European Network for Film Discourse (The END)

Film criticism and film curation workshops

The participants of the fourth edition of the film criticism workshop are Berenika Balcer, Korina Hušnjak, Gijs Suy, Negar Saadatinia, Emma Mattiussi and Anais-Zara Dragu.

The participants of the first edition of the film curation workshop are Nasrin Reshadi, Alejo Duclos, Xinyi Wang, Aminah Alhamdu, Katia Hiver and Carla Martin Rivero. 

A selection of the resulting workshop texts will be published on the Talking Shorts platform. The END also endows a new film prize worth 1,000 euros in collaboration with Talking Shorts.

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A new and critical look at the European short film: seven international short film festivals have joined forces to form the European Network for Film Discourse (The END) and encourage criticism and comprehensive study of European cinema. Officially established in March 2023, this network, which is closely linked to the successful online magazine Talking Shorts, will receive EU funding for the next two years via the ‘Creative Europe – MEDIA’ programme.

The network consists of Filmfest Dresden, Vienna Shorts, Curtas Vila do Conde – International Film Festival, Kortfilmfestival Leuven, FeKK Ljubljana Short Film Festival, Bucharest International Experimental Film Festival, and Vilnius Short Film Festival. Its main purpose is to promote critical film discourse by and for a younger generation and to familiarise new audiences with a flourishing European film landscape, including cooperative workshops, mentoring programmes, and various community activities.

There is good reason why the network has given itself the tongue-in-cheek acronym ‘The END’. ‘Both European cinema and film criticism have often been declared dead,’ says network coordinator Anne Gaschütz from Dresden with a smile, adding that the new platform actively aims to counter this. ‘When ‘The End’ appears in classic cinema, it also usually marks the beginning of the discussion about the film. We thought that was a nice analogy.’ 

The participants of the film criticism and film curation workshops will hone their skills under the guidance of several film professionals. Principal among them are Lyse Ishimwe Nsengiyumva, film curator and photographer, and Yun-Hua, independent film theoretician and editor of Film International. Vincent Foerster, Nadja Šičarov, Kelsey Farish and Sanne Jehoul will also participate as workshop mentors.