Euromed Audiovisual II
EUROMED AUDIOVISUAL II
A PROGRAMME AIMING AT ENHANCING EURO-MEDITERRANEAN AUDIOVISUAL CO-OPERATION
FOUNDATIONS FOR THE PROGRAMME
Film and audiovisual as the keys to mutual understanding between the two shores of the Mediterranean
The year 2005 marked the 10th Anniversary of the Barcelona Conference in which Foreign Affairs Ministers from the EU and 12 Mediterranean Partners (Algeria, Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Malta, Morocco, the Palestinian Authority, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey) agreed to form the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership to nurture closer economic and cultural ties between the southern Mediterranean and Europe. Their rationale was that well-chosen joint programmes would assist partner countries in creating a sustainable future for their cultural heritage. The foundations for audiovisual cooperation were laid during the Thessaloniki Conference in 1997, where Foreign Affairs Ministers stressed the importance of audiovisual for the promotion of mutual cultural understanding. The result was the launch by the European Commission of the regional Euromed Audiovisual I Programme in 2000 and the current Euromed Audiovisual II Programme in 2006.
Four priorities geared toward structures and sustained development
- The Programme’s objectives to be pursued over 3 years are:
- To provide training and professional development for film and audiovisual professionals from the MEDA countries and territories
- To enhance and upskill those involved in film development, promotion, distribution and exhibition in the MEDA region
- To promote the visibility and exhibition, and maximize audiences for Mediterranean films in the MEDA region and the EU, and European films in the MEDA countries and territories
- To reinforce the capacity of the South-Mediterranean region's public authorities to improve the organisation of the audiovisual sector and adopt measures to deal with new developments and new threats such as piracy
WHO CAN BENEFIT FROM EUROMED AUDIOVISUAL II?
Euromed Audiovisual II is geared towards professionals, institutions and national organizations in the audiovisual field from the following countries and territories: Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Morocco, Syria, the Palestinian Authority, Tunisia and Turkey, in order to create sustainable networks between the professionals of the two shores of the Mediterranean.
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
A team of professional experts servicing the programme and its beneficiaries
iMed (Istituto per il Mediterraneo) has been appointed by the European Commission (EuropeAid Cooperation Office) to provide:
- Technical and legal assistance to South-Mediterranean authorities on audiovisual policy enhancement and adoption of measures to accompany the development of the sector and combat threats to the sector including piracy, according to their needs and requests
- Monitoring to ensure coherent implementation of the 12 projects funded by the programme
- Support for the establishment of a “Reflection Group” on the future of Mediterranean audiovisual culture and on audiovisual policies in the Euro-Mediterranean region
- Design, set-up and maintenance of the Euromed Audiovisual website: www.euromedaudiovisuel.net, as a main tool of information and dissemination of results for the programme and its users
- Support in organising regional conferences and thematic workshops in order to enhance networking between the programme’s beneficiaries
- Visibility of Programme outcomes and promotion of the Programme
TWELVE PROJECTS TO ASSIST SOUTH MEDITERRANEAN TALENT TO ENHANCE THE DISTRIBUTION OF FILMS
With a budget of 15 million euros over three years, the Programme will support 12 selected projects which will further its objectives. The projects cover a range of initiatives targeting various industry professionals and spanning the entire process of film development, distribution, promotion and exhibition. They include vital opportunities for training, networking, mentoring by established industry figures, skills and knowledge transfer as well as exchanging ideas and best practices.TRAINING
All seven projects are exclusively open to professionals from the MEDA countries. They all are free of charge.
Audiovisual Financing and Commercialisation (AFIC) (INA, France)
The project provides producers, distributors, directors and professors from film schools with a solid foundation in film financing, co-production, sales, acquisitions, marketing, promotion and international business development skills through training. It aims at enhancing young professionals’ ability to produce and market their projects.
Contact: Ana VINUELA
avinuela@ina.fr
www.ina.fr
Mediterranean Film Business School, (MBS, Spain)
Two cycles of two workshops each, as well as follow-up and tutorials are provided by MFBS to assist South Mediterranean producers with film projects to acquire skills and establish networks in order to finance co-produce and distribute their works internationally. Financing, co-production and legal aspects are covered in the first workshop and marketing and distribution in the second one.
Contact: José Manuel Garasino
garasino@mediaschool.org
www.mediaschool.org
EurodocMed, (Eurodoc, France)
EURODOCmed aims at improving the quality of documentary project development, and set up a sustainable skills exchange network between European documentary decision-makers and South Mediterranean professionals. It brings together documentary professionals from MEDA countries to participate in a training scheme that supports the development of specific projects during three sessions that take place in France and in Portugal. Networking is enhanced through participation to international markets (umbrella at the Sunny Side of the Doc 2006) and a special event in spring 2007.
Contact: Anne-Marie Luccioni
eurodoc@wanadoo.fr
www.eurodoc-net.com
Mediterranean Films Crossing Borders, (Iberautor, Spain)
This project organizes intensive training seminars in distribution and promotion for Mediterranean audiovisual professionals during the International Film Festivals of Cannes, San Sebastian and Berlin. It provides participants with necessary skills to promote and sell their film projects in an international market. Participants meet fellow European and Mediterranean professionals and key players in the international audiovisual industry prior to the major European film festivals to enhance the promotion and circulation of their films.
Contact : Brigitte Veyne
bveyne@sgae.es
www.mfcb.org
Génération Grand Ecran 2006 (CICAE, France)
The project aims at upskilling South Mediterranean cultural managers, film-club event organisers, film exhibitors and distributors, institutions involved with film distribution through training courses held in parallel with the Mostra del Cinema in Venice and the Carthage Cinema Days in Tunis. The training strategy of the project is based on the need to re-think exhibition patterns and thereby increase the quality in the distribution and showing of films in theatres, film clubs and other cultural institutions to attract more cinema-goers.
Contact: Enrico CHIESA
cicae@art-et-essai.org
www.cicae.org
Berlinale Talent Campus (Berlin International Film Festival, Germany)
As a part of the Berlin International Film Festival, the Berlinale Talent Campus provides a unique opportunity for more than 30 young talent from the South Mediterranean to build a network of contacts with established EU industry professionals and other young talent from all over the world.
Contact: Dorothee WENNER
wenner@berlinale.de
www.berlinale-talentcampus.de
Insight Out (Hochschule für Film und Fernsehen HFF “Konrad Wolf ”, Germany)
As mastery of new technologies is of outmost importance for young filmmakers, the two project’s intensive workshops for up to 25 South Mediterranean participants (February 2006 and 2007) both focus on digital film production and post-production technologies and their potential. The workshops also encourage the establishment of co-production and collaboration partnerships between EU and MEDA professionals.
Contact: Jennifer Hoffmann
j.hoffmann@hff-potsdam.de
http://insightout.hff-potsdam.de/
DEVELOPMENT
A crucial phase in the world cinema industry to which Euromed Audiovisual dedicates two specific programmes.
Meda Films Development - MFD (Ali n' prod, Morocco)
MFD aims at enhancing the development of 10 Mediterranean feature films per year, strengthening the creative partnership between producers and scriptwriters. It selects 20 participants a year, and provides them with three yearly workshops led by international professionals, in order to enhance the development process of their projects and ensure their viability, quality and success. In addition, MFD aims at filling a gap in the Mediterranean caused by a shortage of film development bodies by establishing a dedicated development structure in Morocco.
Contact: Bahija Lyoubi
bahija@alinprod.com
www.mfd.ma
The Greenhouse (New Foundation for Cinema and Television, Israel)
Greenhouse aims at raising the standard of documentary filmmaking in the MEDA region from mere television reportage to creative documentaries with a potential for theatrical release and exposure at major film festivals. The project establishes the Greenhouse Audiovisual Development Centre to pursue this aim and provides workshops and follow-up periods for 24 producers and filmmakers, 2 for each of the 12 projects selected every year, exploring all aspects of making and marketing high quality feature-length documentaries.
Contact: Sigal Yehuda
sigal@ghfilmcentre.org
www.ghfilmcentre.org
PROMOTION
Euromed Audiovisual aims at helping Mediterranean films find a larger audience in Europe as well as within their region.
Med Screen (Beirut DC, Lebanon)
In order to enhance the visibility and sales potential of Mediterranean films in Europe and the MEDA region, Med-Screen organizes "Arab Film Weeks" in cinemas and festivals both in Europe and in the eight Arab MEDA countries and establishes an online directory of Arab cinema. The project also supports feature-length film rights holders to attend the main film markets in Europe to sell their films. Furthermore the project funds the shooting of 'Making of…' of Mediterranean films for online display and DVD inclusion and helps advertising DVDs’ editions of Arab films.
Contact: Hania MROUEH
GMHM@cyberia.net.lb
www.beirutdc.org
www.med-screen.com
The Caravan of Euro-Arab cinema (SEMAT, Egypt)
This project aims at bringing the new visions of European and Arab filmmakers to Arab and European cities to create a new generation of cinema-goers more open to European and Arab film culture. The project will raise awareness especially among students and cinemagoers by exhibiting recent quality feature and documentary films in cultural centres, university campuses, suburban cinema complexes and during established festivals such as the Rotterdam Arab Film Festival and the Biennale of Arab Cinema in Paris. The project also encourages commercial cinemas to provide more space for European and Arab productions.
Contact: Hala GALAL EL SAYED
caravan@cinemacaravan.com
www.cinemacaravan.com
DISTRIBUTION AND EXHIBITION
The circulation of films is one of Euromed Audiovisual’s main objectives
Euromed Cinemas (managed by the Centre Cinématographique Marocain closely with Europa Cinemas)
This project aiming at creating new markets is the most important within Euromed Audiovisual II.
Euromed Cinemas provides support to theatrical exhibitors and distributors that will propose dynamic campaigns for distributing and showing Mediterranean films in the EU and South Mediterranean regions (70% of the available financing of the project) as well as European films in the Mediterranean region (30% of the available financing). Its beneficiaries are film distributors and cinema exhibitors located in any of the 35 countries of the EU and the MEDA region.
Contact: Nour-Eddine SAIL
secretariat.ccm@menara.ma
http://www.euromed-cinemas.org/
