing, I started this movie 17 years ago. I lived in New York and I began to film therapy sessions of a black dancer from Barbados. In this most sacred place, the therapist searched for his identity, memories, the influence of parents, sisters and brothers and their patterns. I later filmed the therapist in his sessions with a black Freudian
therapist. This process was fascinating to me: to see someone trying to unravel his family history and how cycles of patterns eventually could be broken.
The clock ticks in the therapy rooms, as well as in the lives of the characters I’ve been following for 17 years. The passage of time, time depicts the past and the memory.
It took me 17 years to realize that I actually tried to understand something about myself. I observed my own ultimate curiosity. My parents divorced when I was one and my sister two-and-a-half.
Camera The atmosphere and tone of the actions of Errol and Michael are sometimes more important than what is being said in these scenes. By seeing them in their daily lives (the one dances, the other is walking on the street or driving by car), we see a glimpse of their daily routine, while the sound, the conversations from the therapy room accompany the image and will give a totally other picture: we see and hear how still memories and the patterns of our past haunt us, and act up unexpectly in our daily lives.
My father remarried 5 times and when I was much older he took me on trips to the most exotic places. Wherever I would go with my father, there was always something strange happening, as if with the arrival of my father some ghosts would appear. Dead dogs hanging in trees in the jungle. Escobar escaping the police in a small village we drove through... He took a picture of me in a cage with a lion. We’d go to Paris where I’d drive him around for meetings with shady stamp dealers in dark, gloomy alleys... He had no clue I was only 14, and was not in possession of a driver’s license. I always avoided the real questions about my own family. Maybe I always knew there was something I wasn’t allowed to know...Some big secret looming...
As a documentary filmmaker I am attracted to grand and dramatic stories: arms dealers, dictator hunters, child soldiers. I have portrayed people in extreme situations against the backdrop of complex political systems that at first glance are not directly observable.
In the archive material (the 8mm home movies / found footage and my own archive material) together with editor Boris Gerrets I search for images of the relationship between parents and children, how they are annoyed with each other, the painful moments, how they avoid each other, or are too involved with each other, awkward situations, painful gazes. We are looking for images that show how family relationships are sometimes disturbed. The emotions we seek include universal themes: ‘belonging’, love, the lack of love, seeking parents approval, their expectations and the failure of children. Collisions between parents, scared and fearful children, children who play the clown in order to distract their parents or make them laugh, or who deliberately want to make them forget about themselves. We look for the direction of the parent who says how the child should be in the picture, an image that shows how the roles originated from early on.
In an essayistic form, I approach everything from a personal perspective: my story as a daughter and my story as a mother. My questions derive directly from my own complicated family history.
We will use the images in a “forensic” way. Sometimes we want to zoom in, emphasize an emotion by increasing the detail. We are looking for the emotional truth in a moment that otherwise would have been lost.
My first memory from my own childhood is that I was in a bed with bars. The door opened and my father came in. He was rushed, as if someone was chasing him. He wore a long coat, dark blue. He had a brown leather briefcase in his hand. He was not looking at me, he walked towards the window in my room. He opened the door, stepped onto the balcony, jumped over the railing, landed with a thud on the ground below and ran away, his footsteps disappearing into the silence.
Errol lives alone in nature because he thinks the world as we know it is going to end. We see him dacing in his studio, where he sticks to his art: dance. Michael walks alone in the streets of New York, his loneliness is clear, but he doesn’t give up, he hopes to get in touch with his feelings, understand something about his life or his past or just to get hold of something in the present.
I am almost 50 years old, and now I only know that I can not hide behind the stories of other people, as I did for 25 years as a film maker. In my movie, I look for the influence of parents, their patterns and the repetition that is being passed on consciously or unconsciously to the next generation.
Approach I want to make a movie in which one question will trigger the next one: the ultimate goal is to make the viewer getting deeper into the emotional world of the main characters. To achieve this, I want to use the images from the therapy rooms, images from our daily lives, from our parents and children, images from our past.
To me, white noise devices, in the hall way of therapists, have great significance; It makes almost no sound, just enough to secure privacy. Behind this sound, everyone hopes to be able to come into contact with themselves and others, to discover what the patterns that keep haunting us, and to experience a beginning of breaking this cycle.
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R Biographies
Pieter van Huijstee Producer
Klaartje Quirijns Director
Pieter van Huystee – Producer In 1995 Pieter van Huystee started his own production company. Since then he has produced many film projects and international co-productions, most of them documentaries with both renowned Dutch filmmakers such as Johan van der Keuken, Heddy Honigmann, Renzo Martens, Leonard Retel Helmrich, and many young talented directors. Many of the documentaries and features are sold to broadcasters all over the world, screened at festivals globally and have been awarded many times. In 2015 he directed the documentary Hieronimus Bosch – Touched by the Devil. The accompanying interactive documentary has been awarded with a prestigious Webby Award. Klaartje Quirijns – Director Klaartje Quirijns started out her career as a TV journalist, producing reports for Dutch television’s most important investigative programme. She produced many stories and interviews, and was the first Dutch journalist to report from New York on the events of September 11, 2001. She subsequently directed and produced several feature-length documentaries, including The Brooklyn Connection, a study of gun-running in the US which explored the thin line between being a freedom fighter and a terrorist and The Dictator Hunter, which focused on the struggle to get dictators prosecuted. Quirijns received particular praise for her film Peace vs Justice, a critical look at The Criminal Court in the Hague, which examined the moral dilemmas that arises in the pursuit of Western ideals of justice. Her most recent documentary, Anton Corbijn, Inside Out, was a portrait of the renowned Dutch photographer and filmmaker and the complex forces that drive him.
Production Details | ON THE COUCH PRODUCTION COMPANY Pieter van Huystee Film Donker Curtiusstraat 125 1051 MC Amsterdam The Netherlands CREDITS
Pieter van Huijstee The Claim, In Search of Stolen Art from WWII (2016 / producer) Jheronimus Bosch, Touched by the Devil (2015 / producer) Ne Me Quitte Pas (2013 / producer) DIRECTOR: Klaartje Quirijns Anton Corbijn Inside Out (2012 / director) Peace vs Justice (2012 / director) The Dictator Hunter (2007 / director) EXECUTIVE PRODUCTION: Natasja Möhrs – Pieter van Huystee Film SCREENPLAY: Klaartje Quirijns EDITING: Boris Gerrets PRODUCTION:
PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED BROADCASTERS OTHER FINANCIERS OWN INVESTMENT
IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
January 2014 – March 2018 May 2018 Rough cut stage
€ 278.444 € 112.317 EO / IKONdocs Margje de Koning Dutch Cultural Media Fund Pieter van Huystee Film
€ 33.500 € 130.000 € 2.627
Budget € | ON THE COUCH Development / Pre-Production Writer Producer/director Travel/subsistence research Accountancy/represtantion Fee & overhead & contingency
8.063 1.825 1.297 10.156 1.790 3.026 € 26.156
Production Archival rights & reproduction Hotels, travel & food Production travel and expenses Production personnel Director Technical staff: (DOP/Sound/Light) Equipment Stock Material Broadcast requirements General Expences Location representation/ insurance
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[email protected] +31 204210606 www.pvhfilm.nl
17.025 8.625 10.470 24.725 34.400 15.200 15.620 880 2.319 3.450 1.150 3.468
€ 137.332
Post-Production Editor/editing system Sound design and mix Music tekst post production Outreach and distribution Publicity Miscellaneous Contingency 8 % Overhead Overhead 4 % Producersfee 8% Total budget (summed)
32.120 11.100 7.500 4.165 9.285 € 64.170
6.625 € 6.625
16.464 € 16.464
11.232 16.465 € 27.697 € 278.444
ROUGH CUT PROJECT
DIRECTOR Rob
The Trial of Ratko Mladic The man accused of the worst
atrocities in Europe since WWII;
the biggest trial since Nuremberg; prosecution and defense fighting
for justice; a multi-billion dollar
court struggling to justify itself.
Synopsis
Ratko Mladic was ferocious in pursuit of what he considered the destiny of the Bosnian Serb nation. He is alleged to have masterminded the merciless siege of Sarajevo and commanded the soldiers who murdered 8000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica in 1995, crimes that shocked the world. At the International Criminal Tribunal For the Former Yugoslavia, Mladic faces 11 counts of genocide and crimes against humanity, ‘the worst crimes on European soil since WWII’, according to one former UN Secretary General. Many soldiers and politicians have appeared before the Tribunal but most were cogs in the killing machine, apparatchiks who rubber-stamped death warrants from behind a desk. Mladic, however, looked many victims in the eye. At Srebrenica, the biggest massacre of the war, he watched as men and women were separated and patted children on the head saying that no harm would come to them. Since the trial of Mladic began in May 2012 at the ICTY in The Hague, Sandpaper Films has been filming behind the scenes with the prosecution, the defence, and many of the witnesses who have come forward to testify. The ICTY has never granted this kind of access before: prosecutors arguing late into the night to prepare for an important witness; defence lawyers driving to see Mladic in the detention centre, wondering what to say; witnesses, some of whom have agreed to testify at great personal risk, taking a
Miller, Henry A. Singer
PRODUCTION Sandpaper Films
STATUS Rough Cut Stage COUNTRY United Kingdom
FORMAT High Definition | 90’ | Digital file GENRES
• Human Interest / Social Issues • Politics / Society PITCH TYPE Rough Cut Project
deep breath before leaving the seclusion room and entering the court. We’ve also followed stories in Bosnia, where the conflicting perceptions of Mladic (monster or hero) epitomizes the division that plagues the country. It is in Bosnia where the trial is being watched: it is here where the verdict – not just on Mladic but on the ICTY’s twenty-plus years of work -will have the most consequence. The Mladic trial is the last to be held at the Tribunal, and will be the most influential in defining its legacy. The film will ask whether the work of the Tribunal has helped to dissolve the hatred that plagues Bosnia or done little more than cement it. With so many conflicts happening around the world, does the blueprint of justice that it represents offer genuine hope for peace and reconciliation or does it simply stop old wounds from healing and keep people shackled to the horrors of the past?
Project Description
Background Over the last five years of the Mladic trial, we have filmed behind the scenes with both Prosecution and Defence lawyers as they’ve tried to outmaneuver each other, competing to establish a version of events that will ultimately be decreed as truth. They’ve been working under immense pressure - the defense have an erratic and uncompromising client, the prosecution must translate their promise of justice into a guilty verdict if Mladic’s thousands of victims are to achieve some modicum of peace. As the trial has progressed, we have increasingly focused on two main characters whom we feel can best carry the film dramatically. Peter McCloskey, one of the two senior attorneys for the prosecution, has an easy-going, Californian exterior that masks a gritty determination. His earliest memories of the Tribunal involve loading body bags from IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
185
excavation sites in Srebrenica into trucks destined for the morgue. He often goes head-to-head with Branko Lukic, the supremely coiffured senior defense attorney who has a very personal stake in the trial. His parents’ town was surrounded by enemy forces and rescued by Mladic himself during the war. Peter and Branko’s associates will appear throughout the film in secondary roles. Dermot Groome, a Midwesterner with an earnest demeanor who cut his legal teeth prosecuting grizzly homicide cases in Manhattan, is the other senior prosecuting attorney. Miodrag Stojanovic, the other senior defense attorney, tried to retire from defending cases at The Hague until a call came from ‘his General’. “How could I say ‘no’?” Other characters will include Emir Hodzic, who traveled to Omarska in back 2013 with Nerma Jelacic, the Tribunal’s outreach coordinator, to try and visit the former notorious extermination camp there (now a Mittal steel plant) where his father and brother were tortured. He was denied entry and the experience so affected him he became an activist. Among Mladic’s alleged victims is Saliha Osmanovic, whose husband and two sons were killed in Srebrenica. Saliha gave testimony in the Hague as she was determined to confront the man she deemed responsible for the murder of her family. At the opposite end of the spectrum is Mladjen Kenjic, a fervent Mladic supporter who served as Mladic’s driver throughout the conflict: he boasts, ‘We ate together, we slept together, we made war together (and) there wasn’t a single order I wouldn’t have followed.’ Kenjic was called by the defence to provide Mladic’s alibi for Srebrenica, stating that Mladic was away in Belgrade during the bloody days in July 1995 and was unaware of the killings that took place. We have also filmed with members of Mladic’s family and his inner circle, people who knew him intimately as a soldier and a man. We filmed Mladic Day, an annual gathering of Mladic supporters near his home village of Kalinovik. Participants cut grass with scythes, drink plum brandy and sing songs about their beloved General, all the time denouncing what they see as a kangaroo, victor’s court in the Hague.
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The narrative arc & structure of the Film In mid-2014, the Prosecution tipped us off about the discovery of what would turn out to be the largest mass grave from the conflict. The grave is located outside the village of Tomasica in Prijedor in the northern Bosnia. We began filming there, thinking it might provide another narrative ‘clothesline’ for the film beyond the trial itself. We have followed the journey of evidence, beginning with the exhumation and identification of the bodies at the crime scene to its presentation in the court room. We have also filmed the defence’s rebuttal of the Tomasica evidence, central to which was the testimony of the former director of the mine, Ostoja Marjanovic, who was called to absolve the army, and by extension Mladic, of responsibility. However, when pressed by the prosecution lawyers, Marjanovic admitted, “In war, the less I know the better I am.” The Tomasica evidence will provide an extremely strong central narrative for the film within the larger dramatic structure of the trial itself, climaxing with the verdict, due in December 2017. Prosecutors believe Tomasica will be crucial in securing the most significant of the charges against Mladic, that of genocide. The Trial Of Ratko Mladic offers unique access to the most important criminal case of the 21st Century. It will tell the epic story of a region struggling to escape from its bloody past, the man at the center of that past, and the institution and individuals committed to seeing that truth and justice – in some form or other – prevails in the end.
Biographies
Production Details | THE TRIAL OF RATKO MLADIC PRODUCTION COMPANY Sandpaper Films 86 Sellons Avenue NW10 4HH London United Kingdom CREDITS PRODUCTION: DIRECTOR:
Rob Miller – Director & Producer Rob Miller began his career working for a human rights organisation before crossing over into documentary. He has over fifteen years experience of developing and producing documentaries for the BBC and Channel Four in the U.K, collaborating with Henry Singer on Last Orders, a film about white working class alienation in the North of England; Wootton Bassett: The Town That Remembers, which told the story of one town’s tributes to servicemen killed in Iraq and Afghanistan; and, most recently, the 2017 film The Betrayed Girls, about the Rochdale child abuse scandal. Rob’s 2014 BBC series on elderly care, entitled Protecting Our Parents, was described by the Radio Times as one of the most important ever shown on British television and was nominated for Broadcast, Royal Television Society and BAFTA awards.
[email protected] +44 7754047674
[email protected] +44 7951766648
Rob Miller, Henry A. Singer Rob Miller, Henry A. Singer ROB MILLER:
The Betrayed Girls (2017 / producer) Protecting Our Parents (2014 / producer) Wootton Bassett: The Town That Remembers (2011 / producer) HENRY SINGER:
CO-PRODUCTION: DISTRIBUTOR/SALES: EDITING: PRODUCTION SCHEME RELEASE PRODUCTION STATUS
FINANCING PRODUCTION BUDGET STILL REQUIRED BROADCASTERS OTHER FINANCIERS
The Betrayed Girls (2017 / director) Baby P: The Untold Story (2014 / director) The Blood of the Rose (2009 / director) Peggy Pictures – Ida Bruusgaard – United Kingdom Kathryn Bonnici – Java Films Anna Price May 2012 – May 2018 May 2018 Rough cut stage
€ 963.235 € 93.550 PBS Frontline Raney Aronson WDR Jutta Krug BBC Storyville Mandy Chang VPRO Barbara Truyen DR Anders Bruus Al Arabiya Nakhle El Hage SVT Axel Arnö NRK Carina Bordewich RTS Irene Challand YesDocu Guy Lavie Sigrid Rausing Trust Tax credit Private funder Blavatnik Foundation Doc Society Sandra Whipham Fritt Ord Bente Roalsveg Sundance Institute Tabitha Jackson
€ 236.859 € 80.000 € 32.910 € 25.000 € 8.000 € 7.106 € 7.000 € 6.051 € 6.750 € 1.974 € 142.610 € 96.982 € 82.900 € 56.254 € 43.880 € 22.692 € 12.717
Budget € | THE TRIAL OF RATKO MLADIC Development / Pre-Production Director Producer Travel/subsistence Travel/subsistence
10.260 8.208 4.500 6.300 € 29.268
Production Archival rights & reproduction 57.593 Hotels, travel & food 78.161 Production travel and expenses 68.486 Production personnel 186.271 Director 106.420 Technical staff: (DOP/Sound/Light) 19.252 Equipment 36.201 Stock Material 10.805 Broadcast requirements 26.328 Other translations and transcripts 29.404 Salary & Wages insurance related costs 7.407 Other Location costs
Post-Production Editor/editing system Final Picture & Sound design and mix Titles and animation Music Narrator Overhead Overhead…3.2 % Contingency ..5 % Production Fee 7.5% Total budget (summed)
99.114 37.298 4.388 28.899 2.743 € 172.442
26.657 41.536 64.305 € 132.498 € 963.235
Rob Miller Producer/Director
Henry A. Singer Producer/Director
Henry Singer – Director & Producer Henry Singer is one of Britain’s most critically acclaimed documentary directors. He has won or been nominated for every major British documentary award, including the BAFTA, Royal Television Society, Grierson, Broadcast, Broadcasting Press Guild, the Televisual as well as the Emmy, and his films have been screened at festivals around the world. Among his prizewinning feature length films are The Falling Man about a photograph of someone who jumped or fell from the World Trade Center on 9/11, The Untold Story of Baby P, about the death of a seventeen month toddler in north London, and The Blood of the Rose, about the brutal murder of the filmmaker and conservationist Joan Root in Kenya. Ida Bruusgaard – Co-producer Ida Bruusgaard has produced and directed across many formats in British television, has been a successful executive producer in Norwegian television and recently co-founded Peggy Pictures in the U.K. Peggy Pictures is the co-producer of the Mladic film. Sandpaper Films – Production Company Sandpaper Films is known for its feature length documentaries on sensitive and politically-charged subjects for British television and international broadcasters. They include The Blood of the Rose, Baby P: The Untold Story, The Betrayed Girls and Diana, 7 Days.
2.699 € 629.027
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INDEX IDFA Forum Catalogue 2017
Index - Production Companies
190
149 51 51 149 123 72 42 42 54 54 18 94 94 149 149 69 42 42 88 76 85 97 57 57 146 109 60 33 33 33 176 74 155 134 120 120 91 91 140 72 131 131 103 63 63 158 100 21 161 137 137 100 167 103 36 27 117 129 129 176 164 106 155 182 173 155 79 152 143 66 100 57 185 185 30 143 27 27 167 115 45 24 170 48 39 39 112 112 126
Achtung Panda! Media GmbH Ark Media Ark Media Arsam International Auto Images Belly of the Beast LLC BEW TV BEW TV Black Ticket Films Black Ticket Films Bullitt Film ApS Casatarantula Casatarantula Chance Operations Chance Operations Cinematografica films Crescent Films Crescent Films Danish Documentary Production Day Zero Films UG Diplodocus LLC Dribbling Pictures Electric South Electric South Euphoria Film Oy Evanstone films EyeSteelFilm Films for Humanity Films for Humanity Films for Humanity Final Cut for Real Forbidden Mirror Films Fu Works Gebrueder Beetz Filmproduktion Hauteville Productions Hauteville Productions House of Real House of Real Hyper Epic Idle Wild Films Institute for Transmedia Design Joni Art Judith Helfand Productions Kloos & Co OST Kloos & Co OST Kobalt Documentary Laboratory NYC Lama Films Les Films du Poisson Lost Time Media Lost Time Media M30A Films Medalia Productions Medalia Productions Micromundo Producciones Muyi Film Nanof Srl New Reality Co. New Reality Co. OSOR Parabola Films Peter Kerekes Ltd. Piano b Produzioni Pieter van Huystee Film Pohjola-filmi Oy Potemkino Pumpernickel Films Pumpernickel Films Rada Film Group Rake Films Salted Media SaltPeter Productions CC Sandpaper Films Sandpaper Films Sant & Usant SCATTER STUDIO Selfmade Films Selfmade Films Shanghai Seedling Film Inc. Sisyfos Film Production Speranza Film AS Stray Dog Productions Toolbox Film Via Découvertes Films Wooden Fish Pictures Wooden Fish Pictures Yaddo Yaddo Zorba Production
IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
Cunningham 3D Woodstock Woodstock Cunningham 3D With Love Belly of the Beast The Rise and Fall of Bhutto The Rise and Fall of Bhutto Writing with Fire Writing with Fire Confessions of a Military Dictatorship The Invisible Border The Invisible Border Cunningham 3D Cunningham 3D Aswang The Rise and Fall of Bhutto The Rise and Fall of Bhutto Family on the Run A Boarding School Busy Inside The Labudovic Reels (working title) Container Container Aalto - Architect of Emotions The Pianist from Ramallah The Internet of Shit Madame Tran’s Last Battle Madame Tran’s Last Battle Madame Tran’s Last Battle A Comedian in a Syrian Tragedy Blood on the Trident Maestro Morricone The Master’s Vision (VR) What Ever Happened to Rosemary Kennedy? What Ever Happened to Rosemary Kennedy? Gabi Gabi Putin Roulette Belly of the Beast Killer, Penguin, Tom, Doll Face Killer, Penguin, Tom, Doll Face Love & Stuff Pre-Crime - A Simulation Pre-Crime - A Simulation Marceline Lights Camera Uganda Ehud Barak – The Elusive Nature of Reality The Passion of Anna Magnani No Visible Trauma No Visible Trauma Lights Camera Uganda The World of Tsai Chin Love & Stuff The Mole Agent Journey to the Morgenland Story of B. The Disappearance of My Mother Breathe Breathe A Comedian in a Syrian Tragedy A Prince from Outer Space: Zeki Müren Occupation 1968 Maestro Morricone On the Couch Maiden of the Lake Maestro Morricone Born in China Doctor Zhivago - the Novel about the Novel The Racial Terror Project (working title) Anbessa Lights Camera Uganda Container The Trial of Ratko Mladic The Trial of Ratko Mladic Krogufant The Racial Terror Project (working title) Journey to the Morgenland Journey to the Morgenland The World of Tsai Chin Scheme Birds The Self Portrait Hiding Saddam Hussein Kids on the Silk road 6-15 Sunken Eldorado People’s Hospital People’s Hospital Price Wars Price Wars -22.7°C
Helge Albers Jamila Ephron Barak Goodman Ilann Girard Ove Rishøj Jensen Angela Tucker Vincent Nguyen Katia Pinzon Rintu Thomas Sushmit Ghosh Vibeke Vogel Clare Weiskopf Nicolás Van Hemelryck Elisabeth Delude-Dix Kelly Gilpatrick Armi Rae S. Cacanindin Ziad Zafar Faris Kermani Sigrid Jonsson Dyekjær Don Edkins Victor Ilyukhin Mila Turajlic Steven Markovitz Ingrid Kopp Timo Vierimaa Eitan Evan Bob Moore Kate Taverna Véronique Bernard Alan Adelson Signe Byrge Sørensen Vlady Antonevicz San Fu Maltha Georg Tschurtschenthaler Guillaume Allary Karina Si Ahmed Jacob Eklund Anna J. Ljungmark Lyangelo Vasquez Erika Cohn Sara Bozanic Tomas Tamosaitis Judith Helfand Stefan Kloos Michaela Pnacekova Eva Rink Gigi Dement Amir Harel Estelle Fialon Robinder Uppal Marc Serpa Francoeur Hugo Perez Hilla Medalia Hilla Medalia Mariella Santibañez Jia Zhao Filippo Macelloni Milica Zec Winslow Porter Lyana Saleh Selin Murat Peter Kerekes Gianni Russo Pieter van Huijstee Elina Pohjola Peter De Maegd Christoph Jörg Christoph Jörg Michèle Stephenson Caitlin Burke Cathryne Czubek Simon Wood Henry A. Singer Rob Miller Anita Rehoff Larsen Yasmin Elayat Niek Koppen Jan de Ruiter Michelle Miao Chen Mario Adamson Margreth Olin Henrik Underbjerg Maria Stevnbak Westergren Cécile de la Garanderie Siyi Chen Ruohan Xu Lawrence Elman Nick Fraser Guillaume de la Boulaye
Index - Producers 115 33 120 149 120 74 33 126 131 66 69 179 39 167 72 100 149 100 88 76 91 143 112 51 109 161 137 112 48 54 149 149 51 21 103 94 182 85 123 79 152 106 42 63 57 27 30 82 91 117 155 155 57 167 103 185 60 164 42 45 100 42 63 173 129 158 27 155 176 36 185 176 143 131 33 54 134 72 97 24 137 140 146 18 94 170 57 39 42 129
Mario Adamson Alan Adelson Karina Si Ahmed Helge Albers Guillaume Allary Vlady Antonevicz Véronique Bernard Guillaume de la Boulaye Sara Bozanic Caitlin Burke Armi Rae S. Cacanindin Daniel Carsenty Siyi Chen Michelle Miao Chen Erika Cohn Cathryne Czubek Elisabeth Delude-Dix Gigi Dement Sigrid Jonsson Dyekjær Don Edkins Jacob Eklund Yasmin Elayat Lawrence Elman Jamila Ephron Eitan Evan Estelle Fialon Marc Serpa Francoeur Nick Fraser Cécile de la Garanderie Sushmit Ghosh Kelly Gilpatrick Ilann Girard Barak Goodman Amir Harel Judith Helfand Nicolás Van Hemelryck Pieter van Huijstee Victor Ilyukhin Ove Rishøj Jensen Christoph Jörg Christoph Jörg Peter Kerekes Faris Kermani Stefan Kloos Ingrid Kopp Niek Koppen Anita Rehoff Larsen Richard Liang Anna J. Ljungmark Filippo Macelloni Peter De Maegd San Fu Maltha Steven Markovitz Hilla Medalia Hilla Medalia Rob Miller Bob Moore Selin Murat Vincent Nguyen Margreth Olin Hugo Perez Katia Pinzon Michaela Pnacekova Elina Pohjola Winslow Porter Eva Rink Jan de Ruiter Gianni Russo Lyana Saleh Mariella Santibañez Henry A. Singer Signe Byrge Sørensen Michèle Stephenson Tomas Tamosaitis Kate Taverna Rintu Thomas Georg Tschurtschenthaler Angela Tucker Mila Turajlic Henrik Underbjerg Robinder Uppal Lyangelo Vasquez Timo Vierimaa Vibeke Vogel Clare Weiskopf Maria Stevnbak Westergren Simon Wood Ruohan Xu Ziad Zafar Milica Zec
Scheme Birds Madame Tran’s Last Battle What Ever Happened to Rosemary Kennedy? Cunningham 3D What Ever Happened to Rosemary Kennedy? Blood on the Trident Madame Tran’s Last Battle -22.7°C Killer, Penguin, Tom, Doll Face Anbessa Aswang The Devil’s Drivers People’s Hospital The World of Tsai Chin Belly of the Beast Lights Camera Uganda Cunningham 3D Lights Camera Uganda Family on the Run A Boarding School Gabi The Racial Terror Project (working title) Price Wars Woodstock The Pianist from Ramallah The Passion of Anna Magnani No Visible Trauma Price Wars Sunken Eldorado Writing with Fire Cunningham 3D Cunningham 3D Woodstock Ehud Barak – The Elusive Nature of Reality Love & Stuff The Invisible Border On the Couch Busy Inside With Love Born in China Doctor Zhivago - the Novel about the Novel Occupation 1968 The Rise and Fall of Bhutto Pre-Crime - A Simulation Container Journey to the Morgenland Krogufant Born to Be Second Gabi Story of B. The Disappearance of My Mother Maestro Morricone Maestro Morricone Container The World of Tsai Chin Love & Stuff The Trial of Ratko Mladic The Internet of Shit A Prince from Outer Space: Zeki Müren The Rise and Fall of Bhutto The Self Portrait Lights Camera Uganda The Rise and Fall of Bhutto Pre-Crime - A Simulation Maiden of the Lake Breathe Marceline Journey to the Morgenland Maestro Morricone A Comedian in a Syrian Tragedy The Mole Agent The Trial of Ratko Mladic A Comedian in a Syrian Tragedy The Racial Terror Project (working title) Killer, Penguin, Tom, Doll Face Madame Tran’s Last Battle Writing with Fire The Master’s Vision (VR) Belly of the Beast The Labudovic Reels (working title) Hiding Saddam Hussein No Visible Trauma Putin Roulette Aalto - Architect of Emotions Confessions of a Military Dictatorship The Invisible Border Kids on the Silk road 6-15 Container People’s Hospital The Rise and Fall of Bhutto Breathe
Sisyfos Film Production Films for Humanity Hauteville Productions Achtung Panda! Media GmbH Hauteville Productions Forbidden Mirror Films Films for Humanity Zorba Production Institute for Transmedia Design Rake Films Cinematografica films Wooden Fish Pictures Shanghai Seedling Film Inc. Idle Wild Films Salted Media Chance Operations Laboratory NYC Danish Documentary Production Day Zero Films UG House of Real SCATTER STUDIO Yaddo Ark Media Evanstone films Les Films du Poisson Lost Time Media Yaddo Via Découvertes Films Black Ticket Films Chance Operations Arsam International Ark Media Lama Films Judith Helfand Productions Casatarantula Pieter van Huystee Film Diplodocus LLC Auto Images Pumpernickel Films Pumpernickel Films Peter Kerekes Ltd. Crescent Films Kloos & Co OST Electric South Selfmade Films Sant & Usant House of Real Nanof Srl Potemkino Fu Works Electric South Medalia Productions Medalia Productions Sandpaper Films EyeSteelFilm Parabola Films BEW TV Speranza Film AS M30A Films BEW TV Kloos & Co OST Pohjola-filmi Oy New Reality Co. Kobalt Documentary Selfmade Films Piano b Produzioni OSOR Micromundo Producciones Sandpaper Films Final Cut for Real Rada Film Group Joni Art Films for Humanity Black Ticket Films Gebrueder Beetz Filmproduktion Belly of the Beast LLC Dribbling Pictures Stray Dog Productions Lost Time Media Hyper Epic Euphoria Film Oy Bullitt Film ApS Casatarantula Toolbox Film SaltPeter Productions CC Wooden Fish Pictures Crescent Films New Reality Co.
IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
191
Index - Directors
192
179 33 36 74 69 117 126 164 143 91 179 161 39 167 72 100 48 106 158 143 82 176 115 137 60 123 54 51 115 103 45 120 152 106 30 126 149 109 85 48 167 185 106 88 24 45 170 100 63 129 18 94 182 134 112 173 140 66 27 106 106 185 57 76 143 146 106 21 131 33 134 54 155 97 137 63 45 79 57 42
Mohammed Abugeth Alan Adelson Maite Alberdi Vlady Antonevicz Alyx Ayn G. Arumpac Beniamino Barrese Vincent Bonnemazou Beyza Boyacioglu Joe Brewster Engeli Broberg Daniel Carsenty Enrico Cerasuolo Siyi Chen Michelle Miao Chen Erika Cohn Cathryne Czubek Denis Delestrac Linda Dombrovszsky Cordelia Dvorak Yasmin Elayat Jian Fan Rami Farah Ellen Fiske Marc Serpa Francoeur Brett Gaylor Magnus Gertten Sushmit Ghosh Barak Goodman Ellinor Hallin Judith Helfand Katja Høgset Patrick Jeudy Nino Kirtadze Stephan Komandarev Victor Kossakovsky Jan Kounen Alla Kovgan Avida Livny Olga Lvoff Didier Martiny Hilla Medalia Rob Miller Evdokia Moskvina Eva Mulvad Halkawt Mustafa Margreth Olin Jens Pedersen Hugo Perez Michaela Pnacekova Winslow Porter Karen Stokkendal Poulsen Alejandro Quijano Klaartje Quirijns Mike Robbins Rupert Russell Petteri Saario Elizabeth Rocha Salgado Mo Scarpelli Frank Scheffer Marie Elisa Scheidt Elisa Scheidtndarev Henry A. Singer Meghna Singh Shalahuddin Siregar Michèle Stephenson Virpi Suutari Magdalena Szymkow Ran Tal Tomas Tamosaitis Kate Taverna Nicolas Thépot Rintu Thomas Giuseppe Pietro Tornatore Mila Turajlic Robinder Uppal Jan-Joost Verhoef Espen Wallin Nanfu Wang Simon Wood Ziad Zafar
IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
The Devil’s Drivers Madame Tran’s Last Battle The Mole Agent Blood on the Trident Aswang Story of B. The Disappearance of My Mother -22.7°C A Prince from Outer Space: Zeki Müren The Racial Terror Project (working title) Gabi The Devil’s Drivers The Passion of Anna Magnani People’s Hospital The World of Tsai Chin Belly of the Beast Lights Camera Uganda Sunken Eldorado Occupation 1968 Marceline The Racial Terror Project (working title) Born to Be Second A Comedian in a Syrian Tragedy Scheme Birds No Visible Trauma The Internet of Shit With Love Writing with Fire Woodstock Scheme Birds Love & Stuff The Self Portrait What Ever Happened to Rosemary Kennedy? Doctor Zhivago - the Novel about the Novel Occupation 1968 Krogufant -22.7°C Cunningham 3D The Pianist from Ramallah Busy Inside Sunken Eldorado The World of Tsai Chin The Trial of Ratko Mladic Occupation 1968 Family on the Run Hiding Saddam Hussein The Self Portrait Kids on the Silk road 6-15 Lights Camera Uganda Pre-Crime - A Simulation Breathe Confessions of a Military Dictatorship The Invisible Border On the Couch The Master’s Vision (VR) Price Wars Maiden of the Lake Putin Roulette Anbessa Journey to the Morgenland Occupation 1968 Occupation 1968 The Trial of Ratko Mladic Container A Boarding School The Racial Terror Project (working title) Aalto - Architect of Emotions Occupation 1968 Ehud Barak – The Elusive Nature of Reality Killer, Penguin, Tom, Doll Face Madame Tran’s Last Battle The Master’s Vision (VR) Writing with Fire Maestro Morricone The Labudovic Reels (working title) No Visible Trauma Pre-Crime - A Simulation The Self Portrait Born in China Container The Rise and Fall of Bhutto
Index - Broadcasters 185
Al Arabiya
Nakhle El Hage
185
ARD/WDR
Jutta Krug
The Trial of Ratko Mladic
152
ARTE France
Karen Michael
Doctor Zhivago - the Novel about the Novel
161
Nathalie Verdier
The Passion of Anna Magnani
97
ARTE/ZDF
Anne-Kathrin Brinkmann
The Labudovic Reels (working title)
158
AVROTROS
Marijke Huijbregts
Marceline
149
Bayerischer Rundfunk
Monika Lobkowicz
Cunningham 3D
185
BBC - Storyville
Mandy Chang
The Trial of Ratko Mladic
88
DR
Anders Bruus
Family on the Run
18
Anders Bruus
Confessions of a Military Dictatorship
24
Anders Bruus
Hiding Saddam Hussein
185
Anders Bruus
The Trial of Ratko Mladic
170
DR Ultra
Jonas Kryger Hansen
Kids on the Silk road 6-15
182
EO / IKONdocs
Margje de Koning
On the Couch
The Trial of Ratko Mladic
54
Margje de Koning
Writing with Fire
117
ERT
Depi Vrettou
Story of B. The Disappearance of My Mother
18
Estonian Public Broadcasting
Katrin Rajasaare
Confessions of a Military Dictatorship
48
France 5
Renaud Allilaire
Sunken Eldorado
120
France Televisions
Caroline Behar
What Ever Happened to Rosemary Kennedy?
185
Frontline PBS
Raney Aronson-Rath
The Trial of Ratko Mladic
21
Keshet Broadcasting Ltd.
Noa Karvat
Ehud Barak – The Elusive Nature of Reality
97
Knowledge Network
Rudy Buttignol
The Labudovic Reels (working title)
54
Rudy Buttignol
Writing with Fire
117
LaEffe TV
Riccardo Chiattelli
Story of B. The Disappearance of My Mother
82
NEP / NHK
Ken-ichi Imamura
Born to Be Second
185
NRK
Carina Bordewich
The Trial of Ratko Mladic
27
NTR
Oscar van der Kroon
Journey to the Morgenland
106
Radio & Television of Slovakia RTVS
Tibor Búza
Occupation 1968
117
Rai Cinema
Gabriele Genuino
Story of B. The Disappearance of My Mother
179
RBB / ARTE
Christian von Behr
The Devil’s Drivers
48
RTBF
François Tron
Sunken Eldorado
48
RTS
Irène Challand
Sunken Eldorado
185
Irène Challand
The Trial of Ratko Mladic
18
RTV Slovenia
Majda Gantar
Confessions of a Military Dictatorship
48
SRF
Christa Ulli
Sunken Eldorado
18
SVT
Axel Arnö
Confessions of a Military Dictatorship
185
Axel Arnö
The Trial of Ratko Mladic
54
Axel Arnö
Writing with Fire
123
Charlotte Gry-Madsen
With Love
18
Televizioni Publik Shqiptar (Albanian Public Television) Thoma Gëllçi
18
TVE
Manuel Sanchez Pereira
Confessions of a Military Dictatorship
106
TVP
Justyna Karnowska
Occupation 1968
185
VPRO
Barbara Truyen
The Trial of Ratko Mladic
Confessions of a Military Dictatorship
18
Nathalie Windhorst
Confessions of a Military Dictatorship
48
Nathalie Windhorst
Sunken Eldorado
109
YesDocu
Guy Lavie
The Pianist from Ramallah
185
Guy Lavie
The Trial of Ratko Mladic
18
YLE
Erkko Lyytinen
Confessions of a Military Dictatorship
54
Erkko Lyytinen
Writing with Fire
173
Jarmo Oksa
Maiden of the Lake
IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
193
Index - Financiers & Distributors FILM INSTITUTIONS AND OTHERS
African Centre for Migration and Society AfriDocs Alter-Cine American Experience Arab Fund for Arts and Culture Art Promotion Centre in Finland Atlantic Philantropies AVEK British Film Institute Catapult Film Fund Chicken & Egg Pictures CICLIC Cinereach CNC CNCA Fondo Audiovisual CNEX CNTV CORFO Creative Europe Creative Scotland Czech Cinematography Fund Danida Danish Film Institute Danish Foreign Ministry De Correspondent Defa Foundation DMZ DOCS Dobkin Family Foundation Doc Society Doha Film Institute Dutch Cultural Media Fund Extrastiftelsen Film Center Serbia Film i Dalarna Film i Skane Filmbasen/Film Stockholm Finnish Film Foundation Ford Foundation, JustFilms Fork Films Fritt Ord German Federal Film Board Gucci / Tribeca Documentary Fund
194
IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
57
Container
54
Writing with Fire
97 51
176 179
The Labudovic Reels (working title)
Woodstock
A Comedian in a Syrian Tragedy
The Devil’s Drivers
146
Aalto - Architect of Emotions
146
Aalto - Architect of Emotions
66
Anbessa
33
115
Madame Tran’s Last Battle Scheme Birds
79
Born in China
131
Killer, Penguin, Tom, Doll Face
126
-22.7°C
152
Doctor Zhivago - the Novel about the Novel
48
Sunken Eldorado
39
People’s Hospital
100 36
149 97
36 36 36
152 131
30 97
134
Lights Camera Uganda The Mole Agent
Cunningham 3D
The Labudovic Reels (working title) The Mole Agent The Mole Agent The Mole Agent
Doctor Zhivago - the Novel about the Novel
Killer, Penguin, Tom, Doll Face Krogufant
The Labudovic Reels (working title)
The Master’s Vision (VR)
123
With Love
106
Occupation 1968
115
18 18
88 18
140 158
69 33 33
185
176
Scheme Birds
Confessions of a Military Dictatorship Confessions of a Military Dictatorship Family on the Run
Confessions of a Military Dictatorship Putin Roulette Marceline Aswang
Madame Tran’s Last Battle Madame Tran’s Last Battle
The Trial of Ratko Mladic
A Comedian in a Syrian Tragedy
27
Journey to the Morgenland
45
The Self Portrait
91
Gabi
91
Gabi
182 97 123 146 173
76
On the Couch
The Labudovic Reels (working title)
With Love
Aalto - Architect of Emotions
Maiden of the Lake A Boarding School
33
Madame Tran’s Last Battle
30
Krogufant
176 45
A Comedian in a Syrian Tragedy
The Self Portrait
185
The Trial of Ratko Mladic
54
Writing with Fire
149
Cunningham 3D
IDA IDFA Bertha Fund IDFA Bertha Fund Europe Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP) Italian Ministry of Culture LEF Foundation Lithuanian Film Centre Mara and Ricky Sandler Foundation Medienboard Berlin Brandenburg Mille Feuilles The Netherlands Film Fund New York State Council on the Arts Norwegian Council of Mental Health Norwegian Film Institute NPO Fund Procirep & Angoa Promotion Centre for Audiovisual Culture in Finland Rabinovich Foundation for the Arts - Cinema Project SALT Research Screen Institute Beirut The Sigrid Rausing Trust Storyline studios Sundance Institute Sundance Skoll Stories of Change Swedish Film Institute Threshold Foundation Tribeca Film Institute Viken Filmsenter wave-line GmbH Wellspring Philanthropic Fund
DISTRIBUTORS / SALES AGENTS Autlook Filmsales Cinephil Cinephil Doc & Film Java Films Java Films PBS Distribution Rise and Shine World Sales Slingshot Films Keshet International ZED
79
36
39
Born in China
The Mole Agent
People’s Hospital
54
Writing with Fire
149
Cunningham 3D
176
A Comedian in a Syrian Tragedy
117
Story of B. The Disappearance of My Mother
131
Killer, Penguin, Tom, Doll Face
164 33
134
126
A Prince from Outer Space: Zeki Müren
Madame Tran’s Last Battle The Master’s Vision (VR)
-22.7°C
27
Journey to the Morgenland
45
The Self Portrait
100 24
30 45 27
48
146 21
74
164 176 185
30
176 185
Lights Camera Uganda
Hiding Saddam Hussein Krogufant
The Self Portrait
Journey to the Morgenland Sunken Eldorado
Aalto - Architect of Emotions
Ehud Barak – The Elusive Nature of Reality
Blood on the Trident
A Prince from Outer Space: Zeki Müren A Comedian in a Syrian Tragedy
The Trial of Ratko Mladic Krogufant
A Comedian in a Syrian Tragedy
The Trial of Ratko Mladic
54
Writing with Fire
91
Gabi
143 115
123
33
36 45
179
33
88
112 21 161
The Racial Terror Project (working title) Scheme Birds
With Love
Madame Tran’s Last Battle The Mole Agent
The Self Portrait
The Devil’s Drivers
Madame Tran’s Last Battle
Family on the Run Price Wars Ehud Barak – The Elusive Nature of Reality The Passion of Anna Magnani
48
Sunken Eldorado
185
The Trial of Ratko Mladic
51 18 106 21 120
Woodstock Confessions of a Military Dictatorship Occupation 1968 Ehud Barak – The Elusive Nature of Reality What Ever Happened to Rosemary Kennedy?
IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
195
Index - Countries Belgium
155 Maestro Morricone *
The Netherlands 152 Doctor Zhivago - the Novel about the Novel *
Bulgaria
106 Occupation 1968 *
27 Journey to the Morgenland
Canada
164 A Prince from Outer Space: Zeki Müren *
155 Maestro Morricone
137 No Visible Trauma
158 Marceline *
63 Pre-Crime - A Simulation *
182 On the Couch
60 The Internet of Shit
140 Putin Roulette
Chile
36 The Mole Agent
Norway
176 A Comedian in a Syrian Tragedy *
China
82 Born to Be Second
69 Aswang *
39 People’s Hospital
24 Hiding Saddam Hussein
167 The World of Tsai Chin
170 Kids on the Silk road 6-15 *
Colombia
94 The Invisible Border
30 Krogufant
Denmark
176 A Comedian in a Syrian Tragedy
134 The Master’s Vision (VR) *
18 Confessions of a Military Dictatorship
45 The Self Portrait
88 Family on the Run
123 With Love *
91 Gabi *
Philippines
69 Aswang
24 Hiding Saddam Hussein *
Russia
170 Kids on the Silk road 6-15
Finland
146 Aalto - Architect of Emotions
Serbia
173 Maiden of the Lake
Slovakia
123 With Love
Slovenia
131 Killer, Penguin, Tom, Doll Face *
France
126 -22.7°C
South Africa
57 Container
176 A Comedian in a Syrian Tragedy
Sweden
18 Confessions of a Military Dictatorship *
69 Aswang *
91 Gabi
79 Born in China
97 The Labudovic Reels (working title) 106 Occupation 1968
115 Scheme Birds
149 Cunningham 3D *
123 With Love
152 Doctor Zhivago - the Novel about the Novel
Taiwan
24 Hiding Saddam Hussein *
Turkey
164 A Prince from Outer Space: Zeki Müren
30 Krogufant *
Uganda
100 Lights Camera Uganda *
48 Sunken Eldorado
United Kingdom
57 Container *
134 The Master’s Vision (VR) *
112 Price Wars 115 Scheme Birds *
39 People’s Hospital *
42 The Rise and Fall of Bhutto *
97 The Labudovic Reels (working title) *
42 The Rise and Fall of Bhutto
36 The Mole Agent *
185 The Trial of Ratko Mladic
161 The Passion of Anna Magnani
United States
164 A Prince from Outer Space: Zeki Müren
120 What Ever Happened to Rosemary Kennedy?
66 Anbessa
Germany
76 A Boarding School
72 Belly of the Beast 79 Born in China
164 A Prince from Outer Space: Zeki Müren *
149 Cunningham 3D
158 Marceline
63 Pre-Crime - A Simulation
149 Cunningham 3D *
134 The Master’s Vision (VR)
100 Lights Camera Uganda
179 The Devil’s Drivers
103 Love & Stuff
123 With Love *
33 Madame Tran’s Last Battle
India
54 Writing with Fire
36 The Mole Agent *
Indonesia
76 A Boarding School
143 The Racial Terror Project (working title)
Israel
74 Blood on the Trident
21 Ehud Barak – The Elusive Nature of Reality
129 Breathe 85 Busy Inside
51 Woodstock
103 Love & Stuff
167 The World of Tsai Chin
109 The Pianist from Ramallah
Italy
155 Maestro Morricone
117 Story of B. The Disappearance of My Mother
161 The Passion of Anna Magnani
Japan
196
85 Busy Inside * 140 Putin Roulette *
82 Born to Be Second *
Jordan
176 A Comedian in a Syrian Tragedy *
Lithuania
131 Killer, Penguin, Tom, Doll Face
IDFA Forum catalogue 2017
* = CO-PRODUCTION COUNTRY
IDFA Bertha Fund Europe Supporting the production and distribution of documentaries co-produced between European producers and producers from Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle-East and parts of Eastern Europe
The Next Guardian
The IDFA Bertha Fund is looking for creative feature length documentaries by filmmakers from Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle-East and certain countries in Eastern Europe, that use a strong visual treatment to tell compelling stories and have the potential to reach a global audience. Documentaries that are realized through collaboration between independent producers from Europe and the above mentioned regions. Several projects supported through the IDFA Bertha Fund Europe funding scheme are part of the IDFA 2017 programme.
IDFA Bertha Fund Europe at the IDFA Forum 2017 A Comedian in a Syrian Tragedy – Rough cut phase
Rough Cut Projects
Rami Farah, Denmark/France/Jordan Production: Final Cut For Real, Signe Byrge Sørensen; OSOR, Lyana Saleh; SHASHAT Multimedia Productions, Cindy Le Templier IDFA Bertha Fund Europe Co-production grant 2017
IDFA Bertha Fund Europe at IDFA 2017 IDFA Competition for Feature-Length Documentary
Of Fathers and Sons
World Premiere Talal Derki, Germany/Syria/Lebanon, 2017, 98’ Production: BASIS BERLIN Filmproduktion, Tobias Siebert; Ventana Film, Hans Robert Eisenhauer; Cinema Group Production, Talal Derki World Sales: BASIS BERLIN Filmproduktion IDFA Bertha Fund Co-production grant 2015
IDFA Competition for First Appearance
The Next Guardian
World Premiere Arun Bhattarai, Dorottya Zurbó, Hungary/Bhutan, 2017, 74’ Production: Éclipse Film Ltd., Julianna Ugrin; Sound Pictures, Arun Bhattarai World Sales: Syndicado IDFA Bertha Fund Co-production grant 2017
IDFA Competition for Mid-Length Documentary
Raghu Rai, an Unframed Portrait
World Premiere
Avani Rai, India/Finland/Norway, 2017, 55’ Production: IV Films, Iikka Vehkalahti; CRCI India Pvt Ltd World Sales: Autlook Films IDFA Bertha Fund Co-production grant 2016 Best of Fests
Demons in Paradise
Jude Ratnam, France/Sri Lanka, 2017, 94’ Production: Sister Productions, Julie Paratian; ‘KRITI’ – A Work of Art, Jude Ratnam World Sales: Upside Distribution IDFA Bertha Fund Co-production grant 2015
Call for Entry 2018 Regulations and guidelines on how to submit are available on https://www.idfa.nl/en/info/ibf-application-categories International co-production support
Distribution support for international co-production
• feature-length documentary with potential to reach a global audience • € 40.000 per project • Deadline: May 1, 2018
• innovative distribution plans with global impact • € 30.000 per project • Deadline: open throughout the year from December 2017 - October 2018
IDFA FORUM 2017
With the support of