EAVE April News 2020
- A HOUSE IN JERUSALEM receives funding
In development / pre-production April 2020 - THE ISLAND now in production
In production April 2020 - ZUHAL now in post-production
In post-production April 2020 - SYSTEM CRASHER wins eight Lola Awards
Awards April 2020 - EAVE EXCLUSIVE Interview with Didar Domehri
EAVE group leader Didar Domehri about the COVID-19 crisis and what film producers can do now - Streamings and Special Events during COVID-19
Many film festivals have initiated unique events and projects while the festivals themselves had to be cancelled or postponed because of the spreading of the COVID-19. - “WE ARE ONE” launched by European and international film festivals
Festivals and Markets April 2020 - Obituary Raymond Ravar
Obituary - Obituary Artemio Benki
. - EAVE PED Talk with Katriel Schory
. - Katriel Schory: Finding Ideas & Talent
EAVE PED talk and Q&A April 24, 17:00 CET
A HOUSE IN JERUSALEM receives funding
Netherlands Film Fund
The Netherlands Film Production Incentive scheme has selected 15 new films and and TV series. The projects by EAVE graduates supported in the first round are:
- A HOUSE IN JERUSALEM by Muayad Alayan, co-producers: EAVE + graduate Hanneke Niens, EAVE graduate Konstantinos Kontovrakis, Dorothe Beinemeier
- CAPTAIN NOVA by Maurice Trouwborst, producer: EAVE graduate Derk-Jan Warrink
- MARCH by Constantin Hatz, co-producer: EAVE graduate Ursula Wolschlager
- OH FATHER, I DON’T WANT TO HATE YOU by Dawood Hilmandi, producer: EAVE graduate Frank Hoeve
FFA
- DOUCE FRANCE by Jeanine Meerapfel receives production support by the German FFA.
- WANN WIRD ES ENDLICH WIEDER SO WIE ES NIE WAR written by Sonja Heiss, Lars Hubrich, producer: EAVE graduate Jonas Dornbach gets script funding.
Polish Film Institute
The Polish Film Institute supports 10 new feature projects and 8 minority co-productions in its first session of funding in 2020. Among them are 8 productions by EAVE graduates:
- CODE RED by Dariusz Jablonski, producer: EAVE+ graduate Violetta Kaminska
- DEEP FROZEN GOODS by Anna Maliszewska, producer: EAVE graduate Marcin Wierzchoslawski
- TAK MA BYC by Lukasz Grzegorzek, producer: EAVE participant Natalia Grzegorzek
- ZAKOPIANSCY DZENTELMENI by Maciej Kawalski, producer: EAVE graduate Agnieszka Dziedzic
Minority co-productions:
- ANATOLIAN LEOPARD by Emre Kayis, producer: EAVE graduate Maria Blicharska
- AUTOBIOGRAFIA by Makbul Mubara, producer: EAVE graduate Malgorzata Staron
- NOSOROZEC by Oleg Sencow, producer: EAVE+ graduate Violetta Kaminska
- SEVERED HEAD by Lotfi Achour, producer: EAVE graduate Joanna Szymanska
THE ISLAND now in production
THE ISLAND produced and directed by EAVE graduate Anca Damian is in production. The animated musical comedy and “an upside-down Robinson Crusoe story” shares characters with Daniel Defoe’s novel Robinson Crusoe, but in the animation, Robinson is a doctor who isolates himself voluntarily on an island, his seclusion soon to be interrupted by migrants, guards and NGO representatives. In Damian’s fourth animated feature, Friday is, for example, the sole survivor on a boat which had left Africa for Italy. The film is a co-production between Damian’s Aparte Film, Take Five (Belgium) and Komadoli (France). The production received support from the Romanian National Film Center. It also received backing from Eurimages and Creative Europe - MEDIA. Damian expects the movie to be delivered before the end of the year.
https://apartefilm.net
ZUHAL now in post-production
ZUHAL by Nazli Elif Durlu, producer: EAVE graduate Anna Maria Aslanoglu, co-produced by EAVE graduate Jamila Wenske is in post-production. The titular Zuhal, a 38-year-old lawyer, lives alone in her Istanbul apartment. Her well-organised routine is suddenly disturbed by a cat’s meow, which she hears repeatedly. Unable to find the source of the sound, for the first time in years, Zuhal will start talking to and visiting her neighbours, aiming to locate the cat she has been hearing for days. When Zuhal realises that she is the only one to have noticed any meowing and that she is slowly being seen by the others as the lonely “crazy cat-lady”, she decides to call a halt to her investigation
in order to protect her reputation as a ”hard-working” and “well-educated” woman. But then, unexpectedly, things change...
ZUHAL was developed via the Meetings on the Bridge Development Workshop and Co-production Market, the Goethe-Institut’s First Films First initiative, the Mediterranean Film Institute and the Global Media Makers of Film Independent. It was also presented, and won prizes, at Trieste’s When East Meets West (the Flow Post-Production Award) and Thessaloniki’s Agora Crossroads (the Musou Award for audio post-production).
ZUHAL is a Turkish-German co-production being staged by Anna Maria Aslanoglu, of Istanbul-based istos film, in co-production with Jamila Wenske, of Germany’s Achtung Panda!, Tanay Abbasoglu (TN Yapim), Tolga Karaçelik (Karaçelik Film) and Öykü Canli (Yumurta Yapim Sanat). The film is funded by the Turkish-German Co-Production Development Fund and is fiscally sponsored through Film Independent.
CENSOR by Peter Kerekes, co-producer: EAVE graduate Jiri Konecny is in post-production. Initially planned as docu-drama, the renowned Slovakian documentarian and producer Peter Kerekes has turned to fiction in his new film. CENSOR tells the story of Lyesa, a young woman who killed her husband in a fit of jealous rage. Her pregnancy is seen as a mitigating circumstance. In prison, Lyesa gives birth to a son, Kolya. Shortly before his third birthday, she’s hoping to get out on probation for good behaviour. When her request is turned down, Lyesa starts a race against time to contact her family and even the mother of her murdered husband, desperately trying to keep Kolya from ending up in an orphanage.”
CENSOR is being produced by Ivan Ostrochovský, of Slovakia’s Punkchart Films, and co-produced by Czech outfit endorfilm, Ukrainian company Arthouse Traffic, Slovakian firms Peter Kerekes Film and E-S Production, and Radio and Television Slovakia. The Slovak Audiovisual Fund and Czech Film Fund supported the movie, while the project received Eurimages funding and support from the Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic and the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine.
SYSTEM CRASHER wins eight Lola Awards
German Film Awards
SYSTEM CRASHER triumphs at the Lola Awards, the German film awards:
- SYSTEM CRASHER by Nora Fingscheidt, producer: EAVE graduate and German National Coordinator Jonas Weydemann has won the Golden Lola as well as seven other German Film Awards: the Golden Lola for Best Film, Best director, Best Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Sound, Best Lead Actress (Helena Zengel), Best Lead Actor (Albrecht Schuch), and Best Supporting Actress (Gabriela Maria Schmeide)
- BERLIN ALEXANDERPLATZ by Burhan Qurbani, co-producer: EAVE graduates Léontine Petit won five awards: the Silver Lola, Best Supporting Actor (Albrecht Schuch), Best Cinematography (Yoshi Heimrath), Best Production Design (Silke Buhr), Best Original Music Score
- BORN IN EVIN by Maryam Zaree, producers: EAVE graduates Arash T. Riahi, Sabine Gruber, Karin C. Berger was awarded Best documentary
Greek Iris Awards
Six awards for EAVE graduates at the Greek Iris Awards handed out by the Hellenic Film Academy.
- ELECTRIC SWAN by Konstantina Kotzamani, producer: EAVE graduate Maria Drandaki won Best Short Film
- THE MIRACLE OF THE SARGASSO SEA by Syllas Tzoumerkas, producer: EAVE graduate Maria Drandaki was awarded Best Director and Best Actress in a Leading Role (Angeliki Papoulia)
- COSMIC CANDY by Rinio Dragasaki, producer: EAVE graduate Konstantinos Kontovrakis won Best First-time Director and Best Special Effects (George Alahouzos, Roulis Alahouzos, Giannis Ageladopoulos, Andreas Helmis, Giorgos Foukarakis)
- ZIZOTEK by Vardis Marinakis, producer: EAVE graduate Konstantinos Vassilaros was awarded Best Cinematography (Christina Moumouri)
https://hellenicfilmacademy.gr/en/
Istanbul Film Festival Meetings on the Bridge
These EAVE graduates are among the winners of Meetings on The Bridge, organised within the scope of the Istanbul Film Festival:
- TWO EYEDS by Ziya Demirel, produced: EAVE graduate Annamaria Aslanoglu won the Meetings on The Bridge Award
- ZUHAL by Nazli Elif Dulur, producer: EAVE graduate Annamaria Aslanoglu won the Color Up Award
CPH:DOX
- Two awards for SONGS OF REPRESSION by Marianne Hougen-Moraga,Estephan Wagner, producer: EAVE graduate Signe Byrge Sørensen at CPH:DOX: the DANISH:DOX AWARD and the DOX:AWARD: POLITIKEN
Vilnius Film Festival
- NOVA LITUANIA by Karolis Kaupinis, producer: EAVE graduate Marija Razgute was awarded the Cineuropa Prize at the Vilnius Film Festival Kino Pavasaris
- CORPUS CHRISTI by Jan Komasa, co-producer: EAVE graduate Patrice Nezan won the Audience Award
One World International Documentary Film Festival
- COLLECTIVE by Alexander Nanau, producer: EAVE graduate Bernard Michaux wins Best Film at the International Competition One World International Documentary Film Festival in Prague
EAVE EXCLUSIVE Interview with Didar Domehri
- Our daily lives have changed enormously due to the corona virus. What would you do at the moment if the times were normal?
I would be doing a lot if things were like they used to be. I would be in the middle of the shooting of a film called KING by French director David Moreau. Actually our first day of shooting was the day just before the lockdown. I would be also at the end of the preparation for the film À L’OMBRE DES FILLES by Etienne Comar whose shooting was supposed to start by the end of April. And I would be finishing the post-production of two films: PETITE FLEUR by Santiago Mitre and MEMORY HOUSE by Joao Paulo Miranda. And I would hopefully be enjoying the success of the theatrical release of SOUS LES ÉTOILES DE PARIS by Claus Drexel. But of course this release didn’t happen and will be delayed for a couple of months. So actually I would have had a very busy month and the corona virus crisis is a very big shock of course for all of us.
- What does the lockdown mean for your work on these projects?
I had to rethink with all my different partners a new schedule of preparation, shooting, post-production and release of all my films. And this, in a world of science fiction – when we don’t know when we will be de-confined, when the frontiers will re-open, when we will get out of our houses, when we will be back in business and when the lockdown of
each country will stop. And when you co-produce with other countries the frontiers are a major problem.
What I had to do first was to ensure the safety of the technicians who are working with us on the current productions. Then we had to stop shooting. I have worked a lot with the French union SPI, the Syndicat des Producteurs Indépendants, that has been helping us producers to put in place all the measures announced by the government. Hopefully, the state will sustain part of the salaries for a few weeks. This public aid will be very helpful, given that the technicians have not been able to work during the corona crisis.
- Is there any financial support you can get for your company and the film team by f.e. the French government, the EU or other?
First of all, the CNC, the Centre National du Cinéma, has adopted new emergency measures for authors and companies to cope with the covid crisis. And there is an emergency fund that has been established for creators. The CNC has also authorized an exceptional distribution via pay per view on demand for films that were released just before the crisis. Not all distributors have chosen this option. Many of them want to wait for the cinemas to open in order to re-release their films.
Important also are the funds for the authors. The government also announced bank loans with very interesting rates for companies that are in need. All these measures have been announced, but their implementation is another thing, of course. This is what we are now experiencing in real life.
- What can producers in general do in this situation? How can you find a way through the crisis caused by the virus?
We have to look not only at the present situation but also at the future. Film insurance is a very big issue. The insurance policies don’t cover the interruption of the shooting beause of the corona crisis and so the companies don’t pay for the downtime costs. This is a matter for the film industry in the whole world. And the problem is also: what will the future be like? Are the insurance companies intending to cover our production costs. So we really need to speak to them, we need to pressurize our government to speak with the insurance companies so that they agree to cover us when we are going back to shooting again. Currently we are thinking about new protocols that are mapping a list of new safety concerns and solutions and trying to figure out every scenario that needs to be addressed before we can go back to shooting. And I think this is what we all producers should be doing now, working on these different scenarios for the future: what can we do to ensure the safety of our technicians, of the actors, of everyone. We have to prepare the future now. Producers should join forces and hammer strict guidelines of how to make content for the future as quickly as possible because there will be a grey zone from the end of the containment until we can go back to normal. And I think we are not going to be able to shoot like we used to. So we really need to work on new guidelines and new safety measures.
- So when do you think you can start over again?
The most optimistic are saying that we can go back to shooting in July or August and the most pessimistic say it might be October or even December. And this is more or less the same in all the countries. We don’t know when the frontiers will open again and when we will be able to go back to work. We are doing crazy schedules and we don’t even know what we are talking about.
And the problem is that the directors we work with want answers and they want security, they want schedules, they need deadlines. So I think in the meantime we should try to develop our projects, still try to finance our films, and work from home as much as we can.
- Can you observe that there is a good time now for the creation, writing and the development of new projects?
I think so, yes. Even if the directors I was talking to were very stressed out by the situation, they can really concentrate now. I think they are back on track and I think this is good for writing and developing projects. It’s a good time to think. It is the time to see what kind of films we want to make after the covid crisis and to take the time to reflect on the DNA of the films that we are producing. And this is always a time that we are lacking and missing while we are running all over festivals and travelling all the time. So we should take advantage of this time.
- You are EAVE group leader. Is there anything that EAVE can do for its graduates and participants?
Producers should join forces. Not only in one territory but in all the countries. Probably the EAVE network could help providing them with information on the different measures taken by each country and try to list the initiatives from all the different countries and inspire them to help get back on track. Because everything will be different after the end of the containment. And we should share the information each of us can gather. I think the keyword is to play collective. We can‘t go through this crisis alone.
Streamings and Special Events during COVID-19
The LUX Prize wants to help audiences get through confinement
The European Parliament’s LUX Prize is adding its name to the list of key players starting up special initiatives in order to make these hard times a little more bearable for us from our respective homes. For this period of general confinement throughout Europe, the award is mapping the availability of the films from all of its editions, from 2007 to
last year, on every VoD platform in the European Union and the United Kingdom. This initiative complements the #Europeansagainstcovid19 campaign put in place by the European Parliament.
The initiative is kicking off by tracking down every trio of finalist titles from each year, including every winner in the history of the prize.
The films are listed on the LUX Prize Films on Demand website, which will be continually updated to reflect the titles currently on offer.
- GOD EXISTS, HER NAME IS PETRUNYA by Teona Strugar Mitevska, producers: EAVE graduate and Macedonian National Coordinator Labina Mitevska, EAVE graduate and group leader Danijel Hocevar, EAVE graduates Sebastien Delloye, Zdenka Gold, co-producer: EAVE graduate Marie Dubas
- COLD CASE HAMMARSKJÖLD by Mads Brügger, producer: EAVE graduate Bjarte Mørner Tveit
- STYX by Wolfgang Fischer, co-producer: EAVE+ graduate Alexander Dumreicher-Ivanceanu
- THE OTHER SIDE OF EVERYTHING by Mila Turajlic, producer: EAVE graduate Carine Chichkowsky
- TONI ERDMANN by Maren Ade, producer: EAVE graduate Jonas Dornbach, co-producers: EAVE graduate and Romanian National Coordinator Ada Solomon and EAVE graduate Antonin Svoboda
- THE LESSON by Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov, producer: EAVE graduate Magdelena Ilieva
- IDA by Pawel Pawlikowski, co-producer: EAVE graduate Christian Falkenberg Husum
- THE BROKEN CIRCLE BREAKDOWN by Felix van Groeningen, co-producer: EAVE graduate Celine Baggen
- TABU by Miguel Gomes, co-producer: EAVE graduate Jonas Dornbach
- ILLEGAL by Olivier Masset-Depasse, producer: EAVE graduate Jacques-Henri Bronckart
- WESTERN by Valeska Grisebach, producers: EAVE graduates Jonas Dornbach, Boris Chouchkov
Thessaloniki International Film Festival
Cinema keeps us company during the time of coronavirus
TIFF assigns eleven directors to shoot short films in their houses, entertains children and young people. Through their online channels - website, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube channel – the festival has created a platform for informing and entertaining the audience, with the aim to share moments and new material by Greek directors.
With everyone urged to stay at home, the Festival has assigned eleven Greek directors to shoot a short film up to three minutes, in their houses, in order to comment on the new reality that we live in. The idea is to create a film at home, using the environment, the people or the animals in that space. The only outdoor areas that may be used are outdoor living spaces, such as the terrace, the garden, the balcony and the stairwell. The project will be titled “Species of Spaces” from the book by Georges Perec and it can be used as a source of inspiration.
Moreover, the Festival is planning two competitions for children and adolescents, hoping to activate their creativity and offer them a cinematic challenge for the days of the isolation.
https://www.filmfestival.gr/en/professionals-b2b/media-press/27219-cinema-keeps-us-company-during-the-time-of-coronavirus
International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam
IDFA makes over 300 documentaries available online
The world’s largest documentary film festival is giving viewers access to 302 films released between 1988 and 2019 on its website, free of charge.
Notable European movies include festival hits such as Jehane Noujaim and Mona Eldaief’s RAFEA: SOLAR MAMA, Özgür Dogan and Orhan Eskikoy’s ON THE WAY TO SCHOOL, Kesang Tseten Lama’s WHO WILL BE A GURKHA, and Roman Bondarchuk’s UKRAINIAN SHERIFFS. The titles can be searched by subject, country of production, festival section, length and edition. To access the full catalogue in English and Dutch, please click here.
https://www.idfa.nl/en
BFI Flare: London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival
The festival makes titles and live Q&As available online following its cancellation due to the coronavirus pandemic.
BFI Flare at Home will host several features and shorts that were due to screen at the festival on BFI Player from March 20-29.
New titles will include Levan Akin’s Cannes award-winner And Then We Danced; Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau’s chamber piece Don’t Look Down; and Daniel Karslake’s documentary For They Know Not What They Do. Other titles are due to be confirmed in the coming days.
BFI Flare will also host live Q&A’s with filmmakers through its social media channels and will offer daily curated programmer recommendations of work from the BFI Player Flare collections.
New shorts under the Five Films For Freedom banner – a leading LGBTIQ+ campaign, now in its sixth year – will roll out over 10 days from Friday (March 20) in partnership with the British Council and will be free to watch on BFI Player during this time.
In addition, the BFI’s existing collection of favourites from previous Flare festivals as well as queer classics and the archive LGBT Britain on Film Collection will also be made available, comprising more than 230 titles.
A special offer for BFI Player’s subscription service will be offered to audiences who had booked for BFI Flare.
https://whatson.bfi.org.uk/flare/Online
Girls in Film Works in Progress @ Febiofest Prague 2020
Works in progress presented through an online initiative by the Prague International Film Festival – Febiofest and the Girls in Film platform
In an industry online showcase the festival presents new works by the emerging generation of female directors to international film professionals.
Czech Works in Progress
The presentation of Czech fiction features in the stage of production or postproduction organized by Prague International Film Festival – Febiofest in co-operation with the Czech Film Fund / Czech Film Center, takes place online.
Presented projects:
- ERHART by: Jan Brezinam produced by: EAVE graduate Marek Novák
- MISTAKES by Jan Prušinovský, produced by: EAVE FFF graduate Ondrej Zima
- TWO SHIPS by Jan Foukal, produced by: EAVE FFF graduate Ondrej Zima
https://www.febiofest.cz/media/files/1/file/czech-works_compressed.pdf
My Darling Quarantine Short Film Festival (MDQSFF)
This online festival launched on 16 March 2020 will donate half of the money from the viewers to Médecins Sans Frontières, and half to a cause that will help cultural workers affected by the COVID-19 outburst. The festival is hosted by the Talking Shorts platform, which will present every week an online programme of seven short films on the subject of “dystopia”, suggested by the international short film community quarantined around the globe. The audience will vote for their favourite film.
Viewers are also encouraged to donate via the GoFundMe page set up by MDQSFF: https://www.gofundme.com/f/my-darling-quarantine-covid19-fundraiser.
The festival was initiated by Enrico Vannucci, short film advisor for the Venice International Film Festival and programmer for Torino Short Film Market, who is currently living under quarantine conditions in Italy.
My Darling Quarantine Short Film Festival will last until the current situation ends.
https://www.talkingshorts.com/festivals/my-darling-quarantine-short-film-festival
Luxembourg’s VoD.lu platform launches cinema@home
While local cinemas have been forced to close their doors, the VoD service is co-operating with distributors and producers to offer viewers a selection of new titles
Luxembourg’s VoD.lu platform offers local audiences a wide catalogue of films, focusing especially on domestic and European productions. At a time when cinemas are being forced to shut down owing to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, VoD.lu has announced a new initiative called cinema@home.
cinema@home is the result of close co-operation with a number of distributors and producers, and aims “to exceptionally offer online the films that were (and were going to be) in cinemas”, as stated on the platform’s official website.
Among the first titles available are:
- SYSTEM CRASHER by Nora Fingscheidt, producer: EAVE graduate and German National Coordinator Jonas Weydemann
- THE BAREFOOT EMPEROR, directed and produced by EAVE graduate Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth, co-producers: EAVE graduates Frans van Gestel, Arnold Heslenfeld and Laurette Schillings
- A WHITE, WHITE DAY by Hlynur Palmason, producer: EAVE graduate Anton Mani Svansson, co-producers: PUENTES graduates Katrin Pors and Nima Yousefi, TTB graduate Mikkel Jersin
- OUT STEALING HORSES by Hans Petter Moland, co-producer: EAVE graduate Lizette Jonjic
VoD.lu is currently available in three languages (English, French and German) on iOS and Android platforms and devices. The VoD service’s partners include D’Filmakademie, the national Chamber of Commerce, the European Commission’s Creative Europe programme, EUROVOD and Film Fund Luxembourg, the country’s audiovisual agency.
You can find out more about the catalogue here.
Tribeca Shorts online
Tribeca Film Festival is presenting an online series of shorts by Tribeca alumni, with a new film rolled out every day for a moment of entertainment and refuge in a world unknown.
“Each day we will highlight a Tribeca Film Festival short film – featuring comedy, sci-fi, animation, documentary and stories from the city we call home,” says Sharon Badal, vice president of filmmaker relations and shorts programming for Tribeca.
https://www.tribecafilm.com/news/
Belgian distributors join forces with VoD platforms during the coronavirus crisis
A group of independent companies are working with 6 VoD platforms to offer Belgian viewers as-yet unreleased or recently released films. Independent distributors and producers in Belgium, such as Anga, Athena, Cinéart, Cinemien, Imagine, Kwassa, Lumière, Mooov, O’Brother and September Film, have reached an agreement with the VoD platforms VOO and Proximus Pickx VOD, as well as dalton.be, lumierefilms.be and universcine.be, so that these services can host and stream those films that were on the cinema listings when national cinemas closed or whose release had been planned for the next few days.
Starting on 20 March, the first films will be available on the platforms at a fixed price of €7.99. The array of titles on offer will be updated with new films on a regular basis.
Among the titles are:
• JUMBO by Zoé Wittock, producers: EAVE graduates Anaïs Bertrand, Annabella Nezri, Gilles Chanial
• TWO OF US by Filippo Meneghetti, producer: EAVE graduate Donato Rotunno
• WORKING GIRLS by Frédéric Fonteyne and Anne Paulicevich, producers: EAVE graduates Jacques-Henri Bronckart, Antonio Lombardo
Eurovod platform offers
Here are a number of the new actions and offers made available by some EuroVoD members’ services:
- FILMDOO Rent a film for free from the whole catalogue: use the code TOGETHERWITHFILM at check out to watch the film for free. Territories available: worldwide
- FILMOTV The platform offers a permanent promotion on a selection of TVOD movies and specific promotions, such as a promo campaign (current titles starting 1,99€). The SVOD service offers a one month free trial. New actions are initiated on social media with videos by journalists with a recommendations, called “Carte postale de…”. E-cinema releases will be available as soon as the regulatory context is defined and confirmed for premium movies that couldn’t benefit from a full exploitation on theaters. Territories available: France
- KINO FONDAS The platform is one of the hosts of Vilnius films festival, Kino Pavasaris, which has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The festival moved online, making it the first online film festival online in Lithuania. Territories available: Lithuania
- KINO PASAKA IFF Kino Pavasaris’s selection will be available on the platform for 3 weeks, as well as other the platforms in the country. Territories available: Lithuania
- LACINETEK.DEA TVOD and EST films available on Lacinetek.de get a 50% discount.Territories available: Germany, Austria
- MEDICI.TV Stream Massenet’s Manon from the Opéra de Paris for free. In April, for each performance that were on the schedule to be live streamed, a program from the catalogue featuring those same artists will be available to everyone for free. Read their full statement here. Territories available: worldwide
- NOK-ZE-DOC One-month free subscription of the service by entering the code NOKNOKNOK. Territories available: French-speaking territories
- PICKBOX NOW Pickbox NOW unlocked its service for free in the Adriatic region from March 13 and this promotion is active until the current situation remains. Territories available: Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Slovenia and North Macedonia.
- TËNK Tënk has teamed up with a long-time partner festival “Cinéma du réel” in Paris which was meant to take place in March: for two weeks, their 2020 edition is on Tënk with most of the selected films, which are recent, rare and high quality. Each film is online for a week and with a limited number of screenings. They are in discussion with European festivals to build similar partnerships. Territories available: Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Switzerland
- TRIART FILM Starting March 20th, every new member is offered a free rental to watch on the site. Territories available: Sweden
- UNIVERSCINÉ BELGIUM & LUXEMBOURG Cinema@home on universcine.be presents 30 e-cinema releases and it will be duplicated for the Luxemburg market on VOD.lu in agreement with right-holders. Cinemabelgealamaison hosts 1000 Belgian films on TVOD and more than 200 n SVOD through UnCut, organized by Centre du Cinéma and Ministre de la Culture de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles Bénédicte Linard. Starting March 30, vod.lu will host the films selected for LuxFilmFest 2020, which was cancelled this month. Territories available: Belgium, Luxembourg
- UNIVERSCINÉ FRANCE Promo campaign called Univers Solidaire with 300 films at 0,99€, which was covered the press. The editorial team came up with a dedicated film selection, “Confinement de chefs d’oeuvre”, as well as a selection for kids in partnership with Little KMBO at a 50% discount. The platform hosts Fête du Court Métrage with 3 free shorts, as well as the AFCA festival with a pass. Universciné is partnering with SDI (independent distributors) to host a corner for the syndicate’s members as an alternative for their work. Territories available: France
Other member platforms are working at the moment on taking actions and setting up new offers by working closely with rights holders and institutions, such as Vodclub.online in Austria, Lacinetek.com in France and more actions for KinoFondas in Lithuania.
Amazon
Amazon is streaming some films for children for free.
The Award Winning NASA/Cinespace Short LIFT OFF by Kevin Hughes, producer: EAVE graduate Damien Donnelly is now available to view globally on Amazon Prime (US, UK, Germany & Rest of World) and HOMO SAPIENS IN SPACE is to feature on NASA TV on May 1st.
https://outerworldpictures.ie/lift-off
Audible just made hundreds of titles completely free to help during coronavirus crisis
Free audiobooks include novels narrated by Thandie Newton and Dan Stevens
Good news for those stuck at home in isolation: Audible is making hundreds of titles available for free during the coronavirus pandemic.
The audiobook platform has said that, for as long as schools are closed, anyone can listen to a vast selection of its titles. This means books read by Westworld’s Thandie Newton and Downton Abbey’s Dan Stevens are available to stream at no cost at all.
Simply visit stories.audible.com from any web browser to get started.
Georgian cinema online
Georgian Filmmakers share their short and feature films online. Visit this link to watch the films with English subtitles.
“WE ARE ONE” launched by European and international film festivals
Cleveland International Film Festival (March 27 – April 7)
- PATRICK by Tim Mielants, co-producers: EAVE graduates Jacques-Henri Bronckart, Peter Bouckaert, Frans van Gestel
- PUENTES project AUGUST by Armando Capó, producer: EAVE graduate Marcela Esquivel Jimenez, co-producer: EAVE Interchange graduate Nathalie Trafford
- THE BAREFOOT EMPEROR, directed and produced by EAVE graduate Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth, co-producers: EAVE graduates Frans van Gestel, Arnold Heslenfeld and Laurette Schillings
- THE BEST OF DORIEN B. by Anke Blondé, co-producer: EAVE graduate Marleen Slot
- LE MILIEU DE L’HORIZON by Delphine Lehericey, producer: EAVE graduate Sébastien Delloye
- CORPUS CHRISTI by Jan Komasa, co-producer: EAVE graduate Patrice Nezan
- THE COUNTY by Grimur Hakonarson, producer: EAVE graduate Jamila Wenske
- COLLECTIVE by Alexander Nanau, producer: EAVE graduate Bernard Michaux
- THE EARTH IS BLUE AS AN ORANGE by Iryna Tsilyk, producer: EAVE graduate Giedre Zickyte
- THE FATHER by Kistina Grozeva, Petar Valchanov, producer: EAVE graduate Konstantina Stavrianou
- GHOST TROPIC by Bas Devos, producers: EAVE graduates Tomas Leyers, Benoit Roland.
- GOLDA MARIA by EAVE graduate and group leader Patrick Sobelman
- HALF-SISTER by Damjan Kozole, producers: EAVE group leader Danijel Hocevar, Labina Mitevska
- HOPE by Maria Sødahl, producers: EAVE graduates Lizette Jonjic, Peter Possne
- IT MUST BE HEAVEN by Elia Suleiman, producers: EAVE graduates Martin Hampel, Laurine Pelassy
- JUMBO Zoé Wittock, producers: EAVE graduates Anaïs Bertrand, Annabella Nezri, Gilles Chanial
- KUESSIPAN by Myriam Verreault, producer: EAVE graduate Félize Frappier
- MARONA’S FANTASTIC TALE by EAVE graduate Anca Damian, producers: EAVE graduates Anca Damian and Thomas Leyers
- OUT STEALING HORSES by Hans Petter Moland, co-producer: EAVE graduate Lizette Jonjic
- THE SWALLOWS OF KABUL by Eléa Gobbé-Mévellec, Zabou Breitman, co-producer: EAVE graduate Stephan Roelants
- TWO OF US by Filippo Meneghetti, producer: EAVE graduate Donato Rotunno
- BINTI by Frederike Migom, producer: EAVE graduate Katleen Goossens
Visions du Réel, Nyon (April 17 – May 2) (online)
- BECOMING ANIMAL by Emma Davie, Peter Mettler, producer: EAVE graduate Brigitte Hofer
- CORRESPONDENCE by Carla Simón, Dominga Sotomayor, producer: EAVE graduate Carla Sospedra
- DAYS OF CANNIBALISM by Teboho Edkins, producers: EAVE graduates Janja Kralj, Derk-Jan Warrink
- IL MIO CORPO by Michele Pennetta, producer: EAVE graduate Giovanni Pompili
- LEOFORIO by Catherine Catella, Shu Aiello, producer: EAVE graduate Fenia Cossovitsa
- OFF THE ROAD by José Permar, producer: EAVE graduate Wendy Muniz
- ONE MORE JUMP by Emanuele Gerosa, producer: EAVE graduate Enrica Capra
- BELLA by Thelyia Petraki, producer: PUENTES graduate Kostas Tagalakis
Pitching du Réel
- MACHTAT by Sonia Ben Slama, producer: EAVE graduate Cécile Lestrade
- NIGHTCRAWLERS by Petter Aaberg, Sverre Kvamme, producer: EAVE graduate Carsten Aanonsen
- OUR LITTLE PALESTINE by Abdallah Al-Khatib, producer: EAVE graduate Jean-Laurent Csinidis
- REAS by Lola Arias, producer: EAVE graduate Gema Juarez Allen
- THE MIRACLE OF ALMERIA by Moon Blaisse, producer: EAVE graduate Emmy Oost
Istanbul Film Festival’s Meetings on the Bridge (April 14 – 17) online
Film Development Workshop
- TWO EYEDS by Ziya Demirel, produced: EAVE graduate Annamaria Aslanoglu
- PEEKABOO by Aysim Türkmen, producer: EAVE graduate Nesra Gürbüz
Work in Progress
- ELA AND HILMI & ALI by Ziya Demirel, produced: EAVE graduate Annamaria Aslanoglu
- ZUHAL by Nazli Elif Dulur, producer: EAVE graduate Annamaria Aslanoglu
Neighbours Platform
- JEUX SANS FRONTIÈRES by Andrei Cretulescu, producer: EAVE participant Cristian Nicolescu
Dot.on.the.map Industry Days (April 9 – 11) online
- THE THREE OF US by Suela Bako, producer: EAVE on Demand graduate Robert Budina
Tribeca Film Festival (April 15 – 26) (postponed, partly online)
- MONDAY by Argyris Papadimitropoulos, executive producer: EAVE graduate Fenia Cossovitsa
- THE SOUND OF PHILADELPHIA by Jérémie Guez, co-producer: EAVE graduate Jean-Yves Roubin
Tribeca’s TFI Network
- EAVE project COSTA BRAVA LEBANON by Mouna Akl, producer: EAVE graduate Myriam Sassine
- PORNOMELANCHOLIA by Manuel Abramovich, producers: EAVE graduates Rachel Daisy Ellis, Gema Juárez Allen
https://www.tfiny.org/blog/detail/announcing_the_2020_tfi_network_participants
Mooov Brugge (April 23 – May 5) partly online
- ATLANTIQUE by Mati Diop, co-producer: EAVE+ graduate Jean-Yves Roubin
- IT MUST BE HEAVEN by Elia Suleiman, producers: EAVE graduates Martin Hampel, Laurine Pelassy
- KUESSIPAN by Myriam Verreault, producer: EAVE graduate Félize Frappier
- LES ÉPOUVANTAILS by Nouri Bouzid, co-producer: EAVE graduate and EAVE+ Head of Studies Jani Thiltges
- LINA DE LIMA by María Paz González, producer: EAVE graduate Maite Alberdi
- PUENTES project OUR MOTHERS by César Díaz, producers: EAVE graduates Delphine Schmit, Géraldine Sprimont
- THE SWALLOWS OF KABUL by Eléa Gobbé-Mévellec, Zabou Breitman, co-producer: EAVE graduate Stephan Roelants
- THIS IS NOT A BURIAL, IT’S A RESURRECTION by Jeremiah Lemonhang Mosese, producers: EAVE graduates Cait Pansegrouw, Bongiwe Selane
- TOO FAR AWAY by Sarah Winkenstette, producer: EAVE graduate and German National Coordinator Jonas Weydemann
SXSW (April 27 – May 6) online
- CAT IN THE WALL by Mina Mileva, TTB graduate Vesela Kazakova, producer: TTB graduate Vesela Kazakova, co-producer: TTB Head of Studies Christophe Bruncher
- GUNPOWDER HEART by Camila Urrutia, producer: PUENTES graduate Inés Nofuentes
https://www.sxsw.com/film/2020/amazon-prime-video-sxsw-film-fest-collection-april-27/
D’A Barcelona International Auteur Film Festival (April 30 – May 10) partly online
- ATLANTIS by Valentyn Vasyanovych, producer: EAVE graduate Vladimir Yatsenko
- A WHITE, WHITE DAY by Hlynur Palmason, producer: EAVE graduate Anton Mani Svansson, co-producers: PUENTES graduates Katrin Pors and Nima Yousefi, TTB graduate Mikkel Jersin
- EAVE Marketing Workshop project DISCO by Jorunn Myklebust Syversen, producer: EAVE graduate Oistein Refseth
- GHOST TROPIC by Bas Devos, producers: EAVE graduates Tomas Leyers, Benoit Roland
- IVANA THE TERRIBLE by Ivana Mladenovic, producer: EAVE graduate and Romanian National Coordinator Ada Solomon
- MONSTERS by Marius Olteanu, producer: EAVE graduate and Romanian National coordinator Ada Solomon
- OLEG by Juris Kursietis, producers: EAVE graduate and Latvian National Coordinator Aija Berzina, EAVE graduates Isabelle Truc and Guillaume de Seille, B’EST graduates Alise Gelze, Lukas Trimonis
- THIS IS NOT A BURIAL, IT’S A RESURRECTION by Jeremiah Lemonhang Mosese, producers: EAVE graduates Cait Pansegrouw, Bongiwe Selane
European and international film festivals to launch global “WE ARE ONE” online event
The festival, set to kick off on 29 May, is organised by the “Big Three” (Cannes, Venice, Berlin) alongside San Sebastián, Karlovy Vary, London, Locarno, Sarajevo and Annecy, among other partners.
Over the last few months, the unprecedented pandemic has thrown the film industry and the international festival circuit into chaos. Today, as a response to the ongoing crisis, US outfit Tribeca Enterprises and YouTube have announced the creation of a unique international online festival, called We Are One: A Global Film Festival and set to kick off on 29 May. The initiative, first reported by the trade publication Screen International, will be made possible thanks to the close co-operation between a number of prestigious festival partners, including Cannes, Venice, the Berlinale, Toronto, New York, San Sebastián, Karlovy Vary,
London, Locarno, Guadalajara, Macao, Jerusalem, Mumbai, Marrakesh, Sarajevo, Sydney, Tokyo, Annecy and, obviously, Tribeca.
The full line-up will be announced in due course, but it has been confirmed that it will include a wide selection of features, shorts, music, comedy and conversations. The entire programme will be streamed free of charge, and the audience’s voluntary donations will be aimed at supporting the World Health Organisation’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund as well as the local relief partners’ efforts in fighting the outbreak.
https://www.cineuropa.org/en/newsdetail/387983
Festivals, markets and award ceremonies cancelled or postponed because of COVID-19
- Istanbul Film Festival (April 10 – 21) postponed
- Bolzano Film Festival to (June 9 – 14) postponed
- San Francisco International Film Festival (April 10 – 23) cancelled
https://sffilm.org/2020-films-in-competition
- Finale Plzen (April 16 – 22) postponed
- Buenos Aires International Film Festival (April 11 – 22) suspended
http://festivales.buenosaires.gob.ar/2018/bafici/en/home
- Cyprus Film Days (April 19 – 28) postponed
- Filmfest DC Washington (April 25 – May 5) postponed
- Karlovy Vary Film Festival (July 3-11) cancelled in 2020, the 55th edition is postoponed to July 2-10, 2021.
- Locarno Film Festival cancelled in 2020
https://www.locarnofestival.ch/en
- New Horizons International Film Festival postponed
https://www.nowehoryzonty.pl/akt.do?r=enh&id=5654
- Cannes Marché du Film postponed and online from June 22-26
https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/
- Valletta Film Festival cancelled
https://www.facebook.com/vallettafilmfestival/
Obituary Raymond Ravar
EAVE mourns the loss of our admired founder and great visionary, Raymond Ravar.
It is with great sadness that EAVE, received the sad news that our founding father, Raymond Ravar, passed away on April 1, 2020 at the age of 92.
Raymond Ravar was the founder of EAVE in 1988 and its first director. He was also the founder and first director of the Belgian film school INSAS, and Secretary general of CILECT from 1970 to 1990.
Founded in 1988 by Raymond Ravar and Eckart Stein, head of the Das kleine Fernsehspiel unit at German public broadcaster ZDF, European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs (EAVE) has trained over 2,500 film professionals around the world during last 3 decades via our workshop programs based on the pedagogical method originally invented by Eckart Stein and Raymond Ravar.
We collected some fond memories among our pedagogical team and board who remember Raymond vividly and the impact he had on their professional lives:
« Raymond Ravar was in many ways an anachronistic figure. A petite, super elegant man with a huge temper, a flowery language that he would parade in very long speeches, glossy shoes and very colourful socks - decades before that became fashionable.
But Raymond was also a visionary. Together with Eckart Stein he created EAVE, a program that would empower European producers and filmmakers to co-produce with each other, almost before it was even a term in the language, let alone a film business practice. Their idea of co-producing was not only about financing - not at all. It was a bold attempt at creating cultural inclusion and cooperation, a European identity, a will to experiment, and among all about enhancing the art of filmmaking by expanding the opportunities, educating and challenging the filmmakers and enlarging the common pool of inspiration.
For more than 30 years now, their grand idea has attracted film producers and filmmakers from Europe and the rest of the world. And they keep coming and benefitting from his visionary initiative.
In the very early years of EAVE, Raymond Ravar took a chance and included me, a 34 year old Danish producer, in the group of EAVE experts and group leaders, and EAVE has been my professional family ever since. For this I am eternally grateful.»
Lise Lense Møller, EAVE Head of Studies
«Raymond Ravar is a kind of film related genetic link to all of us, more or less directly but with a direct impact for sure.
Accepted as „observer“ - Austria was not even in the EU but EFTA member - I did participate in the European Cycle of EAVE in 1992. Beside benefiting from EAVE itself a lot, there was this strict real observer standby taking care of everything. Do you remember his social advises and orders - like „mingle“ I remember it very well, don’t you? Raymond forced our characters to do things like that while he was standing aside using his hands like a conducter in front of his orchestra. We all were his orchestra an he could simply enjoy the sound of talking people. Or when he announced an introduction speach..bing bing bing.. This was his side of being a teacher a pedagogue.
But even the roman empire would still exist with such a startegist like Raymond. His visions were always two steps ahead of what was going to come - the other side of that man. Brussels - Rue de la Presse 14 - how could I ever forget this address, the meetings, the question marks he had sometimes drawn into our faces when he spoke about issues we did not really get. He was ahead of time considering the European dream, he was the European dream to me in person by all means. When I remember his smart behavior during the meetings with the representatives of the commission as well as his policy of charming embracement of the regional hosts we were cooperating with - always underlining his clear position of autonomy for culture and film in particular.
EAVE kept until today its fundamental human and individual respect and maintains the integrity of principles which are deep-rooted with the name Raymond Ravar.
He has moved on to his next orchestra and leaves us behind with his everlasting echo of his smile, his special head banging when he wanted to express his satisfied appreciation.
Servus Raymond!»
Danny Krausz, EAVE President and EAVE 1992 graduate
“Establishing EAVE as one of the first 5 programmes to be funded by Media, Raymond had to put together a Pedagogical team across the continent who were not only to speak the same language and share the same vision about European film, but to envision European film as an industry. This was our challenge, and he had a great partner in this cultural crime - Eckart Stein from the quixotic Das kleine Fernsehspiel. Our meetings, initially in French, and which went on and on and on and on, until we managed to switch the discourse to English, were legendary in length and breath, but always we were rewarded with results followed through, and excellent food and wine - at every workshop lunch too. Those were the days, and nights…
One of my most precious memories of Raymond, whose demeanour was alike to a red-haired pixie, was during the closing dinner of a workshop in Leeds. In the great Victorian Town Hall, the speeches began, and then up popped our host, a peroxide blonde Mayor in a black leather mini skirt and lime green shaggy jacket, who after a rousing speech about Europe, dragged a bemused Raymond over to a hidden jukebox, kicked it into life, and boy, did Raymond begin to jive like Little Richard - revelation or what, and the whole workshop erupted with him onto the floor!
Raymond was a man who knew when, and how, to move, and EAVE is his outstanding legacy. Merci, Raymond.»
Clare Downs, EAVE script consultant
«The legacy that is EAVE was just a small part of what Raymond brought to the world and to the world of cinema. A great teacher and mentor who inspired many young filmmakers and provided them with the tools to pursue their art, Raymond was a visionary who always saw ahead to how European cinema could grow and sustain itself, seeing in it the life force of our collective dreams. He was a key figure in the degree to which European institutions have supported and nourished film-making - and especially independent film-making - in Europe.
Gracious, generous and erudite: to truly honor him I would have to make a very long and meandering toast to him (as was his way) elaborating at least some small part of what he brought to us.
To you, Raymond, we will miss you but you have left us so much.»
Martin Daniel, EAVE script consultant
«Exactly 25 years ago I stood for the first time in a plenary in front of EAVE participants – in March 1995 in Sevilla. Pretty stressed as well as curiously excited, as I sensed it will be the biggest first step in my life. But I also felt safe, safe with the energy of a man behind me, who just smiled knowingly, even laughed: “go Sibylle… you’ll make it!”… Raymond, how right he was - he knew more than I did. He was indeed responsible at that moment for all what followed in my professional life. It was his fine sense for people’s talent… Merci Raymond.»
Sibylle Kurz, EAVE pitching expert
«Raymond Ravar was like a pixie: short with reddish hair that haloed his head. He often had a mischievous smile and was always enthusiastic. He had a brilliant idea: intensive training for young producers, who were – in the late 1980s – not getting the training to work across borders. In the nascent EU where multiple co-producers were essential, where teamwork on development was even more essential, the lonely road of the independent producer was not easy.
Raymond saw a way of using the largesse offered by the EU’s MEDIA Program, another brainwave of the elegant and devilishly clever Head of the MEDIA Programme, German diplomat Holde Lhoest. Get young independent producers from each of the 12 countries, expose each to the problems of the others and by cameraderly teamwork solve those problems.
His Head of Studies – the moral guide as it were – was Eckhart Stein. Brilliant visionary of Das Kleine Fernsehspiel – the arthouse section of ZDF where auteurs were given freedom to make, well, arthouse movies.
In 1989 I was introduced to Raymond and Eckhart by the mercurial and somewhat mysterious Renee Goddard, with whom I had dinner in Munich one night (she worked for Channel 4 and I thought it might help me make connections there). Instead she insisted I send faxes to them (this was well before email or mobile phones) asking if I could attend an imminent workshop in a picturesque Bavarian ski resort village.
I would have to pay my transport and hotel but no fees and – she said – it would be life changing. So a few days later I was there and was introduced to the 40 or so participants as a script doctor. I don’t know why Renee thought I was a script doctor, because as a writers’ agent I read a lot of scripts but was not trained to deconstruct them and help the writers to reconstruct them.
Also, there were no writers: this was a producer training course. One thing I did know was that – especially at that time – the majority of these young producers couldn’t read, and certainly couldn’t write. Two things happened: the immediate one is that I was given 20 pretty aweful scripts to read and comment on within less than a week, and secondly I vowed never to come back.
The scripts were in the main hopeless by my criteria, which were essentially: could I sell this, and was there a discernible audience for it? It seemed that in the auteur world of these producers there didn’t need to be an audience and they hoped to find uncritical subsidies to enable them to make their masterpieces.
The week was miserable: everyone seemed to be having fun, there were excursions, I vaguely remember a jacuzzi that I never managed to get to, drinking sessions in the evening which I missed out on and I existed in a kind of corona virus lockdown in my rustic hotel bedroom reading until my eyes bled.
On the last day I went to reception to pay my bill and was told it had been paid. I said there must be a mistake and sought out Raymond. “Dear boy he said, you worked harder than anyone. Of course you cannot pay the hotel bill and we want you be our script doctor.” I never let on that paying the hotel bill would have been a blessing if I didn’t have to be the script doctor. But I felt that there was a special energy in the group, something stirring that was definitely worth being part of.
Soon after there was a strange event. We almost had what seemed like a disastrous setback. At the end of the ‘trial’ period for the first EU MEDIA Programmes (one was EFDO to do with distribution, the other the European Script Fund run by Renee Goddard), there was what was described to me as ‘the inquisition’: each programme was interrogated by the ‘Commite des Sages’, chaired by an Englishman who – I think – chaired the Horse Racing Betting Levy Board. Don’t ask….
There were four very experienced producers doing the interrogation. It took place in London and even though I was not really properly inducted into EAVE as one of the experts, I was asked to accompany Raymond as his English was not confident. In fact, he spoke it perfectly well, but he felt more persuasive in French.
Renee went first and I was shocked at how brutal the questioning was and how much of it was about value for money. She was given a torrid time. Then it was Raymond’s turn. He said he would prefer to speak in French (in which he could be voluble and unstoppable). The Chairman said he didn’t speak French and that it all had to be in English. Raymond insisted and the atmosphere became very icy. Raymond simply started and talked non-stop. There was no professional translator.
Reading the body language of the five wise men I could see we were doomed. Our visionary was so convinced by his vision (he was of course quite right) that he sped on. I caught Holde Lohest’s eye and she drew her index finger under her throat: “kill him?”, no, I realised, interrupt.!
So I did. ‘Excuse me’ I said loudly standing up. The entire direction of the questioning was that a budget of 800,000 euros for 20 projects was simply far too high. As I don’t speak French I have no idea what Raymond had said, but the fact that they asked the same question in English several times was enough to realise he wasn’t giving them the answer that they wanted.
I took a deep breath and said that we had plans to overcome that, namely there would be 40 participants not 20 at each workshop so in fact the cost per participant (I suspect Brussels had asked for figures to be quantified like this) was not 40,000 but 20,000. And in fact we were going to go even further: I pointed out that I had spent many years in publishing and one of my roles was to plan an EAVE publishing programme: we were planning to edit and publish the lectures and talks given by the outstanding experts assembled by Raymond and Eckhart (many of them really were outstanding) and the dissemination therefore of the wisdom conveyed at EAVE workshops would be spread even wider. 800,000 euros seemed a bargain!
To give Raymond his due he nodded sagely even though I was making it up on the hoof. We never did publish but I later designed and ran another EU Media programme, PILOTS – to develop long running TV series – and through the Media Business School we published two volumes on WRITING LONG-RUNNING TELEVISION SERIES which to this day people still refer.
EAVE got the blessing of the wise men. There was no way I was going to read these essentially uncommercial scripts. So I decided that there were two conditions before I accepted a role that included being the first UK co-ordinator: one, that the scriptwriters had to be invited to the first of the series of three workshops, because it was no good telling the producers how to make the scripts better and trusting them to inform the writers in a meaningful way. And second since all the southern European participants spoke predominantly French, there needed to be two script doctors: one French speaking and one English speaking.
I made two suggestions: Pascal Lohnay from Belgium and Clare Downs from London. Clare had been working at the Ladd Company and was therefore comfortable with the notion that scripts could and should be commercial, that difficult subjects can be made accessible. Raymond said they sounded wonderful but what would I do?
I had no idea but I had to say something: I was an agent; what did I do that was relevant to producers (other than try to make them pay as much as possible to my clients): pitching! I would do the pitching training. I don’t think it was Raymond but in that first year a number of people queried the usefulness of pitching; they simply didn’t know what it was. The word was not used in the film industry in Europe in the early 1990s.
EAVE went from strength to strength: Clare and Pascal were brilliant and patient with the participants; the quality of script improved to the point that they were becoming commercial. That gave me another problem.
EAVE was a series of three workshops. In workshop one the writers and producers did development. In workshop two directors came and financing and coproductions were talked about. There was always some pitching so I was legitimate. In workshop three I thought I would come into my own: buyers, real money, was brought in for the producers to pitch to. It was a market and I was completely at home.
Until Eckhart and Raymond declared that it was not a market. I was not allowed to coach the participants to behave as if it were a market. The participants were all desperate to get their hands on money and to do deals (after all the old joke is that independent producers are the most dependent of them all). So I ignored them and treated it as the market it was.
This led to the mother of all rows with Raymond who thenceforth wouldn’t speak to me – I don’t think I was barred, but I was certainly in great disfavour. I tried reasoning with Eckhart but I think he as the champion of auteurs and Raymond as the head of a famous film school, both feared the incursion of commerciality. They didn’t want the money to talk. I think the non-speaking lasted for several months.
Judith Ravar, Raymond’s wife brokered peace and, driven on by his bustling energy, Raymond built EAVE up and it has performed possibly far better than even he could expected. I have nothing but fond memories of him, even the row didn’t seem to affect our affection for each other. I have a great deal to thank him for – and also of course Renee Goddard. It was a golden time and because of visionaries like Raymond, Renee, Eckhart and Holde, European producers are a far greater force in the global film and television industry that they would have been without EAVE.»
Julian Friedmann, EAVE’s first UK Coordinator and expert
«Coordinating the first session of an EAVE workshop in 1991 started my 7-year journey into and through EAVE and was what launched me into the world of film, through production and finally into film education. I grew and matured through this time and learned an enormous amount from Raymond, the pedagogue, and we also had a grezat deal of fun, as he knew how to do this ! »
Gina Bonmariage, former EAVE coordinator & Dean of AFDA, South African Film School.
Video tribute by Enrique Nicanor, one of EAVE’s co-founders and former Spanish National Coorindator
Interview with Raymond Ravar on cinergie.be (in French only):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uso-OkQAUNg
Obituary Artemio Benki
French director/producer/distributor and EAVE graduate Artemio Benki, whose film career spanned thirty years in the Czech Republic, died in Paris on 15 April 2020.
Benki’s 2019 documentary feature debut SOLO was selected for the Cannes ACID programme and went on to win several awards.
Benki arrived in Prague in the early 1989 to work on a film about Roma refugees and moved to Prague permanently three years later, soon founding the Sirena Film production house. Sirena Film went on to become one of the most successful production companies in Prague, working on international productions, often for French companies.
He proved equally successful in the field of distribution, founding the company Artcam Films, which focused on independent European arthouse production.
EAVE PED Talk with Katriel Schory
EAVE had the pleasure to offer the inspirational session by EAVE expert Katriel Schory: Finding Ideas&Talent to EAVE graduates via Zoom on April 24.
Finding ideas (and talent), developing ideas is one of the most obvious and important things to do for a producer in these times when production has come to a halt.
Where to start? How to inspire ourselves and our creative partners? How to find new connections, new inspiration sources in a world of lockdown?
https://eave.org/news/katriel-schory-finding-ideas-talent/
Katriel Schory: Finding Ideas & Talent
Take part of an inspirational session by EAVE expert Katriel Schory offered exclusively for EAVE graduates via ZOOM.
Finding ideas (and talent), developing ideas is one of the most obvious and important things to do for a producer in these times when production has come to a halt.
Where to start? How to inspire ourselves and our creative partners? How to find new connections, new inspiration sources in a world of lockdown?
Apply by Monday, April 20 by filling in the registration form.
A maximum of 30 participants can be accepted to take part of the session and the Q&A, acceptance will be based on first come first served.
The session will take place on Friday, April 24, at 17:00 CET and will be about one hour long including Q&A.
Katriel Schory was born in Israel 1947.
Studied at the New York University (NYU) Film School and returned to Israel in 1973.
1974–1999: Founder/Producer and Managing Director of BELFILMS LTD. Produced over 150 films and television programs, including Feature Films, Documentaries, T.V Dramas, International Co-Productions and production services.
1983-1984: Associate Producer and Line Producer of "Beyond the Walls". Nominated for Best Foreign Film, American Academy Awards ("The Oscars" 1985).
From 1999 and for more than 20 years the Executive Director of the Israel Film Fund. Authorized the support and the promotion of more than 300 full length narrative feature films, in Israel and worldwide, of which, more than 80 films were International co-productions, mainly with Europe.
Among the films he authorized, many won prestigious awards, including 4 “Oscar” nominations in the Foreign Film Category of the American Academy; Golden and Silver “Lions” in Venice and “Bears” in Berlin and “Golden Globe”.
Voluntary Public Activities and Functions:
Member of the Board of the European Film Academy (2017 – Present)
Chairman of Israel’s Film and TV Producers’ Association. (1988-1994)
A member of the National Council of Arts and Culture. (1992-1998)
Lectures at the Tel Aviv University - Department of Film and television (1985-present).
Represented the Israeli Film Industry in International Forums and Organizations (1994 – 2019).
Guest lecturer, Training & Masterclasses:
- Lectures in leading training and workshops, Festivals and Film Schools in Europe, North America and Asia
Awards:
Among the awards:
- Chevalier de l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres – France
- Berlinale Kamera for Outstanding Contribution to the Film industry
- The Special Medallion Award – Telluroide Film Festival for Outstanding achievements.
- The VARIETY Award for Creative Impact on the International Film Industry
- Special Achievements Award – ARTE France / Germany
- Lifetime achievements – Jerusalem Film Festival
- FIAPF Award – The FIAPF – International Federation of Film Producers Associations Award
