What should you not miss at the East Doc Platform? Here is a selection of the highlights from the open program that will take place from Friday 25th to Thursday 31st March at the French Institute in Prague.
EXTENDED REALITY AND MAFIAN TV SERIES
Tuesday, March 29
Lecture by Oriane Hurard: Producing XR - Back then, now and future
17:00–18:00
Conference Room, French Institute in Prague
facebook event
What does it mean to be a producer in XR nowadays? Technology-driven narratives are subject to constant changes as the hardware, platforms, networks, funding systems and associated opportunities are changing all the time. Sometimes it is like a ship full of innovations, hopes, and potentials for real change in search of a harbor. What was it like to produce XR content back then, how is it now and how might it be in the future? Not only have workflows, structures, and job profiles changed massively. New technologies raised questions on which content is produced by and for whom and how it is distributed. This lecture leads into the daily business, thoughts and challenges of Oriane Hurard as a senior producer at Atlas V.
Wednesday, March 30
Case Study: Producing Series for Netflix
15:00 – 16:15
Conference Room, French Institute in Prague
facebook event
Vendetta: Truth, Lies and the Mafia is an Italian six-part Netflix documentary series (released in 2021) about the people battling organized crime in Sicily. Meeting producers of the series Davide Gambino we explore the success story of the series in terms of collaboration with one the most privileged partners in the world. What was the path to reach the platform? Is it possible to produce docu-series in the local language? What was the role of Italian Doc Screenings?
Sunday, March 27
Screening + Discussion: Tales of a Toy Horse
(dir. Ulyana Osovska, Denys Strashnyy, UA, EE, 2021, 76 mins)
16:30 – 18:30
Kino 35, French Institute in Prague
Entry: Voluntary donation – support Ukraine
FB event
Ticket on GoOut
Directors of the movie Tales of a Toy Horse Ulyana Osovska and Denys Strashnyy remain in Kyiv in the midst of the war. All proceeds from the entrance fee will be donated to Ukrainian filmmakers. The screening will be followed by a debate on activism and volunteering with invited guests. The film will be screened with English subtitles.
An intimate and poetic cinema verite with animated interludes reveals the philosophy of life of an old monk and artist, who for many years keeps his monastic vow to find something good in every day. Combining spiritual life with social activism since 2014, he has taken multiple trips to deliver humanitarian aid to Donbas, where his vow is challenged by the war-torn reality.
Tuesday, March 29
Screening + Discussion: This Rain Will Never Stop
(dir. Alina Gorlova, UA, LV, DE, QA, 2020, 102 mins)
18:30 – 20:45
Kino 35, French Institute in Prague
Entry: Voluntary donation – support Ukraine
FB event
Tickets on GoOut
Director Alina Gorlova stays in Kiev with fellow filmmakers, helping people in need and documenting the current situation. All proceeds from the entrance fee will be donated to support their cause. The film will be screened with both English and Czech subtitles. The screening will be followed by a debate on war-to-war migration, double standards of migration and other topics.
This Rain Will Never Stop takes the audience on a powerful, visually arresting journey through humanity’s endless cycle of war and peace. The film follows 20-year-old Andriy Suleyman as he tries to secure a sustainable future while navigating the human toll of armed conflict. From the Syrian civil war to strife in Ukraine, Andriy’s existence is framed by the seemingly eternal flow of life and death.
Thursday, March 31
Screening + Introduction: The Earth Is Blue as an Orange
(dir. Iryna Tsilyk, UA, LT, 2020, 74 mins)
21:00 – 22:30
Kino 35, French Institute in Prague
Entry: Voluntary donation – support Ukraine
FB event
Tickets on GoOut
A screening of the award-winning film by Ukrainian director Iryna Tsilyk, who stays in Ukraine with her child and reports on current events. All proceeds from the entrance fee will be donated to Iryna. The film (screened with both English and Czech subtitles) will be accompanied by an introduction.
Single mother Anna and her four children live in the front-line war zone of Donbas, Ukraine. While the outside world is made up of bombings and chaos, the family is managing to keep their home as a safe haven, full of life and full of light. Every member of the family has a passion for cinema, motivating them to shoot a film inspired by their own life during a time of war. The creative process raises the question of what kind of power the magical world of cinema could have during times of disaster. How to picture war through fiction? For Anna and the children, transforming trauma into a work of art is the ultimate way to stay human.
MARC ISAACS: SCREENING + MASTERCLASS
Friday, March 25
Screening: The Filmmaker's House
(dir. Marc Isaacs, UK, 2020, 75 mins)
19:30 – 21:00
Kino 35, French Institute in Prague
facebook event
The film starts out as a classic documentary, but the viewer gradually gets the feeling of watching a scripted film. The theme of hospitality—both topical and important but hardly spectacular—is given an unexpected twist at the end that turns the entire film upside down. Isaacs thus criticizes the predictability of commercial documentaries; in contrast to the trend of tailoring facts to media formats, he presents fiction driven by authenticity. He shows how complex authorship can be—and that it is precisely what produces quality.
Saturday, March 26
Masterclass by Marc Isaacs: The Art of Provocation
10:00 – 11:30
Kino 35, French Institute in Prague
facebook event
Using specific extracts from his body of work as examples, Marc Isaacs will discuss the importance of provocation in his filmmaking process. By interrogating what a documentary is and can be, he will demonstrate how his ideas are conceived and developed and how scenes are formed. Isaacs will encourage a reflection on the balance between intervention and chance and examine how to plan for spontaneity. When and why is it necessary to stage reality and how do we avoid predictability in our filmmaking endeavors?
Saturday, March 26
Screening: 1970
(dir. Tomasz Wolski, prod. Anna Gawlita / Kijora Film, PL, 2021, 71 mins)
19:00 – 20:30
Kino 35, French Institute in Prague
facebook event
When protests broke out in Communist Poland in late 1970, a crisis team gathered in Warsaw. Soon after the militia made use of their batons. Shots were fired. Through archival recordings and animations, viewers are able to observe various power mechanisms. The film 1970 is a story about a rebellion but told from the perspective of the oppressors.
Sunday, March 27
A Dialogue Between Tomasz Wolski and Anna Gawlita: Be a Documentary Maker and Survive
17:00 – 18:30
Conference Room, French Institute in Prague
facebook event
Films can be made with three trucks of lights, the best equipment, with a dozen or more people and several assistants. But they can also be made with a minimal team, even two people. Is it possible to survive in the film industry working this way? Won't the quality of the film suffer? How is it to perform several roles at once? Is it possible to do things differently? What are the pros and cons? On the example of our films: Festival, Horse Riders, An Ordinary Country and 1970 we will talk about our cooperation. Additionally, using the example of 1970, we will tell why historical cinema appeared in our filmography.
PANEL DEBATES - AUSTRIA, GREEN FILMING AND FESTIVALS AFTER COVID
Monday, March 28
Panel Discussion: Introducing the Austrian film industry
14:00 – 15:30
Kino 35, French Institute in Prague
facebook event
Industry panel presenting the Austrian documentary landscape. Leading representatives of the country's documentary industry will explain the co-production, funding and distribution opportunities with neighboring CEE countries. Panelists: Barbara Pichler (KGP Filmproduktion), Karin Schiefer (Austrian Film Commission), Eva Sangiorgi (Viennale). Moderated by Marion Schmidt (DAE – Documentary Association of Europe).
Wednesday, March 30
Green Filming: How to Make Films Sustainably
16:00 – 17:00
Kino 35, French Institute in Prague
facebook event
More and more filmmakers are becoming aware that filmmaking can have a significant impact on the environment and the locations in which it takes place. The term 'Green Filming' has become established for the whole process of crews trying to film sustainably, reduce air travel and document their carbon footprint. It is no longer just the efforts of foreign filmmakers. Local filmmakers are also starting to follow this trend. In a panel discussion featuring, among others, the director of The Ants and the Grasshopper Raj Patel and the creative team of the Slovak documentary The Sailor, filmmakers will share their experiences of sustainable filmmaking - how did this choice influence the creative process? And can we expect the film industry in general to be more responsible on environmental issues in the future? Panelists: Raj Patel, Lise Lense-Møller, Lucia Kašová, Nazarij Kľujev, Katarína Krnáčová. Moderated by Ivana Formanová (IDF).
Wednesday, March 30
Panel Discussion: Festivals 2.0: How to Approach the Audience in the Post-COVID Era
17:30 – 18:30
Kino 35, French Institute in Prague
facebook event
No sector of the film industry has remained unaffected by the pandemic, film festivals not excluded. What is their future as platforms for distributing films that audiences will not see elsewhere, and as unique venues for direct encounters between filmmakers and visitors? Audience habits are changing due to VoD platforms and the necessary shift of many festivals to virtual environments. Individual festivals have to respond to this and each one does it in a slightly different way. In his introductory speech, Petr Szczepanik from the Department of Film Studies of the Faculty of Arts of Charles University will present the audience surveys he is currently working on. This will be followed by a panel discussion with representatives of Visegrad festivals, who will discuss their ways of coping with the difficult situation and their plans for future editions: Martin Horyna (Karlovy Vary IFF), Barbara Orlicz-Szczypuła (Krakow Film Festival), Enikő Gyureskó (Verzio International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival). Moderated by Tomáš Poštulka (One World). The panel is organized in cooperation with Film New Europe and supported by the International Visegrad Fund.
