Description
The pandemic has changed everything: film production was paused, cinemas were closed for a long time, and festivals either got cancelled or (like the Northern Lights!) went online. Has it had any influence on films' plots now? Will modern film characters wear masks, vaccinate, and keep social distancing? That's the topic of discussion between Anton Sidarenka and films producers whose works reflect on the loneliness of the lockdown: Laila Pakalniņa, the author of "In the Mirror" who depicts a person through selfies, and Sophie Palage, the producer of "Orca".
Language of the event: English with consecutive translation to Belarusian
Participants
Sofie Palage. Producer at Warner Brosers International Television Production in Stockholm (Sweden)
Sofie Palage is a producer at Warner Bros. International Television Production in Stockholm, Sweden. Sofie develops and produces Swedish films and series, championing content that resonates with local audiences as well as international. Sofie started as a freelancer in production management for film and television drama in 2008 and has since worked with productions ranging from crime series to art house features. She has taken Film Studies at the University in Lund and har graduated from the Producer Education program at Forum Ystad. Sofie is currently in post-production with the five-part relationship drama “Harmonica”, created by Josephine Bornebusch and Jonas Karlsson.
Laila Pakalnina. Film director, producer and scriptwriter (Latvia)
Laila Pakalnina is one of the most noted Latvian directors, known for both documentary and fiction films. Born in Liepāja, she graduated from the Moscow Film Institute (VGIK), Department of Film Direction in 1991. Producer and scriptwriter of 31 documentaries, 5 shorts, and 6 fiction features, altogether she has 42 films, along with 2 children, 1 husband, 2 dogs, and 2 bicycles, and numerous ideas for new films. Her films, which can often be described as comedic and absurd mystification, have been an official part of Cannes, Venice, Berlinale, Locarno, Karlovy Vary, Rome, Tallinn and other international festivals. Laila’s short film “The Water” (2006) was awarded the Golden Bear award in Berlin, and her documentary work “Dream Land” (2004), which depicts mutant animals inhabiting a rubbish dump, has received the European Film Academy award. In 2016 Laila’s feature film “Dawn” was selected as the Latvian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 89th Academy Awards.
Anton Sidarenka. Belarusian programme selector, film critic (Belarus)
Anton Sidarenka is a film critic, screenwriter, journalist, film reviewer. Since 2020, Anton has been overseeing film selection for the Belarusian film section of the Northern Lights. Born and raised in Minsk, Anton has witnessed both the epoch of cinema theatres’ popularity and the downhill of old-school journalism. Anton is the author of KinoChtivo, one of the longest-known Belarusian blogs, and has written more than 1000 reviews, interviews, and articles in the media. Blogger, journalist, TV producer and five-times host of the "Cinema phenomena" club in Minsk cinema theatre Raketa, ex-worker of the Museum of the Belarusian Cinema History, former chief editor of Belarusfilm, the national film studio of Belarus, creator of "Non-fiction film" (Belarusian television, 2014).. His favourite film producer is Michelangelo Antonioni. His current sphere of interest includes documentary films.