Albania – First Step Association Austria – Kino5 Bulgaria - SEVEN Croatia – Kinoclub Zagreb Denmark - AARHUS Short Film Challenge
NISI MASA network associations
Estonia – NISI MASA Finland – Euphoria France – Festival du cinema du Brive France – Formatova Germany – Kino Datsche Germany - Münchner Filmwerkstatt Greece – PSAROKOKALO Italy - PRO LOCO Revine Lago Kosovo – 7 Arte Lithuania – KAUNAS International Film Festival Macedonia - Cre8tive8 Montenegro – NGO CINEMAPOLIS The Netherlands – GO SHORT Poland – Ad arte Portugal – FEST New Directors New Faces Serbia – Filmkultura Slovenia – Film Factory UK – Encounters Film Festival Ukraine – Cinema Belarus – Social Film Studio Ukraine - Wiz Art, Lviv Int’l Short Film Festival
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Apallou
Nikos Avgoustidis, Gabriella E. Charmani (Greece)
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Les Aveugles
Michiel Jozef Robberecht (Belgium)
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Blind Date
Daniel Wesseik (Czech Republic/The Netherlands/Israel)
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INDEX
Creatures
Miguel Lopez Beraza, Nayeem Mahbub (Spain/Sweden/Belgium)
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Eggshells
Slava Doytcheva (Bulgaria)
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Fires
Mirko Genduso (Italy)
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Goodnight Pal
Lyubo Yonchev (Bulgaria)
20
I’m not telling you anything, just sayin’ Sanja Milardović (Croatia)
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Luce and the Rock Britt Raes (Belgium)
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Mora Mora
Jurga Šeduikytė (Lithuania)
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The North Pole
Marija Apcevska (Macedonia)
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Of Dogs
Ninna Pálmadóttir (Iceland)
30
Only Devil Hates Water
Lidija Majsovska, Jakov Poposki (Macedonia)
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The Season of Seagulls Pauline Pelsy-Johann (France)
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The Tears of Things
Kate Voet (Belgium)
36
A Violent boy
Tommaso Usberti (France/Italy)
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Al-Sit
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It’s still night
Suzannah Mirghani (Qatar/Sudan) Damian Kocur (Poland)
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ESP 2019 Consultants
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ESP 2019 Tutors
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ESP 2019 Team
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ESP 2019 Awards
ESP 2019
Editorial Welcome to European Short Pitch! A thirteenth edition and yet another fresh start, this time around in Bretagne in collaboration with Côte Ouest and the Festival Européen du Film Court de Brest. In our quest to uncover European talents, we’ve taken it upon ourselves to keep on developing new perspectives and new partnerships to make sure ESP keeps on being on the forefront of the specific needs of the film industry. We still stand for promoting European short film coproduction and helping emerging writers/directors have their projects reach their full potential. This year will be the 4th edition of the Works-in-Progress Pitch as an endeavor to find new ways of supporting short films that need a gentle push in the back. And as we’re all for expanding our horizon and building bridges beyond Europe, from this year onward, we’re collaborating with the Doha Film Institute to highlight and create a platform for some of their most promising filmmakers. Our harvest of films over the last few years has been steadily increasing as over 80% of the selected projects from our last three editions have found a producer, received funding and eventually, were made into a film. Not only did they get made, but some of our alumni have been scoring big over the course of the last year. Amongst others, Gabriel by Oren Gerner got selected for the Official Short Film Competition of the Festival de Cannes, Patision Avenue by Thanasis Neofotistos got selected for the short film competition of the Venice Film Festival and won the Special Jury Award and the Canal + Prize at the Festival du Court Métrage de Clermont-Ferrand and Vasilis Kekatos’ Silence of the Dying Fish got selected for both the short film competition of the Locarno Film Festival and the Sundance Film Festival. We hope this coproduction platform will make encounters possible and will give rise to exciting new projects that we look forward to discovering on the big screen in the world of festivals. In that sense, don’t miss the ESP carte blanche as part of Le Jour le Plus Court, showcasing some of the recent success stories that you might have listened to as a pitch in the past! Enjoy this new edition, may it prove inspiring and may thirteen turn into our luckiest number thus far! Wim Vanacker Head of Script Department
BOOK OF PROJECTS
01
NIKOS AVGOUSTIDIS - GREECE
Apallou Stelios relocated from America to spend this winter at his grandfather’s village in Greece. One night, when he arrives at the village café where he frequents, an otherworldly visitor -his dead grandfather- is waiting for him, disturbing the daily life of the whole village.
SYNOPSIS Old Man Vudas returns to the village after many years. He wants to see his grandson Stelios - who decided to move from the U.S. and spend this winter at the village - for one last time. He waits for him at the main square. It is dusk. Regulars sitting inside the two cafés on the 6
square stare at him through the windows. They are at a loss, since Old Man Vudas has been dead for four years. Every night, Stelios walks to the square and relaxes at the café. This night will be different.
EUROPEAN SHORT PITCH / 2019
INTENTION NOTE APALLOU is a 22 min film. It is a mixture of cinematic genres, seemingly foreign to each other. Elements of a documentary film are merged with those of a comedy, while the underlying sensation and aesthetic of a horror film is followed by the structure of a musical, and all that is encapsulated in social realism where the fantastical and folkloric elements break the rules of what is acceptable, and they take on a form of normalcy. This mix is not done merely for the sake of exposing different cinematographic styles but is directly linked to the central backbone of the narrative structure of the movie, which negotiates the terms uncanny and familiar and the connecting points between these two concepts. The filming will take place at my home village on Chios Island. It is dated 14th century and has a peculiar mix of modern and traditional architecture. A central element of the film will be the still, stylized shots while a sense of choreography will penetrate all action scenes in order to boost the surrealism in realistic situations. The film aims to stimulate the audience’s emotions through the unexpected narrational sequence of images.
DIRECTOR'S BIOGRAPHY Born on Chios Island, Greece, Nikos studied Medicine & Film. His awarded graduation film UMMI participated in international film festivals (Palm Springs, Odense, Regensburg etc.) APALLOU is his second short film, while he is also developing his first feature film MANGAREVA , whose development is already supported by the Greek Film Center. navgoustidis@yahoo.gr
PRODUCER'S BIOGRAPHY Kostas Tagalakis graduated with a European Master in Audio Visual Management (EMAM) by MEDIA (Rome, Italy) where specialized in Feature Film Funding. Since then he has been a film professional in various key production positions. Currently as a producer his work includes the feature films PARI by Siamac Etemandi (2019) and BRAZIL by Thelyia Petraki (2020). kostastagalakis@gmail.com
PRODUCTION NOTE Genre: Fantasy, Drama Length: 22 minutes Language: Greek Co-Writer: Gabriella E. Charmani Shooting location: Chios Island (Greece) Production company: TopSpot Estimated budget: 45.000 EUR
Secured funding: 20.000 EUR (Greek Film Center - GFC); 3.000 EUR (Homerion Cultural Center of Municipality of Chios Island) Looking for: Co-Production, PostProduction, Sales, Distribution
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BOOK OF PROJECTS
02
MICHIEL JOZEF ROBBERECHT - BELGIUM
Les Aveugles Stuck on a stormy island a band of blind people wait on their Holy saviour, until one day the young Amin decides to take fate in his own hands.
SYNOPSIS Stuck on a stormy island a group of blind people are waiting on a messenger that will take them to a safe place. They hear the wind blowing and the waves beating on their rocky coastline; imagining these sounds come from a frightening monster. While
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most of the villagers are afraid to get too far away from the village, the young Amin roams around freely without fear. One day Amin is tired of waiting and decides to take fate into his own hands as he sets off on a journey into light.
EUROPEAN SHORT PITCH / 2019
INTENTION NOTE Les Aveugles will be a short film centred around the sensorial and imaginative experience of the world of the blind. By working with real blind actors, their own experience and impressions will blend into the fictional world. The film is set on the rugged island of Île d’Ouessant, creating an interesting setting for the conflict: a conservative community that is frightened by the threatening environment versus the spirited Amin who is filled with wonder about the world surrounding him. Filmed in black & white, the storytelling will be visually driven by the juxtaposition of darkness and light, and carried by a prominent soundscape offering us an auditory way of seeing the world. Starting from what the characters can hear and touch, a world of imagination will be built. The sound of the waves and the screeching of seagulls versus a mysterious moving light they feel on their eyes at night. Driven by a poetical gaze, Les Aveugles will tell the story of Amin; a young man that is willing to take fate into his own hands and takes us on an daring journey into light…
DIRECTOR'S BIOGRAPHY Michiel Robberecht (‘90) is a Belgian director. After graduating with a Master in Arts & Literature, he set off to Congo to make his first independent movie Peer Gynt. In the wake of this short film he made the documentary Bateau Peer Gynt. At the moment, Michiel is working on his first feature film The Million… and a new short Les Aveugles. michielrobberecht@hotmail.com
PRODUCER'S BIOGRAPHY Melissa Dhondt (‘91) recently founded her own production company in Hinterland which focuses on author driven fiction films and documentaries. She’s a MAIA (2017), an EP2C postproduction (2018) and a Midpoint TV Launch (2018) graduate. Her credits include the short film Maverick, short film Peer Gynt and feature film The Mute (coproduction). melissa@inhinterland.com
PRODUCTION NOTE Genre: Drama Length: 20 minutes Language: Dutch, French Shooting location: Bretagne (France) Production company: in Hinterland Estimated budget: 90.000 EUR
Looking for: Co-Producers, Distribution, Festivals
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BOOK OF PROJECTS
03
DANIEL WESSEIK CZECH REPUBLIC/THE NETHERLANDS/ISRAEL
Blind Date In the dating show Blind Date the three contestant have to fight each other and a group of singing snakes to win the heart of one caged lady. In this dating show, things don’t go quite as expected.
SYNOPSIS In the dating show Blind Date the three contestants – a lonely giant, a mischievous magician and a coward shape-shifter – have to reach the cage in which their loved one is hidden. To get to the cage they have to battle a group of evil singing snakes that protect the cage. Unfortunately, one of the
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protecting snakes, James, is on a quest for love himself. Instead of defending the cage, he decides to go for it on his own. His betrayal leads to a dreadful turn of events that results in the show being completely destroyed.
EUROPEAN SHORT PITCH / 2019
INTENTION NOTE Blind Date is paraphrasing the traditional television format of a dating show and is echoing the biblical story of Adam and Eve. It is a story about desperate pursue for love, about manhood and about second chance. It is told using bitter humour, nonsense and unconventional storytelling. The music plays a central role, it is leading the storyline and the characters will act according to it. The mockumentary genre will reveal itself through a behind-the-scenes interview with the characters. The visual language of Blind Date will consist of a collage of 2D hand-drawn animation and 3D animation. The aim of the mixed techniques is to achieve a cohesive, minimalistic and dreamlike look that will set the tone for the peculiar events.
DIRECTOR'S BIOGRAPHY Daniel Wesseik is an Israeli animation director now based in the Netherlands. He completed BA in art and design in Israel, MA in Animation in the Netherlands and he was a participant of the ASF development lab of 2017–2018. His films and works were presented in various film festivals, exhibitions, museums and magazines around the world. countwk@gmail.com
PRODUCER'S BIOGRAPHY Kamila DohnalovĂĄ is a film producer based in the Czech Republic. She graduated from the Charles University and from FAMU, where she produced more than twenty films. After working for numerous film festivals, National Film Archive or Czech Television she is now developing and producing several live-action and animated projects within her own production company. kamila@silkfilms.cz
PRODUCTION NOTE Genre: Animated Mockumentary Length: 10 minutes Technique: 2D & 3D animation, mixed media Target audience: Adults, Young Adults Country of production: Netherlands / Czech Republic
Estimated budget: 90.000 EUR Estimated release: December 2019 Status: Pre-Production
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BOOK OF PROJECTS
04
MIGUEL LOPEZ BERAZA, NAYEEM MAHBUB SPAIN/SWEDEN/BELGIUM
Creatures A film crew from another world arrive on planet Earth to make a documentary about the migrational behaviour of humans and animals.
SYNOPSIS An animated film crew from another world is making a film about migrations on planet Earth. They are lead by HOST, a scientist known for his documentaries about species across the universe. HOST is a passionate defender of nature’s universal harmony, cruelty and fairness. He marvels at how both humpback whales and European sex tourists 12
travel 8000 km to mate, or at how smugglers and cheetahs prey on migrants and zebras in Sub-Saharan Africa. But HOST will discover how humans play by rules he has never seen before, forcing him to break his one sacred rule: to never intervene.
EUROPEAN SHORT PITCH / 2019
INTENTION NOTE We lived in the same European cities while studying a masters in documentary filmmaking. During this time, we experienced our surroundings differently due to our different backgrounds, especially when it came to crossing national borders. Miguel’s passport design has drawings of migratory animals and their paths around the globe on each page. It is a beautiful allegory for freedom of movement, the Spanish passport holder as an unstoppable animal. Meanwhile, Nayeem’s passport, ranked among the 5 worst passports in the world, has no such pictures. This was the seed for Creatures, where we define “migration” as the global movement of both humans and animals. We look through the eyes of characters from another world, who sometimes misunderstand what they see, but sometimes also arrive at brutally simple truths. By looking at human travel as another animal migration, we want to reflect on human-made hierarchies; how we exist in a system where some are tourists and expats, and others are refugees and immigrants.
DIRECTOR'S BIOGRAPHY Miguel López Beraza (Writer/Director) is from Madrid and moved from architecture to filmmaking after winning a scholarship for DOCNomads documentary masters programme. His debut short, Walls, won the 2015 Goya Academy Award and his latest short, With All Our Cameras, premiered at Rotterdam IFFR and won the New Horizons Short Film Competition. His feature in development, Silver and Fog, just won the Madrid Council script development award for Best Project. miloberaza@gmail.com
DIRECTOR'S BIOGRAPHY Nayeem Mahbub (Writer/Director) is a Bangladeshi filmmaker based in Stockholm. He studied documentary direction at DOCNomads and previously worked in the Bangladeshi animation industry, notably directing the awardwinning animated short Murgi Keno Mutant that found a cult audience both at home and abroad. nayeem.mahbub@gmail.com
PRODUCTION NOTE Genre: Animation/live-action hybrid, Satire Length: 15 minutes Language: English Producer: Ben Vandendaele, Bekke Films Estimated budget: 120.000 EUR Sales agent: Radiator IP Sales
Developed at: European Short Pitch 2019, Berlinale Short Film Station 2019 Status: In development Looking for: Animation Production Company, Co-Producer
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BOOK OF PROJECTS
05
SLAVA DOYTCHEVA - BULGARIA
Eggshells It’s Easter, but Nevena is not allowed to stay home.
SYNOPSIS On Easter, Nevena wakes up alone in a flat set for two. She packs all her stuff, hides it and gets on a train. As families celebrate, she wanders alone in a small village. She meets briefly her estranged father – the silence is deafening. She visits the emptied church – the icons are indifferent. She strolls again
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and suddenly a glimpse with a stranger feels like a new opening. But her time to kill is up and Nevena heads home. There, her stuff is back in place, the visitors are gone and her girlfriend is waiting. Could it all continue as normal?
EUROPEAN SHORT PITCH / 2019
INTENTION NOTE As a queer person living in the Balkans, big family holidays have always been the hardest days of the year. More often than not a choice has to be made - to be with your birth family or with the chosen one. Two halves of one life that don’t make a whole. Half-truths. Half-love. Half-life. Year by year, inch by inch, you fight to bridge the two and maybe you eventually do. But what if the choice is in the hands of the person you love? What if they ask you to disappear, not to exist, if only for one day? Can the whole stick if it is broken and then put back together? I want to tell a subtle story that poses these questions, knowing there are no right or final answers. Eggshells will be an intimate road-trip that sways between the external and internal crossroads of a woman going through the day she feels the least whole.
DIRECTOR'S BIOGRAPHY Slava began her journey in cinema as a teenage actor with lauded performances in Bulgarian feature films. Later, she completed a MA in Filmmaking at the London Film School, where she wrote and directed several shorts that traveled the world. Her last film, developed at the Berlinale Short Film Station, is currently on the festival circuit. Alumna of the Sarajevo Talents, Berlinale Talents and the Locarno Filmmaker’s Academy. slava.doytcheva@gmail.com
PRODUCTION NOTE Genre: Drama Length: 17-20 minutes Language: Bulgarian Production company: Klas Film Estimated budget: 43.000 EUR Secured financing: 4.000 EUR (private investments)
Financing plan: 1) 25.000 Euro - Bulgarian National Film Center (application in March); 2) 4.000 Euro - in kind (equipment); 3) 10.000 Euro - co-producers (NA) Looking for: Co-Producers, Sales Agents
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BOOK OF PROJECTS
06
MIRKO GENDUSO - ITALY
Fires Among the furthest lands of Sicily, a man called Ino, not accepting his father’s decision to die, has to face the mysterious fires spreading towards their direction.
SYNOPSIS The burnt, endless wheat fields in the heart of Sicily. Ino is a farmer who lives in the shade of a giant wind turbine, facing the disease of his father, a man attached on a ventilation machine, whose last desire is to escape from stillness and see the snow for the first and last time. Ino will not resign
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himself to his father’s choice. While earth around him is slowly burning, he will try to defend the world he has built for his father, until the day the fire arrives in his land. A fire that may be no longer destructive, but liberating.
EUROPEAN SHORT PITCH / 2019
INTENTION NOTE It happens only in Summer. When the air is dry and the wind of Sirocco rises from South-East, red glowing lines are forming in the horizon: wildfires. Sicily burns every Summer since I was a child. A child who could not explain why. Fires was born from the impossibility to explain a natural event, like a disease. As the fires of this story are spontaneously formed, consuming the result of men’s effort, so is the disease of Ino’s father. I want to direct Fires portraying inner Sicily like a vast desert inhabited by few, surrounded by ubiquitous, uncanny technologies. The sounds floating around the main character in the landscape are a result of my passion for music, which led me to explore the work of the most influential glitch music’s artists. Thus, my desire is to incorporate these influences by depicting a timeless rural landscape on fire, using the soundtrack as a counterpoint. All the digital and analog sounds that the protagonist constantly perceives around him, gradually merge with the surrounding world by becoming music. A music that in the end leads the way to the only thing these characters need: liberation.
DIRECTOR’S BIOGRAPHY Mirko Genduso (Writer/Director) studied music and architecture in Palermo, where he is still based. He graduated in filmmaking at Scuola Holden in Turin and then worked in the school’s Masterclasses. He is currently the assistant director of directorial duo Fabio Grassadonia and Antonio Piazza. In 2017 Mirko directed, edited and scored four out of seven short documentaries opening the Gran Paradiso Film Festival, in a collaboration between Scuola Holden and Fondation Gran Paradis. He then worked for various Italian feature films and television series as assistant director. Fires will be his first short film to be set in Sicily, his homeland. mirko.genduso@icloud.com
PRODUCTION NOTE Genre: Drama, Magical Realism Length: 15-20 minutes Language: Sicilian Shooting location: Inner Sicily Shooting period: June
Looking for: Producer, Co-Producer
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BOOK OF PROJECTS
07
LYUBO YONCHEV - BULGARIA
Goodnight Pal After suffering in a road accident, a young boy starts to look at life throughout another point of view.
SYNOPSIS When after a long day at work Junior races to get back to his home village, distracted by thoughts he suffers an accident. In just a moment his world is turned upside down and he is forced to find a way out of the situation. Thanks to the happening events he manages to change his attitude towards
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the little things. While finally he believes to have found the solution to his problem, everything crushes down to ash. During this rainy, autumn day he understands, that there is nothing as great as being a good human.
EUROPEAN SHORT PITCH / 2019
INTENTION NOTE I have always known that there is a little goodness in every person, even if he is the coldest and most egocentric person on the planet. The material world surrounds us, and we are under the need of getting more and more to feel good. We’re just that way.
DIRECTOR'S BIOGRAPHY
What provoked me to start working on this project are a series of events from my past. I have never believed that a dog’s life can touch someone‘s feelings to such an extent. Through the last year, I had to make many choices and make hard decisions. This film is the essence of several personal events.
Lyubo Yonchev is a writer and director, graduated from New Bulgarian University. His first professional short film Shooting Star has been nominated for the 29th European Film Awards, selected and awarded at many international festivals. Since 2016 Lyubo Yonchev is a member of the European Film Academy. In 2017 he is selected as a participant in 11th Talents Sarajevo.
Every one of us has had a pet at one point, be it a dog, a cat, a fish, a parrot, etc. Each one of us suffered when it was time to say a last goodbye, because we live longer than them. But what if you meet someone suddenly, you feel that you have to let it close to yourself and after a moment you realize that fate has other plans. We can give and take whatever we want. They only can take our hearts and give love.
lyonchev@gmail.com
PRODUCER'S BIOGRAPHY Ivo Nikolov graduated film production from National Academy of Theater and Film Arts NATFA in Sofia, Bulgaria. His professional career includes a lot of short and feature films, music videos and commercials. Since 2014 he is one of the main producers of the production and service company Four Elementz based in Bulgaria. fourlmntz@gmail.com
PRODUCTION NOTE Genre: Drama Length: 15 minutes Shooting location: Bulgaria Shooting period: Fall/Winter 2019 Production companies: Crystal Frame, Four Elementz
Looking for: Co-Producers, PostProduction, International Sales Agent, Distributors
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BOOK OF PROJECTS
08
SANJA MILARDOVIĆ - CROATIA
I’m not telling you anything, just sayin’ During a short visit home, a daughter realizes something is wrong with her mother and the roles between child and parent are gradually reversed.
SYNOPSIS A young woman, Zrinka, arrives to her hometown of Rijeka for few days to do some location scouting for a film she is working on. She stays at her mother Tanja’s place. Tanja is newly retired and doesn’t cope well with this new sitaution. Zrinka gradually becomes aware of her mother’s strange
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behaviour. She takes her location scouting in order to spend time with her and find out what is troubling her. Tanja keeps quiet and seclusive until she experiences a nervous breakdown. Zrinka realizes it is now up to her to step up and take on a role of a parent.
EUROPEAN SHORT PITCH / 2019
INTENTION NOTE I’m Not Telling You Anything, Just Sayin’ is a film about shifting relathionships between mother and daughter: a moment in life when a child needs to take on a role of a parent. It explores the difficulties that both sides experince during this process. The mother is unable to take care of herself but is unwilling to admit it, while the daughter is having difficulties adjusting to the role of a caretaker. I find this story universally relatable and emotionly powerful because it turns one’s primal life role upside down. And when it happens suddenly, like in this story, you have to sum up a lot of strength to change your life in orde to take care of the ones that took care of you. The film also has comic elements that come from both protagonists’ innapropriate reactions to the situation, and the city of Rijeka gives it a rich visual background: the mountins, the seaside, the river canyon and deteriorated factories which reflect Tanja’s frail state of mind. The town name Rijeka means the river, which acts as a leitmotif in the story because it all starts and ends in river, first as a depiction of insecurity, and later as a symbol of letting go and allowing for change to happen.
DIRECTOR'S BIOGRAPHY Sanja Milardović graduated Acting and Puppetry from the Academy of Arts in Osijek, Croatia and has been working as an actress in various film and theatre productions ever since. Besides acting, she directed several theatre plays, and in 2014 she directed a short film Just Like That that was shown in competition of several acclaimed international film festivals. sanjamilardovic5@gmail.com
PRODUCER'S BIOGRAPHY Matej Merlić graduated Film Production from the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Zagreb, Croatia. He has been working as a producer and production manager on short films, TV shows and film festivals such as The World Festival of Animated Film - Animafest Zagreb. He is currently working as a producer in a production company Castor Multimedia matej.merlic@gmail.com
PRODUCTION NOTE Genre: Drama, Comedy Length: 15 minutes Language: Croatian Production company: Castor Multimedia Estimated budget: 75.000 EUR
Looking for: Co-Producers, Sales Agents
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BOOK OF PROJECTS
09
BRITT RAES - BELGIUM
Luce and the Rock A tale of fun and adventure, about two unlikely friends facing darkness together.
SYNOPSIS Luce lives a happy life in a peaceful little village, together with her mother and the other villagers. Every day is the same, and that’s the way everyone likes it. The only thing that scares Luce is the dark, but luckily her little light keeps her safe!
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One day a giant Rock Creature disturbs the quiet life in the village. He destroys everyone’s house, including Luce’s! Luce is angry, and determined to take the Rock Creature back to his home.
EUROPEAN SHORT PITCH / 2019
INTENTION NOTE Although they seem very different, Luce and the Rock are quite alike. Luce lives in a small village, a place where she feels safe. This is exactly what the Rock is looking for as well, a safe place, away from the darkness! When the Rock enters the village, Luce sees in him an intruder who destroys everything on his way. Luce is strong and brave, but also imperfect and fragile. She wants to protect her world without realising she’s rejecting someone who needs help. The film follows the relationship between Luce and the Rock and its evolution. From misunderstanding to acceptance, from suspicion to empathy, from loneliness to friendship. Their fear of the dark brings them closer, and only together they can face darkness. In the end, the Rock makes Luce’s home a safe place again – by completing her world. The clear visual style, the thought out colour scheme and the use of light and dark emphasise the characters and the story. The film’s core audience are (but not limited to) boys and girls between 4-7 years old. The tone and style of the film is that of a tale: both fun and poetic, and full of adventure and emotion at the same time.
PRODUCTION NOTE Genre: Modern tale Genre: Animation Length: 10 minutes Audience: 5+ (kids and adults) Language: English, Flemish, French Production company: THURISTAR (Belgium)
DIRECTOR'S BIOGRAPHY In her work, Britt appeals to the child alive in each of us. Her first professional short Catherine travelled to 200 festivals worldwide, collecting 50 prizes along the way. Besides developing a new short, she’s also writing a series. She’s now 32 years old, but when she’s home alone, sometimes she’s still a bit afraid of the dark. britt.raes@gmail.com
PRODUCER'S BIOGRAPHY After starting out in live-action production, Perrine Gauthier was associate producer at an animation studio for 7 years, before partnering with THURISTAR (BE) and creating La Cabane Productions (FR). Now heading the creative development and financing of projects for both companies, Perrine produces international animated series and short films with authors and artists of various backgrounds. perrine@thuristar.com
Estimated budget: 180.000 EUR With the support of: The VAF/Film Fund Status: In development Looking for: Broadcasters, Distributors/ Sales Agents, Book Publishers, Co-Producers
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BOOK OF PROJECTS
10
JURGA Ĺ EDUIKYTÄ– - LITHUANIA
Mora Mora A small girl, sinking in the endless sea of emotions, finds a way how to embrace her biggest fear.
SYNOPSIS Little girl Mora is travelling through an abandoned fantastic world which reflects her emotions. As she discovers her power to make wind, the girl attempts to swim away from the dark Creature With A Hole in His Head, while hiding in a piano box. As the chasing continues through the frozen forest,
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the Creature freezes to death protecting the girl from the frost. Mora constructs a wind organ from the piano keys and clears the clouds in the sky. The sun and light revitalise the fantasy world and transform the Creature into a small bird.
EUROPEAN SHORT PITCH / 2019
INTENTION NOTE The origin story of animated film Girl and the Piano comes from directors’ dreams, that has always constituted a separate world for her: beautiful or adversarial; granting her deepest wishes or horrific and difficult to understand, yet always clearly pointing out her grievances. Jurga began writing a dream diary, as she was interested in observing the images generated by her subconscious. She realised that she must bring two weary, damaged characters to a better place. We are bringing together a creative team to conjure up a fantasy world composed of highly interrelated parts which lead to transformations at the slightest hint of characters action. Here, the means of influence commonly used in film to amplify regular emotions become characters: the music takes on a corporeal form (such the piano keys scattered on the shore) and the elements of style used in the film reflect the girl’s view of the World, obscured by tears. This is done so as to bring the viewer as close to the events of the film as possible, create a familiar environment and present the journey as a potential solution to the challenges viewer faced in real life.
DIRECTOR'S BIOGRAPHY Jurga Šeduikytė (Director, Scriptwriter) was born into a family of musicians. In 2005 she began her solo music career under the stage name Jurga. In 2009, Jurga published a childrens book. She worked as composer on a number of films. In 2017 she won a Silver Crane award for the soundtrack of short animated film Running Lights (dir. Gediminas Šiaulys). jurga.seduikyte@gmail.com
PRODUCER'S BIOGRAPHY Giedrė Burokaitė holds a BA degree in Cultural History and Anthropology and a MA degree in Arts management. In 2015 she initiated a film production platform in NGO Meno avilys, which specializes in the area of film education and preservation. Giedrė produced number of short films and a feature lenght documentary and currently is working on two short animated films. burokaite.giedre@gmail.com
PRODUCTION NOTE Genre: Fantasy Length: 8 minutes Language: No dialogues Technique: Hand-drawn animation Production company: Meno avilys Estimated budget: 60.000 EUR Funding: 14.600 EUR (Lithuanian Film Center)
Estimated release: 2020 Looking for: Co-Producer, International Sales Agents
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BOOK OF PROJECTS
11
MARIJA APCEVSKA - MACEDONIA
The North Pole Margo wants to lose her virginity in order to finally be just like everybody else.
SYNOPSIS 16-year-old Margo desperately wants to lose her virginity. She is distant, reserved and interested in particularly boring things. She might be bipolar, or maybe it’s just a phase in puberty but one thing is certain; she feels like she doesn’t belong. The main thing that unites all the normal girls from the class is
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the fact that they are no longer virgins. Does this mean that by finally doing it, she too will feel normal? The only problem is that the task proves to be harder than she thought and what she really needs is to accept herself.
EUROPEAN SHORT PITCH / 2019
INTENTION NOTE The North Pole is a story about acceptance. Margo wants to fit in but her real struggle is with accepting herself for who she really is. I have first-hand experience in feeling like an outsider and unfortunately, it is not only during teenage hood. We are always under constant demand to fulfil the expectations of the group and to act according to our age, sex, position… Even when we feel completely different. In that sense, how much we are shaped by the pressure to conform and how much of what we perceive as normal drives us insane in the same time, becomes inevitable question. Is Margo doing things because she is crazy, or is she doing them because she thinks that way she will feel normal? Apart from the opening scene, the main action is set in the course of 1 day, where Margo’s time is spent floating around her house, school and the abandoned building where she meets Matej, the boy she wants to have sex with. Between the snow, the cold and the harsh suburbia, The North Pole becomes a place of comfort. Obviously confused, Margo is not quite aware why she acts the way she does and the film itself is not about giving too many explications or answers, but rather raising questions.
DIRECTOR'S BIOGRAPHY Marija Apcevska has BA in Directing, Faculty of Dramatic Arts, Skopje and MA in Film and Media Production, New York Film Academy, Los Angeles. Her short films have traveled to festivals worldwide and won several awards. Bardo premiered at Berlinale Generation while Ambi is still part of the festival circuit and was listed at Cineuropa’s list, Top 5 Shorts of 2017. apcevska_marija@yahoo.com
PRODUCER'S BIOGRAPHY Robert Naskov is a graduate in Film Production from the FDA in Skopje. His production company Kino Oko participated in numerous European co-productions and collaborated with famous directors and actors. He is an active member of the European Film Academy and the European Producers Club. robert@kinooko.com.mk
PRODUCTION NOTE Genre: Coming-of-Age Length: 15 minutes Format: 16 mm Shooting period: Winter 2019/2020 Production company: Kino Oko Estimated budget: 55.000 EUR
Funding: Applied in Macedonian Film Agency Status: In development Looking for: Co-Producers, Distributors, Sales Agents
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NINNA PĂ LMADĂ“TTIR - ICELAND
Of Dogs Aged farmer, Gunnar, contemplates suicide when facing a terminal illness. His plans take the back seat when his granddaughter visits him to help with their sick dog.
SYNOPSIS On a hill side in rural Iceland, aged farmer Gunnar comtemplates killing himself when facing a newly discovered terminal illness. His personal troubles take the back seat
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when his grown granddaugter Anna visits the farm for a weekend to help with their sick dog and Gunnar is forced to face his own mortality.
EUROPEAN SHORT PITCH / 2019
INTENTION NOTE For several years I’ve explored certain stories and themes throughout my work, subjects very close to my heart, and I feel more ready than ever to bring Of Dogs to life. It all started strangely - death was on my mind a lot. A string of personal events got me wondering how people view life and death differently. I started to explore toxic masculinity, a troubling culture considering the highest death rate of young males in Iceland is suicide and it sprouts from a very long history of suppressed emotions. This hindered vulnerability is embodied by the main character in this story, Gunnar. After rewriting the script I’ve come to realize the main theme: vulnerability and how we constantly struggle for it. Of Dogs is a little slice of life that I wish to explore with sensitivity and curiosity - to explore how vulnerability looks like in the protagonist, raised in a different time, and how it reflects in his granddaughter Anna. I will be approaching this somewhat dim matter at the highest peak of summer solstice. I believe it’s a unique way of shining a light on the heavy subject. There’s something to be said about the sun never going down for someone feeling down.
DIRECTOR'S BIOGRAPHY Ninna Pálmadóttir (Writer/Director) is an Icelandic director/writer and cinematographer currently a thesis M.F.A candidate in filmmaking at NYU Tisch. She has written and directed several short films in Iceland and New York, her most recent short Blaðberinn currently pursuing a festival circuit. Ninna is deeply fascinated by the complexity of family relationships and the gap that people forge between one another. ninnapalma@gmail.com
PRODUCER'S BIOGRAPHY Chew Chia Shao Min is a Writer-Director and Producer whose independent work moves fluidly between documentary and narrative story telling. In 2018 her short films May and June premeriered at Singapore International Film Festival. She graduated from Harvard University in 2013 and is currently an Ang Lee Scholar at NYU’s Tisch graduate film department. cc.shaomin@gmail.com
PRODUCTION NOTE Genre: Fiction, Drama Length: 13 minutes Format: HD Language: Icelandic Shooting location: South Iceland Shooting period: 5 days Budget: 14.300 EUR
Secured budget: 8.800 EUR Looking for: Producer, Co-Producer, Sales Agent
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LIDIJA MAJSOVSKA, JAKOV POPOSKI - MACEDONIA
Only Devil Hates Water A 10-year-old child influenced by the closest ‘traditional’ surrounding starts to suspect that his friend is a representation of the Devil.
SYNOPSIS Only devil hates water is a story about the friendship of two children Boris and Kira, which for a moment will be shattered. The first working day on the beach, Kira will reveal unusual tattoos all over her body. Influenced by his traditional grandmother,
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Boris will start to suspect that his friend is representation of the Devil. Throughout the film we follow Boris, struggling to understand his friend, until the very end when a different truth is revealed.
EUROPEAN SHORT PITCH / 2019
INTENTION NOTE I was taken over by the children’s world and the way they understand it, so I started to explore it in my work. Provoked by the stories of my small provincial hometown by the lake, I decided to investigate the influence of the traditional surrounding on the children through an emotional coming of age story about friendship between two kids working on the beach. Like me, most of the children in my town are raised by their traditional grandparents. One of them, our protagonist Boris, not the smartest boy in the class-influenced by his grandmother is showing the world his struggle to understand his friend, Kira, who is pointed as representation of the Devil. This will make an emotional discrepancy between the two friends which at the end will be solved, because even the harshest truth creates greater empathy to what fears us the most. Opposing the Devil’s element there is the symbol of the water as process of cleansing, which will enrich the realistic visual approach with an intimate poetic touch. Set on a beach by the Ohrid lake, also working with non-actors, this film will draw the audience nearer to the authentic world of a small Balkan place by the water.
DIRECTOR'S BIOGRAPHY
PRODUCER'S BIOGRAPHY
Lidija Mojsovska (Director & Co-Writer), graduated Film and TV directing, at Faculty of Dramatic Arts. Her graduation short film The Award was screened on many festival and has won 10 international awards.
Marija Dimitrova has produced 10 short fiction and documentary films. Her first feature film Sister will go into production in the autumn 2019. She is Maia Workshops, Talents Sarajevo and Midpoint alumni and a winner of the promoting prize for young East European producers from Film Festival Cottbus for 2016.
lidija.mojsoska@ gmail.com
dimitrova@ listproduction.mk
WRITER'S BIOGRAPHY Jakov Poposki (Co-Writer), mastered Screenwriting at Film Institute Ohrid. He has wrote 6 short and 1 feature scripts. His short script Bridge won several awards on script development workshops. jakovfendu@gmail.com
PRODUCTION NOTE Genre: Drama, Coming of age Length: 15 minutes Language: Macedonian Production company: List Production Budget: 40.000 EUR Secured funding: 15.000 EUR (Macedonian Film Agency) 13.000 EUR + Producer’s investments 2.000 EUR)
Start of principal photography: September 2019 Looking for: Co-Producers, Postproduction
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PAULINE PELSY-JOHANN - FRANCE
The Season of Seagulls In Britanny, three women from the same family living together in extreme poverty eat seagulls to survive.
SYNOPSIS In Brittany, Martine, a woman in her fifties, is passionated about sewing. She takes care of the old family house where she lives with her nasty mother, Simone, ninety, and her selfish daughter Lisa, twenty five years. Simone kills seagulls to feed them until she finds a container on the beach, full of bottles
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of luxury perfume. She decides to sell them to make some money to repair the house. Martine, continuously abused by the other two dreams to work in Paris in fashion. With the money earned from the perfumes, she finally finds a way out.
EUROPEAN SHORT PITCH / 2019
INTENTION NOTE The Seagull Season is a satire on the family, a dark comedy with lyrical connotations, a look without mercy on a family that is falling apart : the three women are stuck together through living in an extreme poverty. Martine – who is a Cenderella character - takes refuge in her passion for sewing, without ever finding a way out of the impasse where she seems forever trapped. She takes care of the house, cooking the seagulls that her mother kills with her rifle. The seagulls are like the rats of the ocean, and Martine becomes almost like those disgusting birds. The two others talk to her by violent words sliced like thin blades. This tragic story of a family, destroyed from the inside by the ghosts of the past, melancholy, resentment and abuse of power goes to crescendo of affects. The sky hides the horizon and condemns existence. The pain of living, the frustrated dreams, cross Martine who struggles with her destiny, wavers from shadow to light. The film is built to keep us going like a thriller. The dramatic tension grows constantly until the end of the film. I want to treat this tragic subject with comic effects, a ridiculous grotesque comic, raised to a poetic dimension.
DIRECTOR'S BIOGRAPHY Born in 1986, she grew up both in Paris and on an island in Brittany. She graduated with an MA in Film studies & Literature (Paris 4, 7 and 1) and a BA in Cultural Studies (Smith College, USA). She directed her first documentary in 2009 with the participation of Quentin Tarantino and Claude Chabrol. Her last documentary The words between bars (2018) is about detainees discovering literature. She directs short and feature films that are about social topics with a lyrical touch steeped in comedy. pauline.pelsyjohann@gmail.com
PRODUCER'S BIOGRAPHY The founder and producer of Matsylie Productions, HervĂŠ Alexandre, created his company in 2012 in Brittany and has produced short movies, documentaries, animated series and musical clips.
PRODUCTION NOTE Genre: Dark Comedy Length: 20 minutes Language: French Production company: Matsylie Productions (Brittany) Budget: 95.000 EUR
matsylie.productions@orange.fr
Looking for: Co-Producer
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KATE VOET - BELGIUM
The Tears of Things Two conflicted lovers revisit and re-enact moments from their own life, hoping to give meaning to the story they once shared.
SYNOPSIS One night. A man reading after dark, a diary of someone who disappeared. Someone he loved. After having been away for weeks, Alba returns home to her husband Max. What unfolds is a magical realist drama in which Max urges Alba to take him on a journey through her fears, hopes and ultimately her secret - a journey through her 34
diary. As she shares her memories of a lover whom she grew closer to and away from, they start to revisit and re-enact scenes from their own relationship. Or was there ever another man to begin with? To change the story of their lives, they realize they need to rewrite their ending.
EUROPEAN SHORT PITCH / 2019
INTENTION NOTE The film focuses on Alba and Max as they meet again, revisit and in doing so rewrite their relationship as well as their lives. The Tears of Things is an intimate film about growing apart, reconnecting, the unreliability of memory and the impossible desire to rewrite our own story. It shows two lovers whose lives have been wrecked by fear - it’s about how we unconsciously often set in motion the things we are most afraid of. As Max urges Alba to take him on this journey through her diary, it soon becomes clear that both of them relive their shared experiences differently - they have been writing a different story for a while. Ultimately, through the betrayal Max experienced, they manage to really see and understand each other again as it helps them growing closer not only to each other, but also to themselves. I hope the film can reflect the confusing search for meaning in life and that people find some comfort in it as they search within with these characters. The Tears of Things attempts to help you rethink the endings of relationships. It’s time to embrace the impossibility of sharing the same story and the transformative nature of love if we dare to let each other lead us into new beginnings.
DIRECTOR'S BIOGRAPHY Kate Voet is a writer/director whose work revolves around identity, the loneliness of the mind and the unreliability of memory. As a University of Brussels, University of Amsterdam and The New School University of NYC graduate, she studied literature, theatre & media studies and business management. She’s a GO SHORT Campus alumnus and she’s currently graduating from LUCA as a director. Her short Les Homards Immortels screened at several international festivals, and her first feature film, Why This World, is in early development. hi@katevoet.com
PRODUCER'S BIOGRAPHY Peter Bouckaert is a Belgian producer and managing director of Eyeworks. He co-produces The Tears of Things together with sound designer/ composer Senjan Jansen and Kate Voet. Peter.Bouckaert@eyeworks.tv
PRODUCTION NOTE Genre: Drama, Narrative Fiction Length: 15-20 minutes Format: Digital, 4K Production company: Eyeworks Belgium, Senstudio Co-Producers: Peter Bouckaert, Senjan Jansen (senjan@senstudio.be)
Secured funding: 11.000 EUR Looking for: Co-Producer, Sales Agent, Distributor Website: www.katevoet.com
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TOMMASO USBERTI - FRANCE/ITALY
A Violent boy Three days when everything will change.
SYNOPSIS Sergio is a 20-years-old Romanian boy who lives in the Tuscan countryside. He is a fragile boy, coming out from a painful adolescence, who wants to take revenge. We discover him through the camera of a director looking for young actors. The boy is in a critical situation: he was reported for
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burning a car. This time he risks prison. The intensity of Sergio fascinates the filmmaker. To convince him to leave and play in his film, the director decides to confront Sergio with the one who denounced him: Elena, a Romanian girl of his age, which he knows since childhood.
EUROPEAN SHORT PITCH / 2019
INTENTION NOTE I grew up in the Italian province: in northern Italy, then in Siena in Tuscany. For this film, it is not the beauty and harmony of the countryside around Siena that I want to shoot. This is not where the life of immigrants takes place, nor in the city centres. But in industrial areas, sports fields, playgrounds, red brick terraced houses, peripheral boulevards, vacant lots, car breaks, petrol stations, around the discotheques. Places without roots, which change from one year to the next, without identity. It is this landscape that corresponds to Sergio, my character. Sergio seeks his place in a world that does not accept him. He broke up with his family and is ashamed of his origins. This film is the story of three days when everything will switch for him. Sergio has to make a choice. To impose himself by force - the way of delinquency, with Alex, the dealer for whom he works. To leave and become an actor, looking for success - the way of cinema, with the director. And finally Sergio will make another choice, unexpected. Stay where he is, undertake a simpler life than the ones he dreamed of, but be at peace with himself. In love with Elena he accepts his origins and his diversity, and prepares to face them.
PRODUCTION NOTE Genre: Drama Lenght: 20 minutes Shooting period: September 2019 Production company: Lionceau Films (France) Estimated budget: 100.000 EUR
DIRECTOR'S BIOGRAPHY Tommaso Usberti graduated from La Fémis in 2017 (directing department) with Deux égarés sont morts (Two Youths died), Cinéfondation 3rd prize – Cannes Festival 2017, an adaptation of Romeo and Juliet in the Tuscan countryside of nowadays. He is actually writing his first feature film, The most intense Days of Guido Kalb (La Résidence de la Cinéfondation, winter 2018/19), a story focused on violent relationships between Italians and foreigners in Northern Italy. tommasousberti@gmail.com
PRODUCER'S BIOGRAPHY Lionceau Films set up in 2008 by Hélène Cases. She produced Alix Delaporte’s awarded ANGELE AND TONY (two-time Cesar winner in 2012). Followed by features like THE LAST HAMMER BLOW by Alix Delaporte, in competition for Venice Film Festival, or Hélène Angel’s feature, ELEMENTARY. After studying production at La Fémis, where she produced several shorts including TWO YOUTHS DIED by Tommaso Usberti, Marie-Mars Prieur joined Lionceau Films. mariemarsprieur@lionceaufilms.com
Status: Financing Looking for: Co-Producer
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BOOK OF PROJECTS
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SUZANNAH MIRGHANI - QATAR/SUDAN
Al-Sit In an arranged marriage in a Sudanese village, a young girl is torn between the traditional comfort of cotton and the modern lure of polyester.
SYNOPSIS In a Sudanese village, Nafisa is a 15-yearold girl whose parents have arranged her marriage to Nadir, a Sudanese businessman living abroad. However, Al-Sit, the cranky village matriarch, must first give her blessing. Nadir has come to seal the deal, and the village is abuzz with excitement
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at how Al-Sit will react. The story is seen through the eyes of Nafisa, who is torn between her desire for the new—in the form of Nadir’s exotic modernity—and respect for tradition—in the form Al-Sit’s authority. But can a young girl ever make her own decision?
EUROPEAN SHORT PITCH / 2019
INTENTION NOTE In some Sudanese villages, it is the tradition that the matriarch is consulted for her blessing ahead of any wedding. The matriarch is both revered and feared because she is keeper of village heritage, and can remember long-forgotten stories— both good and bad—which guide her matchmaking decisions. When was I child, we would visit relatives in a village every summer. I was friendly with a village girl, and we looked forward to playing together. On one visit, my friend said we could no longer see each other—the matriarch had found a groom for her. We were 12 years old. This story has always haunted me—how two girls can live such different lives. I was a child, while she was soon to be a married woman. I asked if she could refuse. She was surprised by the question. The matriarch’s word was final.
DIRECTOR'S BIOGRAPHY Suzannah Mirghani (Writer/Director) is an independent filmmaker highlighting stories about women from the Arab world. Being of multicultural Sudanese and Russian backgrounds, she is interested in stories that examine the complexity of identity. Suzannah is the writer and director of several short films, including, There Be Dragons (2017), Caravan (2016), Hind’s Dream (2014), and Hamour (2011). suzannah.mirghani@gmail.com
Doha Film Institute
But what happens when the modern world encroaches on village customs? This film sets up a scenario where modernity is represented by Nadir in his polyester suit, and tradition is represented by Al-Sit in her handmade cotton clothes. Caught in the middle is young Nafisa, who lives in between both worlds. Can she create a third option for herself in a future where her voice is heard?
PRODUCTION NOTE Genre: Drama Length: 15 minutes Language: Arabic Shooting location: Sudan Shooting period: December 2019 Budget: 60.000 EUR
Secured funding: 10.000 EUR (Doha Film Institute) Looking for: Co-Producers, Casting, PostProduction
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BOOK OF PROJECTS
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DAMIAN KOCUR - POLAND
It’s still night Somewhere in Europe, somewhere in Poland Pawel lives in a village and drives a ferry on a small local river. A daily routine. One day, the big world events come closer to meet him, closer than one could ever think.
SYNOPSIS Pawel is a simple man in his 60s, working on a small river ferry close to his village. He spends most of his day on a ferry, taking the villagers to the other side of the river. Even though everybody knows him, Pawel is very lonely. For Pawel every day looks the same,
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but one day he notices somebody who’s trying to traverse the river by swimming. This person is Mohammad, an immigrant from Palestine. There is finally somebody Pawel can talk to.
EUROPEAN SHORT PITCH / 2019
Work in progress
INTENTION NOTE
In my movie the immigration itself is not a topic, but an opportunity to tell a story of a men’s solitude. Neverthelss, the historical and contemporary politics context is something I cannot ommit.
The couple of months ago the Hungarian Government has changed the law - by hiding an immigrant one could be sentenced to jail. That reminds me strongly of the Second World War and the situation of Jewish people living in Poland during that time. The German’s occupier law has been no different. The contemporary migration crisis awake the historical consciousness.
The film will be shot in b&w, nevertheless representing contemporary times. The main core of the story is the small village life and the meeting of two men. The political events and facts will be invited to the plot through a window, encountered by chance as marginal topics for the main character, Pawel.
DIRECTOR'S BIOGRAPHY Damian Kocur (35, Director, Cinematographer, Producer), graduated from Cinematography and Art Photography at Faculty of Radio and Television at the University of Silesia in Katowice and German studies at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. He made several short films, which won a wide recognition and rewards on numerous polish film festivals . Right now he’s preparing his debut feature film.
PRODUCTION NOTE Genre: Drama Length: 30 minutes Format: 1.1.85, Digital 2k Language: Polish, English Estimated budget: 7.000 EUR Financing: Self Financing, Polish Ministry of Culture
tojakocur@gmail.com
Satus: Editing Looking for: VFX Post-Production, Sales Agent, TV
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BOOK OF PROJECTS
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EUROPEAN SHORT PITCH / 2019
ESP 2019
Consultants Matthieu Taponier Matthieu Taponier is a Franco-American screenwriter, script consultant and film editor. After studying Modern Literature in Paris, he completed an MFA in filmmaking at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. As a script consultant, he received training at the TorinoFilmLab’s Script&Pitch program and has been tutoring since in workshops such as the Critic’s Week Next Step, Biennale College-Cinema, Le Groupe Ouest and Doha Film Institute’s Hezayah Screenwriting Lab. He worked both as a script editor and film editor on Son of Saul by László Nemes (Grand Prix at Cannes Film Festival 2015, Golden Globe, Academy Award and BAFTA 2016 for Best Foreign Film); as a co-writer on Hier by Bálint Kenyeres (Locarno 2018); as a co-writer and film editor on Sunset by László Nemes (Venice Film Festival 2018, FIPRESCI award).
Ben Vandendaele Ben Vandendaele is a versatile producer, sales agent and distributor. He’s based in Brussels where he studied film editing at the Rits. He is the founder of two companies: the production company Bekke Films that supports provocative cinema and authors with a purpose and Radiator IP Sales with which he represents, distributes and sels a total of 80 short films to date. The films have been selected for multiple international film festivals, including Berlinale, ClermontFerrand, Sundance, SXSW, Locarno, Venice and many others. He was part of several international workshops, including Berlinale Talents, Zurich Masterclass and a member of the pre-selection committee for LIM. Since two years he’s partner and consultant for the European Short Pitch.
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BOOK OF PROJECTS
ESP 2019
Tutors Nadja Dumouchel
Pierre Hodgson
Nadja Dumouchel is currently engaged as a script consultant and tutor for several film labs such as Script Lab/TorinoFilmLab, Next Step run by Semaine de la Critique, Le G.R.E.C and Moulin d’Andé. She is fully dedicated to the international art house film scene – accompanying a story’s process of gestation, its forming into worlds, words and images has become her main focus. As an independent story editor, Nadja is working with various filmmakers around the world on the development of their short films and feature films as well as training international producing students on the intercultural aspects of scriptwriting (Filmakademie Ludwigsburg). After studying visual culture in Brighton, journalism and literature in Berlin and cinema in Valencia, Nadja started her career as a programmer and commissioning editor at ARTE’s short film section in Strasbourg. She was later hired by the international sales company PREMIUM FILMS in Paris, before going back to ARTE in the feature films section in 2010, where she worked in European feature film development for five years. She is still working for ARTE on a freelance basis, currently writing a documentary series on art history. In 2012, she trained as a story editor at TorinoFilmLab, before teaching scriptwriting at Université de Strasbourg 2013-2015 and cofounding La Scénaristerie, a development program for screenwriters in Paris.
Pierre Hodgson is a British-born screenwriter, based in France. He has collaborated with Raul Ruiz, Philippe Grandrieux, Joaquim Pinto, Jerome de Missolz, Patricia Mazuy, Marina de Van, among many others. Two of the films he co-write with Joao Canijo went to Un Certain Regard at Cannes. Another screenplay, Des Gens Jeunes Modernes, was shown at Directors Fortnight in 2011. He is currently writing his first feature for Unafilm, Berlin with support from Creative Europe. He is a regular consultant for Le Groupe Ouest script labs, including LIM and Selection Annuelle. In 2017 & 2018, he was a Torino Film Lab Script Lab Tutor.
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ESP
EUROPEAN SHORT PITCH / 2019
ESP 2019
Britta Krause
Leonardo Staglianò
After having started her studies at New York University’s film & television program, Britta Krause graduated from the London Film School with a distinction in script-writing. She then worked as a writer, director and editor on short and TV-films. Her short film Fünf Minuten (Five Minutes) won several festival awards, was screened at the Biennale di Venezia and throughout German cinemas as the official supporting film of Run Lola Run. Her television feature Family Dog was an official entry at the Munich Film Festival. She then returned to the short format by directing commercials. In 2007 Britta worked as an acting coach alongside Shirin Neshat on Women without Men (Silver Lion/ Best Director Biennale di Venezia 2009). Since 2010 she has worked as a script editor with German and international writer/directors. She was a script editor trainee at Torino Film Lab in 2012 and has been coaching screenwriters as a script consultant for Torino Film Lab’s FeatureLab, the Doha Film Institute, Kultburo, Moscow, Filmuniversity Babelsberg Konrad Wolf, Nisi Masa, Filmakademie Ludwigsburg and the Nipkow Programm, Berlin.
A former participant of the ESP, Leonardo Staglianò is a writer and story editor who studied Philosophy (Università di Firenze), Techniques of Narration (Scuola Holden) and Dramatic Writing (New York University). He wrote the feature film Yuri Esposito, winner of the Biennale College at the 70° Venice Film Festival, the play Cashmere, WA, winner of the Diego Fabbri Award, and short stories published in various literary magazines. As a script consultant he has run workshops for organizations and institutions such as TorinoFilmLab, Le Groupe Ouest, Doha Film Institute. Currently, he is the Program Coordinator of the College of Storytelling / International at the Scuola Holden, where he teaches dramaturgy.
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BOOK OF PROJECTS
ESP 2019
Team PROJECT PROJECT COORDINATOR
ASSISTANT
Marija Fridinovaite
Lauma Kaudzīte
Marija Fridinovaite graduated from Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre in 2015. She is a member of Lithuanian Film Academy and an alumni of MAIA Workshops. For the past eight years Marija has been working in film production, positioning herself as a production manager and producer, in this way having taken part in various feature and short film projects. In 2016 Marija started working for NISI MASA (Paris, France) as an office manager / European finances and a coordinator of European Short Pitch. In addition to this, Marija is currently working on two shorts, When Children Come Home and Through the Fields, both to be released in 2019, as well as a documentary 2002 that was presented at Berlinale Short Film Station 2019. The last short, The Mother’s Day (dir. Kamile Milasiute), produced by M. Fridinovaite has won the national film award - Silver Crane for the best short of the year 2017, and was premiered at Clermont-Ferrand ISFF (2018).
Lauma recently moved back to France to work for NISI MASA, after graduating Audiovisual and Performance Art Production in Latvian Academy of Culture. Previously she had taken part organizing several film festivals, such as ÉCU Le Festival Européen du Film Indépendant in Paris and Short Riga – Short Film programme of Riga International Film Festival. She also works in cinema education, co-creating the European Film Lectures for Youth and has curated culture programme in Kanepes Culture Centre in Riga, has produced several film and theatre projects, and assisted in organizing a fashion shows.
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EUROPEAN SHORT PITCH / 2019
ESP 2019
Jérôme Nunes
Wim Vanacker
Jérôme works and lives in Marseille. Together with Jean-Laurent Csinidis, he created the company Films de Force Majeure (France Televisions Emerging Producer award), focusing on documentaries, with a keen interest in international co-productions. He also works as a script consultant: Aflam workshop (Rencontres Int. des Cinémas Arabes – CNC, Talents en court), Summer Scriptwriting Camp (Bulgaria), Pitch Please! (Luxembourg City Film Festival), le G.R.E.C. (South-East of France, 2012)… As an ESP alumnus, he directed the short film Relapse in 2013 (Cinébanlieue, Clermont-Ferrand…). That’s when he became an active member of Nisi Masa’s script department, co-organising European Short Pitch and in particular the coproduction forum.
After studying psychology in Belgium, Wim Vanacker moved to Dublin to work as a psychologist in the field of drug addiction. Three years later, he picked up studying again at EICAR where he made two shorts : Endgame and The Naked leading the Blind. After graduating, he discovered NISI MASA – European Network of Young Cinema where he became the Head of the Script Department and the Project manager of the MEDIA funded project, European Short Pitch. On the side, he founded Sireal Films where he produced the VAF funded short film empire. Furthermore, he’s a member of the Selection Committee for the Official Short Film Competition of the Cannes Film Festival and he works as a script consultant, creative advisor, tutor and guest speaker for many film festivals and projects in development. As a writer/director, he’s currently developing the short films [ˈsɪə.ri.əl ] and Psycho Revisited.
C O - P R O HEAD OF DUCTION S C R I P T FO R U M M AN AG E R
D E PA RT M E N T
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BOOK OF PROJECTS
ESP 2019
Awards 1 money award of 1.000 EUR in cash will be awarded by the Brittany Region as voted by the audience of professionals
Aubagne International Film Festival award
European market for film music composition 3rd Character One project will be invited for the next edition of the Festival to find and meet their potential music composer www.aubagne-filmfest.fr
Distribution Award - Radiator IP Sales Ben Vandendaele
Distribution and promotion by Radiator IP Sales (Belgium) www.radiatorsales.com
Mastering-in-kind Award - The Fridge Belgium www.thefridge.tv
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The Award ceremony will take place on Saturday 16 March at 8pm at Ateliers des Capucins - Place des Machines.
HEAD OF SCRIPT DEPARTMENT Wim Vanacker wim@nisimasa.com
Credits
CO-PRODUCTION FORUM MANAGER Jérôme Nunes nunes@films-de-force-majeure.com PROJECT COORDINATOR Marija Fridinovaite marija@nisimasa.com PROJECT ASSISTANT Lauma Kaudzīte lauma@nisimasa.com LAYOUT & DESIGN Andrada Haș hasandrada@gmail.com
FUNDERS
WITH THE SUPPORT OF
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH