INDIAN DOCUMENTARY PRODUCERS’ ASSOCIATION
IDPA UPDATE June 5th 08
223, Famous Cine Building, 20 Dr. E. Moses Road, Mahalaxmi, Mumbai 400 001
Tel: 24920757, 2496 1020
e-mail : idpaindia@gmail.com
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On & Off 4 Festival Creativo de Curtas in Spain
The On & Off 4 Festival Creativo de Curtas is a film festival dedicated to short films. It will take place in Ribadeo (Spain) from the 29th of July to the 3rd of August. The festival is going international this year, and they are looking for short films from India. The call for entries for the festival is open. Please go to their site www.festivalonoff.com/2008 and check to see if your film can go. The deadline for entries is 30 June, 2008.
The person to contact is Marcos Rodríguez, On & Off 4 Festival Creativo de Curtas. His contact details: info@festivalonoff.com and +0034 986 189.
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Asia-Europe Showcase 2008
The Asia-Europe showcase 2008, will be held by the NFDC from June 2nd to the 13th, 2008 in collaboration with Alliance Française, Italian Cultural Institute, Japan Information and Culture Center and the Embassies of China, Korea and India.
The Showcase will provide a unique opportunity to view cultures in Asia and Europe through the medium of film.
The theme for this year's Showcase is Cultures in Motion ("Crossing Borders"). This is a broad theme, including physical motion, such as immigration / emigration, as well as internal changes within cultures, such as modernity versus tradition, or even changes in ways of thinking.
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JOHN & JANE cinema release
After worldwide success, “JOHN & JANE” releases in India.
After screening in over 50 festivals worldwide, receiving three prestigious international awards and a National Film Award, Indian documentary JOHN & JANE finally hits the silver screen at PVR Cinemas in Mumbai and Delhi on June 6, as part of the Cinemas of India program by NDFC.
JOHN & JANE, an unusual feature-length documentary film about young Indians that answer American 1-800 numbers in a Mumbai call centre, is an astonishing look at the souls of the outsourced. Shot on 35mm and composed with unsettling grace, this futuristic documentary finds an entirely original and fitting language to express the eerie dislocation of virtual work. The people’s lives it depicts are real, but the film's approach gives those lives the scope of speculative fiction.
JOHN & JANE was the ‘No. 1 pick’ at the Toronto International Film Festival, according to Canada's largest daily newspaper, The Toronto Star. Picked up for world sales by Cinetic Media, the company responsible for the success of films like Fahrenheit 911 and Super Size Me, JOHN & JANE was acquired for US distribution by HBO Films. This is the first time HBO has ever acquired an Indian film.
Director Ashim Ahluwalia, was awarded a European Media Arts Award, the Director’s Guild of America Jury Award and a Maysles Brothers Award at the Belfast Film Festival. Championed by controversial American documentarists Michael Moore and Errol Morris, the film has earned glowing reviews in the New York Times, BBC, Premiere Magazine, The Guardian and The Hollywood Reporter.
ART ASIA PACIFIC described JOHN & JANE as “a potent blend of stylized cinematography and humanist reportage.” and Hollywood’s influential entertainment magazine, Variety, described JOHN & JANE as “Sophisticated, Highly controlled… Sheer elegance”.
According to director Ashim Ahluwalia, ‘We were amazed at the response. As a filmmaker of an odd little Indian independent film, I can’t really ask for more.’
JOHN & JANE shows in Mumbai from June 6 onwards, at 8 PM at PVR Juhu. It shows in Delhi from June 13 onwards at PVR Gurgaon.
More information at www.john-and-jane.com
For further information, please contact Sharad Kalawar at (+91) 9833931866 or sharad.futureeast@gmail.com.
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IFFS Film Exchange Program
The IFFS Film Exchange Program invites Indian film makers to send short fiction and documentary films to include in this project. Please read the note below, and if you are interested, please send the DVDs of your films to Premendra Mazumder at the following address with a line of confirmation that you would like them to include the film in the program on a purely non-commercial basis.
Premendra Mazumder
Aakash Ganga, Vivekananda Place
Barasat, Kolkata 700124
Ph: 9830140517
email: <pmnet@vsnl.net>
The International Federation of Film Societies (IFFS) brings together the film societies of the world for the common aim of facilitating and promoting the exhibition and appreciation of cinematic works.
The Federation has a high profile among film organizations and festivals in the world. Its President is the noted Italian director Gianni Amelio (the great Greek film director Theo Angelopoulos was an ex-President), and the Vice-President is Paolo Minuto, a distinguished film scholar from Italy.
In recent years, many Asian countries (India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan, Mongolia, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand) have become active members of IFFS. One of the projects initiated by them involves groups of member countries sourcing and compiling films, and exchanging them with members of other groups.
Rationale for the Film Exchange Program
The members of the IFFS believe that many worthwhile films (both long and short) produced by the member countries are not accessible to other countries. Only films which have won prizes at major film festivals tend to get international distribution, sales or exhibition. As film is an international language and medium, and a creative work, it deserves a broader exposure. Specifically, the IFFS Film Exchange Program aims to:
Broaden the scope for cultural exchange (through the film medium) among the countries of the world, through the extensive contacts and network of the IFFS.
Increase the opportunities for members of the film societies of the three member groups to see samples of good quality cinematic works which are not available through normal channels, commercial or otherwise.
Enable filmmakers from member groups to engage with each other, with the hope that such contacts will lead to beneficial exchange and provide inspiration for further creativity.
Nature of Films to be exchanged
- Fiction and non-fiction films, any genre
- Short films (below 60 mins in length)
- Feature films (unlimited length).
- Films whose original language is not English should be subtitled in English
Selection Criteria
For the first exchange program, no limit is set on the year of production.
Choice is up to the country representative, but should incorporate a basic aspect like reasonably good production qualities suitable for exhibition to film literate audiences, especially non-native.
The selected works should be representative of the quality of cinematic output of the country.
A secondary consideration should be that the works should illuminate the socio-cultural life of the country.
Film Format
Films shot in any format, but submitted in DVD format for the purpose of the exchange.
Modus Operandi
The film compilations will be made available to bona fide members of IFFS, i.e. the film societies' officers, who will then arrange to show the works to their societies' members in their own countries.
A new compilation of suitable titles should be made for each year.
The actual exchange of the film packages will be done by the country representatives themselves, but the co-ordinator of the program will monitor the dispatch and receipt of the film packages among the IFFS members.
Procedures / Duties of Country Reps
1. Each country member of the Asian group has a designated person who will be responsible for sourcing, selecting and compiling the films:
Bangladesh – Golam Rabbany Biplob
India – Premendra Mazumder
Indonesia – Lalu Roisamri
Malaysia – Wong Tuck Cheong
Mongolia – Zorigt E
Nepal – Rajesh Gongaju
Pakistan – Hasan Zaidi
Philippines – Tikoy Aguiluz Amable
Singapore – Gavin Lo
Sri Lanka – Ashley Ratnavibhushana
Thailand – Chalida Uabumrungjit
Program Co-ordinator Asia – Wong Tuck Cheong
2. The country representative will select and compile up to 20 titles and decide on the combination of fiction/non-fiction/shorts/feature films.
3. He will provide suitable information and credits for each work viz title, director, running time, year of prod; plus a synopsis.
Permissions, Rights and Benefits
As this program is strictly non-profit and established for the purpose of generating a greater appreciation and understanding of cultural and creative works across nations and borders, no fee is paid by IFFS to the producers, directors or rights holders, who by agreeing to cooperate in this project will be making a contribution to international cultural exchange.
The resultant screening of the selected works by the members of IFFS to their own members thus ensures the greatest proliferation of cultural benefit and enlightenment to peoples of all creeds and colours across the world – works which would otherwise remain unknown, unseen and unappreciated.
Therefore, the country representative will secure the necessary rights or consent from whoever holds the legal rights to the works selected for inclusion in the program. The film societies' officers who receive the film compilations will pledge that the films will only be used for exhibition in their member societies' programs, and not for any other purpose.
Furthermore, the President or Vice-President of IFFS will acknowledge in their annual reports the inclusion and use of the selected works in the member societies' programs.
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Venice International Film Festival
I am the film correspondent/consultant for India on behalf of the 65th Venice International Film Festival (August 27-September 6,2008), organised by the Venice Biennale.
I am in charge of the pre-selection of Indian films (feature, shorts and documentaries) eligible for the competing/non-competing sections.
I would like to contact documentary/short filmmakers willing to submit their work for selection at the Venice festival.
Would you please let me have some information about new works and/or give my e-mail ID to those willing to contact me? I will deeply appreciate your courtesy.
The 2008 regulations may be downloaded from the festival website, <www.labiennale.org>, section Cinema.
Films must be completed after September 15, 2007, be preferably world premieres, not presented at any International film festival or at least not screened outside India, not exhibited on internet, relevant and innovative debut films.
There will be two sections for docs and shorts:
- A section for full-length features and documentaries (non competitive)
- a competing section for shorts (only fiction and animation films, not exceeding 30 minutes).
All materials should arrive by mid June; detailed information about the films should be first sent to my e-mail id. A screener of the film would be welcome. My Email ID isCecilia.Cossio@labiennale.org
Best regards,
Cecilia Cossio
La Biennale di Venezia Settore Cinema
65. MOSTRA INTERNAZIONALE D’ARTE CINEMATOGRAFICA
Ca’ Lolin - San Marco 2893, 30124 Venezia
Email: Cecilia.Cossio@labiennale.org
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The 35th International Festival of Sustainable Development Films
ekotopfilm 2008
Ekotopfilm in Bratislava Oct. 20-26, 2008
The 35th International Festival of Sustainable Development Films - ekotopfilm 2008 will be held the Capital City of the Slovak Republic, Bratislava in October 20 – 26, 2008
The films and video programs are evaluated in the following categories (suggested entry length is given in the brackets):
1. Popular -scientific - science and technology (60 minutes)
2. Nature, natural science (60 minutes)
3. Documentaries (60 minutes)
4. Educational, instructive (30 minutes)
5. Current affairs (30 minutes)
6. Video clips, short feature, advertisement, promotion (15 minutes)
7. Children and youth (30 minutes)
Participation Conditions:
- The entries may be submitted by directors, producers, writers, film and TV companies, TV academies, international and national organizations, institutions and individuals.
- Only entries produced after January 1, 2006 shall be accepted for the international contest. This limitation, however, does not apply for those entries to be screened off the competition. Entries are not allowed to be submitted to ekotopfilm 2008 if submitted in previous festival years. Participation at other festival is not a limitation. The number of submitted titles is not limited.
- The length of the submitted entry should not exceed the length of 60 minutes.
- There is no entry fee for the submission of entries or personal participation.
- All entries must be submitted either on DVD. DVDs must be in PAL or NTSC format without coding in order to be used for translating purposes.
- A Properly filled entry form with all required data, together with the entry must be delivered to the festival address by latest July 31, 2008.
- Entry forms for personal participation shall be sent by September 30, 2008 to the contact address.
For further information Contact:
Information, entry forms and scripts or personal participation forms, should be sent to the following address:
Ekotopfilm agency
Zadunajska Cesta 12
851 01 Bratislava, Slovak Republic
Tel/Fax: +421 2 6353 0095, +421 2 6353 0336
Email: ekotopfilm@ekotopfilm.sk
Web: www.ekotopfilm.sk
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