EUNIC Young Filmmakers Fund

EUNIC Young Filmmakers Fund – Call for Applications

The programme

The EUNIC Young Filmmakers Fund aims at helping creative talents and emerging filmmakers develop their understanding of the art and practice of filmmaking. Financial and professional support provided through a financial grant and workshop sessions should encourage young Afghan filmmakers up to 30 years old to realize a short film (20 minutes maximum) and to tell their stories using film as creative tool. The project should also provide networking opportunities with other filmmakers, guidance and participation in festivals. 

EUNIC Afghanistan

EUNIC is the network of the international cultural relations institutes from the member states of the European Union. They seek to facilitate cultural co-operation; to create lasting partnerships between professionals, to encourage greater understanding and awareness of the diverse European cultures and to encourage greater language learning.

The British Council, the Institut Francais d’Afghanistan (IFA) and the Goethe-Institut Afghanistan are forming the EUNIC-Cluster in Afghanistan.

All institutes look back to long time of partnership with the Afghan cultural scene reaching back into the 1960s and are now sharing their experiences with their local partners among various other projects in the Afghan National Theatre Festival and the International Documentary and Short Film Festival.

The procedure

Young and emerging Afghan Filmmakers up to 30 years old are invited to send their application forms – please use the form attached – including a significant description of the intended film project.

Submission deadline of applications: January 21, 2012

Send your applications to

film@kabul.goethe.org 

A Jury will select the 10 most promising film projects and inform the selected filmmakers on February 5, 2012. These receive a financial grant allowing them to start with realizing their projects.

An integral part of the programme is a workshop session in April 2012 that tackle different filmmaking disciplines, both at the theoretical and practical levels. The filmmakers are offered the chance to develop their work in a creative environment; the international advisor’s guidance ranges from improving the techniques, to practical suggestions to be explored the EUNIC film project.  

The film projects have to be completed June 2012 and will be presented to the public afterwards. 

The Conditions

- Applicants should have the Afghan Citizenship and must be between the ages of 18 and 30 years old

- The short film should not be longer than 20 min. It should be from the genres documentary, animation and narrative shorts.

- All participants’ film projects must be their own.

- The selected projects will be funded with 2,500 USD each. Therefore the respective filmmakers have to sign an agreement with EUNIC.

- A workshop session and a public presentation are integral parts of the project. All applicants must be available to attend workshops. Missing workshops will disqualify a participant from going forward in the process.

- Submissions made after the deadline will not be entered into the jury.

For additional information please refer to film@kabul.goethe.org or (020) 210 52 00

"Ashura" Short documentary film by Jack Somerville

"Ashura" Short documentary film

Miriam Films producing a short documentary film under the name "Ashura" (directed by Jack Somerville).
This short documentary follows Mohammed Husseini as he takes part in Tigh Zani for the first time during the Kabul Ashura 2011 procession. The film focuses on Mohammed's own deeply personal reasons for taking part, and attempts to understand the mindset he is in as he endures what is both a painful and controversial Shia Muslim tradition.
Jack Somerville studied Documentary Film & TV at the International Film School of Wales. He has worked on content for the BBC (uk) as well as Spike TV & MTV (us).

"The Glasses" Fiction short film again screening at Babur Garden

"The Glasses" Fiction short film by Seyyed Hussein Mousavi was screening at Babur Graden under name "Open Source Conference" on 18 Oct 2011 on 6:00 PM. also nearly 8 short film by afghan filmmakers was screening on this program. 

Story of this film is about two friends; one of them a boy and other one is a girl. The boy whose name is MEHRAB Finds a book full of mad and takes it home with himself. The girl whose name RAHELEH accidentally sees the book. None of them can read the book, so they go to Raheleh`s grand father to teach them how to read. The boy accidentally breaks the arm of the gather’s glasses. In order to learn reading they should fix the glasses. They try many ways which you will discover during the course of the film. 

This short film also was screening at Babur Graden under name Afghan Vision on 26 July 2011 and also it was screening on Areyana TV network on 4 AUG 9:00 PM. 

This short fiction short film was produced under a contract with Mandegar Group and CETENAGROUP for Kabul US Embassy.

  

About "Open Source Conference": 

The Regional Open Source Conference- Central Asia (ROSCCA) 2011 is a consultation of the Central Asian Free/Open Source Software (FOSS) user groups covering variety of topics around FOSS technologies, discussing public policy and fostering regional collaboration. The Conference presents research and industry papers, presentations, tutorials, thematic sessions, panels, hands-on training workshops and project demonstrations. The goals of the Conference are: Creating awareness among professionals, policy and decision makers, business leaders, technology experts, consumers and the general public on the most recent technological advancements in FOSS; Sharing updates on national, regional, and international FOSS related initiatives; Presenting country reports on FOSS developments, plans, programs, and the challenges and opportunities; Introducing innovative Free/Open Source technologies through thematic workshops and a technology exhibition; Training individuals on the up-to-date FOSS technologies through hands-on training workshops; Discussing policy issues and recommending reforms through a policy review and debate session; and Facilitating regional coordination and trade and educational cooperation in FOSS in the Central Asia. ROSCCA 2011 is organized by Open Source Afghanistan (OSA), a FOSS user-group in the country, and National ICT Alliance of Afghanistan (NICTAA), a consortium of the Afghan ICT players, in partnership with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) of Afghanistan and with support of and partnership with the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) office in Kabul. Based on the International Open Source Network (IOSN), Open Source activities in Asian and the Pacific are “sporadic and disconnected”. Lack of networking translates into various different innovators undertaking their own projects without tapping into expertise that are already available, or applications that are already developed. ROSCCA 2011 intends to address the digital gap existing in our region often caused by lack of awareness, access to knowledge and resources, and the high cost of software and connectivity. The region needs to look for solutions and alternatives to address the problems and tackle the digital gap, known as the divide between those having knowledge of and access to technology means and those who do not. The Conference is introducing Open Source as a platform helping to address the awareness, access, and connectivity issues as it represents an alternative to purchasing expensive software from proprietary software vendors. FOSS also provides an exciting opportunity for developers and students of computing to use the existing software licenses and build on them and reproduce the software products of which they can be owners to sell them or distribute them free of cost. This in turn helps develop their local businesses, economies and societies. Open Source software is usually available free of cost, making it very accessible that helps minimize the ‘digital divide’ in many instances. Various people and organizations across the world are taking advantage of Open Source software today. This First Regional Open Source Conference- Central Asia will lay a foundation for continued information, knowledge, and experience sharing, networking, regional cooperation, and initiating innovative plans and programs in Central Asia. 

“Death to the Camera” in 1st AUTUMN HUMAN RIGHTS FILM FESTIVAL

 A filmmaker from Miriam Cinematic Productions in the 1st AUTUMN HUMAN RIGHTS FILM FESTIVAL

Sayed Qasem Husseini with “Death to the Camera”  short documentary film in Autumn Human Rithss film festival. 

“Death to the Camera” was produced by CS Film.

About film: A camera moves among woman working their last day on a job site. As they joke and fight – accusing each other of being prostitutes, liars, and racists – the mood repeatedly shifts between belly laughs and rage. The women are left waiting for hours for their pay by the charity that administers the cash-for-work program. As they wait, they consider what debts they’ll pay off, what food they’ll buy, and how they’ll stay warm during the approaching winter. There is lively discussion about what happens to all the aid that never reaches them, and whether Karzai is a crook or a servant of the people.

Is the camera revealing anything truthful, or simply inciting these women to present what they think ‘the other’ wants to hear – or what might get them something from the world on the other side of the camera? Who is on the other side of that camera anyway?

Sayed Qasem Husseini, after growing up in Sari Pul and Balk provinces, now studies in the Cinema and Fine Arts department at Kabul University. He has previously produced a short video report on carpet making, served as a sports reporter for a community newspaper, and works as a freelance production assistant.
Husseini is working as project manager and director of documentary film department  in Miriam Films.

THE 1st AUTUMN HUMAN RIGHTS FILM FESTIVAL

THE 1st AUTUMN HUMAN RIGHTS FILM FESTIVAL

Co-presented by Afghanistan Cinema Club and Bassa Films
October 1-6 at the French Institute of Afghanistan, Cinema Park and United Nations HQ in Kabul and Balkh University Hall in Mazar-e-Sharif

Extraordinary program of 50 Films from 18 Countries—including 32 Afghan Films Premieres

   The first Autumn Human Rights Film Festival opens in Kabul with an extraordinary selection of documentaries, feature, short and animation films from all over the world that will inform, spark debate, amaze, provoke, delight, disturb and inspire. 

For 6 days in October, AHRFF provides an opportunity for international and Afghan filmmakers to showcase their work at Kabul's most exciting festival, access a unique Human Rights film market in this region and attend informative seminars and workshops.

A co-presentation of the Afghanistan Cinema Club and Bassa Films, the 1rst Autumn Human Rights Film Festival will run from October 1 to 7 in four venues in Kabul - the French Institute of Afghanistan, the Cinema Park, and the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan Headquarter, and at the University Hall in Mazar-e-Sharif.

50 out of more than 200 entries of the best human rights films from 18 countries ( USA, France, Swiss, India, Egypt, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Iran, Sweden, Canada, Liberia and the UK) including 32 from Afghanistan were selected for the competition and will be screened. The selection committee was a combination of national and international filmmakers and human rights activists. Seven of the films were directed by Afghan women filmmakers.

Afghans filmmakers from Herat, Jalalabad and other regions will be on hand after the screenings to discuss their films with the audience. Question and Answer (Q&As) sessions discussing the topics addressed by the films will follow each screening. These panels will include either the film’s producer or director, or an expert on the subject matter. “These Q&A sessions are very essential as we continue the momentum as a forum for the discussion of human rights problems and potential solutions,” said Malek Shafi’i, Autumn Human Rights Film Festival Founder and Executive Director.

The 1rst AHRFF program is organized around three themes: the struggle against discrimination, injustice and violence.

“Many of the selected films demonstrate the power of traditional and new media to influence filmmaking and impact human rights. The filmmakers are increasing their impact through the use of the art of filmmaking as a dialogue and peace tool, but most importantly, to bring human rights stories to a broader audience and to the real Afghan context,” said Malek.

The festival will also connect Afghanistan current situation to other human rights stories from other parts of the world and is the only cinematographic stage to help Afghan filmmakers showcase their talent and expertise to Afghans filmgoers.

The Executive Director also added that “our festival is the first and only festival in this region that will feature films from all of over the world, but mostly from Afghanistan that go beyond the typical stories to deliver harsh truths, stunning, striking and inspiring stories that portray the human dignity but that raise voices and enlighten Afghan audiences to the plight of nations, and the dignity and courage of individuals in our world. “

The AHRF is a platform to share the works of filmmakers and artists who have unfortunately been marginalized by authority. It will present stories of lives affected by war, discrimination and injustice. These stories are of people who have resisted oppression and fought against violence to create a more humane world.

“There are about 33 human rights films festivals around the world, however, none of them are in the Middle East or Central Asian countries which are gravely affected by human rights dilemmas. There was an attempt at a human rights film festival in Bahrain but the recent revolutions in that country and other Arab nations brought it to a grinding halt.”Added Malek.

Considering all these facts, the Afghanistan Cinema Club found that a human rights film festival matches Afghan experimental cinema and from another perspective, it matches the social, political and cultural situation of this particular geographic region. The fact is, the origin of Afghan cinema is based on human rights and an open and critical film festival is a most suitable arena for Afghan cinema.

The film festival will launch on October 1 with an Opening ceremony at the French Institute for Afghanistan featuring the Afghan premiere of Iranian director Jaffar Panahi’s last short film The Accordion (2010), a story that follows two young street musicians, who have their accordion stolen from them. A keen supporter of opposition movements, Panahi was arrested in March 2010 and sentenced to six years of imprisonment along with Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof in December 2010. The two were also banned from shooting movies and writing scripts for twenty years, as well as leaving the country or getting in contact with local or international media. The film is part of a long feature project supported by the UN, gathering seven international directors around Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “Everyone has the right to freedom of thoughts, conscience and religion”.

The main program will begin on October 2, with the premiere of I want horse not wife, the story of a 10 year-old Zal who wants to have a horse instead of a wife and Joined for Life, an inspiring documentary film about 11 years-old conjoined twins Abby and Brittany Hensel. Another highlight is the animation Shelter, about a homeless child who lives under a tree and becomes the friend of a bird before the war begins to change their lives forever. Other Afghan premieres are the films Addicted in Afghanistan, an intimate and uncompromising documentary portrayal of the day to day struggles of a new generation of children addicted to heroin and the fiction film An Apple from Paradise that follows one father’s search for his son, who is a student at a religious school in Kabul. The festival will close on October 6 with another Afghan premiere of Light in the Cave, a moving film by Sayed Suleiman Amanzad and his own account of his survival against Taliban brutality in Bamyan in 1999. He was four years-old when Taliban over ran his village and starts killing people.

The documentary Sergio, a tribute to the visionary work of the dashing 55 year-old Brazilian UN diplomat and humanitarian of the highest order killed in Iraq, considered by some a cross between James Bond and Bobby Kennedy will premiere in Afghanistan as part of the non-competitive selection.

These are only a few of the many shorts, documentaries and feature films you may enjoy. We enthusiastically welcome your attendance and urge your involvement.

We look forward to your presence at our 1st Autumn Human Rights Film Festival!

Where would a festival be without its Seminars and Workshops?
This coming week, the festival will have a 5 day workshop and seminars, one of AHRF’s best platforms for filmmakers to promote their expertise and skills in the art of filmmaking within the human rights context. These workshops will be offered by a talented team of well-known filmmakers from different countries to share their knowledge and experience with the young generation of filmmakers. Workshops not only are bound to impress, but to educate both the most experienced film professionals in Afghanistan to the newly initiated.

Registration is open to every university student and film professional. For registration and more information about the workshops, you can email to workshop@ahrfestival.org or register in-person in BASA Films office on Silo road, Third Street, Kabul. There is limited space for participants; people who register late may miss this opportunity.

Festival goes beyond the borders: AHRF film screening in Bangalore
AHRF is a film festival for human rights, so it is not limited only to one country. ARHF would like to thanks Jaaga for helping us take the festival out of Afghanistan and introduce the young cinema of this war torn country to other nations. Jaaga has agreed to screen a selection of Afghan films in their space in Bangalore, India.

  We are now in the process of signing an agreement with the Afghan filmmakers for their permission to screen their films in Bangalore. This will help other nations to see Afghanistan’s reality differently than what they see on news. On the other hand, it will help Afghan filmmakers showcase their talent and expertise to the world.

source

BEETHOVEN FESTIVAL 2011

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 14 THROUGH SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 18
presented in partnership with High Concept Labs at
Chicago Urban Art Society
2229 S. HALSTED

Google Map

Festival Passes from $20 - $180.

AMBITIOUS INAUGURAL FESTIVAL TO PRESENT BEETHOVEN AS MAN AND MUSE, FEATURING NEW PORTRAITS, NEW FILMS, NEW MUSIC AND PLENTY OF BEETHOVEN DAY & NIGHT

Beethoven Festival 2011 is a five-day multi-disciplinary celebration of the life, works and spirit of Ludwig van Beethoven through music and art, presented in spectacular fashion at the edgy and acoustically superb Chicago Urban Art Society throughout the day and until 2am nightly. The venue is easily accessible by CTA bus/train and Metra, and car by street or highway (90/94) with either free self-park or valet parking right on location.

5 DAYS + 5 NIGHTS / 70+ musicians / 80+ pieces of music / 20+ living composers / 12+ contemporary artists / 5+ filmmakers / 3+ scholars / 2 actors / 1 poet – features a specially commissioned exhibit of new portraits of Beethoven by leading contemporary artists, short film premieres and installations, twenty new works for piano solo, and music spanning 400 years, from baroque to rock, solo to orchestra, with plenty of Beethoven at center. Food and Drink vendors will also be on location and allow audiences to enjoy concerts with a glass in hand, in a home-like setting.

GEORGE LEPAUW, President and Artistic Director of IBP, says that “few people get to experience the great master as he should be: a true radical in a radical setting. Beethoven was a rebel who broke all the rules of musical and societal conventions, changing forever the world of art and the rights of the artist. He was the first modernist. Thus we are challenging all the rules of classical music programming, in honor of Beethoven’s spirit of defiance and experimentation, with the goal of inspiring artists and audiences to be fearless, visionary and always hopeful. Ultimately this project is not really about music, or art, but about humanity and bringing people together around memorable and beautiful sights and sounds.”

SOME OF THE BEST Chicago-based musicians will be performing, including Winston Choi, Marta Aznavoorian, George Lepauw, Aurelien Pederzoli, MingHuan Xu, Sang Mee Lee, David Moss, Avalon and Spektral Quartet members, Chicago Symphony Orchestra members, and many more, along with talented out-of-towners Lara Downes, Reed Mathis and Mayuko Kamio. Additionally, the Beethoven Festival Orchestra Academy Concert of September 16th will be divided into three parts, each with its own conductor: Robert McConnell, Music Director of IBP; Josephine Lee, Music Director of Chicago Children’s Choir; and Daniel Boico, Assistant Principal Conductor of the New York Philharmonic.

TWO NEW MUSIC PROJECTS, curated by Chicago-based composer Mischa Zupko, will explore the ways in which Beethoven’s artistry forged new paths in musical language and culture: Beethoven Today, a concert of recent music involving Chicago’s most noted contemporary ensembles including Fulcrum Point, Ensemble Dal Niente, Anaphora and Duo Diorama, & the Bagatelle Project, bringing over 20 new piano bagatelles based on Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” by noted composers including Marta Ptaszynska, George Flynn, Carter Pann and Kristy Kuster.

CONTEMPORARY ART AND FILM exhibit curated by Catinca Tabacaru and including new works by Michael Cuffe, David J. Eichenberg, Carly Ivan Garcia, Mostafa Heravi, Amy Hill, Maya Kalabic, Dennis Lee, Hugh Leeman, Brian Leo, Danielle Lurie, Rachel Monosov, Jason Pallas and Rhom will give the Festival venue its very unique creative and experimental feel.

BEETHOVEN FESTIVAL 2011 IS A COMPLETE EXPERIENCE, SEAMLESSLY MIXING ART, MUSIC, FILM, CONVERSATIONS, EDUCATION, POETRY, FOOD AND DRINK. 

To find out about VIP privileges, sponsorship opportunities and advertising options, please emailibp@internationalbeethovenproject.com.

FULL SCHEDULE

BEETHOVEN FESTIVAL 2011 DAY 1

Wednesday September 14th, 2011

Read More

BEETHOVEN FESTIVAL 2011 DAY 2

Thursday September 15th, 2011

Read More

BEETHOVEN FESTIVAL 2011 DAY 3

Friday September 16th, 2011

Read More

BEETHOVEN FESTIVAL 2011 DAY 4

Saturday September 17th, 2011

Read More

BEETHOVEN FESTIVAL 2001 DAY 5

Sunday September 18th, 2011

Read More

THE STORY

The International Beethoven Project, a Chicago-based not-for-profit organization founded in 2009 from the outgrowth of a project begun in Paris in early 2007 by concert pianist George Lepauw, has in three short years made an indelible mark on the international music community. IBP first gained global attention when it took the musical world by storm with the World Premiere performance of Beethoven’s Piano Trio in E-Flat Major, Hess 47 performed by the Beethoven Project Trio (George Lepauw, Sang Mee Lee, Wendy Warner) at the Murphy Auditorium in Chicago on March 1, 2009. The World Premiere performance, which was programmed along with two other recently discovered piano trios of Beethoven and the well-known “Archduke” trio, led to the first complete performance series in history of the known piano trios of Beethoven by the Beethoven Project Trio through Winter and Spring of 2010. The culmination of IBP’s initial “Rediscovery Project” was a one-week residency in New York City that included private performances at the residence of the German Consul, a packed performance at Rockefeller University, as well as a Grand New York Premiere Concert at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on May 18, 2010.

The trios that brought IBP to the fore – Hess 47, Anhang 3 and Opus 63 – were released on Cedille Records in 2010, reaching #24 on the Classical Billboard Charts the first week out. The recording was a co-production of IBP and the award-winning Chicago-based Cedille Records. Max Wilcox, the legendary 17-time Grammy winning producer best known for his recordings of Artur Rubinstein for RCA Victor, served as recording producer for this project at the acoustically perfect American Academy of Arts and Letters in New York City.

While the International Beethoven Project was initially born with the single goal of giving the world premiere of Beethoven’s H47, the public’s and the press’s huge enthusiasm for renewed attention to Beethoven in general inspired a grander vision with long-term implications for IBP’s actions. Founder and President George Lepauw, along with other members of IBP who found themselves more deeply inspired as they dug further into Beethoven’s story and music, decided to develop a great plan for the gradual unveiling and planning of the global celebrations of Beethoven’s 250th anniversary year in 2020, with the goal of turning it into the greatest year-long celebration for any composer in history.

Beethoven is certainly IBP’s hero, but the deeper intention behind IBP is to celebrate music and the greatest cultural achievements of humanity. Because of this, IBP always attempts to give plenty of context to Beethoven’s world and music, including investigations into how and why our contemporary world can and still does relate to Beethoven, from everyday life to new music, art and politics.

It is IBP’s hope that Beethoven’s own humanism and lofty ideals for a better world can serve as a guidepost for all people and generations. His music, and all that it represents, uplifts and gives much needed hope to all.

source: http://internationalbeethovenproject.com/page.php?page=festival

The Glasses Fiction short film on TV

The Glasses fiction short film by Seyyed Hussein Mousavi

Story of this film is about two friends; one of them a boy and other one is a girl. The boy whose name is MEHRAB Finds a book full of mad and takes it home with himself. The girl whose name RAHELEH accidentally sees the book. None of them can read the book, so they go to Raheleh`s grand father to teach them how to read. The boy accidentally breaks the arm of the gather’s glasses. In order to learn reading they should fix the glasses. They try many ways which you will discover during the course of the film.

This short film last week was screening at Babur Gradens under name Afghan Vision on 26 July 2011 now it will screening on Areyana TV network on 4 AUG 9:00 PM.

This short fiction short film was produced under a contract with Mandegar Group and CETENAGROUP for Kabul US Embassy.

The Glasses Fiction Film is the first film from Miriam Films, this film will screening in the Institute France in Kabul on 26 July, also it will screening on 4th AUGUST on Ariana TV (AFG)

Miriam Films