BE SHORT NOW!

synopsis: 2020 has definitely been a disruptive year for the short film festival ecosystem. The unexpected outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in March has forced the vast majority of organisations to postpone, move online or even cancel long time scheduled events. Many festival organisers immediately managed to quickly and successfully respond to this new situation and to adapt their events to an all online reality. Others, in order to make a hybrid or “on-site” version a viable option, chose to postpone the festivals hoping in more favourable epidemiological conditions from August onwards. Unfortunately, as the pandemic’s situation keeps evolving, organisers of events set to happen in the last three months of the year once again have had to face worse sanitary conditions. These rapid changes have created new challenges and issues that festival teams had to tackle, such as health safety measures or rethinking schedules and programming for a new event format. Although uncertainty for the upcoming 2021 season is still very much present and real, how will organisers prepare for it? How will past experiences and recently learnt expertise help shape the future short film festivals? What form will “real-life” events take? How will organisers be able to provide safe spaces? And at what cost? Will hybrid festivals still be prominent in the near future instead? And what does that mean for the film curators and distribution sector? Festivals of the Present, Festivals of the Future aims to answer to all these and other questions on the organisational issues, changes and challenges that the short film festival ecosystem is about to face in a post-pandemic world.

moderator: Emilia Mazik (Festival Director, Short Waves Festival)

panelists: Eroll Bilibani (Head of DokuLab, Dokufest), Lars Henrik Gass (Festival Director, Internationale Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen), Nina Rodrigues Lima (Director of Programming, Guanajuato International Film Festival)

synopsis: Where there’s a will there’s a way. At least in theory. The path to a green festival comes with a lot of requirements. Many of the existing certifications are granted in stages, others are already outdated or designed for businesses or one-time events. Thus, a growing number of festivals in Austria are joining forces to adapt existing regulations. 2020 would have been the first year with a green strategy for Vienna Shorts. Festival co-director Daniel Ebner talks about goals, partial successes, and challenges.

moderator: Emilia Mazik (Talking Shorts)

panelists: Daniel Ebner (Vienna Shorts Festival)

synopsis: The transition to a greener festival scene requires substantial investment and long-term planning. The short film industry, in particular, faces considerable challenges in regard to providing the needed capacities. But this investment will pay off in the long run. Sven Schwarz, managing director of the Hamburg Short Film Festival, shares his experiences with budgeting and talks about the challenges and successes, as well as the chain of effects in regard to transitioning to a greener festival.

moderator: Enrico Vannucci (Talking Shorts)

panelists: Sven Schwarz (Kurzfilm Festival Hamburg)

synopsis: Submitting films to festivals can prove challenging. And in fact, each filmmaker would like to enter their film everywhere, were it not for the complicated issue with premieres. And there are almost as many of these as there are film festivals. For filmmakers at the start of their career especially, this can all seem very confusing. What is the difference between an international and a world premiere? What happens when we ignore the premieres? And who benefits from all this? Marija Milovanovic, curator at VIS Vienna Shorts and the Managing Director of Lemonade Films, will attempt to cast some lights on these issues and discuss the usefulness or otherwise of this with both losers and winners of such premiere policies.

moderator: Marija Milovanovic (VIS - Vienna Shorts Festival)

panelists: Nikita Diakur (Filmmaker), Asja Krsmanovic (Sarajevo Film Festival), Julie Rousson (Festival du court métrage de Clermont-Ferrand)

synopsis: Academic discourse as well as journalistic resources for short films have always been, and still are, limited. Though the short film scene is an active, flourishing field and the prime source of innovation for film and filmmaking, there is still a serious lack of education, canonisation and criticism. Talking Shorts’ prime purpose is to widen this current (lack of) discourse about the short film as an art form. In this panel we aim to explore the current state of short film criticism in terms of accessibility and opportunities. Who is doing it and who is it for? Has the rise of more streaming platforms over the past couple of years also increased the quantity of writings about short film? Does more short film distribution equals better criticism? Can the concretisation of a short film canon nurture more public education? Let’s get critical!

moderator: Enrico Vannucci (Talking Shorts)

panelists: Maria D. Richter (Ubiquarian), Julian Ross (Locarno Film Festival), Laura Walde (Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur)

Synopsis: The panel will give you the opportunity to listen to the point-of-view of filmmakers and those that represent them. How are they dealing with postponed festivals, cancelled premieres, online screenings and the lack of human connections & networking that are usually so vital to the festival experience?

Moderated by: Aneta Ozorek (Kaboom Animation Festival)
Panelists: Katie McCullough (Festival Formula Ltd), Lasse Linder (director of ‘All Cats Are Grey In The Dark’), Niki Lindroth von Bahr (director of ‘Something To Remember’ & ‘The Burden’), Nicolas Schmerkin (Autour de Minuit) and Sergio Fant (Berlinale – Berlin International Film Festival)

Synopsis: Film festivals have been canceled or are taking place online, cinemas are closed, film premieres have been canceled and training and recordings have been suspended. How do you deal with this as a novice player in the film industry? What is the impact on film development? And what is still possible?

In this (online) industry talk, the guests will talk about their new reality and perspectives on the long-term impact on the film industry and talent development.

Moderated by: Sanne Jehoul (Glasgow Short Film Festival)

Panelists: Mila Zhluktenko (Opera Glasses), Erik Glijnis (producer Lemming Film), Marija Milanovic (distributor Lemonade Films)

The Seminar will talk about the technical and logistic difficulties the guests have faced when transforming their festivals into a successful online event. How do you sell tickets? Who is the target group? What if directors don't want their films to be screened online yet?

Moderated by: Gina Dellabarca (Show Me Shorts Film Festival)
Guests: Daniel Ebner (Vienna Shorts), Luce Grosjean (Miyu Distribution), Rich Warren (Encounters Film Festival), Uli Wegenast (ITFS - Stuttgart Festival of Animated Film)

The Seminar will talk about the guests' experiences dealing with all the changes and responsibilities they have come to face trying to stay afloat during these crazy times. How to cancel your festival without cancelling your audience? How to find new festival dates in (an already very crowded) fall season?

Moderated by: Aneta Ozorek (Kaboom Animation Festival)
Guests: Anne Gaschütz (FILMFEST DRESDEN), Marie-Elaine Riou (Festival Regard), Sven Schwarz (Kurzfilm Festival Hamburg).

With much being made of gender equality within the film business, with both film production and major festivals such as Cannes and Venice all coming under intense scrutiny, this panel will explore gender (in)equality within the world of short film. We'll discuss the steps that can be taken to ensure short film can lead the way in terms of diversity and inclusivity.

Moderated by: Gina Dellabarca (Short Film Conference)
Panelists: Julie Billy (co-Founder & co-President of Collectif 50/50), Ivana Kvesic (executive Board Member of SWAN – Swiss Women's Audiovisual Network) & Agnė Adomėnė (Founder of ART SHOT & Board Member of Lithuanian Animation Association)

The relationship between short and feature films has been tricky since the very beginning. Born as ethnographical and documentary clips in 1895, very soon Cinema found its fictional language to narrate short stories before developing a new grammar that allowed longer stories to be told and therefore to kickstart that same feature film industry as we still know it today.
Apparently every short film director’s biggest dream is to make a feature film. Supposedly every short film director’s biggest fear is to not being able to make a feature film. Presumably every short film director’s biggest question is how to finally make a feature film. But, is it really that so?
The panel aims to tackle the probably most debated topic among young filmmakers about the transition from short to feature films. In doing so it will discuss the relationship within the two forms, the differences in the production processes between shorts and features, the (possible?) coexistence of both in a filmmaker’s career – especially at later stage – and the purposes and desires of filmmakers and other stakeholders of the film circuit regarding this iconic passage. Starting from ontological issues, the discussion will soon focus on a series of practical examples arisen from the personal expertise of the panellists followed by open questions from the audience.

Moderated by Enrico Vannucci (TSFM, Venice Film Festival), the panel features Laura Briand (Les films d’ici), Ludovica Fonda (R.T.I. – Mediaset Group, TSFM), Marija Razgute (Producer, Midpoint, Lithuanian Shorts), Daniel Vadocky (Negativ, Art Film Fest) and Lendita Zeqiraj (Film Director).

Boosting Your Film Festival!

Financial Planning, Collaborations and Creativity at Film Festivals

Workshop organised by Creative Europe Desk Italy MEDIA

Curated by Doris Bauer (VIS Vienna Shorts) with contributions by Anne Gaschütz (FILMFEST DRESDEN) and Matt Lloyd (Glasgow Short Film Festival). Introduction held by Silvia Sandrone (Creative Europe Desk MEDIA Torino).

The workshop will provide an insight in successful collaborative projects and creative international network solutions for film events. An important focus will be dedicated to the new Creative Europe’s scheme for film festivals networks

Financial planning is certainly one of the most difficult tasks festival organisers have to tackle. Public resources and funding opportunities seem to shrink year by year and, especially in the short film circuit, the absence of major private sponsors allegedly condemns festival organisers to either reduce the budget or even cancel projects. However this bleak image might not be entirely true and ways to find funding opportunities and make successful bids are available.

The workshop will provide an insight in successful collaborative projects and European role-model co-operations and analyse the pros and contras of creative international network solutions for film events (and how they can be helpful in terms of festival funding). An important focus will be dedicated to Creative Europe MEDIA and the responsibilities of festivals towards their funding partners, their network partners and their own teams.

Doris Bauer is co-director at VIS Vienna Shorts, the international short film festival in Vienna. 2012 she co-founded the Austrian Film Festival Forum, an association of the most important film festivals in Austria, of which she was the spokeswoman until 2018. She studied Political Science at the University of Vienna. From 2006 to 2014 she worked as the managing director of the video library Filmgalerie 8½. Between 2008 and 2014, she was the director of the summer short film festival espressofilm.

The two Austrian directors and screenwriters Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala (their Sinful Women of Höllfall aka Die Trud is showing at this year’s VIS in the Nightmares slate) have made a name for themselves with their genre collaborations. A success with critics and audiences alike, their works have been causing quite a stir, not only in Europe but also in the United States. In a conversation with Neil Young, they talk about met and unmet expectations—they’ve also brought clips—since the release of their international breakthrough hit Goodnight Mommy.

Hosted by Neil Young

Just a glance at this year’s competitions tells you: Gender is a major theme among the filmmakers. Many films from Scandinavia, as well as works from countries with more conservative attitudes, such as Brazil or Ireland, are exploring the subject, whether as sexual self-determination, gender reassignments or same-sex marriages. The filmmakers speak about their experience during their shoots, why they regard the subject to be so important and how such topics are accepted in their country of origin.
The panel discussion is being held as part of BE SHORT NOW!, an initiative from the Torino Short Film Market.

With kind support of the Visegrad Fund, German-Czech Future Fund and Landesdirektion Sachsen

Oska Bright Film Festival: Choose From the Following Options…

A rare chance to hear from the front-line how festivals, seasons and cinemas can open their doors to a broader range of artists and audiences. Matthew Hellett is head programmer of Oska Bright Film Festival, the world’s first and leading festival of films made by or featuring people with learning disabilities, autism or additional needs. Sandra Alland is a Glasgow-based multi-media artist and curator. Both work within disability arts and have a core interest in LGBTQI+ shorts. Together they discuss how they source, select and promote the films they love. This head to-head debate will cover areas of common ground and of divergence; it includes a co-curated screening of Oska Bright shorts.

The Usual Suspects? - An honest and amusing discussion on serious matters about programming choices in the (Short) Film Festival Circuit

On a lazy afternoon like many others in Spring 2018, a post heartily penned by one member of their species stormed the usually quite peaceful social media timeline of many film festival programmers:
«I’m very troubled by the role of film festivals in some countries… As a programmer doing this job for around 11 years, I feel very surprised to observe that not only some festivals don’t help that much the development of a different cinematographic approach for the new directors but also they give a strong contribution to destroy the story-telling and the connection with a larger audience. It might end up having festivals with films of the “usua suspects" of the festival circuit, the friends and the friends of the friends, the followers of the sacred word of festival gurus and the copycats of the “this is the cool wave right now"…Well, yes, I’m afraid it will become just a glass bead game of complacency and self-centredness…».
Time has come to tackle the issues raised by those words and the subsequent online discussion that revealed opposing lines of thought on the matter by a varicoloured film festival circuit’s stakeholders mob.
Moderated by Enrico Vannucci (TSFM, Venice Film Festival), the panel features Daniel Ebner (Vienna Shorts), Anne Gaschütz (FILMFEST DRESDEN), Rich Warren (Encounters) and the post’s author Massimiliano Nardulli (TSFM, Less Is More) before turning into a group therapy session with the audience.