Nouvelles | Zeitungsartikel | Announcements | Front page

• 2006 General Meeting in Korea - Max Hänsli
• Committee report
• Films from the UNICA Library - Hans Schober
• Korean Visual Arts Association
• Message to member federations - Max Hänsli
• New Domain Name
• News for the Friends of UNICA - Fred Graber
• UNICA 2009 - UNICA 2010? - Max Hänsli

The 2006 General Meeting in Korea

2006 is an election year and a new UNICA Committee has to be elected for another 3-year term. National Federations have been asked to make proposals and nominate candidates before 30 April 2006. The current Committee members also had to declare whether or not they were running for a new term. According to the Statutes, 10 members must be selected from among the names on a list of candidates composed of former members who are prepared to assume office for another term and the new candidates presented by National Federations. If there are more than 10 candidates, several ballot rounds are necessary to come to the election of the 10 persons obtaining the highest number of the votes cast by the delegates. The new candidates are introduced by the President. However, this presentation cannot be done by an article published in this issue of UNICA-News as that there is no provision for a deadline for candidatures in the Statutes. Theoretically candidates can be announced at the time of the General assembly. For this reason, the Committee decided in their latest meeting to request National Federations to submit these candidatures before April 30, so that there would be some time to discuss the matter and possibly take initiatives. This year's election has special significance as the new Committee will open up new trails for UNICA and, with your vote, you will participate in this action paving the way for UNICA's future. The UNICA Committee

To the Federations Affiliated to UNICA

As we all know, this year's UNICA Congress will take place in Korea. The number of the participants for this event is very high, which shows that, besides a participation in the UNICA Congress, the cultural program has appealed to many film-makers and encouraged them to take part in the event. Currently we have no less than 260 registered participants !!

I hope that there will also be some participants in your National Federation who, after returning, will share their experience and impressions with others.

I would like to draw your attention to two points:

• 2006 is what we call an election year, i.e. a new Committee (10 members) will be elected for a 3-year term of office. So far as I know at present the following changes will take place in the Committee:
  • Serge Michel (FR), the Vice-president of UNICA, had to announce his resignation from the Committee due to professional constraints. We greatly regret that, especially as he played a key role in the reconstruction and success of the "Friends of UNICA" club. He is also a committee member who had a great influence on UNICA with new and original ideas. Among other things he has also for many years been the representative of UNICA at IFTC (UNESCO); however, he will keep this function after his resignation. The French Federation has submitted the candidature of Mrs. Jeanne Glass, an experienced jury member - who will again be in the jury at UNICA 2006 in Korea. She speaks the 3 UNICA languages, which is indeed a great advantage.
  • All the other members of the Committee run for re-election. National Federations have the right to submit proposals for Committee members to be elected for the 2006-2009 terms; the vote for these candidates will take place at the time of the General meeting. However I kindly request the federations - for administrative reasons - to inform the Secretary-General about candidatures before 30 April 2006. Please also provide a short CV with details of the candidate's activities. The presence of the candidate at the General Meeting would obviously be highly appreciated.

• To facilitate the course of a UNICA Congress, we have drawn your attention several times to the fact that, not only for UNICA 2006 in Korea, but also for all future UNICA contests, the films and videos should be delivered only in Mini-DV or Mini-DV-CAM format, in PAL or NTSC standard. I trust that all National Federations have the ability to transfer the other formats onto mini-DVs or mini-DV-CAMs. Only with these formats is it possible for the UNICA Film Library to prepare copies to meet the requests from National Federations. Please be sympathetic to this request which is in the interest of any UNICA organiser and will also benefit the UNICA Film Library.
  • Beware: DVDs can only be copied in certain cases! The UNICA Film Library must however have this ability to make copies that are then made available to all National Federations.

You will soon receive all the documents relating to UNICA 2006 from the Secretary-General. It is most important to return these documents as soon as possible together with the registration form with the films of the national program entered for the competition and all relevant data. Please adhere to the deadline.

Kind regards

Faithfully yours

Max Hänsli (CHE), President of UNICA

UNICA Committee Meeting in Vienna (AUT)

Following the invitation extended by Alois Urbanek, the UNICA Committee met in Vienna (AT) from 11 to 14 May 2006. The main item on the agenda for discussion was the issue of electing the new UNICA committee on the occasion of UNICA 2006 in Korea. There were also some other open questions on the agenda calling for answers.

The preparations for the 2006 Congress in Korea and visiting potential facilities for the 2008 Congress in Tunisia were discussed. In both cases, we may count on the support to be provided by national organisations, which is certainly a great help for the organisers. For the first time, the UNICA Congress will be held in 2006 in two different places. The opening ceremony will be staged in Daegu - in the presence of the Mayor - and first day of screenings will be organised there too. Then the participants will move to Gyeongju - Hotel Concorde - where all other events, including the closing ceremony, will take place.

The UNICA 2008 Congress will most probably take place in Hammamet. The hotel facilities visited are fully equipped, including a very well designed projection hall, which has sufficient capacity for UNICA requirements. The negotiations to obtain an attractive package for accommodation and the Congress have already started and governmental support is also guaranteed in this case.

The question of financial resources - in particular that of unpaid membership fees - was again an important item on the agenda. Those National Federations which have failed to pay the fees due will unfortunately be barred from participation in the vote in Korea, according to the provisions in the Statutes, unless payment to the UNICA Treasurer is received before the 2006 Congress.

Some information concerning the elections

The National Federations were asked to nominate their candidates for the 2006-2009 Committee by April 30. The following names have been submitted

• Jeanne Glass, from France: has been a member of the UNICA jury on several occasions
• Wolfgang Freier, from Germany, currently in charge of UNICA Patronages
• Jaak Jarvine, from Estonia: the organiser of the UNICA Congress in Tallinn and the Festival of Nordic Countries

Jeanne Glass	Wolfgang Freier	Jaak Jarvine	Serge Michel	Lauri Hirvonen

The following members have announced that they wish to withdraw from the Committee:

• Serge Michel, from France: the current Vice-President
• Lauri Hirvonen, from Finland : the coordinator for the Nordic Countries

It appears from the above list we have 3 new candidates and 2 withdrawals so that elections will not be so easy…

The Committee discussed during their meeting in Vienna how roles could be assigned among the new candidates and the co-opted candidates. The following possibilities were examined:

Mrs. Jeanne Glass (France) could be designated to take over the position of Vice President left vacant by Serge Michel (France); Wolfgang Freier (Germany), if elected as a new committee member, would remain in charge of UNICA Patronages - an office that he currently carries out as an appointed member - and Jaak Järvine (Estonia) would take over from retiring Lauri Hirvonen (Finland) the office of co-ordinator for the Nordic Countries. These are merely sugggestions expressed by the Committee in case the people concerned are voted in; final decisions about the composition of the new Committee in charge for 2006-2009 are of course in the hands of UNICA 2006 delegates in Korea.

The committee will suggest the following voting procedure as being both in compliance with the Statutes and realistic in terms of time:

According to the Statutes, the first round of votes should be devoted to choosing the 4 members of the Executive committee: i.e. the President, the Vice President, the Secretary-General and the Treasurer. Only those candidates who obtained an absolute majority in the first round of votes can be elected. If more rounds are necessary, then the simple majority applies (Article IV 1, 2 of the Statutes).

As the committee is composed of 10 members, the second ballot is devoted to choosing the 6 advisors. This procedure complies with the provisions in Article IV 1.2 of the Statutes.

The Committee has decided that all rounds will be held by secret ballot, as has always been done previously. The voting bulletins will list all eligible candidates. All National Federations will be informed immediately if any change occurs before the documents for the General Assembly are dispatched.

National Federations are requested to give all necessary instructions to their delegates at the General Assembly in Korea about voting.

We hope that this information has been useful to you. The relevant documents will be sent by the Secretary-General to the National Federations in due time.

This memo is published in the UNICA News to clarify and facilitate the voting procedure and we hope that all National Federations will find this information clear and useful.

The UNICA Committee

Korean Visual Arts Association

The Korean Visual Arts Association (KVAA) was founded on 01 June 2002 in Seoul with 86 members for the purpose of

(1) providing support to non-professional film-makers and locating works of prime quality

(2) evaluating and selecting those films that will take part in the UNICA Contest and other international film festivals

(3) contributing to "film" as a visual art form and to the development of the Korean film industry.

The KVAA was accepted as a member of UNICA on 29 August 2002 on the occasion of the 64th UNICA General Meeting in Luxemburg and registered on 18 December 2002 by the Korean Ministry of Culture and Tourism as a non-commercial society. The KVAA or representative of Korea at UNICA consists of president Chan Joo Chang who is assisted by a council with 11 persons (including former Vice-ministers for culture and tourism, professional film-makers, university vice-rectors, mayors, etc.) and a permanent legal advisor - i.e.; altogether 19 members in the board and central committee, 25 representatives of provinces and cities, 8 representatives of university film-clubs and 18 officers for the organisation and management.

All KVAA members of the KVAA are registered members in film clubs in the various provinces and cities or in universities and they devote leisure time to various activities linked to film and film-making.

To meet the above-mentioned objectives, the KVAA organises on a yearly basis the UNICA-KOREA Film Festival in April or May; with a presentation of the films which have taken part in and been selected for contests organised by the clubs in provinces and cities or in universities. 50 entries are selected by the central committee from among these films and they are then shown to the public at large at the end of May in Seoul for three days to be evaluated and rewarded with prizes.

Each week film training courses and forums are proposed in the Clubs. Moreover, courses to learn shooting on location are also organised in all seasons.

UNICA 2009 - UNICA 2010?

What about holding the UNICA 2009 or 2010 Congress in your country?

Who will take the first step?

I am at your disposal to provide information about the organisation of a UNICA-Congress. Maybe you would like to ask specific questions before examining the idea. This is understandable and I am prepared to have a conversation with you "almost" any time.

The staging of a UNICA Congress has many positive aspects, which does not imply that it also has negative ones. Experience shows that doubts or fears generally vanish when they can be discussed. Therefore:

I would be very pleased to hear that you would be interested in having such a conversation.

And all UNICA friends would be delighted to travel to your country if your country or federation made such a decision !

In short: I am looking forward to hearing your questions.

Yours faithfully

Max Hänsli

New Domain Name

The UNICA website has a new domain name:

http://unica-web.com

Please enter or change the UNICA website name in your favourites.

The shorthand notation http://unica.to will cease to exist after August 2006

Films from the UNICA Film Library

<http://home.hccnet.nl/unica/data/orderform/orders.htm>

All member federations of UNICA have the right to borrow each year a film programme from the UNICA film library free of charge. The same goes for members of Friends of UNICA, but they have to pay for the postage charges.

The following rules apply:

• As Hans Schober, the film librarian, is very busy just after each UNICA Congress (he has to copy about 50 DV tapes of 80 minutes) and the catalogue has to be updated, films of the latest UNICA competition may be ordered only after October 1 of that year.
• The maximum number of films per order is 10.
• The maximum borrowing time is 3 months.
• Please use the standard order form.
• The catalogue number of the required films (as indicated in the catalogue) must be given, in order to prevent mistakes and to make the work of the film librarian easier.

Film Librarian - UNICA FILMARCHIV

Hans Schober, Rosenbergstrasse 56, CH - 9000 St. Gallen

<info@bueroschober.ch>

News for the Friends of UNICA

Dear friends, The ship of friendship is sailing well. In fact it is flying as we make preparations for the festival in South-Korea. To some of us this means that a long journey is imminent. To others, those for whom Korea is too far, it means looking forward to 2007 and the congress in Slovakia. Being a Friend Of UNICA means being close to UNICA, having experience of UNICA or learning about those things. Inevitably that means some of us have reached a respectable age with all the small financial and health problems age can bring. There are some of us - perhaps we think of them as the lucky ones - who this summer are going to the distant Orient. They will surely be bringing back pictures for the rest of us. A surprising number of Europeans have signed up for this adventure. We are keen to find out how Korean film amateurs will seem to us. Meeting of the friends in Korea. Following long-standing tradition we will gather together in Korea for a lunch. At the 2007 UNICA we will bring back many modern films. I would also like to have at our meeting a film which tells something of the UNICAs of the past. If you have such a documentary, less than 12 minutes, please contact me so that we can arrange the programme. To everyone whom we will not see in Korea we wish a beautiful, warm summer and a good health.

New blood! Rolf Leuenberger asked for admission with the friends of the UNICA. Those who attended UNICA 2005 at Blankenberge probably well remember the Swiss jury member with a good-natured smile who left a good impression of intelligence and film culture. This is Rolf, who is very active in the Swiss federation. He is multilingual man with his own style of reporting. With friendly greetings. Ursula and Fred Graber (CHE), July 2006 CH-1276 Gingins <video@triskel.ch>, tel.: +41 22 369 16 44, fax 369 14 44

Fred Graber

UNICA Friends annual subscription: 30 €

• Euro payments:
  Account €: UBS AG, CH-8500 Frauenfeld, Union Internationale du Cinema, cpte Nr. 239-853.806.40H amis UNICA, SWIFT-BIC: UBSWCHZH80A, IBAN Nr. CH51 0023 9239 8538 0640 H
• Swiss Francs payments:
  Account CHF: UBS AG, CH-8500 Frauenfeld, Union International du Cinema, Konto Nr.: 239-853.806.J3A amis UNICA, SWIFT-BIC: UBSWCHZH80A, IBAN Nr.: CH30 0023 9239 8538 06J3 A

Page updated on 14 February 2008

Authors' views are not necessarily those of The Institute of Amateur Cinematographers

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