General Assembly 2016 Invitation

Dear colleagues,

Once again Felice Laudadio, our faithful friend and host for almost three decades, invites us to Italy. In the last quarter of a century we traveled with him through the country: First to Saint Vincent, up in the mountains of the north, followed by Viareggio at the seaside, then to the deep south, Taormina, Sicily, passing on to Rome, to a television festival and the wonderful “Casa del Cinema – House of Films” (which he had created and directed but had to give up due to political circumstances in the Berlusconi era). For six years and now for the seventh time, he invites us to Bari, for the Bari International Film Festival which he had created a few years ago (as its artistic director he has recently been confirmed for five more years). It will be the first edition without Ettore Scola, the festival’s long-standing president and mentor. And it will be the first edition after Nichi Vendola, Apulia’s governor who had shown a particular interest in the arts (and the festival), and whose term of office had ended last summer.

We are again invited to hold our annual assembly in Bari. The festival dates are Saturday, April 2, to Saturday, April 9, 2016. 

General Assembly 2016

Our General Assembly of 2016 will take place on Sunday, April 3, 2016 (morning and afternoon), and on Monday morning, April 4.
The preliminary schedule:

Saturday, April 2: Arrival of the delegates. Pick-up service at the Bari-Palese international airport. In the evening: Opening Ceremony.

Sunday, April 3: presumably 9:30 – 13:00, 14:00 – 18:00 general assembly. Place: Bari, Hotel Palace (that’s the hotel where the delegates will stay). 

Monday, April 4: Continuation of the assembly.

The official duties for the delegates end on Monday noon, April 4. They can therefore depart from Bari Monday afternoon or Tuesday.

The festival offers all delegates “full board hospitality”. As always, all participants are in charge of their transportation / air tickets.

Delegates

All national sections are kindly invited to appoint their delegate to the assembly. Each national section can nominate one delegate. In countries where two associations form the national section, both associations are requested to agree on one common delegate (two delegates maybe admitted only in case of available invitations). This concerns our colleagues in Australia, Canada, France, Serbia and Spain. All delegates must be made known, in written (email or fax or letter), to the General Secretary by Friday, March 4, 2016. (Please note that from statuary reason later arriving requests cannot be considered.) 

Individual members (in principle in countries where a national section doesn’t exist) who wish to attend the assembly are kindly asked to contact the General Secretary.

Please use for all communication concerning Bari and the assembly the email address jury@fipresci.org, or the fax number +49 (89) 18 47 66. Address letters to Klaus Eder, FIPRESCI, Schleissheimer Str. 83, D 80797 Munich, Germany.

Agenda 

Aside the usual reports on our activities in 2015 (given by the members of the board and the General Secretary) and the discussion of future juries and projects, the board has to be elected. The president and one vice-president can be re-elected for one more term (of two years). The acting vice-president György Kárpáti has already served two terms and cannot be re-elected. See the call for candidates, below. 

National sections wishing to add any other item to the agenda should send their proposal, in writing, to the General Secretary by Friday, March 4, 2016. The final agenda will be published at the beginning of March on our website www.fipresci.org (members’ area). 

Call for Candidates

The assembly has to elect: 
– the president;
– two vice-presidents.

Acting president is Alin Tasciyan (Turkey). Acting vice-presidents are Dana Linssen (The Netherlands) and György Kárpáti (Hungary).

Our Turkish colleague Alin Tasciyan can be re-elected for one more term and could therefore continue her engaged and effective work for our federation.

The acting vice-president György Kárpáti cannot be re-elected. Therefore, in particular candidates for the vice-presidency are looked for. 

(Our national sections are nonetheless free to propose other candidates also for the presidency.)

A few general remarks.

Members of the board are expected to participate in the general work of the federation. This includes the chairing of juries (also at festivals which are not on their personal list of events attended for professional reasons), and includes also participation in conferences and workshops organized by FIPRESCI. It is expected that board members regularly attend at least two of the three major events in Berlin, Cannes and Venice – meeting points of the board and with colleagues. It is also expected that they have a cell phone, active email access and, preferably, a Skype account. 
Fluent English and French should be a given. 

Tasks to be fulfilled by the board members: Representing FIPRESCI at major events, in particular at the award ceremonies of our Berlin and Cannes prizes; the presentation of our “Grand Prix” at the opening ceremony of the San Sebastian Film Festival; the presentation of the “European Film Award of the Critics” at the European Film Awards ceremony in December. Board members should keep in close contact with the General Secretary. President and vice-presidents are, in particular, expected to discuss with the General Secretary the fundamentals (culturally and politically) of our work. 

Our national sections are invited to nominate candidates (urgent: candidates for the vice-presidency). Each national section can propose one candidate for the presidency and up to two candidates for the two vice-presidencies (they are not restricted to candidates from their own country). The nominations (in writing, by email or fax) must include the following information: A written (email or fax) declaration that the candidate accepts the candidature, and that he/she is willing to actively participate in all the activities of our Federation. 

The candidacies have to reach the General Secretary’s desk not later than Friday, March 4, 2016, 24:00 h (GMT). (Candidacies arriving after this deadline, or proposals for candidates whose declaration of consent is missing, will be void and can’t be accepted.) 

By the way: Colleagues who would wish to offer assistance in certain tasks (such as our website), are kindly asked to contact the General Secretary directly. There’s much work to be done!

Best regards,
See you in Bari,
Klaus Eder