call: Ex Oriente Film 2015
Call for entries
Deadline: 1 June 2015
EX ORIENTE FILM 2015!
Submissions for 2015 Ex Oriente Film workshop are open. We are looking for creative
documentary projects in development and early production from the CEE region.
Apply with your
documentary project through our online ENTRY FORM (Application is free of charge).
http://www.dokweb.net/en/ex-oriente-film/entry-form/
EX ORIENTE FILM WORKSHOP DEADLINE IS: June 1, 2015
Submissions are now open for Ex Oriente Film 2015, the year-long international workshop
supporting the development and funding of creative documentary films from Central and Eastern
Europe. At the three workshop sessions taking place in the course of one year, directors and
producers develop their projects and funding strategies and benefit from the assistance and
valuable advice provided by leading European and US producers, directors, experts and
commissioning editors. The Ex Oriente Film training programme culminates with the East European
Forum co-production meeting, allowing documentary filmmakers to pitch their projects and to
meet with Europe’s and North America´s leading commissioning editors, independent producers,
distributors, buyers and film fund and festival representatives. In the twelve years of its
existence, more than 150 documentary projects from Eastern and Central Europe went through
the Ex Oriente Film workshop, including award-winning films from the key European festivals,
such as The Domino Effect, Blind Loves, At the Edge of Russia, Rabbit a la Berlin, Village Without
Women, Bakhmaro
2015 / 2016 Workshop Timeline:
 1st Session: July 20 – 25, 2015 (Rijeka, Croatia, in cooperation with REFINERI workshop)
 2nd Session: October 26 – 31, 2015 (Jihlava, Czech Republic, within Jihlava IDFF)
 3rd Session & East European Forum: March 7 – 13, 2016 (Prague, Czech Republic, within
East Doc Platform and One World IFF)
Projects we look for:
Creative feature length (52´up) documentary projects in development and production tackling
contemporary topics, challenging genre and media boundaries and audience participation. We
welcome filmmakers who set out to conduct intense and engaged experiences and to change the
way we think about topical issues, audiences, ways of storytelling and the world itself.
Participants:
About 12 projects will be selected out of all submissions, which totals 24 participants (directorproducer
teams) attending the workshop. The workshop is designed primarily for directors and
producers from Central and Eastern Europe and/ or for creative documentary projects dealing
with stories from Central and Eastern Europe.
Conditions of Participation:
Directors and producers participate with their own creative documentary projects. It is required
that all workshop sessions be attended by both the director and the producer. Participants must
be proficient in English.
Participation Fee:
The participation fee is EUR 1,800 per selected project (includes accommodation, coffee breaks
and lunches during all the three workshop sessions for 1-2 pers.).
Scholarships:
Participants may apply for scholarship to cover part of the participation fee. Applicants must
prove that there is no access to scholarship in their own country and that the project is not
supported by any development funding.
EX ORIENTE FILM STEP BY STEP:
1st Workshop Session: “Find Your Originalityâ€
July 20 – 25, 2015 (Rijeka, Croatia, in cooperation with Udruga Ukus and REFINERI workshop)
The first session of the workshop deals with inspiration, focusing on the development of the
documentary project, primarily its story potential, as well as researching the potential for
documentary co-production and laying the groundwork for project production. The programme is
divided between various master classes held by visiting experts and practical intensive work on
the projects. The first session aims to integrate the participants into a functioning group,
establishing positive atmosphere for creative networking as well as defining the position of each
project within the context of the European documentary market.
2nd Workshop Session: “Production Developmentâ€
October 26 – 31, 2015 (Jihlava, Czech Republic, within Jihlava IDFF)
The second workshop session focuses on budgeting, legal aspects of co-productions, strategies
for selecting commissioning editors and other partners, as well as a deeper creative development
of the projects, the rough material as well as the documentary script. The second session is
specific in that it has partly separate programme for directors and producers – the directors are
working on the script, dramaturgy and trailer, while the producers are preparing the financial and
distributional plans and consulting the budget in detail.
3rd Session: “The Market Opens†& East European Forum
March 7 – 13, 2016 (Prague, Czech Republic, within East Doc Platform and One World IHRDFF)
The third meeting of the workshop focuses mainly on developing a plan for the distribution and
sales of the film, fine-tuning the final vision of the trailer, after-pitching negotiation techniques
as well as practicing of the communication strategy aimed at getting support for the project from
the international partners. The theoretical parts of the workshop deal through real case studies
mainly with the issues of international co-production and distribution. The workshop culminates in
the public presentation / pitching itself, followed by the personal meetings with the international
commissioning editors, TV, fund and festival representatives, independent (co-) producers, and
distributors, whom the participants can meet at the round tables as well as within the prearranged
individual meetings. The projects presented at the East European Forum annually
compete for 6 awards, providing further support to the winner: direct financial help for further
development of the film (East Doc Platform Development Award and Golden Funnel Award), coproduction
or post-production support from the TV stations (HBO Co-Production Award and the
Czech TV Postproduction Award) or free participation in other key European film co-production
meetings and markets (IDFA Forum, DOK Leipzig and DocsBarcelona Awards).
Another important aspect of Ex Oriente Film is the year-round online support – sessions and
consultations led by organizers, head tutors and guest tutors of the workshop. The three
residential Ex Oriente Film workshops and the East European Forum pitching are supplemented by
the Follow-Up Support Programme which tracks the projects till their completion, providing
former participants with consultation and scholarships for international festivals and markets and
helping to multiply their professional contacts (IDFA, Sheffield Doc/Fest, DOKLeipzig, WEMW,
Fipa etc.).
The final selection of the 12 projects/ teams will be announced in the second half of June.
Contact:
Veronika Lišková, Project Manager
email: veronika@dokweb.net
Maša Marković, Project Coordinator
email: masa@dokweb.net
Institute of Documentary Film (IDF)
Štěpánská 14
110 00 Prague 1, Czech Republic/
www.DOKweb.net
