East Silver

An integral part of film industry activities, which take place as a part of the 18th IDFF Jihlava is East Silver, a documentary market organized by the Institute of Documentary Film (IDF). East Silver is somewhat of an unconventional market or rather a unique one. Particular sales agents, producers and filmmakers entrust their films into the hands of professional staff, who work on them throughout the whole year and endow Jihlava with the newest film catalogue edition, a video library (which also offers films from the festival's program) and of course the latest features of the festival's summer and fall season. It is also exclusively focused on Central and Eastern European films and represents titles, which are developed as a part of various IDF activities such as Ex Oriente or other programs, supporting the realization of documentary films which operate in the region. So how does East Silver work? What are its achievements? What interesting things are being prepared for Jihlava this year? We interviewed the coordinator of the project, Zdeněk Blaha.

What is East Silver?
East Silver is a film market, which presents new documentary films from Central and Eastern Europe. The main goal is to connect film professionals (distributors, sales agents, representatives of international festivals and television, etc.) with producers and creators from our region. It helps them with distribution and obtaining an audience for their films, as well as with discovering new talent.

Let us say I've given you my film and I don't know what is going to happen with it. What can I, as a producer, expect from East Silver?
The film is submitted to the video library, which is accessible only to guests from the film industry who are able to select new films from here. As the creator you have the opportunity to have a meeting with them before hand and discuss the next steps concerning the film (offer for distribution, festival or television release, etc.). We especially offer the opportunity to meet, acquire new contacts and personally offer your film. We function a year round. The video library is accessible to people from the industry throughout the year, which enables you to promote your film and attend up to 105 international festivals as a part of the best film selection – East Silver Caravan.

I would like to offer you my film. Can I do this during the festival or even at some other time?
Yes and no. Submission for the Jihlava market closes at the end of July. East Silver is a selective market. We only select films with international potential and strong universal content. Due to the fact that the market is accompanied by a printed catalogue, it is not possible to add the film during the course of the market. Nevertheless, it is possible to send films year round, because in addition to the market, we organize additional programs supporting distribution, such as East Silver Caravan – a festival service for selected films, where we directly submit films to international festivals, with the goal of ensuring the screening at the film festivals. For the Caravan service, it is possible to submit new films at any time, which we motivate creators to do, so that the festival film strategy is set up from the beginning.

Cain's Children (Marcell Gero, 2014) is presented at Between the Seas section in Jihlava

What will you do with my film if I am a producer?
The same as when you are the director (for us, the main information is who is the representative and owner of rights to the film). You have the opportunity to offer the film, meet with the guests and set up meetings. We will be happy to give you advice on who to contact concerning your film. However, your own activity is essential. We will provide the space and opportunity, the rest is up to you. To think that it is enough to just submit the film onto the market and then wait for the results to come, is naive, especially if the market contains more than 280 films. So if you don't make your film stand out enough, it can easily be ignored. Sometimes even a small pamphlet or poster can do a great deal, but not as much as your own effort to promote the film.

What kind of services are offered to sales agents?
We provide access to the database of newly finished films, which quite often do not have a sales agent yet and therefore are still available. The benefit of the market is that premiere statuses do not apply to it, as in first screenings and festivals. That is why it is possible to find a film on the market, which just had its world premiere in San Sebastian a few weeks ago (Toto and his Sisters, Cain’s Children) and its festival journey is only beginning. You also gain access to our online video library, which can be used throughout the year. It also serves as a source of information on productions from various countries, a contact directory for producers, etc. If you are looking for something specific, our team is able to recommend films by category or themes (music films, humanitarian-political themes, etc.)

How can you help me, if I come as a distributor or commissioning editor?
The same applies as in the case of sales.

Which films were promoted by East Silver and how?
The greatest success for me personally was the attention the short Czech animated documentary Chronicle of Oldřich S. by director Rudolf Šmíd received thanks to our program, East Silver Caravan. With our help it was presented at more than 15 festivals abroad, including the prestigious SXSW – South by Southwest in Texas, Silvedocs in Washington and different festivals in Europe receiving various awards.

Which films from this year's selection are the most promising?
We expect most of the attention will be received by two films, which were presented in San Sebastian just a few weeks ago, Cain's Children and Toto and His Sisters. Also due to the fact that they have already gained success in just a few weeks of their festival journey. From the Czech films, I would like to highlight the film Daniel's world, which with its unique view on the topic of pedophilia will surely raise big discussions.

Translated by Christina Skorulska