TASKS OF THE VOLUNTEERS

There is only one task for our future volunteer: all work needed for making festival “ARSENALS” happen!!!
We offer the possibility to discover the Latvian culture and learn Latvian language, to get deeper knowledge about Latvian and international cinema and develop international cinema festival organizing skills.
The activities in event’s organizing and cinema will stimulate their creativity, flexibility, independence, deeper understanding about art, cinema Latvian culture and work in culture field in general. It will promote also practical skills in organising, exhibitions’ installation, communication and living independently in intercultural society.
Working in the group, volunteer will learn the international team work.
Long term volunteers will be provided with Latvian language and cinema course during whole project, but especially in first months.
Volunteers will be involved in all event’s organizing and administration proceses including activities planning. The volunteer will also have the chance to give their suggestions to implement ongoing activities with the support of the mentor, host-organization and coordinating organization.
Volunteer will have a possibility to organize a special event for youth as a part of the festival and the possibility to participate in the film festival watching movies, visiting cinema museum, film archive etc).

PROJECT ENVIRONMENT

The activities of volunteers mostly will take place in the office of International centre of Cinema. It is located in Riga's historical centre which has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city is particularly notable for its extensive Jugendstyle (German Art Nouveau) architecture, which UNESCO considers to be unparalleled anywhere in the world. During festival notable part of activities are located in cinemas and theatres.
Riga has been the city of inspiration for more than 800 years. It has always attracted travellers, urging them to linger, remain or return. Since Riga regained its historical status as one of the capital cities of Europe, more and more Europeans and citizens from other parts of the world are succumbing to its inspiration.
Riga is a modern cosmopolitic metropolis with a rich cultural and historical heritage which is evident in the city’s architecture, cultural life, as well as in its rapid urban development and active cooperation with other cities. The aim of the city administration is to turn Riga into an active and competitive educational and cultural centre that is healthy and safe. We aim to develop a highly efficient city administration, and to preserve Riga as a green city by constructing new and modern buildings. We want the City of Riga to continue to serve as the driving force of Latvia’s economy, and we want the city to be easily accessible to everyone – by land, rail, sea or air.
During the project volunteers will have the chance to learn Latvian culture, especially cinema through specific tasks and oppurtunities that they will have. Volunteers will participate in cinema forum organizing, some information material creating and translating, guest services providing and some workshops’ or excursions organizing for international and local guests. In order to facilitate their integration and to favor their learning process, the volunteers will attend an intensive Latvian language and culture course.
Volunteers will be accommodated in apartment with all comforts in one of Riga’s suburbs. They will have their independent life according some general rules as respecting neighbors and the place where they live. There is good public transport service that connects Riga’s suburbs with the city centre.

ABOUT FILM FORUM “ARSENALS”

Riga International Film Forum “Arsenals” - a film event that did not obey and stood against the rules of the Soviet ideology - was first launched in the native city of the outstanding innovator in the world of cinematography Sergei Eisenstein in 1986.
The festival demonstrates a challenging and innovative spectrum of films made within the last two years; apart from International Competition and Baltic Film Competition, its program is formed of thematic screenings, retrospectives and special events.
For the International Competition screening are selected films that illustrate an unconventional approach to filmmaking, showing general human comprehension and understanding of the global processes, disregarding the specific film genre, style or the form of film’s created reality.
Seeing that film is not a mere text communicating media, “Arsenals” core has remained unchanged since its beginning in 1986 - to identify innovative, meaningful exploration into the filmic language. Thereby we are attuned to the directors, whose work represents prominent expression of auteur cinema, inimitable in their language - frame, rhythm, tint, sound.
In the organization of festival “Arsenals” each year participate around 70 volunteers from Latvia and we would like to invite more young people from other European countries, as many of our former volunteers have taken part in European festivals, for example Berlinale. It is great chance to exchange information, to find out more about the different cultures.

ABOUT INTERNATIONAL CENTRE OF CINEMA

The International Centre of Cinema is mainly working on film festival “Arsenals” organizing. The festival “Arsenals” demonstrates a challenging and innovative spectrum of films made in the last two years, and it is formed of an International competition screening, Baltic film competition, Panorama of the World Cinema, thematic programs, retrospective and special screenings and events. For the International Competition screening we select films that illustrate an unconventional approach to filmmaking, showing general human comprehension and understanding of the global processes, disregarding the specific film genre, style or the form of film’s created reality. Maintaining the art house approach to the film parade, we turn it into a platform for new directors who (with their innovative approach to the film art) could facilitate finding the new directions of the contemporary film development.
Since 1998, the Festival has a Baltic Film Competition (evaluated by a jury consisting of representatives of European film festivals), which draws the attention of film professionals to the latest achievements of Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian cinema. The films will be assessed in four categories: Best Baltic Feature, Documentary, Animation and Best Baltic Film. The Baltic Film Competition winners are awarded the prestigious diploma of the FIPRESCI jury.
The largest selection of the festival – Panorama of the World Cinema – is showcasing the latest productions of the world cinema with great impact on European productions. A special section of IFF “Arsenals” program is Evening films. This program embodies one of the forum’s long-standing traditions: to offer the audience films at once noted within the international film-arena and qualified to their rightful claim for bestseller status in the refined and apparently commerce-spurning art-house niche. In general festival program, European films is a very important segment. European author cinema directors are always represented in the International Competition section, with their ideas crossing EU borders, and reaching the global level of universal understanding.
The strong European cinema representation will continue in the next editions of the festival, offering local audiences the most challenging and actual films from European countries. The festival programming is done, searching for the films not only from the countries with the thriving film industry, but also from those with low production capacity. Being a member of Alliance of Central and East European film festivals, IFF “Arsenals” is following the film production in the membering countries and in those outside the alliance.
Alongside with established set of programs – International Competition screenings, Baltic films in competition, Panorama of the World Cinema, every new edition of the festival offers fresh theme programs, special events and retrospectives.
The year 2008 edition of the IFF “Arsenals” gathered around 28 000 spectators, including those of paying admissions, free ticket owners and accredited persons. This shows a persistent and even increasing level of admission (taking in account that the festival program was screened in less venues than the year 2006 edition). All in all, the average level of admission in the screening venues linked up to 76,6% of the hall capacity.
Prominent multicultural events are an integral part of our initiatives. Special events of the previous IFF “Arsenals” edition gathered audience of around 1000 people during special sessions in Vermanes Garden, Sv Jana Church, Sv Trisvienibas Church in Liepaja. Session of Exchange and Salome performance in National Opera was very welcomed by the public and brought a genuine emotional experience of art.
Apart from film screenings, for many years it has been a regular praxis of the IFF Arsenals to organize open seminars for film professionals, as well as for general audiences. Seminars are devoted to a wide range of film-related themes – whether proposed by films of the IFF Arsenals program, or selected as topical and immediate at the time of the event. The off-venue discussions make a fruitful ground for fostering dialogue between filmmakers, for establishing contacts between film industry professionals, as well as for their meeting with audiences.
NGO “Arsenals” has 7 full time workers. For the cinema forum organizing we attract about 70 local volunteers.