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The network will hold a workshop from 24-26 November at the Dutch festival, which will include a case study on Artemio Benki's documentary Solo. For the second time, Europa Distribution will be at the Idfa - International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam where it will hold a workshop dedicated to the distribution of documentaries. From 24-26 November, around 20 independent distributors, all members of the European network, will participate in an open panel and a closed session of discussion organised in collaboration with Idfa as part of their industry programme. On Monday, 25 November (from 10.00 to 11.30 at the Brakke Grond cultural center), the public panel “Solo, a one-man-band story and case study” will explore the creation, the production and the distribution of Solo, a documentary on the life and struggle with the mental disease of Martín Perino, an Argentinian pianist. We will be guided through this journey by Czech...

Artemio Benki’s former child prodigy feature ’Solo won best Czech documentary.

Lina Zacher’s Fonja has won the main competition award at the 23rd Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival (Oct 24-29) in the Czech Republic

The documentary, which received its world premiere at Ji.hlava, follows 10 juvenile delinquents in Madagascar’s largest prison.

The Opus Bonum prize, which honours the best international documentary, was awarded to both Zacher and the 10 subjects of the film. The German director also received a special mention for her work on the film.

The winning films were chosen by Romanian director Cristi Puiu,...

Stories of transcendence in the face of adversity dominated the Ji.hlava docu fest in the Czech Republic Monday, with a precedent-setting award for best film shared among 10 imprisoned juveniles in Madagascar.

The Opus Bonum main competition award, granted by a sole juror, Romanian director Cristi Puiu, went to “Fonja” by German filmmaker Lina Zacher, the story of 10 juvenile delinquents in the largest detention facility on the island nation. The boys joined a four-month workshop to be trained in filming, editing, creating simple cinematic tricks and telling their own stories.

Puiu, who said the film “kept me awake” and gave him “a dumb smile of genuine satisfaction,” praised Zacher for “the warmth, the intuition, the trust, the courage and generosity that are holding together a film.”

The winners, Ravo Henintsoa Andrianatoandro, Lovatiana Desire Santatra, Sitraka Hermann Ramanamokatra, Jean Chrisostome Rakotondrabe, Erick Edwin Andrianamelona, Elani Eric Rakotondrasoa, Todisoa Niaina Sylvano Randrialalaina,...

Amsterdam-based producers network will hold annual meeting in UK for the first-time in Edinburgh event supported by Screen Scotland.

Ace producers has unveiled the 18 producers who have been selected to participate in 29th edition of its Ace Session training programme and join the Ace Network.

A total of 15 territories are represented in the selection, comprising Belgium, Czech Republic, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the UK, as well as, for the first time, Georgia and Lithuania.

The participants will attend the programme, running across 2019 to 2020, with a feature project in development.

The fresh intake...

The lineup for the 2019 Cannes Acid has been announced. See also the full lineups of the Official Selection, Directors' Fortnight and Critics’ Week.Feature FILMSBlind Spot (Pierre Trividic, Patrick-Mario Bernard): Dominick Brassan has the power to turn invisible, but rarely uses it. Instead he has kept it a shameful secret, hidden even from Viveka, his fiancée. But when his ability to control his gift gets out of hand, his life, friendships and relationships will be forever turned inside out.Des Hommes (Jean-Robert Viallet, Alice Odiot): Thirty thousand square meters and 2,000 inmates, half of them under 30 years old. The Baumettes jail tells about misery, violence, abandonment, and also hopes. It is a story with its screams and its silences. A concentrate of humanity.Indianara (Aude Chevalier-Beaumel, Marcello Barbosa): Bigger-than-life revolutionary, Indianara and her group lead a fight for the survival of transgender people in Brazil. She gathers her...

Following the first batches of Cannes Film Festival lineup announcements, the slate has now been unveiled for the sidebar Directors’ Fortnight. Once again a stellar-looking lineup, it includes Robert Eggers’ The Witch follow-up The Lighthouse, starring Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson, Bertrand Bonello’s Zombi Child, plus new films from Takashi Miike, Lav Diaz, Bas Devo, and Rebecca Zlotowski (pictured above).

There’s also two Sundance films we’ve already reviewed: Wounds and Give Me Liberty. Premiering as a Special Screening is Luca Guadagnino’s new short The Staggering Girl starring Julianne Moore, Mia Goth, KiKi Layne, Alba Rohrwacher, Marthe Keller, and Kyle MacLachlan. See the lineup below, along with the Acid slate.

Directors’ Fortnight Lineup

Feature Films

Deerskin (Quentin Dupieux) – Opening Film

Yves (Benoît Forgeard) – Closing

Alice and the Mayor (Nicolas Pariser)

And Then We Danced (Levan Akin)

The Halt (Lav Diaz)

Dogs Don’t Wear Pants (Jukka-Pekka Valkeapää...

Initiative to showcase nine features, with seven from first time directors.

Nine features by rising filmmakers are being showcased by France’s Association for the Diffusion of Independent Cinema (Acid) at the Cannes Film Festival next month (May 14-25).

The initiative aims to give greater visibility to up-and-coming independent filmmakers. Seven of the nine are first- time features (apart from Blind Spot and As Happy As Possible), five are fiction films and four are documentaries. All are world premieres except Ena Sendijarevic’s Take Me Somewhere Nice, which debuted in Rotterdam.

They are:

Blind Spot (Fr) Dirs: Pierre Trividic, Patrick-Mario...

The 46 projects include 25 feature and documentary works.

The Venice Gap-Financing Market has selected the projects for its 5th edition, to be held from August 31-September 2 during the Venice film festival.

Organised as part of the Venice Production Bridge, the three-day event will present 46 projects from around the world in the final stages of development and funding.

The titles include 25 feature fiction and documentary projects; 15 virtual reality works; and six projects developed during the workshop of Biennale College Cinema.

Fiction projects include Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s To The Ends Of The Earth (working title), which shot in Uzbekistan in April and May,...

The 46 projects include 25 feature and documentary works.

The Venice Gap-Financing Market has selected the projects for its 5th edition, to be held from August 31-September 2 during the Venice film festival.

Organised as part of the Venice Production Bridge, the three-day even will present 46 projects from around the world in the final stages of development and funding.

The titles include 25 feature fiction and documentary projects; 15 virtual reality works; and six projects developed during the workshop of Biennale College Cinema.

Fiction projects include Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s To The Ends Of The Earth (working title), which shot in Uzbekistan in April and May,...