European Short Pitch 2013 - Book of Projects

EUROPEAN SHORT PITCH 2013

CONTENT 4

ABOUT NISI MASA

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ABOUT EUROPEAN SHORT PITCH PROJECTS

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PURIM SHPIEL MR. NELU THE BALLAD THE HIDDEN ELDERLY OF PARIS FREE LOVE THE SEVENTH SATURDAY INFINITA TRISTEZA THE GENDER REASSIGNMENT MUSICAL WAKE ME UP WITCH’S MILK THE QUEEN ON ENGLAND STOLE MY PARENTS THE NOISE MAKER DEADBOY BRIGHT SHADOW MR. CAT & SPARROW ANA ANESTHESIA THE KEY TO A MAN’S HEART THE MEMORY OF THE FUTURE HONEY CAN YOU TAKE MY HUMAN FOR A WALK TO LEAVE OR NOT TO LIVE TIGERS THE FIRE BEHIND THE DOOR

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Yashar Alishenas (Sweden) Ioana Baltatu (Romania) Judit Banhazi (Hungary) Alina Bogdan (Romania) Jantiene De Kroon (Netherland) Grzegorz Debowski (Poland) Mike Forshaw (United Kingdom) Gabriele Galligani (Italy/France) Adina Istrate (Romania) Dea Jagic (Croatia) Martin Jehle (Germany) Ernestas Jankauskas (Lithuania) Karolis Kaupinis (Lithuania) Konstantina Kotzamani (Greece) Claire Oakley (United Kingdom) Vasilis Patmanidis (Greece) Carla Pipo (Spain) Noar Sahiti (Kosovo) James Schlesinger (United Kingdom) David Steiner (France) Miha Subic (Slovenia) Nikita Sutyrin (Russia) Jenni Toivoniemi (Finland) Ana Vilenica (Croatia) Olga Yakovleva (Russia)

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TUTORS

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PARTNERS AND CONTACT INFO

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OUR PROFILE NISI MASA is a European Network of Young Cinema gathering hundreds of film enthusiasts and professionals from 26 countries. NISI MASA is composed of national organisations with different profiles, but all consisting of young Europeans sharing a common passion: cinema.

about nisi masa

OUR MAIN ACTIVITIEs NISI MASA holds an annual call for short film projects for young European scriptwriters and filmmakers aged between 18 and 35, which results in European Short Pitch. All year long, NISI MASA organizes various events all around Europe, involving hundreds of film buffs and talents: seminars, scriptwriting and filmmaking workshops, as well as film festivals and screenings. Moreover, NISI MASA publishes Nisimazine during different European and International films festivals (Berlin, Cannes, Rotterdam, Venice, etc.) as well as a monthly newsletter, Mas y Mas. OUR MAIN AIMS - Discover and promote new film talents - Foster European awareness through cinema - Develop cross-cultural cinema projects - Create a platform of collaboration for young European filmmakers NISI MASA Associations -Albania - First Step Association -Austria - kino5 -Bulgaria - SEVEN -Croatia - Kinoklub Zagreb -Croatia - Palunko -Czech Republic - Kino Praha -Estonia - NISI MASA Estonia -Finland - Euphoria Borealis ry -France - NISI MASA France -Germany - Munich Film Society -Greece - PSAROKOKALO -Hungary - NISI MASA Hungary -Italy - Franti NISI MASA Italia -Kosovo - 7arte

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-Lithuania - Kaunas International Film Festival -Luxembourg - Filmreakter -Macedonia - Cre8ive8 -Montenegro - Cinemapolis -Netherlands - Breaking Ground -Norway - Filmkraft -Portugal - FEST – Associação Cultural -Russia - Generation Campus -Russia - Moviement -Slovenia - PIFF -Spain - Cinestesias -Sweden - NISI MASA Sweden -UK - Encounters -Ukraine - CinemaHall

about european short pitch

European Short Pitch is an initiative aimed at promoting the European coproduction of short films. It combines a scriptwriting workshop in residency, an on-line session and a coproduction forum bringing together scriptwriters and industry professionals from all over Europe.

Selected on the basis of their short film projects, young European talents gather to discuss, rewrite and learn to promote their ideas on a European level.

They eventually pitch their project in front of a panel of European producers and distributors.

Initiated by NISI MASA, European Short Pitch is now in its 7th edition and is the continuation of our European Script Contest, held from 2001 to 2008.

European Short Pitch’s rewriting session was held in Zagreb at the beginning of January, with 25 participants from 17 countries attending. From collective brainstorming to working in groups or individually with professional tutors, participants discussed their projects in depth, receiving various feedbacks to nurture their projects.

This year, European Short Pitch’s pitching session will take place on the 2nd of March in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg in collaboration with Discovery Zone, The Luxembourg City Film Festival, followed by one-to-one meetings in the evening and on the following day.

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Sweden

PURIM SHPIEL

Guy NATANEL

alishenas@gmail.com

Yashar Alishenas & Guy Natanel

+ 467 0942 5610

director

After selling his art-house cinema in the US, Guy Natanel moved to London to study filmmaking at the Met Film School in Ealing Studios. He now works as a director, cinematographer and editor on both fiction and documentary projects and has won several awards. Originally from Israel, Guy engages with questions of identity, conflict, home and exile.

A Jewish girl with a very Jewish family. An Iranian boy with immigrant anxiety.

Acting Jewish seems like a good idea. But can he pull it off? Dinner is ready and disaster looms…

SYNOPSIS London, the present. A young couple: David, Iranian-German, and Galit, JewishBritish. She has never introduced him to her parents, fearing their reactions to his Iranian origins. When he persuades her to finally meet them at Purim, he promises to act the nice Jewish boyfriend – but is unprepared for Galit’s suspicious Grandmother.

Galit’s parents (separately) find out that he was born in Iran. In a frantic attempt to protect each other from the truth, they construct fake identities for David, which he tries to accommodate with the help of Galit. She convinces him to put Grandmother’s doubts at rest by performing a Jewish prayer. He prays well – but is ultimately put off by the absurd extent of pretence. He finally comes out: I’m Iranian and that’s okay!

Grandmother interrupts the subsequent awkwardness by giving the couple her unexpected blessing. Shaken, they leave the dinner party together. Galit declares to David that she hates him. He declares that he loves her, too.

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Yashar ALISHENAS screenwriter,actor

Born in Tehran and raised in Stockholm, Yashar studied philosophy in Heidelberg, Paris and Oxford, where he started directing plays. He now acts and writes scripts that mostly dramatize parts of his own life. Based in London, Yashar enjoys writing exaggerated comedies about serious questions, such as identity, tolerance, compulsions and the past.

INTENTION NOTE ‘Purim Shpiel’ is a collaboration between two filmmakers, Iranian and Israeli, at a time when relations between Israel and Iran fluctuate from tense to unpredictable.

As filmmakers we find this an appealing backdrop for a comedy which explores questions of identity, prejudice and stereotypes in an intimate context – creating a balancing act between serious matters and entertainment.

Thus, a story is born about the messy anxieties that erupt when an Iranian-born

German guy meets the family of his BritishJewish girlfriend. Through the comedyof-errors that ensues, we investigate how multiculturalism actually works in the family space. What happens when you hide your identity to protect your loved ones?

How do you treat an outsider who challenges your family’s heritage? As the story develops, we use the misunderstandings that arise to create a witty comedy which is at times political, dark and even farcical.

With this full plate of issues on the dinner

table, at its core Purim Shpiel is a fast-paced comedy – a film which engages with the challenges posed by multiculturalism, and raises pertinent questions of identity for both its audience and its filmmakers.

PRODUCTION NOTE Genre: Comedy Language: English/Hebrew Estimated Budget: 25.000 EUR Crew: Writer, Director, Lead Actor Seeking British and European co-production partners.

Romania

MR. NELU

Ioana BALTATU

oana.baltatu@yahoo.com

Ioana Baltatu

+ 407 2328 8209

Ioana graduated from the National University of Theatre and Film (U.N.A.T.C.), department of Cinematography in 2011. Her graduation film “Celebration” was selected at the Early Bird international film festival. In 2012 she filmed and co directed the documentary “The most beautiful house in Dor Mărunt” which won the prize for best social documentary at Open Society Shorts.

She is currently a student in the master program at The National University of Art in Bucharest, in the department of Photography and Dynamic Image where she is completing her dissertation - a photographic project called “A study of urban nature”.

SYNOPSIS Mister Nelu is a man in his fifties, recently unemployed, who just found out that he can no longer get inside his own house.

After a drunken argument he had with his wife, she decided to kick him out.

Shocked by this turn of events, Nelu lingers for a couple of days in the hallways of the apartment building hoping to get an opportunity to talk to her face to face and reconcile with her.

In the time spent in the hallways he unavoidably encounters other neighbors, most often couples. He tries to act like nothing has happened, making casual conversation, pretending that he still lives there.

Tired of his wife’s constant refusal and after a night spent at his mother’s place, Nelu decides that he will wait in front of the apartment door until Andreea - his young daughter will return from school, at least this way he will see her and have a chance to talk to her.

PRODUCTION NOTE Estimated budget: 45.000 EUR The film will be shot on a digital camera- if possible ARRI ALEXA

INTENTION NOTE After the heated argument he had with his wife that resulted in him being kicked out, Nelu lingers in the apartment building in part because he feels remorse and in part because of the shock of now becoming homeless. What has attracted my interest in this short film project is how you can represent the idea of home and family by its absence.

consists of the stairwell and corridors of a block of flats. This space, often overlooked, for me has an ambiguous nature. On one hand you can consider it a sort of “no man’s land”, and at the same time you can say it belongs to all the neighbors as their private lives have a tendency of spilling over the borders of their apartment doors.

The film will be narrated from an objective perspective. The backdrop for Nelu’s quest to reconcile with his wife mostly

Having that in mind, in his interactions with other neighbors Nelu tries to seem jovial, even witty, but his behavior is so-

metimes perceived as annoying and out of place because most people consider him a drunk.

All the experiences he goes through in these couple of days make him reassess important aspects of his life and way on his decision of going to meet his daughter.

Film lighting equipment and grip partially secured by AXEL FILM We will apply for partial financing from the Romanian National Cinematographic Fund (CNC) Looking for foreign co- production partners

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Hungary

BALLAD

Judit BANHAZI

anniebransford@gmail.com

Judit Banhazi

+36 30 254 5037

Judit Anna Banhazi (25) is a freelance writer-director from Hungary. She wrote and directed 9 assignments/independent projects during studying film history at University, two of her short films, The Crossing (2007) and Winter’s Tale (2008) were screened at the Hungarian Film Week. In 2010, she got accepted to London Film School (MA filmmaking) with Winter’s Tale and her script ’Stuck’. She has been working with the core crew of Ballad since September 2012, already put together a fashion video, a short pitch/mood, currently prepping camera and movement rehearsals and audio-design for Ballad. Judit has been working in the film industry for 7 years, first as PA, now as an assistant director.

Courage is not to kill a beast. Itʼs to face it.

SYNOPSIS

Birds creaking, wolves howling, axes clanging, old boots marching. Eyes to listen and ears to see this world full of noises. A small village in a post-apocalyptic world is coping with the appearance of an evil force yet again. A ‘wolf in the gardens’, an unknown, unseen man is raping and murdering their wives and daughters. One day, a young woman, against all warnings and restrictions, decides to dare facing what lies outside. She falls victim to the monster - a soldier -, but is also, for the first instance, left alive. The events irrevocably provoke each of the characters (the woman, her grandfather, the soldier, and the outraged villagers) to deal with the crime and the ‘beast’ in different ways. But, already destroyed by the futile see-saw-game between forgiveness and revenge, is there another way out From a world full of noises, from seeing with your eyes, from listening with your ears. Old boots marching, axes clanging, wolves howling.

Birds creaking. ..

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PRODUCTION NOTE

Photo by Edit Blaumann

INTENTION NOTE I have a fascination with different narrative techniques, and the language of film itself, all the tools that make up this language. Ballad is a story. A story that I love and dearly treasure, born of things that bother me, that I have questions and doubts about, a story that will hopefully provoke questions in other people too. The question of how we treat evil within others and ourselves, and what consequences it can lead to. Ballad is an experiment. Both visually (creating a post-apocalyptic world, where even

the design of the smallest props is a fascinating exercise), and with sounds (a proper audio world map. Each and every element of sound and noise has a dramatic and stylistic function, rhythmic patterns, audio-visual manipulations create a song-like flow),editing (sequences used both linearly and as reverse playbacks, however, always used as a linear story element at the time of appearance.

Movements, expressions, sounds therefore resulting in carrying different dramatic functions according to placement) and

acting (movements, expressions show and tell, not words). Ballad is a rollercoaster ride. Genuine, mad, collective cinematic love towards creating something magical.

Estimated running time: 20-25 mins incl. credits Estimated budget: 50.000 EUR Crew attached: Director, Director of Photography, Sound Designer, Production Manager Next step: Casting, Location scouting, Set and Costume Design Seeking co production in: - Camera and Lighting Equipment - Talent (from any European country, according to character outlines) - Production and Costume Designer - Post-Production Facilities Estimated Production Time: 8 weeks (pre-prod.: 4 weeks, shoot: 1 week, post-prod.: 3 weeks) Specific Conditions: shoot to be executed any time between late autumn and late winter

Romania

THE HIDDEN ELDERLY OF PARIS

Alina DINU

aylinbogdan@gmail.com

Alina Dinu

+403 1107 1329

I was born on 2nd June 1987 in a small village in the Romanian Carpathians. Being a ‘wild’ child and later on an anti-technology hippie adolescent, I entered a cinema hall and watched the first film at the age of 18.

And in that moment I knew what I wanted to be when I grew up. This event led me to move to Paris to study cinema, and so I received a degree in cinema and audiovisual from Sorbonne Nouvelle University. I recently returned to Romania where I’m currently attending a MA in scriptwriting at the Film School of Bucharest where I’m currently developing my first feature length script.

We are alive as long as we donʼt forget how to play

SYNOPSIS An OLD MAN returns home from the market and finds in his apartment an OLD WOMAN pretending to be his wife.

MARTIN is a grumpy 75-year-old man.

After his wife’s death he lives alone and isolated waiting for his end. He goes out only on Sunday mornings to buy supplies for the week at the Bastille Market.

CATHERINE is a hypertensive 70-yearold woman. Being aware that her end can come at every moment, she breaks her daily routine by entering an unknown apartment in her way back from the market.

CATHERINE and MARTIN meet in the old man’s apartment and together they recreate the story of a lifetime relationship.

When I write and shoot a film my heart beats a little faster than usual. It’s a pleasant feeling. To remember how beautiful is to be a human being and to experience emotions.

PRODUCTION NOTE Photo by Tuan Nini

ORIGINAL TITLE: LES VIEUX CACHES DE PARIS

INTENTION NOTE This story was born in the context and environment of Paris, a city where one often forgets that old age exists. Everybody runs chaotically in all directions from a meeting to another. Meanwhile, the elderly live in another dimension that one doesn’t even have the time to perceive, being often considered by society like a broken child’s toy. ‘THE HIDDEN ELDERLY OF PARIS’ reveals the face of a city that we ignore: Paris of the elderly.

We are alive as long as we don’t forget

how to play, as long as we discover, as long as we (re)invent. The power of imagination can sometimes fulfill the emptiness of someone’s life. This short film illustrates the feeling of solitude through the story of an OLD MAN and an OLD WOMAN who invent during a day’s time a past relationship.

Sunday morning, time stops mesmerized facing the meeting between an OLD MAN and an OLD WOMAN in an apartment in the 11th arrondissement

of Paris. Through this story I would like to show in a manner of magic realism the beautiful moments of old age. In these two characters I have placed dear memories of my grandparents and their talks in the evening as they watched and felt time slowly pass, sunset by sunset.

RUNNING TIME: 15’ GENRE: MYSTERY DRAMA ESTIMATED BUDGET: 50 000 EUR FILMING LOCATION: PARIS, April 2014 TO BE SHOT IN FRENCH LANGUAGE LOOKING FOR A FRENCH PRODUCTION COMPANY BASED IN PARIS

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Netherland

FREE LOVE

jantiene@mooves.nl

Jantiene De Kroon

+316 4561 8669

Jantiene de Kroon graduated as a script writer from the Academy of Communications in Amsterdam in 2003. By that time, she had already been working as an animation film producer at Mooves. She has written and produced several award winning animated shorts. In 2008/2009 she attended Binger Writerslab in Amsterdam, where she started working on the script for an animated feature film. In 2012 Jantiene extended her pursuits to writing for live action shorts. Free Love will be her first live action film.

Do you believe in Free Love?

SYNOPSIS Suzanne spends a merry, promiscuous summer on the beach with her friends, celebrating the joys of Free Love, believing it will shield them from a monotonous or hypocritical existence. Only Suzanne’s friend Nina, also present, is completely absorbed by her monogamous relationship with Nathan. And Suzanne’s melancholical lover Thomas, being a married man, leads a life that is in fact as mendacious as the kind Suzanne is acting against. However, once back from the beach, he becomes more and more important to her. She realises that it’s him she wants. Meanwhile Nina has caught Nathan with another girl. She breaks up with him, and accuses Suzanne of having poisoned him with her ideas on Free Love. They quarrel. Suzanne goes to town with Thomas, fancying a life together with him. When she meets his wife, a future with Thomas turns out to be no option. Free Love suddenly doesn’t feel as free anymore. Suzanne breaks with Thomas and takes Nina back to the beach, where they settle their quarrel.

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Jantiene DE KROON

PRODUCTION NOTE -Project is in a early development state -Looking for a Director from Benelux or Germany -Looking for Producers from Benelux and / or Germany INTENTION NOTE In our modern European society we have the freedom to live our love life by our own set of rules. In this story young people are trying to determine those personal rules. The main character Suzanne is an adept of the concept of Free Love and defends it in a somewhat annoying theoretical way. But her views will be tested.

The subject of Free Love is addressed from different points of view. I’m looking for a director who can communicate those views in a playful way. I would like

to have the sex scenes filmed in soft focus to emphasize the intimacy and love between the characters.

There are some surreal elements, that are more dark and contrast with the playfulness of this story. Those elements could be filmed with the use of animation techniques, in which I have experience.

Love and sex are very important aspects of peoples’ lives and I think people can relate to Suzanne’s story and the film will contribute to Young European Cinema.

-Possibility for post-production funding in The Netherlands up till 30.000 EUR -Estimated budget 85.000 EUR

Poland

THE SEVENTH

Grzegorz DEBOwSKI

gdg6@wp.pl

Grzegorz Debowski

+487 8330 8683

Grzegorz Dębowski. Student of last semester in Polish National Film School in Lodz on directing department. Screenwriter and director of seven short documentaries and six short fictions (many of them was awarded on festivals all around the world). Awarded in short stories competition for writers by magazine “Polityka”.

Was working as an assistant director in best polish feature movie of 2012 (“Jesteś Bogiem”) and also as an assistant in new movie of british-polish director Paweł Pawlikowski.

Now working on his diploma movies: documentary about Buddhism and short fiction -sweet and bitter comedy about love in the old age.

In free time - trying to be happy…

“This thing called ʻcorpseʼ we dread so much is living with us here and now.”

Milarepa

SYNOPSIS Peter is a film school student with his first documentary project that he tries to shoot it in the mine. One day, there is an accident. Young miner died tragically. The mine have to transport the body for the funeral. Peter force the miners that he might go with them and help. Of course he is more into recording than helping and he even don’t notice what is going on around him.

Five miners and Peter takes the trip through whole southern Poland. During this journey Peter tries to get closer to the miners, but actually he is getting closer only when he is not recording anything.

The car breaks down when they are not so far away from the death boy’s home.

Unfortunately the night is also not so far away, but they decided to take the coffin and walk through the forest.

In the woods there’s a moment, when Piotr has really stop to film and help them. Then finally he is becoming to feel like one of them and somehow understands that the camera that suppose to help him with getting closer to the people is in truth only an obstacle…

And, as always, life is the winner over everything.

There is only one question at the end – who was “the seventh”.

PRODUCTION NOTE

INTENTION NOTE „The Seventh” is inspired by press reportage by famous polish journalist Ryszard Kapuściński. With permission from the wife of great journalist, I’m working on this story.

I really love this road movie about young, immature filmmaker who things that, what he does makes sense, while in confrontation with simple people and simple life, everything changes. On the other hand it’s not a story about filmmaking at all. We are observing few people who are simply

making last tribute to other human.

We can see what may left after our death and how other people have to struggle with it, because – how we can see in this story – death it is not something that happens to us when we die, but it is something what happens to people around us after we die.

There is the scene, when miners are having fireplace in the woods, and the coffin is somewhere in the bushes. In other situation it would be simply nice way of spen-

ding time together. But with “the box” in the background it grows almost to a proof that life will always win with death (and with many other things also).

Of course, whole this story is full of simple daily-life situations with coffin in the background.

And believe me...

It brings a lot of thoughts about that, what is important in life and what is not…

I applied with the idea of short movie, but after extensive consultation with tutors, and suggestions of potential feature length in the script, I decided that I developed the script as a feature-length screenplay, which is my debut.

I would like to start the shooting period in January of 2015. I will shooting in two regions of southern Poland - Silesia and Bieszczady, so I will apply for a grant from the Regional Fund. The total budget is not yet possible to determine. Beyond me - writer and director in the team are already DOP and production manager, with whom I am working on the development of the project for over a year.

The film will last between 70 and 90 min.

I am looking for a producer and a distributor, I am also open to co-production and partners. The script has been awarded the first prize for The Best Short Project on MIDPOINT Script Development Workshops 2012 in Prague.

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United Kingdom

SATURDAY

Mike FORSHAw

mikeforshaw@hotmail.com

Mike Forshaw

+447 900993125

I was born and raised in Liverpool, moving to Newcastle to study photography before completing a Film Production degree at Northumbria University. A talent scout from the NFTS spotted my graduation short, which led to a place on their Fiction Direction Diploma. I wrote and directed SLIPPIN’ whilst studying in London, which premiered at the BFI London Film Festival. UNCLE FRAN was commissioned by the UK Film Council in 2010 as part of their Digital Shorts scheme, and nominated for Best Newcomer at Rushes Soho Shorts 2011. Having spent the previous 12 months travelling through Asia and South America, I am now based in London and seeking to extend my body of work as a young filmmaker.

April 15th 1989. Liam has no idea that one football match is about to change his life and the city of Liverpool forever.

SYNOPSIS LIAM returns home bloody-nosed from a football match that has got out of control and encounters a scene of parental distress. His Dad (CARL) has been crying, while his Mum (MARIE) is white with shock and anxious to embrace him.

The narrative returns to the beginning of that day, as LIAM makes a mess of the kitchen and watches Saturday morning cartoons. His older brother (MARK) searches for his Liverpool shirt, while his friends wait in a car to take him to the FA Cup Semi-Final match in Sheffield.

MARK’s search is in vain. LIAM has secretly hidden the shirt, planning to wear it down to the local marina for a game of football with his own mates.

As news of the Hillsborough stadium disaster filters through to his parents, LIAM is accidently hurt whilst scoring a goal.

Blood spills from his nose, on to his brother’s shirt. His mates “pile on” in celebration, trapping LIAM beneath them.

The resulting heap of bodies parallels the fatal crush MARK is experiencing at the stadium…

PRODUCTION NOTE

INTENTION NOTE By setting this short away from the scene of the disaster, and focusing on the immediate impact on families back home in Liverpool, I hope to approach this emotive issue from a fresh perspective. The script focuses on a simple narrative journey, so that as the story builds the audience can grasp the metaphorical parallels between the family’s experiences in Liverpool and the avoidable horror that occurred in the stadium.

My vision for the aesthetic is inspired

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2014 marks the 25th anniversary of the Hillsborough Stadium disaster. This will bolster the film’s potential for media publicity and public attention.

by British poetic realism, specifically the visceral work of Steve McQueen. The cinematography will be inflected and interpretative throughout, and include flights of surrealism to signal that this is a symbolic exploration of the impact of Hillsborough rather than a direct factual representation.

Hillsborough was the biggest sporting disaster in British history and through the subsequent trials and negative media coverage, the event has left a lasting

legacy on Merseyside, at first damaging and now strengthening. With SATURDAY I hope to construct a compelling and evocative short that seeks to offer a timely reminder of the tragedy to audiences outside of Liverpool.

All locations have been sourced.

No producer is currently attached to the project.

Seeking experienced talent to successfully evoke the period detail.

Seeking European co-production partner for financial support and technical expertise during production and postproduction.

Italy/France

INFINITA TRISTEZA

Gabriele GALLIGANI

gab.galligani@gmail.com

Gabriele Galligani

+393 332975332

After his graduation in “Literary and Cinematographic Studies” at the Università di Bologna (Italy), Gabriele Galligani moved to Paris where he currently lives and works.

After several experiences in TV and movie productions, Gabriele is currently working as an editor for documentary films for a production company named Epinoia. Since 2010 Gabriele has been writing shorts and feature films screenplays, some of them have been selected in European competitions.

In 2012, Florent Martin and Arthur L’Hôtellier read the script of Infinita tristeza and decided to produce it themselves. A close working relationship was established and they became co-authors of the project.

The movie will be Gabriele’s debut as a director.

Sing in me, Muse, and tell the story of that man skilled in all ways of contending...

SYNOPSIS Outside it is raining, it is cold and the streets are empty.

Ulysses and his babysitter are sitting face to face in the kitchen.

Eight-year-old, curious and naughty, Ulysses seeks for attention from his twentyyear-old babysitter, but she cannot give it to him.

Outside it is raining, it is cold and the streets are dark.

A TV catchphrase “Infinita tristeza” breaks the silence, but Ulysses falls asleep on the couch. When he wakes up, the sight of his naked babysitter in her boyfriend’s hands doesn’t bother him more than TV images. It’s all boring to him.

Outside it rains, it is cold and the streets are empty. Almost empty.

Ulysses seizes the moment: He escapes from home and starts wandering across the city. A new world opens to his eyes.

As black, humid and dirty as the asphalt under his feet. As a mouse in the drain or a wolf in the forest: a child in the town.

Philosopher whores, cultured homeless, capitalist young girls, thieves of children and fascist pimps: the encounter with the inhabitants of the night touches Ulysses, shocks him and makes him laugh and cry.

It humiliates him on the one hand, and makes him stronger on the other.

It is the first night of his life.

PRODUCTION NOTE Estimated Budget : 70 000 EUR - 80 000 EUR INTENTION NOTE

Infinita Tristeza is a sort of road-movie, a strange night-time Odyssey told through the eyes of an 8-year-old child suffering from loneliness.

I can remember that, when I was a child, I was fascinated by the idea of staying awake while everybody else was sleeping; I thought it could make me discover the “dark side” of my surrounding and of the entire world.

Infinita Tristeza tells the ambiguous fascination that night exercises on a child’s

imaginary. On one side, it represents fear, doubtfulness and fright of child’s most grotesque nightmares coming to life in the darkness of the night.

On the other side, the night is a metaphor of discovery and stimulates child’s curiosity, by making him dream about his infinite future.

It’s during the night that the child’s desire to grow up and conquer the world arises.

The film adopts a “visual” style to outline

the contrasting emotions that the first experience of the night can entail in a child looking for affection: from the emptiness of huge suburban areas that makes him feel smaller than he really is, to acid and blurry neon lights that inebriates him as if he were in an amusement park entirely at his disposal.

Production Company: Florent & Arthur (New French film production in formation) Florentetarthur@gmail.com -Looking for co-production partners : For bring investment & additional talent.

-Looking for composer/sound designers/ sound post-production Status : One post-production companies attached to the project : Studio Kippik Festival selection : Lago film Fest 2012 13

Romania

THE GENDER REASSIGNMENT MUSICAL Adina Istrate

Adina ISTRATE

adina.istrate@lfs-students.org.uk +447 969313974

I am a London-based Romanian writer/director interested in reinterpreting on screen the strange, contradicting and quite often darkly comic events that make up our everyday life.

The lives and love-lines of pro-wrestler Mickey and transvestite Kay cross and in a musical about the most complicated of surgeries - the sex change.

With a background in advertising and television (I worked as a scriptwriter for two sitcoms back home in Romania), I moved to the UK in 2009 to study at the London Film School.

SYNOPSIS London, present day.

MICKEY, a fighter in his late twenties, has recently been picked up for representation by a very affluent talent agent. Convinced that his first London Pro-Wrestling Tournament fight will single-handedly remap his existence and path to glory, he steps into the ring with clenched fists and a racing heart.

Here, anxiously waiting for his opponent to make his entrance, he locks eyes and instantly falls for KAY, a beautiful dancer performing in the opening act. She makes it clear that the attraction is mutual, much to Mickey’s genuine surprise and excitement. The two are quick to get together, but Kay’s reluctance to get intimate baffles Mickey.

Their romance carries on, on the one hand rocketing Mickey into wrestling superstardom, on the other, deepening Kay’s dilemma – should she come clean that she is actually a man about to undergo a sex change operation, or abandon her two-year transformation effort, in the hope that Mickey will accept her for what (s)he is now?

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Since graduating in 2012 I have been developing “The Gender Reassignment Musical” and “Terminally Happy” - a 3D Sci-Fi short film selected for the “Riga – Six Dimensional City” program. Showcasing Riga as next year’s European Capital of Culture, this initiative will produce a portmanteau 3D feature to be released in 2014.

photo credits: Yiannis Katsaris for Lucha Britannia

INTENTION NOTE Fascinated by subcultures in which sexuality plays such a defining role as in the case of transgenders, I wanted to analyze their identity crisis through film. The search for their dramaturgical polar opposites in terms of desired and projected masculinity led me to prowrestlers.

Love, identity and the fight against prejudice dominate the film’s theme palette, allowing for more humourous topics such as penis envy to the ‘evils’ of dieting to

come to light as well.

Visually, I drew my inspiration from The Rocky Horror Picture Show, All that Jazz and The Wrestler. Whilst the transitions from purely narrative moments to flamboyant musical scenes are to follow the style of 1970s musicals - keeping a strange, misplaced sense of reality while working in ample ensemble song and dance pieces – the rest of the film will be shot in an intimate, realistic manner, closely following Mickey and Kay’s romance.

In terms of choreography, the cast and supporting dancers will strip the seemingly realistic sets of their ‘daytime drags’ as they go, revealing a completely different set - a mirror for how the characters reveal themselves from behind images they have constructed for the others around them.

PRODUCTION NOTE Length: 25 min Format: HD Language: English Genre: Fiction, Comedy/Musical Budget: £90,000 Crew: Composer, Cinematographer, Editor and Costume Designer attached.

Seeking: Producers, Co-Producers, Investors.

Croatia

wAKE ME UP

jagic.dea@gmail.com

Dea Jagic

+385915907575

Dea Jagić born on 6th April 1985 Zagreb.

2002. Graduated on School of fine arts in Zagreb.

2011. Graduated on Academy of fine arts in Zagreb section of Animation and New media with short animated and experimental film Objects – Objekti. Premiere was in Prague on Fresh Film Festival in October.

2009. Animator on experimental film -Mechanical figures-about Nikola Tesla.

2010. Animator, designer and co-director on project TheCattimestories which was presented on Cartoon forum and Cinekid. Works like illustrator on some Nestle products.

2010-2011. Animator, designer on interactive web platform for association Firefly.

2012. Working on project in Zagreb film as animator.

Itʼs an atmosphere film about a boy who is facing his irrational fears.

SYNOPSIS Wake me up is an atmosphere film about a boy who founds himself lost in interior of an abandoned factory surrounded by strange fearful creatures, as he managed to escape through window, he founds himself in a forest followed by those creatures. As he runs he founds a safe house but creatures finally get through the house and “obsess” him.

PRODUCTION NOTE

INTENTION NOTE Short animated film – Wake me up was inspired by the specific situations and emotional states in life, it talks about anxiety, loneliness and questionable searching for peace and calm.

The main character is the boy. Other characters (Strange creatures, Dog...) are giving an impression of fairy tale, strange imaginative world, although settled in our “known” world (urban interiors, night forest, landscapes etc.).

Dea JAGIC

In this project, of the crucial importance is an approach to the animation as an expressive medium.

Some parts of the animation will be so called classical animation combined with real-life background (walls, floors, ceilings), combination of a digital 2D animation. and stop-motion. Also, usage of the lights (spots) will be manipulated in an outdoor night scene.

One of the main tasks, also very challenging is a combination of animation techniques in order to create a creepy, mystical, oneiric atmosphere.

Zagreb film strongly believes in this project and will put the additional effort to make it happen.

We have recognized an innovative mixed technique and talented young author who we want to support and enable her with all our means to explore her visual expressions.

For co production I am interested in directors of photography, sound design and post production. My ideal spot would be Scandinavian , most probably Norwegian woods.

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Germany

wITCH’S MILK

jehlefilm@gmail.com

Martin Jehle

+4917644695150

Martin Jehle (1983) is working as a director, writer and dop. His internationally awarded work, for example Kopf/Head (16mm, 2008, 6’), which has been screened at numerous festivals worldwide, includes several short films with a total length of more than two hours. He is studying and teaching media, theatre, music and cultural politics at the University of Hildesheim, Germany. Martin is co-founder of Anachrom, an aspiring production company that helped with developing the script. Over the last two years, together with executive Dominik Wiedenmann, the team produced a broad selection of commercials, social art, documentaries and short films – the main focus always being on visual storytelling.

A true story

SYNOPSIS Peter (38) runs over Susanna’s (35) cat.

Driven by guilt, he hides the truth from her and helps to bury the cat in the backyard. After this, they become closer and closer and soon start a relationship.

All of a sudden, Susanna starts producing breast milk. Her doctor explains it as being stress related, a phenomenon commonly called Witch’s Milk. But soon after, Susanna really is pregnant. Peter starts questioning the natural course of events. Susanna retreats more and more and their relationship is at risk of falling apart. Regardless, Susanna asks Peter to help her with childbirth. He’s growing more and more doubtful. But before he can do anything about it, the unnatural fast pregnancy ends in a home birth.

Suffering from tremendous pain, Susanna gives birth to a cat and Peter’s worst nightmare comes true. He wants to kill the cat, but Susanna protects her newborn by stabbing Peter and burying him next to the cat he had run over and laid to rest in the backyard.

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Martin JEHLE

PRODUCTION NOTE 1) Estimated budget: 63.000 euros 2) Actors: Alissa Snagowski and Nikolai Kinski

INTENTION NOTE From the moment a terrified cinema audience tried to run away from a train arriving at the station, there is a tradition of psychological cinema that affects our minds and bodies in a very direct way. It was further developed with films like The Exorcist or, more recently, Antichrist. Our film follows this tradition, psychologically sophisticated and in a subtle way. The focus is not at all on the gore that the situation supplies, but on characters that we will invest in and a story that touches us deep inside. It is a nightmare come

true – a nightmare we all know about, because the fear of our own nature is one of the most basic feelings we have.

Is love just a matter of procreation? This film tells the story of a twisted, primal force breaking into our daily life, destroying the relations with the ones we love the most. We are aiming for a dark, slow paced and surreal experience. If the young Bunuel and the late Tarkovsky had created a horror drama together – this is how it might have looked like.

3) looking for a producer 4) looking for post production funds in Poland (collaboration with Platige Image for VFX)

Lithuania

THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND STOLE MY PARENTS Birute Kapustinskaite

birutekapustinskaite@gmail.com

Birute

+370 6078 5442

KAPUSTINSKAITE writer

I have studied scriptwriting in Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre. I’ve written several shorts and TV series, won Lithuanian National Playwright festival “Versme”.

Currently I am working on few short movies and two feature films.

Every fantasy is based on a true fact….

SYNOPSIS Milda is a seven-year-old girl who is left by her emigrated parents several years ago. She is raised by her aunt Angele and lives in her small fantasy world, believing that one day her mother and father will come back and waiting for the postcard from them once in a while.

Ernestas

JANKAUSKAS director

I’ve been working in movie business for 18 years. Everything I know I learned in practice from directors I worked with as 1st AD. In 2006 I directed my first short movie “No Focus” (it was nominated for best actress award in national film festival). From then on I also directed commercials, two of them were featured in world known magazine “Shots”.

Now I work as line producer, commercial, film and TV director.

One day after a big fight with Angele, she meets strange woman, who convinces the girl that the Queen of England stole the parents and that rescue mission needs to start. The only thing the woman asks in return is that Milda needs to forget her aunt. The girl agrees.

Milda and the strange woman embark on a journey towards the big city and the airport, where they are supposed to meet the Queen of England. They discover strange people and get to know each other while travelling by all means of transportation.

Step by step Milda begins to feel that she misses her aunt. In the end two travellers reach the airport but will Milda meet the Queen? Where her fantasies end and where the real world begins?

PRODUCTION NOTE INTENTION NOTE It is modern days Pippi Longstocking story about a girl who is lonely and whose fantasies help her to survive in the real world. We came up with this idea while reading newspapers’ clippings about children who are left by emigrated parents. Though the movie will take place in Lithuania, we know that there are lots of similar stories happening all over the world.

As the protagonist is a child, visually we will be creating the fantasy world, whe-

re post boxes sing, Queen lives in the airport and sleeping beauty travels in the train… By using fantasy we want to underline the richness of the child’s imagination and the fact that we all need to grow up and face a reality. It is the contrast of both that is the spine of the story.

The antagonist of the movie is Milda herself and we will show it through the strange woman who in reality is the imaginary friend of the girl. We are basing it on psychological research -imaginary

friends most often appear when a child is very lonely and/or can’t cope with his feelings of anger, guilt and abandonment.

Short fiction Production Company DANSU LLC www.dansufilms.com stolenparents.lt We already have:-Heads of Departments (all of them with at least 10 years of experience) and Main Cast confirmed; -Deals and discounts for Light/Grip and Camera equipment; -co-operation with “Save the Children Lithuania” organization and Vilnius municipality Seeking:-Co-production for postproduction; -International distribution; Lithuanian film center, crowd funding platform Kickstarter, private investors, LLC Dansu Estimated budget: 55 000 EUR

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Lithuania

THE NOISE MAKER

Karolis KAUPINIS

karolis_kaupinis@yahoo.com

Karolis Kaupinis

+370 672 25336

Born in Vilnius, 1987, Karolis Kaupinis graduated from Vilnius University with an MA in comparative politics and political philosophy. He also studied political history in Rome, small state studies in Reykjavik, literature and history of ideas in Krakow. Kaupinis’ filmography consists of three documentary films on the topics of freedom, exile and helplessness and a few experimental videos. He currently works in Lithuanian National TV and participates in the trans-disciplinary art program based in Vilnius.

For whom them bell tolls

SYNOPSIS A small provincial school waits for a big change. A new modern schoolbell is about to be brought by the delegation of officials from the capital. The melody of the new ringing tone must be chosen by the teachers of the school. While preparing the welcome ceremony, they sincerely involve themselves into fantasies about the beautiful new sound.

PRODUCTION NOTE

This is not the main concern of the school principal though. He’s affraid the delegation may find out about the fact he carefully hides from his staff. There are too little kids at school. They are under the limit allowed. The unavoidable closedown approaches.

Therefore the principal’s way of preparation turns into a try to fulfill the school with noise and chaos to make it lively and hide the emptiness. This, yet, is direct opposite to the teachers’ idea of how a proper school waiting for important guests should look like.

The growing conflict is interupted by the schoolbell. It has come. Without any delegation though...

INTENTION NOTE The idea of education is related to the idea of progress. Long story short, it says an individual can make a positive change. Simplifying it even more, the future must be better. Education, just like progress, means a change towards the positive direction. Teachers usually spend their life trying to make kids wiser, smarter, more mature etc. Making them better. Kids are better. Future is better.

Kids are the future.

In the shrinking province of a small count-

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ry, the future is kidless. It’s a terrifying reality for a teacher. The reality is usually said to be unavoidable. The unavoidable here is the closure of the school.

However, human beings are extremely inventive in avoiding the reality. Avoiding the seemingly unavoidable. This film is to analyze a few ways of doing it.

The film will be shot in late autumn in the northern Lithuanian town of 500 inhabitants. Vivid colours of the school’s interior should contrast with the greyish autumnal

atmosphere of an empty town surrounded by nude nature. Stable camera would dominate. In case of the movement, it would mostly be between two mis-en-scènes. As for the mood, absurd and melancholy will compete.

-Estimated budget: 58 000 EUR -Čiobreliai Marija Razgutė (IPA), +370 601 07802, marija@ciobreliai.lt -Shoting dates estimated: October - November, 2013 -Applied for the support of 30 000 EUR from the Lithuanian Film Center, answer due to April, 2013 -Looking for European co-production partner in video and sound post-production, public/ private funding, television pre-sales

Greece

DEADBOY

kkotzamani@yahoo.com

Konstantina Kotzamani

+30 697 6430983

writer/director

Konstantina is an undergraduate student of the Film Department - Fine Arts Thessaloniki and a 2012 Berlinale and Sarajevo Talent Campus participant.

Director of three short films: 2012- ARUNDEL, Festivals: Drama-Art direction prize, Torino FF 2012- ZODIAC, Festivals: Sofia, Lucania, Lithuania, Chéries-Cheris, Valencia, Tel Aviv 2011- PIGS, Festivals: Drama, Lago-Special mention, Signes De Nuit –Best experimental, Lucca, Budapest, Kansk

Can a whale breath outside the water?

SYNOPSIS 12 young boys lead a carefree life on an island. Rumors of a dead whale washed out in the nearby beach feed their imagination. They come to believe the whale is still alive but are too afraid to go and check. A new boy arrives at the island and disturbs their routine. The boy is white as milk. He is an albino but the 12 boys believe he is dead and call him the “deadboy”. Soon after, they decide to get rid of him. They challenge him to a night game at the beach. Their real aim is for him to confront the whale they think is still alive. They abandon him and the “deadboy” reaches the beast.

That night, the boy’s silent coexistence with the dead whale is transformed into a mystical union. When he finally leaves, in the darkness of the coast, the whale is heard breathing…

Konstantina KOTZAMANI

Maria TSIGKA producer

INTENTION NOTE DEADBOY is set in a seaside community, on an undefined island. My intention is to create a time blurring environment, a place that does not relate to images or references of today.

Visually there are two poles: the 12 dark, suntanned boys and the white albino.

This contradiction is being underlined by the use of a monochromatic desaturated palette, where the light tones contrast with the dark ones. The washed ashore whale becomes a symbol of an unknown, mystical world, whereas the white boy is an expression of ‘differen-

ce’, which for the children is yet un-deciphered. As the movie unfolds, the POV changes from the 12 boys to the albino boy. We follow the boy’s decent to the coast and his mystical encounter with the whale. There, the use of wide angle lenses will polarize the edges of the frame, giving the sense that the boy curves the environment.

The movie ends in a wide frame of dark coast and the sea, where for the first time we hear the whale’s carcass breath; suggesting the need for a miracle or the need for the continuation of life in the universe.

An EAVE graduate, Maria is a partner and member of the BoD at Argonauts Productions based in Athens. Her feature film producer credits include: 2011- DO NOT FORGET ME ISTANBUL, omnibus. Co-producer 2010- OTHER HALF by Vangelis Seitanidis.

Producer 2010- IN THE WOODS by Angelos Frantzis. Associate producer

PRODUCTION NOTE Produced by Argonauts Productions in co-production with ERT- Microfilm Budget: 75.988EUR Confirmed financing: 60% Looking for co-producers, financiers

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United Kingdom

BRIGHT SHADOw

Claire OAKLEY

cnoakley@gmail.com

Claire Oakley

+447 867782657

Claire Oakley is a London born filmmaker who studied English Literature at Edinburgh University. Her latest short ‘Physics’ was commissioned by Film London in association with Tomboy Films and Working Title Films. It won the Best of Boroughs’ Award and premiered at the BFI London Film Festival 2012. Claire’s first film ‘Beautiful Enough’ won Best Personal Narrative at Amsterdam FF and played around the world. Claire has recently been selected for the Collabor8te scheme and will be adapting her stage play ‘Tracks’, which was performed by Rogues Gallery Theatre in 2011, into a short film that she will direct. Claire has written for Eon and is represented by Camille McCurry at United Agents.

Can the bond between sisters dissolve without a trace?

SYNOPSIS SCARLET (27) arrives in the small holiday village where she spent much of her childhood. She stays with her old nanny, MAGDA (75), who believes that JESS (32), Scarlet’s sister who ran away 15 years ago, is back and living in the village. Scarlet starts to look for her and soon finds herself following a woman to her apartment. But she cannot bring herself to knock on the door; she is scared of what she might find, and leaves full of self-loathing. On Magda’s advice Scarlet stays another night and joins in the town’s Assumption Day celebrations.

This is where she comes face to face with Jess. But Jess remains completely cold and pretends she doesn’t speak English.

Reeling from this rejection Scarlet spends the night questioning herself and when the next day breaks she goes to her ruined family home to look for answers.

Compelled to confront Jess one more time Scarlet goes to her apartment and with her heart in her throat she finally comes face to face with her sister.

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PRODUCTION NOTE

INTENTION NOTE This is a drama with strong elements of mystery and several dreamlike sequences. It has pace and drive as well as a physical and emotional credibility. The performances will be natural, mesmerising and subtle. I want to emphasise the delicate and feminine side of Scarlet’s character and juxtapose this with an uneasy, foreign atmosphere and the tension of the plot. The film is told from Scarlet’s perspective and I not only want to create a sense of proximity to her, but a real connection. The film’s visual langua-

ge will parallel her emotional journey, the camera will be carefully attuned in terms of framing and focus to her specific perspective, and we will use a style that allows us to feel the pressures she feels, playing loose, gentle handheld movements off against unsettlingly static shots to highlight her restless, apprehensive mind-set. We will have simple lighting strategies, a lot of external locations and a natural colour palette. This is a deeply felt portrait that lies within the larger framework of a mystery and I will be using

astute performances and strong imagery to evoke a sense of absence and a fear of disappearance, which are both important themes in the story.

BRIGHT SHADOW is a 25-minute film with an estimated budget of 60,000 EUR. Producer Emily Morgan (Physics, The Mass of Men, NFTS graduate) is on board and we are currently approaching top actresses for the lead role. Crew includes DoP Rob Hardy (Broken, Shadow Dancer, Boy A), composer Isobel Waller-Bridge (BBC Life, The Imposter) and UK casting director Olivia Scott-Webb (Joanna Hogg’s London Project). We are seeking finance and a European co-producer to assist with locations and casting. The film needs to shoot in the summer in an atmospheric coastal town in Southern Europe (Iberian peninsula/ Southern France/Italian peninsula/Balkan peninsula). We are also interested in overseas postproduction opportunities.

For more info: unitedagents.co.uk/claire-oakley physicsfilm.tumblr.com

Greece

MR. CAT & SPARROw

Vasilis PATMANIDIS

vpatmanidis@yahoo.gr

Vasilis Patmanidis

+30 6979 316396

I was born in 1981 in Thessaloniki and have been studying storytelling for the greatest part of my life. I received a BA in Philology, specializing in Modern Greek Literature, and recently I completed my MA in Film Studies with honours at the University of Crete.

The subject of my MA thesis is “The cinematic form in the feature films of Paul Thomas Anderson”.

Mummy and Daddy are busy with their bickering and their fighting.

Well, nothing to worry about… Mr. Cat is here.

SYNOPSIS The little girl stands on the edge of the window, five storeys high.

A wicked, unseen man is bullying her into making the jump.

What led the little girl on the edge and who is her tormentor?

In 2005 I wrote and directed my first project, the short film “Yet Another Fairytale”. The film was selected and screened in the 11th Athens International Film Festival “Opening Nights”. Since then, I have written a number of short film screenplays and recently I finished my first feature film script, titled “Kid Omega”.

Her name is Stella.

Her Mother is constantly absent and her Father seems unable to come to terms with his failed marriage.

Stella’s only friend is a toy: her Cheshire Cat puff doll, Mr. Cat. Stella’s relationship with her father becomes more and more strained.

If Father can’t control his wife, then he –sure as hell – is going to control his daughter.

But Father doesn’t realise that Stella is not alone…

The mischievous Mr. Cat is determined to help Stella escape and leave behind her parents’ messed up marriage, even if it means getting her killed.

PRODUCTION NOTE Concept art by Angelos Roditakis

INTENTION NOTE “Mr. Cat & Sparrow” is a family drama constructed as a suspense tale. We open with a great hook, a little girl in mortal danger being terrorized by a wicked, unseen man. Then we go back in time and gradually provide all the answers to the questions posed at the opening sequence. The intent is to unravel the story of a traumatized little girl in a thrilling way that will captivate the audience’s attention from start to finish.

But suspense would not work without

nuanced characters and without a genuine appeal to an emotional reality. And that is where the family drama comes in: both Stella and her Father have to deal with the reality of a broken home. The child seeks refuge in fantasy, the adult in authority; their communication is destined to fail.

Finally, the story focuses on the way childhood trauma and childhood fantasy intertwine and correlate. It is Stella’s frustration, her abandonment, her need to

break free from harsh realities that bring Mr. Cat to life. And so, the doll becomes more than just an imaginary companion: it becomes the devil on her shoulder.

Stella uses her relationship with Mr. Cat to deal with reality, but Mr. Cat starts to take over.

-Highway Productions is attached to the project (http://highway.gr/uc.html) -Estimated budget: 100.000 euros -To be filmed in the English language or bilingually (Greek and English) -Looking, primarily, for UK-based co-producer, but interested in co-producing with any European partner in order to secure funds, casting, post-production facilities, sound-design and music -Planning to apply for national Greek film funding by the end of February -Location: written with London or Athens in mind, but any big city landscape will do

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Spain

ANA

Carla PIPO

carlasimonpipo@gmail.com

Carla Pipo

+447 4146 55441

Born in 1986, Carla Simón was raised in a very small village in the north of Spain. Being part of a huge family full of stories, her main source of inspiration as a writer/director has always been the complexity of her family relationships.

She earned a degree in Audiovisual Communication in the Autonomous University of Barcelona and spent one year at the University of California, where she directed two experimental films. Carla also studied and worked for the Catalan TV, directing a TV pilot and a short film. Two years ago, she received the prestigious scholarship of “la Caixa” to study at the London Film School, where she is currently finishing a MA in Filmmaking.

“The worst day of my life was when I knew that my daughter wouldnʼt grow up”.

Annaʼs mum.

SYNOPSIS “Ana” is the story of a complex and interdependent relationship between a mother and a daughter who are not able to express their love for each other.

Ana is a dwarf and Maria, her gorgeous and beautiful mother, has never fully accepted her condition. One night they receive a call form Toni, Ana’s handsome brother, who announces that he will visit them with his new girlfriend in two days. Toni doesn’t go home very often, so Maria gets very excited by the news and wants the visit to be perfect. Ana puts in doubt that Toni will really come, but the process of preparation forces her and Maria to interact and communicate.

Throughout the day, the so-long-silenced taboos between mother and daughter will be more noticeable than ever…

Once everything is ready, Toni calls and cancels the visit since his girlfriend got sick. Ana and Maria will have to eat the delicious dinner by themselves, but this will make them realize that the only thing they have is actually each other.

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PRODUCTION NOTE - Estimated budget: 35.000 euros - Intended to be shot in Spain.

INTENTION NOTE I always felt intrigued by the relationship between my aunt and my grandma.

While relatives and friends adored her, my aunt always had a controversial relationship with her mum, who never fully accepted her dwarf condition since physical appearance was crucial for her.

Ana and Maria need and love each other, but their lack of communication prevents them to show it. This is a film about details, looks, sighs, gestures, and the camera will pay attention to that through subtle performances. The film is set in a

little Spanish village where nothing ever happens; long takes and slow pace will capture a timeless feeling. Patient stillness and slow camera movements will show discomfort on the relationship. In an old and wealthy house, shadowy lighting will lit the rooms, falling on its objects, composing a series of paintings. The reddish/yellowish colour palette of the hot Spanish summer will bring up a suffocating mood. The music will come from the radio; the soundtrack will be composed by the sounds of nature.

- Intended to be post-produced in London.

In this poetic yet gloomy world, a small gesture at end will shine some hope between these two characters, pointing out the importance of accepting and valuing those who we have close.

- Status: Seeking for a producer and public/ private funding.

Kosovo

ANESTHESIA

Noar SAHITI

noarsahiti@gmail.com

Noar Sahiti

+377 44 103 386

I was born on December 22nd, 1989 in Pristina, Kosovo. According to hearsay, it was one of the coldest days to ever ravage my hometown. Long story short, I survived it and the rest is history. Nowadays, I’m a student at the University of Pristina, trying my luck in Film and Television, and, occasionally, I feel the urge to tell a story. This is one of those occasions.

You wonʼt a feel a thing.

SYNOPSIS It’s a late night shift and Ajkuna, a sullen nurse from a rural town, is asked to work extra hours. She is hesitant but in no position to argue. On the same night, a colleague informs her he’s acquired the information she was looking for: a link to an organ trafficking circle.

As the following days unfold Ajkuna is at war with herself. An easier life will come at a price, but the price is worth it -- a better future for her, and most importantly, her daughter. As she goes through various encounters with strangers, her best friend, and her daughter, Ajkuna grows increasingly indecisive. Until one night, a conversation with her daughter makes everything clear.

Anesthesia tells the story of a single mother consumed with the idea of taking fate into her own hands. She proceeds with the organ transaction, hoping it’ll change things. But is her fantasy for better times rotten to the core?

PRODUCTION NOTE Estimated budget: 17.000 EUR Looking for foreign co-producer to increase funding opportunities Sound designer also needed.

Will apply for the 2013 Kosovo Cinematography Center fund.

INTENTION NOTE I wrote Anesthesia because I often find myself staring at random small towns on the world map and I start wondering about the day of the townspeople. I am not interested in success stories; it fascinates me to visualize a certain individual as he goes through his daily chores and then I wonder about what excites him, the things that scare him at night, and, last but not least, his biggest worries.

Likewise, in Anesthesia, the main character is a commoner; she’s not a navelgazer pondering the absurdity of a

mundane situation, or a tormented intellectual in a self-inflicted crisis. She’s a woman with a simple wish: to improve the quality of her life and send her daughter away to school so she doesn’t end up in the same vicious circle as her – isolated, unheard, and underappreciated.

Ajkuna lives an anesthetized life and joy is scarce. So time comes to confront the elements. I was inspired by countless accounts of women struggling in post-war Kosovo. With their men either missing or dead, they somehow find a way to

carry on and grow into lionesses. War is evil but, eventually, it ends. It’s the debris that’s left behind that can affect one’s life permanently.

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United Kingdom

THE KEY TO A MAN’S HEART

James SCHLESINGER

james_schlesinger@hotmail.com

James Schlesinger

+44 77918 79812

James is a writer/director from London. He began his artistic career as an actor, working in theatre, film and TV in the UK before deciding to make a move behind the camera and tell some stories of his own.

To love and to cook for, till food do us part.

SYNOPSIS

He studied at the International Film School Sydney in Australia, where he learnt the twin arts of telling stories through cinema and hanging out on beaches. His graduation film, I Am Not Someone Else, screened at the Revelation Perth International Film Festival in 2010 and the Palm Springs ShortFest 2011.

“This,” we’re told by the world-weary voice of our narrator, “is a story about love.”

He tells us the story of Emily, who, when she was little, was told by her grandmother that ‘The key to a man’s heart is through his stomach.’ But she took these words too literally and when her father left, she blamed her mother’s cooking and vowed to learn to cook so she’d never lose a man herself.

Now back in cold, grey London he has been working as an AD on various film and TV productions whilst developing some of his own projects. (But sadly no more beaches…)

She grew up lonely, desperately trying to find a man to love and cook for but to no avail. Until one day, aged 35, she met Graham, an IT guy at work. They fell instantly in love, embarked on a whirlwind romance, and got married.

It was bliss at first, but food and love had become so entwined for her that as their passion died down, all she knew to get it back was to cook for him more and more until he grew fat and died.

Our narrator is revealed as Cupid, now old and bitter at the world for misunderstanding love. He blames us for Emily’s woes. But at last he leaves us with a ray of hope for our heroine.

PRODUCTION NOTE INTENTION NOTE A playful modern-day fairytale, The Key To A Man’s Heart is a fun, irreverent exploration of love.

From the moment we’re first breastfed in our mother’s arms, subconsciously, food and love become synonymous. This connection isn’t normally made explicit. But what happens when it is?

We live in a culture infatuated with love.

We seek it, read about it, watch it on the big screen, buy things to make people love us and when that doesn’t fulfill

24

us, we buy things to numb the pain. A hunger for love born of our consumer society.

We crave it because it makes us feel good. And yet love is put up on this romanticised pedestal. We’re fed these unrealistic expectations which play upon our fear of being alone.

And so food here becomes a marker to highlight the problems with consumerist love. Where love makes you fat and too much of it becomes fatal.

What will really set this film apart is the narration. The driving force of the film, it

really sets the tone for the piece. Always playful but with a rough edge, inventive language and rhythm evoke a fairytale style, that takes us into a heightened, cartoonish world, and has that ability to shine a light on our own lives, by stretching the realms of reality, and making us see things from a new perspective.

Such a visual script needs strong production design. Rich colours, textures and light will create a tactile, almost edible environment. And inventive transitions will whisk us seamlessly through Emily’s life as the narrator tells her story.

Short Fiction: Approx. 30 mins, to shoot in UK Estimated Budget: £90,000 Producer: Omar Kenawi – recent NFTS graduate Cast attached: Steve Evets (Looking For Eric), Miles Jupp (The Thick Of It), Adrian Bower (Teachers) Cinematographer: Felix Wiedemann (http://www.felixwiedemann.com) Looking for: Co-production with an experienced production company. If they have links to post production / VFX studios, that would be a bonus.

France

THE MEMORY OF THE FUTURE

David STEINER

steiner@parallellcinema.fr

David Steiner

+33 687 33 32 47

David Steiner is a French and Canadian screenwriter/director born in Paris. He is the head of Parallell Cinéma, a multi awardwinning production company (http://www. parallellcinema.com). He was selected as a finalist by Simon Kinberg’s Industry Insider Screenwriting Contest in 2010. After being an assistant director, an ads director and then a producer, he directed a short based on Roald Dahl’s The Landladyin 2011 and now devotes most of his time to fiction.

Nobody wants to know the end.

SYNOPSIS Aurélien is 25, and he remembers the future.

He talks to a woman in a bar, and there it comes. A flash of the old man. A wrathful, regretful, demanding old man at the twilight of his life, remembering the terrible things that happened when he married that woman.

Nobody wants to know the end - but Aurélien sees it. Every choice he makes.

Aurélien is haunted, moody, dark. He can’t even write poems anymore - the only way he had found to soothe the harshly demanding visions of the old man.

One day, a flash shows himself walking in the street with a woman. He follows her, and what he finds is - love.

No flashes anymore, no regrets, no old man - only Shannon, her laughter and the beautiful little poems she writes to rekindle inspiration before one of her graphics designer’s deadlines.

After the best weeks of his life, the demanding old man comes back. That’s not good enough. You’ll regret that. Shannon tries to help him - life gets unbearable. Literally.

In the storm of their roaring breakup, she finally tries the hard truth - it’s in your mind.

The flashes don’t exist.

And there, he shows her. The future, naked and ominous: the old man always remembers breakups, in all the details - down to

PRODUCTION NOTE The script was also selected by the Festival International du Film d’Aubagne’s “KIOSK”, an event where selected screenwriters meet selected French producers during the festival on March 22nd.

the words said.

They part. Her soul burnt, his curse heavier than ever.

But maybe the salvation is in the poems.

INTENTION NOTE The Memory of the Future is a tale about humanity’s exigent idealism - that need, that existential anguish which is key to some of the most exceptional human endeavors.

To tackle this elusive subject in a vivid, en-

tertaining way, the story revolves around a highly cinematic mechanism: the main character can remember the consequences of his life choices with the perspective an old man - himself - at the twilight of his life.

In addition to the obvious question “What is it like to see the future?” which every scene gradually explores, two main thematic arcs play the audience in the film: - Can he really see the future, or is he mad?

- Where do these visions - and the old

man - try to lead him?

Visual style: * The old man’s face and his surroundings embody both a human being’s destiny and his wrathful resistance to it. They imbue the main character’s gift with a darkly luminous, mysterious purpose. * The liberation comes through a poemtestament to humanity’s unquenchable drive, told from within phantasmagorical animated paintings reminiscent of Caspar David Friedrich’s work.

Visually, this animation’s tone reassigns the

old man’s face and surroundings, and the main character’s visions, into the broader perspective of humanity’s fantasy and idealism - which is the film’s main purpose.

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Slovenia

HONEY CAN YOU TAKE MY HUMAN FOR A wALK

info@filmfactory.si

Miha Subic

+386 31 423 029

director

During his studies at school of arts, Miha Šubic wrote and directed several fiction and animated films. He graduated with the 3D animated film Last Lunch, which was screened at over 30 film festivals. He was one of the founders of film association Film Factory in which he still work as a director, writer, animator and editor.

Imagine yourself being served on a plate to a hungry fish. A glass of Chianti goes well with you. Delicious!

SYNOPSIS The Dog has a very deep platonic relationship with his pet Human. After some time Dog goes on a date with a Cat, which turns out to be successful. Although he falls in love with her, she only uses him for her pleasures.

When she moves in with the Dog, she finds out he has a pet human and she despise pets. Slowly but surely Cat seduces Dog so he completely forgets about his pet. One day Human tries to catch Dogs attention, but Dog throws him out instead. While Human is wondering in the streets all by himself, Dog is happily in love with the Cat. But all ends when Dog catches his beloved Cat in bed with a white Bunny rabbit. His life is a mess, but in these lonely times he remembers about his Human.

After a long search he finally finds his Human on display in an Anthropological Park, but while trying to get Humans attention he accidentally falls into a cage full of Zoophiles. Just before Dog becomes their victim, his human pet sacrifices his life to rescue him.

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Miha SUBIC

Mojca PERNAT producer

Mojca Pernat is actively involved in film making from her early high school years. She co-founded film association Film Factory and later accepted the role of president. She graduated in the field of media communication.

Now she mainly works as a producer of short films.

Miha and Mojca are working together as a director/producer team since 2009.

INTENTION NOTE I found inspiration for the film in the song “Mein Teil” by German industrial rock band Rammstein. The song talks about cannibalism. I tried to imagine how the world would look like if humans would be food for other humans or even animals.

The film is a satirical comedy. The story is set in a world where humans and animals switch living positions and focuses relationship between humans, pets and animals in general. The story of Dog and

Cat is intertwined with short sketches which help the audience to understand this upside-down world in which the story is evolving.

It will be a computer 3D animated film. I believe this technique gives me the most possibilities to tell the story in the right way. I do not want to create a standard, overused 3D visual look. I want to create some specific unique visual style, which will add to the story.

PRODUCTION NOTE Film association Film Factory Mojca Pernat, mojca@filmfactory.si Estimated budget: 75.000 EUR Estimated length: 9 min Animation technique: computer 3D Looking for co-productions and partners to help us find funding, investors and talented 3D, CG artists.

Application for project development funding is currently in process – national resources.

Intending to acquire 60 - 70% of the estimated budget from national funding. The rest is expected from co-producers in financial, technical and human resources.

Russia

TO LEAVE OR NOT TO LIVE

Nikita SUTYRIN

sutyrin@gmail.com

Nikita Sutyrin

+ 7926 22 55 100

I was born in Ekaterinbourg, USSR, 1981. After working as a journalist I got a diploma in Russian State Film Academy (VGIK).

Since that I work mostly as documentary director and producer and from last year I’m vice-president of Russian Documentary Guild. I was always interested in international co-production – my films were shot in Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Serbia, Netherlands, Sweden. “To leave or not to love” is my second fiction short.

Anton is a promising young scientist who gets a job offer from a US institute.

He arranges his affairs a day before his departure, his colleagues cheer his leaving and no one realizes that heʼs desperately searching for an excuse to stay...

SYNOPSIS Anton is a promising young scientist, who lives in a small Science Town not far from Moscow. He gets a job offer from a prestigious US institute and the whole story is his last day before the departure.

Anton gives away his dog and tries to fix his relationship with his father, but fails to.

His colleagues and institute classmates make a great farewell party for Anton, they cheer his departure and congratulate him with a new job.

But through little details we understand his real motivation to leave - his broken heart and impossibility to be in his country who he really wants to be.

At the end of the party he finds out that his ex who he still loves is pregnant and the child is not his. Almost on the way to airport the bunch of unsettled problems brings back the main issue for Anton - to leave or not to live?

Nina BELENITSKAYA I was born in Moscow, USSR, 1981. At first worked as a journalist. At the same time started writing plays for theater, which got prizes in different playwriting contests and were staged in Russian theaters. Currently I work as a TV scriptwriter, I write for a prime time sitcom. And my several scripts for features are now in the stage of pre-production.

INTENTION NOTE A lot of young well-educated Russians prefer rather to emigrate than to live in the country of growing dictaitorship and total corruption. “To LeaveOr Not To Live” is an attempt to express the common mood of some part of our society and, probably, a suggestion how to solve the moral and civil dilemma for intellectuals – to leave or not to.

Directing the film I would emphasize on the atmosphere of discomfort and frustration of the protagonist’s world. The

locations of the story are among the aggressive environment of busy Moscow, hulf-empty Sceince Towns close to the capital and depressive Central Russian countryside. As for camera work and style of editing, I prefer more less stable, gentle and not aggressive way of expression. In this case whole discomfort of the environment and inner condition of the protagonist must be built through acting, in the frame background and within supportive issues like sound design and color correction. Conceptual color deci-

sion of the story is not bright, near to monochrome, but contrast.

The casting strategy will be based on not well-known young male actors, probably only one female episode role will be played by famous actress. Otherwise sound track suppose to be more soft and slow, with female vocals – it will contradict whole male hard-bitten way of the storytelling.

PRODUCTION NOTE The project is supported by Cinema Fund of Russia Risen founds: 1000000 RUR (~25 000 EUR) Estimated budget: 50 000 EUR Location: Moscow city and Moscow region Shooting period: October-November 2013 Estimated end of the production: February 2014 The project is in development and pre-production period now, we are looking for European co-production and distribution.

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Finland

TIGERS

Jenni TOIVONIEM

jenni@toivoniemi.fi

Jenni Toivoniemi

+358 4074 02752

writer/director

Jenni Toivoniemi’s first film as a director, “The Date” (7’10 min) has been selected to several major festivals including Clermont-Ferrand and Berlinale. The film won Jury Award in the International Short Film Competition in Sundance Film Festival 2013.

Toivoniemi is finishing her MA in screenwriting and directing in ELO Film School Helsinki. She has studied screenwriting in international workshops including Script & Pitch and Berlinale Talent Campus Script Station.

“Korso”, her debute feature as a writer, together with Kirsikka Saari, is in pre-production.

Toivoniemi’s next project as a director is a 25’ film Tigers. She is a co-founder of film production company Tuffi Films Ltd.

The life of your child doesnʼt always follow your plan.

SYNOPSIS Matti, 54, works as a caretaker of an ice hockey hall and his son Oskari, 19, is a promising ice hockey player. Everything is changed when Oskari gets a traumatic brain injury while playing.

A year after the accident Oskari gets back home after the rehabilitation at the hospital. Even the most ordinary things are difficult for him: Just getting his shoes of takes an effort. Communication is difficult as Oskari still suffers from aphasia.

Matti tries to help Oskari with his own limited skills. It is slow and frustrating for both of them, but Oskari takes small steps in his recovery.

The father and the son end up spending a lot of time just the two of them, as they haven’t got many friends outside ice hockey circles. Matti is convinced that if they just work hard enough, everything will be like it used to be. When Matti organises a game night at their house for Oskari’s old teammates he finally has to accept, that their future is changed forever.

PRODUCTION NOTE

Photo by Jarmo Kiuru

INTENTION NOTE

Tigers is a film about the struggle to accept that life does not always go as we had planned.

What interests me in traumatic brain injuries is how families cope with the uncertainty of the recovery. And how can you accept that your loved one will probably never be the same again?

Tigers portrays a situation where ordinary things have become a struggle. We will use long takes to force the viewer 28

Cast Matti Onnismaa and Johannes Holopainen Cinematographer Jarmo Kiuru (http://vimeo.com/38711381)

to be there with the frustration the father and the son both feel. Still, the rhythm varies and nothing in the film is too stylized: we aim for truthfulness in acting, images and sound. The characters are lit mostly by natural light. The colour palette draws from the cold Finnish winter and nature’s cross-hatched colours. Music is not used to force feelings, but it leaves room for emotions. Even though the subject matter is serious, there is an element of tender humour, as there tends to be in all my works.

Tigers should awaken all the senses. Feeling of the leather couch under your hand, the warmth of the sun shining through the window or the smell of the sweaty game shirts, the sound of the blades on the ice.

The films reminds us of our fragile physicality.

Producers Tiina-Mari Pitkänen and Elli Toivoniemi Estimated budget 160 000 EUR Looking for co-production possibilities regarding post-production Production company Tuffi Films Ltd. elli@tuffifilms.com +358 401721778 www.tuffifilms.com

Croatia

THE FIRE

Ana VILENICA

anav78@yahoo.com

Ana Vilenica

+38 5989 762926

producer/scriptwriter Ana Vilenica has MA in Acting from ASU, Sarajevo. As an actress she has experience in film, TV and theater. She also has engaged in the production of independent film. In 2008 she directed and produced short “The Window”. In 2011 she produced “Easter Eggs”, directed by S. Karajlovic. The film has achieved international acclaim and participated twenty prominent film festivals.

What would you do if someone close to you is dying? Put another log in the fire.

SYNOPSIS Family Dužević is being late for their Granny Elda’s birthday. Father urges other and exaggerates with the fire in the fireplace. Granny is preparing table for the feast. Granny’s doughter Silvana doesn’t want to go anywhere until the fire subside. Granny is slightly disorientated.

Father and two daughters go to the car.

Silvana promises that she will come after them. Granny can’t recall who is Silvana.

Night. Father and daughter are waiting in the car, Grandmas Elda in the twilight of her kitchen. She starts singing gentle Italian song. Silvana is sitting by the fireplace, singing as her Mum. She finishes singing and puts a new log in the stove.

Edi MUZINA director

Edi Mužina is a writer/director. He wrote scripts for feature film “The Ghost in the Swamp”, the short film “Recycling,” which participated in over 20 international festivals. He is one of the main writers and story editor on TV series “The Best Years” for Nova TV. He directed short film “Just tell me you love me.”

PRODUCTION NOTE

INTENTION NOTE The short film “Il fuoco” will be captured by the hand-held camera in found apartments with found light. The edit will be rapid and parallel which will emphasize the race against time at one side and no interest in time at the other. As in Carver’s short stories, such as “Let’s Dance Together,” one, seemingly decisive character motivation replaces the other, true one, that remains latent and unexpressed, yet clear to everyone. The fire is in the very title of the film and in the plot.

The Fire as symbol of light, warmth and comfort and on the other side with its power capable to destroy and kill. The fire should be controlled, choked or thrived. The fire color will be reflected in the frame, yellow to reddish, it will dominate the frame, characters, walls, except in the apartment of the grandmother. Coloring will be darker there, diminishing. Plans are mostly close up to medium shot, and expanding to Americana in “Nonna’s” flat, which will be full of decor, but cool.

“Nonna” somehow always remains in the shadows, but tangible, “transparent.” The light is extinguished, and the fire should be reinforced. Even if it’s in a wrong way.

Estimated budget 35 000 euros.

Finances secured 12 000 euros.

DoP Bojana Burnac Looking for Italian speaking actress and would like to find co/producer from the Italian spoken region. To be shot in Rijeka, Croatia in autumn/winter 2013.

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Russia

BEHIND THE DOOR

Olga YAKOVLEVA

august26studio@gmail.com

Olga Yakovleva

+7 917 211 1413

Filmmaker, journalist, festival manager. Studied journalism at Saratov State University and filmmaking at Summer Schools “Interdoc” (Serbia) and “Kultburo - Short Film Lab” (Russia).

Worked as a filmmaker at Nizhne-Volzhskaya Studio of Documentary Films and local TV-channels. Director of several documentaries which took part and were awarded at Russian and international film festivals.

Participant of several creative workshops in Russia and Europe. Now Olga works as an independent filmmaker and as a manager of international program of “Saratov Sufferings”, International Documentary Drama Film Festival.

Olga as a filmmaker is interested in human stories, kids’ and teenagers’ problems, political subjects, social issues.

Growing up is like a short circuit. Everything changes in one moment. The world becomes new, and the gray hairs donʼt frighten anymore. The only thing you are to do is to look behind the door.

SYNOPSIS Dima, a 6-year old boy, lives with his mother in a block of flats. One day his mother goes out to the store and tells her son not to come out. But how it is possible to obey when the most interesting things happen right behind the door?

That day he had a real adventure. That day he found a new friend. That day he became older.

Electrical circuit followed by the smoke spreading over the staircase is the central event of the film. It’s an impulse due to which we have a chance to get into the magic space of an old apartment and meet the only person who takes the child seriously. And that’s the reason for the boy to feel himself the hero of the day.

Sometimes children and their parents seem to live like in different worlds. By showing one day of a little boy’s life this short film reflects the difference between kids’ and adults’ feeling of reality. A child can find some exciting moment in the things that are ordinary in the world of grown-ups. His eyes are wide open for everything new and unusual. It’s the quality we lose while getting older, and that is in the nature of things. That’s why this film is an attempt to get closer to our 30

PRODUCTION NOTE children, look at them attentively and try to guess at least what they really think about.

INTENTION NOTE The main conflict of the film is the different views of a kid and adults to the same characters, events and situations.

As we focus on the boy’s feelings of reality then we choose the “subjective camera” style in some scenes to show it: details that are remarkable only for the boy, the angle “from below”, changes in the color spectrum. The viewers are to

feel the empathy for the boy. The details expressing the boy’s character and inner world are very important – his drawings, his toys.

In the other episodes camera also follows the characters making the narrative close to life. Close-ups also help to express characters’ emotions in mimics and gestures.

But on the whole the camera stays cold and detached towards the personages.

The scenes are also different in the inner rhythm. While taking the viewer deeper into the story the tempo gets faster.

The reference genre of the film can be called “magic realism”. We deal with everyday recognizable situations but the magical origin is added into the story with the boy’s “lucid eye”, short circuit and with the non-realistic character of the old lady.

At the end the two different manners of filming are approaching to each other creating some kind of “common image”.

It has a symbolic meaning: the magical view is no more concentrated in the boy’s eyes, it’s dissolved in the air and has lost its strength a little. Because discovering something new the child made a step to his adulthood.

Approximate length: 20 min.

Number of locations: 5.

Number of characters: 7 + extras.

Shooting days: 5-6.

Estimated budget: 55 000 euro.

Line producer: Grigory Grishin (august 26th studio).

Director’s/ Producer’s investment: 5 000 euro.

tutors FABIENNE AGUADO

RAZVAN RADULESCU

Fabienne Aguado holds a BA in Film Studies (thesis about Jacques Tati) and a Masters Degree in Sociology. Her early professional life was spent on film sets and on writing film reviews. Her experience includes managing a film production company, running evenings for film clubs, reading scripts, being a script consultant and a regular member of juries attributing development grants.

In 1998, she helped founding the Centre for Cinematographic Scripts (CÉCI) and has been managing it for the past seven years. The CÉCI holds its offices at the Moulin d’Andé, a cultural association of international reputation located in Normandy (France) where artists have found support and inspiration over the last fifty years. It provides a permanent program for film screenwriting which supports innovative and personal projects.

Razvan Radulescu is a productive Romanian scriptwriter. As a director, he only made one film.

He is the representative of the so-called post-revolution cinema in Romania and is part of the most successful generation of Romanian filmmakers, whose films marked the international film scene over the past decade.

ORSOLYA BENKO Based in Budapest, Hungary, Orsolya Benko is working as member of the script development board of the Hungarian National Film Fund. After graduating at the Faculty of Cinema Aesthetics and English Studies at ELTE University of Sciences in Budapest, she completed a research work at the Faculty of Cinema and Audiovisual at the Sorbonne Nouvelle in Paris. As part of her studies, she did a traineeship as a production and distribution assistant to Philip Bober for The Coproduction Office in Paris. She has contributed to the organisation of several film festivals in Budapest and joined the Hungarian Desk of the MEDIA Programme. She started collaborating as a script consultant in 2007 with Hungarian production companies. In 2010 she participated as a story editor trainee in the Script&Pitch Workshop organised by Torino FilmLab, and as a tutor in Nisi Masa’s European Short Pitch in 2011 and 2012. Currently she is also cooperating on various Hungarian and international projects as a script consultant.

He studied at the Philology at the University of Bucharest and Opera Directing at the Music Academy of Bucharest.

His literary debut was a collection of anthologies entitled Family Portrait, published in 1985. His 1997 novel The Life and Deeds of Elijah Cazane won the Best Debut Prize by the Romanian Writers Guild. His second novel, Theodosius the Small (2006) won the EU Prize for Litterature. As a scriptwriter, he has collaborated with numerous successful directors such as Cristi Puiu, Cristian Mungiu and Radu Muntean. His filmography includes: STUFF AND DOUGH (2001) and THE DEATH OF MR LĂZĂRESCU (2005) directed by Cristi Puiu; THE PAPER WILL BE BLUE (2005), BOOGIE (2008) and TUESDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS (2009) directed by Radu Muntean; SHELTER, directed by Dragomir Scholev (2009). He co-wrote and co-directed FIRST OF ALL FELICIA together with Melissa de Raaf, and was the script consultant for 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS, 2 DAYS by Cristian Mungiu (2007) and for THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF NICOLAE CEAUSESCU (2011) by Andrei Ujica.

Between 2005 and 2012, he was a frequent guest teacher and lecturer at Hochschule fur Gestaltung in Karlsruhe, the ESAV Marrakech and the York University in Toronto.

LEONARDO STAGLIANò NADJA DUMOUCHEL Nadja Dumouchel’s current field of activities are script consulting, film programming, transmedia development, talent scouting and journalism. As a polyglot (French, German, English, Spanish), she is dedicated to the international art house film scene. She studied visual culture in Brighton, journalism and literature in Berlin and cinema in Valencia. Nadja worked as a programmer and commissioning editor for ARTEs short film magazine Court-Circuit. She was later hired by the international distribution and production company PREMIUM FILMS in Paris, before going back to ARTE in the feature film section in 2010. She now contributes to the development of international film projects in collaboration with ARTE Germany, working closely with authors and directors on scripts. She is also in charge of a short film collection produced every year by the students of Atelier Ludwigsburg-Paris (European production master class), as well as of the attached transmediaproject on ARTE CREATIVE. Nadja was trained as a story editor at the Torino Film Lab and has since then been working on scripts from all over the world.

Leonardo Stagliano was born in 1978 in Poland but he grew up in Italy. He earned an M.A. in Philosophy from the University of Florence, an M.A. in Techniques of Narration from the Scuola Holden in Turin and an M.F.A. in Dramatic Writing from the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. He wrote plays and radio dramas and published short stories in anthologies and literary magazines, including the Italian edition of Granta. His film scripts have been selected for festivals and workshops such as the Torino Film Lab and the Biennale College – Cinema (Venice Film Festival). He has collaborated as a story editor with writers, publishing houses and film companies, among them Big Beach Films and Indiana Production Company. He’s a former participant of the European Short Pitch.

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funders

with the support of

in partnership with

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CONTACT 99 rue du Faubourg Saint Denis 75010 Paris Tel.: +33 (0) 9 60 39 63 38 Email: europe@nisimasa.com Website: www.nisimasa.com Head of the Script Department Wim Vanacker wim@nisimasa.com Manager of the co-production Forum J茅r么me Nunes jerome@nisimasa.com Project Coordinator Jakub Viktorin jakub@nisimasa.com A NISI MASA PUBLICATION Editor-in-chief/Layout

Francesca Merlo francesca-merlo@libero.it We wish to thank all scriptwriters and tutors for their kind contribution

S H O EUROPEAN T I T C H european short pitch 2013 organized by NISI MASA