Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival

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How European talents in cinema, games and digital content will stay relevant with global competition increasing, how European startup innovators are championing new business models, and how Europe can lead the way in industry diversity actions? Those will be the three main topics on the agenda of the upcoming European Film Forum (EFF), the European Commission's dialogue with stakeholders on Wednesday, 27 November at the 23rd Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.

Titled "Industry (R)evolution: Debating Tech, Distribution, and Future Talent for European Cinema," the EFF will be a full-day executive-level public debate and showcase conference taking place at the Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event business arm of the A-class festival. The EFF will focus on the global developments that impact the audiovisual industry, from Artificial Intelligence to digital platforms, and will present new initiatives from the creative, diversity, and tech fields for the upcoming 2020+ term of Europe's innovative programmes.

As in previous editions, 19 international film, gaming, content, startups, and diversity leaders will be sharing the stage, including Sander Saar (Strategy and Growth Consultant for Red Bull Media House, formerly the Walt Disney Company), André Bernhardt (Managing Founder at Indieadvisory & Target Games), Helene Granqvist (President of Women in Film & TV International), Lindsay Peters (Executive Director at Frontières), producer Isabelle Glachant (Chinese Shadows), and film editor Isabelle Teitler whose work credits include Darren Aronofsky's mother!. Norwegian documentary director Tonje Hessen Schei along with impact advocate Danielle Turkov Wilson will present and discuss the highly anticipated documentary iHuman providing insights into Artificial Intelligence and the opportunities and threats of this groundbreaking technology for Europe and beyond.

The European Film Forum (EFF) was introduced by the European Commission in its 2014 Communication on European Film in the digital era. It is a platform for structured dialogue between policy makers and stakeholders in the audiovisual sector, travelling around European festivals and aiming to help develop a strategic policy agenda in the framework of the Digital Single Market. The EFF in Tallinn focuses on innovation between cinema, digital, and startup sectors and ties into Estonia's position in digital leadership in the world. 

Lucia Recalde, Head of MEDIA Unit, DG Connect, European Commission, said that the European audiovisual sector has a crucial role to play in our democracy and economy. "It is however undergoing a tremendous shift, being at the forefront of the digital, data and AI revolutions. The European Film Forum is therefore an event not to miss, as it is the place to debate how to scale up the European industry and how to further innovate and compete globally,” she added.

Sten-Kristian Saluveer, Curator of EFFT19 commented that they are delighted to continue our partnership with the European Commission and host the European Film Forum in Tallinn again. "The global challenges facing creators and storytellers in cinema and other content industries are growing everywhere, and especially in the framework of the upcoming 2020+ period of the MEDIA programme, events such as the Film Forum are indispensable to exchange best practices and to set bold innovation to motion for Europe's content business," he added.

The full programme of the European Film Forum 2019 is available at europeanfilmforumtallinn.com.