The March 22-26 workshop will focus on marketing and finance strategies of the participants’ projects. SOFA has prepared a wide range of lectures, keynotes and “one-on-one” meetings fitted to the participants’ individual needs.

SOFA – School of Film Advancement is a programme of workshops aimed at strengthening national film industries and the European cinematic landscape, as well as kick-starting projects in the realm of cinema. SOFA helps its participants to advance their ideas into concrete projects, opening up new avenues towards application for financing programmes and final implementation. 

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic SOFA – School of Film Advancement will hold its Tbilisi workshop for the second time in a digital form. With the experience of three online workshops in 2020, SOFA is putting a great effort in preparing the best possible digital performance for their participants and guests. 

The March 22-26 workshop will focus on marketing and finance strategies of the participants’ projects. SOFA has prepared a wide range of lectures, keynotes and “one-on-one” meetings fitted to the participants’ individual needs. Since the workshop cannot take place in Georgia, the team made an effort to bring the experience of this wonderful country and its culture closer to digital life. 

The ten participants with nine projects of the 2020/2021 edition, who will e-meet a selected round of experts and tutors, are: Victoria Aleksanyan (Armenia), Elkjana Gjipali (Albania), Stefanie Gödicke (Germany), Rufat Hasanov (Azerbaijan), Leonid Kalitenya (Belarus), Jasna Pintarič (Slovenia), Janka Pozsonyi (Hungary), Philipp Maurice Raube (Germany), Willy Rollé (Germany/France) and Rita Stanelytė (Lithuania). 

The adapted and further developed curriculum of the digital Tbilisi workshop will be supported by a lead-team of experts: Renaud Redien-Collot (Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Léonard de Vinci Business School, Paris), Peter Rommel, (Rommel Film, Berlin) Sabine Schmitt (Social Media Marketing expert, Berlin), Tamara Tatishvili (MEDICI Head of Training, Georgia/Belgium), Levan Nanobashvili (Lawyer in the field of international media law, Georgia), Carolina Jochheim (German Federal Foreign Office, Berlin) and Wato Tsereteli (Artist, Curator, Georgia). 

In the meantime, two projects of the SOFA 2019/2020 edition have been officially launched: Since February 2021 Irena Gruca-Rozbicka’s project Crew United Poland is online to connect film creatives from Poland. And with its appearance in Tiger Competition at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, Viki Antonopoulou’s company Endorphin Film Sales has entering the stage of the international film industry. Congratulations! 

For more information check out SOFA's website!

The original idea of Film Moon was developed at SOFA and helped by its tutors largely.