FILMEU brings together four European Higher Education Institutions. Together, these institutions collaborate around the common objective of jointly promoting high-level education, innovation and research activities in the multidisciplinary field of Film and Media Arts and, through this collaboration, consolidate the central role of Europe as a world leader in the creative fields.
FilmEU brings together four European Higher Education Institutions:
- Institute of Art Design and Technology Dún Laoghaire Dublin / Ireland
- ULHT Lusófona University Lisbon / Portugal
- Baltic Film and Media Arts School / Tallinn
- LUCA School of Arts Brussels / Belgium

C-accelerate meeting in Dublin

IADT FilmEU CineClub, The Quiet Girl screening, with Stephne Rennicks in presence.
Join us for the #4 edition of FilmEU’s Cineclub this year. Hosted by IADT, simultaneously streamed at the FilmEU partner institutions. Next Wednesday, March 15th, we will screen The Quiet Girl directed by Colm Bairéad, the first Irish-language film to be nominated for an Oscar!
Screening will be followed by Q&A with the composer Stephen Rennicks.
Short synopsis:
Cáit is a nine year-old girl from an over- crowded, dysfunctional and impoverished family. Quietly struggling at school and at home, she has learnt to hide in plain sight from those around her. As summer arrives and her pregnant mother’s due date approaches, Cáit is sent to live with distant relatives. Without knowing when she will return home, she is left at the strangers’ house with only the clothes she is wearing. The Kinsellas, a middle-aged couple she has never met, dress the girl in what clothes they have. They are farming people, like her own, but hard-working and wanting for nothing, it seems. Despite a warm reception from the woman, Eibhlín, the man of the house, Seán, keeps his distance from Cáit and she from him, but over time, their strained relationship begins to deepen. Slowly, in the care of the Kinsellas, Cáit blossoms and discovers a new way of living. But in this house where affection grows and there are meant to be no secrets, she discovers one painful truth.
Join us at the IADT campus Wednesday 15th of March in room C030, 4pm.
Free attendance.
Visit www.filmeu.eu for more information. Or follow @filmeualliance for more updates.
Next FilmEU Talks - experts on Air with Ruud Lenssen on the 20th of April
WHY SO SERIOUS? - Call for papers
WHY SO SERIOUS? Teaching Comedy in Film Schools
April 24th to 26th 2023
The National Film School at IADT, Dun Laoghaire is hosting a conference on Teaching Comedy in Film Schools called “Why So Serious?”. The event will be held in Studio 1 on our campus in Dun Laoghaire, Ireland on April 24th to 26th 2023.
A GEECT Teaching Conference, hosted by IADT and supported by CILECT, FilmEU and NAHEMI will bring together, experts in comedy writing and ask them to contemplate and advise on how to teach comedy in film schools across the world.
Introduction
Comedy can provide an insight into the soul, it can speak truth to power or comfort us in our darkest moments. So why is teaching comedy in film schools not taken seriously? This conference will find out why. Bringing together comedians, writers, researchers and academics specialising in or curious about comedy, will gain new insights into methodologies for teaching and filmmaking in the comedic form.
We are looking for a mix of presentations, case studies, and roundtables which will explore techniques of how to teach comedy, how to develop comedic projects, how to tutor students in best practice and gain a deeper understanding into the nature of `writers’ rooms. This conference is about reshaping how comedy is approached and how it can become a pillar of film education.
Call for Contributions
We are looking for contributors who can address all aspects of teaching comedy. Some suggested topics are:
- Teaching comedy
- Case studies of comedy modules
- Writers room in the classroom
- How to structure and film comedy
- Comedy in pre-production, production, and post-production
- Economics of Comedy
- Pathways for graduates in the comedy industry
- Writing for television and cinema
- The future of comedy
- Best Practices / Best Kept Secrets
Deadlines
Please submit concrete suggestions (200 words), names of presenters (with contact details where possible) you believe could be both interesting and inspiring for all of us to whysoserious@iadt.ie by March 1st, 2023 (extended deadline).
Where Are We?
Situated in Ireland, close to the port town of Dun Laoghaire, IADT is 12kms away from Dublin City Centre. Dun Laoghaire is a hub for culture and nature. Come enjoy the food, the sea and possibly a pint of Guinness.
Costs & Practicalities
Dates: Arrivals April 23rd, departures from April 26th (after lunch)
Delegate fees:
GEECT / CILECT full members €450 per delegate (full member schools in good standing may send up to two delegates, and candidate and partner members in good standing may send one delegate, at the subsidised rate).
CILECT members from other Regions (CARA, CAPA, CIBA or CNA) can apply for a Fee Waiver: please contact Stanislav Semerdjiev, (places are limited and are assigned on a first-come-first-served basis).
NAHEMI members who are not members of CILECT or GEECT €600
Delegate Full fee: €750 per delegate: non-members/members not in good standing and any additional delegates from member schools.
Conference fees include 3 night’s accommodation, lunches on conference days and a conference dinner.
Please register as soon as possible. And by March 10th, 2023
Official registration: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/KRCTHZL
Conference website: www.whysoseriousconference.com
February 22, 2023: Cineclub hosted by LUCA School of Arts
On Wednesday February 22, LUCA organizes the 3rd edition of the FilmEU Cineclub of this academic year which will be organised in person at LUCA and simultaneously streamed at the FilmEU partner institutions.
Three filmmakers are invited to screen and talk about their films: Julie Verstraten with the animation film Inertia, Brahim Tall with Tukuleur and Géraldine Charpentier with Papa Zaza. Julie Verstraten and Brahim Tall are both LUCA alumni who both won the VAF Wildcard this year. Géraldine Charpentier is an animation film alumna of École nationale supérieure des arts visuels de La Cambre.
All three films deal with deeply intimate personal subject matter. Through dialogue we aim to take a closer look at their praxis and which knowledge they could share with our students.
Synopsis ‘Tukuleur’ by Brahim tall: Hair, posture and skin colour shift, intersect and alternate, creating a choreography of looks and poses based on representations throughout art history and pop culture. By making its central character ever changing, Tukuleur attempts to show how our gaze influences the interpretation of different bodies in different contexts. The film then shows the consequences of these gazes and their linked representations for the personal growth of the character, and their struggle to find a place between acceptance and otherness.
Synopsis ‘Inertia’ by Julie Verstraten: Inertia is about J, a young woman in her early twenties, who loses a loved one. Instead of standing still and reflecting on how this loss affects her, she resolutely looks the other way and suppresses emotions. A shadow manifests itself in her flat and slowly takes over her desk, covering her books and drawing materials. J acknowledges the presence but makes no attempt to ascertain its meaning. She keeps running away until she is forced to reflect.
Synopsis ‘Papa Zaza’ by Géraldine Charpentier: Fleur tells the story of the illness of her dad, Zaza, which disrupts her daily life and that of her brothers as they try to grow up and play, like any child. The disease is shown through a child’s eyes and voice. Here is a new perspective of a common situation: waiting for their father’s return from a hospital is disruptive for children too young to understand everything.
PROGRAMME
- Screening location (IADT):
- A019 (Atrium building)
- Programme:
- 16h – 18h
An Cailín Ciúin nominated for Academy Award for Best International Feature Film!
An Cailín Ciúin nominated for Academy Award for Best International Feature Film! This is the first time an Irish-language film has ever been nominated in this category, selected from 92 eligible countries. Several nominations for The Banshees of Inisherin and short film An Irish Goodbye, which was nominated for Best Live Action Short. Congratulations also to the Irish actors Paul Mescal, Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon and Barry Keoghan on their Academy Award nominations across the acting categories!
An Cailín Ciúin / The Quiet Girl as it makes history as the first Irish-language feature film to be shortlisted for the Oscars®!
C-ACCELERATE Conference in Tallinn with FilmEU
The FilmEU partners and the Aalto University/Aaltoes were together for the first C-ACCELERATE Conference in Tallinn (Estonia). C-ACCELERATE bring together researchers and students from the five partners and aims to increase the innovation and entrepreneurship capacity of higher education institutions in creative fields. Kino Eyes students presented their projects to teachers, researchers and specialists in the field of creative industries. The feedback and discussion around entrepreneurship studies in screen media was an important starting point for the second phase of the C-ACCELERATE project.
A public FilmEU panel discussion “How to empower film talents?” was streamed on the FilmEU Youtube channel. FilmEU representatives Manuel José Damásio, Barry Dignam, Marc Van De Walle and Elen Lotman, and a MA student Katniss Tung Cheng will reflect on their current talent support practices and policies and envision the directions to move toward. You can watch the session here.
During the second day we focused on Phase 2 preparations and the future steps. We were looking for startups to support, training more students/trainers to spread the entrepreneurial mindset and encourage innovation in our Higher Education Institutes. Read more about the project at: www.c-accelerate.eu
FilmEU Talks with Peter Zeitlinger
December 9th, join us for the last FilmEU Talks as a part of Lusófona University (Portugal) Audiovisual Week – a week dedicated to students being in contact with audiovisual specialists, researchers and professionals.
This will be an unique opportunity to watch the film “The Angel in the Wall”, directed by Lorenzo Bianchini and cinematography by Peter Zeitlinger. Recently, the film competed at the Camerimage Film Festival in Poland. The film is a great case study and it will be followed by a masterclass with the cinematographer Peter Zeitlinger.
FilmEU Talks with Nan Goldin
December 5th, join us for the first FilmEU Talks as a part of Lusófona University (Portugal) Audiovisual Week – a week dedicated to students being in contact with audiovisual specialists, researchers and professionals.
Lusofona University will host filmmaker and photographer Nan Goldin for a special masterclass with students and professors from the Department of Cinema and Media Arts.
Nancy (Nan) Goldin, born September 12, 1953, is an American photographer and activist. Her work often explores LGBT subcultures, moments of intimacy, the HIV/AIDS crisis, and the opioid epidemic. Her most notable work is The Ballad of Sexual Dependency (1986). The monograph documents the post-Stonewall, gay subculture and includes Goldin’s family and friends. She is a founding member of the advocacy group P.A.I.N. (Prescription Addiction Intervention Now).[1] She lives and works in New York City, Berlin, and Paris.
Join us for the live broadcast, December 5th, at 3:00pm, room C026.
Life, VR and the Metaverse

FilmEU Talks with Lucija Mrzljak
Second edition of FilmEU’s Cineclub
Join us for the Portuguese edition of FilmEU’s Cineclub. Berlinale Forum and Visions du Reel 2021, fascinating documentary about an ex New York cab driver, who witnessed numerous Wall Street crashes.
It will take place Wednesday the 16th of November in room A019, 4pm.
No Táxi do Jack / Jack’s Ride by Susana Nobre
At 63 years old and almost retired, Joaquim is forced to follow job centre rules so he can collect unemployment benefits. Despite knowing that he will never return to active life, he must go from company to company asking for stamps to attest that he is looking for work. In these trips he reminisces about his life as an immigrant in the U.S., where he worked as a cab driver in New York and witnessed numerous Wall Street crashes.
Visit www.filmeu.eu for more information. Or follow @filmeualliance for more updates.
Erasmus Mundus of the FilmEU alliance are open

Ideation week in Brussels

FilmEU represented at CILECT
This year, and finally live, the CILECT congress focused its talks on Teaching Audiovisual Media Challenges & Chances.
FilmEU was very well represented by Barry Dignam and Marc Van De Walle, who took the opportunity to share some of our own experiences, challenges, and chances of setting up a European Alliance of Film Schools.
Filipe Vale and Júlio Alves presented “Reversed Blow-up – Using “Stories” as a Pedagogical Strategy in Film Education”, where they shared their experience in applying the Samsara Method, a common pedagogical method that FilmEU is implementing across the institutions, and how the results are being impressive. Read more about the Samsara model here.
CILECT Congress is one of the best stages to get to know how Film Schools across the world are evolving and responding to the many challenges the world is living.
First edition of FilmEU’s Cineclub

FilmEU Talks are back. BFM (Tallinn University) will host talk 'On how to become famous' with Jaagup Tuisk.

FilmEU research artistic published on International Journal of Creative Media Research
A publication about the artistic research of FilmEU was published on the International Journal of Creative Media Research, an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed and open access academic journal devoted to pushing forward the approaches to and possibilities for publishing creative media-based research. Founded in 2018, the journal is hosted by The Centre for Media Research based at Bath Spa University.
FilmEU opportunities and challenges: Mapping a Sustainable Support Model for Practice-based Researchers, Supervisors and Examiners, is a cooperation between Érica Faleiro Rodrigues (CICANT, Lusófona University/FILMEU), Deidre O´Toole (IADT/FILMEU) and Manuel José Damásio (CICANT, Lusófona University/FILMEU)
Abstract
This research statement complements the podcast with the same title and is construed as a stepping stone towards a sustainable support model for practice based researchers, supervisors and examiners within the FilmEU alliance and, most importantly, beyond it, opening up the debate on the opportunities and challenges facing the topic. For this task, four relevant players from the artistic research arena were interviewed: Till Ansgar Baumhauer, Nico Carpentier, Michelle Teran and Florian Cramer. FilmEU includes Lusófona University, Portugal, Baltic Film and Media School, Estonia, LUCA, Belgium, and IADT, Ireland. In order to create a model with long-term impact for practice and artistic-based research, the alliance is pursuing a common and transdisciplinary research culture on artistic research within the field of Film and Media Arts. A major hurdle identified by the alliance is the upskilling of practitioners to ensure they have the skills and knowledge necessary to perform and supervise practice-based research. Many potential candidates and supervisors are already distinguished within the worlds of practice or academia; hence, the next step will be creating a bridge between practitioners and researchers. FilmEU will have to provide the adequate technical resources and expertise to guide researchers through this transition from practitioner to practitioner-researcher and to ensure that the work created achieves a professional standard.
Full article here.
Campus of the European Universities
30th June 2022, the FilmEU team were present at the Campus of the European Universities in Versailles, along with the representatives of other 41 higher education alliances.
FilmEU Team had the opportunity to meet with the representatives, staff and students of all European Universities Alliances and had fruitful discussions on different approaches and challenges the alliances are dealing with. FilmEU representatives had also a chance to meet with the French Minister for Higher Education and Research Sylvie Retailleau.
The Campus of the European Universities was organised by the French Presidency in the European Commission. It was a great opportunity for networking and getting to know colleagues from other alliances.
FilmEU wins an EIT project
The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) announced the 26 winning consortia selected to take part in the EIT HEI Initiative. The FilmEU Alliance is a full partner in the C-ACCELERATE project, coordinated by IDBM and Aalto University. The C-Accelerate project aims to accelerate the role of creative communities through the exploration of entrepreneurial education and radical creativity within European education. The approval of C-Accelerate is a unique opportunity to boost the innovation capacity of our institutions.
Read more here.
After the Dublin FilmEU Summit 2022

Dublin FilmEU Summit (7-10th June)

Creative Process of Directing and Writing for Preschool Animation

Wip & Marc will talk to us about their experience in the creative process of directing and writing for Preschool animation. Directing and writing the commercial preschool animation film ‘Two Tiny Toddlers’ during the pandemic also brought some new insights and challenges. They will provide us with some insights into this creative process.
Wip Vernooij (38) is a director, storyboard artist and animator, who most recently directed his second feature ‘Two Tiny Toddlers’, which will see a Dutch and Belgium release in 2022. It is the first 3D animated family film coming from the Netherlands.
Wip Vernooij has been named one of the Rising Stars of 2022 by the American magazine Animation Magazine!!! There he is, among people working at PIXAR and DreamWorks. Wip is someone who can make great strides on his own within narrow budgetary margins.
Mid 00’s Wip started as an intern at the animation studio Lawson & Whatshisname, then one of only a very few studios in the Netherlands. Soon after he moved to London and studied traditional hand-drawn character animation after which he remained in the UK to work on a variety of projects as an animator and compositor for educational games, commercials and music videos. In 2013 Wip debuted as director on a 2D animated feature called ‘Moshi Monsters the Movie’. He has since been involved in a number of TV-series and developments for young audiences as storyboard artist, series- and episodic director. Such as Wellie Wishers (Mattel), Fox & Hare (Submarine) and Dr. Panda (Dr. Panda)
Marc Veerkamp (Alkmaar, 1971) studied journalism and screenwriting. He started out as a journalist specializing in pedagogical subjects. During his career he shifted his focus to fiction. Nowadays Veerkamp mainly writes for film, television and theater. He was part of the writing team of SESAMSTRAAT for over 17 years. After that he also wrote for other Dutch youth series, such as HET ZANDKASTEEL and VRIJLAND.
He regularly works on animation projects. He also wrote, for the NTR-series GEORGE & PAUL, the Telemovie DE TAND DES TIJDS and the feature film ‘Two Tiny Toddlers’.
As a theater writer Veerkamp works for both children (e.g. RAAD EENS HOEVEEL IK VAN JE HOU) and adults (e.g. MA, based on the book of the same name by Hugo Borst).
He also published a children’s novel about KING ARTHUR and the picture book BEER IS NOOIT ALLEEN with illustrator Jeska Verstegen. Together with writer Bart Juttmann he wrote the yet-to-be-published book EN HET WOORD WERD BEELD, in which the writing process of 50 classic films and series is described.
The event is free, register here.
Navigating the Festival Circuit

Grainne Humphreys is Festival Director of the Dublin International Film Festival since 2008. She started her career working with young audiences with the Junior Dublin Film Festival in 1994 and she has worked in film programming for over twenty five years. In 1995, she joined the IFI as Education Officer and expanded her role to include special seasons including a focus on the film work of diverse figures such as Andy Warhol, Agnes Varda and Harold Pinter. She was director of both the Stranger Than Fiction Documentary Festival and the Dublin French Film Festival from 2002- 2007. Among other projects, she co-edited Ireland into Film, a series of publications on Irish Cinema. She teaches a course on Film Distribution & Exhibition at Griffith College Dublin as well as Film Programming at University College Dublin.
Read more:
https://www.filmeu.eu/news-and-events/filmeu-talks
Follow FilmEU on social media:
@filmeualliance
Olga Lucovnicova - From being a student to an awarded filmmaker in one year: Challenges of First-Person Filmmaking

Olga Lucovnicova (Moldova, 1991) is a Belgium based documentary filmmaker and aspiring researcher in the field of audiovisual arts. She studied six years of cinematography at the Academy of Arts of Moldova and two years of documentary filmmaking at DocNomads, an Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Program delivered by a consortium of three prominent European universities across three countries: Portugal, Hungary and Belgium. Currently, Olga pursues her studies in film at the doctoral school at KU Leuven University. She was awarded an FWO (The Research Foundation – Flanders) fellowship for fundamental research for her personal doctoral research project on post-memory in the post-Soviet society and its research through first-person documentary film. Olga moved to Belgium in September 2019 to pursue her studies at LUCA School of Arts. Her graduation film “My Uncle Tudor” produced in Belgium, premiered in Berlinale in 2021 and was awarded the Golden Bear. “My Uncle Tudor” also won the European Film Academy Award, which is the European equivalent of the Oscar. The film travelled to over 40 film festivals and was awarded many important awards like the Golden Chair for Best Short Documentary at Norwegian FF, Best Short Documentary award at Ismailia IFF in Egypt, Big Stamp for Best Short Film at the ZagrebDox FF in Croatia, Best European Short at Sarajevo FF in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Best Director at Astra FF in Romania, Best Short Documentary at Guanajuato IFF in Mexico and many others.
Olga is a member of The European Film Academy and Moldavian Union of Cinematographers (MUC).
Read more:
https://www.filmeu.eu/initiatives-and-events/filmeu-talks-experts-on-air/
The event is free, but registration is mandatory. link
Dr Vejune Zemaityte - Cultural data analytics for understanding today’s cinema – 10th May 13H CET
Dr Vejune Zemaityte is Senior Research Fellow at the ERA Chair for Cultural Data Analytics in the Baltic Film, Media and Arts School at Tallinn University, Estonia. Vejune uses computational data analysis and visualisation techniques including Social Network Analysis to study global film industries, with a primary focus on cultural and gender diversity. Her work is interdisciplinary, data-driven, and industry-facing, often performed in collaboration with external partners such as Festival de Cannes, Women in Motion, or the Australian Cinematographers Society.
With ever-increasing amounts of data available about the global film industries, how do we as researchers select the important questions to pursue and the appropriate methodologies to adopt in order to answer them? In this talk, Vejune Zemaityte draws upon her experience of working as part of multidisciplinary research groups, as well as on industry-facing research collaborations, to discuss the nature of data-driven work concerning diversity and global cinema.
The event is free! Register here.
FilmEU Cineclub
Cineclub is where four film nights will be organized throughout the academic year 2021-2022. Each partner of the FilmEU alliance will organize a night where students and staff can watch a film that will take place simultaneously at the four institutions. These screenings will take place on the 20th of October, 10th of November and the 9th of February and March. Students will not only watch an international film but they will also get a chance to participate in a masterclass with a question and answers session with guest speakers. The first film Vitalina Varela is Portuguese and the Director Pedro Costa will be available for discussion after the show.
FilmEU Talks - Experts on Air!
Experts on-Air is a new initiative aiming at reinforcing this diversity and openness by inviting experts in different domains of film and the media arts to present and discuss with us their achievements and experiences and the lessons they entail. These talks will reinforce our ability to connect to society and others and more importantly it will foster the ideals of collaboration and mutual reinforcement that shape FilmEU. Let the talks begin!
Creative Futures Academy – Animation@StoryLAB

FilmEU Summit 2021

Barry Dignam | Head of Department of European Projects
“The summit was a delight and a huge success. Not only did we get to meet our colleagues face to face for the first time, but we also had the opportunity to reach out and discuss some of the most pressing issues facing film education and indeed society as we look toward a post-pandemic Europe”.

To highlight the alliance’s main objectives and future plans, a FilmEU summit is organized every year. The summit takes place in September and is symbolically linked to the start of a new and fruitful academic year. Last year’s summit was organized online from September 21 until September 24 and was open to the public on the 22nd. The day consisted of talks and roundtable discussions revolving around the challenges that arise within the field of film and media in a (post-) covid world and how to tackle them. All speakers were experts in their respective domains.

“IADT is delighted to have been selected to help shape the vision of what the university of the future will look like. Along with our international partners we have been awarded funding of €5m to create the concept of FilmEU, a European University of Film and Media Arts.
Involving students, staff and industry stakeholders we will spend the next three years finding best practice within our institutions and across the globe to synthesise and pilot innovations that encompass all spheres of activity of a modern university.”
Barry Dignam, Head of the Department of European Projects
National Film School IADT
European Universities Initiative
Together, we collaborate around the common objective of jointly promoting high-level education, innovation and research activities in the multidisciplinary field of Film and Media Arts and consolidate the central role of Europe as a world leader in the creative fields.
FilmEU is focused on long-term strategic collaboration and our mission is to create a European University that is a model for collaboration in the fields of the Arts and the creative industries and that will greatly contribute to Europe’s leading role as a provider of education and research in the creative and artistic areas.

