The Jerusalem International Film Lab
Transcription
The Jerusalem International Film Lab
The Jerusalem International Film Lab Book of Projects 2014 An Initiative of The Sam Spiegel Film & Television School Director Philippe Lacôte, winner of the Lab’s first edition on a location tour in Ivory Coast (2013) with cinematographer Daniel Miller, a graduate of the Sam Spiegel School. Partners The Sam Spiegel Estate Supporters The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sponsors The Jerusalem International Film Lab 2014 An Initiative of The Sam Spiegel Film & Television School Advisory Board Anthony Bregman, Producer, USA | Georges Goldenstern, Cannes Film Festival, France Sonja Heinen, Berlin Film Festival, Germany | Jovan Marjanovic, Sarajevo Film Festival, Bosnia and Herzegovina Savina Neirotti, Torino Film Lab, Italy | Olivier Père, ARTE France Cinéma, France Katriel Schory, Israel Film Fund, Israel | Marit van den Elshout, Cinemart, Rotterdam Film Festival, The Netherlands Joana Vicente, IFP, New York, USA | Alesia Weston, Los Angeles, USA RUN Philippe Lacôte (Ivory Coast) Un Certain Regard, 2014 Cannes Film Festival 4 ©Bertrand Noël / Semaine de la Critique THE KINDERGARTEN TEACHER Nadav Lapid (Israel) Cannes Critics’ Week , 2014 Cannes Film Festival 5 © 2014 Sundance Institute | Jemal Countess IMPERIAL DREAMS Malik Vitthal (USA) Audience Award, NEXT, 2014 Sundance Film Festival 6 MR. KA PLAN Alvaro Brechn er (Urugua y ) Awaiting wo premiere rld G. E YOUN G R A E W N E STRO i WE AR Qurban Burhan many) (Ger g world Awaitin iere prem BARASH Michal Vinik (Israel) In postproduction 7 Greetings Nir Barkat Mayor of Jerusalem Dear friends, Welcome to the third annual Jerusalem International Film Lab, an initiative of the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School. It gives me great pleasure to greet the jury, guests and participants who have joined us from around the globe. Jerusalem is a spiritual and cultural center, serving as a source of inspiration for millions of Israelis and three billion people of faith around the world. The unique landscape of the city, the blend of modern and ancient, and the incredible human diversity make Jerusalem a hub for inspiration and creativity. Film and television production in Jerusalem are an important part of the cultural scene in the city. The Jerusalem International Film Lab, the third of its kind in the world, plays a critical role in attracting talent from around the world to Jerusalem and in establishing Jerusalem as a focal point for the international film industry for developing content and production. Six of the films developed in the Lab’s first year were filmed in locations around the globe including Uruguay, Ivory Coast, Germany, the United States and Israel. Two of the films produced were accepted to the prestigious Cannes Festival. I am confident that this year’s Lab will produce similar successes. Best of luck to all of the filmmakers, and thank you to everyone who has contributed to this event. I look forward to hearing about your future achievements. Regards from Jerusalem, Nir Barkat 2 Uzi Dayan Chairman, Israel National Lottery Fund Dear friends, Mifal Hapais, the Israel National Lottery, has been raising funds for education to benefit society for over 60 years. Each year the lottery builds 50 percent of the classrooms and kindergartens in Israel, and establishes clubs and youth sports halls and libraries. It also purchases computers for students and teachers, and awards scholarships to thousands of students. Mifal Hapais sees culture as complementing education and as a form of spiritual enrichment. Therefore, last year we tripled the Budget for culture and art and we pledge to continue to do so over the next five years. We invest in all sectors of culture and art with an emphasis on supporting artists, inculcating culture for young people and contributing to the periphery. We not only bring culture to the periphery but establish cultural centers where creativity thrives. True to our slogan “Good Things Start Here”, we were excited by the establishment of the Jerusalem International Film Lab and we decided to go beyond the periphery and invest in this incubator of excellence for both Israelis and international filmmakers. It seems our enthusiasm was not misplaced – the focus of cinematic creativity is shifting to Jerusalem and the city is becoming a center for international filmmaking. Wishing success and enjoyment for all filmmakers and film lovers! Uzi Dayan 3 › עמית ברלוביץ:צילום Greetings Yoram Honig Director, The Jerusalem Film and Television Fund Dear Friends, On behalf of the Jerusalem Film and Television Fund at the Jerusalem Development Authority, I’m proud to greet the participants of the third International Film Lab taking place in Jerusalem with a warm welcome. During these past months you have participated in a creative journey here in Jerusalem and did it the “Sam Spiegel way,” an intensive and fruitful one. To us, in the Jerusalem Development Authority and the Jerusalem Film and Television Fund, the lab’s mission is vital, it is another step towards turning Jerusalem into a key venue in the cinematic discourse in Israel and overseas and this joins the revolution on the local and international screens that the Jerusalem Film and Television fund, the first and leading regional film fund in Israel, has created. Over the past five years more than 50 feature films and television dramas were produced in Jerusalem and gained worldwide recognition and prizes at leading film festivals around the world. We do hope that soon, your screenplays will evolve into significant feature films. We are proud to support the Jerusalem International Film Lab and its important role in your professional and artistic journey. Best wishes, Yoram Honig 4 Renen Schorr Founding Director The Sam Spiegel Film & Television School, Jerusalem Ifat Tubi Associate Director The Jerusalem International Film Lab Dear All, In a few short days, during the events of the 31st Jerusalem Film Festival, the participants of the Jerusalem International Film Lab will stand before distinguished panel of judges from across the globe, as well as film professionals from Israel and abroad. And their hearts will skip a beat. Young directors and producers from a boundless world will enthusiastically present the object of their passions: their first or second full-length film. THE film. They will be excited, and our hearts, too, will skip a beat, again, as the Jerusalem International Film Lab now presents its third edition’s finalized projects. The idea to establish a bold, ambitious international film lab in Jerusalem, where a group of select participants would develop full-length films under the tutelage of first-class script editors, came to be a reality with the participants of the first edition. The scripts were autobiographical, social, political, or a mixture —all driven by a palpable “special urgency.” A passion to create distinctive, original, character-driven films, films that must be made. Today, we can proudly say that six of the twelve scripts that were presented at our first pitching event in July 2012 are now full-length feature films. Three of them where presented at the world’s leading film festivals: Run by Philippe Lacôte (Un Certain 5 Greetings Regard, Cannes 2014), The Kindergarten Teacher (Cannes Critic’s Week - Spotlight Screening, 2014) by Nadav Lapid and Imperial Dreams by Malik Vitthal (Audience Award, NEXT , Sundance Film Festival, 2014). Three more projects are awaiting their world premiere: Mr. Kaplan by Alvaro Brechner; We Are Young. We Are Strong by Burhan Qurbani and Barash by Michal Vinik. In addition to these six outstanding films, three more projects developed in the Lab’s first edition will be shot later this year. Nine out of twelve films that MUST BE MADE. Since that first pitching event two years ago, we’ve seen the Lab’s mission and international outreach continue to grow, and are happy to announce that four screenplays from the Lab’s second edition have received proper funding and will begin shooting in the coming year. As in the past two years, we didn’t make it easy on our participants. We flew them here, hosted them, and even spoiled them a bit. But throughout the entire experience, we demanded that they undergo a process, under the mentorship of the diligent scripteditors Clare Downs, Jacques Akchoti and Koby Gal-Raday. We encouraged them to develop their skills, to decipher and to break through their minds’ boundaries – to derive the very best from within themselves. The thirteen scripts were written and rewritten, again and again — face to face “up close”, and face to face via the internet. The tutors were there, in their full benevolence, and in their full creativity. Simultaneously, we followed the work of the producers participating in the process, assisting them in their efforts to the best of our abilities, to prepare the projects for the production phase. Finally, following six intensive months of work, we encountered the scripts anew. Here, Once again, we savored one long, satisfying moment. All of the scripts—and all of their writers— had undergone an intense process of deciphering and developing their ideas, leading to impressive changes in direction and content. Ready at last to compete for the Film Lab’s awards and to become actual productions. 6 The prizes, which the panel of judges will award to two of the projects, are both production grants as well as important, esteemed acknowledgements. Our own acknowledgement goes to many recipients. To the International Advisory board, the scouts, the selection committees, the participants — directors, producers, scriptwriters — the script editors and now the panel of judges. A varied group of individuals from 25 nations. To all of you, thank you for your significant efforts and your faith in the value of the scripts, the participants and the Jerusalem International Film Lab. An additional thank you to the 20 top industry professionals from around the world, who have honored us with their presence and who came here especially to become partners in the Jerusalem Film Lab’s productions. Special thanks to the Lab’s supporters and sponsors in Israel and abroad who believed in its vision, and certainly in our “chutzpah” that Israel and Jerusalem should create an international center of excellence for full-length feature films and invest in talents from all around the world: the Beracha Foundation, the Jerusalem Development Authority and the Jerusalem Film and Television Fund; The Israel National Lottery Fund, Council for Arts and Culture; The Sam Spiegel Estate; The Jerusalem Foundation; The Israel Film Fund and The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We hope that all thirteen projects will take off from the Jerusalem “Airport” to film locations throughout the world, en route to the major international cinema centers and lovers. Our thanks to you all for your trust and generosity. Renen Schorr & Ifat Tubi 7 The Jerusalem International Film Lab THE JERUSALEM INTERNATIONAL FILM LAB was launched in December 2011 by The Sam Spiegel Film & Television School, Jerusalem to foster the development and production of full-length feature films by some of the world’s most promising talents. The Jerusalem International Film Lab became the third Film Lab of its kind in the world, along with the Sundance Institute (USA) and the Torino Film Lab (Italy). Six projects of the Lab’s first edition (2012) have already been shot in Israel, Ivory Coast, Germany, Uruguay and USA. The two winning films of the Lab’s first edition – Run by Philippe Lacôte and The Kindergarten Teacher by Nadav Lapid had their world premiere at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. Imperial Dreams by Malik Vitthal won the Audience Award at the 2014 Sundacne Film Festival. Three more projects of the Lab’s first edition will be shot in 2014. Each year, the Jerusalem International Film Lab brings to Jerusalem 12 talented young director-writers who are at the advanced stages of writing their first or second full-length feature film. All participants write over a seven-month period, and are invited for two periods of writing and discussion in Jerusalem under the mentorship of three of the world’s top script editors, in addition to on-line contact throughout the entire period of rewriting. The Lab also works to promote the production feasibility of the projects. Internationally, the Film Lab reaches out 8 to leading institutes and figures in film education and industry to refer suitable candidates. Simultaneously, the Lab’s scouts identify promising candidates from all around the world who meet the qualifications for acceptance. All candidates have directed at least two short films or a feature film that has inspired international attention. The Israeli selection is open to all Israeli film schools’ alumni. The highly competitive selection process for the Lab participants has resulted in its three editions world-class projects with unique and provocative content. All possess that special urgency of films that MUST BE MADE, covering a range of social and political topics and or autobiographical in poignant, character-driven plots. Finalized scripts are presented before the Jerusalem Lab’s panel of international judges, within the framework of the Jerusalem Film Festival, at the beginning of July, in an annual prestigious pitching event. The Jerusalem International Film Lab’s pitching event is a new international platform to present the outstanding projects, developed by the Lab, when the projects are presented to a select group of producers, sales agents, distributors and other professionals from all over the world. The Lab’s jury awards production prizes totaling $80,000, generously donated by the Beracha Foundation. The Jerusalem International Film Lab wishes to create a prominent new center for international film content in Jerusalem. The Lab connects the wide range of filmmakers visiting Israel—and Jerusalem-from across the world, transforming Jerusalem in to one of the focal points of the world film industry for developing content and productions. The Lab positions graduates of Israeli film schools at the vanguard of promising, talented filmmakers from across the world and generates new international cooperation for Israeli filmmakersdirectors, producers and writers. The Lab is the brainchild of Renen Schorr, the founding director of The Sam Spiegel Film & Television School, Jerusalem and the founder of the Jerusalem Film and Television Fund. He serves as director, alongside Ifat Tubi. STEERING COMMITTEE, ISRAEL Chair-Renen Schorr Sam Spiegel School Yoram Honig Jerusalem Film & Television Fund Dolin Melnik Israel National Lottery Fund Eyal Sher Jerusalem Foundation SELECTION COMMITTEE INTERNATIONAL, 2014 Shuki Ben- Naim Scriptwriter Assaf Gavron Author SELECTION COMMITTEEISRAEL, 2014 Eitan Green Writer and Director Keren Margalit Writer and Director Renen Schorr Director The project is a cooperative venture of the school, the Beracha Foundation, the Jerusalem Film and Television Fund at the Jerusalem Development Authority, Israel National Lottery Fund, the Sam Spiegel Estate, the Jerusalem Foundation and the Israel Film Fund. Other supporting organizations include the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Goethe Institute in Tel Aviv. The historical building of Mishkenot Sha’ananim – a guesthouse for artists and intellectualsthe home of the Jerusalem International Film Lab 9 The Sam Spiegel School THE SAM SPIEGEL FILM & TELEVISION SCHOOL, JERUSALEM At the Vanguard of Israeli Cinema “ In my eyes, Israeli cinema divides into B.S.S and A.S.S—that is, Before Sam Spiegel School and After Sam Spiegel School.” New York Film Festival Director Richard Peña, New York film schools’ Tribute to The Sam Spiegel Film & TV School 20th anniversary (March, 2011) THE BIRTH OF A SCHOOL Against the compelling background drama of a 1988 student revolt, the Jerusalem Film & Television School was born. Film department students of Israel’s sole state film school of the time had taken to rioting in protest against the school’s alleged preference for the theater department. Their demand for autonomy spurred the Education and Culture Minister to establish a public inquiry which supported the students’ position, thus recommending the creation of Israel’s first independent school for film and television. In 1989, the Jerusalem Foundation and the Ministry of Education and Culture established the Jerusalem Film and Television School as Israel’s national independent film school. In 1996, after receiving a contribution from his estate, the school was renamed The Sam Spiegel Film & Television School, Jerusalem in honor of the legendary Academy Awardwinning producer Sam Spiegel. 10 FORGING NEW STANDARDS At the school’s inception in 1989, the Israeli film industry was in a deep crisis that drove away audiences. The new Sam Spiegel Film & Television School, Jerusalem, with director-producer Renen Schorr at the helm, began by asking new questions never before posed to Israeli students: Is the film you wish to make relevant? Is it original? Are you the only one who can tell the story? Do you have an obligation to tell it? Is it relevant to your own inner world and to your personal taste? Is it relevant to your audience? Will its meaning traverse countries and cultures? This demand for relevance was met with a resounding energy and passion that motivated the first student body to produce 1992 graduate films that marked a turning point in Israeli cinema. The school has since revolutionized Israeli film education, introducing such innovations as fostering the unique voice of each student in a “personal story-telling” school milieu; transforming the hero to the focal point in the story and the narrative; fighting for the acknowledgment of short films as a genre; inviting top professionals from the film world for master classes; providing state of-the-art equipment; funding student participation in numerous international film festivals and workshops; gaining mass exposure by marketing school films to local and international festivals, and promoting the broadcast of student films on Israeli and international television networks. Over the past twenty-five years, the school has won 16 Best Film School Program awards in student film festivals; received 380 awards, including at Cannes, Berlin and Venice; and was honored with 181 international festival retrospectives in 55 countries, including in Berlin, Rotterdam, Clermont-Ferrand, Sarajevo, Havana and the New York Museum of Modern Art’s first-ever tribute to a film school. THE SCHOOL - 2014 Currently 160 outstanding, handpicked students study in the school’s special “triangle” structure of curriculum: The Full Track The main, flagship Director’s Track features a four-and-a-half year comprehensive program to enable students to study and master all aspects of filmmaking. The curriculum includes directing, screenwriting, cinematography, editing and production. The Screenwriting Track In 1999, a special two-year screenwriting track was initiated, aimed at cultivating screenwriters for film and television, working to create a model for cooperation between screenwriters and directors. The Entrepreneurial Producers Program In 2004, a singular three-and-a-half year track was inaugurated for entrepreneur producers. The first of its kind in Israel, the program was created to cultivate producers to initiate and lead projects in various media, work in conjunction with screenwriters and directors, and navigate projects through the stages of production, marketing and distribution in Israel and overseas. Each of the three tracks operates autonomously, with students urged to achieve a creative synergy among the tracks. TOWARDS A SILVER JUBILEE As we near our Silver Jubilee in 2014, we continue to initiate projects and ongoing leadership. These innovative projects include: The Jerusalem International Film Lab The Sam Spiegel School Alumni Fund for First Feature Films In light of the success of its graduates over the years, the school is initiating an Alumni Fund for First Features, while committing to invest 50,000$ a year for one project per year for five years. The rationale is to accelerate further funding and ensure the successful production of the films in a much shorter period of time. Tributes to Groundbreaking Israeli Filmmakers In 2013, the School produced Footsteps in Jerusalem, a film tribute to David Perlov, the forefather of modern Israeli documentary cinema, and to his 1963 revolutionary film In Jerusalem. The premiere of the featurelength documentary, curated by Renen Schorr, was screened simultaneously in 41 countries. In 2005, during the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the Sam Spiegel Film & Television School, the Jerusalem Municipality named the street leading to the school after the legendary American Jewish producer-Sam Spiegel. 11 Jury 2014 Michèle Halberstadt Chair Producer and Distributer MANFRED SCHMIDT MDM Film Fund Germany France Michèle Halberstadt is a Sciences Po Paris alumni and has a Master’s degree in law. After a rich career as a journalist at “Europe 1” and “Radio 7” radio stations, she joined the French edition of “Premiere”, where she was in charge of Anglo-Saxon cinema. Two years later, she was appointed as the magazine’s editor-in-chief. Since 1991, she acts as the head of acquisitions at ARP Sélection. Along with Laurent Pétin, the president of ARP, she introduced a new wave of Chinese cinema in the nineties, including the works of Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige and Wong Kar Wai. In 1997, ARP launched its film production division, where Michèle was highly involved in productions of the Dardenne brothers, Luc Besson, Jean-Paul Rappeneau, Benoît Jacquot and Alain Corneau. ARP also co-produces international films such as Vengeance by Johnnie To, Paolo Sorrentino’s This Must Be the Place and Ari Folman’s The Congress. In terms of acquisitions, Precious, Biutiful, Animal Kingdom, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Searching for Sugarman, Margin Call, are among her last discoveries over the past years. Michèle Halberstadt is also a writer. Her sixth novel, My American Friend has been published by Albin Michel earlier this year. 12 Manfred Schmidt is the executive director of the Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung GmbH (MDM), one of Germany’s leading film funds. From 1969 to 1981 he was a member of the Berlin “Maxim Gorki” theatre. This followed a seven-year period of freelance work as an author and dramatic adviser. During this time, Schmidt took correspondence courses at the Leipzig Institute for Literature. In 1988, he started working as a script analyst and author at DEFA studios for documentary films; from 1990 to 1992 he was the deputy chief editor at the studio. Later, he worked as the deputy program director of the culture and science department at the Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR) broadcasting station. Since 1998, he has directed the Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung GmbH (MDM), based in Leipzig. Manfred Schmidt is a member of the European Film Academy, FFA Verwaltungsrat (dep.), Kuratorium Förderverein Deutscher Kinderfilm e.V., Kuratorium junger deutscher Film, President of the GOLDEN SPARROW foundation and board member of Cine-Regio. Katriel Schory The Israel Film Fund Israel Katriel Schory is one of the leading architects of the renaissance of Israeli cinema. He studied at the New York University Film School and returned to Israel in 1973 to join Kastel Films, at that time the leading production company in Israel. In 1984, Schory formed his own company, BELFILMS LTD, and produced over 120 films including award winning feature films, documentaries, T.V dramas, and international co-productions. In 1999 he assumed the role of Executive Director of the Israel Film Fund, the leading fund in Israel, which supports and promotes Israeli feature films. In this position he authorized the support of more than 200 new Israeli feature films. Charles Tesson Cannes Critics’ Week France Charles Tesson is the Artistic Director of Critics’ Week at Cannes Film Festival since 2012. He is also a film critic in Cahiers du Cinéma where he began in 1979, and former editor of the magazine (1998-2003). He is also an professor in cinema, history and esthetics, at la Sorbonne nouvelle (University of Paris III). Tesson wrote several books and essays on cinema, as Satyajit Ray (1992), Luis Bunuel (1995), El from Luis Bunuel (1996), Photogénie de la Série B (1997), Théâtre et cinéma (2007) and Akira Kurosawa (2008). He wrote few special issues for Cahiers du cinema, as Made in Hong Kong (1984) with Olivier Assayas, Made in China (1999) and co-authored the book L’Asie à Hollywood (2001). Schory under took voluntary public activities, among them: chairman of Israel’s Film and Television Producers’ Association (1989–1994); member of the National Committee for the Advancement of Television and Films (1989-1999); lectures at the Tel Aviv University - Department of Film and Television since 1985. 13 Jury 2014 Rémi Burah ARTE France Cinéma France Sonja Heinen Berlinale Co-Production Market Germany After working as a banker in the audiovisual sector in London and Paris, Remi Burah joined Haut et Court as a partner, managing director, and director of the communication agency, working there for 8 years. Burah joined ARTE France Cinéma, the film branch of the European TV channel, in 2001. Burah has collaborated in features films coproductions of well-known filmmakers: Wim Wenders, Lars Von Trier, Wong Karwai, Alain Cavalier, Michael Haneke, Patrice Chereau, Aki Kaurismaki, Mathieu Amalric, Hou Hsiao Hsien, Luc and JeanPierre Dardenne, Bertrand Bonello, Marjane Satrapi, Valerie Donzelli, Maiwenn, among others. He also participated in the development of animation feature film as an associate producer (Persepolis, A Monster in Paris). Since 2004 he is also CEO of a finance company that he has initiated in partnership with SOFICA French tax system. 14 After studying languages and economics in Cologne, Sonja Heinen started her career in the film industry in 1991 at Filmstiftung NRW in Duesseldorf. Until 2001 she was Assistant to Executive Director Dieter Kosslick and especially responsible for International Contacts. During this time she organised CoProduction Meetings with almost all European countries as well as international producers’ delegations and developed the International Co-Production Market Cologne which took place in 2000 for the first time. From March 2001 until July 2003 she has been working as Producer and Project Coordinator for Gemini Film and International West Pictures in Cologne. Since 2003 she works at the Berlin International Film Festival, as Head of the Berlinale Co-Production Market, and since August 2004, she is additionally Programme Manager of the Berlinale World Cinema Fund. Pia Marais Director Germany Of Swedish/South African parents, Pia Marais grew up in both countries. Having studied art at Chelsea School of Art (London), The Rietveld Akademie (Amsterdam) and KunstAkademie (Duesseldorf), she went on to study film at the Deutsche Film- und Fernseh-Akademie (DFFB) in Berlin, where she is still based. After several engagements in the film industry in Germany as a casting director, assistant director and writer, she made her feature debut with The Unpolished, which won various prizes, including Rotterdam’s Tiger Award in 2007. Her second feature film At Ellen’s Age, was developed at the Cannes Résidence and premiered at the International Competition in Locarno Film Festival in 2010, followed by many other international festivals, including: Toronto, London, Thessaloniki, Bafici, MoMA New Directors/ New Films. Besides other awards, she received for the second time the Crossing Europe Award and Jeanne Balibar won Best Actress Award in Buenos Aires for her outstanding performance in the film. Layla Fourie, her third feature film, premiered at the 2013 Berlinale Competition. 15 Script Editors Clare Downs Jacques Akchoti UK France Clare Downs began her career in the film business as co-director of the Association of Independent Producers (1978-1980), and Director of International Creative Affairs for the Ladd Company/Warner Bros (1981-1983). She produced the BAFTA award winning short, The Dress (1985); the feature High Season (best screenplay at the San Sebastian Film Festival, 1987), and coproduced the Greek film Borderline, (Best Director, Thessaloniki Film Festival) in 1993. Her other production work in this period was as associate producer on Richard Eyre’s Beggar’s Opera, and she developed the award winning screenplay A World Apart (BAFTA, Cannes). In 1989 she set up, and was director of First Film Europe, which selects and funds first feature screenplays in each of the EU member countries. That year, she also joined the EU’s MEDIA producer training program, EAVE, as a founder member of the script analysis team. Since then she has tutored and taught in top European and international script developing labs for producers and writers and in leading UK schools. 16 After his studies at the NYU film school, Jacques Akchoti has worked in different areas of film production with directors such as R.Bresson, JJ. Beineix, L. Von Trier. He then became a screenwriter, script consultant, and headed the development of many French and international films for cinema and television, which obtained selections and awards at major film festivals. Most recently, A Screaming Man by Haroun Mahamat Saleh, recipient of many awards, notably the Jury Prize at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival. He has directed a feature film for television and written several screenplays. His latest script, Don’t Look Back, a film by Marina De Van featuring Sophie Marceau and Monica Bellucci was part of the Official Selection of the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. Jacques has been teaching writing and directing at the Femis (National French Film school) since 1988 and has facilitated many international screenwriting and development workshops, including EAVE, Sud Ecriture, DV8 films, Vision Cinema, Ekran, Interchange, etc. KOBY GAL-RADAY Israel Koby Gal-Raday serves as head of Drama, Documentary and Cinema Department – Reshet, Channel 2 – the major commercial broadcast channel in Israel. Prior to joining Reshet, Gal-Raday served in several executive positions such as head of the Screenwriting Department, Sam Spiegel Film & Television School, Jerusalem; director of Greenhouse – a Mediterranean Development Project for feature-length documentaries, funded by the EU; founding co-manager of July-August Productions, where his producer and script editor credits include numerous award winning and internationally acclaimed cinema and television titles, such as The Band’s Visit and The Champagne Spy. Gal-Raday graduated with outstanding distinction from The Sam Spiegel Film & Television School, Jerusalem and won over 20 personal prizes and awards over the last ten years. Gal-Raday is a member of the European and Israeli Film and Television academies. 17 Scouts Isabelle FAUVEL Matthieu Darras France France After six years spent working at Flach Film where she co-produced several films, including Jean-Claude Lauzon’s Leolo which entered into the 1992 Cannes Film Festival, Isabelle Fauvel founded Initiative Film in 1993. Fauvel is the privileged interlocutor of writers, directors and producers, French and international, working along with them on a short-term or long-term scale. Furthermore, with the team she established, Fauvel often scouts subjects. Taking advantage of a large database (newspapers extracts, web research, books), she provides ideas and conducts tailored researches making her a key partner for literary adaptation. Her activities also include lessons, tutoring, conferences and creating ties between cinema and literature. She has contributed to the following programs as an expert : Thessaloniki’s Crossroad, Sofia’s Meeting, Istanbul’s Meetings on the bridge, Namur Coproduction Forum. She is a regular trainer at La Sorbonne and acted as a consultant for the French National Center of Cinema (CNC), the International Office of French Publishers (BIEF) and ACE. She is also a partner of the Torino Film Lab for the Adapt Film Lab, which she cofounded. 18 Founder of NISI MASA, the European network of young cinema, Matthieu Darras created and managed dozens of international workshops related to scriptwriting, filmmaking, and film criticism from 2001 to 2012. Critic for the film magazine Positif since 1999, Darras was a regular member of Cannes Critics’ Week selection committee from 2005 to 2011. He assumed the artistic direction of Alba Film Festival in Italy, and of the IFF Bratislava in Slovakia. Darras has been working for the Torino Film Lab since its inception in 2008, currently as Head of Programs. He is also the delegate of the San Sebastian Film Festival, in charge of Central and Eastern Europe. Participants & Projects 2014 19 20 21 Burning Birds Synopsis 1989. A small village in eastern Sri Lanka. After her husband is abducted, tortured and murdered by the state army, Kusum has to fight to look after her eight children and mother-in-law all by herself. After a series of unsuccessful odd jobs, where she was constantly abused physically and sexually, Kusum falls to prostitution. Soon, the police arrest her in a brothel. When the school hears about their mother’s misadventure, the children are thrown out. From there, the whole family will try to survive the tragedy. Director’s Note When I was nine years old, state army killed my mathematics teacher and burnt on tires. That was in 1989. I cannot forget how the whole school, including the teachers and students, was aghast and worried. A year later, when I was 10, army forced my young uncle out and shot him in the head against the rear wall of the house. That death impoverished his family, leaving them in distraught. A year later, my father died suddenly. I was just 11. My mother, seven sisters and brothers and I were left alone. My mother took all the trouble to raise us. Sometimes, there were days we spent in hunger. I still wonder at times how my mother managed to feed us after all. Burning Birds is a film that came out scratching my heart. It is a microscopic look at myself, my mother and my country. 22 ANTONIN DEDET Producer SANJEEWA PUSHPAKUMARA Director France Sri Lanka Born in 1977 Sanjeewa Pushpakumara is a Sri Lankan film director. He has studied cinema in South Korea. In 2011, Sanjeewa made his first feature film, Flying Fish, which was supported by the Hubert Bals Fund. The film was screened in twenty-eight film festivals across the world, including the Rotterdam International Film Festival. The film has won awards in many of them: Best Director Award at St.Pertersburg International Film Festival, Best Asian Cinematographer at Asian Film Festival. Burning Birds will be Sanjeewa’s second feature film. Born in 1972 in France, Antonin Dedet founded his production company in 2002. Specializing in international coproduction (the company has co-produced with 15 countries), he has produced and co-produced 13 features films, more than 50 shorts and 4 documentaries. The films produced by the company have been selected in the most famous international film festivals: Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Sundance, Locarno, Rotterdam and more. His producing credits include Circumstances by Maryam Keshavarz (2011 Sundance Jury’s Prize), Yema by Djamila Sahraoui selected by more than 75 festivals (Venice 2012), Heat Wave by Jean-Jacques Jauffret (Cannes 2011) and Journey to the West by Tsaï Ming-Liang (Berlin 2013). PRODUCTION NOTES Production Comapny Neon Productions 33 Boulevard Longchamps 13001 Marseille T +33 491 082 171 Production Budget Sapushpa Expressions 100, 13th Mile post, Thambalagamuwa, Kanthale, Sri Lanka M +94 712 042 095 T +82 10-8050 4083 € 530.000 23 Drifting Snows Synopsis Saadat (38), lives in downtown Bishkek with her teenage daughter and an ambitious husband, Daniyar. Despite the comfortable and outwardly stable family life, Saadat is faced with a growing sense of ennui. One day, the stale family routine is interrupted by the arrival of a 19-year old relative of Daniyar from the countryside, Aman, who is hoping to find a job and a place to stay in the city. His short-term lodging at the house leads to the passionate romance between him and Saadat. Soon Saadat realizes that she is pregnant by Aman, who is ready to confront Daniyar with the truth about their romance. Trapped in his conformism, Daniyar chooses to accept the child as his own and to sustain the marriage by getting rid of the main obstacle in the way, Aman. Aware of her husband’s undiscovered crime, Saadat still decides on preserving her marriage and her face. Director’s Note I am drawn to tell the story of a woman searching for meaning in her life as she approaches her late 30’s. The story is set in modern Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, which has achieved a fragile independence since the collapse of the Soviet Union. It is a traditional society, with a muted but present Muslim character, in which the young generation is pursuing western aspirations of prosperity and consumer acquisition, while retaining older values concerning women, fertility, family, and sexuality. My heroine, Saadat, married traditionally early, and now, after 17 years of marriage, is faced with a disintegrating family and a growing sense of ennui. For the first time in her life she tries to be true to herself, while her path is obscured by cultural and social roles and masks. Apart from being a personal portrayal of Saadat, this story is a portrayal of the modern Kyrgyz society with its controversial and distorted set of values. Compromises that the characters of my film have to make to sustain their marriage remind me of the deadly compromises our society is built on. 24 Aygul Bakanova Director Kyrgyzstan Aygul Bakanova was born in 1982 and grew up in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. In 2011 she received her MA from the London Film School. For her graduation project, Aygul wrote, directed and co-produced a short film the Song of The Rain set in rural Kyrgyzstan. The film was has been screened at various film festivals around the world, including Locarno Film Festival and ClermontFerrand. Aygul’s latest short, Void, that she codirected within the Nordic Factory project, had its premiere at the Director’s Fortnight in Cannes 2014. Drifting Snows will be Aygul’s first fearture film. The project has also been selected for the Résidence of the Cannes Film Festival in Paris. Altynai KoichumanovA Producer Kyrgyzstan Altynai Koichumanova graduated in Economics from American University in Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan). Since 2004 she has been working as a managing director and producer at Oy Art Film Production Company. The filmography of Oy Art is of 11 short and full-length films, including the award-winning feature The Light Thief by Aktan Arym Kubat (Cannes Director’s Fortnight 2010). Besides film production, Altynai has been working on the development of Kyrgyz cinema by organizing film screenings in remote areas, running various educational projects for local filmmakers and establishing the Arthouse Film Festival at the Issyk-Kul lake, Kyrgyzstan. PRODUCTION NOTES Production Comapny Production Budget Oy Art 1, Dinara Asanova st, 720030, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan T +996 775 983090 F +996 312 344812 [email protected] € 500.000 25 Echoes Synopsis Avner (45) suspects his wife Ella (40) has a lover. Being a man of reason, logic and facts, he looks for proof. Instead of talking to her, he decides to record her phone conversations, turning into a spy in his own house. But before he confronts Ella, she dies in a car accident, leaving him with many unanswered questions. That, and her voice as recorded on tape. Obsessively listening to those conversations, between his wife and her lover, Avner tries to find clues that will lead him to this man. Only the lover can answer his unsolved questions. But while searching for one thing, he discovers another: The woman he listens to is a stranger to him, so very different from the one he thought he knew. He tries to understand that woman, to decode their relationship, and most of all he needs to know: Why? Director’s Note Echoes is a film about voice: This mysterious quality that all of us have, but none of us can see, or touch. It comes from our insides and enables us to express ourselves, but at the same time it betrays us. Our voice is never enough; it is only an echo of our internal world, our intimate self. For us, Avner’s journey is an attempt to listen, and not only hear, to feel without knowing, to grasp what’s no longer there. Although disguised under a detective-like plot and suspense atmosphere, Echoes is love story. It is the inherent lack in our own relationships that fascinates us the compromises and sacrifices we must make, if we want to really be with our loved ones. 26 KEREN MICHAEL Producer Amikam Kovner Co-Director & Co-writer Israel Israel Amikam Kovner graduated with honors from Tel Aviv University’s Film Department. His short film Scar was screened in dozens of film festivals, sold to the PBS network in the US, and won the“Kodak” award for excellence. His diploma film The Home Leave was screened at numerous festivals and won awards and honorable mentions. His feature for television film Cease Fire was screened at the 2013 Haifa Film Festival. Echoes will be Amikam’s first feature film. Assaf Snir Co-Director & Co-Writer Israel Assaf was born in Jerusalem in 1980. He graduated the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School, Jerusalem in 2011. During his studies, Assaf wrote and directed 3 short films, which had been screened in local and international film festivals. In 2009 Assaf was selected as a participant of “Breaking Boundaries”, an international short film project funded by the Goethe institute and EVZ Stiftung. Echoes will be Assaf’s first feature film, participated in “Script Station” – the Berlinale Talent Campus’s script development workshop. Keren is one of the founders of The Mouth Agape Productions (2006), which created short films. Her recent credits include, Self Made by Shira Geffen (Cannes Critics’ Week 2014). In 2011 she founded her own company Handsome Serge Productions. Her recent credits include Self Made and The Wanderer by Avishay Sivan (Cannes Director’s Fortnight 2010). Since 2013, she has also handled the talent scouting, developing and financing of scripts for the international feature film division at Dori Media Paran group. PRODUCTION NOTES Production Comapny Handsome Serge Productions 9 Haneviem st, Tel Aviv 6435611 M+ 972.544.811.007 [email protected] Co-Producer - Germany Andreas Eicher Cine Plus IThe Media Group www.cine-plus.de Production Budget € 754.000 27 Fig Tree Synopsis It is high noon in January 1991, during the latter part of the Ethiopian Civil War. Mina (14), is standing on the banks of River Awash and fighting to untie a rope from the neck of a legless soldier, hanging from an ancient fig tree. Not far from Mina’s house flows a stream whose matted vegetation banks are occasionally visited by people who wish to end their lives. Despite the despair felt at the raging war, and the frequent kidnapping of boys her age on “collection days”, Mina becomes accustomed to zigzaging between the demands of reality during war time and her desire to live and breathe her days of youth. Rata (19), Mina’s brother, who has returned from the battlefield without his right arm, continues to demonstrate forced loyalty as a soldier in the municipal civic service but is dreaming to implement a right reserved only for Jews; the right to leave, move away from the war, and immigrate to the land of Israel. Mina, concerned with the fate awaiting her best friend Eli the son of her Christian neighbor that lives under a constant threat of being kidnapped by the army, begins to weave her own plans: she will make love to Eli and force her family to accept him as her husband in order to preserve her honor, thus enabling him to come with them to Israel. But in times of war plans often go wrong. Director’s Note Even though there were rumors about the coming war, my last days in Ethiopia, which I wasn’t even aware of being the last days, were conducted in quite an ordinary manner. I wish to go back there and tell the story of the “Shola” (Fig) neighborhood. The war, which is constantly present in the background, will ultimately generate the dramatic turning point of the story but the heart and the focus of the film will be the description of Mina’s daily life. Through her, I wish to describe the surreal situation in which people miraculously manage to build a normal life during war time. 28 Alamork Marsha Director Israel Born in 1980 in Awash, Ethiopia, Alamork moved to Israel in 1991. Following a documentary research job, Alamork was caught under the spell of cinema. She began her studies at the Tel Hai College and later continued to the prestigious Sam Spiegel Film School, graduating in 2012. Alamork directed three short films: Mulu 2007, Korki 2007 and Cleaning Time 2012, all dealing the experiences of Ethiopian immigrants to Israel. Fig Tree will be Alamork’s debut feature. Saar Yogev Producer Israel Naomi Levari Producer Israel Saar Yogev, EAVE alumni and B.F.A from Tel Aviv University’s film department, and Naomi Levari, a graduate Summa Cum Laude from the Sam Spiegel Film School, founded Black Sheep Film Productions in 2010. Through its documentary and fiction films, the company directs a spotlight on the overlooked and forgotten corners of society. Among their works: Hanna’s Journey, Farewell Herr Schwarz, Ameer Got His Gun, Teacher Irena, You Can’t Choose Your Family, Life Isn’t Everything. PRODUCTION NOTES Production Comapny Production Budget Black Sheep Film Productions Ltd. T +972-74-7039009 18 Levontin Street, Tel Aviv 65112 Israel [email protected] www.bsheepfilms.com € 1.350.000 29 Lignite Synopsis Kosmas (18) races a motocross bike. Speeding alone, among the vast landscapes of the lignite mines nearby his village, it is the only time he feels free, alive. His dream is racing away from this gloomy area and his father, Apostolis, who sees him as a consistent disappointment. But now everything is different. Apostolis dies one night, quietly, after a typical argument with Kosmas. Alone with his cherished brother, Panayiotis (11), Kosmas faces a wall of responsibility. He takes a job at the mines and begins a life of compromise. A fragile love affair with his teenage cousin, Rania (16), his only ally, develops. Yet her presence in their house and Panayiotis’ infatuation with her, pressures Kosmas. Shadowed by the need for his dead father’s acceptance, Kosmas juggles, unprepared, with all the roles he is called to fulfill. Kosmas needs to break free. To find a life of his own. And he feels the world owes him that. Director’s Note Kosmas grows up in one of Europe’s most polluted areas, the lignite mines of Northern Greece, in an economically dilapidated country. Against all odds, he has dreams. That is until his father’s death crumbles them. In order to save everything he once took for granted, Kosmas needs to change who he is and what he hoped for. Through the use of close-ups, point of view shots and lowkey photography, the world of Lignite is that of Kosmas’ subjective reality. I want the audience to be submerged into his world, his need for affection, his hype when riding his motorbike, his frustration and anger struggling with his loss, his need to experience life. Following Kosmas, Lignite becomes a film about people all around Greece, struggling to live rather than simply survive. It is an angry film about angry times. 30 MARIA TSIGKA Producer GREGORY RENTIS Director Co-Writer Greece Greece Gregory Rentis holds an MFA in Film Directing from California Institute of the Arts. His short films have screened in festivals including Rotterdam, Amiens, Thessaloniki, Washington, Rio de Janeiro. His film, Sundown, premiered in Rotterdam (2010, Finalist NPS New Arrivals) and You Asked Me To Wait, received an Honorary Mention (2007, Drama Film Festival). He has directed for the theater, branded content and music videos that have stood out in the Greek film industry winning two Music Video of the Year awards. Lignite will be Gregory’s first feature. Co- writer: EFFI GAVRILOU (Greece) Maria Tsigka holds a masters of Communication and Mass Media from the University of Athens. She started working in film production and 2000. Maria is part of Argonauts Productions, an Athens based production company, as a partner since 2010. Her producer feature filmography includes, In The Woods by Angelos Frantzis (2010, associate producer), wich premiered at the Rotterdam Film Festival, Eteron Imisi by Vangelis Seitanidis (2010, producer), and the omnibus film, Do Not Forget Me Istanbul, (2011, Co-Producer), directed by Hany Abu-Assad, Stefan Arsenijevic, Aida Begic, Josefina Markarian, Eric Nazarian, Stergios Niziris, Omar Shargawi. Maria graduated EAVE in 2010. PRODUCTION NOTES Production Comapny Co-Producer Production Budget Argonauts Productions S.A. 27 Zaimi str., 10682- Athens, Greece T +30.210.82.57.177 [email protected] www.argonautsproductions.gr Markus Halberschmidt Busse & Halberschmidt-Germany [email protected] www.bussehalberschmidt.de € 830.000 31 Photograph Synopsis The Gateway was built by the British in 1911 to welcome the Queen to Bombay, the Queen never showed up but to this day, millions of tourists do. Rafi is a photographer at the Gateway. When his mother in the village pressurizes him to get married, Rafi goes through his camera card. There he finds the photograph of a girl standing in front of the Gateway, smiling. He dispatches the photograph to his mother, he names this imaginary girlfriend - Noorie. Soon enough his mother announces that she is boarding a train to Bombay to meet Noorie in person. The girl in the‘Photograph’ is Miloni, a top ranking student in the national chartered accountancy exam. She is a citizen of another Bombay, the Bombay of the aspirational middle class. In Photograph, these lives intersect - a migrant worker who toils in the big city, and a young girl who toils in the country’s best universities. What starts out as a love story, reveals itself as a journey into India’s deep class divide with all its sadness and humor. Director’s Note The Indian condition is to be torn between tradition and modernity. I became intrigued by these two characters because they are both afflicted by the Indian condition, they are preparing for the future and living in the past. But they are also outsiders in their own worlds. Photograph is the story of these two characters. Both outsiders in their own worlds, who step out and fall into India’s deep class divide. The story and the characters have given me a chance to explore that class divide, and all the humor, sadness, dignity, and corruption that lies in it. In the end dreamers will become realists and realists will become dreamers. 32 Ritesh Batra Director Seher Latif Producer India India Ritesh Batra was born and raised in Mumbai. Seher Latif is an independent producer and casting director based in Mumbai. His short films have been exhibited at various international film festivals and fine arts venues. As a casting director she has worked on a variety of international films like Eat, Pray, Love, Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty, Fox Searchlight’s hit The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel among others and Indian films like Ritesh Batra’s The Lunchbox that premiered at the Cannes International Film Festival 2013 to rave reviews. He was a fellow at the Sundance Writer’s and Director’s Labs. His feature debut The Lunchbox was supported by the Torino Film Lab and premiered at the Cannes Critics’ Week (2013) and has since screened at Telluride, Toronto and Sundance Film Festivals to rave reviews. She currently has two projects under development with director Ritesh Batra under their company PoetiLicense Motion Pictures. The Lunchbox was acquired by Sony Picture Classics and has had a successful run in theatres across the world. Photograph will be Ritesh’s second feature film. PRODUCTION NOTES Production Comapny Production Budget PoeticLicense Motion Pictures Pvt. Ltd. 3A Mandar Building, B Wing, Plot 193, TPS III, Turner Road Bandra West, Mumbai – 400050, INDIA T +91-2239113530 T +91-9820830475 [email protected] € 2.200.000 33 Shadow Land Synopsis In a small town in the south of France, Saïd (18) lives with his obese and sickly mother. If it weren’t for Mayor Santini taking Saïd under his wing after his father died, Saïd would probably be making his living stealing cars like his best friend Jaco. Now he’s got his mind set on a career in the town hall. As the summer festival draws nearer, Santini’s daughter Alaïs comes back to town after three years in an English boarding school. She has grown from a shy little girl into a beautiful young woman. Saïd immediately falls in love with her. Soon, Saïd finds himself torn between his impossible love for the mayor’s daughter and his responsibilities towards Jaco who is drawn to trouble like a moth to a flame. In the midst of this turmoil, Saïd stumbles upon a dark secret that will change the way he looks on this town and Santini forever. In this world, the young are doomed to reap the poisonous harvest of their predecessors. But even if it’s too late to save yourself, you might be able to save the one you love. If you’re willing to pay the price. Director’s Note I visualize a dark romantic drama set during the suffocating heat of high summer. The dust, dirt and ugliness are almost tangible. We can feel the dried up skin of the town’s inhabitants, cracking in the endless drought in a land baked by the sun, where the acid fingers of buried toxic waste work their way up through the parched earth. It is a place that reeks of death, where no one is truly innocent. I am attracted to the way the young generation fights against social and class discrimination, predestination and prejudice. Trapped in a small town, they are suffering from the actions of the previous generation. A generation who achieved power and wealth through corruption and greed. I am interested in the themes of corruption and environmental issues and the world we are preparing for the next generation. I will use an expressionist style and adopt metaphors and symbols to set up the story in a slightly fantasized reality, balancing the surrealism by capturing authentic actors’ performances. 34 Gaëlle Denis Director Co-writer Nathalie Algazi Producer France France Graduated of London’s Royal College of Art in 2000, Gaëlle Denis won a BAFTA and a Cinefondation Cannes selection in 2003 for Fish Never Sleep. In 2004, her short City Paradise was nominated for a BAFTA and won over 50 international awards. Her latest short Crocodile won the best short award in Cannes (Critics’ Week 2014). Her feature projects have been in development with Le Groupe Ouest and Creative England’s CCFL. Shadow Land is inspired by an Italian novel. Gaëlle first began to adapt the book at Torino’s Film Lab in 2012. Nathalie began as a production coordinator for French companies such as Les Films de la Croisade, Aeternam Films and Bonne Pioche. In 2005, she created La Voie Lactée with Marie Sonne-Jensen and François Drouot, upon the idea of gathering European artists and technicians on film projects and creating a network of European CoProducers. She produced 12 shorts by either French or foreign directors. This European approach was rewarded twice at Clermont-Ferrand’s Euro Connection coproduction market (2009 and 2013). Shadow Land will be Gaëlle’s first feature film. Co-Writer: Jakob Beckman, Sweden PRODUCTION NOTES Production Comapny Production Budget La Voie Lactée 39 rue de Torcy, 75018 Paris, France T +33 6 22 05 49 35 [email protected] http://www.lavoielacteeproductions.com € 2.200.000 35 Sweet Home Tennessee Synopsis Irene works as a live-in domestic in a large Southern mansion. She is an immigrant from Poland: educated, irreverent but frail. She loves American music and dreams of swimming in a big blue pool. To shield her teenage daughter from her servile role, Irene puts 16-year-old Agnieszka in the care Joe and Susan Gorski. Things spiral out of control when Joe -- consumed by obsession -- tries to take legal possession of Agnieszka. Desperate, Irene kidnaps Agnieszka, bringing her to the mansion where her worst nightmare comes true – Agnieszka is turned into a titillating diversion for party guests when the host asks her to dive into the pool… Mother-daughter, daughter-mother. Their identities merge as Irene tries to live her dream vicariously through her daughter, while Agnieszka is unknowingly stepping into the shoes of her increasingly untethered mother. Director’s Note In Sweet Home I want to break away from the oversimplified portrayal of the immigrant experience with a focus on honorable folks struggling for survival in a tough world. The world is tough, more so – it is cruel. And the struggle to stand your own ground is not only hard, but deeply confusing. It is this confusion, and the profound crisis of identity that flows from it, that are my primary interest and the focus of the story I tell. Up-rooted, belonging to a different world where she once held a higher status, Irene experiences a crushing assault on her identity: as a woman, a person, and most powerfully a mother, which pushes her dangerously close to the edge of her sanity. In my immigrant experience, the true trial of displacement is emerging from it with any sense of self intact. 36 Sara Murphy Producer Joanna Jurewicz Director USA USA / Poland Born in Poland and now residing in the US, Joanna Jurewicz graduated from the NYU – Tisch School of the Arts Graduate Film Program. Her first short, Shave, was a regional finalist at the Student Academy Awards in 2004. Her second short, Goyta, was selected for the Cinefondation competition at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, aired on ARTE and TVP Kultura, and has won several awards. Her most recent film, Rooms, starring Oscar nominated Marianne Jean-Baptiste, was made as a participant in AFI’s Directing Workshop for Women and won the Student Visionary Award at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival. Sara Murphy produced Land Ho!, premiered at the 2014 Sundance Festival and will be released by Sony Pictures Classics in the summer of 2014. She co-produced John Slattery’s directorial debut God’s Pocket which also premiered at Sundance and was released by IFC. She was an associate producer on Philip Seymour Hoffman’s directorial debut Jack Goes Boating. Sara has been the head of development for Mr. Hoffman’s company, Cooper’s Town for the past six years. Jessica Caldwell Producer USA Sweet Home Tennessee will be Joanna’s first full- length feature film. Jessica Caldwell’s film credits include Rebecca Thomas’s Electrick Children which premiered at the 2012 Berlin Film Festival. She is also in post-production on Stephen Elliott’s Happy Baby. PRODUCTION NOTES Production Comapny Co-Production Comapny Production Budget Sara Murphy T +1-646-226-8456 [email protected] Lukasz Dzieciol Opus Films ul. Łąkowa 29, 90-554 Łódź, Poland T +48 42 634 55 49 [email protected] € 1.000.000 37 The Tattooist Synopsis Maro, the inker, is released from prison where he has spent the last years of his life. He has long since lost faith in himself and the world into which he is now to return. Too much has changed too fast. Tattoos, which in Maro’s days symbolised nonconformity and rebellion, have come to be a mass phenomenon. Maro reopens his old tattoo parlour. Business is relatively slow, at least until Maro is approached by his brash 17-year-old son, Rafo, who is looking to reconnect with his estranged father. Life has offered Maro a second chance to be a parent to his child. However, instead of seizing the opportunity, he embroils Rafo in his plan to execute revenge for past grievances. It is not until the entire situation gets out of hand that Maro realises how much his son means to him… Director’s Note www.pixus.at 38 Every ink tells a story. What is the story of Maro - the Inker? All his life, people have been coming to him and voluntarily subjecting themselves to great pain, all so as to get engraved, so as to get a personal memento for the rest of their days? Like many valuable things in life, inking is painful. And it leaves a scar on the soul. Maro´s entire life is apparently engraved on his body, but while he has “told” thousands of other people’s stories with his ink gun, he keeps his own story buried deep under his skin. I am compelled to confront Maro - a withdrawn, solitary man with his son, whom he has not seen for 12 years. His entire life, the Inker has only cared about tattoos. Inking is all he can do. What needs to happen for Maro to finally learn to trust people and thus be able to come to terms with himself and his past? Is this even possible? The symbolism and social perception of tattoos have changed significantly over the past 25 years. In times of great insecurity the tattoo business is flourishing, tattoos come to symbolize permanence and stability. An ink is a charm which no one can ever take away from you Martin Repka Director co-writer Zuzana Mistríková Producer Slovakia Slovakia / Austria Born in Frankfurt am Main in 1975, Martin Repka graduated from the Film & Television Academy VSMU in Bratislava, and lives with his family in Vienna. He directed several internationally successful short films such as Swimming, The Last Supper and Thieves, which have been presented in hundreds of film festivals such as: Cannes, Oberhausen, Clermont-Ferrand, Munich, New York, Toronto and were awarded with number of prizes, among them 2 Diploma of Merits (IFF Tampere) and the first prize of the Jury (Short Cuts Cologne). His full length feature film debut Return of the Storks was the Slovak National entry for the 80th Academy Awards won the Hessian Screenplay Award and received 5 National Award Nominees in Slovakia. The Tattooist will be Martin’s second full-length feature film. Zuzana Mistríková is the Executive Director of PubRes - Creative Industries Consultancy and Film Production & Distribution Company. She co-produced the Czech and Slovak box office hit Identity Card (2010) and the drama As Never Before (2013). She produced Martin Repka’s latest short film Tiger Fight (2013) and is currently in production of the feature length film Places (2014) and the documentary Wave Against the Shore. Zuzana is the president of the Slovak Independent Producers Association, has been the head of the Slovak film funding program AudioVision (2003-2006) and VicePresident of Slovak Film and Television Academy (2007 – 2013). She was a key player in reforming the Slovak film funding system. Co-Writer: Agda Bavi PRODUCTION NOTES Production Comapny Co-Production Comapny Production Budget PubRes Grösslinova 63 811 09 Bratislava, Slovakia [email protected] www.pubres.sk Bionaut Dělnická 47, 170 00 Praha 7 Czech Republic info@ bionaut.cz www.bionaut.cz € 1.000.000 39 Territoria Synopsis Alain, a Swiss engineer in his fifties, is eagerly awaited in the brand new airport of Nagorno-Karabakh, a selfproclaimed republic, unrecognized by any state. He has to supervise the final preparations for the arrival of the first airplane scheduled for the following week. During his short stay, he is supposed to give Manu, a 13-year-old girl, an envelope from her father. Alain unwittingly becomes the mediator between father and daughter – the envelope contains the money that would allow Manu to buy a ticket for the first plane taking off from there. The days pass, and the arrival of the airplane is pushed back from one week to the next. The arrival of the airplane, the most trivial thing for an airport, becomes utopian in this paradoxical place. Director’s Note It all started with getting to know the place, this territory whose name varies on different maps. The towns and villages carry Russian, Armenian or Turkish names based on the iconographic sources. This self-proclaimed republic is still not recognized by any state, close or far. It’s a kind of a non-place for the rest of the world. The film is constructed on the canvas principle, considering the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh as a basis on which I weave the stories of my main and secondary characters. First, we discover the geographic territory through the eyes of a foreigner. Alain, a man in his fifties, is trapped in this delimited geography. Then we face the physical territory, following the wanderings of Edgar, a child from a local village. Through his walking around, he domesticates the large expanses. Finally, we come to the political territory through the torments of the personal story of Manu, the girl who will be uprooted to join her father abroad. 40 Nora Martirosyan Director Dan Burlac Producer Armenia / France Nora Martirosyan is an artist and a film director. She has directed several award-winning short films, awarded at International Belfort Festival (2003), Cinematexas (2004), Fid Marseille (2007) among others. She is a resident in Villa Medicis, French Academy in Rome for the period of 20132014. Romania Dan Burlac is one of the leading Romanian film producers. His career best includes Cannes’ Camera d’Or 2006 for 12:08 East of Bucharest and Palm d’Or 2007 for 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days. His latest project was co-producing Historia de la Meva Mort that had recently been awarded the Gold Leopard Prize at the 2013 Locarno International Film Festival. JEFF KALOUSDIAN Co-Producer Territoria will be Nora’s first feature film. It received the ARTE International Prize in Cannes’ Atelier (2014). Armenia In 2010, Kalousdian co-produced Here, the first foreign feature film shot entirely on location in Armenia and Nagorno Karabagh. In 2011, Kalousdian establish 20 Years Later Productions in Armenia with the mission of bringing innovative local fiction and documentary stories from the Caucasus and beyond to the world. PRODUCTION NOTES Production Comapny Co-Production Companies Production Budget Heolfilms, France 42 rue Adam de Craponne 34000 Montpellier (France) [email protected] T +0033763199123 0040746242635 www.heolfilms.fr 20 Years Later Productions, Armenia 27/25 Nalbandyan Street, Apt 7 Yerevan, Armenia T +37 498 852 080 Email: [email protected] € 689.000 Niko Films, Germany T +49 30 27 58 28 36 [email protected] http://www.nikofilm.de 41 The Black Pin Synopsis Father Peter is afraid that the universe is indifferent. God no longer intervenes. His wife abandoned him. His son rebels against him. And his mother seldom recognizes him thanks to Alzheimer’s. When Peter becomes an obstacle to a large property sale in his parish, the group of colorful, but also vengeful villagers decide to chase him away. Their creative ways made the entire superstitious village believe that Peter is the cause of all troubles on the peninsula. Their clash escalates at a funeral of a supposed witch that they turn into surreal mayhem. Peter’s faith in people completely vanishes, but his enemies may show kindness when he needs it the most. Director’s Note Two years ago I almost became a misanthrope. After living and studying abroad, I returned home to Montenegro. My aim was to cinematically explore this unique part of the Mediterranean. However, I found myself struggling to accept the reality of life there. The landscape of my childhood had changed drastically. While for the first time, I could fully perceive the mentality of the people in all of its glory. It was unbearable. Then I heard an anecdote about an unpopular priest who was ridiculed at a funeral he conducted. Somehow, this incident gave my feelings a purpose, so the sad and comic story of The Black Pin was born. The process became a search for love and kindness towards people who, with all of their flaws, still have a charming and a noble side to them. I hope to capture their unique spirit truthfully. The story of father Peter can speak to all of us. Sooner or later we all face situations in which we lose our illusions. Those moments that question our life expectations set up by society, religion and culture. 42 Ivan MarinoviĆ Director Montenegro Ivan was born in 1984 in Kotor, Montenegro. He graduated FAMU Film and Television Academy in Prague (MgA degree in film directing) in 2011. He shot several short films, as well as a noted documentary Praise the Sea, Stick to the Shore. He was a co-writer and directing assistant on Ivo Trajkov’s feature film 90 Minutes - The Berlin Project, which was selected for Cameraimage in Poland, and Manaki Brothers in Bitola. The Black Pin is his first full-length feature. The project has won the national film concourse in Montenegro and has been presented at the Berlinale and Sarajevo film festivals in 2013. PRODUCTION NOTES Production Comapny Adriatic Western Montenegro T+382 69 469 314 [email protected] www.adriaticwestern.com Co-Production Comapny Serbia Mina Đukić, Kiselo Dete [email protected] www.kiselodete.com Macedonia Robert Jazadžiski Kaval Film [email protected] www.kavalfilm.com.mk Mina ĐukiĆ Co-Producer Serbia Mina Đukić was born in Sombor, in 1982. In 2008 she co-founded the film company Kiselo Dete. Their first full-length film Tilva Roš premiered on Locarno Film Festival, and won awards at dozens of other festivals worldwide, including Sarajevo Film Festival. She produced and directed short films awarded at national and international film festivals. Her first feature film The Disobedient, had it’s world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival (2014). Jelena MiŜeljiĆ Co-Producer Croatia USA Born in 1987 in Dubrovnik, Croatia. Graduated from Faculty of Drama Arts in Montenegro. She worked on several film projects in Montenegro since 2008. In 2013, she started a film production company Cut-Up. Production Budget € 600.000 43 The Current Love of My Life Synopsis The Current Love of My Life is a contemporary interpretation of the novel “My First Romance” by Sholem Aleichem, the iconic Yiddish author, transferring the plot from 19th century Eastern Europe to present-day United States. Bini is a young Israeli musician living in New York, who is left without a home after the immigration authorities raid the apartment he has been sharing with his unsuccessful band members. Penniless, he pretends to be religious and finds shelter in the home of an ultra-orthodox family in Brooklyn, teaching Hebrew to the youngest son who is about to marry the daughter of a prominent religious family from Jerusalem. Bini quickly realizes that the student couldn’t care less about studying Hebrew and would much rather use his Israeli teacher as a personal assistant. Among other chores, the boy makes him reply to the emails of his Israeli fiancé under his name. Bini then finds himself in the midst of a romantic letter exchange and falls desperately in love with his student’s betrothed. Director’s Note “My First Romance” highlights the gap between social classes typical to the 19th century. Transforming the story to revolve around an Israeli immigrant in modern day New York allows me to address similar gaps that are relevant to our time, as well as additional contemporary issues. For example, the immediacy of the internet vs. the slow communication channels back then, which we associate with old fashioned romance that many are longing for; or the illusive interplay between Israeli and non-Israeli Jews, who feel so close and connected despite their emotional and cultural differences. Sholem Aleichem’s writings somehow remind me of Woody Allen’s films. Whereas the cultural contexts are very different, both artists provide a humorous, compassionate look at their Jewish communities, while uncovering their ludicrous aspects. In this spirit, I aspire to create an IsraeliBrooklynian comedy film that brings together Shalom Aleichem and Woody Allen, the Israeli and Jewish, the secular and religious, laughter and yearning. 44 Talya Lavie Director Israel Talya Lavie studied animation at the Bezalel Art Academy and graduated Summa Cum Laude from the Sam Spiegel Film School in Jerusalem. Her short film Sliding Flora was screened at New York City’s MoMA and in over 40 film festivals worldwide, among them the Berlinale. Her diploma film, The Substitute, received dozens international awards, notably the Audience Award at the Berlinale, the first prize at the Munich International Short Film Festival, and the first prize at the Melbourne International Film Festival. Eitan Mansuri Producer Israel Eitan Mansuri was born in Jerusalem, a graduate of the Sam Spiegel Film School. Through his rich career, he filled a variety of production positions in local and international films. Among his productions as producer are The Congress by Ari Folman (Cannes 2013) and The Cutoff Man by Idan Hubel (Venice 2012). In 2013, Eitan established Spiro Films. Her first feature film, Zero Motivation, premiered at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival’s main competition and won Best Film Award and the femme-centric Nora Ephron Prize. The film opened last month in Israel to rave reviews. The Current Love of My Life will be Talya’s second feature film. PRODUCTION NOTES Production Comapny Production Budget Spiro Films LTD 96 Alenby st. Tel Aviv, 6581303 T +972-3-522-3539 M +972-52-8605360 [email protected] [email protected] € 1.600.000 45 The Swan Synopsis The world is contemporary rural Iceland. For Sól (9) things have been better. Her father is gone, and when her mother has a nervous breakdown, Sól is sent away to live with distant relatives deep in the middle of nowhere. The only person Sól connects to is the mysterious farmhand Jón (33). By day he works like a horse and by night he writes ferociously in his journals. “Words are loyal, unlike people” he tells Sól, making her feel that finally, here is someone worth being loyal to. But Sól has competition. The farmers’ daughter Ásta (23) has a claim on Jón as well, and an angry one. Sól is convinced that Jón is her soulmate, but his behaviour towards her is becoming increasingly transgressive. And when it’s revealed that Ásta is pregnant with Jón’s child and that they’ve been romantically involved since Ásta was a young teenager and Jón 10 years older, Sól has found herself in the middle of a drama she can hardly grasp. Director’s Note The Swan is a novel that has haunted me for years. When I first read it I had the uncanny feeling that the book was reading me and not the other way around. That it was somehow written about – or for –my darkest fears and dreams. In retrospect it was the experience of reading this book that made me want to make films. This film, in particular. The Swan is the story of a young person discovering the fluctuating border between cruelty and love, and the capacity for both within us all. It’s a story about human beings lost, and found, in the nature around as well as their own heart’s nature. Rural Iceland is a place where you feel constantly at risk of disappearing in the vastness. Our guide? A vulnerable 9-year old from the sea. When I myself was nine, my life as I knew it fell apart. I know where Sól is coming from and where she has to go. It can be blissful to forget the things that hurt, Sól’s mother tells her, but what Sól learns is that willful forgetting can make a monster of you. We have to remember, we have to keep our eyes open. There’s an angel and a monster in us all, and we need them both to survive. 46 Ása Hjörleifsdóttir Director Iceland Born in Reykjavík in 1984, Ása Hjörleifsdóttir is a graduate of the Columbia University Film MFA program. Before going to film school, Ása studied English and French Literature at the University of Iceland and La Sorbonne - Paris IV. Ása has written and directed a number of short films, most notably her awardwinning diploma film Ástarsaga, which has screened at almost 40 festivals including Clermont Ferrand, and was a finalist for the 2013 Student Academy Awards. The Swan will be Ása’s first feature film. It has received script funding from the Iceland Film Centre, and was selected for the 2014 Berlinale Talent Project Market, where it received one of three VFF Talent Highlight Pitch Awards. Hlin Birgitta Producer Producer Johannesdottir Bjornsdottir Iceland Iceland Vintage Pictures was established in 2011 by producers Hlin Johannesdottir and Birgitta Bjornsdottir. Hlin worked for 11 years at Zik Zak Filmworks (Iceland) where she produced, line produced and coordinated projects such as Dagur Kari’s Noi Albinoi, The Good Heart and Runar Runarsson’s Volcano. Birgitta graduated as producer with distinction from the London Film School in 2010, and after graduation worked at Zik Zak on various productions. Vintage recently completed Land Ho! (Sundance 2014 premiere, sold to Sony Pictures Classics) as Co-Producers; This is Sanlitun by Robert Douglas (premiered at TIFF 2013). Vintage Pictures has produced several award-winning short films, including Ástarsaga by Ása Hjörleifsdottir. PRODUCTION NOTES Production Comapny Co-Production Vintage Pictures Rauðagerði 61 108 Reykjavík [email protected] http://vintagepictures.is Unafilm Bozener Straße 13-14 D – 10825 Berlin [email protected] www.unafilm.de Production Budget Surprise Alley 29 rue Meslay 75003 Paris [email protected] http://surprisealley.com € 1.354.000 47 Pitching 2014 Gabriele Brunnenmeyer Dorit Rabinyan Pitching Coach Pitching Moderator Germany Israel Having worked as a journalist and film critic, Gabriele Brunnenmeyer has act as an artistic adviser for the Edinburgh based training for writers and directors Moonstone International. Rabinyan’s two novels Persian Brides (Canongate, 1997) and Strand Of A Thousand Pearls (Random House, 2002) were both international bestsellers and translated into 15 languages. She has developed the East-WestCoproduction Market Connecting Cottbus at the FilmFestival Cottbus, which she was running as Artistic Director till the end of 2010. In addition, Rabinyan wrote a children’s book and a television script for Israel commercial television, Shuli’s Fiancé, which won the Israeli Film Academy Award. Since 2005 she has worked for the Kuratorium Junger Deutscher Film, a funding body for first and second films by German young talents, as free lanced project and script advisor. Furthermore, she workes as a consultant for script development, packaging and project presentation for Berlinale and Sarajevo Talents, Robert Bosch Coproduction Prize and others. Currently, she is managing the BLS Südtirol Alto Adige coproduction event. Since May 2013, she is the Head of Studies for the MEDIA supported training program for emerging producers, the Italy based Maia workshops. 48 She has been awarded the Yitzhak Vinner Prize (1996), The Jewish Wingate Quarterly Award (1999), the Prime Minister`s Prize (2000) and The Literary Acum Award (2008). Borderlife, Rabinyan’s third novel was recently published in Israel to rave reviews. She writes a weekly column in the Haaretz Newspaper Literary Supplement and lives in Tel-Aviv. Program Friday, July11, Mishkenot Sha’ananim Moderator: Ms. Dorit Rabinyan 10:00-10:30 Greetings Noa Regev Director, Jerusalem Film Festival Yair stern Counsel for Arts and Culture, Israel National Lottery Fund Renen Schorr Founding Director, Sam Spiegel School 10:30-13:00 Projects Presentation 13:00-14:00 Lunch Break 14:00-14:30 Dancing Arabs in Jerusalem Eran Riklis, Director and Sayed Kashua, Writer Yoram Honig Director of the Jerusalem Film and Television Fund 14:30-16:00 Projects Presentation Saturday, July 12 9:00-14:00 Speed Dating in Mishkenot Sha’ananim for the Lab participants and guests: producers, world sales agents and distributers. 19:30 Closing and Award Ceremony St. Andrews Scottish Guesthouse (by invitation only) 49 Decision Makers Michael Eckelt Caroline Banjo and Carole Scotta Riva Films, Germany www.rivafilm.de [email protected] Haut et Court, France [email protected] [email protected] www.hautetcourt.com Ilan Girard Marc Baschet Frank Hoeve ASAP Films, France [email protected] Baldr Film, The Netherlands [email protected] http://baldrfilm.nl Sebastian Beffa Cedomir Kolar Film Distribution, France [email protected] www.filmsdistribution.com ASAP Films, France [email protected] Antoine de Clermont Tonnerre Titus Kreyenberg MACT Productions, France [email protected] wwww.mactproductions.com 50 Arsam International, France [email protected] Unafilm, Germany [email protected] www.unafilm.de Elie Meirovitz Michael Weber EZ Films, France www.ez-films.com [email protected] The Match Factory, Germany [email protected] www.the-match-factory.com Ewa Puszczynska Riina Spørring Zachariassen Opus Film, Poland [email protected] http://opusfilm.com Windelov/Lassen ApS, Denmark [email protected] www.windelovlassen.com Jean- Christophe Simon Films Boutique , Germany/ France www.filmsboutique.com [email protected] Members of the 2013 Jury 51 Pitching Events 2012, 2013 Participant Iddo Soskolne and producer Misha Jaari (Israel - Finland) Jury member Christian Jeune (France) Participant Laszlo Nemes and producer Gabor Sipos (Hungary) with decision maker Felix Eisel (Germany) Participant Diego Mondaca (Bolivia) with decision maker Oliver Naumann (Austria) 52 Participant Morgan Simon and producer Guillaume Dreyfus (France) Participant Maximiliano Schonfeld and producer Barbara Francisco (Argentine) with decision maker Eli Meirovitz Speed Dating session in Mishkenot Sha’ananim Participant Junfeng Boo and producer Raymond Phathanavirangoon (Singapore) Jury member Vibeke Windeløv (Denmark) Participant Yehonatan Indursky and producer Talia Kleinhendler (Israel) Participant Shimon Shai and producer Gal Greenspan (Israel) Participant Dani Rosenberg and producer Eilon Ratzkovsky (Israel) Participant Malik Vitthal (USA) Participant Laszlo Nemes and producer Gabor Sipos (Hungary) 53 Award Ceremony 2012 Members of the 2012 Jury Nadav Lapid and producers Talia Kleinhendler and Osnat Handelsman- Keren (Israel) receive the 2012 Beracha Foundation Award of $30,000 for The Kindergarten Teacher Philippe Lacôte (Ivory Coast) and producer Claire Gadea (France) receive the 2012 Beracha Foundation Award of $50,000 for Run 54 Participant Malik Vitthal speaks on behalf of the 2012 edition participants Chaim Elbaum receives the Jerusalem Film Fund Prize (2012) Award Ceremony 2013 Veronica Kedar (Israel) receives the Beracha Foundation Award of $50,000 for Family. With the Chair of the 2013 Jury, Paulo Branco Dani Rosenberg and producer Eilon Ratzkovsky (Israel) receive the 2013 Beracha Foundation Award of $30,000 for The Vanishing Soldier 55 Directors Renen Schorr Founding Director Renen Schorr has been a key figure in the Israeli film arena since the late 70’s as a film director, educator and Israeli film activist. Nearly two decades ago, Schorr founded the internationally acclaimed Sam Spiegel Film & Television School, Jerusalem and has been its director ever since. Under his leadership, the school has become a catalyst in the renaissance of Israeli cinema, winning the world’s Best Film School Award 16 times, and boasting some 180 retrospectives in such international film festivals and museums as MOMA (1996) and Berlin (2004). Schorr was chosen by his colleagues as President of GEECT, the association of 70 European film schools (2000-2004) and led to the entry of Israel to the European Film Acadamy. Schorr has pioneered major developments in the Israeli public film funds as one of the three initiators and founders of The Israel Film Fund (1978) and the initiator of the New Fund for Film & Television (NFCT, 1993). In 2008, Schorr created The Jerusalem Film and Television Fund- Israel’s first regional fund, serving as its first chairman. In that year he also initiated the opening of two new cinematheques south and north of Tel Aviv – in Holon and Herzliya. 56 In 2013 Schoor was the creator and curator of a full-length feature documentary Footsteps in Jerusalem – a tribute film by the Sam Spiegel School to David Perlov – forefather of Israeli documentary cinema and his revolutionary film In Jerusalem, 50 years after the film’s debut. The film was screened simultaneously in 50 locations worldwide including cinematheques, museums and film schools in 41 countries. Schorr is a director-producer whose critically acclaimed full-length feature Late Summer Blues (1987), won the Israeli Academy Award for Best Film of the Year and became one of the most successful Israeli cult movies of all times. His second feature-length film as a director, The Loners (2007) was nominated for 11 Israeli academy awards. It won the Best Actor award and participated in numerous international film festivals. Ifat Tubi Associate Director Born in 1974, Ifat Tubi is a graduate of the Tel Aviv University, where she majored in Social Science and Communication Studies. The directors would especially like to thank Dov Baharav, Chairman of the school’s board of directors, for his support and to Avishay David Kahana, the school’s graduate who took part in creating the Lab from its very inception. Between 2004 and 2011, Tubi was the director of the International Relations & Resource Development Department at the Cameri Theatre, the municipal theatre of Tel Aviv and the biggest theatre in Israel, with an overall responsibility for the theatre’s foreign relations, including company touring and guest performances. During her work at the Cameri, Tubi produced the Tel Aviv International Theatre Festival, the first international theatre festival in the country, hosting major theatre companies from all around the world. Together with her work at the theatre, she produced the annual event organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Hanoch Levin Institute of Israeli Drama, IsraDrama 2007 and IsraDrama 2008 – which brought Israeli drama to hundreds major theatres and festival directors. Since November 2011, she has been the Associate Director of the Jerusalem International Film Lab. 57 Our Thanks The Jerusalem International Film Lab thanks the following organizations and individuals for their generosity and support Jerusalem Municipality Mayor Nir Barkat, Nava Disenchik Michal Shalem Ministry of Foreign Affairs Rafi Gamzou, Ofra Ben Yaakov, Uri Amitai, Vered Heller Jerusalem Development Authority Moty Hazan, Anat Tzur, Udi Ben Dror The Goethe Institute in Tel Aviv Dr. Wolf Iro, Amos Dolav, Drorit Zilberberg The Jerusalem Film & Television Fund Yoram Honig, Galia Altaratz The Sam Spiegel Film & Television School Dov Baharav, Yaki Har-Tal, Rami Shemesh, Keren Ben Ari, First Year Production Track Students Special thanks to Ariel Richter National Lottery Fund Uzi Dayan, Dolin Melnik, Yigal Molad Hayo, Yair Stern, Judith Guetta The Beracha Foundation Dr. Tali Yariv-Mashal, Nomi Dror The Sam Spiegel Foundation, New York Judge Raya S. Dreben, David Bottoms, Adam Spiegel, Michael Freedman The Jerusalem Foundation Mark Soser, Ruth Cheshin, Eyal Sher, Danny Mimran Mishkenot Sha’ananim Moti Schwartz, Rita Kramer, Raya Koval-Umansky Mona and Machneyuda Restaurants Asaf Granit Colony Restaurant Noam Rizi St. Andrew’s Scottish Guesthouse Jerusalem Film Festival Noa Regev, Elad Samorzik, Elad Goldman, Eti Tsicko, Miri Capiluto The Israel Film Fund Katriel Schory, David Lipkind 58 Special thanks to Violeta Bava, Georges Goldenstern, Olivier Père, Anthony Bergman Lab’s Staff Producer Raya Shuster Webmaster Ariel Richter The Sam Spiegel Film & Television School, Jerusalem Head of Finance Rami Shemesh International Relations Roberta Breiter July’s Events Producers Tamar Kay, Gal Tveryai Production Assistants Shira Florentin, Maya Kessel Performance Gaya Feldheim – Schorr Quintet The Jerusalem Lab’s Book of Projects Chief Editors Renen Schorr, Ifat Tubi Graphic Design Adraba (Sivan Oppenheim & Shiraz Wolman) Photography Yossi Zwecker, Juan Ferrari, Talya Lavie, Ása Hjörleifsdóttir, Yoshi Heimrath, Itiel Zion, Vardi Kahana Proofreading Ariel Richter 59 The Jerusalem International Film Lab 60