8 th EUROPEAN. SCRIPT CONTEST for short film scripts PRESSFILE N I S I M A S A. For people aged Deadline: July 31 st.

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1 8 th EUROPEAN N I S I M A S A European Network of Young Cinema SCRIPT CONTEST for short film scripts theme for 2009: T A B O O For people aged Deadline: July 31 st PRESSFILE

2 THE ORGANISATION Our profile NISI MASA is a European network gathering hundreds of young film enthusiasts in 19 countries. NISI MASA is composed of national organisations with different profiles, but all consisting of young Europeans sharing a common passion: cinema. Our aims To discover & promote new film talents, To foster European awareness through the means of cinema, To develop cross-cultural cinema projects To create a platform of discussion and collaboration for young European filmmakers. Our main activities NISI MASA holds an annual European Short Film Script Contest for people between 18 and 28, and assists the awarded scripts in production and distribution. All the year long, NISI MASA also organises various activities focused on European cinema: lectures, seminars, film screenings, meetings and workshops (in film critic, scriptwriting and directing) in various cities (Istanbul, Paris, Mitrovica, Vienna, Budapest, Kars, etc). These events often take place during film festivals around Europe. THE NETWORK Building a Common European House ; A video workshop in Turin, Italy, April-May Arte (Kosovo) // Cinestesias (Spain) // Ciné-Script (Belgium) Daazo (Hungary) // Control N (Romania) // Euphoria Borealis (Finland) NISI MASA Germany // Franti - NISI MASA Italia Fresh Film Fest (Czech Republic) // Kino5 (Austria) // Seven (Bulgaria) MeccaPANZA (The Netherlands) // Moviement (Russia) // NISI MASA France Nisi Mini (Sweden) // Palunko + Kino Klub Zagreb (Croatia) // NISI MASA Turkey PIFF (Slovenia) // NISI MASA Estonia

3 THE SCRIPT CONTEST Contest Rules Organised from the 15th of April to the 31st of July, the NISI MASA contest takes place simultaneously in all its member countries in Europe (See Network ). For this 8th edition, the new theme is: Taboo. The contest is open to every youngster from 18 to 28, living in one of the organising countries. Each participant must write a short-film script of 20,000 characters maximum on the assigned theme, in one of the official languages of the contest. Contest Calendar First phase: April 15th July 31st 2009 Information campaign and deadline for submitting scripts. Second phase: August 1st September 15th 2009 Reading, pre-selection & translation of the scripts on a national level. Third phase: November 18th-23rd 2009 Meeting of the European jury in Pristhina, Kosovo and proclamation of the winners. Awards Twelve winners of the 2009 NISI MASA European Script Contest will get a full scholarship to participate in European Short Pitch, a script development workshop organised from the 11th to the 16th of January 2010, at the Moulin d Andé~Céci ( France), followed by pitching sessions in front of European producers in April Moreover, three winners from the Balkans will be selected for the Sarajevo Film Festival Talent Campus in summer 2010.

4 EUROPEAN SHORT PITCH European Short Pitch is a scriptwriting and pitching project initiated in The NISI MASA know-how and experience is concentrated during two intense workshop sessions that are committed to the future of European short film productions. 24 young European talents are brought together in residence at the Moulin d Andé-Céci (France) in order to rewrite, discuss and learn about the way of promoting their project. The potential of their script is decisive and crucial for their participation. Supported by experienced tutors they prepare during one intense week for the second session: a unique pitching session in front of 25 European producers and buyers. We aim to bring young European talents in the spotlight and give them a high end promotion opportunity, to develop cross-cultural short film production in Europe. European Short Pitch is about enhanced economic viability and European visibility for short film scripts. It results in European short film co-productions and eased access to feature film for the participants. From the previous editions, 70 projects were presented and more than 100 producers and buyers attended the pitching session and started some collaboration. Moulin d Andé-Céci: Since 1998, the Moulin d Andé has developed an ongoing programme of support for film writing : CÉCI the Centre for Film Writing. On the initiative of François Barat, director of GREC (Research and Experimental Film Group) CÉCI has been built, consolidated and progressively modelled around the needs of scriptwriters, filmmakers, composers for film, critics and writers on film. CÉCI - in its height-year existence, has become a permanent centre of reflection on film writing. Today, it is distinguished by its determination to encourage notable writing and recognised for its support for original initiatives. CÉCI offers a flexible yet rigorous, attentive and generous framework. It also provides writers with an exceptional setting in which to be productive and encourages interdisciplinary encounters. The aims of the Moulin d Andé-CÉCI have never wavered thanks to the commitment of its partners. More than ever, CÉCI wants to dedicate itself to helping a range of authors develop, guaranteeing the freedom of artists and actively supporting those in greatest need.

5 THE 7 FIRST EDITIONS From 7 organising countries and 250 film scripts in 2002, the contest has grown beyond any expectation, in 2008 we received over 650 scripts. Today, 19 countries have access to the contest. From Spain to Turkey, it became progressively a MUST for all the young European talents trying to direct their short film. For the first time, the contest will be open in Estonia and Slovenia with the arrival of these new countries in our network in March The venue of the jury meeting changes annually. Every year, the location of the European jury meeting is selected in a different hosting country. After France in 2002, the jury has successively gathered in Spain (Alcala de Henares), in Germany along with the INTERFILM festival of Berlin, in Finland in 2006 in Helsinki and in Kars (North-East Turkey) during the 13th Festival on Wheels. In 2008 the jury gathered in Zagreb, Croatia along the One Take Film Festival. In November 2009, the jury members will gather this time in Pristhina (Kosovo). From 2002 to 2007, among the prize-winners, the following short films have gone through production: Idea(s) of Europe(s) 2002 On a Train, by Barnabas Toth, Hungary Borders Rehearsals, by Galina Dimitrova, Bulgaria The Other Tomi, by Lassi Virtanen, Finland A Boat, by Michal Szczesniak, Poland A Movie With Wax, by Eda Acara, Turkey Silence Lily, by Marianne Griolet, Sweden If I Fall, by Hannaleena Hauru, Finland Sea Bass Dream, by Claudio Lauri, Italy Tourists Harragas, by Grégory Lecocq, Belgium Nighttime Visitors, by Sonja Csukor, Hungary (in production) Tourists by Mateusz Subieta, Poland (in production) Above: If I Fall by Hannaleena Hauru photo by Jan-Niclas Jansson Circle Little Girl, by Léo Médard, Belgium (in production) At Midnight Everything Stops here, by Just Philippot, France (in production) Three Nights to the Beginning, by Jarkko Virtanen, Finland (in production) Next summer and winter, two of the awarded scriptwriters of the 2008 edition on Escape, Melissa Suarez Del Real (Spain, Furniture) and Ülkü Oktay (Turkey, Scamps) will shoot their films. The third winner, Ariel Shaban from Kosovo, is currently developing his script The Wedding Tape (shooting in 2010).

6 A TRUSTWORTHY SPRINGBOARD Among the short films awarded since 2002 by NISI MASA, most of them won recognition from reputable film festivals in Europe. From On a Train s long career to the Best Foreign Film Prize attributed to Lasse Markus King for Tomi by Paris Tout Court Festival 2007, one can say that the NISI MASA contest is definitely a springboard for budding young directors! In 2007 and 2008, a special Carte blanche was even organised at the 46 th and 47 th International Critics Week in Cannes, presenting some of the produced movies. NISI MASA promotes these films not only during festivals but also on television, DVD and Internet. Barnabas Toth s movie was broadcasted on Channel 4 (UK), Be TV (Belgium), CinéCinéma, TPS (France) and many more. Two DVDs were distributed with the three movies about The Other (edition 2004) and with the three movies about Silence (edition 2005), in order to be screened all over Europe. A recent success was Hannaleena Hauru s If I Fall. Released in May 2007, it has already been selected and awarded by many festivals in Finland and abroad, from Brazil to China. In 2008 it won the Grand Prix in the 27th Uppsala International Short Film Festival. Since 2006, our partner website broadcasts the awarded movies. They talked about us... - Press Bref, les Cahiers du cinéma, Positif, Kurzfilmmagazin, etc. - Cinema websites Aip-filmitalia (IT), Britfilms (UK), Clap (BE), Comohacercine (SP), Filmkultura (Hu), Cult (BG), Pixoff (FI), Shortfilm (DE), etc. - TV & Radio stations CNN Turk, France Info, RTl, etc. - European websites etc. Our Partners Moulin d Andé ~ Céci - European Commission - Titra Film - Fondation Hippocrène - Sarajevo Film Festival

7 N I S I M A S A European Network of Young Cinema Address 10, rue de l échiquier Paris - France Tel + 33 (0) Fax + 33 (0) Mobile + 33 (0) contest@nisimasa.com pictures by Johanna Kinnari