2ANNAS FORUM: MENTAL HEALTH IN FILM INDUSTRY

From 12 to 13th April we welcome you to the 2ANNAS Industry events, which this year will tackle an important topic of mental health. Through different panel and roundtable discussions, we would like to understand how the workers of the film industry – both filmmakers, producers, directors, costume and make-up artists and distributors, programmers, critics and festival representatives deal with different mental health issues. Let's create a judgment-free safe space to talk about these things and potentially come up with a few good solutions.

All events are free of charge.

TUESDAY, 12 APRIL 

10.30 M/Darbnīca MENTAL HEALTH IN FILM INDUSTRY: LIFE ON SET

It is clear that the film production process often can be very time consuming, is not well paid, it causes stress, lack of sleep and free time, it creates mental and physical pressure, therefore we would like to understand what is the situation in Latvia and Baltics and compare it with other countries. How the conditions on film set are linked to aggravating mental health issues, is it really only about the money?

Participants:

• Ieva Norvele, first assistant director, filmmaker, Latvia;
• Ondřej Moravec, programme director One World, Czech Republic;
• Alexandre Regol, first assistant director, France;
• Yuval Shapira, director, USA, Israel;
• Māris Siliņs, psychotherapist, Latvia;
• Zane Žilinska, make-up artist, Latvia.

Moderated by Inga Jerzjukova, line producer, Latvia.

Inga started her professional career in advertising, where she was managing big Latvian and international projects, also producing commercials for Latvia and the Baltics. After five years in advertising, Inga went freelance and has been working as a production manager and line producer for five years. She has worked on such local projects -  “Jelgava 94”, “Tizlenes”, “Zeme, kas dzied”, and also international projects such as – “Emergency exit”, “Dog’s Don’t Wear Pants”, “Evrei”,  “Warhunt”. She has also been a part of the production team on international show “The Bachelorette” that has an episode shot in Latvia. In addition to that, she has worked abroad – in Estonia and Denmark on the Danish production “Erna at War” and in Estonia and Finland on the Finnish production “Omerta 6/12”.

14.30 Cinema K.Suns THE DEPICTION OF MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES IN CONTEMPORARY LATVIAN CINEMA

We continue with a roundtable about mental health representation in Latvian cinema. Often in Western culture we can see an inadequate depiction of different mental health issues, but what is the situation in Latvia? Are the film characters being realistic, are their actions justified? Are there any trends we can witness? 

Participants:

• Lauris Ābele, director, Latvia;
• Raitis Ābele, script writer, Latvia;
• Kārlis Lesiņš, director, Latvia;
• Liene Linde, director, Latvia;
• Dita Stalovska, film theory major, Latvia.

Moderated by Ilze Dzenovska, certified mediator, emphatic communications trainer, Latvia.

llze is a professional with more than fifteen years of experience in the field of conflict transformation, peace-building and the implementation of social change in Latvia and abroad. On a daily basis, Ilze supports leaders, teams of organizations, as well as the wider community, including the creative industries, in building a culture of respectful negotiation, balanced power relations and sustainable partnerships through Baltic Peace Lab and the Mederi Academy –the school of Integral Awareness. Along with a Master's degree in Peace and Justice, a lawyer's qualification and a political scientist's education, Ilze is one of the first mediators in Latvia with a wide range of qualifications and a deep practice of inner peace and awareness through Ajengar Yoga and meditation.

Roundtable will be in Latvian, no English translation provided.

16.00 EARTH IS THE LONELIEST PLANET

Right after the discussion, at 16.00 we will continue with a screening of shorts “Earth is the loneliest planet”. Not only this programme offers us an insight into the experience of human existence from birth onward, it also introduces us to four directors – people who have been extra courageous in talking about themes that others choose to ignore.

To have a complete understanding of the depiction of mental health issues in contemporary Latvian short films, more entries should be added to the list, but this is a decent start for analyzing both ourselves and the society we live in.

• II lines, Alise Zariņa (2020) 21' 
• Panic, Helen Ora (2021) 6'
• Earth is the loneliest planet, Liene Linde (2015) 13' 
• Therapy, Armands Začs (2018) 26'
• skin-deep, Alise Zariņa (2021) 30'
• If trees could talk, Armands Začs (2016) 26'

WEDNESDAY, 13 APRIL

11.00 M/Darbnīca MENTAL HEALTH IN FILM INDUSTRY: OUTSIDE THE FRAME

How does film industry – distributors, sales agents, curators, festival and market representatives tackle mental health issues, which comes with stress, irregular funding, overwork, imbalance between work and social life, the pressure of networking and being away from home often due to travelling to different festivals and events and how to manage time, so there is not a burnout. By creating a space and sharing our own experiences, hopefully we can find some good practices to incorporate in our daily lives.

Participants:

• Sigrid Hidenius, representative of Uppsala ISFF, Sweden;
• David Havas, Head of Czech National Film Archive cinema and producer, Czech Republic;
• Thanasis Neofotistos, programmer of Drama ISFF, Greece;
• Matteo Pianezzi, director of Figari Film festival and representative of Olbia Film market, Italy;
• Līga Požarska, film journalist, France/Latvia.

Moderated by Lotte Kircher, short film industry consultant, Switzerland.

After working for Berlinale and Filmfest Munich, she served as Head of Industry at Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur. Lotte is an executive board member of SWAN, Swiss Women Audiovisual Network, and is the co-founder of the Questionnaire on Gender Equality in cooperation with Short Film Conference. Lotte is based in Winterthur and moderates and hosts panels with focus on mental health, sustainability and gender equality.

2ANNAS Forum is organised with the financial support of Latvian National Film Centre and Creative Europe MEDIA Latvia.