EEFA launches 2011 Training Network program
The East European Film Alliance (EEFA, formerly TrainEastFilm), is launching a call for its second year-long training program for teams of filmmakers from Eastern Europe.
According to the organizers, the EEFA Training Network is developed with support from Media Mundus and the Romanian National Film Center and intends to be a platform for film professionals from the East European and neighbouring EU countries. It uses co-production projects as a way to strengthen the broader regional film industry.
Several training sessions – Scriptwriting Development for Documentary and Fiction, Management of Film Production, Legal and Distribution Matters – will be held during important film festivals in Europe, such as Zagreb, Sofia, Molodist and Tallinn, before a final stage of training hosted by the Berlin International Film Festival. In February 2012, the best three projects will have access to producers and distributors at the Berlinale.
In 2011, 14 projects from Croatia, Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia will be selected and given access to the Training Network program. The participants apply in teams (producer, writer/director, legal expert, promotion expert) and must submit a feature film project, fiction or documentary already in the development phase.
The teams will benefit from one year of online assistance for their projects from European experts like Catherine Buresi (co-director of the European Film Market); Christian Routh, content expert and founder of Sources; Canadian producer Linda Beath; Marta Lamperova, expert on legal matters and distribution and director of Film Europe; German attorney Dirk Poppendick; as well as other visiting experts.
Application rules can be found on EEFA's website. The deadline is February 13.
The three projects from the first training session will be presented at the 2011 Berlinale: 20 Steps Underground from Georgia, The Bridge from Croatia and Keep the Fire from Germany.
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