EURO-UKRAINIAN CO-PRODUCTION SOLIDARITY
The Eurimages Co-production Award, presented as part of the annual European Film Awards, will this year be awarded to all the film producers of war-torn Ukraine.
Eurimages, a Council of Europe-backed film finance organization described the unusual award “as an expression of strong appreciation for the growing quality of Ukrainian production in the past years, and as a sign of ongoing support now that the infrastructure for production support within Ukraine has collapsed.” The award will be accepted by a delegation of Ukrainian producers who are Academy members at the European Film Awards ceremony on Dec. 10 in Reykjavík, Iceland.
The quality of Ukrainian productions is reflected in the Ukrainian films shortlisted for the European Film Awards earlier this year, Eurimages said. These include: “Reflection,” directed by Valentyn Vasyanovych for the feature film selection; “Pamfir,” directed by Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk is nominated for European Discovery – Prix FIPRESCI.
In addition, there are two co-productions with Ukraine in the running for other EFAs: “A House Made of Splinters,” a Denmark-Sweden-Finland-Ukraine venture, directed by Simon Lereng Wilmont is competing for the European Documentary Award; “107 Mothers,” a Slovakia-Czech Republic-Ukraine venture supported by Eurimages and directed by Peter Kerekes, competes in the European Discovery – Prix FIPRESCI category.
AUTUMN IN VIETNAM
Cash prizes were presented on the closing night of the Autumn Meeting, an annual film industry development event held in Vietnam. An EUR8,000 award procided by France’s CNC was made to Singaporean project “Penumbra,” to be directed by Russel Morton and produced by Jeremy Chua. A ‘Producers Choice’ award of $2,000, provided by CJ-CGV, went to “Phan Xich Long & the Rising of the South,” to be directed by Nguyen Dinh Minh Vu and produced by Michelle Phuong. The prize ceremony marked the close of the tenth edition of the Autumn Meeting, which encourages industry development in Vietnam and outreach within Southeast Asia. The 2022 edition, operated 13-20 Nov., was its tenth iteration and a return to in-person gathering after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic.
The event included four workshops focused on skills development – basic acting led by Lydia Park (South Korea), advance acting by artist Le Khanh and stage director Tu Mai, advance acting by director Tsuyoshi Sugiyama (Japan), and cinematography led by DOPs Chananun Chotrungroj and Ly Thai Dung – with 83 filmmaker participants. A further 100 participants joined the Asian-European Producer Forum.
Backing for the event came from: the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Ho Chin Min City, CJ-CGV Viet Nam, VINIF , Sud-est Production, the Institut Francais, the French Embassy in Vietnam, France’s CNC, the Motion Picture Association, and Austin Home Interiors.
“The development of the film sector and talents in Vietnam (and the SEA region) has been on the radar of much of the French film industry. This is why, with the CNC we thought that Autumn Meeting could be the perfect platform to partner with, in order to create connectivity with French professionals who can be key partners for the internationalization of Vietnamese cinema,” Jérémy Segay, regional audiovisual attaché, of the French Embassy in Vietnam, told Variety.
DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION
Indian cinema technology firm Qube Cinema has struck a deal between its Qube Wire electronic delivery platform and Mega Filem Enterprise, Malaysia’s leading digital cinema service provider. They expect to operate a content delivery network serving all cinemas in Malaysia and Brunei. The two companies have connected more than 80 theatres with a fast and robust electronic connection. Another 40 theatres are scheduled for installation in the next two months.