This year’s edition of CineLink Talks, the conference arm of CineLink Industry Days will host 21 panels and 59 speakers. From 13-18 August, across three locations – Hotel Europe Atrium, Sarajevo Youth Theatre and Festival Center – the festival audience will have the opportunity to listen to leading industry experts, policy and decision makers and creators talk on various topics, from gender equality to film and drama series financing.
Five panels organized in partnership with Documentary Campus will touch upon distribution challenges, new funding strategies for social impact films, middle players in film industry and the responsibility of documentary filmmakers in the ‘fake-news’ era. In collaboration with House of Shorts, the panel on short films will host representatives of leading tech companies like Vimeo and WeTransfer.
Leading policy experts will assess the consequences of 2020 50/50 movements on inclusion within the industry. The audience will have chance to learn more about co-production possibilities with United Kingdom, Turkey and Italy.
“In these challenging times, we couldn’t shift focus from social issues. Film professionals and creators from Ukraine will share their experience and outlook on producing during the war. In this edition, through partnership with UNHCR, we will see the representations of people forced to flee in contemporary cinema through three case studies,” say organisers.
Finally, focusing on the Southeast region, through the case study of Serbian film industry the CineLink Industry Days will address the main challenges to its sustainability.
Saturday August 13. 14:30 – 15:30. Hotel Europe Atrium
In Conversation with International Public Policy Makers: can film contribute to the promotion of peace? If art and culture bring public benefits, create social bonds, and express communal meaning, how can we harness the power of film to promote peace? Acknowledging the importance of public policies in the arts and culture, we have gathered international public policy-makers to share their experience. Together, we will look at different approaches to developing impactful cultural public policies, fostering film to become a catalyst of a more sustainable and innovative future.
H.E Ahmed Aljarwan – President of the Global Council for Tolerane and Peace (GCTP) / AE
Mr. Amer Kapetanović – Head of Political department, Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) / BA
Ms. Bedrana Ribo – Member of Parliament of Austria / AT
H.E. Johann Sattler – Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Bosnia and Herzegovina and the European Union Special Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Mr. Ralf Melzer – Director, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Dialogue Southeast Europe / DE
H.E. Ranko Krivokapić – Minister of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro / ME
Moderated by: Harun Karčić – Al Jazeera Balkans, BA
Sunday August 14. 14:30 – 15:30. Hotel Europe Atrium
Creating content for the young audiences – regional perspective.
Every day we are surrounded by the famous, yet unknown keyword – Gen Z. We listen and learn about their habits – what they watch, how they consume information, their likes and dislikes. Relevant voices from the region share their experience on how to remain interesting and keep momentum by creating content that will appeal to young audiences.
Ida Weiss – Producer & Managing Director, Bela Film & Senca Studio / SI
Ivan Knežević – Screenwriter / RS
Milan Stojanović – Producer & CEO, Sense Productions / RS
Marina Andree Škop – Producer and director, PomPom Film / HR
Moderated by: Floria Weghorn – Berlinale Talents, DE
Sunday August 14. 16.00 – 17.00. Hotel Europe Atrium
Dealing with the Past. True Stories Market
The True Stories Market is dedicated to improving dialogue among the countries of former Yugoslavia, which are faced with deep and far-reaching consequences of the aftermath of past conflicts. The market presents four cases selected from the archives of key organisations that work to document the Yugoslav Wars to film and TV professionals. This serves as an open source for filmmakers to weave stories that can address larger audiences, with all the urgency and power that cinema has to offer. After the festival, in order to facilitate the transition of these stories from market to screen, an open call invites filmmakers to apply to execute a project inspired by one of the cases highlighted by the market.
Moderated by: Robert Zuber – Film Director / Croatia
Sunday August 14. 17:30 – 18:30. Hotel Europe Atrium
Who will pay for Social Impact films? Presented by Documentary Campus
Films can change the way we see and experience the world. They can also change legislations, lobby for social causes, campaign for human rights, and even topple governments. In an industry increasingly interested in entertainment, where subscriptions are a measure of success, are there any new ways to finance the films that want to change the world as we know it? Four marketing and distribution experts for social impact films will share their insights on the current financing landscape and how they imagine the future of films to change.
Brian Newman – CEO, Sub-genre Media / US
Danielle Turkov-Wilson – Founder and CEO, Think-film Impact Production / UK
Sarah Mosses – Founder and CEO, Together Films / UK
Patricia Finneran – Executive Director, Story Matters / US
Moderated by: Paula Vaccaro – Pinball London / UK
Monday August 15. 17:30 – 18:30. Hotel Europe Atrium
Trend or tradition? Key players between documentary filmmakers and audiences. Presented by Documentary Campus
How is the rapidly changing documentary industry influencing strategies in film sales, curation, acquisition, means of distribution, screening and launch strategies, to name just a few of the areas that professionals situated between filmmakers and audiences have as their core expertise? What exactly is transforming, and which new strategies are in the making? How do sales agents, distributors, aggregators, and film festivals define and develop their current roles in this context and in a world with increased uncertainties? For documentary professionals change is inevitable. Yet, the speed at which things shift, calls for our additional attention and reflection.
Mads Mikkelsen – Head of Programme, CPH:DOX / DK
Sophie Bourdon – Head of Industry, Visions du Réel, International Film Festival Nyon / CH
Thierry Detaille – Distributor, Visible Film/Belgian Docs / BE
Vincent Lucassen – Aggregator, Under the Milky Way / AT
Moderated by: Gitte Hansen – Consultant / DK
Monday August 15. 16.00 – 17.00. Hotel Europe Atrium
How Contemporary Cinema Portrays Those Who Had to Flee. Presented by UNHCR
Today, one in every 88 people in the world is forcibly displaced. This unfortunate situation requires attention, not only from political actors. By tapping into the heart of the purpose-drive, socially engaged film, questions arise: How can we provoke compassion? How can we raise the sense of individual responsibility in all of us – creators and viewers? Through three case studies, three documentary features ALONG THE WAY by Mijke de Jong, AS FAR AS I CAN WALK (STRAHINJA BANOVIĆ) by Stefan Arsenijević and documentary short WHEN WE WERE THEM by Danis Tanović and Damir Šagolj, we explore the representations of those who had to flee in the contemporary cinema.
Damir Šagolj – Photographer, journalist, and teacher / BA
Nancy Mensa-Offei – Actress / AT
Natascha Erfanipour – Assistant Director and anthropologist / NL
Stefan Arsenijević – Film director / RS
Moderated by: Danielle Turkov Wilson – Think-film Impact Production / UK
Monday August 15. 17:30 – 18:30. Hotel Europe Atrium
Trust Me, I’m a Documentary Filmmaker. Presented by Documentary Campus
Today documentary films have the power to make sense of a complex world, deliver knowledge and emotion, uncover and fight injustice, open the eyes of the audience towards essential issues. They reach a large audience. With great power comes great responsibility. How do we deliver fact-based stories in the fake-news era? How do we gain, as opposed to lose, the trust of viewers? How do we deal with censorship? What is the filmmaker’s responsibility towards the characters he or she films? How do we keep control of the message after the film is completed? Those and other questions will be discussed with a panel of filmmakers and field experts.
Henrik Underbjerg – Advisor, International Media Support (IMC) / DK
Madeleine Leroyer – Documentary filmmaker and impact producer, Little Big Story / Impact Social Club / FR
Mladen Kovačević – Director, Horopter FIlm Production / RS
Nataša Urban – Filmmaker, Medieoperatørene, Oslo / NO
Moderated by: Christian Popp – YUZU Productions / FR
Wednesday August 17. 14:30 – 15:30. Sarajevo Youth Theatre
Short Films: How Can We Keep Making Them? Presented by Documentary Campus
More than a filmmaker’s calling card, short films are a format of choice for many audiences online. For the filmmakers, shorts are a way to show artistic choices and skills. They are discovery portals into an artists’ vision while offering the makers a way to network and approach the industry with a less risky option in terms of budget. But they are not getting any easier to finance, and distribution of shorts seems overflooded. Our panelists will share their vision about how to make short films that can stand out. How to finance, craft and showcase them and what are the advantages of making shorts in the current landscape.
Holly Fraser – Editor-in-chief, Senior Director of Content, WeTransfer / NL
Meghan Oretsky – Senior Curator, Vimeo / US
Neils Putman – Chief Editor and Co-Founder, Talking Shorts / BE
Moderated by: Paula Vaccaro – Pinball London / UK
Wednesday August 17. 14:30 – 15:30. Hotel Europe Atrium
Thinking Inclusion Policy – Funding and the Industry Shift. Presented by MEDICI Training – The Film Funding Journey proposed by FOCAL
The past decade witnessed the rise of various iterations of the 50/50 by movements in 2020, which have intersectionally coincided with calls for greater ethnic participation in these movements, and the industry at large. During the last two years the film industry has questioned its role, responsibility and actions in a paradigm that remains status quo. In the context of the proliferation of statements, open letters and some concrete actions, this panel will explore what is the most up to date national policy on inclusion in some of the selected countries. The panel will discuss the funders’ view of diversity and inclusion measures proposed on both national and regional levels. It will highlight selected policy tools which prove to be effective, and address challenges which funders need to overcome.
Caterina Bolognese – Head of Gender Equality, Council of Europe / IT/AU/US
Fatih Abay – Diversity & Inclusion Officer, European Film Academy / DE
Kristina Börjeson – Head of Production, Film i Väst / SE
Neil Peplow – Director of Industry and International, British Film Institute / UK
Nataša Bučar – Managing Director, Slovenia Film Centre / SI
Moderated by: Tamara Tatishvili – MEDICI – Film Funding Journey at Focal / CH
Wednesday August 17. 17:30 – 18:30. Hotel Europe Atrium
Producers Unite: Together, Are We Stronger?
Following a conversation we started in 2020 on re-imagining distribution strategies for independent films, two years later, this panel invites independent producers to discuss the challenges presented by the current film distribution model and how this is changing the producer’s scope of work. Are collectives of producers the only possible future of independent films? Or going rogue and nimble will provide a better chance to thrive? A conversation to think together about the producer’s role in a landscape where the fight for rights and access to audiences is just the tip of the iceberg.
Alexandra Lebret – Managing director, European Producers Club / FR
Farah Abushwesha – Producer and writer, Rocliffe Limited / UK
Rodrigo Areias – Producer and director, Bando à Parte / PT
Moderated by: Paula Vaccaro – Pinball London / UK
Thursday August 18. 12:00 – 13:00. Hotel Europe Atrium
A bubble or a boom? A case study of Serbian production capacities and infrastructure development.
The film industry in Serbia has flourished in recent years. With production capacities booming, the question poses itself – how to keep the industry sustainable? Our distinguished panelists will help us understand which factors determined this expansion and shed light on future challenges for the professionals in the field.
Alek Conić – Director, producer and founder of Clockwork Film Production / RS
Boban Jevtić – Head of Content Strategy and Development, Firefly productions / RS
Gordan Matić – CEO of Film Center Serbia / RS
Igor Turčinović – Head of PFI Studios / RS
Marko Čadež – President of Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia / RS
Moderated by: Alex Traila – Council of Europe, Eurimages / RO
Thursday August 18. 14:30 – 16.00. Hotel Europe Atrium
Talents Sarajevo Pack & Pitch Public Project Pitching
Seven Talents Sarajevo participants pitch scripts currently in development to a five-member jury, their peers, and industry professionals scouting for up-and-coming talent.
Moderated by: Gabriele Brunnenmeyer (Germany) and Nicholas Davies (Canada)
Thursday August 18. 16.00 – 17.00. Hotel Europe Atrium
Female Solidarity in the Film Industry: How to get there
How do women get to tell their own stories and create their own representations? Through the lenses of director, producer, and casting director, we gathered powerful female voices from different backgrounds, generations, and experiences to navigate how female solidarity in the film industry can be achieved.
Anamaria Antoci – Producer / RO
Marta Popivoda – Filmmaker / RS
Teona Strugar Mitevska – Director / MK
Timka Grin – Casting Director / BA
Moderated by: Amra Bakšić Čamo – SCCA/pro.ba /BA
Thursday August 18. 17.30 – 18.30. Hotel Europe Atrium
Producing During the War – Ukrainian Outlook
What are the long and short term consequences of the war on the film industry in Ukraine? Which stories do filmmakers choose to tell? How to produce in a war-torn environment? From production capacities to main themes and ideas, Ukrainian creators and industry professionals discuss the main challenges facing their industry.
Kyrylo Marikutsa – Kyivmusicfilm (kisff Films) / UA
Maksym Nakonechnyi – Director, Tabor production / UA
Maryna Er Gorbach – Director / UA
Natalia Libet – Producer, Esse Production House / UA
Volodymyr Sheiko – General Director, Ukrainian Institute / UA
Moderated by: Tamara Tatishvili – MEDICI – Film Funding Journey at Focal / CH
