European Intercultural Film Dialogues with the Neighbouring Coproduction Meeting (NCM)
European Week, May 3 - 9, 2008
Ljubljana, Slovenia
Over the past 16 years, MEDIA, the EU's support programme for the European audiovisual industry, has supported the development and distribution of thousands of films as well as training activities, festivals and promotion projects throughout the continent. From 2001-2006, more than half a billion euros were injected into 8.000 projects from over 30 countries.
Therefore in the year of Intercultural dialogue MEDIA supported films were the red line of five-day European Intercultural Film Dialogues, happening in Ljubljana in the European Week from May 3rd till May 9th 2008.
Co-production meetings of neighbouring countries Slovenia, Austria, Italy, Hungary and Croatia and presentation of financing opportunities in respective countries in combination with screenings of MEDIA supported films in a prominent Slovenian cultural centre Cankarjev dom and Kino Udarnik Maribor was a symbol of film production from the very beginning (searching of partners and financers) to the very end (presenting finished film to the audience).
A successful European film week
The EUROPEAN INTERCULTURAL FILM DIALOGUES attracted more than 1100 visitors to the cinema watching 19 MEDIA supported feature and student short films in Ljubljana and Maribor, while more than 70 representatives of film institutions, producers and other participants gathered at the first coproduction meeting of five countries in Ljubljana on 5 and 6 May 2008. The events were prepared during the Europe Week by the Representation of the European Commission in Slovenia, Cankarjev dom, Slovenian, Italian, Austrian and Hungarian MEDIA Desks and the Croatian Audiovisual Center.
What kind of films does Europe support?
10 feature films, supported by MEDIA and 9 best European short student films, shown free of charge in the context of Intercultural Film Dialogues from 3 to 9 May 2008 in the Cankarjev dom in Ljubljana and the Kino Udarnik Cinema in Maribor as a present to the audience, attracted more than 1100 viewers. See the schedule [Acrobat pdf, 52 Kb].
After the screening of short student films on 6 May 2008, a discussion entitled Intercultural Film Dialogue on films as the means of communication was prepared for the audience and the following guests: Nataša Goršek Mencin, head of the Information Desk of the European Parliament in Slovenia, Dr. Igor Koršič, university professor at the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television for the subject Film History and Theory, and Matevž Luzar, the young author who at the same time received a nomination for the Student Academy Award for his short film Vučko. The guests concluded that film can serve as excellent communication tools, transcending state borders, cultural and language differences, but it has to be maintained and taken care of regularly, which most EU countries are well aware of.
What kind of films do our neigbours make?
The first coproduction meeting of film producers in Slovenia, which took place in Cankarjev dom on 5 and 6 May 2008, brought together 10 representatives of film institutions from five countries and the European Commission as well as more than 50 producers with 36 projects in development (30 in the official selection and 6 observers). On Monday afternoon the representatives of national and regional film funds from Austria, Croatia, Italy, Hungary and Slovenia made short presentations of the possibilities for the financing of coproductions (see the Power point presentations [Acrobat pdf, 423 Kb]), while on Tuesday the producers met at one-to-one meetings (see the NCM schedule [Acrobat pdf, 63 Kb]). The results of the meetings will be known after the financial constructions have been closed, but the representatives of institutions and the producers agreed on the importance of such meetings. Here are some of their statements:
It was interesting to get to know the possibilities for coproductions in the
neighbouring countries; one-to-one meetings were an excellent way of getting to
know our fellow producers, although, of course, we have yet to see the results
due to the projects being in the development stage. Hospitality was great, and
food was even better.
Ankica Tilić - Kinorama (Croatia) - producer
I attended several events similar to this one, and after a thorough
consideration I cannot find anything which would separate your work from
similarly organised top notch events abroad.
Igor Pediček, Casablanca (Slovenia) - producer
We are grateful for the opportunity to meet so many producers and
representatives of financial institutions. Everything was organised perfectly
and we hope to meet you again soon in your beautiful Ljubljana.
Paolo Vidali and Alessandro Gropplero, FVG Film Commission, Fondo Regionale per l'Audiovisivo (Italy) - representatives of the regional fund
Visiting Ljubljana was a wonderful experience, as well as useful, since I've had constructive discussions and meetings.
Christian Wagner, Wagnerfilm (Germany) - producer
I thank the whole team for the hospitality and excellent organisation of the
NeighbouringCoproductionMeeting in Ljubljana. I hope we'll meet again.
Jozsef Cirko, HCC Media Group (Hungary) - producer
We think this meeting was very constructive and helpful. We only missed some
more TV representatives... And the musicians (Šukar) could have started playing
earlier, so that we could hear more of their music.
Jana Cisar and Peter Zach, Jana Cisar Filmproduktion (Austria) - producers
O dogodku v slovenščini:
- — Glavni poudarki [MS Word, 41 Kb]
- — O filmih [Acrobat pdf, 215 Kb]
- — Program NCM [Acrobat pdf, 62 Kb]
- — Predstavitve filmskih odločevalcev [Acrobat pdf, 423 Kb]
