WHY DO WE MAKE FILMS? DO FILMS MATTER?
Lecturer Mike Downey
Archeological Museum of Istria, 21st July at 19:00
In his the inaugural lecture, prolific British film producer Mike Downey, who is in addition a member of the Artistic Board of the PFF and the Deputy Chairman of the European Film Academy, will share with us his thoughts on: Why do I make movies? I have an insatiable desire to tell stories. Do they matter? Movies touch our hearts and awaken our vision, and change the way we see things. They take us to other places, they open doors and minds. Movies are the memories of our lifetime, and we need to keep them alive.
Mike Downey, producer, and CEO of Film and Music Entertainment (F&ME), launched his independent UK production company on the Frankfurt DAX. He has produced, since then more than 50 feature films. He is a member of the Artistic Board of The Pula Film Festival also President of the Motovun Film Festival and Artistic Advisor to the Zagreb Film Festival and works closely with Amnesty International establishing Amnesty Human Rights Awards at international film festivals as well as being a consultant for USAID, the American government programme rebuilding infrastructure (film) in the Balkans
UNIT PUBLICITY AND THE TRADES
Lecturer: Charles McDonald
Croatian Chamber of Commerce 1, 23rd July at 12:30
Charles McDonald will talk about the essentials of PR work during production and into the post production period leading up to a film’s launch. He will touch on the following topics: developing a strategy, preparing the delivery publicity materials, dealing with press enquiries, liaison with trade publications, working with tighter and tighter shooting schedules, finding and working with a sales company, the importance of effective communication with local press during the shoot, and ensuring that the first impression of your film is as strong as possible.
Charles McDonald is one of the world’s leading PR experts. He has operated as a freelance consultant, representing clients such as Picturehouse Cinemas/Entertainment Corniche Pictures, Prix Lux/European Parliament, BBC Films, Europa Cinemas and the European Film Awards. He has given talks on Film PR at the likes of the British National Film & TV School, European Film College, Asia Europe Film Meetings, London International Film School and the Making Waves course at the Berlin Festival. He has represented films by P. Almodovar, M. Leigh, K. Loach, M. Winterbottom, D. Cronenberg, S. Coppol, W. Wenders, S. Frears and A. Arnold, ensuring their presence at festivals in Cannes, Berlin, Toronto and Venice, as well as Academy Awards, BAFTA and Golden Globe ceremonies.
TRICKS OF EUROPEAN FILM FUNDING
Lecturer Nik Powell
Croatian Chamber of Commerce 1, 24th July at 9:30
Nik Powell will talk about how European films are nowadays financed, how things have changed in the last 20 years, and about future financing models. He will try to explain why many filmmakers have problems making their films despite the state financial support provided all around Europe. In brief, how to get one’s ducks in a row and make a film.
Nik Powell set up Virgin Records with Richard Branson in 1970. In 1982, Powell went into partnership with Stephen Woolley, the owner of Scala Cinema. Together they formed Palace Video, followed by Palace Pictures, and then Palace Productions, soon establishing each as highly regarded entities within the UK film distribution and production industry. Powell has produced 44 films by prominent British directors such as Neil Jordan, Stephan Elliott, Shane Meadows, Terence Davis, etc. He serves as director of the National Film and Television School, chairman of the BAFTA Film committee and member of the BAFTA Board of Trustees, member of the US academy AMPAS and member of the European Producers Club. Mike Downey joined the EFA Board in 2004 and was elected deputy chairman in 2014. He was vice-chairman of the GEECT Board from 2004 to 2014 and director of the board of the Northern Ireland Film and TV Commission and Chairman of its Film Investment Fund Committee from 2003 to 2007.
UNDERSTANDING CINEMA: THE SCIENCE OF FILM PERCEPTION
Lecturer Marko Rojnić
Croatian Chamber of Commerce 1, 24th July at 10:30
In this lecture I’ll first give an outline of the most famous psychological interpretations in film studies before the advent of cognitivism, and will then focus on an overview of contemporary scientific research which demonstrates how viewers process moving pictures, what they attend to, and especially why viewers perceive continuity despite discontinuity. In other words, I’ll present relatively new, yet very propulsive discipline - psychology of film - and will try to show that using the methods of empirical psychology and cognitive neuroscience can advance our understanding of film and moving images, as well as that scientific investigation of film can improve our understanding of the human brain and mental processes.
Marko Rojnić (Pula, 1978). Has a BA/MA in psychology from the University of Rijeka, and an MSc in cognitive psychology from the University of Ljubljana. During his film studies at the Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, he went to the University of Kent in Canterbury, where he got his MA in film studies. He currently teaches at the Academy of Dramatic Arts, University of Zagreb, and is preparing his PhD on the intersection between psychology and film studies.
