International auteur-driven
film festival

Saaremaa Island, Estonia
Dates: 16–18 August, 2024

The festival is dedicated to discovering new talent in film. We welcome young authors who are sincere and passionate about expressing their view on life around them from an artistic standpoint. The festival’s programme will feature fiction and hybrid films that convey this position in an honest, relevant and distinctive way.

ABOUT FESTIVAL

Cinemod Debuts - a unique platform offering first and second feature directors to demonstrate fully-fledged authorship, present projects where they act both as directors and writers of the selected works.
The festival’s ambition is to revive the energy of the French New Wave and Von Trier's Dogma, find new trends in world cinema and provide an opportunity for authors to meet each other and showcase their work on the big screen. Apart from regular spectators, the films will also be seen by representatives of the global film industry - producers and distributors of independent film.

ABOUT Location

Dates: 16–18 August, 2024

Saaremaa Island,
Estonia

Saaremaa is one of the most beautiful places in Estonia and Northern Europe, where history and modernity, cosiness and openness, individuality and togetherness blend seamlessly. Since ancient times, the island has been a meeting place for various nations and cultures, from the farthest reaches of the Baltic and Northern seas. Legend has it that Saaremaa is the mysterious and legendary land of Ultima Thule ('the end of the world'), the longed-for destination of ancient travellers. It is no coincidence that the THULE KODA cultural space (House of Thule), which houses a 170-seat state-of-the-art cinema, will host the festival.

Competition

Short film debuts (up to 10 films)

Feature-length debuts (up to 8 films)

2.

1.

First and second films, in which directors are also the scriptwriters, can be admitted into both programmes.
No premiere status is required but the films must have been completed between 2023 and 2024.

The festival is comprised of two competition programmes:

Nominations

Jury’s Special Prize

Original vision

Best Estonian short

Grand Prix

Best short

Organizers’s Special Prize

PROGRAM

Opening night and film

Screening of debut films by famous directors in an out-of-competition programme

Screening of competition films:
⁃ feature-length debuts
⁃ short film debuts

Educational programme: master-classes by members of the Jury and invited guests

Awards ceremony

Organizers

Cinemod Debuts Festival is a crucial part of the Cinemod project comprising an international film school and a production company. The idea of the project is to bring together emerging filmmakers from Northern Europe and other countries around the world, enable access to the professional knowledge and experience, help raise funding and build connections with a view to organize co-productions. The project is initiated by Estonian, Israeli and Georgian filmmakers.

Festival director: Katerina Monastyrskaya
Leo Films, Narva mnt 20/1, Tallinn Harjumaa 10120