BEAST INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 27.09 — 01.10.2023

ENTERING ITS 6TH EDITION, BEAST INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL IS RETURNING TO PORTO BETWEEN THE 27TH OF SEPTEMBER – THE 1ST OF OCTOBER 2023.

BEAST IFF 6.0 is looking for short and medium-length films to join its Official Competition Programme – productions from Central & Eastern Europe or by filmmakers of Eastern European descent worldwide irrespective of theme, as well as films by international filmmakers with a focus on the CEE region.

During the 5 festival days, BEAST IFF will turn Porto into the centre of Central & Eastern European cinema culture through screenings, masterclasses, workshops and several industry-related events.

Since its first edition (2017), BEAST IFF brought the community together in celebration of the best cinema from Central & Eastern Europe. Through its public screenings, BEAST IFF premieres a highly curated programme including feature films, documentaries, short films and animation. The post-screenings Q&A create a space for connecting filmmakers, pioneers,opinion-makers, and the wider audience.

Submit your film and give it the chance to be seen on the big screens of Porto’s cinemas.

BEAST IFF aims to provide a platform for emerging CEE filmmakers and Portuguese directors working abroad. Until now, BEAST IFF screened over 500 films, representing over 21 countries from the region. The Official Competition of this edition presents four categories: EAST WAVE (fiction film) EAST DOC (documentary film), experimentalEAST (experimental film) and AnimaEAST (animation film), screening short and medium-length films released in the last two years.

APPLY HERE

/ VISEGRAD / FILM / HUB /, organized by BEAST International Film Festival with the support of International Visegrad Fund, provides support for the audiovisual works from the V4 region (Czechia, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia) through activation of networks and educational events. This collaborative experience with relevant institutions from the region will  focus on presenting regular screenings while accessing new audiences on the Portugal territory. This is to be the fifth edition of VFH, a gathering of film enthusiasts, young professionals and a step further to building the identity of the New East.

Visegrad Film Hub 5.0 will take place between 27 September – 01 October 2023 during the 6th BEAST International Film Festival.

Project partners

SPEKTRUM FILM FESTIVAL
www.spektrumfestiwal.pl

Since its beginning, SPEKTRUM has been a community event, a space to meet people who love and celebrate cinema. The film here in Świdnica is a pretext for collective feelings and sharing emotions, it is a trigger that makes the viewers tightly fill the cinema halls every year, become a community, cry and laugh together, disagree together, discuss… are together.

Primanima
www.primanima.hu

Primanima Ltd. is the operator of Primanima World Festival of First Animation which is an international festival and competition of first animations in Budaörs, Hungary. The goal of the festival is to provide a platform and opportunity for young animation talents to present their very first artworks, to build professional connections and join international networks. In this regard, Primanima fills a void not only in the Hungarian, but the European festival scene too.

Institute of Documentary Film
www.dokweb.net

The Institute of Documentary Film (IDF) has been supporting creative documentary films from Central and Eastern Europe since 2001. The IDF provides both emerging and experienced filmmakers with training, financing, networking and pitching opportunities, helps them get international attention and co-productions, rewards the exceptional projects with Awards and further opportunities and improves their orientation on the international market. The promotional and practical service of the IDF includes a wide range of online and offline catalogs being created annually, updating a thorough database of CEE documentaries and professionals and a calendar of important deadlines for producers, and bringing news from the world of documentary film in general via dokweb.net and social media.

BRNO16 International Film Festival
www.brno16.cz

Brno16 is one of the oldest film festivals in the Czech Republic with its 61st edition in 2020. The main programme consists of a contest of fictional films with a single formal condition of being up to 30min. The festival has a vast expertise in guest lectures, art exhibitions, discussions and workshops. Their know-how on animation and educational fields is one of the reasons Brno16 is a perfect match for the Hub. Being a thriving film festival in the Czech Republic, it has accumulated knowledge and professionalism over the years.

TRAKT
www.trakt.sk

TRAKT aims to promote art in the widest possible range of social groups through the organisation of exhibitions, screenings, cultural events, theater performances, symposia, lectures, workshops, happenings and other similar events. TRAKT specializes in new media, digital technologies and a wide range of visual art media. The association has no ambition to be just an alternative for a specific, narrow group of people, but to offer cultural and artistic experiences to people with different lifestyles and worldview.

Disco Sailing
www.discosailing.com

Disco sailing was founded by three graduates of the Film and Television Faculty in Bratislava. Their aim is to develop a healthy short film environment in Slovakia, popularization of this format by diverse curatorial activities and alternative distribution, and to support the work of emerging filmmakers. Disco Sailing is offering the festival distribution service, dramaturgical advice, and a wide spectrum of consultancy activities connected to short films. Disco sailing annually organizes the Slovak version of international initiative The Shortest Day.

The project is co-financed by the Governments of Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia through Visegrad Grants from International Visegrad Fund – www.visegradfund.org. The mission of the fund is to advance ideas for sustainable regional cooperation in Central Europe.

The winners of the Official Competition of the fifth edition of BEAST are already known. This year, the festival attributed a prize and a jury mention for each category. The best fiction, documentary and experimental works were awarded by this year’s jury.

EAST WAVE AWARD for Best Fiction Film

Dad’s Sneakers, Olha Zhurba

Ukraine | 2021 | FIC. | 19′.

´For a detailed and fresh take on a coming of age story and institution of family, which combines excellent direction with stunning visuals. The film stood out for its captivating storytelling and complex depiction of the protagonist’s emotional struggle. The multilayered and deeply touching film proves an extraordinary talent.´

JURY MENTION

Alba Vulva, Dorka Vermes

Hungary | 2022 | FIC. | 16

´For a minimalistic yet powerful study of liberation, femininity and intimacy. A nuanced and subtle emotional portrait of a heartbreak evokes a healing process, showing us that sometimes to rebuild we need to destroy and even go against our values.

An intimate portrait of a woman in her late 40s in a life situation of loss that creates empathy established through the unsaid, provoking meditation on traditional gender roles and the nuclear family.´

EAST DOC AWARD for Best Documentary

Pension Day, Liis Lepik

Estonia | 2020 | DOC | 24′ 

´For its look onto tedium, and the dynamics that we allow ourselves when we feel that we’ve lost the meaning of life, and society doesn’t care anymore. With directing and writing that doesn’t try to appeal to easy emotions and is capable of showing a sense of humour without being frivolous about the theme.´

JURY MENTION

Only the Wind, Zofia Kowalewska

Poland | 2021 | DOC. | 60′

´For a film that shows both great talent in crafting a cinematic experience, and great sympathy for the protagonist, while documenting a nostalgia-filled journey of discovery of the other, and of oneself.´

experimentalEAST AWARD for Best Experimental Film

Mon Chéri Sovietique, Karol Radziszewski

Poland | 2021 | EXP. | 27′

´A brave and subversive film, that uses humour to describe a world between communism and capitalism by deconstructing the figure of the Soviet soldier. A suppressed and uncomfortable archive, which was certainly destined for destruction, but that there is built as an important archive for a queer memory.´

JURY MENTION

Before The Fall There Was No Fall, Anna Dasovic

The Netherlands | 2020 | EXP. | 20′ 

´This film is awarded the special mention for showing us something we might not have known without having seen it–something inconsequential at first sight, but scary and baffling if given a moment to consider it.

A film that masterfully combines archival material and authentic found footage to look for how traces of history manifest themselves. Searching for meaning in porous walls where the trauma is fresh. A powerful way to show what can happen when artists keep searching, don’t let go, don’t forget.´

A special addition to the fifth edition of BEAST, the Queer Shorts programme reinforces the idea of a festival that promotes plurality and difference, opening channels of debate to marginalized themes and universes.

Queer Shorts is a collaboration with the Queer Archives Institute, an organization that documents queer visual records in modern history. The selection features three short films that offer a different view of how queer history has been represented on screen. This programme underlines the importance of documentary and archival research as an engaging and accessible historical resource.

Alongside the Queer Shorts programme, BEAST presents a panel discussion that, drawing on personal and professional experiences, will examine queer feeling in a Europe that is still a polarized territory when it comes to the rights of sexual minorities. The conversation will feature Karol Radziszewski (founder of the Queer Archives Institute), Teresa Vieira (film critic and journalist), Bohdan Zhuk (curator of Sunny Bunny, Kyiv) and Bianca Stânea (sociology researcher in LGBTQIA+ rights). 

With the aim of supporting the Ukrainian community and celebrating the art made in the country, BEAST IFF dedicates a special programme to Ukraine. Highlight Ukraine! features a selection of films by emerging filmmakers, plus a conversation that will discuss the impact of the Russian invasion on Ukrainian creative industries.

The programme kicks off with the screening of “Stop Zemlia”, an ambitious coming-of-age film by Kateryna Gornostai, the Ukrainian director’s first feature film. World premiered and awarded at the Berlinale, the film is played by young non-professionals and immerses us in the problematic world of growing, bringing out the fragilities of a group of teenagers. Highlight Ukraine! also presents a unique selection from the Kyiv International Short Film Festival, with the screening of five short films that have marked the last editions of the festival. With a selection that highlights recent works by emerging Ukrainian directors, BEAST takes the position of promoting and celebrating art made in Ukraine, a way to convey support and hope to the entire Ukrainian population and community. Donations can be made: www.hospitallers.life

This special programme also motivates the conversation “Ukraine and Expressions of Freedom”, which intends to reflect on how the Russian invasion is affecting Ukraine’s creative industries, as well as analyse resistance and activism among Ukrainian and international artists. The debate will be attended by Olga Gusiatynska (Programme Coordinator, Kyiv International Short Film Festival) and Bohdan Zhuk (Programme Coordinator, Kyiv International Film Festival Molodist) and Kateryna Gornostai (Ukrainian filmmaker).

Video Art Match Porto is a free continuation of a series of events presenting student video art in a non-gallery environment in various locations in Slovakia. The title references the match between young artists competing for the attention of the audience. Curator Štefan Oliš, contemporary artist and pedagogue, presents a selection of his favorites from the era of the first ten years of the millenium, highlighting videos from artists from the V4 countries.

Opening: 22 September, from 18:00h
Location: Café Candelabro – Rua da Conceição 3, Porto
Dates: 22–25 September, during opening hours (Thu–Sat 14:30–02:00, Sun 17:00–24:00)
Curated by: Štefan Oliš / TRAKT – www.trakt.sk

The project is being presented as part of the VISEGRAD FILM HUB, organised by BEAST IFF with the support of International Visegrad Fund, provides support for the audiovisual works from the V4 region (Czechia, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia) through activation of networks and educational events. This collaborative experience with relevant institutions from the region will focus on presenting regular screenings, exhibitions, workshops and masterclasses while accessing new audiences on the Portugal territory. This is to be the fourth edition of VFH, a gathering of film enthusiasts, young professionals and a step further to building the identity of the New East.

The project is being presented as part of Visegrad Film Hub and is supported by International Visegrad Fund and co-financed by the Governments of Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia – www.visegradfund.org. The mission of the fund is to advance ideas for sustainable regional cooperation in Central Europe.