Polish cultural web portal Culture.pl, the Pomeranian Film Foundation in Gdynia and the Gdynia Film School are organising a short-film competition about the Baltic Sea countries – their cultural identity, their history, their society, their transformation.
Participants have a month to submit a film lasting 1 to 5 minutes, and are encouraged to reflect on current facets of the Baltic Sea, and how to best present them on film. The competition is open to both professional and amateur filmmakers, provided they are citizens of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark , Germany, Iceland, Russia – inhabitants of Kaliningrad and the St-Petersburg area– and Poland.
Dr Włodzimierz Pessel, expert on Scandinavia, writes:
“It’s been 25 years since the Baltic Sea ceased to be a buffer for Europe (…). The great transformation of Central and Eastern Europe freed the region and allowed the Baltic Sea to serve its natural function from a cultural standpoint – it is now inland, a regional basin and as such it serves the local communities. Indeed, the Scandinavians and Germans call it a lake (Swedish ‘Östersjön’, German ‘Ostsee’), traditionally it is called ‘The Mediterranean Sea of Northern Europe’. It seems that this tradition has been brought back (…). The time has come for young filmmakers to think about the consequences that stem from this neighbouring sea.
Films can be sent until August 25 and should be sent through the form available on Culture.pl. The best films will be chosen by the following jury:
Leszek Kopeć – head of jury – director of the Film Festival in Gdynia and chairman of the board of the Pomeranian Film Foundation.
Magnus von Horn – Swedish film director living in Poland. Graduate and lecturer of the Polish Film School in Łódź. His last film “The Here After” had its world premiere at the 68th Film Festival in Cannes.
Grzegorz Skorupski – film expert at the Adam Mickiewicz Institute.
The award ceremony will be held at the 40th Film Festival in Gdynia. Common Baltic is part of the cultural programme carried out by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute and Culture.pl. After projects in the countries of the Eastern Partnership and Asia, the Institute’s cultural activity now turns to Poland, Russia , Lithuania, Latvia , Estonia, Finland , Norway, Sweden , Denmark, Germany, and Iceland.
More details about the contest available on Culture.pl
Addtional information:
Source: Culture.pl