Cinekid for Professionals Booklet 2022

Cinekid Professionalsfor 2022

Dear

We’refriends,almost there!

After years of attending Cinekid as a professional and later as a collaborator, it’s now a total thrill to be on board as the new Head of Cinekid for Professionals. What’s more, I’m delighted to be able to welcome guests to an in-person, face-to-face, hands-on edition taking place in Amsterdam after two years we would all rather forget. Correct? Maybe, maybe not.

The past two and a half years have taught us a lot of things, some more useful than others - but all equally valuable. Personally, I’ve learned I can bake a mean banana bread, but I’ve also learned that organising an online festival isn’t a piece of cake. But what keeps surprising me every day is the resilience our industry has shown in the face of unpredictable situations. It almost seems as if we have developed a better response mechanism – the stricter the rules become, the more we learn how to create and innovate.

What we also seem to have gained more of over the past years is time - time which we can use for exploration. We can explore stories about worlds we are yet to encounter and explore content that leaves us speechless, and which stimulates our minds and our intellects. Cinekid 2022 is about building worlds that will continue to enchant and enrich, so once again we invite you to come on board and be amazed.

Our programme will again cater to the needs of participants from every corner of the industry. Creators, producers, buyers, and sellers will pitch and persuade institutions, funds, decision makers and future partners. For the mutual benefit of all, professionals and (young) public alike.

We are delighted that leading international professionals still see Cinekid as an essential platform for sound and profitable business. Over the years, more than 390 projects have been selected for the Junior Co-production Market (JCM), of which 50% have been completed, many very successfully.

Our key aim is to be present, to facilitate and adapt to the needs of our industry, but we also recognise the need to work together on making the future sustainable.

The importance and success of previous JCMs is reflected again in the 2022 Cinekid Festival programme, which contains five titles previously pitched there, including our opening film Totem. This year we are over the moon to present 20 beautiful new projects - 11 feature films and 9 series - at the Junior Co-Production Market, and we invite you to check out each one before you request one-to-one meetings to find out more.

In addition to the Junior Co-Production Market projects, we are also excited to welcome 14 Script LAB repre sentatives who will work on the development of their projects throughout the week in Amsterdam, together with their designated coaches and other experts.

Besides the projects in development, we select completed productions for the ScreeningClub, our digital video library which offers 500+ recently completed children’s productions from all over the world.

We will welcome 25 eager young producers to Amsterdam as part of Producers LINK which we organise together with Kids Kino Industry. Each will spend a week working on their professional development with several work shops and case studies.

We are also looking forward to welcoming you to the Industry Forum, a melting pot of ideas, conversations, and discussions about where we are right now and where we are heading. This year we will dive deeper into the future of synthetic creation, figuring out its nature and how it compares with authentic creation. We will explore what it’s like when kids are at the helm of content delivery, how to get them more involved and process their feedback. We will also introduce you to the S(ymbiocene) generation, the first to explore the relation ship between mankind and nature and how our species must play an equal role rather than try and take the lead.

Very little of this rich programme would be possible without ongoing support from our funders and partners, such as Creative Europe and the Netherlands Film Fund. But Cinekid for Professionals wouldn’t be the same without, well, the professionals, so I would mostly like to thank you, dear guests, for returning to us year after year and making our programme richer each time. Needless to say, I wouldn’t be quite so confident in this edition if I didn’t have the fantastic CfP team working around the clock to make it happen.

We’re looking forward to welcoming you to our new Cinekid for Professionals location in Amsterdam North this year, also the central location of the festival, to amaze and to be amazed!

Sara HeadJuricicofCinekid for Professionals

Thijs van der Laak Talent Manager Cinekid for Professionals

Mauricio Tunaroza Romero Producer Cinekid for Professionals Johanna Fuhler Producer Industry Forum

Eva Loguercio Producer Hospitality

Team Cinekid for Professionals

Funders & Partners

Junior Co-production Market awards are supported by

Partners of Cinekid for Professionals 2022

Cinekid for Professionals 2022 is funded by

Previous JCM successes

List of previous Junior Co-production Market projects that are selected for the Cinekid Festival 2022 programme.

Director: Slobodan Maksimović

Production Company: Senca Studio (Slovenia)

Selected for: Best Children’s Film 2022

Presented at: JCM 2019

Director: Camiel Schouwenaar

Production Company: Rinkel Film(The Netherlands)

Selected for: Best Dutch Children’s Film 2022 Presented at: JCM 2020

Directors: Jeff Tudor, Steven de Beul & Ben Tesseur

Production Company: Submarine (The Netherlands)

Selected for: Best Dutch Children’s Film 2022 Presented at: JCM 2019

Director: Christian Lo Production Company: Snowcloud (Sweden)

Selected for: Best Children’s Film 2022

Presented at: JCM 2019 & JCM - Work in Progress 2021

Totem

Director: Sander Burger Production Company: Volya Films (The Netherlands)

Selected for: Best Children’s Film 2022, Best Dutch Children’s Film 2022 Presented at: JCM 2019 and Uncle Darling

Script LAB Projects

Cinekid Script LAB is a six-month script-training programme for writers with a children’s film or series project. For the Ninth edition, Cinekid is proud to present 14 new projects and 19 writers from 11 countries that will be attending residencies during Cinekid for Professionals (Amsterdam, October 2022) and the Berlinale (Berlin, February

Film still from Beanie (2022) by Slobodan Maksimović and Production Company Senca Studio (SI). Participated in Script LAB 2018 and Directors LAB 2019.

Best Imaginary Friends Forever (film / live-action)

Participating writer: Saša Eržen Production company: December (Slovenia)

Over the Walls (film / live action)

Participating writer: Emil Płoszajski Production company: TFP TV & Film Production (Poland)

Nominated by: Polish Film Institute

Exit Tales (series / animated documentary)

Participating writer: Mariana Cadenas Production company for the pilot: Storyhouse (Belgium)

Nominated by: Flanders Audiovisual Fund

Gorgius (film / live-action)

Participating writers: Samuele Rossi, Tommaso Santi Production company: Solaria Film (Italy), Arsmedia (Slovenia)

Heart Beats (film / live-action)

Participating writer: Johanna Lietha Production company: Berg Hammer Film (Austria)

Los Peludos (series / animation)

Participating writer: Izabella Faya Production company: 3 Tabela Filmes (Brazil)

Me, a Monster? - Mission Planet Earth (film / animation)

Participating writer: Belinda Bonan De Vries Production company: Most Wanted Studio, SL (Spain)

Molly & Alpha (film / live-action)

Participating writer: Aliki Tsakoumi Production company: Faliro House (Sweden, Greece) Nominated by: Swedish Film Institute

Nine Lives Left (film / animation)

Participating writer: Zacharias Mavroeidis Production company: Wild at Heart (Greece) Nominated by: Athens International Children’s Film Festival

Rainbow in Hell (film / animation)

Participating writers : Tessa Moult-Milewska, Thomas Forwood Production company: Animoon (Poland)

Something in the Wind (film / live-action)

Participating writers: Bert Lesaffer, Nelson Polfliet Production company: Animal Tank (Belgium)

The School Camp (series / live-action)

Participating writer: Helena J. Nielsen Production company: Monster Scripted AS (Norway) Nominated by: Norwegian Film Institute

Warrior’s Heart (film / live-action)

Participating writers: Marianne Ulrichsen, Eva Keuris Production company: Freedom from Fear A/S (Norway)

WeeWee (working title) (film / live-action)

Participating writers: Jacqueline Epskamp, Iván López Núñez Production company: Umami Media (The Netherlands)

Nominated by: Netherlands Film Fund

Directors LAB projects 2022

The second edition of Directors LAB took place last April 2022. During Cinekid Directors LAB, an international group of acclaimed directors will focus on the final steps you need to take prior to pre-production, coupled with the special and specific skills required for working with children. Above all, the program offers hands-on tailor-made coaching.

Film still from Strijder (2022) by Camiel Schouwenaar and production company Rinkel Film(NL). Participated in Script LAB 2019 and Directors LAB 2021.

Be Careful What You Wish For (Vuxna Barn)

Director: Gustaf Åkerblom

Producer: Isabel Nylund

Production company: SF Studios (Sweden)

I Accidentally Wrote a Book (Véletlenül írtam egy könyvet)

Director: Nora Lakos

Producer: Claudia Sümeghy, Nora Lakos

Production companies: JUNO11 Pictures (Hungary), Squirrel Film Production (Hungary)

Co-production company: BIND (The Netherlands)

Kiddo (Je Moeder)

Director: Zara Dwinger

Producer: Layla Meijman, Maarten van der Ven

Production company: Studio Ruba (The Netherlands)

Co-production company: SHIPsBOY (Poland)

Nominated by: Netherlands Film Fund

The Man Who Hated Children (Maðurinn sem hataði börn)

Director: Gunnar Björn Guðmundsson

Producer: Julius Kemp, Ingvar Thordarson

Production company: The Icelandic Film Company (Iceland)

Nominated by: Icelandic Film Centre

Ravengirl (Ravnejenta)

Director: Christian Lo

Producer: Nicholas Sando

Production company: Filmbin AS (Norway)

Nominated by: Norwegian Film Institute

Tamar (Tamar)

Director: Dorothée van den Berghe

Producer: Bo De Group, Hans Everaert

Production company: Menuetto (Belgium)

Industry Forum

An international conference for everyone interested in children’s media where professionals from the field of children’s media from all over the world shared their ideas and tips & tricks. Participants will discuss issues of burning relevance and debate the future of the industry with experts in the field. In rapidly alternating sessions experts will tell you all about the development of their projects, the pitfalls, and the roads to success from their own practices.

ROSEScreeningClubStoriesWriters Room

From October 13 to December 31 Cinekid for Professionals’ digital video library offers more than 350 recent children’s productions from all over the world, with particular focus on European productions. The ScreeningClub offers buyers and programmers the opportunity to screen the productions online for acquisition and/or programming purposes.

Three talented screenwriters participate in the ROSE Stories Writersroom in collaboration with Cinekid, with a focus on young audiences. During this trajectory, the participants receive intensive coaching and are supported by professionals screenwriters, directors and/ or producers from the Dutch film industry. Their stories are developed with a personal coach, and at Cinekid the projects will be pitched to the film industry and target audience.

FilmForward Vrijplaats Young Perspectives

The Vrijplaats is FilmForward’s residency where film and AV makers can do research to deepen their professional practice. The edition in 2022 is organised in collaboration of Cinekid for Professionals with the theme Young Perspectives. The Vrijplaats offers film and AV professionals free work and thinking space to play and experiment with a research question about the development of cinematic and audiovisual stories that does not fit within the existing development processes. From in-depth research into a topic to an inside-out design phase; FilmForward Vrijplaats Residency provides the time to make those questions concrete for which film professionals always think there is no time or opportunity.

Co-productionJunior Market

The Junior Co-production Market offers strong finance opportunities as well as high levels of interactivity between project rights owners and global funders, broadcasters and producers.

The projects selected will be presented to international professionals from the children’s media industry to encourage their future development and production. The selection includes 20 projects between film and series, both live-action and animation, by renowned and emerging children’s international media companies.

Jury Eurimages Co-production Development Award

The Eurimages Co-production Development Award is an annual prize in the amount of €20,000 which will be awarded to the best feature film project in the Junior Co-production Market. Eligible projects must target theatrical release, and must be designed as a European co-production between at least two Eurimages Fund member states for other than purely financial reasons.

The award is intended to both support the set-up of projects as international co-production as well as promote and stimulate European youth film.

Ilse Rotentalp (Netherlands FIlm Fund)

Ilse Ronteltap heads the International department at the Netherlands Film Fund which supports minority co-productions for feature films, documentaries, (short) animation and interactive and immersive media productions. The department focuses on creative co-productions with a strong artistic and international appeal and substantial creative Dutch input. With her team she oversees the minority co-productions as well as international collaborations such as the Thuthuka development scheme with NFVV ( South Africa), HBF+NFF and IDFA BERTHA+NFF as well as funding all international festival activities, lab collaborations, the Netherlands Film Commission and entries to Eurimages. Ilse also is the Film Funds first point of contact for New Dawn, the international film production inclusion fund to be launched in 2022.

Iris Otten (Juliet)

Iris Otten is a producer at Juliet (at Pupkin). She aims through the films and series she produces to contribute to an optimistic society and reach and inspire new generations by telling heartening, hopeful, witty stories.

After working for various production companies, she became a partner at Pupkin in 2009. She has built an impressive track record producing artistic (crossover) features and authentic family content. Last year, debut feature Paradise Drifters (Mees Peijnenburg) premiered at IFFR and the Berlinale. High-end family series Lampie is currently in post-production, directed by Margien Rogaar and written by Mieke de Jong. Lampie will be broadcast in winter 2022.

Nicolai Korsgaard (TrustNordisk)

Nicolai Korsgaard has worked in sales for TrustNordisk for 19 years, as Executive Sales Manager for the past three. He is responsible for major European territories and all of Asia. A leading force in TrustNordisk, he has handled major recent Scandinavian films in cluding Academy Award®-winning Another Round, Rome Film Festival-selected The North Sea, Sundance-selected Speak No Evil and Sundance Audience Award-winning Queen Of Hearts, among others.

He has developed a diverse catalogue and contacts with some of the most seminal Scandinavian auteurs, including Lars von Trier, Thomas Vinterberg, May El-Toukhy, Anders Thomas Jensen, Amanda Kernell and Hans Petter Moland.

Jury Post-productionFilmmore Award

The Filmmore Post-production Award is designed in collaboration with Amsterdam-based Filmmore, a leading full-service, postproduction, editing and visual effects facility. Live-action projects selected within the Junior Co-production Award are eligible to compete. The award bestows €5,000 in services and forms an invitation to start a long and fruitful collaboration with Filmmore.

Joanna Ronikier (Running Rabbit Films)

Joanna Ronikier is an experienced producer and production manager of animated series and feature films for children. She is a graduate of the EAVE workshops. She has worked on several international co-productions, including Anca Damian’s Magic Mountain, the series Bali 2, the series Socks (currently in production), and Corporal Wojtek.

Marcel Wijninga (Filmmore)

Marcel Wijninga has been an editor of feature films and drama series since 2003. He studied editing at the Netherlands Film and Television Academy and is best known for editing the feature Lucia de B and series such as Flikken Maastricht and Commandos. He lives in Amsterdam Noord with his wife and two children and is a passionate film-lover, who really appreciates stories, whether in book form or visual media.

Russell Weber (SC International)

Russell Webber has over ten years industry experience working across business devel opment, packaging, acquisitions and contracting in international sales and distribution. With a focus on animation and distinguished genre, recent titles at SC Films include Netflix’s Marmaduke, Shudder original Spiral, HBO’s Gensan Punch and Japanese smash Poupelle of Chimney Town

JuniorMarketCo-productionProjects

Film

Achoo, Hiccups & Co | Germany 26

Babu in the Night City | Czech Republic, Portugal 28

Gorgius | Italy, Slovenia 30

Greetings from Mars | Germany 32

Halloween | Colombia 34

Mira | Denmark 36

Showtime | Serbia, Germany 38

The Legend of Magnus the Good | Norway, Denmark, The Netherlands 40

Tora´s Secret | Iceland, Norway, Belgium 42

Series

Blushing Ears | The Netherlands 46

Forget me not | Finland 48

Giggle Wiggle | Poland 50

I Want To Know! | Slovakia 52

Rainbow Hunters | Chile, Peru 54

The Huggingtons | Norway, Iceland 56

The Inner Life | Spain 58

Ugamu, my imaginary enemy | Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia 60

Yukon - space botanist | Norway 62

Work in Progress

Kiddo | The Netherlands 66

Mavka. The Forest Song | Ukraine 68

Hatschi, Hicks & Co

The first film about the true origin of body noises – with music and dance performances by the “unstoppable five”! Burping and farting has never been more poetic! &

Synopsis

We all sneeze, fart, yawn and burp. But why? Well, because tiny creatures live inside our bodies that make these noises. When Miss Hic jumps on the diaphragm trampoline, we get hiccups. When Professor Achoo waves his feather duster up our noses, we have to sneeze. The little Puffy Fart makes farting noises by playing his tuba. And we always burp when the burp in our stomach causes bubbles to rise. They call themselves the ‘Unstoppable Five’ and live inside each of us. As we have all noticed at some time, they do WHATEVER they want (and unfortunately, WHENEVER they want), because, after all, they are unstoppable.

When one day the five want to find out who is actually the most unstoppable of them all, the question leads to a fast-paced contest and an imaginative journey through the Andbody.now to a mysterious number six...

Director’s Statement

The Unstoppables finally want to leave their book, be seen in action and above all be heard! With the wonderful world of ideas already in place, I am looking forward to an unusual journey through the body with witty entertainment and lots of nonsense, as well as working with our tried and tested Musifanten team.

Production Country Production Budget

Financing in Place

Director

Director’s Biography

Meike Fehre was born in 1974 and studied audiovisual communication and illustration in Hamburg, working as an independent filmmaker since 2000. She founded Ahoifilm and creates animated short films, mostly based on German history, for TV (Arte France Karambolage), exhibitions and theatres.

Company Profile

Ahoifilm is specialised in cut-out and collage techniques and has successfully produced award-winning short films shown in festivals and exhibitions all over the world.

Along with a proven expert team consisting of authors, comedians, illustrators and musicians, Ahoifilm focuses on independent productions, unique concepts and lovely character Participateddesigns.inJCM 2018 with the project:

The Musifants (TV series) directed by Meike Fehre.

Goals at the JCM

Finding international co-producers and broadcasters. Increasing our visibility in the market.

Previous work in Screening Club

The Musifants TV-Series & TV Special 2018-22, ahoifilm Giant Sweet & Chocolate Marshmallows, shortfilm, 2016, ahoifilm

Frida & the time before me, shortfilm, 2009, ahoifilm Puppethotel, shortfilm, 2005, ahoifilm Cow & Moon, shortfilm, 2001, ahoifilm

Meike Fehre,

Babu in the Night City

Babu V Nočním Městě

Synopsis

Babu lives on a high-rise estate with her mum. Often, she is left alone at home, but she doesn’t mind as she has someone to talk to – a parrot that showed up on her balcony one day and stayed. When a thief steals it, Babu sets off on a night-time expedition to save her animal friend. On her travels, she finds unexpected allies: an unsuccessful rapper, a night jogger and a homeless man. Together, they must overcome mad Professor X who is able to transform humans into animals and vice versa.

Director’s Statement

The theme, which was thus far produced as a theatre and a radio play, provides a solid torso onto which one can add the meat of puppetry treatment. I am ready, when writing the script, to enrich the plot with new settings and characters, strengthen the detective story framework and to provide more artistic space to deliver an excellent fusion of puppetry and street-art inspiration. I am of the opinion that for the age group it is intended for the 75-minute duration (approx) is perfect, and in no way limiting. I think it is possible to

tell a story to its full potential without losing anything in terms of depth. We aim to make the multi-layered dialogues that are linked to the detective story plot to be interesting for adult audiences as well.

Director’s Biography

Petr Vodička is a Czech film, theatre and radio script writer and director who focuses on children´s produc tions. He completed first years at faculties of nuclear physics, medicine and humanity studies respectively before becoming addicted to puppet theatre – and there fore went to study at DAMU (The Academy of Performing Arts in Prague). He has worked with leading Czech theatres, e.g. Prague’s Minor Theatre. He has written and directed several plays for Czech Radio, e.g. Babu and her Parrot which was awarded the Prix Bohemia. His film debut, the puppet short Charlie The Snowman’s Christmas Wedding, produced by Radim Procházka and represented by New Europe Film Sales, was selected for a number of festivals and released in French and Belgium cinemas.

Company Profile

Film and television producer Radim Procházka founded Kuli Film in 2019 to produce mostly arthouse docu mentary, fiction and animated films. The new company continues the successful fifteen years activity of the Produkce Radim Procházka brand. The recent docu mentary Pongo Calling, about a Roma lorry driver who emigrated with his family from the Czech Republic to Great Britain to protect them from racial discrimination, was selected in June 2022 for the Sheffield Doc Fest. Current productions, which are to be released in 2022, include the wildlife Wild Prague and the Czech-Portu guese co-production Lawrence of Moravia, a puppet anidoc about the famous discoverer of the Arab world.

Goals at the JCM

We’re looking for foreign co-producers and financial partners to get involved in the project and cover gap financing in CZ. We’re also looking for sales company, MG or pre-sales.

Previous work in Screening Club

Vánoční svatba sněhuláka Karla | Snowman Charlie`s Christmas Wedding (2017)

Petr Vodička, director Radim Procházka, producer

Representatives at JCM

SynopsisGorgius

It’s 2006, and during a hot summer a group of children must deal with a discovery that will change their lives forever: a terrific but stinky and very limp egg, apparently harmless, has appeared in their neighbourhood. It seems the apotheosis of evil, while adults all around only seem interested in the football World Cup.

Director’s Statement

The main focus of Gorgius is on adolescence and the search for one’s identity through the extraordinary that invades the ordinary.

The protagonists are Danila and her group of friends who face the transition from kids to adults through emotions such as rage, confusion and bewilderment.

Everything happens in 2006, which in turn presents both a tight context and a past that works on the audience’s memory. The story is also located at the border of northern Italy, a symbol of the clash of cultures and diversity, thus representing the the search for one’s own identity.

Even the characters of the two adults, with two very different and particular backgrounds, provoke more questions in the protagonists.

All the feelings are accentuated by the dynamic rhythm that is faithful to the emotions of the protagonists, by the dark photography that contrasts with the light and by the soundtrack that focuses on diversity, as it comprises both classic period pieces and a modern original score.

Summer 2006. A child discovers a small monster in his garden.

Director Samuele Rossi Screenwriter Samuele Rossi, Tommaso Santi Production Company Solaria Film, Arsmedia Producer Emanuele Nespeca, Bostjan Ikovic Language Italian, Slovenian Based on Gorgius by Angela Nanetti Target Audience 12+ Length 90 Genre

Adventure Type Live action Sales Company Minerva Pictures Group

Director’s Biography

Samuele Rossi debuted in 2011 with La strada verso casa, winning several national awards. In 2012 he founded the Echivisivi Production company. In 2014 his documentary film The Memory of the Last was presented at BIFEST 2014. His Indro.The Man Who Wrote On Water was a finalist at Nastri D’Argento 2017. In 2016 Samuele made the documentary Biography of a Love. In 2018 he produced If Everything Remains a Little. In the Footsteps of Antonio Tabucchi and directed Sacred Fire. Glassboy is his latest work. He is Professor of Direction at the Tuscan Cinema Academy and part of the Board of the Festival dei Popoli.

Company Profile

Solaria Film represented by Emanuele Nespeca, ACE producer, works on documentaries, feature films and kids’ content. Among the others: Arrivederci Saigon by Wilma Labate (Biennale Venezia 2018, - out of compe tition). 7 Days by Rolando Colla (Black Nights Film Festival - official selection 2016), Glassboy by Samuele Rossi (BlackNight Film Festival / Just Film– ECFA award Competition 2020).

Production company Arsmedia was established in 1990. It is a company with a big experience and high repu tation, what confirms more than 25 years of existing. Bostjan Ikovic, producer born in 1979 in Ljubljana, he studied Economics in Ljubljana and Graz. After gradu ation he starter career in film industry. He participated at program “Producers on the move” during the Cannes film festival 2016. Bostjan has produced: tv series, short film, documentary films, future films: Arsmedia goal is to develop and finalize new screenplays, develop new project, search for co-production, produce new films. We are looking for new challenges.

Goals at the JCM

Our goal at JCM is finding new investors, co-producers and/or international distributions

Previous work in Screening Club Glassboy (2019)

Samuele Rossi, director Tommaso Santi, screenwriter Emanuele Nespeca, producer Bostjan Ikovic, co-producer Representatives at JCM

Greetings from Mars

Grüße vom Mars

When their mother is sent to China to work, Tom, a very special boy, and his siblings end up with their grandparents in a rural place that seems, at least to these city kids, more like a foreign planet somewhere in outer space.

Synopsis

Tom is ten and different from the other children. He doesn’t like change, nor things that are red, nor anything loud. These very quickly become too much for him. His speciality is space. He loves to run around in his astronaut suit, and in difficult situations he likes to wear a helmet. When his mother unexpectedly has to go to China, Tom is supposed to stay with his grandma and grandpa for six weeks in the countryside in Lunau, together with his siblings Nina (15) and Elmar (13). This is a complete disaster for Tom. But to make sure he survives the ordeal, his mother gives him a logbook and suggests that he sees the trip to his grandparents as a trial mission to Mars. Tom’s greatest ambition is one day to be the first person to fly there.

”If you can do grandma and grandpa,” his mother assures him, “you can definitely do Mars.” And so Tom uncere moniously appoints his phone-obsessed sister Nina as radio operator and the hyperactive Elmar as first officer. Together with his crew, he tries to explore the planet Lunau and to understand grandma and grandpa, who seem to live according to their own rules.

Greetings from Mars is a funny and touching comedy about the ambitions of an outsider whose otherness is also his secret strength, and who unites two generations who, at least at first, see each other like beings from another planet.

Director Sarah Winkenstette Screenwriter Sebastian Grusnick, Thomas Moeller Production Company Leitwolf Filmproduktion GmbH

Producer Anette Unger Language German Based on Grüße vom Mars by Thomas Möller, Sebastian Grusnick Target Audience 9+ Length 90 Genre Family Type Live action

Director’s Statement

Tom’s life functions according to clear rules and processes. Anything that deviates from that overwhelms him, and sometimes even scares him. For me, he’s a great main character, because Greetings from Mars is meant to be a film for children who are growing up in a time full of crises, during a time when tomorrow no longer applies to what was yesterday. Our viewers have spent a large part of their lives in a pandemic - with very strict and sometimes nonsensical rules. What’s more, the steps back to normality will unsettle them as well. What rules apply? What am I allowed to do, what not? How much closeness to others do I want, and how much am I allowed? Fears and excessive demands are part of life. We should not push them away, but accept them, talk about them and - in the best case - work on them together with others. Our lives don’t always go according to plan, but that’s a good thing, because we grow from it.

Thomas Möller and Sebastian Grusnik have managed to address this complex topic in a warm and funny family story. With characters that go to the heart and who are anything but normal. Greetings from Mars will be a film about real people, with real problems, real dreams and wishes. A film to feel good about, to laugh with and also to make us think.

Director’s Biography

Sarah Winkenstette is a German film director and screenwriter. After training at the RTL School of Journalism and directing studies at the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne, Sarah worked as a freelance director across various children’s television formats. Her feature film debut Zu weit weg won awards at national and international festivals and was released in German cinemas in March 2020. Her fictional short films Bienenstich ist aus, Sturmfrei and Gekidnapped also screened at many festivals and won several awards. In 2017-18, Sarah participated in the ‘Into The Wild’’ program - a one-year mentoring program for young female filmmakers to strengthen their network.

Company Profile

As an independent production company, Leitwolf film (founded 2016) stands for individuality, for art that touches, for the courage to create high-quality produc tions from initial ideas, for trust in young talents and for appreciative co-operation with experienced filmmakers. We love to tell stories, whether as a series or a feature film, whether family entertainment or mystery.

We highly appreciate national and international co-productions and can look back on enriching and valuable projects that have positioned us as a professional and reliable producer in a short time. Topics such as social relevance, diversity and humour have and will always accompany us in our productions in the future. In doing so, we never lose sight of artistic quality and high-quality content.

Goals at the JCM

The JUNIOR CO-PRODUCTION MARKET gives us the opportunity to meet other production companies and producers. We are looking for a co-production partner. Furthermore we are looking for a world sales, festivals and a broadcaster.

Sarah Winkenstette, director Thomas Möller, screenwriter Sebastian Grusnick, screenwriter

Anette Unger, producer Representatives at JCM

As the city of Bogotá is being distorted by a twisted, unknown phenomenon, Alicia (13) teams up with her grandfather Jaime (89) to go on an adventure to find her little brother Rod (5), who has disappeared.

SynopsisHalloween

There are loud thunders in Bogotá, it’s Halloween. Alicia (13) is disenchanted with life and rebellious. She doesn’t like tradition. Most of the time she feels like a weirdo.

For Alicia, Halloween is the worst day of the year and it has been so for some time. However, this year will change her life. There’s a certain dread in the air; the sky seems altered somehow. Her brother Rod (5) is a cheerful, curious, and playful boy, at times erratic. He craves adventure and loves to get into trouble. But he mysteriously disappears while he’s in the care of his grandfather Jaime after receiving a mysterious visitor named Mortis. Grandpa (89) is an old cinephile, mischievous, adventurous, and with a heartwarming

case of Alzheimer’s. His video store is the only island that connects him to reality. The city is oddly different. The characters and spaces of the movies that Grandpa likes so much have come to life. Now Alicia, along with Grandpa and Inés (her mother, with whom she has a tense relationship), embarks on their search for the child through this chaotic city that mixes the reality of Bogotá in the nineties with the movie memories of Grandpa. They manage to discover that Rod is being held by Mortis. But in reality, Mortis wanted Grandpa. Mortis is actually Death itself, and he calls for Grandpa’s life. The time has come for Alicia and her family to say goodbye to Grandpa. And he has to go on his next adventure.

Director Silvia PrietoV Production Company Lucy Animation Studio Executive Producer Noah Sterling Language Spanish, English Target Audience 5+ Length 90 Genre Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy Type Animation

Director’s Statement

Halloween is an autobiographical feature film that arises from a fascination with the insane, almost surreal way in which Halloween is celebrated in Bogotá, Colombia. We don’t have any famous mass celebrations in our city, except for Halloween, when everyone goes out into the streets in crazy costumes that seem to fully embody them. This makes the city transform into a bizarre and almost supernatural place. We want to convey Latin American magical realism through this gothic and peculiar city, as well as rescue the value and magic of the memory of our family elders. This movie is a tribute to a beautiful human being that I once knew and lost one day: my grandfather. He was cheerful and mischievous, with a great sense of humour and an unstoppable drive to live life and have fun. My grandfather taught me that life is a cinematic adventure full of laughter and colour. Like Alicia, I had to accept losing my grandfather a few years ago. I also had to admit that my father had abandoned me but found a way to forgive him... and my mother as well, for having thrown him out of the house. This is a story of Acceptance, of the confirmation that Death and Absence are also parts of life; with the final realization that life is a beautiful adventure that must be enjoyed at every moment, like in a magical realism movie.

Director’s Biography

Silvia PrietoV is a director, founder, and producer at Lucy Animation Studio. Winner of Animation! Pitching sessions ANNECY award 2021; Winner of Cartoon Network pitch for Girl Power 2020; Winner of Chilemonos, animation series award 2021; Winner of the FDC Colombian Film Fund in 2021; Winner of Absurd Film Festival for Best Animated Short film (2022); Studies Visual Arts, Magister in Visual Arts and Classical Animation Vancouver Film School (winner of full scholarship); more than ten years of experience working on 2D animation projects. Key/senior animator on Pig Goat Banana Cricket (Nickelodeon) during 2016. Director, producer and art director of approximately thirteen TED-Eds; two inter

nationally recognized documentaries with animated fragments (The Bit Player and The Condor and The Eagle), three promo episodes for Marvel Studios; and two series in development (Madhouse and Martian Leaks); music videos of renowned artists (Doja Cat, Zayn).

Company Profile

Lucy Animation Studio is a wonderful, award-winning 2D animation studio located in Bogotá, Colombia, created by Silvia Prieto, who has more than 10 years of experience as a creator, director, and teacher of animation. We have worked and achieved incredible results with great studios such as Bento Box, Marvel, Cartoon Network, Sony, TED-Ed, and Red Tail Entertainment, with whom we have accomplished an awesome body of work and very positive reviews. We are the winners of several awards at different festivals and contests such as Chilemonos (2021), Animation! (2021), and “Pitch Me the Future” Cartoon Network (2020), among others. We love creating amazing worlds of magical realism and stories that contribute to the world.

Goals at the JCM

Our main goal is to meet producers / investors who fall in love with the project and want to help us make it a reality. Whether it is a monetary investment or a team investment, we want to expand Lucy’s working circles.

Previous work in Screening Club

Madhouse (2021) Another Gulf Is Possible (2018)

Silvia PrietoV, director and executive NoahproducerSterling, executive producer Representatives at JCM

Twelve-year-oldMira

Mira has her life turned upside down when her best friend Naja and the new cool girl in class form the “Club of Love” – without inviting Mira…

SynopsisMira

My life is 110% worse than living hell since there’s a new girl in class, who has stolen my best friend Naja, and now I don’t know what to do…

My life is 110% worse than living hell since the other girls in class have formed a Club of Love exclusively for girls in love - and that’s not me, but I would like it to be. So now, before I go to bed, I spend half an hour thinking intensely of my best friend Louis - I pray that will do the trick…

My life is 110% worse than living hell since I don’t know who my father is - and my mom just keeps getting new boyfriends all the time …

Director’s Statement

“How do you know if someone’s in love with you?” I asked my mother when I was 12. “You just do,” she answered. “It’s something you feel inside.” But truth be told, I couldn’t feel anything at all, and I was sure I would never develop this feeling.

The tween years have long been a subject of fascination for me and a thing I have wanted to say something mean ingful about for a long time.

In the past year I have directed two seasons of Awkward – a youth programme on DR TV focusing on the plight of 14-year-olds. Working with the young actors and taking a light-hearted, humorous look at the awkward feelings of being a teenager has been an absolute delight.

MIRA offers a closer look at the inner emotions of

Director

teenagers. We can delve deeper into feelings of pain and anger and examine the difficult experience of growing up, but also understand the innate humour when we take Mira’s overwhelming feelings seriously in life’s small moments when she feels her life is 110% worse than hell.

The fine balance between humour and seriousness is admirably achieved in films like Eighth Grade by Bo Burnham, that takes its main character and her feelings very seriously, offering us a deeper understanding of her problems. The end result is a film that is at once moving, familiar and incredibly funny. Mira is a project that I approach with a deep sense of humility, as I still have a great deal to learn.

Director’s Biography

Marie Limkilde grew up in the countryside with two siblings and both parents as school teachers. Her interest in filmmaking started when she was 14 and picked up a camera to start filming her siblings and friends.Marie graduated from the National Film School of Denmark in 2017. Her graduation film Everything has a Beginning, a hybrid-documentary, won the Soapbox award at Odense Film Festival 2018.

She still works very visually and is interested in the cine matic ways that filmmaking allows you to see feelings, details and character, and she has a special interest in themes such as the vulnerabilities of youth and identity. Marie also teaches a course on film and personal visual language at Copenhagen Art School. Mira will be her first feature film.

Company Profile

Producers Morten Kaufmann and Signe Leick Jensen founded Toolbox Film in 2011. Prior to that they produced and worked on several of the most prominent Danish films of recent years: The Hunt, Submarino (Vinterberg) Manderlay, The Boss Of It All (Lars von Trier), Dark Horse (Dagur Kari) to name a few. In the last couple of years, Toolbox Film has released Shorta (Venice

Critics Week, Busan FF), the local box office hit Daniel, and Hacker, an action film for children which won the audience award at both CineKid, Chicago FF and Stock holm FF. They also made 6 TV series aimed at children and young adults produced by Maria Stevnbak Wester gren, amongst them the award-winning Kids On The Silk Road (IDFA 2019).

Goals at the JCM

We are looking for co-producer, sales agent and broad casters, who, like us, can see the potential in Mira

Marie Limkilde, director Morten Kaufmann, producer Representatives at JCM

After accidentally stealing her brother’s dream of becoming a TV superstar in a kids talent show, Sara finds herself trapped in a magical winter wonderland where she is tested with the ultimate question: what’s more important, family or fame?

SynopsisShowtime

School misfit LAKI (9) dreams of competing in the biggest television talent show, but at the audition his dreams are crushed as he watches his sister SARA (12) become a contestant instead of him. When the time of the big mountain Christmas finale comes, their conflict escalates and they get lost in the snowy Alps where they are rescued by DJORDJE (65), a grumpy recluse. Trapped in a snowed-in cabin in the middle of nowhere, the kids are forced to look at themselves and change accordingly. When they do make it to the big finale, they both realise their dreams have changed.

Director’s Statement

I have never imagined myself in the role of director, but have been encouraged in my long career to get involved myself in the script, casting and all other aspects of filmmaking by directors I have worked with (such as Srdjan Dragojevic, Radivoje Andric). My directorial debut was on a film that I felt was not so much my “cup of tea.” Showtime, on the other hand, is more the type of story I want to tell and feel passionately about. The adventure, humour and reconnection with true values which are reflected in the relationship between brother and sister are all things that drew me to this script. In regards to the storytelling I will not patronize children. I will speak to them as adults. As in life, not everything is black and white and this is the case with

Director Joksimovic Nerlich, Company Producer Stojanović Serbian, Slovenian Audience Genre Family Type Live action

our characters that will be presented to children with all their flaws and insecurities, allowing them to really connect to their journey. With this film I want to address the risks and downside of social media and the need young people feel to be accepted on platforms which sometimes do not tolerate individuality.

Visually I will draw inspiration from ‘Alice in Wonderland,’ as Sara’s journey into this chaotic world should be a parallel to Djordje’s calm winter wonderland where the kids find themselves. To achieve this effect we will use background lighting as well a combination of anamorphic and regular lenses to highlight this difference.

Director’s Biography

Dusan Joksimovic is a well-known Serbian cinematogra pher with over 30 years of experience in the film industry. As a DOP, Dusan has over 35 films in his filmography including many critically acclaimed Serbian titles and films from directors such as Srdjan Dragojevic and Goran Markovic. Dusan made his directorial debut with the Slovenian film Erased (2018), which was screened at Trieste FF and awarded at Pula IFF.

In 2022, Dusan’s first film for children as cinematog rapher was released: How I Learned to Fly by director Radivoje Andric which has enjoyed great domestic box office success as well as at festivals (BUFF 2022, ECFA award). Dusan’s filmography also includes two of previous films by director Radivoje Andric.

Company Profile

SENSE Production is run by a trio of EAVE producers: Milan Stojanovic, Maja Popovic and Marija Stojanovic. We produced the award-winning films by Ivan Ikic –Oasis (2020 / Europa Cinemas Label for Best European Film, Giornate degli Autori, Venice) and Barbarians by Ivan Ikic (2014 / Special Mention, Karlovy Vary IFF). We also co-produced the new film by acclaimed Romanian director Cristi Puiu, Malmkrog (2020 / Golden Bear for the Best Director at Encounters, Berlinale). Our newest

release for children, How I Learned To Fly (2022) by Radivoje Andric had over 200,000 admissions in Serbia and enjoyed festival success (BUFF IFF-ECFA Award, Zlin IFF, Giffoni IFF, Locarno IFF).

Goals at the JCM

The main goal at the JCM is to find potential coproducers, especially from the Netherlands and Scandinavia. Since we are at the beginning of financing, we would also like to raise awareness, and present it first time publicly to industry.

Maja Popović Milojević, Stojanović,

Maja

The Legend of Magnus the Good

Legenden om Magnus den Gode

An action comedy in which an immature Viking Prince travels forward in time to present day Norway, and meets three drag queens who teach him real courage.

Production Company Film Production AS, Kool Produktion AS, Phanta Frank Mosvold Norwegian

Target Audience Length 90 Genre Family Type Animation

Synopsis

Magnus the Good was son of Olaf II, the greatest king in Norwegian history, who died at the Battle of Stiklestad, when Magnus was just 11-years-old.

In our story, Magnus’ evil Uncle Harold believes his nephew is too weak to lead the Viking nation. He orders his most loyal warriors to kill Magnus, so he can replace him as However,King.with the help of the magic ‘Sword of Surtr’, Magnus travels from the ancient, macho Viking world into a modern day, fabulous drag show in downtown Oslo (followed soon after by the bloodthirsty warriors).

Magnus is stunned by this new world. Is it Valhalla? Are the drag queens Valkyries? After lots of ‘fish out of water’ misunderstandings and close scrapes with the bungling

warriors - the three drag queens become Magnus’ travel companions, as they set out to find the legendary sword and help Magnus back to his time to reclaim his throne. On the journey, Magnus learns there are many different ways to be brave, earn respect and show leadership. He does not have to become like his father, but rather to be true to himself.

When you imagine this film, think Hiccup from How to Train Your Dragon meets Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (via Back to the Future).

Director’s Statement

The Legend of Magnus the Good is a social critique of Norwegian society both today and yesterday. The film

Director Frank Mosvold Screenwriter Mosvold, Rob Sprackling

observes in a humorous way how society’s moralizing expectations can become a straitjacket for the individual. The exaggerated and inflated camp form of expression of the drag queens parodies hegemonic status symbols and manners. They have an innocent and sincere attitude to life, with a passionate ambition to be extraordinary. For the Viking Prince (Magnus), who represents the patriarchy, meeting the queens and our egalitarian society is a shock we want to use humorously.

The Legend of Magnus the Good is a very personal film, which transposes my own life. The 11-year-old Magnus represents myself as a young straight boy growing up in a very patriarchal family, where I was expected to take over the family business as the 4th generation. The pressure I felt must have been similar to the expectations Magnus faced, before I broke free and found my own path. Divine, the middle-aged drag queen, represents me today, as a man who smokes too much, drinks too much and has a weight problem.

The Legend of Magnus the Good will be a fun and emotional love letter to equality and acceptance. The film will be Hiccup from How to Train Your Dragon meets Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (via Back to the Future).

Director’s Biography

Frank Mosvold has a Master of Fine Arts in Film Produc tion from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. He has directed 13 short films dealing with gender issues. Mosvold has created and directed two animated TV series (Hubert, 26 episodes and Ella Bella Bingo, 104 episodes). He has co-directed the live-action film The 7 Deadly Sins and the animated film Ella Bella Bingo Mosvold has written 6 children’s books.

Company Profile

Phanta Animation was founded in 2019 under the umbrella of the Phanta Film Group. At the helm of Phanta Animation is the highly experienced animation producer Jolande Junte. Previously, she produced successful animation series such as Huggleboo (at BosBros) and Pim & Pom (at Motek Entertainment). At Phanta Animation we focus on animation films as well as series.

Phanta Animation has it all: content, technical, financial and legal knowledge and experience, access to an extensive (inter)national network, proven success, and an intuitive connection with the target audience(s). Phanta Anima tion is currently developing the family film Miss Moxy (with the support of the Netherlands Film Fund). And the animated series Pim & Pom at the Museum, a co-produc tion with Fiep Amsterdam (with support from the NPO and AVROTROS), is currently in production.

Goals at the JCM

At Cinekid Junior Co-production Market we want to meet with potential financiers, co-producers, and distributors.

Previous work in Screening Club

Ella Bella Bingo (2020)

Frank Mosvold, director & producer Rob Sprackling, screenwriter

Representatives at JCM

Tora´s Secret

Jól Þóru

In a beautiful, desolate farm in Iceland, a young girl who grew up overnight is spotted by some strange and mystical creatures in the mountains. This will be a Christmas adventure she will always remember.

Synopsis

Tora is nine when her mother dies in a car accident and she is burdened by the dark secret that she caused it. From being a child full of joy, silliness and pranks, she turns into a perfectly behaved girl, taking on too many responsibilities. Tora’s father is grieving and is not coping as a sole parent. To forget, he takes Tora and her brother Brage (6) from their home in Norway to celebrate Christmas at his parent’s farm in Iceland. They are warmly welcomed by their grandparents, who invite the kids into the strange world of Icelandic Christmas folklore. In the mountains, a creature is watching the arrival. He is one of the 13 crazy Icelandic pranksters -

Yule Lads - who appear in different, fantastical shapes and sizes every Christmas, only to be seen by children. In this desolate snowy valley, there haven’t been children for decades, so the Yule Lads are bored to death. When they discover the kids they are ecstatic, but as they realize Tora does not see them they are shocked - what’s wrong with her? They now do everything to get her attention, challenging her in bizarre and crazy ways. But there is danger lurking. The Yule Lads’ vicious mother Gryla and her evil cat are searching for naughty children. Gryla senses that Tora is carrying a dark secret that she believes will make her the perfect imgredient to cook in

her caldron. Every Yule Lad prank draws Tora closer to childhood, redemption and to Christmas Eve.

Director’s Statement

Tora’s Secret is first and foremost a family film based on the strong character creation of its main characters, inspired by Icelandic folklore. The Icelandic Yule-lads, Grýla, Leppalúði and the terrible Yule-cat, are all wellknown characters in Icelandic culture, and still very much part of the Christmas tradition, even in modern days. These characters have been strongly embedded into Icelandic stories throughout the ages. Originally, they were trolls who later changed, first into little demons who then evolved into human beings, and then into benevolent pranksters that gave gifts to children. The stories of this lewd family that lives in the mountains are many and varied, but all of them are conducive to making children behave well, otherwise things will go badly for them.

Tora’s Secret is an adventure film for the whole family. Whether the audience believes that the Yule Lads deliver gifts to children or not, or whether they believe that Tora´s and Brage’s experience is real or just their imagination, they will invest in the story and be moved by Tora´s journey. Also, a fairy tale is always a fairy tale. The Yule Lads and family are bold and colourful characters, whether of this world or not. They are ancient and magnificent creatures that only children can see, some of them gigantic while others are dwarf-like. Grýla - the Yule Lads’ mother, and the Yule-cat, both craving the meat of naughty children for their Christmas dinner, have the ability to literally shape-shift into all living things and thereby add suspension and tension.

Director’s Biography

Sigvaldi J. Kárason is the director of Tora´s Secret. Having worked as director on the internationally distributed TV series Lazytown and most recently as a director of the animated TV series Tulipop Tales that has been sold to Nordics, the Middle East, and South Africa, he has developed a deep understanding of the target audience. He has worked on over 30 projects as

an editor and sound designer and has an extensive knowledge of film production.

Company Profile

Polarama Production is an Icelandic production company owned by Icelandic producers Kidda Rokk and Steinarr Logi Nesheim, both with over 20 years of experience in film and TV production. Polarama is built on the experience and cooperation Steinarr and Kidda acquired as producers on the environmental thriller Thin Ice in collaboration with the Swedish production company Yellow Bird. Steinarr worked as an Executive Producer at Sagafilm from 2014-2019 and Kidda as a producer from 2016-2020. Furthermore, Kidda and Steinarr have extensive experience working as free lancers on large productions such as: Thin Ice, Inter stellar, Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Batman, Noah, Game of Thrones, Fortitude, Tunnel, Trapped and many more.

Goals at the JCM We would love to meet distributors and broadcasters.

Sigvaldi J. Kárason, director Solveig Sigmond Ræstad, scriptwriter Steinarr Logi Nesheim, producer Representatives at JCM

Steinarr Logi

Blushing Ears

Blozende Oortjes

If it’s easier to talk about sex, it’ll be much more fun! A vibrant group of teenagers takes us into their world of falling in love, the body, desires, and everything that comes with it.

Synopsis

A vibrant group of 25 teenagers discusses today’s terrible state of sex education, what it lacks and how it should be improved. Based on personal anecdotes, curious questions, and surprising analyses on various topics, we discover that it’s too gender-normative, too biolog ical, too uncomfortable, too shameful and, above all, too boring. Touching upon all topics that come with sex, from one’s first time to the spectrum of gender and sexual identity, to online exposure, consent and setting bound aries, the teenagers learn from and with each other.

How do the teenagers tackle shame, curiosity, tension, uneasiness, fear, and desire? Can we set an example in

building a healthier sexuality by making communication more fun and carefree from an early age? And can we contribute to more inclusive information through the thoughts and ideas of the teenagers themselves, making everyone feeling heard?

We will cast broadly across gender, sexuality, culture, religion, age, experience, and disabilities so that every viewer of the series can identify with someone or something at some point. Being fully involved in the creative process, from development to casting, on shooting days and during editing, the teenagers are the co-creators of the series. It is crucial to involve them

in the process, not only to keep ourselves in check on the subject matter, but to ensure a more equitable and inclusive future for healthy sexual behaviour and education. The teenagers have a voice of their own, and they are not afraid to use it.

Director’s Statement

My biggest and most painful discovery when making my last film Sisterhood (in which I also involved adolescents) was that all the women factually all suffered from sexually transgressive behaviour. Most cases occurred in a grey area at a young age. The core problems are daring to take up space and daring to set boundaries. While making this film, I realised that this is something that I never learned myself. You learn what not to do: Don’t get in the car with strangers, don’t leave your drink unattended. That you should only start having sex when you are ready. And then you may know exactly how penetration works, technically, but young people are rarely told when you exactly know if you are ready for it. And what are you actually ready for? There is more than just penetration. And if you thought you were ready and suddenly, you’re not, how do you say that? And what else is there? Sex with yourself, liking sex, developing your preferences, a fetish is not dirty or crazy, etc. I also think it is important to make a series in which every young person can recognise themselves. Infatuation and sex concern everyone and all aspects of it should be made accessible to everyone. Whether it comes to gender identity, sexual preference, or other aspects of identity: this series is for everyone.

Director’s Biography

Sophie Dros creates films about rather politically incorrect subjects and lifestyles that she feels intrigued by. To find their true origins, she digs deep into their being. After arriving at the core, Sophie’s journey with the viewers really begins. If film and television are increasingly turning into a direction where people are made to look like fools - which seems to have the sole purpose of making ourselves feel better about our

own imperfections - Sophie endeavours to emphasize that people generally aren’t that different from one another. Sophie believes that documentary filmmaking is more than finding interesting subjects; to her, form and content must meet to keep the film challenging for both herself as well as her audience.

Company Profile

HALAL is a production company, photography agency & creative studio that redefines moments of popular culture through radical approaches to storytelling. With an artist centric business made up of an inter national roster of talent, we have a holistic approach to content creation. HALAL is developing a multi-year impact campaign with the aim of normalizing talking about sexuality and sexual transgressive behavior. We are actively seeking to join forces with partners and organizations within and beyond the creative industry and create more impact with what we do best: critically reflect on society and make visible what needs to be made visible. We want to create a space for young people to talk about bad experiences they’ve had, without shame or guilt.

Goals at the JCM

Our main goal is to connect with international sales agents, broadcasters, producers and impact partners. We are looking for partners daring to take on an innovative co-creation series. We see high potential for adaption abroad and huge impact possibilities (the Rutgers foundation is already on board for an educational toolkit).

Previous work in Screening Club Genderblend (2016)

Sophie Dros, director Olivia Sophie van Leeuwen, producer Tess Vermeer, producer Representative at JCM

Forget me not

Älä unohda mua

Synopsis

Amalia is preparing for the biggest event of her life: she will turn 13 on the same day her school has the pre-selec tion test for a big math competition she plans to win. She is an ace in mathematics and can list the decimals of Pi almost infinitely. She is the spitting image of her mother whom hasn’t seen for ages, as she’s a visiting professor in the United States.

But Amalia’s plans for the future receive a big dent when she turns 13 in the middle of the math test. Because to her great shock, a pair of ears pop out. Amalia finds out that she is an elf like her garden er-father. And against her will, she begins to resemble

him. Father knows that each elf has their own special mission. She finds out her mission is to be a recognizer. A recognizer of emotions. But Amalia is really bad with emotions, they are not her strengths. In fulfilling her elf mission, Amalia finds herself totally outside her comfort zone. As she helps her classmates with their emotional blocks, she falls in love with her classmate Noa. But it’s too early, because she then learns that if an elf falls in love with a full human without completing her required elf mission first, the full human will forget the elf. When Noa subsequently forgets Amalia, she is sad and in serious need of maternal love. Gradually, she learns to recognize her own feelings and reaches out to her mother.

When you turn 13, the worst thing you want to find out is that you’re an elf.

Director’s Statement

Forget Me Not is a children’s live action drama series. When Amalia finds out she is an elf, first she is in shock. She doesn’t want to be different. In her mind it is the worst that can happen to her. She fears she will lose her friends and end up being unliked. There is nothing a thirteen year-old would fear more in the social jungle of school and with first crushes. At the same time Amalia misses her mother and struggles to communicate with her father. The plate is full of emotions.

Forget Me Not is a story about a child who is entering adolescence, navigating change and learning about emotions related to growing up. Everything is constantly changing - and change can be terrifying. Amalia, like any of us, is driven by the need to be accepted and to be seen. Forget Me Not praises individual uniqueness regardless of body shape, race and gender binary. The series portrays everyday life flavored with a bit of magic, exciting sci-fi elements, heart-warming humour and relationships, as well as some darker tones. My works often tackle themes of identity and love, and for me it’s important that in Forget Me Not the heightened world feels believable and is rooted in reality. At the end of the viewing experience, we return to our ‘ordinary’ world to seek for the same elf magic and love, hoping we won’t forget - and won’t be forgotten.

Director’s Biography

Jojo Erholtz’s recent directing credits include the first season of the drama series Soulmates, which will premiere in 2022; the first season of crime series Mario Kallio, which is based on novels by Finnish best-selling crime author Leena Lehtolainen, and the third season of the popular Finnish dramedy series Living With My Ex Jojo’s thesis film Tape received a special mention at the Outfest Film Festival as well as the Palms Springs Short Fest, and was screened at the New York Int’l Children’s Film Festival in 2021.

Jojo’s editing credits include a handful of award-winning short films and two feature films: A Moment By The Reeds

70 Is Just A Number. Jojo is the recipient of the BAFTA Scotland New Talent Award for Best Editor.

Jojo holds an MFA in Directing from the AFI Conserva tory and an MA in Editing from the National Film and Television School.

Company Profile

Since its launch in 2000, Jarowskij Finland has been one of the leading independent television production companies in Finland, and now a part of the interna tional Banijay Group. The company has a long tradition of producing TV drama with over 300 hours of scripted content, including several big hits in recent years. The company’s latest productions are Happy Place (4 seasons) MTV/CMore, These Brats (3 seasons)/YLE, Detective Maria Kallio (2 seasons)/MTV and Shadow Lines (2 seasons)/Elisa Viihde.

In 2013 Jarowskij Finland produced its first children’s feature film, Jill and Joy, which premiered in cinemas in January 2014. Since then, Jarowskij Finland has success fully produced four other Jill and Joy feature films with great Jarowskijsuccess.Finland’s ambition is to tell enjoyable stories.

Goals at the JCM

We would like to introduce the project and find co-pro duction partners and who can work together with us. We also hope that the project will attract the interest of buyers and enable the pre-sale of the series

Jojo Erholtz, director Eriikka Etholén-Paju, head writer Teea Hyytiä, producer Representative at

Giggle Wiggle

Synopsis

Giggle Wiggle tells a story of friendship between a great green gnome called Giggle Wiggle and a little girl named Blabberina, who engage (willingly or otherwise) in the colossal conflicts of tiny nations. In the world of Giggle Wiggle, quarrelsome characters are small and silly to the point of being harmless, and their arguments become comical. It is also a story about how conflicts of all kinds erupt for petty reasons, from malice to stubbornness, and how it actually takes very little to sort them out. Finally and probably most importantly, it’s simply about fun. Have a great time with the funny and fantastic adven tures of heroes and characters that make you laugh.

Director’s Statement

Giggle Wiggle and Blabberina engage in conflicts between folk from tiny nations - Fanfaroons and Chatter etts. Giggle Wiggle is large, gentle and not very striking. Blabberina is a little girl, chatty and sometimes sulky. The Chatteretts live in chaos. Fanfaroons cannot cope without discipline and order. All the characters find it difficult living together, and this becomes a source of constant conflict and misunderstanding. But there is real adven ture here too! In the series, we will visit the forest realm of the Chatteretts. We will learn how to swim, climb the highest mountain and build a kingdom. We will take part in several wars and one wedding.

DespiteChichraszekmany differences, Giggle Wiggle and little Blabberina try to have great fun and solve the big conflicts of their tiny neighbours together.

Finally and probably most importantly, Giggles Wiggles is simply about fun. Having a great time with the funny and fantastic adventures of heroes that make you laugh. Although it is a story about conflict, it is accompanied by humour, empathy and forbearance where the characters and viewers learn from their mistakes.

Director’s Biography

Marzena Nehrebecka is a screenwriter, director and colourist. She was born in 1975 in Cracow. In 2000 she graduated from Jagiellonian University (film studies). She also completed studies in Animation and Special Film Effects - PWSFTviT in Łódź (1998 – 2002). Marzena was director of the pilot episode for the TV series Giggle Wiggle – Hot Summer Day and single episodes of other series for kids: Pompik, Bear Fantasy. She wrote the book ‘Giggle Wiggle’ and scripts for the TV series Agi Bagi (seasons 2,3 and 4), The Wriggles and Giggle Wiggle. She also wrote a screenplay for the full-length animated film Zu that collected many awards.

Company Profile

Badi Badi is a prize-winning animation production and post-production company. We specialize in creating our own productions and developing further brands. We have already produced four seasons of the Agi Bagi series and two seasons of The Flying Bear. At the same time, we are developing many new projects. TV series: Robot and the Martians, Giggle Wiggle, Witty Kitty and Crazy Inventions. We also develop full-length animation films for kids and family audiences: Agi Bagi Universe is Not Enough and Zu. Our other field of activity is the high-level post-production services for television, advertising and both full-length and short films.

Goals at the JCM

During JCM 2022, we would like to present our project during the pitching session. We will actively seek partners for the series. We need to find partners for the project, start co-production talks and gather the opinions of people who will watch our pitch.

Marzena

Representative at

I Want To Know!

Chcem vedieť! to

Synopsis

I Want to Know! draws upon the successful animated film The Kite. We decided to add other characters to join our main character in the film, such as his parents and sister. This means we have more characters to build stories around. Each episode is a closed story, and without dialogue explains the serious problems kids encounter in everyday life, such as divorce, terminal sickness or bullying.

Company Profile

Film production company BFILM was founded in 2010 and works with fiction, animation films and TV-series. BFILM focuses on remarkable artistic quality and innovative approaches, working with carefully selected talents. Our vision can be summed up as sharing original and new ways of telling local stories to the international audience while helping emerging talents to be discovered and grow. We believe that great films can bridge platform boundaries (transfer from TV to cinema or from the internet to TV) and be attractive for the audience not only in Slovakia but all over the world.

SERIES

Goals at the JCM

We would like to introduce the project and find coproduction partners and TV broadcasters who can work together with us.

Peter

Representative at JCM

Contact details

Rainbow Hunters

Rainbow Hunters

Rayun and Sayen (15) are two young hunters with the goal of bringing the long-lost rainbow energy back to their home, The Capsule. A problem to overcome? It can only be found inside the mythical dragonbows!

Director Santiago O’ryan Screenwriter Karen Harvey, Santiago O’ryan Production Company Lunes Animation Studio, Startoons Animation Catalina Fontecilla episodes 8 per episode

Synopsis

The story focuses on Rayún and Sayén, two Rainbow Hunter apprentices who must do their best to catch and outsmart the mythical Draguiris (or Dragonbows in English), rainbow beings that look and act like all manner of creatures. The Draguiris’ power is the only source of sustainable energy to keep the Rainbow Hunters’ fortress, The Capsule, safe from the dangers of the violent and ruthless outside world. Divided into many tribes, each one seeks to impose their own strength and save only themselves. Join us on this fantastical and post-apocalyptic animated journey, with a first season of 8 x 22-minute episodes,

inspired by the agility of Japanese anime storytelling and the unique essence of Latin American stories. The Rainbow Hunters project presents empowered and humble female characters who are in charge of their own destinies, as well as a world where humans must learn to work together in order to survive, with a goal to remind us that boundless greed and the fragility of our ecosystem can drive humanity into extinction, unless we do something about it.

An action packed animated action series that touches on today’s greatest challenges, such as climate change, diversity and how to create an inclusive and more conscientious society.

Director’s Statement

Rainbow Hunters is inspired by my childhood, watching Japanese anime on Chilean television during the 80’s and early 90’s, where I could enjoy the incredible adventures of Macross, Saint Seya, Dragon Ball, Ranma 1/2, Sailor Moon, Gekkō Kamen, Gran Prix, Captain Tsubasa and all the great anime culture coming from Japan. These shows defined my life, and pushed me to tell stories through animation.

The Rainbow Hunters series touches on the reconciliation of human beings with nature and their own existence. After the last great cataclysm that rocked the planet, different tribes were formed, each with their own ideals and perspectives on life, but all believing that their particular lifestyle is the only path to “humanity’s salvation.” Can we find it in ourselves to build a more inclusive, egalitarian and conscious society rather than ploughing ahead towards extinction?

In that sense, this pandemic has taught us the most important lesson: there is no survival without each other.

Director’s Biography

Director, screenwriter and partner at the animation production company Lunes Creative Studio. Master in Script and Audiovisual Production. Selected for Berlinale Talents / Guadalajara 2018 (Director).

His original projects, films, short films and TV-series, have screened in important international festivals such as Annecy, Hiroshima, Raindance, Havana, Sanfic and Ottawa. He is currently commencing production on the children’s animation series Raffi and finishing a short film on human rights, Hermanos Casablanca.

Company Profile

Lunes Animation Studio is a creative and animation studio specialized in the development of original content for all types of audiovisual and interactive platforms, with more than 12 years of experience and a great diversity of projects produced. We work for the construction of new worlds, emblematic characters and universal

stories, promoting collaboration between artistic talent from different disciplines in order to reach all corners of the Startoonsworld.Animation

Studio is a Peruvian animation studio born from the love of anime and cartoons in the hearts of our country’s people. Our goal is to combine our love of the Japanese anime style with our country’s very rich and diverse cultural background, while offering quality animation services to the world to help us achieve our dreams.

Goals at the JCM

We are looking for allies and a co-production partners to approach to European funding, broadcaster and VOD platform to complete the finance.

Catalina

Catalina Fontecilla, producer Mario Santillana, producer

Representative at JCM

The Huggingtons

The little viking adventures of Liv, the half-human/ half-troll girl who loves warm family hugs just as much as she loves exploring the wonderous world around her. Liv feels big emotions as she faces daily challenges!

The SynopsisHuggingtons

The Huggingtons are a very different Viking clan who love to HUG! And at the heart of this family is Liv, the 5-year-old half-human/half-troll girl led by her BIG EMOTIONS. Liv enjoys the freedom to explore the fantastic surroundings around her cosy idyllic home which she shares with her family and her faithful pet, simply called “Pet”.

Armed with intrepid enthusiasm, and a handy map, we follow Liv’s adventures as she figures out her place within her eclectic family, asks questions about the wider world, and learns to cope with those big emotions. Huggingtons’ stories are about the problems that young children encounter such as: losing your first tooth, failing to keep a promise, making a hard choice, or feeling pride

before a fall! Showing that it’s okay to have strong feelings, but also demonstrating how to deal with the issues that trigger them. This is a film with warmth and a cheeky playful sense of fun. All centered around one strange, but very loving family – the Huggingtons! In each episode Liv encounters a challenge, learns to cope with her emotions - and solves the problem with the help of her family and friends. And every story ends with a massive family HUG!

Director’s Statement

We want to create an animated series for children based on Scandinavian culture and nature. A universe where we can be precise and recognizable. We want to reach the target group with content produced in our continent.

With the cultural markers that belong here. We want to communicate the social democratic values of coop eration and community, and how we solve common problems. Both to our children, and to children in other parts of the world. The family hug is the relieving point of each episode, and expresses unity, love and the strength of belonging to your flock. With simple and fun dialogue, enormously expressive and weird characters, as well as fantastic sound design and music, we believe this will be an engaging and challenging universe for both children and parents.

Director’s Biography

Lars Hegdal has worked as an animator, illustrator and content creator for Klipp og Lim since 2005, producing big amounts of animated films for commercials and clients. He also directed and created the short film Cowboy Dream (2013) that ran its festival course all over the world, and won the audience award at Durango Independent Film Festival in 2015.

Ole Kristian Øye has worked as a creator, illustrator and designer in Klipp og Lim since 2009. He has a Masters degree in Visual Communication from the Bergen Academy of Art and Design.

Company Profile

Klipp og Lim was established in 2001 as a creative agency in Norway, and has, besides agency work, delivered many short films and TV-series for Norwegian broadcasting and festival markets. Within the company we work with both live action and animation, with a focus on productions in 2D and puppet animation. At the moment we have two TV series and a feature co-production in development.

Goals at the JCM

Find the right financing and production partners to greenlight the project.

Lars Hegdal, director Kristian Øye, director Greger, producer Representative at

Contact details

The Inner Life

The Inner Life

A crazy slapstick comedy about the daily life of a group of microscopic creatures that live inside our body, all of whom must learn to understand each other and work together - but with fun results.

Synopsis

Meritxell is a clumsy, 30-something city girl... The inside of her body is a micro-universe made up of unpredictable and colourful places where fascinating and incred ible creatures live. In each episode we’ll witness their conflicts, misunderstandings and reconciliations, how different their characters are and how they are forced to work together with others towards a common goal. Always with humour and funny gags, which will make both kids and adults laugh out loud.

Director’s Statement

The Inner Life is above all a physical comedy TV series, where the soul of the characters is understood by simply watching how they walk and where misunderstandings are solved by a punch or splatting a cake into someone’s face. We want to bring to new media and today’s kids a new character line-up that embraces this way of fun story telling. All within a set of surroundings where nothing is out place. A tribute to craziness, to the unexpected, with a very direct message: no-one should tell you that your inner life isn’t interesting! The characters will be almost touchable due to the nature of stop-motion animation. In approaching the locations

Director

and their infinite possibilities, we want to make our audience feel the fascination for the inside of the human body.

Director’s Biography

Vicente Mallols is a stop-motion animator on the Caracolímpios TV series, Pos Eso and Clay Kids for which he directed 5 episodes. In 2015 he directed the short film The Cryptozoologist and founded Pangur Animation. Between 2018 and 2019 he directed the first and second seasons of the TV series The Diary of Bita and Cora, and the pilot for Critical Line, a traditional 2D TV series.

Company Profile

Pangur Animation was founded by four stop-motion professionals from Valencia (Spain) who were encouraged to start their own projects. Over the past seven years Pangur Animation has become one of the most promising stop-motion studios in Spain. We have produced several short films such as: Feardom (2017) and Idle (2018), directed by Pablo Muñoz, which were selected for numerous festivals; The Inner Life (2021), directed by Pablo Muñoz and Vicente Mallols. The Inner Life will become a TV-series soon (52 x 5 mins). We’re currently in production on the short film Becarias (Interns), directed by Marina Donderis, Núria Poveda and Marina Cortón. We are also developing several other projects.

Goals at the JCM

We’re looking for international partners such as co-producers, distributors and/or pre-sales.

Vicente

Representative at JCM

Ugamú, mi enemigo imaginario

When Ugamu became Oscar’s imaginary friend, he never thought he would be by his side for so long. Now Oscar is 13 years old and Ugamu is old, tired, and moody. He wants to retire.

Ugamu, SynopsisImaginaryMyEnemy

Oscar has just turned 13 years. Despite this, he is still a child. He can only think about playing and having fun, and holds onto Ugamu, his imaginary friend. But Ugamu is not happy with this situation. He has stopped being the playful imaginary friend that he once was and now he looks old, bitter and ailing. He knows that the island of imaginary retirement is waiting for him and he can’t wait to be able to retire and be there, sunbathing, away from Oscar and his desire to play with him all day.

Director’s Statement

Ugamu presents a story of anti-hero characters, lowprofile and common, who contradict themselves and are therefore identifiable. The qualities of authenticity and following your own conviction are what we want to highlight in the series. Consequently, through humor, we want to laugh a little at the “should be” mentality, or the posturing of stereotypes so commonly represented in teen series. We avoid absolutes and propose diversity and more possibilities of “being” in this world.

Just as our Latin context is an eclectic place, so rich in contrasts and realities, we intend to narrate from our own

and project this story in a universal way with a youthful and dynamic language that includes digital, technology and social networks.

Director’s Biography

Yuly Velasco is a director, art director and content creator for children and young audiences. Studies in animation and production of audiovisual content for young audiences. Since 2011 she has participated in important national and international animated projects in the roles of art direction, concept art, character design and animation. Selected to participate at ANDIMATION (accelerator for Andean Animation) supported by The Animation Workshop and UNESCO. She is currently co-founder and director of the production company Mito Estudio Creativo in Bogota, Colombia, where she leads the series and transmedia projects: Ugamu, My Imaginary Enemy, Oniria and The Fictitious Gang

Company Profile

We are an audiovisual creation studio in a constant state of transition, committed to the development of new forms of aesthetic, narrative and visual expression.

We are dedicated to the creation, management, develop ment and production of film, television and new media projects with an emphasis on contemporary social and cultural realities in Latin America and the world. Utilising the screenwriters platform Three Pens for a Script, official sponsor of the screenwriting laboratory of the Guayaquil International Film Festival in Ecuador, we create original content for diverse audiences.

Goals at the JCM

Find co-producers, TV channels or VOD platforms who are interested in the project and can invest in order to have the first season and why not think about producing more seasons.

Yuly Velasco, director Fabiola Zurita, producer

Representative at JCMdetails

Yukon - Space Botanist

Synopsis

Our unlikely hero, Yukon - an unassuming botanist with a notebook - has been sent on a mission to collect and safely store cosmic seeds and plants for future generations. But these are no ordinary botanical species and space can be a dangerous place. Yukon constantly finds himself facing all types of sticky situations on his universal quest. From being ejected through the barrel of a seed-spitting canon-flower or facing a terrible tickle plant to manoeuvring his spaceship through the intestines of a monstrous space cow, Yukon overcomes many challenges in his pursuit to retrieve the seeds and help visitors from all over the universe with their plant-related problems.

Director’s Statement

Yukon is a sci-fi adventure for kids, but can be enjoyed by anyone. Within the confines of pre-school programming we want to create a show that feels both recognizable for an older audience and at the same time very fresh and creative. Not very scary obviously, but well designed and with the warm glow of a retro sci-fi. So while children can enjoy the safety of the recurring incidents in the storyline, they get challenged by new visuals and original ideas.

Yukon is a unique, adventurous and funny sci-fi series which is aimed at the upper end of the pre-school audience. It is full of daring adventures, real jeopardy, out-of-this world creatures and of course, a hero botanist and his friends.

Yukon is a pre-school animated sci-fi comedy full of daring adventures, strange creatures and three very good friends!

Humour is built in at all levels: Yukon’s non-verbal comedy (where one look can tell you everything you need to know); Stretch’s verbal wit and mind-bending physicality; Bo’s puppy-like mannerisms and visual displays. And that’s before we even get to the cast of unusual aliens, planets and plants with their funny powers and personalities. Adventures are daring, imaginative and, at times, dangerous but also have moments of space-like stillness, quiet observation, contemplation and poignancy. And of course, at its heart, Yukon has something very special – the friendship between three friends. After an unpredictable day out in the universe, that’s what you want to come home to.

Director’s Biography

Yukon marks Martin Engh and Jakob Thommessen’s first foray into series and their first role as showrunners, after building careers creating award-winning commercials and music videos through their animation workshop dept in Oslo. Their work is distinguished by strong visual ideas, passion and love for the craft, and whimsical and engaging storytelling.

Company Profile

Imaginær Film is a Norwegian production company based in Oslo, run by producers Eirik Smidesang Slåen and Elisabeth Opdal. We work in both animation and live action, developing and producing our own live action features, documentaries and series. We also aspire to become a leading Norwegian co-producer of international animation films, collaborating with various local animation studios both in Norway and in Europe. Our current slate includes the animated children’s series Yukon Space Botanist, selected for MIFA Pitches at Annecy this year, the teenage series Scope and several features and series for both children and young adults.

Goals at the JCM

After pitching at Annecy, Cinekid is the natural continuation of finding partners such as co-producers and animation studios, meeting up with commissioning editors etc. Between now and Cinekid, we will also be able to produce new materials; both visuals and scripts, enabling us to bring something fresh to Cinekid. Smidesang

Eirik Smidesang Slåen, producer Elisabeth Opdal, producer Jakob Thommessen, showrunner Martin Engh, showrunner Representative at JCM

Je Moeder

Lu thinks she’s spending an afternoon with her estranged mother Karina. But she disappears into the adventure of a lifetime when Karina takes her to Poland in a beat-up sports car to stay together forever.

SynopsisKiddo

Lu thinks she’s spending an afternoon with her estranged mother Karina. But she disappears into the adventure of a lifetime when Karina takes her to Poland in a beat-up sports car to stay together forever. The journey spirals out of control and Lu must cross her own boundaries just to stay with her eccentric mother. Kiddo is a coming-of-age road movie with a nod to the lovers-on-the-run genre.

Director’s Statement

Everything, but a little less will do as well.” Lu’s will and development are strongly connected to her mother. When Lu finally meets her mom again after so long she’s not only learning more about her, but also about herself - even though she’s struggling in the process. She realizes she doesn’t have to act differently. This is not the only lesson that Lu learns at the end of their trip, but it is one she transmits to her mother.

Karina’s ultimate motto is ‘wszystko albo nic’ - everything or nothing! Although contagious, this life motto tends to get in the way of a more nuanced world view. Sometimes

it’s maybe better to say: ‘Preferably everything but less will also However,do’.Lu could never have come to this conclusion without Karina’s exceptional view on life. It has made Lu feel more comfortable within her own being. She is less shy, dares to parade around in her underwear and at the end of the film she doesn’t get pushed around by other people anymore. You can put multiple diagnoses on the mental health of Karina, but her mood swings also have their positive and empowering sides. That to me is an important thing to show in this film. Because of a personal experience, but also because I think that the experience of watching, and conflicting within a grey area, is interesting and important for our younger audiences.

Director’s Biography

Zara Dwinger is a writer/director who makes colourful films about young people who are trying to find their place in the world. After graduating from the Netherlands Film Academy in 2017 with the award-winning film Sirene she made several short films that were featured at various international festivals, such as the Berlinale and Clermont Ferrand. Recently, the short film A Holiday From Mourning was released and travelled to festivals such as Asiana ISFF and Palm Springs Shortfest. In 2021 she made the mid-length television film The Girl Who Was Cursed within the framework of “Onze Straat II”.

Company Profile

Studio Ruba is a new Amsterdam-based boutique production company founded by producers Maarten van der Ven and Layla Meijman. With a select group of filmmakers they focus on creating cinematic cutting-edge stories, involved from start to finish. Both producers have a hands on mentality and knowledge of both the production as the creative side, guiding projects with great care. Before founding Ruba in 2019 Layla and Maarten gained years of experience producing (and line-producing) award-winning feature films, shorts and documentaries

such as Take Me Somewhere Nice (Ena Sendijarevic), Waterboys (Robert-Jan Westdijk), A Goat for a Vote (Jeroen van Velzen) and Boy Meets Gun (Joost van Hezik).

In 2020 Ruba released the short films A Holiday From Mourning by Zara Dwingen and Re-entry by Ben Brand. This year they will release Dwight Fagbamila’s debut feature Femi and two mid-length films by Zara Dwinger and Amira Duynhouwer. They have secured financing for the youth film Kiddo.

Goals at JCM

We would like to test the edit with the target audience (9-12) and meet possible sales/foreign distributors, and gain interest of festivals.

Zara Dwinger, Director Layla Meijman,

Mavka. The Forest Song

Mavka, a magical sprite responsible for protecting the forest from the outside world, faces her greatest challenge when she meets a human for the first time — and falls in love with him.

Synopsis

Mavka is a Soul of the Ancient Forest and its newly chosen Guardian. Her mission is to protect the Forest and its Heart - the Source of Life. Lucas is an ordinary villager and it’s his music that brings him and Mavka together. But their love has to overcome the resistance of their two opposing worlds. To make matters worse the villainess Kylina wields Lucas as her weapon and strikes anger and fear into the hearts of the villagers. In her pursuit of eternal youth and beauty she wants to get a hold of the Heart of the Forest.

So Mavka will have to stand up to save the Forest, and at the same time choose between her love for Lucas and her duty as Guardian.

Director’s Statement

Mavka, The Forest Song is about the magical power of love. We draw our inspiration from the ethnic heritage of Ukrainian literature, as well as its mythology and ancient legends, to generate a distinctive style and atmosphere. With beautifully crafted, unique characters and locations we will export the authenticity of rich Ukrainian culture

to the world and translate it into the universal language of Mavkaanimation.isacomplex

character. She is a beautiful forest nymph - a Soul of the Forest - nice and naive but at the same time furious and wild when it comes to protecting her realm. _er main duty is to keep the Heart of the Forest – the Source of Life itself – from any encroachments, including humans. Along with other residents of the mythical Forest, Mavka considers people to be the major threat to her realm. But after meeting the human boy Lucas and hearing him playing the flute, Mavka realizes that people might not be so bad.

Their union is pitted against formidable odds, but the obstacles loom even larger once the avaricious Kylina arrives on the scene and sets about building a sawmill at the edge of the Forest. This serves as a façade to mask her true purpose: to get a hold of the Heart of the Forest –the key to which is Mavka herself.

The viewer is immersed into 2 different worlds - the magical world of the ancient Forest and the human realm. Peace and balance will depend on Mavka’s ultimate choice.

Director’s Biography

Oleg Malamuzh was born in Ukraine in 1978. He graduated from the National Technical University of Ukraine. He started his career in animation at the age of 17.

Ruban Oleksandra was born in Ukraine in 1982. She graduated from the Kyiv National I. K. Karpenko-Kary Theatre, Cinema and Television University. She has more than 14 years of experience in the media industry.

Company Profile

Animagrad studio was founded in 2012 as a part of FILM. UA Group and has become the leading animation studio in Ukraine. Our portfolio lists a number of successful products both in 2D and 3D. Our mission is to transport Ukrainian animation to

a new age of excellence. Our professional team of trained experts in 2D and 3D animation, our creative department and our skilled managers generate original projects and supply highly quality services for the animation produc tion industry.

Goals at JCM

Our main goal is to find buyers for the following territo ries: Benelux, UK, Germany, Asia (including China and India), Australia, New Zealand, North America, and Latin America. We are looking for partners to develop “Mavka. The Forest Song” as cross media project. Particularly, we are planning to develop TV and web series. And we want to combine feature film and TV series with additional online, gaming, virtual world, mobile and licensing/ merchandise component.

Previous work available in ScreeningClub The Stolen Princess (2018)

Representative at JCM

Iryna Kostyuk, producer

Contac

Kids Kino Industry and Cinekid for Professionals once again join forces for the second edition of Producers LINK, a programme for emerging producers of children’s content. The programme is designed to stimulate the production of top-quality children’s content and pan-European co-productions, providing crucial follow-up both during and after these two leading autumn kids events.

The programme starts in September in Warsaw with Kids Kino Industry and continues in October in Amsterdam with Cinekid and this edition will focus on pragmatism, using case studies to show how to integrate audience insights into project development & marketing, and how to tackle the tricky question of production

Abner Preis

Abner Preis is a storyteller whose work is rooted in his personal mission to relay messages of hope and equality, educating and inspiring through playful, immersive experiences. Often working in children’s content, Abner uses a combination of new media, installations and innovative experiential methods to create emotional, visually rich stories.

Abner is a Cinekid Golden Lion and ANIDOX: VR (Viborg Animation Festival) winner, a Mondriaan Funds and Netherlands Film Fund Stimuleringsfonds recipient. His work has been presented at Venice, IDFA, New Image, and the Geneva International Film Festival, among others.

Abner Preis Studios

Abner Preis Studios is an award-winning Amsterdambased XR studio, using virtual reality, augmented reality and immersive installations as tools to educate, entertain and inspire, Focused on creating fun and exciting content for all ages, we believe that technology is a great way to educate and ignite the imagination. As artists and educators, we know that hands-on experiences in learning and play are important for teaching and telling stories.

With over 5 years of experience in the fields of VR and AR, we have grown exponentially in these new media, presenting works for hundreds of visitors daily in the Netherlands and at festivals throughout Europe. As content-based creators for museums and brands, we have a track record of putting new media into the hands of many, and a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities involved in daily multiple-user interac tions. Our clients include HP, Plan International, The Amsterdam Museum, The Jewish Historical Museum, Cinekid, Museum Arnhem, The Hermitage, Floriade, and the Skate Boarding Hall of Fame.

Agata Jelenekova

Agata Jelenekova is a film producer based in Bratislava, Slovakia. She studied film production at VŠMU (Academy of Performing Arts) in Bratislava. After graduation, she worked as a production assistant on major TV shows and programmes. For a few years, she was in charge of the sale of advertising space in commercial televisions. Since 2014, she has been active in movie and TV produc tion and since 2018 has been working for Novinski as a producer and executive producer of TV and movie projects. At the end of 2019, she took over as Executive Director of the Slovak Film and Television Academy.

Novinski

Novinski is a film production company founded in 2005 by producer and music composer Michal Novinski. Based in Bratislava (Slovakia) Novinski has long been focused on the production of music and, in recent years, movies. We produce animated, documentary and feature films for cinema and TV. In 2014, Novinski became the Slovak co-producer of the family feature film Tři bratři, directed by Jan Svěrák which won 3 Czech Lions in 2014 and was viewed by almost 700,000 people in Czech and Slovak movie theaters. The movie soundtrack became the bestselling CD in the Czech Republic in 2014/2015.

In 2017 Novinski was one of the three main producers of Po srništi bos by Jan Svěrák, that turned received 13 Czech Lion nominations and gained five wins. In 2017, Novinski produced and created a documentary on the making of the movie Po srništi bos named Jan Svěrák, A Movie Lesson, directed by Juraj Krasnohorský. In 2019 we released the short animated movie Persona Grata, directed by Daniela Krajčová. At present Novinski is producing the puppet stop-motion full-length film for children, Living Large, directed by Kristina Dufkova, a co-production with the Czech Republic and France, as well as the short animated film

Contact details

agata.jelenekova@gmail.com

Country: Slovakia

Nominated by: Slovak Film Institute

Antra Gaile

Antra Gaile is a Riga-based producer/partner at Air Productions. She has been in the film industry for 10 years. She has produced Latvian entries to the Oscars, the award-winning documentary for family audience To Be Continued by Ivars Seleckis, and the historical drama The Mover by Davis Simanis, among others. She is a participant in the EWA Network 2022 Mentoring Programme for Emerging Women Producers and a member of the Latvian Film Producers Association.

Airproductions

Latvia-based film production company Air Productions is a female-led film production studio that combines creative and production skills, focusing on content for children, stories centred around women, both in front of and behind the camera, and stories with social impact. The company has a background in producing documen taries and short animations. The studio’s recent titles include the animated short The Swan Maiden (2020) and the feature documentary Sisters in Longing (2022). The studio is currently developing three feature-length films and several ideas for a documentary series. Secrets of the Great Bog is Air Productions’ first feature film.

Belinda Bonan

Belinda Bonan is a scriptwriter, director and producer, specializing in animated films. She has a degree in Economics and Audiovisual Communication and a Film and TV Screenwriting Diploma. In 2015 she joined Most Wanted Studio, where she wrote, directed and produced her first works. Her animated short films Back in Fashion (8’, 2017) and Me, A Monster? (6’, 2020) have been awarded and selected at more than 130 international film festivals such as Mecal PRO, Dokufest, Sarajevo Film Festival, Shorts México, Zlín FF, Sapporo IFF, Chicago International Children’s Film Festival and Festival de Málaga. Her third short film, Code Stroke, is an experimental animated documentary which premiered in March 2022 at Animac Lleida and is touring around international film festivals. Currently, she is working on her first feature film project and also her first TV series project.

Most Wanted Studios

Most Wanted Studio is a boutique animation studio specializing in content creation for film, television and digital platforms. We develop and produce short films, feature films and television series. We also provide highquality services to our clients in different areas, such as animation or VFX. Founded in 2007, we began our journey as a music recording studio. In 2015, we started working on developing and producing creative content. So far, we have produced three animated short films that have been awarded and selected in more than 130 international film festivals.

Contact

beli@mostwantedstudio.com

Country: Spain

Nominated by: Catalan Films

Carlota Pou

Carlota Pou attended the RTVE institute and later ESCAC (Catalonia Film School), where she studied film direction. She has been working for different media companies in areas such as advertising, TV series and movies since 2013, serving in several different roles such as production co-ordinator, cost controller and production manager. She has worked on animated series such as Elvis & Benny and the cult Catalan series Heavies Tendres, where she was head of production. Most recently, she worked on the Netflix/Boulder Media feature film My Little Pony. She currently works as an executive producer at Studio Kimchi. She is the creator, producer and co-scriptwriter of Zoey Oceans, a TV series at development phase which has been selected to be presented in Cartoon Forum 2022.

Studio Kimchi

Studio Kimchi is a creative animation studio based in Barcelona. Founded in 2016, Studio Kimchi was born from a passion for creating animated stories across all formats: short films, commissions for brands (such as Lego, UNHCR, Nutella, Polaroid or Southeastern Guide Dogs) and the development and production of its own projects. The passion for telling good stories with rich characters connects all Studio Kimchi projects. There’s a meticulous attention to detail from the beginning of pre-production to the end of post-production in order to produce quality content, and to comply with one of its main goals: to give the audience relevant stories they can connect with.

SmidesangEirik Slåen

Eirik Smidesang Slåen graduated from Éicar in Paris in 2006 with a Master’s degree in direction and film production, having previously earned two bachelor’s degrees in literature, film and art history. The following years he made shorts, curated festivals, worked as a writer and did marketing for both local and international films. In 2015 he was asked to come onboard as coproducer on his first feature, Welcome to Norway. A few months later, he signed on as producer on the adaptation of beloved children’s tale In The Forest of Huckybucky. The film was a huge success in Nordic cinemas, also gaining international recognition at prestigious festivals such as Annecy and Shanghai. In Fall 2019 he released his second animated blockbuster, Captain Sabertooth and the Magic Diamond, which has sold to more than 120 countries, including cinema relases in both China and US. In 2020 he established Imaginær Film with Elisabeth Opdal.

Imaginær film

Imaginær Film is a Norwegian production company based in Oslo, run by producers Eirik Smidesang Slåen and Elisabeth Opdal. We work in both animation and live action, developing and producing our own live action features, documentaries and series. We also aspire to become a leading Norwegian co-producer of interna tional animation films, collaborating with various local animation studios both in Norway and in Europe. Our current slate includes the animated children’s series Yukon Space Botanist, selected for MIFA Pitches at Annecy this year, the teenage series Scope and several features and series for both children and young adults.

Contact details

eirik@imaginarfilm.no

Country: Norway

Nominated by: Norwegian Film Institute

Gábor Osváth

Gábor Osváth is a Hungarian film producer. He studied production at the University of Theatre and Film Arts of Budapest (SZFE). Right after graduation he formed his production company Filmfabriq, which will celebrate its 10th anniversary this Fall. Besides Filmfabriq he also runs the production company Boddah with director Bálint Szimler and Emmy-nominated cinematographer Marcell Rév. Boddah produces author-driven films, including animations by Réka Bucsi, Luca Tóth and Flóra Anna Buda. Some of these short films debuted at festivals such as the Berlinale and Cannes Semaine de la Critique, and the latest, Amok by Balázs Turai, just won the Cristal for a Short Film at Annecy. Gábor is also the managing director and programmer for Hungary’s biggest short film festival Friss Hús Budapest ISFF. He was chosen as one of the Emerging Producers of 2016 and has been a member of the European Film Academy since 2020.

Filmfabriq

Filmfabriq was founded in 2012, and the company has since produced five feature-length fiction films, several documentaries, dozens of award-winning shorts, an animation series and numerous commercials. Some of the most recent projects include On the Quiet (2019), a feature film by Zoltán Nagy, which debuted at Tallinn Black Nights Festival and Captives (2019), directed by Academy Award-winner Kristóf Deák, which won nine awards at the Hungarian Film Week, including Best TV Film and Best Director. Filmfabriq’s latest feature, Christmas Flame - a romantic comedy with a budget of 2.8 million euros, became the highest grossing Hungarian film of 2021. Currently in post-production are Tony, Shelly and the Spirit, a Czech-Slovak-Hungarian feature stop-motion animation, and Budapest Diaries, a Polish-Hungarian co-production directed by Silver Bear winning director Rafael Kapelinski.er

Contact details

gosvath@gmail.com

Country: Hungary

Nominated by: National Film Institute

Hungary

Giannis Exintaris

Giannis Exintaris has been a creative producer for the last 28 years (1994-2022). He has produced feature films, several TV shows and commercials, shorts, music videos, documentaries, musicals and various events. His work has won awards at festivals across 4 continents. Excellence in quality and innovation have always been his main aims, and have driven him to invest in cutting edge technology and partnerships with high-end professionals. He is a graduate of the UK National Film and Television School (Entrepreneurial Business course - CBEE).

Feelgood Entertainment

Feelgood is the leading film and distribution company in Greece and Cyprus, a well-known and beloved movie brand and a trustworthy partner of artists and industry stakeholders. It is a company that combines quality, commerciality and business ethics across all its endeav ours. Feelgood is the theatrical agent of THE WALT DISNEY Co. (Disney, Marvel. Lucas, 20th Century) and SONY PICTURES and is also very active in the field of acquisition of independent and Greek films, as well as co-production. Feelgood is also the biggest non-theatrical distributor through its collaboration with FILMBANK, under the label THE MOVIE SAFE. It has a wide portfolio of prestigious independent & Greek films, handling all rights and acting as co-producer and sales agent.

Contact details

gexintaris@feelgoodproductions.gr

Country: Greece

Nominated by: Greek Film Center

Judit Romwalter Kaja Jałocha

Judit Romwalter is an independent producer and the CEO of SPARKS Ltd in Budapest, Hungary. She studied at ÉSIAME in France, at HEC in Belgium and in 2021 she attended the UCLA School of Theater, Film & Television Professional Program in Producing. In 2007 she started to co-produce and produce indepen dent films, international co-productions and projects supported by the National Film Institute. Currently she has made an original TV series, The Mamma, which she co-created and co-wrote and which was developed at Series Mania Institut’s Eureka series, and she is developing a two-episode TV film, The Charitable Doctor, financed by the NFI.

Sparks

Since established in 1992 by the Oscar-winning DOP Vilmos Zsigmond, SPARKS Ltd has played a major role not only in providing equipment to international and domestic projects, but by actively participating as producer and co-producer. Managing directors Béla “Richy” Romwalter and Judit Romwalter consider it important to promote and continuously develop Hungarian film production, by not only “providing” equipment, but also their knowledge and experience, which often helps the young, emerging generation to develop into real professionals. Several of our previous movies have been nominated and have won awards at renowned festivals such as Cannes, Montreal, SXSW, San Sebastian, Camerimage, Vilnius, Burbank, Trieste, Sidney... Our latest movie Six Weeks will have its world premiere in the main competition programme at the 28th Sarajevo Film Festival.

Kaja Jałocha is a graduate of the Polish National Film School in Lodz and has been a participant at several workshops including Script Circle, Script Consultant Training at Atelier Scenariuszowe and KIPA’s Accelerator for Young Entrepreneurs of the AV Sector. She worked as assistant to the producer at Aurum Film and was involved in such productions as Corpus Christi and Leave no Traces. Currently, she is a development executive at Shipsboy. Among other projects, she is working with Ewa Rozenbajgier on a sequel to the family comedy Detective Bruno.

Shipsboy Shipsboy is a Warsaw-based production company working on fiction feature films and serialized content. Founded in 2013, it is managed by Joanna Szymańska, a producer with 15 years of experience. Shipsboy’s main focus is on original stories with the potential to reach wide audiences, both nationally and globally. Our recent credits include the family adventure comedy Detective Bruno and Operation Hyacinth (Netflix Original), a critically acclaimed crime drama and winner of Best Polish Film Award at IFF EnergaCamerimage 2021 as well as Best Polish Script at Gdynia FF. Shipsboy is a member of the Polish Producers Alliance.

Kjersti Greger Maaike Neve

Kjersti Greger has a background working in the Scan dinavian film industry for about 20 years, but have just recently started as a film producer for the Norwegian company Klipp og Lim in Trondheim. With 7 years expe rience as a Norwegian film commissioner and industry advisor for the mid regions of Norway, she has a good look from the other side of the producer’s table, but handling the creative development and finance of bigger formats is still a challenge and a work in progress she enjoys to its fullest. Since the beginning of 2021 she has completed two short films and started development on two TV series within the company. She’s also attached as a Norwegian minor co-producer on the development of an Icelandic-Norwegian-Belgian feature film for children.

Klipp og Lim

Klipp og Lim was established in 2001 as a creative agency in Norway and has, besides agency work, delivered many short films and TV series for Norwegian broadcasting and festivals/markets. Within the company we work with both live action and animation, with a focus on productions in 2D and puppet animation. At the moment we have two TV series and a feature coproduction in development.

Maaike Neve graduated from the University of Amsterdam in Media & Culture. She wrote her thesis on Dutch Children’s movies and conducted a lot of research into the representation of kids in the medium. In 2014 she did an internship at BIND, at which point her passion for films and stories became even greater, leading to her being taken on as Assistant Production Manager across a number of diverse films and series. Since 2016 she has worked at BIND as a Junior Producer where she is also closely involved in the development of new films. In 2018 she was part of LIM (Less is More) as a script develop ment trainee. At Cinekid 2018 Maaike was part of the Producers Program and in 2020 she attended Rotterdam Lab at IFFR. Recently she was an ACE participant. Maaike produced, among other projects, the much-praised, award-winning feature film My Extraordinary Summer with Tess and the 4-time Golden Calf-winning feature film The Judgement

BIND

BIND’s objective is to tell striking, unique stories that move and inspire, that open eyes and take root. BIND develops and produces genuine, provocative films about real people and the quest for their identity. Films that have proven to be a powerful way to portray contempo rary topics in an intriguing or surprising manner. Our aim is to create an effective connection between engaged filmmakers and their audience. BIND productions have been awarded with an International an Emmy, a Silver Bear, TIFF awards, a Prix Jeunesse and several Golden Calves including Best Film, as well as nominated for an IFFR Tiger Award, a SXSW Grand Jury award, Crystal Bear etc. My Extraordinary Summer with Tess was awarded the Special Mention by Generation jury at Berlinale 2019.

Maarten Schmidt

Maarten Schmidt founded Storyhouse in 2013, after working in The Netherlands. He worked in the creative and production department on 30 films, most of which are documentaries with one Cannes-selected feature fiction: Blue Bird. All have been broadcast, some with an international theatrical release and some were awarded at major film festivals.

Story House FIlm

Storyhouse focuses on youth content, bold investigative documentaries and true story fiction. Maarten is now seeking financing for a new youth animation series by Mariana Cadenas and two feature length documentaries by Quentin Noirfalisse, Friedrich Moser and Guido Verelst as well as a developed script for a teen fiction film by writer Johan Vandevelde.

Maks Piłasiewicz

Maks Piłasiewicz graduated from Cultural Studies –Science of Culture (Visual Anthropology) at the Institute of Polish Culture at the University of Warsaw. Since 2014 he has collaborated with various film festivals, among them Reykjavik International Film Festival, the Warsaw Film Festival, etc. Beside his film festival experiences, Maks was producing and co-ordinating various projects and events related to the international film industry. He is still associated with the Iceland Documentary Film Festival and Żubroffka International Short Film Festival as a programmer, advisor and head of guest service. In 2020 he joined Animoon’s team. He oversees inter national co-productions and project development. He is working on various projects within the Animoon portfolio.

Animoon

Animoon produces animated projects of high artistic and narrative quality, mainly based on original ideas. The studio portfolio consists of short and full-length animated films and animated series, with projects dedicated to a wide audience – starting from youngest viewers, through teenage, families and onto adults. Animoon works closely with executive producers who specialise in different animation techniques, hence the artistic variety of the studio’s portfolio. Animoon’s productions are made with audiences both from Poland and abroad in mind. Each one of our projects is developed and promoted as a separate brand. Animoon is constantly looking for interesting projects across all formats in which we could be involved as a co-producer or producer.

Contact

maarten@storyhousefilm.com

Country: Belgium

Contact

pilasiewicz@animoon.pl

Country: Poland

Nominated by: KKI / Polish producers

Maria Kempken

Maria Kempken lives in Leipzig and is both an actress (who graduated with distinction) and a graduate of the filmmaker program TP2 Talentpool (focusing on production & dramaturgy, 2020-2021). She has more than 15 years of professional experience in theater, film and television. Since 2019, she has developed, wrote, produced and distributed the comedy series einfach Maria together with producer Joachim Weiler. In March 2022, the show had its German TV broadcast (MDR & ARD Mediathek). With einfach Maria she was invited to various inter national series festivals and won, among others, the RTL Startup Prize for the best series concept. With her production company Black Mary Films GmbH she was selected by the Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung (MDM) as a producer for the startup initiative MEDIAstart. As a writer and producer, Maria Kempken develops film and series concepts with a focus on TV and streaming platforms. She works closely with the Cologne production company FFP New Media.

Black Mary Films

Marija Vlahović

Marija Vlahović was born in 1994 in Montenegro. She graduated at the Faculty of Visual Arts in Podgorica, majoring in Audiovisual Production. She studied film production at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts. In 2016 she started her professional career and in 2017 started working for the production company Artikulacija Film. In 2019 she joined Aba Film where she has worked on over 20 projects (documentaries, feature films, commercials, music videos, TV series and theatre festivals) performing various production roles. Currently, she is working on two projects, a documentary and a feature film, both supported by the Film Centre of Montenegro. She lives in Podgorica.

Aba Film

Established in 2019, Aba Film is a production company and film equipment rental firm in Montenegro. Beside production and international co-production, Aba Film offers full production services in Montenegro.

Black Mary Films GmbH was founded by Maria Kempken in Leipzig in 2021 and was selected in the same year by the Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung (MDM) as one of 10 young companies from central Germany for the MEDIAstart start-up program. The company currently focuses on the development of fictional film and series material, also as a satellite co-operation with the Cologne production company FFP New Media GmbH. The first film to be produced under the Black Mary Films label is the graduation film Anna (30min), a novel adapta tion of Jostein Gaarder’s youth novel ‘2084.’ The film is being made as a co-production with the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg and was shot in Norway and Germany in 2022. The premiere is planned for 2023. The director is Jonathan Behr. mail@blackmaryfilms.de

Contact details

Country: Germany

Nominated by: German Children’s Media Foundation, KIDS Regio

Contact details

marijavlahovicg@gmail.com

Country: Montenegro

Nominated by: Film Centre of Montenegro

Marte Hansen

Marte Hansen started her career as a producer of award-winning short films like Quiet on Set and Explosions in the Heart. In total, she has produced more than 15 short films, including her graduation film from The Norwegian Film School, The Culture, which won more than 12 international awards. In 2022 she premiered the feature film Battle: Freestyle, a youth dance film which was produced in collaboration with Netflix. Currently she is at the finishing stages of the co-production Sister, What Grows where the Land is Sick? (2022) which is set for competition at this year’s Locarno Film Festival.

Hummelfilm

Hummelfilm is an Oslo-based company which has produced a variety of features, documentaries, and television series since being established in 2011. Amongst many others, they produced the feature films Føniks (2017) and Nothing to Laugh About (2021). Hummelfilm has worked closely with Yellow Bird since 2013. Together they have produced 3 seasons of the internationally acclaimed TV-series Occupied (20152020) and are currently in post-production on the TV series Headhunters. Hummelfilm has co-produced several films such as The German Doctor, Captain Sabertooth, Underdog, Daniel, Så jävla Easy Going, and Den siste våren.

Maša Udovičić

Maša Udovičić has been involved in the animation busi ness for more than 20 years working as an animator and compositing artist on films, TV series and commercials. For the last 12 years she has been working as a producer and in 2013 founded the Zagreb-based animation studio Luma Film. She has produced 12 short animated films (two were co-productions) and one educational animated series. In addition to producing animation, her interest focuses on the popularisation of the form, organising educational programs for professionals and for kids. For four years she ran a national branch of ASIFA and orga nized animation evenings and the International Anima tion Day in Zagreb. In 2019 she founded the School of Animation for Children at the Tuškanac Cinema. She is a member of HRUP (Croatian Producers Association).

Luma Film

Founded in 2013 in Zagreb, we have eight permanent associates and one employee. In the production of animated content, our focus is on 2D animation. We produce 2D author animated films, series, commercials and educational videos. We run programs with a goal to popularize animation among young people. We co-operate with producers of other film genres and provide consultations about the use of animation.

Contact details

marte@hummelfilm.no

Country: Norway

Nominated by: Norwegian Film Institute

Contact details

mashaudovicic@gmail.com

Country: Croatia

Nominated by: Croatian Audiovisual Centre

Max de Wolf

Max de Wolf graduated from the Production Programme at the Netherlands Film Academy in 2016. After completing his studies he started as a junior producer at production company HALAL, where he supported filmmakers making advertisements, music videos, short films and features. At Topkapi Max will focus on working with young talent. He just finished shooting feature film Happy Ending (Joosje Duk), which is part of the Netflix New Voices Competition and will probably be released in 2023. As well as this, Max is developing a youth film Alma by writers Saar Ponsioen and Emily Reekers, which was part of the Cinekid Script Lab in 2019.

Topkapi FIlms

Topkapi develops and (co)produces television series, feature films and non-fiction projects for the Dutch and international market. With over twenty years experience, Topkapi focuses on extensive development and thrives to build long-term relationships with writers, directors and producers. Topkapi Films is run by producers Frans van Gestel, Arnold Heslenfeld and Laurette Schillings. Producer Max de Wolf focuses on working with new talent. Robert Oey leads Topkapi’s non-fiction depart ment. Titles successfully (co)produced by the company include Another Round (Druk), Instinct, Girl, Tailgate, Layla M., Benedetta and the major period drama series Turbulent Skies.

Mikel Mas

Founder of Cornelius Films and executive producer, Mikel Mas this year produced the animated series Mironins (broadcast by RTVE, TVC, Àpunt, Ketnet, and recently purchased by TF1 and multiple platforms in China), and Mironins - the Movie (winner of a Gaudí Award, nominated for a Goya, and presented at festivals such as Cinekid, Ecran Jeunesse in France, and CHIFF in Australia). Mikel Mas is developing his first stop motion animated feature as a producer, Olivia and the Invisible Earthquake by Irene Iborra, in co-production with France (Vivement Lundi !). It already has the participation of RTVE, the Spanish broadcaster, and TVC, the Catalan broadcaster. It also has the support of ICAA (The Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts, Spain) and ICEC (Catalan Institute of Cultural Companies, Catalonia).

Cornelius Films

Cornelius Films develops and produces fiction, docu mentary and animation projects. This year the company produced the animated series Mironins (broadcast by RTVE, TVC, Àpunt, Ketnet, and recently purchased by TF1 and multiple platforms in China), and Mironinsthe Movie (winner of a Gaudí Award, nominated for a Goya, and presented in festivals such as Cinekid, Ecran Jeunesse in France, and CHIFF in Australia). Cornelius Films is developing its first stop motion animated feature as a producer, Olivia and the Invisible Earthquake by Irene Iborra, in co-production with France (Vivement Lundi !). It already has the participation of RTVE, the Spanish broadcaster, and TVC, the Catalan broad caster. It also has the support of ICAA (The Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts, Spain) and ICEC (Catalan Institute of Cultural Companies, Catalonia).

Contact

mikelmas@corneliusfilms.com

Country: Spain

Nominated by: Catalan Films

Mikołaj Błoński

A man of many parts with a love for animated entertainment, Head of Studio Mikołaj Błoński acts as all kinds of producer: creative, line & executive. In 2018 Mikołaj joined Pigeon Studio. He worked as part of a Production Manager team that spearheaded organizational efforts to introduce new quality of explainer videos to the Polish market. Then, from 2020, Mikołaj moved to the newly created feature animation service studio branch - Pigeon Productions. As a creative producer, Mikołaj does hands-on work with scriptwriters, story artists, illustrators, animators and musicians to create a flawless workflow for every kind of project. As line producer, Mikołaj is responsible for maintaining open communication channels with all production departments with other parties to manage the quality expectations of each project, and to serve as the “face” of Pigeon Productions for outsiders. As executive producer he takes care of all financial & paperwork of the studio and works on its development strategy. Besides animation Mikołaj is a natural wine & craft beer enthusiast!

Pigeon Productions

A newly created branch of the Pigeon Studios family, Pigeon Productions is a studio providing animation services, founded by free-spirited producers whose drive is to make sure that each creative project they undertake makes a point. We bring our skills and love of animated entertainment into everything we do, from shorts to full feature films. The main area of our activity is the animation service for preschool films and series. At the moment we are working on two commissioned cartoon series, eight shorts films and we are finishing three developments.

Nicky Onstenk

After Nicky Onstenk finished her bachelor’s degree of Media and Culture at the University of Amsterdam in 2015, she started studies at the Netherlands Film Academy. She graduated in 2019 with the graduation film Porfotto (nominated for a Student Academy Award 2020). After graduation she started working for IJswater Films. Last year she produced the short film Spotless by Emma Branderhorst, that won the Crystal Bear at the Berlinale Film Festival and Best Dutch Short Film at Cinekid Festival. At the moment she’s working on multiple projects that are focused on youth, such as the short Magma (directed by Luca Meisters) and the documentary luc (directed by Tim Bary). Numerous features and documentaries are in development.

IJswater Films

Amsterdam-based production company IJswater Films (‘Icewater Films’) has been producing high quality features, shorts, documentaries and TV dramas by emerging or established talent for almost 25 years. Titles include a.o. The Polish Bride (Cannes Critics Choice, Golden Globe Nominee), The New World (Int. Emmy Award Best Actress), the NL/BE/RO co-production In Blue (Best Feature Austin IFF, Winner 3 Dutch Academy Awards), the French-language L’été et tout le reste (Venice Orizzonti, TIFF, Winner Best Dutch Short), Father (Locarno FF, Nomination Best Dutch short documen tary), the Spanish-spoken feature La última primavera/ Last Days of Spring (selection Cannes Acid, Winner New Directors Award San Sebastian Film Festival), the shorts Nova by Luca Meisters (Buff Malmö FF 2021) and the pre-school children series Kabam! In 2021 Spotless (winner Berlinale Crystal Bear) was released. This fall the children’s film Until Sunset will be broadcast on Dutch television and The Man from Rome by Jaap van Heusden will premiere.

Contact details

mikolaj@pigeonproductions.pl

Country: Poland

Nominated by: KKI / Polish producers

Contact details

nicky@ijswater.nl

Country: The Netherlands

Nominated by: Netherlands Film Fund

Nikos Moustakas

Nikos Moustakas is the Administrative Manager of the Athens-based production company Bad Crowd. Nikos has been in the film business since the 1980s, producing a varied filmography of more than 50 feature films, documentaries and mini TV-series throughout his career, including international co-productions with France, Germany, Turkey, Serbia, Romania, Argentina, Norway and Cyprus among others.

Bad Crowd

Bad Crowd (badcrowd.eu) specializes in film & TV mini-series and our editorial line concerns art films, TV mini-series and documentaries with strong stories and social issues. Through our international network of artists, we aim to create artworks all over the world. We have produced a great number of films that have been both selected for, and awarded at, international festivals. Bad Crowd aims for every project to be a part of a co-production, and thus we co-operate with France, Germany, Turkey, Serbia, Romania, Argentina, Norway and Cyprus among others. Also, we participate in programs supported by Creative Europe and Eurimages. Greek Film Center

Rea Apostolides

Rea Apostolides studied ancient and modern Greek History at Oxford University and produces documentaries for Anemon in Athens. Recent work includes When Tomatoes Met Wagner (2019, Berlinale, Greek entry for the 2020 Academy Awards, Arte, NHK); Citizen Europe (2019, Arte, Screen Ireland, CNC, Bulgarian Film Center, RTE, ERT, RTP); Berlinale Teddy Award winner Obscuro Barroco (2018), and Dolphin Man (2018, ARTE, CNC, WOWOW, Greek Film Centre, Knowledge, TVO, ERT, CYBC, SVT, Yes DBS, TSR). Rea also runs CineDoc and CineDoc Kids, that monthly screen award-winning documentaries and films for children across Greece. She was founder and co-ordinator of Moving Docs, an EDN-run network for the pan European distribution and promotion of documentaries.

Anemon

Based in Athens, Anemon produces films for the inter national market and is dedicated to creating projects that draw attention to intercultural understanding and the environment. In parallel, it has steadily invested in building an audience for documentaries and films for children in Greece. In 2010, it founded CineDoc, a film distribution network that organises monthly event screenings in cinemas, schools and cultural venues across Greece. The company also creates ancillary products to facilitate the audience engagement of each film. The company has recently completed Disasters and Triumphs, a seven-part landmark historical series for SKAI TV Greece; The Greek Bar Jacket, a documentary about the Greek artisans behind DIOR’s 2022 Collection, and Antoine the Fortunate, a Greek-French-Austrian co-production. Films co-produced by Anemon as a minority producer include Venus De Milo (Yuzu, France), Marble Travelogue (Muyi Film, Holland), Long Way to Ithaca (Bassim Pictures, South Korea) & Mediterranean Under Siege (Boreales, France).

Contact details

rea@anemon.gr

Country: Greece

Nominated by: Greek Film Center

Rosa Duvekot

Rosa Duvekot obtained a master’s degree in film studies at the University of Antwerp. She worked as a researcher and line producer in the Netherlands on documentaries such as Now Something is Slowly Changing and the youth film Foreplay. In 2019-2020 she joined the European program Atelier Ludwigsburg-Paris to extend her knowl edge of producing fiction films and international co-pro ductions. Afterward, she started working at the Belgian company A Private View, where she worked on the series Mister Paper and Rusty 2 and the feature films My Dad is a Sausage and Sea Sparkle. In September she will start a new adventure at the Belgian production company Cassette for timescapes.

Cassette for timescapes

Cassette for timescapes produces films and XR projects that combine innovative vision and social or political engagement. With our projects we like nothing better than to defy the rules and cross over the boundaries between genres. With a main focus on creative docu mentaries, we also produce fiction films, television series and interactive projects. Cassette for timescapes has successfully co-produced with the US, UK, France, Germany and The Netherlands and aims at distributing its films worldwide through a tailor-made impact strategy for each project. With Cassette for timescapes we want to make work of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), by making films that portray one or more SDGs; by setting up partnerships that help to achieve these various goals; by endorsing impact campaigns that focus on the SDG themes and feed the debate in a constructive, nuanced way.

Tanja WaldhauerGeorgieva-

Tanja Georgieva-Waldhauer produced feature-length non-fiction such as the award-winning The Graveyard of the Illegals since 2009 before she co-founded elemag pictures in late 2014 and expanded into fiction. She has since co-produced Emre Kayis’ The Anatolian Leopard, awarded with the FIPRESCI Award at TIFF 2021; Vincent Cardona’s Magnetic Beats , awarded the Prix SACD at Director`s Fortnight Cannes 2021, and Sonia Liza Kentermann’s Tailor (Black Nights Film Festival 2020). Roman Bondarchuk’s fiction debut Volcano premiered at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and Filmfest Munich 2018 and has since travelled to more than 45 international film festivals, picking up, in the process, a dozen awards. Tanja is an EAVE Producers Workshop alumna, has represented in 2020 Germany as European Producer on the Move and is a member of EWA, DAE, Produzentenverband, AG Dok and the European Film Academy.

Elemag Pictures

Elemag pictures is a Germany-based film production company (based out of Gera/Thüringen) focusing on developing, co-producing & producing high-quality international films with a strong appeal to large audi ences worldwide. Founded in late 2014 by Borislav and Viktor Chouchkov, Jan Krüger and Tanja GeorgievaWaldhauer, elemag pictures’ trademark is very highartistic quality and remarkable human stories of originality, capable of engaging audiences around the globe. The Elemag pictures associates are recognized and multi-awarded at numerous national and international film festivals, and within professional networks, the European Producers Club, Documentary Association of Europe, EAVE, Atelier Cinema d´Europe and the European Film Academy.

Contact details

rosa@aprivateview.be

Country: Belgium

Contact details

info@elemagpictures.com

Country: Germany

Nominated by: German Children’s Media

Foundation, KIDS Regio

BenedikteThea Karlsen

Thea Benedikte Karlsen graduated from Kingston University in 2015 where she took a bachelor in Film Studies. Since then she has worked within the Norwegian film industry. She started as a runner and production secretary, but quickly moved up to work as a freelance production coordinator between 2015 and 2018. From 2018 she started working full-time as an in-house co-ordinator at Fantefilm. In 2019 she was promoted to Junior Producer and last year she moved up to be a producer. She is now currently working as a producer at Fantefilm and her first film, Teddy’s Christmas, is currently in post-production. At the same time she is working with developing a new children’s and family film, which is a mixture of live action and animation. In her time at Fantefilm she has worked on films such as The Quake (2018), Forgotten Christmas (2019) Betrayed (2020) and Teddy’s Christmas (2022).

Fantefilm

Fantefilm is a leading production company in Norway which aspires to produce larger-than-life movies for a big cinema audience. Their projects are true to their genre, with in-depth characters pitched into extraordinary situations. Their first feature film, Cold Prey, broke all Norwegian box office records within the horror/slasher genre. Fantefilm introduced disaster films to Scandinavia in 2015 when The Wave hit Norwegian theatres and became one of the biggest Norwegian-produced box office hits. The sequel the quake (2018) became the number one box office film of 2018. In 2016 Fantefilm released its first children’s and family film Santa Swap (2016), based on a novel by Alf Prøysen. The film broke box office records in Norway within the genre. Since then, the company has produced a second family film, Forgotten Christmas (2019) and very soon a third with Teddy’s Christmas. Previously, Fantefilm produced the Cold Prey trilogy (2006, 2008, 2010), Jackpot (2011), Ragnarok (2013), Betrayed (2020) and The North Sea (2021).

Contact details

thea@fantefilm.no

Country: Norway

Nominated by: Norwegian Film Institute

Creative digital bureau Lama Lama

Creative director Imraan El Marnasi (Junior Crew) director Jort Boot (Lama Lama)

Editing Maarten Berkers (Marbl.tv) animation Koen Koopman

Music and sound design Soundsright Voice Jahlay Sergio van Bossé

Daan de Haan

Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, Amsterdam Art Fund, Creative Europe MEDIA Programme, Netherlands Film Fund, Fonds 21, VSBfonds, The Cultural Participation Fund, Municipal Office Amsterdam North, AMVJ Fonds, Fiep Westendorp Foundation, Janivo Stichting, Amarte Foundation.

Kidsweek, Jean Mineur Mediavision, NPO Zapp, VPRO Cinema, AT5.

Partners Eurimages, Filmmore, SEE NL, Creative Europe Desk NL, Kids Kino Industry, Catalan Films, Croatian Audiovisual Centre, Czech Film Fund, Film Centre of Montenegro, Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Poland, Film Commission Sardegna, German Children’s Media Foundation, Gigant Films, Greek Film Center, KIDS Regio, Netherlands Film Fund, Norwegian Film Institute, Polish Audiovisual Producers Chamber of Commerce (KIPA), Producers Guild of Poland and Slovak Film Institute, ACE Producers, NAPA, Rose Stories, The Children’s Media Conference.

Partners KABK Interactive Media Design, XR Lab, VPRO, BeamSystems, STRP, Nou & Herkauw

Bijlmerparktheater,

SPECIAL THANKS TO

Pathé Amsterdam Noord, Bremer & de Zwaan, Squla, Storytel, Kanteen25, IMC Weekendschool, Stiching Studiezalen, Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam, Mokum Maakcoalitie, Netwerk Filmeducatie, BYOR, Winkelcentrum Boven ‘t Y, In Sync Media, FLX, Eyrie Entertainment, Fasten Films, Lemming Film, Warner Bros. Film Productions Germany, Lumières Films, Nordiks Film Production, Viking Film, Westside Filmproduktion, Rothkirch Cartoon Film, Indi Film, Phanta Film, Phanta Basta!, BosBros, East Films, FPT Play, Snowcloud Films, Filmbin, Senca Studio, Wady Films, objectif, Studio Dim, Nimbus Film, Nikolaus Geyrhalter Filmproduktion, Volya Films, Artémis Productions, Vivement Lundi!, Les Films du nord, ...Productions, Nuts & Bolts Film Company, Submarine, 3 Minutes West, Doxy Films, Johan Neijenhuis & Co, Tangerine Tree, 2CFilm, Rinkel Film, Ostlicht Film produktion, In The Air, Gusto Entertainment, Dutch Features, Periscoop Film, Sola Media, Miyu, Dutch Film Works, Cinema Delicatessen, Bavaria Media, AvroTros, VPRO, KRO-NCRV, EO, NTR, Omroep Max, Omrop Fryslân, ZAPP, Stichting de Vrolijkheid, Stichting Nieuwe Helden, Tamara Bos, Signe Zeilich-Jensen, Mijke Roos, Els Kuiper, Burny Bos, DjHayrettin, Straat museum, Xplctstudios, Little Miss Kwakoe, Boogieland, DAT! School, I Am Aisha, Claudia Boon, Djelle, Dirty Sprite, Meltjoo, Melv!ee, Colourful Goodies, Zin in zappelin, Story tel, Rabia Omanette, Verdedig Noord, Cinéart Nederland, Square Eyes, Miyu, Kaboom Distribution, Kaptein Kort, JEF, Wim Pel Productions, Mondriaan Fonds.

And all other organisations, volunteers and individuals that helped realise the 2022 festival with their artistic, organisational, scientific or technical contributions.