Sunday 30 June

Benefits of Incentives for the Film Industry and the Czech Economy

2:30 – 4:00 pm / Industry Pool, Hotel Thermal

Event in Czech, simultaneous English translation provided

The idea of film incentives continues to evoke varying reactions. Some consider them a grant, others a disproportionately large portion of the 1% going towards culture, amounting to more business than culture. What exactly is a film incentive, where does the money for it come from, and how does it go back into the state coffers? Are incentives advantageous for the state? What are the effects of incentives on areas outside of culture?

Presentation of the Prague Film Fund

4:30 – 5:30 pm / Industry Pool, Hotel Thermal

The Prague Film Fund was established by the City of Prague in 2016 and since then has provided a total of CZK 24.6 million in grants to 20 audiovisual projects. The fund aims at supporting a positive presentation of the City of Prague abroad via film and television, attracting film and television projects with marketing potential for the promotion of Prague and profiling the city as a filming-friendly destination. The fund provides grants to films and series intended for international distribution in cinemas, via television broadcasting and rebroadcasting or video-on-demand services. The essential condition is that the projects portray Prague as Prague. Currently, a call for submissions of grant applications is open at the Prague Film Fund. Join the presentation and learn more about the call and the fund.

K.V.I.Q. Talks

6 – 7:30 pm / La Belle Epoque, Hotel Pupp

What are the most widely-discussed trends in the global film industry today? Talk hosted by British journalist Michael Gubbins will address these hot topics with experts from different industry fields: Dylan Leiner, VP Sony Pictures Classics, producer Linda Beath, member of European Parliament Helga Trüpel and filmmaker Benedikt Erlingsson.

• Streaming services are changing the film industry’s business models in a major way.
• Public funding, which is essential for non-English-language film, is predicted to drop, as is much of the funding in culture due to the current political climate.
• New methods of financing need to be thought of and, similarly, new ideas in technology may be needed to boost the entire film industry.
• Curation, targeted marketing as well as algorithms will co-exist in order to engage audiences worldwide.

K.V.I.Q. Talks will give you a good overview of what is happening in the industry world. With our special guest, we will address the best ways for us to create a sustainable life in the current film climate and industry. See here for more details on the speakers.

In cooperation with Creative Europe Desk CZ – MEDIA and Lux Film Prize.

Unveiling of 2019 LUX Film Prize top ten films

7:45 – 8:30 pm / by invitation only

During the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, the European Parliament’s LUX Film Prize will unveil the ten films of its Official Selection for the 2019 award. On this occasion, the Audience Mention from last year’s edition will be announced. Three of the ten films in the Official Selection will be subtitled into the EU’s 24 official languages and travel across Europe during the LUX Film Days.

The unveiling ceremony is organised by the LUX Film Prize in partnership with KVIFF. More information at luxprize@ep.europa.eu

Monday 1 July

Community-driven film distribution through Artinii.com secure technology

10 – 11 am, Industry Pool, Hotel Thermal

Artinii (short for "Art in intelligent interaction") is a brand new online community-driven tool that strives to disrupt the 120-year-old system of AV content distribution. This online platform connects film rights' owners with matching global audiences and communities, including those hard to reach through standard distribution channels.

In this talk, Artinii's founders Ctirad Hemelík, Vít Krajíček and Vladimír Kuba will explain how their start-up, based on state-of-the-art technologies like machine learning, AI or automatic search, helps film rights' owners reach new markets and re-capitalise on movies in their portfolio while simultaneously providing screening organizers worldwide with an easy-access and secure on-line film database.

Works in Development – Feature Launch

11 am – 12:30 pm / Cinema Čas

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival has partnered closely with MIDPOINT training and networking platform, Trieste Film Festival, the When East Meets West co-production forum. Together with their creators, they will showcase eight projects in development from Central and Eastern Europe, the Balkans and countries of the former Soviet Union. These selected projects of first and second feature films have gone through the MIDPOINT Feature Launch 2019 programme and are ready for co-production.

One-on-one meetings will follow at 1:30 pm through 7:30 pm on Tuesday, July 2.

Eastern European BBQ

12:30 – 2 pm / by invitation only

FilmFestival Cottbus – Festival of Eastern European Cinema together with Connecting Cottbus and the Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg GmbH are hosting an Eastern European BBQ in honour of the 54th International Karlovy Vary Film Festival.

Regional Film Offices and Funding in the Czech Republic

1 – 2 pm / Industry Pool, Hotel Thermal

Eleven film offices currently assist filmmakers throughout the Czech Republic. What services do they provide? And which regions offer financial support for audiovisual productions? The answers to these questions and more at a presentation co-hosted by the Czech Film Commission and representatives of regional film offices.

Works in Progress

2 – 5:30 pm / Cinema Čas

Producers and directors of the nine selected feature films from the CEE, Balkans, former Soviet Union and Middle East will present projects that will officially premiere after KVIFF. The projects are currently in the production or post-production stage and are looking for international sales and premiere screenings. The most promising project selected by the international jury is awarded a package with a total value of 100,000 EUR. Presented projects are often selected for upcoming festivals like Sundance, Toronto, Venice, Rotterdam or Berlinale.

One-on-one meetings will follow at 9 am through 12:30 pm on Tuesday, 2 July.

Tuesday 2 July

Copyright and Scriptwriting: Getting It Right

10 – 11 am / Industry Pool, Hotel Thermal

With the new directive of the copyright law approved by the European Parliament in March 2019, which is due for implementation in all EU countries within the next 24 months, the legal framework upon which European writers operate will change. Will they be ready? Do supporting organizations and bodies such as writers’ unions or guilds exist and function in Eastern Europe? Can CEE writers make a career internationally? What is the role of a talent agent in this closely intertwined ecosystem? Katarina Tomkova of MIDPOINT, a leading training platform for fiction writers, will host a panel discussion on this pressing issue with David Kavanagh, Executive Officer of Federation of Screenwriters in Europe, Anna Rozalska, Talent Agent at Match & Spark, writer Michaela Sabo, Vojtech Filcev from Czech Authors’, Directors’ and Script Editors’ Association, and Jiri Konecny, producer at endorfilm.

Eurimages Lab Project Award

11 am – 12:30 pm / Cinema Čas

For the fourth time at the Karlovy Vary IFF, Eurimages has selected eight promising film projects made outside the traditional film-making framework, in order to encourage new forms of cinematographic expression and award the best project with 50,000 EUR. Presenting projects that are often at the crossroads of cinema and other art forms, these pitches are especially relevant to film festival representatives, art institutions and film students.

One-on-one meetings will follow at 1 pm through 4 pm on Tuesday, 2 July.

Potential of Czech Film in International Markets: Challenges and Opportunities

1 – 2:30 pm / Vodafone Lounge

Despite a number of strengths to its credit (such as a world-class talent base or tax incentives for film productions), the Czech Republic and its cinema have not yet established the brand recognition of other film countries or a stellar reputation among industry professionals. Is this due to an overly strong local focus? Or producers' inability to establish long-term relationships with foreign international sales agents and distributors? This panel, hosted by film journalist Tomas Baldynsky with Simone Baumann, director of German Film, festival consultant Ludmila Cvikova, producer Vratislav Slajer (APA, Bionaut) and film studies lecturer and researcher Petr Szczepanik, Philosophical Faculty of Charles University in Prague as expert speakers, aims to coin the key factors that would allow Czech producers to succeed on international markets, attracting foreign audiences, festivals, broadcasters and distributors alike and establishing Czech film and TV drama as an internationally recognized brand.

Docs in Progress

2 – 3:30 pm / Cinema Čas

Producers and directors of the eight selected documentaries from the CEE, the Balkans, the former Soviet Union and the Middle East will present projects that are currently in production or post-production and will officially premiere after KVIFF. The most promising project will receive an award of 5,000 EUR.

One-on-one meetings will follow at 4 pm through 7 pm on Tuesday, 2 July.

Quo Vadis, Film Industry? / KVIFF talk with Beki Probst

3 - 4 pm / Vodafone Lounge

Beki Probst founded the European Film Market at Berlinale and has been a key figure in the film industry ever since, observing the changing landscape of the film business as well as transitions in the film festival world. Her involvement with Berlinale started in 1981, after a long career as film exhibitor in Switzerland; first as the Festival's delegate for Turkey and Greece, then from 1988 as the creator and director of the European Film Market, the industry section of the Berlin International Film Festival. Under her leadership, the EFM grew into one of top three world's film markets and a faithful reflection of industry ongoing changes, be it the creation of DocSalon of introduction of VR-dedicated space. In 1992, Beki Probst was decorated as Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French Cultural Minister.

There is hardly a better witness to these vibrant times, which have been transforming the film industry as we know it. But where is all this going? What can we learn from all that we already know? What are the future prospects for the film industry? Talk hosted by film journalist Leo Barraclough, Variety.

Debut film... and what next?

4 – 5 pm / Industry Pool, Hotel Thermal

In the life of a film director, a debut film is the defining moment of one’s career…but what comes next? If the debut happens to be a success, it often means even higher expectations from audiences, critics and film professionals. What obstacles do both female and male filmmakers have to overcome when preparing their debut and second films? The panel co-organised by the Czech Film Fund and female filmmakers promotion platform Girls in Film will shed light on the fact that producing a second film is often more complicated than it may seem. The speakers are: director and writer Michal Hogenauer, filmmaker and performer Johana Ožvold, director Zuzana Kirchnerová and Girls in Film representatives Julie Žáčková and Dagmar Sedláčková.

Happy Hour with the Czech Film Fund

5 – 6 pm / Industry Pool, Hotel Thermal

Find out who is working for the Fund and who to greet in the corridors of their Prague HQ. A casual meeting offering the possibility to ask the members of the Czech Film Fund Council, employees of the Fund office, the Czech Film Center and the Czech Film Commission everything that you always wanted to know ( *and weren't afraid to ask).

First Cut+ Official Launch and Presentation

5 – 5:45 pm / Press Conference Hall

First Cut Lab, the editing consultancy workshop for films in the editing stage (whose first edition takes place at KVIFF this year), is launching First Cut+, a new action for the promotion of films from Central and Eastern Europe in 2020. The idea is to set up a carefully curated portfolio of 16 films, and to support them thoroughly on their way towards the market and audiences. Not only do the creative teams receive consultancy in the editing stage, they also benefit from tailor-made modules for enhancing their promotion and audience engagement strategies, together with works-in-progress screenings for selected industry people. The platform will be presented by its director and co-founder Matthieu Darras, film journalist, festival programmer and former artistic director of the TorinoFilmLab.

First Cut+ is an initiative of Tatino Films, in partnership with Trieste’s When East Meets West and Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, and in collaboration with Less is More and MIDPOINT.

Cooperation and coproduction: Czech and Slovak producers' associations meeting

6 – 7 pm / Industry Pool, Hotel Thermal

Event in Czech and Slovak only, no translation provided.

Round table of Czech and Slovak independent producers, focused on the mutual coproduction and cooperation opportunities, news in Czech Film Fund and Slovak Audiovisual Fund and cooperation with TV broadcasters in both countries. Meeting of APA (Association of Audiovisual Producers, CZ) and ANP (Association of Independent Producers, SK).