31/08/2018 - Creative Europe MEDIA organises a conference to talk about promotion, festivals and the programme after 2020 on the Lido on 1 September

The European Film Forum, organised by Creative Europe MEDIA at the 75th Venice International Film Festival, will bring together industry representatives and policy makers to explore the role of festivals post-2020, focusing on ways to strengthen the promotion of films and reach wider audiences. The conference titled "Creating the buzz around movies: Promotion, Festivals and MEDIA after 2020" will take place on Saturday 1 September, from 16.00 to 18.00 at the Excelsior Hotel, Venice Lido, Sala degli Stucchi.

This year the Venice Film Festival takes place in the backdrop of the Commission's proposals on Creative Europe MEDIA, AVMSD and copyright. Following the official Creative Europe proposal of 30 May, this year's European Film Forum will set its sights on discussing priorities of the new programme and the concrete options for MEDIA in the future. As regards support for festivals, the current budget helps to reach more than 3.5 million people, according to the EU. As the audiovisual landscape is changing rapidly, the Film Forum will address how festivals should respond and how MEDIA support can be adapted, in order to maximise impact.

Following the opening remarks by La Biennale di Venezia president Paolo Baratta, and a keynote speech by director general of DG CONNECT at the European Commmission Roberto Viola, an exchange between Séries Mania director Laurence Herszberg and San Sebastián International Film Festival director José Luis Rebordinos will take place, in order to compare their approaches, addressing the film sector and the TV sector respectively. A panel discussion on the power of collaboration, wondering how to scale up, share and make better use of resources and reach wider audiences, is set to follow, with the participation of Seville European Film Festival director José Luis Cienfuegos, head of cinema at Brussels' Centre for Fine Arts BOZAR Juliette Duret, Tunisian National Cinema and Image Centre (CNCI) director Chiraz Latiri, International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam director Orwa Nyrabia and Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film programme managing director Ulrich Wegenast. MEP and member CULT Committee Silvia Costa will close the panel.

The European Film Forum will be followed by the 1st edition of the Europa Cinemas Innovation Prize. This prize will reward outstanding innovative projects and approaches carried out by networks of cinemas. This joint initiative of Creative Europe MEDIA and Europa Cinemas aims at highlighting the diversity, vitality and creativity of cinemas. The prize seeks to reward projects and approaches that have the potential to inspire other cinema exhibitors to engage with audiences, using digital technologies and building environmentally sustainable projects, as well as projects with a long-term socio-economic impact. The winner of the prize will be awarded €10,000.