This year’s last educational sessions of REFINERI – the platform for the support and development of hybrid AV creativity was successfully finished on Sunday 21 December in Rijeka.
The authors of two selected film projects, Ožanić Marta and Kristina Barišić from Rijeka (“Lunchtime!”) and Ina Ferlan from Ljubljana (“Person of view – working title”) worked on a detailed structure of their future films, with the guidance of mentors of the Platform. Aforementioned authors also participated in the 1st and 2nd REFINERI sessions in 2014, and now when their educational cycle has come to an end, they will continue to consult their projects with mentors. Also, when completed, their films will be screened in the Art-kino Croatia in Rijeka and in Brussels’ Cinema Nova. Those public screenings will serve as a starting point of the distribution for their films.
This year’s educational cycle of the Platforms for support and development of hybrid AV creativity REFINERI began by selecting eight hybrid film projects – projects on the borders of documentary practice – in March this year. Association UKUS, an organizer, selected five Croatian, one Russian, one Bosnian and one Slovenian project in development, with the intention to carry some of them through only one and the others through all of three annual sessions. In April, during the first session, participants worked with five mentors: Slovak director and producer Peter Kerekes, Croatian director and screenwriter Lordan Zafranović, Belgian-French film selector and musician Guillaume Maupin, and the organizers of the platform, Željka Suková and Aleš Suk. The first session was devoted to a detailed presentation of the projects. The participants were inspired with other film projects and perspectives and the session addressed the question of borders between hybrid, documentary and feature films.
The second session took place in July (21-26) along with a workshop for the development of creative documentary Ex Oriente Film organized by the Czech Institute of Documentary Film (UKUS’ partners on the project). 16 international projects were developed during the session, including the four REFINERI projects. The participants worked together with 13 eminent international mentors and with a number of guests – funds representatives, commissioning editors, distributers. Rada Šešić, Jean-Pierre Rehm, Amra Bakšić Čamo, Mikael Opstrup, Šejla Kamerić and Audrius Stonys gave public lectures. Around 12 public screenings were held, and several non-participating projects were also consulted. The session included an in-depth analysis of each of the projects, with a focus on the structure and visual materials. Among other, the participants were equipped with the knowledge of presenting a film that does not yet exist and the producers worked on building financial strategies. Participants also had the opportunity of presenting their projects to prominent commissioning editors and funds representatives from the region.
The last session (17-21 December) was dedicated to in-depth planning of preproduction and production phases. It included making of a storyboard and moodboard, and the detailed plan of filming.
The first REFINERI sessions in 2015 will also be held in April, following the opened call in February. The forthcoming participants will expand the boundaries of their films with the support of film professionals and music, visual art and theater artists . As with previous participants, they will be provided with various benefits and privileges, such as the membership in the Network IDF, and distribution on the East Silver and DocAlliance Channel.
The project is carried out with the support of Croatian Audiovisual Center, the City of Rijeka, Foundation Kultura nova, the MEDIA Programme of the EU, and in collaboration with Art-kino Croatia and in partnership with the Institute of Documentary Film in Prague.
