Placement and distribution of short films
Among the events marking the 10-year anniversary of the Checkers program, this year’s short film activities will host two renowned festivals championing short films and its filmmakers – Directors’ Fortnight – a sidebar program of Cannes Film Festival – and Curtas Vila do Conde from Portugal. For several decades, these festivals have been a tremendous launchpad and a reference for numerous international filmmakers, curating and supporting daring and highly innovative approaches in filmmaking one can only see and discover in the short film format.
Created by the French Directors Guild in the wake of the events of May 1968, Directors' Fortnight is distinguished by its independent-mindedness, its non-competitive nature creating a breeding ground for prestigious auteurs such as Werner Herzog, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Jim Jarmusch, etc. Fortnight’s short film curator, Laurence Reymond, will present an exciting program, selected across several recent festival editions.
Offering a high quality line-up of carefully selected films and media art, the Curtas Vila do Conde focuses not only on the discovery of new films and filmmakers but also on the recognized legacy of Cinema. Every year it presents a selection of worldwide contemporary short films, while simultaneously creating links between shorts and features, music and film, art and cinema. Salette Ramalho, a long-term festival’s programmer, will present us with a selection of some of the most emblematic Portuguese filmmakers of the recent years.
The curators of both festivals will be introducing the selected films and join us for a panel discussion focused on key questions regarding short film production and international distribution, particularly in the film festival network. Alongside Salette and Laurence, the participants of the panel will be Mario Kozina (Croatian Audiovisual Center) and Boris T. Matić (ZFF Festival Director and Producer). They will give an introduction to short film industry, discuss successful Croatian short films in the current short film landscape, which will cover commissioning, crowdfunding and general career know-how. Croatian Audiovisual Centre has achieved significant success in the promotion of its short film program, providing substantial results in the international festival circuit, which will be introduced by Mario Kozina, while Boris T. Matic will share his experience as a producer of the feature omnibus collection of shorts, Zagreb Stories, which have been presented at some of the most prestigious international film festivals.
Participants will get a thorough overview of the filmmaking process from the viewpoint and experiences of the panelists: how to secure the financing, go about the production and lastly, the distribution and promotion of shorts via international festival circuits and sales opportunities.
Vanja Kaluđerčić, Sarajevo Film Festival advisor and programmer
Croatian advisor and programmer of worldwide festivals, including Motovun Film Festival, Human Rights Film Festival, ZagrebDox Pro workshop and the Animafest. She was in charge of acquisition at the Coproduction Office in Paris and she managed Paris Project, organised within the Paris Cinema IFF. She was Head of Industry at Les Arcs European FF. As a programmer and industry advisor, Vanja currently works for the Sarajevo Film Festival.
Salette Ramalho, Curtas Vila do Conde, programmer
Born in 1977, in Vila do Conde. She studied architecture and took her degree in Arts – Painting. From 1997 to 2007, she was a member of the board of directors and programmer of the Cineclube de Vila do Conde. In 2011, she was a jury member for film funding at the Portuguese Film Institute concerning animated films and series and documentary projects. Since 2009, she has been a member of the selection committee at Curtas Vila do Conde IFF. She works as international promotion and distribution manager of short films at Agencia – Portuguese Short Film Agency, an entity created by the Curtas Vila do Conde IFF.
Laurence Reymond, Director's Fortnight, short films selector
Laurence Reymond has worked for various distribution companies in Paris since 2003. In 2007, she joined Le Pacte as film acquisition assistant and then production executive. She is also a film critic. In 2011, she worked as programmer for the European Middle Lenght Film Meetings of Brive (France). In 2012, she joined the Director’s Fortnight selection committee for short films. She was the programming coordinator for the Festival du Nouveau Cinema in Montreal. In 2015, she joined the selection committee of Entrevues – Belfort IFF, and works as a consultant for the FCVQ (Festival de Cinéma de la Ville de Québec).
Mario Kozina, representative of Croatian Audiovisual Center
Born in Zagreb in 1987. He has an MA in Comparative Literature. He works in the Promotion and Marketing Department of Croatian Audiovisual Center and is a regular collaborator of several film festivals in Croatia (25 FPS, Zagreb Film Festival, ZagrebDox) and abroad (Rotterdam). He is one of the editors of Filmonaut magazine.
Boris T. Matić is the founder, the first director and a co-owner of Motovun Film Festival and the founder and director of Zagreb Film Festival, one of the biggest film festivals in Croatia. As of 2008 he has been running the Cinema EUROPA in Zagreb through his engagement in ZFF. He is a president of the film production company Propeler film and has won 2 Golden Arena awards for the best film at Pula Film Festival. So far he has produced more than ten fiction and documentary feature films and more than twenty shorts, many of which have been screened at the most relevant international film festivals such as Berlin IFF and Cannes FF.
