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.
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.
Page published 30 April 2020. Updated 4 May 2020.
