CinePromo talked to Tibor Bíró, the director of Jameson CineFest, the leading film festival in Hungary, which relies on a history dating back to 1939.
ABOUT THE FILM FESTIVAL'S HISTORY
Jameson CineFest International Film Festival is organized by a nonprofit organization owned by the local government. This company runs the two art cinema screens of the city of Miskolc all around the year. The festival team is composed by young people who love films and are enthusiastic to mediate high film culture to the great audience.
The festival is a nonprofit event. The large part of the budget comes from different state resources, local governments, the smaller part comes from private sponsors. The film screenings and the related programs can be visited free of charge, and the audience has to vote on which film should be granted the audience award.
The first Hungarian Film Festival was organized in 1939 in Miskolc, and in the 1960s the Television and Short Films Festival was launched and hosted for decades in our city. When it ended, a break came, after which we revived the idea of a film festival in Miskolc with a new concept in 2004: we focused on providing opportunity for young filmmakers from all over the world to debut.
ABOUT THE CONCEPT
Jameson CineFest is an international film festival with a competition program of long feature and short films. The festival still aims at discovering young talents. The awards are granted by an international jury, CICAE (International Art Cinema Association) jury, ecumenical jury and FIPRESCI (International Federation of Film Critics) jury. In addition to the film screenings, the 10-day festival program is enriched by professional programs, workshops, film historic programs and film market.
There are appox. 20.000 attendants to the screenings and related programs.
CRITERIA OF THE FILMS SELECTION
In the short film categories only productions made after or in 2015 may be entered, with the filmmaker (director) being under the age of 35 when making the film. In the long feature film category there is no such age limit. Short features can only be entered via www.reelport.com by paying 10 EUR entry fee online. The application deadline is 31 May. Jameson CineFest screens only Hungarian premieres. We can only accept films that have not been applied for or screened at any festivals, televisions or cinemas in Hungary before. The official languages of the Festival are Hungarian and English, therefore the Hungarian and non-English international films must be subtitled in English.
ABOUT INDUSTRIAL POSSIBILITIES
We get hundreds of applications annually, and we generally invite those who get into the competition program. The filmmakers can visit the festival (even though we can’t provide travel costs, but we provide accommodation for 2 nights for 2 people per each film), they can be present at their film’s festival premiere followed by a public meeting with the audience. During their stay at Jameson CineFest IFF, they have opportunities to meet young filmmakers from all over the world, they can build relationships, and take part in many different professional programs. The main prize for each category is approx. 3000 euros.
ABOUT PLANS
The related professional programs are growing and developing from year to year. As in the previous years, we are planning to organize international workshops in 2017, too. We have a special section each year that focuses on a certain country which can have special screenings out of competition. We successfully broaden our partnership with European and non-European festivals year after year.
