NPP Dossier 2010

Contents Netherlands Production Platform 2010

1 . . . . . . . . .Contents 2 . . . . . . . . .Credits and acknowledgments 3 . . . . . . . . .Welcome 40 . . . . . . . .NPP Projects, 2002-2009 48 . . . . . . . .Index International projects 4 . . . . . . . . .Aftermath (Poland) 6 . . . . . . . . .The Bag of Flour (Belgium) 8 . . . . . . . . .Blackrock (Ireland) 10 . . . . . . . .Devotion (Germany) 12 . . . . . . . .Like the Wind (Italy) 14 . . . . . . . .The Lying Dutchman (Germany) 16 . . . . . . . .Rat King (Finland) 18 . . . . . . . .Run and Jump (Ireland) 20 . . . . . . . .Saint Anne in the Field (Croatia) 22 . . . . . . . .Something Different (UK) 24 . . . . . . . .T Project (Hungary) 26 . . . . . . . .The Train Station (UK) Dutch projects 28 30 32 34 36 38

. . . . . . . .Black Sea . . . . . . . .Crete! . . . . . . . .In the Poet’s House . . . . . . . .Life According to Nino . . . . . . . .Life? or Theatre? . . . . . . . .The Sky Above Us

1 NPP 2010

The Netherlands Production Platform 2010 is supported by MEDIA Programme of the European Union Netherlands Film Fund, HGIS–Cultuurmiddelen

HGIS-Cultuurmiddelen GSC

Binger Filmlab EYE Film Institute Netherlands Kodak City of Utrecht Variety Screen International MEDIA Desk Nederland CineLink Ministry of Education, Culture and Science EAVE Rotterdam Media Fund Bord Scannan na hEireann/The Irish Film Board Filmfonds Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg MDM - Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung Communauté française de Belgique Wallimage MEDIA Desk Belgique – Communauté française Finnish Film Foundation Film Center Serbia Magyar Filmunio Kodak NPP Development Prize Jury Louis Machado . . . . . . . . . . . Sales Manager, Entertainment Imaging Belgium, The Netherlands, Marketing Manager Benelux Marten Rabarts . . . . . . . . . . Artistic Director, Binger Filmlab Jane Williams . . . . . . . . . . . Head of Industry Office, Dubai International Film Festival Lucas Rosant . . . . . . . . . . . . Producer, Mandra Films Marcus van der Zwaag . . . . Sales Manager, ABC/Cinemien With thanks to Ido Abram Doreen Boonekamp Amra Baksic Camo Esther Bannenberg Ger Bouma Peggy Driessen-Bussink Alain Fountain Mike Goodridge Petri Kemppinen Claudia Landsberger Jovan Marjanovic

Simon Perry Marten Rabarts Dominique van Ratingen Nick Roddick Éva Vezér Gamila Ylstra AVP, Marja Paeper Holland Subtitling, Wibo de Groot Nedcipro, Erik Vrolijk Versteeg Wigman Sprey Advocaten, Roland Wigman Warnier Studio, Christan Muiser

Head Holland Film Meeting Ellis Driessen

Cover Design POOL

Producer Holland Film Meeting Marco Meijdam

Printing Thieme MediaCenter Rotterdam

Moderator NPP Nick Roddick

Netherlands Film Festival/ Holland Film Meeting P.O. Box 1581, 3500 BN Utrecht, The Netherlands Tel. +31 30 230 3800 Fax. +31 30 230 3801 hfm@filmfestival.nl www.filmfestival.nl

Round Tables and Individual Meetings Nathalie Mierop Editing & Design NPP Dossier Split Screen Data Ltd

The information on the projects in this NPP Dossier and in the update on pages 40-47 was supplied by the producers.

2 NPP 2010

Foreword

Welcome to the 9th edition of the Netherlands Production Platform!

With Pernilla August’s Beyond (Sweden) selected for the International Critic’s Week in Venice, Adrienn Pál (Ágnes Kocsis, Hungary) in Un Certain Regard at Cannes and Eep! (Rita Horst, Netherlands) in the Berlinale’s Generation K-Plus section… with The Aviatrix of Kazbek (Ineke Smits, Netherlands) the closing film at Rotterdam, Some Other Stories (former Yugoslavia) screening in Taormina and the release of the Bulgarian film Mission London (Dimitar Nitovski)… with The Runway (Ian Power) taking the Best Irish Feature Award in Galway, Shocking Blue (Mark de Cloe) premiering in Rotterdam, and Flowers of Kirkuk (Fariborz Kamkari, Italy/Iraq)) and Our Grand Despair (Seyfi Teoman, Turkey) recently finished, not to mention numerous projects shooting or in postproduction, 2010 has been a good year and we are proud to have played a part in their making.

We are especially happy that the Netherlands Film Festival’s closing film is Son of Babylon by Dutch-Iraqi director Mohamed Al-Daradji, an NPP project in 2008 which premiered in the Panorama section of this year’s Berlinale where it was awarded the Peace Film Award and the Amnesty International Film Prize.

We are equally proud of this year’s line-up of projects: a good balance between high-profile, award-winning directors and young and upcoming producers. The 2010 Netherlands Production Platform programme includes two public debates on Thursday September 23 and Friday September 24, which will focus on the financing of independent European films and the diminishing

chances of seeing them in a cinema. The potential of new technical formats, social media and direct distribution will once again be discussed. Panelists will include film industry experts such as distributors, sales agents and representatives of major European film funds (for details see the separate publications).

Re-introducing the ‘Holland meets…’ format, specifically focusing on a country, this year a (closed) networking and project meeting between the film industries of French-speaking Belgium and the Netherlands will take place on Saturday, September 25.

New this year is the Holland Film Meeting Brunch on Sunday, September 26 in the Grand Hotel Karel V, during which the NPP Kodak Award will be presented to one of the Dutch projects.

And, needless to say, we hope that beautiful new relations will be established between participants and experts, from the Netherlands as well as from other countries. The HFM team will do their utmost to make your stay in Utrecht enjoyable and productive.

We would like to thank our partners old and new as listed opposite: without their support, the NPP would not have been possible. Also a thank you to NPP-session moderator Nick Roddick of Split Screen; the members of our advisory group; and panel moderator Mike Goodridge of Screen International.

Ellis Driessen Head Holland Film Meeting

Willemien van Aalst Director Netherlands Film Festival

2010 NPP 3

Aftermath Poklosie

Apple Film Production, Poland

A peaceful village embodying the idyllic beauty of the Polish countryside harbours a dark secret: the collective murder by the inhabitants of their Jewish neighbours during World War II

local peasants, including their father, had taken over farms and houses belonging to the Jews after their deportation.

The brothers uncover the ruins of their father’s old house and find a mass grave containing human skeletons. They meet the last eyewitness, who tells them that the bodies belong to the Jews of the village who, in 1940, were herded into the Kalinas’ cottage and burned alive during a pogrom staged by the Polish people at the instigation of two SS officers. The ringleader was the then village headman, who is still alive.

The brothers go to see the headman, who names his closest accomplice: it was their father. Jozek decides to fill in the grave and conceal the crime. Franek disagrees and the brothers get into a fight. Jozek curses his brother and throws him out of the house. Franek is getting ready to go back to the States when somebody summons him to the village.

He has to identify the body of Jozek, killed by unknown perpetrators. Franek buries his brother, not in the Catholic cemetery, but in the one Jozek had built out of Jewish gravestones.

Synopsis Franek and Jozek Kalina are brothers who separated when Franek emigrated to the United States after coming into conflict with his family and breaking off contact with everybody.

After years, Jozek’s wife shows up in the States with her kids, unwilling to tell Franek what made her leave her husband.

Franek decides to go back and learn more about his brother. He is given a cool welcome. Soon, Franek realises that his brother is disliked in the village. But only when Jozek is attacked and beaten does he reveal the reasons behind the conflict.

The previous year, Jozek discovered that the old road in the village had been reinforced with gravestones taken from the local Jewish cemetery, which had been destroyed by the Germans during the war. Jozek tore up the road and moved the gravestones to his field, where he propped them up to form a cemetery of sorts.

Learning that the remaining gravestones were being kept on people’s farms, Jozek spent all his savings buying them up. His wife left, and the village turned against him after he started complaining that the church bell-tower was buttressed by a wall made of Jewish gravestones.

The brothers remove the gravestones from the church grounds at night. Their deed is discovered and causes even more hostility.

Trying to determine the cause of it, Franek soon finds out that

Director’s statement The film is about the meaning of history and tradition. It tells the story of two brothers: one ‘good’, one ‘bad’, according to their father. The setting is a village with its traditional values and harsh moral code. One of the brothers leaves the family farm; the other stays on to look after it. In a time of crisis, they are forced to question everything they believed in, to revise the history and legacy of their family, and consequently of the entire village and the nation as a whole.

The peaceful Polish village where the brothers grew up, a prime example of the idyllic beauty of the Polish countryside, turns out to harbour a dark and terrible secret. It no longer matters which of the sons is ‘bad’ and which is ‘good’, but which one can make the right judgements about their father, their family, their neighbours and national history. This dark chapter of our past is one of the few remaining stories never to have been shown on film.

This film will try and tell that story through the lives of ordinary people, showing their fundamental decency and uprightness, their baseness and lies. We are always given a choice in life. This film is about making that choice. The film begins with an idyllic vista of a pristine country landscape nestling among forests, russet fields of wheat, speckled with crimson poppies. It culminates in fire, destruction and darkness like the most haunting of nightmares.

4 NPP 2010

Director Wladyslaw Pasikowski

Director Wladyslaw Pasikowski Wladyslaw Pasikowski is a director and scriptwriter who graduated in Cultural Studies from Lodz University and in directing from the Lodz Film School. He is the leading Polish action director, has won many prizes at festivals and is an audience favourite.

His debut Kroll, a thriller about desertion, won Best Debut Award and Jury Special Prize at the Polish Film Festival. His crime thrillers, Pigs (1992) and Pigs 2 (1994), based on the political changes of 1989, became a hit in Polish cinemas in the 1990s and brought Pasikowski the Best Directing award at the Polish Film Festival and a Golden Duck award for Best Film from the readers of Film, the oldest film magazine in Poland.

Pasikowski is also the co-writer of Katyn (2007), Andrzej Wajda’s Oscar-nominated film, which won numerous awards and was one of the most acclaimed Polish premieres of the decade.

Production company Apple Film Production One of Poland’s leading film and TV production companies, Apple Film was established 20 years ago by Dariusz Jablonski, director and producer, formerly assistant to Krzysztof Kieslowski.

The company is an active co-producer, working internationally with Germany, the UK, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, France, Israel, Ireland, Sweden, Canada and Austria. Recently, Apple Film has completed two feature films: Between Two Fires, a co-production with Sweden directed by Agnieszka Lukasiak; and My Australia, a co-production with Israel directed by Ami Drozd.

Currently in production is Land of Oblivion, directed by Michale Boganim, which is a French/Polish/German/Ukrainian/Russian/ Israeli co-production. Other projects in development include Bruce Beresford’s Enchantress of Numbers, a co-production with the US; Dariusz Jablonski’s Immigrants, a co-production with Canada; Chris Lavis and Maciej Szczerbowski’s The White Circus, also a co-production with Canada; Lenny Abrahamson’s Sole Trader, a co-production with Ireland; and Journey to Zamosc, coproduced with Israel.

Current status Financing. Final draft complete.

Aims at the NPP Looking for co-producers, financiers, distributors and a sales agent.

Producer Dariusz Jablonski

Director Wladyslaw Pasikowski Producer Dariusz Jablonski Executive producers Violetta Kaminska, Izabela Wojcik Writer Wladyslaw Pasikowski Based on an original story Format 35 mm (1:1.85) Language Polish or English (tbc) Genre Drama Running time 110 mins Target audience 18+, educated Budget €1,400,000

Contact Dariusz Jablonski Apple Film Production Bagatela 10/12, 00-585 Warsaw, Poland Tel: (48) 228 51 84 40 applefilm@applefilm.pl www.applefilm.pl

2010 NPP 5

The Bag of Flour Le sac de farine

Compagnie Cinématographique Européenne, Belgium

The story of a young Moroccan girl who is taken by her father from a Belgian orphanage back to his family in Morocco, a country she knows nothing about and that she will have to make her own Synopsis Late 1970s. Sarah, a young girl of Moroccan origin, lives in Belgium. She was fostered at an early age; her father left her at a Catholic orphanage where she has grown up. She is an industrious pupil and a passionate reader, always having a book to hand.

One day, her father reappears and explains to the social worker that he has official permission to take his daughter with him for a weekend in Paris. Sarah follows him, unaware of the fact that her destiny is about to take an unexpected turn.

After making Sarah take some pills to ‘avoid car-sickness’, her father drives his car towards somewhere that has nothing to do with Paris. Sarah wakes up in Morocco to the sound of prayer.

After a few days, her father goes back to Belgium without discussing or explaining his reasons to Sarah. She doesn’t even know the language of this new country, nor the people who introduce themselves as her family. She can pray to Jesus as much as she wants and ask him about the ‘true God’, but no answer comes back. Sarah has to resign herself to accepting life as a Moroccan girl whose only choice of school is one where they teach knitting.

Time goes by. Sarah is now 17 and a typical Moroccan teenager almost. It is 1984 and we are in a small town lost in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains. Sarah speaks Arabic now and seems fully integrated. But her desire to leave Morocco and get back to the 6 NPP 2010

Belgium of her childhood memories - the school, the books and a life she thinks of as free - is still there. But she is also a teenager, and there’s Nari, a handsome, politically engaged student, to whom she is utterly devoted and who is, she says, the love of her life.

Torn between a steady life in Morocco and living her free dreamlife in Europe, Sarah finally leaves it all behind when she gets the opportunity to go back to Belgium. She leaves the Morocco she has learned to love, with some bitterness and aware that she is losing something very important, but also knowing that she is now able to live the life she wants.

Director’s statement The story I want to tell is about difference, about the confrontation between two cultures. I had the privilege of living a part of this story myself: I was abducted and locked up for two years, four months and 10 days. I am happy to be the person I am today.

I had the tremendous privilege of coming back to school, of knowing how to read and write, of being able to discover literature, and then the world of theatre and cinema, which let me work, let me earn a living.

For all the girls who didn’t get the chance to come back to this country, I want to tell this story - a story that starts as a tragedy, but one of which Sarah takes control and decides to treat as a gift. She doesn’t do so because everybody is ‘nice and beautiful’, but because the only way not to lose your mind is to cling onto the light of day with your eyes wide open.

Director Kadija Saidi Leclere graduated from The Royal Conservatory of Dramatic Art in Brussels in 1997. She worked as an actress for several years, then as casting director on more than 100 films, including Days of Glory (Rachid Bouchareb), Surviving With Wolves (Véra Belmont), Mr Nobody (Jaco Van Dormael), The Barons (Nabil Ben Yadir) and Illegal (Olivier Masset-Depasse).

In the meantime, she also directed her first short, Camille, which taught her the art of cinema and led to Sarah, her second short, which was selected for a number of international festivals and won several prizes, including a Golden Muhr in Dubai; the Beaumarchais Prize at the Festival de Creteil; and the Grand Prix in Milan.

Films as director 2002 Camille, short, self-produced 2007 Sarah, short, Artémis Productions 2010 The Bag of Flour, pre-production

Director Kadija Saidi Leclere

Producer André Logie Production company La Compagnie Cinématographique Européenne (CCE) was founded in Brussels in 1997 and was taken over in 2004 by Gaëtan David.

From 2004-08, CCE was mostly active in the field of consulting, setting up film finance and doing line production (in 2007, CCE was closely involved in the setting up of the ING Tax Shelter).

Since late-2008, CCE has been involved in the production and co-production of its own short films and features.

Films completed 2007 Under the Bombs, directed by Philippe Aractingi 2009 The Concert, directed by Radu Mihaileanu 2010 The Wedding Cake Upcoming titles Robert Mitchum Is Dead, feature, Olivier Babinet and Fred Kihn; Little White Lies, feature, Guillaume Canet; A View of Love, feature, Nicole Garcia; Sur des rails, feature, Alexandre Coffre; Like Heroes, short, Véronique Jadin (executive production); Viva Riva, DjoTunda Wa Munga (financial co-production); La source des femmes, Radu Mihaileanu (pre-production); The Bag of Flour, Kadija Saidi Leclere (pre-production)

Producer Gaëtan David

Director Kadija Saidi Leclere Producers Gaëtan David, André Logie, Samy Layani, Peter Bouckaert Writer Kadija Saidi Leclere Based on an original story Format 35mm (1:85) Language French, Arabic Genre Drama Running time 90 mins Target audience Family Budget €2,294,000

Line production for Artémis Productions 2006 Sonetaula, Salvatore Mereu 2007 Devil’s Rain, Philippe Cosson 2008 Diamant 13, Gilles Béhat; Welcome, Philippe Lioret; The Day God Walked Away, Philippe van Leeuw 2009 The Boat Race, Bernard Bellefroid; The Time That Remains, Elia Suleiman.

Current status Pre-production. Alice Belaidi, Hiam Abbas, Sabrina Ouazani and Smain Fairouze have been cast. The Bag of Flour will be an international co-production between Belgium (CCE, Eyeworks), Morocco (Sahara Productions) and France (Tchin Tchin Productions). Shooting is scheduled for the first half of 2011.

Finance in place: €800,000.

Aims at the NPP To set up an international artistic and financial co-production, as well as researching and preparing for the international distribution of the film. Seeking Dutch participation/support.

Contact Gaëtan David Compagnie Cinématographique Européenne 11, rue les Favennes, 4557 Tinlot, Belgium Tel : (32) 2 245 29 84; (32) 477 76 16 95 gaetan.david@skynet.be

2010 NPP 7

Blackrock Element Pictures, Ireland

Centred around the murder of a privileged Irish teenager, Blackrock is the poetic and penetrating story of a golden generation in crisis

characters are the gilded youth of a particular capital city, they share the aspirations and pressures of wealthy teenagers everywhere. And, in choosing a specific, powerful and personal story, we hope to make a film that will resonate beyond the small radius of their world.

In their stillness and quiet intensity, Gus Van Sant’s films Paranoid Park and Elephant are key references for Blackrock. Another reference is Larry Clark’s Kids which, while colder and harsher than our film, successfully uses improvisation around written dialogue to get the naturalistic, free-flowing speech that we want for Blackrock.

Ultimately, this will be a poignant and revealing film, but never depressing or grim.

Synopsis Blackrock tells the fateful story of a gifted and gilded Dublin teenager whose bright future is compromised after a senseless act of violence.

Educated at one of Ireland’s most esteemed schools, captain of its peerless rugby team, popular and charismatic, Richard Culhane has it all and enjoys his life. Occasionally, he acts superior, encourages rivalries and is falling for a girl bent on challenging his sense of entitlement. But Richard is a good kid with a clear sense of his place in this world. Or so he thinks.

Set during a summer of sporting triumphs, lazy days at the beach and lavish parties, Blackrock simmers over when Richard is embroiled in a fight that leads to the death of a team-mate.

Although others are involved, it is Richard who delivers the fatal kick that kills Conor Harris.

We watch him struggling to make sense of what he did. Although his act hastens the end of his life as he knows it, it also brings a deeper understanding of who he is and what he’s capable of. As moral outrage intensifies, Richard is left with the wrenching decision of whether to come clean or stay silent.

Blackrock is an unflinching study of a golden boy and his battle with control and unruliness within the wider portrait of a society that encourages its young people to feel invincible.

Director Lenny Abrahamson One of Ireland’s leading talents, Lenny Abrahamson is the critically acclaimed director of Garage, which won the CICAE Art et Essai Award in the Directors Fortnight at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. Lenny’s first feature was the award-winning Adam & Paul (2004).

He is currently developing a number of films with Element Pictures. Alongside Blackrock, he is working on Into That Darkness (adapted by Enda Walsh from Gitta Sereny’s work of the same name) and Us, written by Mark O’Halloran. He is also attached to direct Frank, written by Jon Ronson and Peter Straughan.

Director’s statement Frightening, sometimes disturbingly violent, but also beautiful, lush and fascinating, Blackrock will be an authentic and candid film about the lives of Dublin’s most privileged teens. While our 8 NPP 2010

Screenwriter Malcolm Campbell Malcolm Campbell is an established UK screenwriter with a diverse range of credits across television and film. In recent years, he has worked on some of the UK’s most popular dramas, including the hit Channel 4 series Shameless and Skins, and ITV’s long-running The Bill..

Malcolm also co-created the interactive teen drama L8R, which won the Educational Television BAFTA in 2008. He is currently writing Blackrock for Element Pictures and developing projects with Warp Europe and Company Pictures.

Production company Element Pictures Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe run film and television drama production company Element Pictures based in Dublin and London.

Upcoming productions include The Guard,, starring Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle; and the co-production This Must be the

Director Lenny Abrahamson

Producer Ed Guiney

Place,, directed by Paolo Sorrentino and starring Sean Penn and Frances McDormand.

Previous credits include Garage,, winner of the CICAE Art and Essai Award at Cannes in 2007; Ken Loach’s The Wind That Shakes the Barley, which won the Palme d’Or in 2006; Death of a President; Adam & Paul; Omagh; and The Magdelene Sisters, directed by Peter Mullan, which won the Golden Lion at Venice in 2002.

Current status Financing.

Aims at the NPP To find co-production partners and raise further production finance.

Writer Malcolm Campbell

Director Lenny Abrahamson Producer Ed Guiney Writer Malcolm Campbell Based on the novel Bad Day in Blackrock by Kevin Power Format 35mm Language English Genre Drama Running time 90-100 mins Target audience International arthouse Budget €2,500,000

Contact Element Pictures 21 Mespil Road, Dublin 4, Ireland Tel: (353) 1 618 5032 ed@elementpictures.ie www.elementpictures.ie

2010 NPP 9

Devotion Die Hingabe

cine plus Filmproduktion GmbH, Germany

Devotion is a hymn to physical as well as spiritual love - and to the courage that love needs Synopsis After a traumatic experience, Jan and Kristina, a married couple, go on holiday to the south of Italy where they try to forget the past and re-organise their lives for a future together. They pretend to live a happy life and believe they are doing everything right.

But when they meet the handsome and charming Nick, their love for each other is soon thrown into question. Jan, Kristina and Nick slowly descend into chaos, driven by the intense feelings they have for each other - feelings for which they are unprepared.

This is especially true of Jan, who falls in love with a man for the first time, yet cannot lose his wife. He feels overwhelmed by the force of emotion affecting him.

Step by step, a harmless holiday flirtation turns into a passionate mĂŠnage Ă trois, taking all three characters to their emotional limits.

Director’s statement My main objective with the film is to make tangible this chaos that enters the lives of the characters, brought on by love, by being in love. The emphasis is on the erotic as well as on love, since the story should not detach one from the other.

The difference between this story and many other erotic films is that the characters are not destroyed by their sexual obsessions the opposite, in fact: three protagonists discover themselves and each other by exploring their sexuality and opening up to each other.

Director Martin Gypkens Born in 1969, Martin Gypkens is a writer and director of feature films and fictional TV productions such as We (2003), Nothing But 10 NPP 2010

Ghosts (2007) and Am Hang (2009).

Before studying screenwriting and dramaturgy at the Film Academy Konrad Wolf in Potsdam-Babelsberg, from which he graduated in 2002, Gypkens worked in New York as 2nd Assistant Director and as assistant in the Art Department for various music videos and feature-film productions.

In Berlin, he worked as on-set Property Master for several international feature films and TV productions. Since 2000, he has been working as a writer and director.

Producer Andreas Eicher Born in 1965, Andreas Eicher has been working as a producer since 1996. With his former company, box! Film, of which he was both CEO and shareholder, he produced several feature films for cinema and television, including Female 2 Seeks Happy End (2002), Adam & Eva and Piazza Delle Cinque Lune (both 2003), Nothing But Ghosts (2007) and Muzika (2008).

Eicher is a member of several professional organisations and, since January 2010, has been working as a producer at cine plus Filmproduktion, a Berlin-based film production company which develops, produces and co-produces feature films and documentaries for the national and international markets.

Current status Financing.

Aims at the NPP Finding international co-producers, world sales and distributors.

Writer/director Martin Gypkens

Producer Andreas Eicher

Director Martin Gypkens Producer Andreas Eicher Writers Martin Gypkens, Péter Palátsik Based on an original story Format 35mm Languages German, Italian Genre Erotic drama Running time 100 minutes Target audience Female and male audience, 20-50 Budget €2,300,000

Contact Andreas Eicher cine plus Filmproduktion Lützowufer 12, 10785 Berlin, Germany Tel: (49) 30 26 48 02 90 Fax: (49) 30 26 48 03 94 andreas.eicher@cine-plus.de

2010 NPP 11

Like the Wind Come il vento

Intelfilm, Blue Film, Verdeoro, Italy

The life and death of a woman who struggles to hold onto her humanity while dealing with the dark side of society - the story of Armida Miserere’s quest for justice in Italy’s brutal prison system Synopsis This is the story of a woman driven by a sense of justice and her inner pain, who lived and died for her very difficult job. The script is freely inspired by the real life of Armida Miserere, a woman prison director who was in contact with the worst (male) criminals of our time - terrorists and mafiosi.

This is an unconventional biopic, portraying an unusual character who, after suffering the loss of her loved ones, dedicated herself to one of the toughest jobs in the world.

She had a reputation for being very hard because she had to stand up to very powerful people, but her life was also dedicated to keeping her human side alive.

Armida committed suicide in her apartment at the age of 47, and the film is conceived as a long flashback highlighting the most important moments of her life in an attempt to reveal her secret.

Director’s statement I believe that what makes watching a movie interesting is when it allows the viewer to meet interesting characters who reveal some truths about ourselves. Armida is a very special character who has something very contradictory to say about our sense of justice.

12 NPP 2010

We want the world to be a better place, but we have a hard time taking responsibility for doing what it takes to make this happen.

Armida fascinates me because she went all the way - and it was the most difficult of ways. When I think of her, I see a woman struggling to remain a sensitive human being, capable of falling in love but at the same time being able to look into the eyes of a mafioso killer.

I want the viewer to feel close to a character who could otherwise be seen as a larger-than-life hero. This is why I will show intimate details that will reveal what made her strong and, at the same time, frail.

Writer/director Marco Simon Puccioni: Filmography 1989 Concertino 1990 Letter#2: Berlino ‘89 1991 A Light on the Path 1992 The Blue Fiction 1996 Intolerance - sguardi del cinema sull’intolleranza 1997 Partigiani! 1998 Sell Your Body, Now! 2002 Quello che cerchi; La divina commedia secondo la Fura del Baus; Palestina: Tuttigiorni 2003 La fortezza vista da basso 2004 Corpo immagine 2006 100 anni della nostra storia 2007 Riparo 2009 Il colore delle parole Writer Heidrun Schleef: Filmography 1995 La seconda volta 1997 Giro di lune tra terra e mare 2002 La stanza del figlio; Un viaggio chiamato amore 2003 Ricordati di me 2004 La spettatrice; Te lo leggo negli occhi 2005 The Last Sign 2006 Arrivederci amore, ciao; Il caimano 2007 Riparo; L’uomo di vetro 2009 Unter Bauern; Good Morning, Aman Production company Intelfilm Intelfilm is a production company founded in 1996 and based in Rome that focuses on feature films for cinema and TV which have a European and international appeal.

The company’s documentary, Il colore delle parole, directed by Marco Simon Puccioni, was in Competition in Venice in 2009.

The feature Riparo (2007), also directed by Puccioni, is a French co-production which was in the Panorama in Berlin and subsequently screened at some 90 international festivals. In 2010, Intelfilm completed executive production on L’estate di Martino, directed by Massimo Natale and starring Treat Williams.

Production company Verdeoro Daniele Mazzocca began working as a producer in 1998, establishing the company Orisa Produzioni and producing three feature

Director Marco Simon Puccioni

films: Sono positivo, Saimir and Rosso come il cielo. In 2006, he set up his new company, Verdeoro, and produced Fine pena mai, which was distributed in Italy by Mikado. He also worked as line producer on Marco Bechis’ film Birdwatchers, an Italian-Brazilian co-production officially selected for the Venice Film Festival in 2008.

Specialising in co-productions between Europe and Latin America, Verdeoro is currently developing three feature films and a documentary. The features are: The Lost World Cup, to be directed by Lorenzo Garzella and Filippo Macelloni, an ItalianGerman-Argentinian co-production (in association with Rai Cinema); Three Days Later, Daniele Grassetti’s first feature (in association with Rai Cinema); and A montanha, an ItalianBrazilian co-production to be directed by Brazilian Vicente Ferraz.

Production company Blue Film Blue Film is an independent film production company, founded in Rome in September 2001, which makes features and shorts, documentaries, music videos and commercials.

From the outset, Blue Film has chosen an editorial line characterised by an innovative use of cinematographic language combined with new technologies.

Films include: Beket, directed by Davide Manuli; Il sol dell’avvenire, directed by Gianfranco Pannone; Nelle tue mani, directed by Peter Del Monte; Non tacere, directed by Fabio Grimaldi; Una questione poco privata, directed by Gianfranco Pannone; Scafurchio Brothers, directed by Tiziana Gagnor; Io che amo solo te, directed by Gianfranco Pannone; and I graffiti della mente, directed by Pier Nello and Erika Manoni.

Producer Daniele Mazzocca

Director Marco Simon Puccioni Producers Bruno Tribbioli, Daniele Mazzocca, Alessandro Bonifazi Writers Marco Simon Puccioni, Heidrun Schleef Based on the true story of Armida Miserere Format 35mm Language Italian Genre Drama Running time 90 mins Target audience Male/female, 14-70 Budget €2,300,000

Current status In development.

Aims at the NPP Looking for European co-producers to raise the remaining 20% of the budget; also a sales agent.

Contact Benedetta De Rossi Head of Development, Intelfilm srl Via Ostiense 81a, 00154 Rome, Italy Tel: (39) 06 57 56 000 Fax: (39) 06 57 54 679 info@intelfilm.it www.intelfilm.it

2010 NPP 13

The Lying Dutchman Fortune Cookie Filmproduction, Germany

The wild, independent, handsome 60-year-old eternal teenager Ruben Vanmeer (Rutger Hauer) becomes a granddad out of the blue, and the adventurous philanderer then has to transform himself into a caring grandfather Synopsis Ruben Vanmeer, a former ship’s cook, has settled down on the Isle of Wight and is making his living as the imaginative chef in a small restaurant, serving exotic food and telling wild stories every night.

The villagers - not to mention his boss, Beth McMillan - have taken him and his erratic lifestyle to their hearts. Nobody any longer believes that Ruben will fulfil his dream of taking off on a trip round the world in a small sailing boat: he is far too comfortable where he is - a lone wolf who spends the whole day flirting, being charming but amoral, and turning men’s and women’s heads with his food and his stories.

This lifestyle comes to an abrupt halt one day when he is confronted with his small grandson and the daughter who had been presumed missing. The two turn up unexpectedly one beautiful summer’s morning and severely disrupt Ruben’s life as a diehard bachelor.

He has no idea that his daughter is terminally ill. She conceals her illness for as long as she can and tries to get Ruben to take an interest in his grandson. But she has reckoned without Ruben’s determination not to let a five-year-old spoil his life. The 14 NPP 2010

outcome is obvious: the entire family history erupts again and the pain that father and daughter inflicted upon each other takes its toll. One catastrophe is followed by another and, in the end, as Pauline lies dying, it all seems too late.

But fortunately there is a charming little grandson and the lovingly brash Beth McMillan, who gradually teach Ruben that a family does not only mean trouble and loss but, on the contrary, is exactly what has been missing from his life.

Director’s statement The initial idea for making The Lying Dutchman was sparked by an encounter with Rutger Hauer in July 2004. I met Mr Hauer at a film festival and was fortunate enough to work with this wonderful character actor for a whole day.

In order to write, I always need a very specific idea of the cast.

And the more intense and charismatic the actor, the more specific and imaginative the story I am able to devise for him. The great challenge was to invent a role for Hauer in which he doesn’t play the usual ‘man with the gun’, but embodies what is innate to him, namely charm, humour, intelligence and incredible energy.

I hope that The Lying Dutchman will become a film that is carried with psychological precision by a great actor and an equally strong cast, and that it gives each of us the chance to discover something we may recognise in our own lives.

Director Ulrike Grote Born in Bremen, Germany, Ulrike Grote studied acting from 198589 in Berlin. She worked as an actress at the Hamburg Schauspielhaus and in numerous TV series and films. Since 2000, she has been an instructor at the Academy of Music & Theatre in Hamburg.

Between 2002-04, she completed post-graduate studies in Film at Hamburg University. Student film projects include Himmelfahrt (2003) and Ausreisser (The Runaway, 2004). Shown in Competition in Cannes, the latter was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Short Film in 2006.

In the same year, Grote founded the production company Fortune Cookie Filmproduction with producer Ilona Schultz. A year later, in 2007, their first movie, What If Death Do Us Part?, was released.

Currently, the company is producing the movies Die Kirche bleibt im Dorf, scheduled for the summer/autumn of 2011; and The Lying Dutchman, planned for the summer/autumn of 2012.

Director Ulrike Grote

Production company Fortune Cookie Filmproduction was founded in 2006 by Ilona Schultz and Ulrike Grote. The two partners met each other in 2002 when they attended the post-graduate film course at the University of Hamburg together, Ulrike as a Film Direction student and Ilona as a Film Production student.

Their very first production, Grote’s debut film What If Death Do Us Part?, funded by Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein and the Kuratorium junger deutscher Film, in co-production with ZDF and ARTE, was filmed in 2006 and broadcast in 2009. In 2009, they completed the short film Limbus, directed by Jörg Fockele.

The company’s most recent production, the documentary Wärst du lieber tot? (Would You Rather Be Dead?), a co-production with ZDF, was presented at the Hamburg Filmfest in September 2010.

Currently, Fortune Cookie is preparing feature Die Kirche bleibt im Dorf, to be filmed in 2011, and The Lying Dutchman, scheduled for the summer of 2012. Both are written and will be directed by Ulrike Grothe.

Current status Application for project development was made in Hamburg in August 2010 and an application for MEDIA Development will be considered in November 2010.

Producer Ilona Schultz

Director Ulrike Grote Producer Ilona Schultz Writer Ulrike Grote Based on an original story Format 35mm Language English Genre Tragicomedy Running time 100 mins Target audience 25+ Budget €5,000,000

Aims at the NPP To find co-production partners.

Contact Ilona Schultz Fortune Cookie Filmproduction Harkortstrasse 125, 22765 Hamburg, Germany Tel: (49) 172 804 1810 ilona.schultz@fortunecookiefilm.com www.fortunecookiefilm.com

2010 NPP 15

Rat King Making Movies Oy, Finland

When life turns into a game and the game into life Synopsis Eighteen-year-old Juri is a high-school senior who is addicted to online games. He lives his life playing games in his room or sleeping at school. A friend from the net, who goes under the pseudonym of Mordred, suggests a meeting. Mordred turns out to be another 18-year-old called Niki, who looks astonishingly like Juri. Niki asks a favour: could Juri hide him in his room for a few weeks? This is because of a game he has stopped playing on the net and he has, as a result, become a target for the other players.

Juri sees a web address tattooed on Niki’s arm and types it into his computer. He starts the game, which gives him the username of ‘Rat King’. Niki is furious: this is the game that has caused all his problems.

The game involves a number of tasks and the friends start carrying them out together. The first ones are very simple, even banal.

Later they become, like any addiction, more demanding. The more Juri gets into the game, the more Niki starts taking over his life. He goes to school for him. He entertains his girlfriend for him. He goes hunting with his mum…

Juri finds out Niki’s real identity and finds the same game on Niki’s computer. Niki’s username is ‘Doppelganger’ and his last task is: ‘Steal a Life’. Niki has been playing the game all along and carrying out his final task.

Juri realises that the only way to get his life back is to finish the game.

Director’s statement Video games and the internet are forms of entertainment but they can also be the sources of digital dependencies. Rat King tells the story of Juri, a high-school student seriously addicted to video games. Juri’s online friend Niki disappears from the internet community without a trace, but soon contacts Juri seeking shelter from a strange new game that does not let the players quit. Juri and Niki not only share a love of gaming, but turn out to 16 NPP 2010

be almost identical in appearance. Juri tries to quit gaming but can’t resist entering the deadly game. Fortunately, Niki is there to help his friend…

The horror unfolds as the game wants more and more from Juri, and we discover that its ultimate goal is to make the children disappear, as in the tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. My aim is gradually to escalate the elements of anxiety, and to keep the onscreen violence to a minimum, letting the fear creep up on the audience via the characters’ faces.

Rat King vividly depicts the state of mind of that most modern of addicts, an obsessive online gamer. I want to make an intriguing thriller wrapped around this very universal and contemporary problem.

Director Petri Kotwica Born in 1964, Petri Kotwica has a degree in film directing and is a graduate of the University of Art and Design in Helsinki. He also studied philosophy and literature at the University of Helsinki and directing at the Theatre Academy of Finland.

His feature debut, Koti-ikävä (Homesick, 2005) won a number of prizes at international film festivals. His second, Musta jää (Black Ice) premiered in Competition at the Berlinale in 2008.

Filmography 1994 Viiniä, rakas äiti (Mother Dearest), short, 16mm 1996 Tunneli (Tunnel Vision), short, 16mm 1998 Kypärä (The Helmet), short, super-16mm 1999 Force Majeure, short, 35mm 2000 Las nueve vidas, short, 35mm 2005 Kahleet, music video, 35mm 2005 Kotiikävä (Homesick), feature, 35mm 2007 Musta jää (Black Ice), feature, 35mm Production company Making Movies Making Movies Oy is a Finnish film production company based in Helsinki. Established in 1996, the company produces and co-produces fiction and documentary films for the international market.

The managers, founding members and shareholders of Making Movies are Kai Nordberg and Kaarle Aho. Since 1996, the company has produced two features - Homesick (2005), which won prizes at several international festivals; and Black Ice (2007), which premiered in Competition at the Berlinale in 2008 - and more than 70 documentaries and short films which have been seen in around 60 countries worldwide.

Director Petri Kotwica

Producer Kaarle Aho

Current status €750,000, Finnish Film Foundation (confirmed) €100,000, Sandrew Metronome Finland, Finnish distribution (confirmed) €60,000, MEDIA+ Development (confirmed) €100,000, Estonian Film Institute (through Estonian co-producer; pending) €100,000, Finnish Television (pending) €160,000, Nordic Film & TV Fund (pending) €250,000, still to be raised by a co-producer, subsidy, minimum guarantees, etc Total budget: €1,520,000 Aims at the NPP To find a co-producer, and maybe a sales agent.

Producer Kai Nordberg

Director Petri Kotwica Producers Kaarle Aho, Kai Nordberg Writer Petri Kotwica Based on an original story Format RED Language Finnish Genre Thriller Running time 90 mins Target audience 16-25 Budget €1,520,000

Contact Kaarle Aho Making Movies Oy Ratakatu 1b A 5, 00120 Helsinki, Finland Tel: (358) 9 682 9540 Fax: (358) 9 6842 7870 mamo@mamo.fi www.mamo.fi

2010 NPP 17

Run and Jump Samson Films, Ireland

When her husband returns home after suffering a stroke that has left him with the personality of a child, spirited Irish woman Vanetia Casey struggles to rebuild her family while finding comfort in an American researcher, Ted Fielding, who has been sent to document the recovery process Synopsis Run and Jump is a comedy/drama about love, family and friendship under less than appropriate circumstances. Feisty Vanetia Casey has to look after her husband, Conor, who is recovering from a severe stroke. Broke, Vanetia agrees to take part in a paid study, letting an American brain scientist move in to observe her husband. Barging in with his nerdy dictaphones and video cameras, the amiable but emotionally stymied neuropsychologist Ted Fielding begins documenting Conor’s unpredictable behaviour and the family’s dynamics.

The once wise, funny and considerate husband is now a loud, insensitive, obsessive-compulsive man-child. While four-yearold Noni is delighted with the new mischievous version of her dad, teenage son Lenny struggles with his father’s homophobic teasing, made worse by bullying from his classmates.

Soon, the Caseys are treating Ted more like the man of the 18 NPP 2010

house than an impartial observer, while Ted is finding himself equally drawn to Vanetia and her family’s humour and vitality. All wonder if what is supposed to stay strictly professional might become something more…

Director’s statement I have always wanted my first feature to engage in a few tones. I was looking for something with a strong emotional core, realistic humour and a life-affirming, yet understated, ending. Run and Jump is a tragic-comic film about taking risks and venturing into the unknown.

The primary goal in the look and feel of Run and Jump is to strike a balance between its sense of humour and its realism. The key is to embrace the film’s eccentricities while keeping it accessible.

This is an idiosyncratic film about the unexpected in life, the messiness we never plan – the dark twists and the best of humour, friendship and family.

Director Steph Green Steph Green is the Oscar-nominated writer/director of the multiaward-winning short film New Boy. Selected as one of Creativity magazine’s ‘Top Directors to Watch’ and Filmmaker’s ‘25 New Faces of Independent Film’, Steph works between Ireland and the US, and was formerly an assistant to Spike Jonze.

With three successful shorts to her credit (Push Hands, Transit and New Boy), Steph is currently developing multiple feature projects on both sides of the Atlantic. Her lead project, Run and Jump, co-written with Ailbhe Keogan, was selected for the June 2010 Sundance Institute’s Screenwriters Lab, as well as for the Berlinale’s Script Station 2010.

Keogan is the author of the novel Molly & the Cyclops, published

by Hag’s Head Press in 2006. Run and Jump is her first featurefilm script.

Producer Tamara Anghie Tamara Anghie produced the Oscar-nominated short film, New Boy, which has won awards at over 25 festivals, including Tribeca and the Berlinale.

A graduate of RMIT University and of the European EAVE and MEDIA Film Business School programmes, Tamara has produced, associate produced and executive produced a number of other award-winning films, including Macdara Vallely’s UK fea-

Writer/director Steph Green

Writer Ailbhe Keogan

ture, Peacefire (2008), and the Portuguese/Spanish/Brazilian/UK/ Irish feature Dot.com (2007).

Tamara is producing Run and Jump with Samson Films, one of Ireland’s leading feature-film production companies. The company is responsible for many award-winning films, including Once (2006), the Oscar winning low-budget musical which also won the Sundance Independent Spirit Award.

Current status Packaging and financing.

Aims at the NPP Finding additional financing possibilities and looking to further develop European co-production opportunities. We also want to extend relationships with sales agents and distributors.

Producer Tamara Anghie

Director Steph Green Producer Tamara Anghie Writers Ailbhe Keogan, Steph Green Based on an original story Format Mixed: Super 16mm/Video Language English Genre Comedy/drama Running time 100 mins approx Target audience International male/female 15 yrs and over/indie/ crossover Budget â‚Ź1,500,000

Contact Tamara Anghie Samson Films The Barracks, Irishtown Road, Dublin 4, Ireland Tel: (353) 1 667 0533 Mobile: (353) 87 790 3368 tamaraanghie@mac.com www.samsonfilms.com

2010 NPP 19

Saint Anne in the Field Sveta Ana u polju

Kinorama, Croatia

The breakdown of a single mobile-phone transmitter swiftly connects several separate life stories. Accidental encounters will change their course and shed light on four women who think of others before themselves Synopsis Night. A cornfield. A tramp breaks open the minilink, a small tower which provides mobile phone signals, cutting off the signal to the surrounding area. Within that area (consisting of the cornfield, a road and a gas station) and that time frame (from when the signal disappears to when it returns), the four stories that make up this film take place.

Mirjana is driving down the deserted road when she suddenly runs out of gas. She comes across Ivo, who reluctantly agrees to drive her to the nearby gas station. Mirjana tries to strike up a conversation and establish a relationship, but Ivo remains distant.

When Mirjana finds out from the gas station employees that Ivo was accused of rape a long time ago, his gestures, silence and sentences become threatening. But she decides to go back with him anyway.

Dado, Natasa, Zivko and Nina are driving home from a disco. Dado, Natasa and Zivko are friends; Nina is someone Dado met in the club. In the car, Dado finds his father’s gun and suggests they go shooting in the cornfield. Tipsy and in a good mood, they all agree and shoot at a scarecrow. Afterwards, they stop at the gas station and find out that a man has been shot. They leave in panic but Nina thinks they should go back and say what happened. The argument turns violent. Dado beats Nina up and leaves her on the road.

20 NPP 2010

Ana and Kreso are a married couple trying to get over the death of their child. Ana seems deranged – she gets up in the middle of the night and suggests to Kreso they go for a walk. Kreso is doing his best to keep Ana in one piece, and goes along to stop her from breaking down completely. They get lost and find themselves in the cornfield with the wounded tramp. Kreso tries to call for help, then runs towards the gas station. Ana remains alone with the tramp and confesses everything to him: she and Kreso have lost their child; Kreso is trying to get over it; but she just wants to disappear. When Kreso returns from the gas station, he finds the tramp dead in the field. Ana is nowhere to be seen.

Bojan and Igor are engineers on their way to repair the minilink.

They have been friends for many years. A long time ago, Bojan was in love with Igor’s wife, Suzana. Suzana was in love with him too, so she decided to leave Igor. Igor and Bojan haven’t seen or heard from her since. While driving, Bojan suddenly admits he had an affair with Suzana. Igor is hurt by that confession and hits Bojan. They fight and finally collapse in exhuastion. Sitting helplessly on the ground, Bojan starts talking about Suzana, where she lives, how she lives. Through his story, it is clear that he is still sorry he never joined her and never contacted her. Igor doesn’t comment, he just suggests they should repair the minilink.

When they do, he tells Bojan he can call Suzana.

Director’s statement One of the reasons I get so excited when I work on a film is the process of mutuality - not only do I affect the characters, the plot and the world I am creating, but they affect me as well. It is not just about me shaping things that interest me, but about the material I’m working on starting to shape me in return. And that’s why I cannot say what exactly this film is about. Maybe it is something that could be summed up in one sentence: This is a film about people in a cornfield at night.

Director Zvonimir Juric Zvonimir Juric was born in 1971 in Osijek, Croatia. He graduated in Film and TV Directing in 1999 from the Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb. Since then, he has directed several documentaries and two feature films.

His filmography includes the short film Yellow Moon, which premiered at the 2010 Berlinale and was awarded the Heart of Sarajevo at this year’s Sarajevo Film Festival; and feature film

Writer/director Zvonimir Juric

The Blacks (co-directed with Goran Devic), which won 11 film awards and was shown at 30 international film festivals.

Co-writer Jelena Paljan graduated in Film & TV Editing and works as a screenwriter and film critic.

Production company Kinorama Kinorama is a production company founded in 2003. In 2009, the company produced feature film Crnci (The Blacks), directed by Zvonimir Juric and Goran Devic; and the short Tulum (Party), directed by Dalibor Matanic. Between them, those two films were screened at more than 90 international film festivals and have won more than 20 awards to date.

This year, Kinorama has completed production on two yet-to-be released feature films, and is developing six new projects, three of them co-productions.

Current status Third draft of the script; development.

Aims at the NPP Finding co-producers and sales agents.

Producer Ankica Juric Tilic

Director Zvonimir Juric Producer Ankica Juric Tilic Writers Jelena Paljan, Zvonimir Juric Based on an original story Format 35mm Language Croatian Genre Drama Running time 95 mins Target audience 20-45, female Budget â‚Ź1,100,000

Contact Ankica Juric Tilic Kinorama Stoosova 25, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia Tel: (385) 1 231 67 87 Fax: (385) 1 231 67 88 Mobile: (385) 98 465 576 ankica@kinorama.hr info@kinorama.hr www.kinorama.hr

2010 NPP 21

Something Different Sterling Pictures, UK

A playful and redemptive tale about every family’s dream and biggest challenge, Something Different follows a young couple’s desperate attempts to get their child into a good secondary school Synopsis The Newmans are a young London family with a 10-year old daughter. But when friends start boasting about a new house they’ve bought nearby within the school catchment area, anxiety sets in at the Newman household. Steve and Jane discover that their flat is located just outside the catchment area. Tuesday will not qualify for admission. Jane’s friend Melanie advises them to rent a cheap place inside the catchment area and claim it as their main family home.

They find a tiny bed-sit, but Melanie doubts the school authorities will buy it, unless a single parent and child were to live in it. That evening, Jane confronts Steve with a new plan. They must file for divorce. Then they can claim that Steve is a single father living in the bed-sit inside the catchment area.

Steve reluctantly agrees. But Jane soon discovers that she rather enjoys her new-found freedom. The gap between them widens.

Distressed and demoralised, Steve loses his job and the situation goes from bad to worse. Tuesday even starts to blame herself for her parents’ separation.

But some surprising help comes from an unlikely source: Judge Early, who is presiding over the divorce case and has come to realise that this basically honest and loving couple with a bright 22 NPP 2010

child are trapped by life and should not be left to drift apart. The Judge risks his career to replace legal justice (which he is supposed to serve and protect) with his own unwritten moral code.

Director’s statement On the surface the film will give a sense of Mozart’s Eine kleine Nachtmusik – a playful, happy, funny, spontaneous tale about the everyday life of a seemingly perfect London family with a 10-yearold daughter.

Then things go wrong.

What fascinates me is when subjects and people, usually perceived as one thing, suddenly become something else, showing us the hidden side of the coin. In Something Different, I am interested to see what happens if I take that to an extreme. The Judge can see that the bitterly divided couple are in love with each other and yet they stubbornly keep denying it.

Something Different celebrates the importance of family love, honest relationships and the importance of play – how wonderful it is to play a game, have a good joke, with your child, your wife, your friends; and how lovely it is to see when people truly need each other to play. It uses my usual theme of ‘family survival against all odds’ to tell a deeper, meaningful and universal human story about love and the need for each other, about the aspirations and dreams we all share.

It will also be very musical, combining classical tunes with modern music (Amy Winehouse, Arctic Monkeys, etc). In some scenes, the film will slip into brief magical-musical moments, with the real world merging with the musical world and becoming one.

Although we deal with the theme of family breakdown, the story is actually about art versus money, about the spiritual (dream) world versus the real (practical) world. And music will help us explore this eternal conflict.

Director Jasmin Dizdar Following the advice of his literature teacher, Jasmin Dizdar joined the film club in his hometown of Zenica (BosniaHerzegovina), where he made short documentary, drama and experimental films and won 11 awards at local and national film festivals.

His last Bosnian short film, Butterfly Dance, featuring an ensemble cast from Zenica’s National Theatre, got him into FAMU, the prestigious film academy in Prague. After graduating, Jasmin moved

Writer/director Jasmin Dizdar

to London, where he wrote screenplays for the BBC and a radio play for BBC Radio 4. Soon afterwards, he wrote and directed his first feature, Beautiful People, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. This satirical comedy about the chaotic world of the 1990s was a big hit and won the Un Certain Regard prize.

Jasmin’s recent short film, Mamma Roma, was part of the omnibus feature film, Les Européens. In it, he stays faithful to his personal themes of humanism, egalitarian individualism and individual freedom.

Filmography Between 1977 and 1984, Jasmin made 15 short films and won 11 prizes in his native Bosnia.

1985 Winner, 15 mins, 16 mm; Mr Slave, 20 mins, 35 mm 1986 Crucifixions, 20 mins, TV; Heroes Sleeping Quietly, 25 mins, TV 1988 Our Sweet Homeland, 40 mins, TV 1997 After Silence, 30 mins, 35mm (Special FAMU Jury award for Direction) 1999 Beautiful People, feature, writer/director; Best Film, Un Certain Regard, Festival de Cannes 1999; Special Mention, Ecumenical Jury Awards, Karlovy Vary 1999; Special Mention, International Ecumenical Jury, Film Festival Cottbus 1999; Best Film, Prix du Public, Saint Petersburg Film Festival, 2000 2006 Mamma Roma, writer/director, segment in feature Les Européens

Producer Michael Riley

Director Jasmin Dizdar Producer Michael Riley Writer Jasmin Dizdar Based on an original story Format 35mm Language English Genre Comedy/drama Running time 95 mins Target audience Adult Budget €1,900,000

Production company Sterling Pictures Incorporated in 1994, London-based Sterling Pictures develops and produces feature films, documentaries and TV dramas. We have been involved in the production of many feature films as well as a large-budget television drama serial for the BBC. Our productions have screened at many international film festivals, winning numerous awards and achieving strong commercial returns. We believe that, for a small company, the key to continuing success lies in distinctive, eclectic, talent-driven projects carefully nurtured with strong, reliable co-production partners.

Current status Packaging and financing. To date: UK Film Council (tbc): 25%.

UK Producer’s Tax Credit: 18%.

Aims at the NPP To learn more about co-production possibilities in the Netherlands and to meet potential sales agents. Actively seeking Dutch participation/support.

Contact Michael Riley Sterling Pictures 7 Denmark Street, London WC2H 8LZ, UK Tel: (44) 7956 529 489 admin@sterlingpictures.com www.sterlingpictures.com

2010 NPP 23

T Project Katapult Film, Hungary

“I did it my way…”

A prototype for the selfdestructive sports hero, Toldi is the ‘raging bull’ of 14th-century Central Europe Synopsis The exceptionally strong Miklós Toldi accidentally kills one of his older brother György’s soldiers and becomes a fugitive from justice. In Buda, he defeats a noble Czech warrior, earning him a pardon from the king and the title of knight.

He and the young noblewoman Piroska Rozgonyi fall in love. Her hand is to be given to the winner of an upcoming tournament, for which Toldi is the favourite. Rather than win the tournament in his own name, Toldi perversely swaps armour with fellow knight Lörinc Tar, and wins the tournament in Tar’s name.

Piroska recognises the deception but marries Lörinc Tar anyway. It is only then that Toldi realises how much he loves her.

He warns Tar not to mistreat Piroska. But, during a later visit from Toldi, Tar gives her a slap.

Toldi challenges Tar to a duel. Citing technical reasons, Tar fails to appear. Toldi drags him out of his house, forces him to fight and kills him. On hearing the news, Piroska collapses and dies.

Toldi opens her grave and brings the apparently dead woman back to life. But she curses Toldi and rejects him.

Many years later, the old knight returns to the castle of Buda to fight a supposedly invincible Italian warrior. As a reward for his victory, the king forgives Toldi, who dies in his arms.

Director’s statement My primary intention is to make a spectacular film - one that is entertaining, has a moral and is a faithful adaptation of a familiar story. When I decided to become a director, I imagined the type of film I wanted to make: battles, romance, struggles, 24 NPP 2010

adventure and blood were the preoccupations of my childish imagination. So I merged these ideas with the options available to me: what themes and financial possibilities were at the disposal of a film director living in Hungary? This is how the idea of making a Toldi film came about. It is the unique story of a hero known to all Hungarians, and rendered in a spectacular way.

We want it to be a contemporary interpretation of the original works written by Ilosvai and Arany. Establishing the figure of Toldi was our main task and, for this reason, we offer various approaches to the Toldi legend.

These tales were once spread by word of mouth. Our venerable poets structured their work around oral folk history, and we are faithful to this as well. The film’s narrative is made up of the various points of view offered by characteristic figures in medieval Buda.

In casting Toldi and the knights surrounding him, we want to use a cast of Hungarian and international actors, along with heavyweight athletes who work especially well in front of the camera. As far as I can see, boxers, water-polo players, wrestlers, and body-builders are the only ones who have the requisite physique for this role.

The film’s visual atmosphere resembles today’s animated films, with the difference that the characters are real actors and the locations are genuine. We would like to blend the formal elements of the Gothic age with the clear aesthetic of propaganda images and films that employ heroic characters. We want to use the American comic-book tradition, as well as the refined visual storytelling technique of today’s animated and visually spectacular films. Sin City and 300 are films which most resemble the visual concept. But we wish to create something new: an impressive film that is in keeping with European taste.

Director György Pálfi Born in Budapest in 1974, György Pálfi joined the Hungarian University of Drama, Film and Television in 1995. There, he directed several short films. His first feature, Hukkle (2002), was invited to more than 100 international film festivals worldwide and won several prizes, including EFA’s European Discovery 2002 - Fassbinder Award.

Taxidermia, his second feature, won the main prize, plus Best Supporting Actress and Actor, Best Art Director, the Student Jury’s Main Prize and the Gene Moskowitz Prize at the 37th

Writer/director György Pálfi

Hungarian Film Week in Budapest.

I Am Not Your Friend was invited to numerous major festivals, including Karlovy Vary, Pusan, Toronto and Sarajevo.

Filmography 1993 Break, short; Csekk II, short 1997 The Fish - Ichthys, short 1999 Devil’s Knot, the 7th Room in the Knock-Knock, short; Round and Round, short 2002 Hukkle, 35mm, 75 mins, fiction 2003 ShaMan vs. Ikarus, episode in A Bus Came… 2006 Taxidermia, 35mm, 90 mins, fiction 2008 Poker Ace and People’s Best Friend 2009 I Am Not Your Friend, 35mm/HDV, 50+90+90 mins, documentary/fiction Production company Katapult Film Ltd Katapult Film Ltd was founded in 2002 by members of the intellectual workshop of Sandor Simo, the outstanding film-maker and teacher. After graduating from the College of Film and Theatre Arts in Budapest in 2000, the eight writer/directors and two editors decided to continue their collaboration as professionals by founding the Madzag Film Association, which became a continuous workshop organised by the members to improve their own screenplays.

To date, Katapult has produced seven features: Montecarlo!, Miracle in Cracow, White Palms, Overnight, Intimate Headshot, Bibliothèque Pascal and Morgen (in co-production).

After establishing Katapult Film, its members set up links with other national partners to strengthen their production capacities. As a result, Katapult Film has worked with Cinema Film, Inforg Studio and Filmpartners.

Select filmography 2006 Fehér tenyér (White Palms, Hungary) 2007 Overnight (Hungary/Germany) 2008 411-Z (Hungary), short 2010 Bibliothèque Pascal (Hungary/Germany); Morgen (Romania/Hungary/ France) Current status T Project is partly financed and the script is being revised. We expect to apply for Eurimages funding in January and hope to begin production in the late summer of 2011.

Aims at the NPP We need to find additional co-production partners and are seeking a commitment from a sales company.

Producer Peter Reich

Director György Pálfi Producers Iván Angelusz, Peter Reich Writer György Pálfi, Iván Szabó Based on János Arany’s Toldi Trilogy Format 35mm Languages Hungarian, German, French Genre Drama Running time 120 mins Target audience Families, all ages Budget €5,000,000

Contact Peter Reich Katapult Film Frankel Leó út 21-23, Budapest, Hungary 1023 Tel: (36) 1 787 35 58 Mobile: (36) 30 384 81 80 preich@lunabp.com www.katapultfilm.hu

2010 NPP 25

The Train Station Human Film, UK

Hayat is a young female suicide bomber. At Baghdad’s Central Train Station, 90 seconds before she may do the unthinkable, she has one last wish Synopsis Baghdad, 2007. It’s the official reopening of Baghdad Central Station after four years of being closed. Hayat, a beautiful 23year-old girl, stands in the centre of the old station with just one wish. Nobody is there, only their traces: abandoned suitcases, empty but open shops, smoke from a kebab stall, waiting taxis and trains - all deserted. She is a suicide bomber.

Ninety seconds earlier, on that fateful day, Hayat encounters people with all-too familiar stories: a young man whom she will take prisoner; a soldier forced to defend his country; a young refugee sacrificing school for his family; a young mother fighting for recognition; a wise old man who believes in forgiveness - and the innocence of a baby who captures her conscience, all giving Hayat a true sense of identity.

When freedom and hope seem a distant memory, this young woman’s reflection of life, sense of duty and religious beliefs will lead her on a tragic path of understanding and discovery.

As the ashes settle, we wonder: is it all too late?

Director’s statement The first losers in war are women. The film is a tragic story about a young Iraqi woman called Hayat who finds her answers too late.

I was shooting my feature film Son of Babylon when an image in the newspaper caught my eye. Outside a police station, her arms and legs strung up in what looked like a crucifixion, a 16-year-old girl was hanging. I read that the girl had walked into a police station from the street to confess a mission of mass murder. The 26 NPP 2010

image of this girl stayed with me. Although I was hoping to make a lighter film after the weighty subject matter of my previous films, it was not to be.

Similar stories seemed to be coming at me from every direction.

In Moscow on March 29, 2010, two women bombed two subway stations, killing 38 people and injuring over 60. It became apparent to me that female suicide bombers were now the greatest threat to every country, especially my own. I knew then I couldn’t avoid telling this story.

The first two Iraqi female bombers blew themselves up in March 2003, only days after US forces entered Baghdad, declaring on television that their primary motive was to protect Iraq from the foreign invader. Since then, women attackers have claimed hundreds of lives in co-ordinated attacks in Iraq, and the problem has spilled over into neighbouring countries.

Are these women using violence to protest and avenge those they have lost to war, dictatorship and occupation? Or to protest against their status in Iraq today? War and occupation have cost Iraqi women their legal standing and their everyday freedom of dress and movement. With this film, I would like to show how easily Iraqi women have been marginalised and oppressed in recent years.

Director Mohamed Al-Daradji Mohamed Al-Daradji is co-founder of multi-award-winning Human Film, a UK and Netherlands-based production company.

A Sundance fellow, Mohamed studied Film and Television Production at the Media Academy in Hilversum before moving to the UK to complete two Masters degrees in Cinematography and Directing at the Northern Film School in Leeds.

Following the collapse of Saddam’s regime in 2003, Mohamed returned to Iraq to make his first feature film, Ahlaam, which provided an insight into the chaos and confusion of a war-torn Iraq following three decades of dictatorship. Ahlaam screened at over 125 international film festivals, received over 22 awards, and represented Iraq for Oscar and Golden Globe consideration in 2007.

Mohamed returned to Iraq in 2008 to shoot the feature film Son of Babylon, which went on to screen at Sundance and Berlin, where it received two awards: the Amnesty Award and the Peace Prize.

The film is Iraq’s official entry for the 2011 Academy Awards.

Filmography as director 2006 Ahlaam, 35mm, 108 mins 2009 Iraq: War, Love, God Madness, DV Cam, 90 mins 2010 Son of Babylon, 35mm, 90 mins

Writer/director Mohamed Al-Daradji

Production company Human Film Human Film is a UK and Dutch company established in 2005, with the goal of seeking out and exploring individual creativity, producing films with a social conscience and impact.

Over the past five years, Human Film have successfully completed three feature films in Iraq; Ahlaam (2006), Iraq, War, Love, God and Madness (2010) and, most recently, Son of Babylon (2010), the recipient of the Berlinale Peace Prize, the Amnesty Film Award 2010 and Karlovy Vary’s NETPAC Award. In addition, the film will be Iraq’s official entry for the 2011 Oscars and Golden Globes.

The company also won UKTI’s Best Overseas Initiative in 2009 for hosting a series of 16mm and 35mm workshops aimed at underprivileged filmmakers in Iraq. Similarly, the film-makers have also established the Iraqi Mobile Cinema, screening movies across Iraq. Both aim to improve democracy, freedom and artistic expression in Iraq.

Producer Isabelle Stead Co-founder of Human Film, Isabelle Stead spent five years working in Los Angeles, then returned to the UK to complete a Masters in Film Production and started work on several international coproductions that would become Human Film's first feature films; Ahlaam, War, Love, God and Madness, and Son of Babylon.

Isabelle also established The Iraq's Missing Campaign, to encourage governments and the media to support the identification of the victims of Saddam’s mass graves, a cause central to the story of Son of Babylon. Her enthusiasm for increasing independent production linking the UK and the Middle East has enabled her to maintain a key position within the Middle-Eastern film industry, making films with a social purpose that raise awareness and push boundaries.

Current status Screenplay development. Human Film investment and in kind: €70,000; Iraq Al-Rafidain in kind: €50,000; Sanad Fund: $12,000.

The following have been applied for: UK Film Council: £50,000; Screen Yorkshire £10,000 Aims at the NPP We hope to meet film-makers who share our passion to tell stories that move audiences, with the hope of fostering long-term relations with producers and distributors in the Netherlands.

Producer Isabelle Stead

Director Mohamed Al-Daradji Producers Isabelle Stead, Mohamed Al-Daradji, Atia Al-Daradji Writer Mohamed Al-Daradji Based on an original story Format 35mm Language Arabic Genre Drama Running time 95 mins Target audience Male/female, 25+ Budget €1,913,656

Contact Isabelle Stead Human Film 35 Hanover Square, Leeds LS3 1BQ, UK Tel: (44) 7835 378 454 isabelle@humanfilm.co.uk www.humanfilm.co.uk

2010 NPP 27

Black Sea Zwarte Zee

Circe Films, Netherlands

Ward returns to the Netherlands to renovate the house he inherited from his parents. A Romanian handyman, Doru, who lives on the nearby campsite with his son Mihai (9), helps him out.

When Doru goes missing, Ward is saddled with Mihai.

They drive to Romania together in search of Mihai’s mother. The journey to the Black Sea brings both Mihai and Ward home.

Synopsis After living abroad for several years, Ward (48) is returning home to renovate the house of their late mother so that they can get a better price for it. He is difficult to approach and there is a certain tension in everything he does. Ward moves into the old house on the dyke and hires the Romanian handyman Doru to help him.

Doru has his nine-year-old son Mihai with him.

Alina, Doru’s wife, attempts to keep the wolf from the door back in Romania. When the company where she works goes bankrupt, she wants to go to the Black Sea with their daughters to earn 28 NPP 2010

some money. Doru tells her by phone he doesn’t want her to go.

He takes on extra work in the evenings to earn more money.

One night, Doru doesn’t come back to the caravan from his second job. Mihai waits a long time before he finally goes to Ward.

Ward hands Mihai over to the police, but Mihai is at his door again soon afterwards. Ward realises that the only thing to do is to take Mihai back to his mother in Romania himself.

They start their journey. Then his sister Lucy rings to say that Doru has had a fatal accident. Ward is unable to tell Mihai and starts doing things to entertain the boy instead. When they reach Alina’s village, she has already left for the Black Sea. Ward and Mihai drive to Neptun to look for her and, when they finally find her, Ward has to tell them that Doru is dead. Their sorrow affects him and he returns with the family to their own village. Even after Doru’s funeral, Ward hangs on in the village. He clings on to their lives in the absence of one of his own.

One evening, Ward tells Alina the reason for his isolation. He lost his daughter and is still blaming himself for what happened. His marriage broke down and he gave up on life. Alina comforts him and this leads to a desperate session of love-making. Alina regrets what happened and turns away from him. Mihai is afraid that Ward will try to take the place of his father. In a ‘man-toman’ talk, he sends Ward back home. At first, Ward rages at this rejection but ends up choosing his way back to life. He says goodbye to Mihai and Alina and makes his way home.

Director’s statement Many people in Western Europe have hired a cheap Polish or Romanian handyman. We know nothing about these anonymous men who don’t even speak the same language as we do. Here’s a story about one of them, and about his wife and children. That’s the social aspect.

But this film is not about social realism. It’s a universal story about guilt and forgiveness, fear and courage. Ward, trying to survive the death of his only daughter, chooses isolation and loneliness over life and living. But when Mihai enters his life, everything changes. Circumstances force his heart to open up for Mihai and his mother.

Ward relives the life of his lost daughter through his commitment to Mihai. When the body of Doru arrives, he is confronted with the truth of death once again. Meeting Mihai and his family is a chance to find his way back to life.

Director Jorien van Nes

Writer Lotje IJzermans

Director Jorien van Nes 1998-99 Waskracht!, TV series 1999-2000 Ingodsnaam, TV documentary series 2001 Huilend zigeunerjongetje, short documentary; Grijs en groen, documentary; 2001-02 Waskracht!, TV series 2003 Het is hier geen Hollywood, short documentary; Naar huis, short documentary 2004 Waar zijn de mannen?, documentary; Wat doen we met onze opa’s en oma’s?, documentary 2005 Leuk voor later, short film; Verliefd, verloofd, getrouwd, gescheiden, TV documentary series; Tweede vrouw, short film 2006 Hartelijk bedankt, mijnheer van Veen, documentary; 0900-Depressie/56 roepies per min, documentary; Droomwereld, short documentary 2007 In Europa, TV documentary series; Vette honger, documentary 2008-09 Human Race, feature ; Another Perfect World, documentary; Den Helder, short film; winner Golden Calf, Best Television Film 2008.

Producer Stienette Bosklopper 1998 One Man and His Dog (Annette Apon), feature 2000 Îles flottantes (Nanouk Leopold), feature; 2005 Guernsey (Nanouk Leopold), feature; Quinzaine des Réalisateurs, 2005 2007 Wolfsbergen (Nanouk Leopold), feature; Berlin Forum 2007 2008 Nowhere Man (Patrice Toye), feature; Venice Days 2008; Calimucho (Eugenie Jansen), feature; Berlin Forum 2009; The Happiest Girl in the World (Radu Jude), feature; Berlin Forum 2009; Ruta del Jaca (Kris Kristinsson), feature; 2009 Face (Tsai Ming-Liang), feature; Official Competition Cannes 2009 2010 Het hemelse leven op aarde (Jesse de Jong), experimental film; IFF Rotterdam 2010 Our Grand Despair (Seyfi Teoman), feature; Brownian Movement (Nanouk Leopold), feature.

Current status Black Sea was developed in the ‘first film’ talent competition ‘De Oversteek’, backed by the Netherlands Film Fund and several other funds. We will deliver the final draft in November 2010. We will work with Ada Solomon of Hi Film as our Romanian co-producer.

The plan is: script development Apr-Oct 2010; financial and production development, Sep-Dec 2010; shooting Apr 2011; postproduction Jun-Dec 2011; delivery Jan 2012.

Aims at the NPP We will focus on presenting Jorien van Nes as a new arthouse talent in the Netherlands. At the same time, we are trying to expand her profile as an international film-maker. To do this, we are looking for international partners.

Producer Stienette Bosklopper

Director Jorien van Nes Producer Stienette Bosklopper Writer Lotje IJzermans Based on an original story Format Super-16mm transfer to 35mm Language Dutch/English/ Romanian Genre Drama Running time 90 mins Target audience Mainstream part of arthouse audience Budget €1,000,000

Contact Stienette Bosklopper Circe Plans BV / Circe Films O.Z. Achterburgwal 77, 1012 DC Amsterdam, Netherlands Tel: (31) 20 625 3591 info@circe.nl www.circe.nl

2010 NPP 29

Crete!

Kreta!

Johan Nijenhuis & Co, Netherlands

Everyone deserves their own Summer of Love Synopsis On the sunny island of Crete, this will prove to be a life-changing summer.

Dido has to learn to dance her own steps, and to do so she has to be able to let go a bit. She meets Dylan, a freerunner who sees every street object as part of his obstacle course.

Together with her friends, Dido wants to make extra money by dancing as a gogo dancer in local clubs. She sees the doormen of the club chasing Dylan through the bar. He tries to shake them off by jumping over the bar and chairs while using the ceiling to climb to a higher level. But the bouncers catch him and he gets a good beating.

For the crowd, the message is clear: the bouncers are not to be made fun of. That message is what Dylan’s act is all about - as Dido finds out when she discovers that it was all just a performance for which he gets paid.

When the two become friends, Dido learns to trust her own moves and stop being so controlling. It could be love, if it wasn’t for Dido’s boyfriend Kai, who turns out to be on Crete without telling her.

When Dido is in Kai’s arms again, she no longer feels the freedom she had with Dylan. So, when she discovers that Kai is cheating on her, she dumps him. With the help of her three best friends, she gives everything she’s got to get Dylan back. A boat chase and a dance competition lead up to the grand finale.

Director’s statement When you look at somebody else’s holiday snaps, they often don’t look very good. The skies are not nearly as blue and the people are not nearly as good-looking as your friend says they were. The beauty of a holiday friendship mostly exists only in your head.

It is the holiday of our dreams that we’re setting out to film.

With a male lead who is an exciting freerunner (or parkour artist) and a female lead who moves beautifully when she dances, this film tells its story in images - which is the way cinema is meant to be.

30 NPP 2010

Director Born in 1968, Johan Nijenhuis has directed seven feature films.

Costa! (2001) was his breakthrough hit to which Crete! is the sequel. Other titles include the coming-of-age drama Full Moon Party; the youth adventures of the Zoop Rangers in Zoop in Africa; and Fuchsia the Mini-Witch, who makes her debut at the Netherlands Film Festival this year.

Production company Johan Nijenhuis & Co was founded in 2010, after Nijenhuis sold his shares in NL Film to Endemol.

As a producer, Nijenhuis made more than 40 feature films and primetime drama series, including De storm, Zoop and Fuchsia the Mini-Witch.

The new company’s focus is on bringing together creative talent to produce feature films with Dutch subject matter that are relevant to a European audience.

Current status Total budget €3,000,000. €2,500,000 in place.

Aims at the NPP Looking for co-producers who can bring in subsidies or tax breaks in countries that have sunny seaside locations and club interiors. Shooting is scheduled for September 2011, for release in 2012.

Johan Nijenhuis & Co is an ambitious film production company with over eight different features in development. We are keen to expand our international contacts.

Producer/director Johan Nijenhuis

Producer Bernard Tulp

Director Johan Nijenhuis Producers Johan Nijenhuis, Bernard Tulp Writer Wijo Koek Based on an original story Format 35mm Language Dutch, with a bit of local colour depending on the location Genre Dance/summer romance Running time 90 mins Target audience Youth, 12-24 Budget â‚Ź3,000,000

Contact Johan Nijenhuis Johan Nijenhuis & Co Schubertstraat 44, 1077 GV Amsterdam, Netherlands Tel: (31) 6 81 144 660 johannijenhuis@live.nl www.nijenhuisenco.nl

2010 NPP 31

In the Poet’s House In het huis van de dichter

NFI Productions, Netherlands

A real-life drama about the unique friendship between a Dutch writer and a Russian master pianist, set against the fall of the Berlin Wall and the AIDS epidemic which was spreading fast midway through the 1980s

in Saint Petersburg the following year. The lost son will return home! However, a few months later Youri is diagnosed with an ARC (AIDS-Related Complex). Jan, while holidaying in France, receives the news that Youri is in a coma as a result of meningitis. He recovers, but is forced to cancel the trip to Russia.

The illness progresses; Youri loses the sight in his left eye and is hardly able to play the piano. He is not willing to continue his life this way. A date is set. It is Youri’s explicit wish that everyone who is not in agreement with his decision must stay away during the last days of his life. Jan is not able to handle it. At the farewell, Youri hands him his diary “for later”. Youri Egorov passes away on April 16, 1988, aged 33.

Two weeks after the death, Jan Brokken travels to Utrecht Central Station with Youri’s partner, Jan Brouwer, to collect Youri’s mother. When Jan Brouwer introduces himself, she recognizes him instantly as the ‘wife’ Youri had always talked about.

Youri had never told her the real reason for his flight.

Synopsis In The Poet’s House tells the compelling story of the special relationship between writer/journalist Jan Brokken and the master pianist Youri Egorov, who fled the Soviet Union in 1976 because of his homosexuality.

Brokken meets Egorov in 1980 when he interviews him for the Haagse Post newspaper. There is an immediate connection between the two and Jan becomes a steady member of Youri’s inner circle of friends. They share a passion for classical music and Russian literature. What they also share is a never-ceasing sense of guilt towards their mothers, whose expectations they believe they will never be able to meet.

Youri encourages Jan to pursue his true dream: to write a novel.

One day, prior to the publication of De provincie (The Province), Jan’s mother passes away unexpectedly. Youri is the sole person who truly understands the real impact of this on Jan. For Youri, the fear of never seeing his own mother again is stirred up once more.

When Jan visits the Soviet Union in 1982, he smuggles a few of Youri’s tapes across the border for his mother. During the journey, Jan is confronted with the dark side of the Soviet regime and obtains a picture of the world in which Youri grew up.

In 1986, under perestroika, Youri receives an invitation to perform

Director’s statement The idea for the movie is based on the book In the Poet’s House, in which writer Jan Brokken movingly describes his friendship with - and the short life of - Youri Egorov, ‘the poet amongst the master pianists’.

The life story of Youri Egorov is that of a rock star: it is for good reason that he is called the ‘Jim Morrison of classical music’. His character contains all the extremes, making an adaptation for the screen interesting: his first 22 years experiencing suppression in the Soviet Union, his repressed homosexuality, his defection to the West, his sense of humour, his perfectionism, his fear of failure, his permanent struggle to play music the way he felt it was intended by the composer, his homesickness, his sense of guilt, his extravagant lifestyle, his illness, his self-chosen death and, naturally, his incredible talent.

However, I don’t see a biopic like Ray or Walk the Line aiming to sketch as complete a life story of the particular artists as possible. I see a personal character-driven drama, narrated from the perspective of Jan Brokken’s friendship with Egorov. In my view, this perspective gives the story the right angle for a film, just like Salieri did in Amadeus.

Apart from the above, I also believe that Egorov’s life story can give us some perspective on the present. Nowadays, the term ‘asylum seeker’ has mainly negative associations. One seldom

32 NPP 2010

Director Sander Burger

hears about the hows and the whys, about the incredible sense of missing your family, friends and country these people have to bear. The story of Youri Egorov provides unique insight into both the life of a master pianist and the life of an exile.

Director Sander Burger Born in 1975, Sander Burger studied at the Dutch Film Academy.

After graduation, he made several short films, documentaries and television series. In 2005, he shot Panman - Rhythm of the Palms, winning prizes at film festivals in Hollywood and Brooklyn.

His debut feature Oliver etc was developed in co-operation with actor Dragan Bakema and actress Maria Kraakman, as was his second feature Hunting & Sons. The latter was selected for New York and is in the running for the Maverick Award in Calgary, as well as being in the official New Filmmakers Competition in São Paulo and the upcoming festivals in London, Hof and Göteborg.

Production company NFI Productions NFI Productions is an independent film production company developing and producing feature films. Our mission is to foster, reveal and promote emerging talented directors and writers. To achieve this goal, NFI Productions works with a limited number of directors and writers, typically over a long period of time.

Recent projects include Sextet by Eddy Terstall; Does it Hurt?/ ? Boli li? by Aneta Lesnikovska (Tiger Competition, IFFR 2007); Can Go Through Skin by Esther Rots (Berlin Forum 2009; Ingmar Bergman Debut Award, New Directors New Films USA) and Hunting & Sons by Sander Burger which is currently travelling the international film circuit.

Producer Trent

Director Sander Burger Producer Trent Writer Sander Burger Based on on the book by Jan Brokken Format 35mm Language Dutch, English, French, Russian Genre Drama Running time 120 mins Target audience International, crossover, 18+ Budget €2,500,000

Current status Financing.

Aims at the NPP Finding co-producers, pre-sales, sales agent and funding.

Contact Trent NFI Productions Lloydstraat 7A, 3024 EA Rotterdam, Netherlands Tel: (31) 10 221 1344 trent@nfi.nu www.nfi.nu

2010 NPP 33

Life According to Nino Het leven volgens Nino

Family Affair Films, Waterland Film, NPS, Netherlands

Supported by his wise and funny rabbit, eight-year-old Nino tries to form a family with his problematic father and rebellious teenage brother Synopsis Life is good for eight-year-old Nino van Doorn. He has a terrific 14-year-old brother called Lucas, whom he adores; a wise father called Bruno; and an angel of a mother called Marla. Naturally he thinks this perfect life will go on forever. Nino is no different from adults: they never expect tragedy because tragedy is always unexpected.

When Marla dies in a car accident, Bruno can’t cope with her death and becomes addicted to anti-depressants that totally remove him from everyday life. The two adults who were once the centre of Nino and Lucas’s world are gone. So are the things they represented like order, responsibility, love and care. The two brothers create their own world based on anarchy and chaos.

Neither of them goes to school; nobody cooks or cleans, and the house turns into a ruin shut off from the outside world. Bruno spends his days in bed out of it on his pills. Lucas sleeps off his nightly escapades, whatever they are (nobody knows what he gets up to). And Nino is alone - so alone that when, one day, he discovers he understands the language of animals, he is more relieved than surprised. Now at least he can talk to his pet rabbit, Bobby.

Bobby turns out to be a wise, ironic and highly opinionated rabbit who brightens up Nino’s loneliness and isolation. But, although he has found a great friend, Nino misses the attention and affection of Lucas.

One night, Nino secretly follows his brother and finds out what he does at night: he has joined an anarchistic teenage organisation who call themselves the City Warriors and engage in illegal 34 NPP 2010

roller-skating races. The City Warriors are rebellious, proud and romantic. No wonder, thinks Nino, that his brother has lost interest in him and the rest of the world. The world he now inhabits is full of excitement and danger.

When Nino, too, becomes a City Warrior, the two brothers become close again. But soon the anarchistic world they created for themselves is threatened by the outside one that wants Nino and Lucas to become children again. A child protection agency begins to investigate Bruno, Lucas and Nino, and it is now up to Nino and Lucas to prove that they can be a family and thus be left alone and return to their old habits.

The two brothers set out to fool the system; but what happens is that they really do become a family again. Order wins out over chaos, responsibility replaces anarchy and Nino discovers that there is a price for leaving childhood behind.

Director’s statement Childhood is a magical period, but it is also a very lonely one. The main character is a little boy who literally has no one to talk to and discovers he can understand the language of animals. Life According to Nino presents melancholy and fantasy as the two sides of childhood. They are expressed in Nino’s reflective voiceover and his friendship with his pet rabbit, Bobby.

The melancholy of Nino, the child, is contrasted with the anger represented by Lucas, the teenager. Both moods also embody their emotional reaction to the death of their mother. The binary opposition of moods is accentuated by a symbolic contrast between day and night, between the random nature of the days and the intensity of the nights, with their philosophical conversations and wild races.

The gift of understanding animals is the story’s fantastic element.

Whereas in Winnie the Pooh, animals talk with a little boy in his world, in Life According to Nino the animals talk in their world, and it is Nino’s gift to understand and communicate with them. This is rendered realistically but treated with irony and humour. Life According to Nino tackles the tones I cherish in films, literature and life: melancholy and irony. While treating the themes of being an outsider and dealing with trauma, the film is also personal to me.

Director Urszula Antoniak Urszula Antoniak is a graduate of both the Polish and Dutch Film Academies. Her film Bijlmer Odyssey was one of the rare Dutch TV

productions that sold to many territories in Europe and beyond.

Her comedy about integration in Holland, Dutch for Beginners, also attracted the attention of both audiences and critics.

Nothing Personal, Urszula’s feature debut, was an international co-production starring Stephen Rea and shot in Ireland, Holland and Spain. Like her other films, Nothing Personal combines poetic imagery with light irony.

Currently, Urszula is shooting her second feature, Code Blue, in Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands.

Filmography 1993 Vaarwel (Farewell), 35 mins 2004 Bijlmer Odyssey, 40 mins 2006 Nederlands voor beginners (Dutch for Beginners), 50 mins 2009 Nothing Personal, 83 mins 2011 Code Blue, 90 mins Production company Family Affair Films Family Affair Films is a production company founded by Floor Onrust, specialising in developing and producing short films, features and television drama. The company has two short films screening during this year’s Netherlands Film Festival: Back and Forth Day, directed by Mirjam de With; and Mowgli & Fidel, directed by Janneke van Heesch.

Family Affair produced Urszula Antoniak’s feature Nothing Personal, which won several international awards, including a Silver Leopard for Best Actress and a Silver Leopard for debut film.

Production company Waterland Film Waterland Film specialises in producing and co-producing feature films and feature-length documentaries which combine interesting content with innovative cinematographic quality.

Feature films produced include Drift (Adrift); Tussenland (Sleeping Rough; Tiger Award 2002); Deining (Making Waves; Golden Calf Award 2004); Nachtrit (Nightrun; Golden Calf 2006 for Best Male Actor and Best Male Supporting Actor); ’n beetje verliefd (Happy Family); Stella’s oorlog (Stella’s War); Atlantis; Köfte (Kofta); and Shocking Blue.

Current status Finance in place: €117,000. Partners attached: NPS Television, Waterland Film. Preparing for submission to the Dutch Film Fund.

Aims at the NPP Finding a co-producing partner and financing in Europe.

Writer/director Urszula Antoniak

Producer Floor Onrust

Producer Jan van der Zanden

Producer Wilant Boekelman

Director Urszula Antoniak Producers Floor Onrust, Jan van der Zanden, Wilant Boekelman Writer Urszula Antoniak Based on an original story Format HD Red or Arri Alexa Language Dutch Genre Family Film Running time 90 mins Target audience Ages 6-70 Budget €1,500,000

Contact Floor Onrust Family Affair Films Entrepotdok 77a, 1018 AD Amsterdam, Netherlands Tel: (31) 20 707 1713 floor@familyaffairfilms.nl www.familyaffairfilms.nl

2010 NPP 35

Life? or Theatre?

Leven? of Theater?

Quintus Films BV, Netherlands

Six months after she completed her magnum opus Leben? oder Theater?, Charlotte Salomon wrote a letter to her great love. The letter, which has never been published, sheds new light on the shocking reality behind her autobiographical series of paintings

being made, Charlotte’s stepmother Paula Salomon-Lindberg handed the makers a painted letter that had never been published, but she asked them not to use the content of this letter in the film.

Charlotte wrote the letter, addressed to her great love ‘Amadeus Daberlohn’ (Alfred Wolfsohn), in Nice six months after completing Life? or Theatre? and several months before her arrest in 1943.

This letter is Charlotte’s only testimony about her life in exile in Villefranche sur Mer and Nice. It is also - as far as we know- the only existing document in which she speaks in the first person, not in a contemplative way, but as herself. It provides us with a deep insight into the life of this young German Jewish artist and sheds new light on the shocking reality behind her autobiographical series of paintings entitled Leben? oder Theater?

In the letter, Charlotte writes about the people who had a great influence on her in this last ‘French’ period of her life. These figures, who are ‘supporting actors’ in the feature film, become the central characters in this documentary. They are brought to life by interviews, newsreel footage, archive material, photographs, reports and dramatised reproductions. Then there are all those people who made Charlotte’s work known to the world. As they are interviewed they will be for the first time confronted with the facts revealed in Charlotte’s letter.

Synopsis Charlotte Salomon was born in Berlin in 1917 and was murdered at Auschwitz at the age of 26. While in exile in the South of France from 1940 until her deportation in 1943, she created more than 1,000 small gouaches. From these, she gathered nearly 800 into a work that she titled Life? or Theatre?, a play with music that employs images and texts with musical and cinematic references.

A narrative of Charlotte’s experiences as a talented, cultured and assimilated German Jew depicts a life lived in the shadow of Nazi persecution and a family history of suicide, but also reveals moments of intense happiness and hope. The tone of the gouaches becomes increasingly raw and urgent as Charlotte is more deeply embroiled in grim personal and political events. The result is a deeply moving meditation on life, art and death.

Charlotte’s art, discovered after the war in the South of France where she had left it for safe keeping, was first exhibited in Amsterdam in 1961 and has gained steadily in reputation ever since.

Thirty years ago, Frans Weisz made the feature film Charlotte, based on Life? or Theatre?’. While the feature film Charlotte was

Director’s statement In the documentary we will make use of archive footage, newly shot material, gouaches of Charlotte, fragments from the feature film, existing and new interviews, photographs, and so on. The interviews to be made are against a Chromakey background, so that the people can literally be incorporated into Charlotte’s life’s work.

The film will be partly in colour, partly in black-and-white. The idea is to depict her life in ‘fiction’ (her original work and the feature film) in colour and ‘reality’, brought to us through the letter and the various stories, in black-and-white/decoloured. This will make that part more similar to the (cinematic) reality of the years 1939-43.

But in the documentary to be made, we go further. The camera moves literally straight through the film screen on which images from that fictional reality, from Life? or Theatre? and the feature Charlotte are projected – and we find ourselves in the reality as described by Charlotte.

36 NPP 2010

Director Frans Weisz Having had to abandon his original ambition to become an actor

Director Frans Weisz

after a year at drama school, Frans Weisz spent two years studying at the Amsterdam Film Academy and was then given a Dutch Government study grant which enabled him to visit the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia (CSC), the leading Italian institute for experimentation in the field of cinema, in Rome.

Filmography (features unless otherwise stated) 1962 Ping Pong e poi… (graduation film) 1963 Heroes in a Rocking Chair (episode in Gli eroi) 1964 A Sunday on the Island of the Grand Jatte (short) 1967 Illusion Is a Gangster 1968 Made in Paradise (short) 1969 Holland ’70 (multi-screen show for Osaka Expo/Japan) 1972 The Burglar 1973 Same Player Shoots Again 1975 Red Haired Sien 1976 Happy Days Are Here Again 1978 Entrée Brussels (short TV film) 1979 Striptease (short TV film) 1980 Charlotte 1982 A Hot Summer Night 1983 Granite (TV) 1987 Havinck 1989 Polonaise 1991 Old Friends (TV) 1992 The Betrayed (TV) 1993 Cranky Box (short TV film) 1994 Last Call 1997-98 Het jaar van de opvolging (TV miniseries) 1998-99 A Woman of the North 1999 The Rest Is Silence (TV) 2001 Qui Vive 2002-03 Boy Ecury (TV) 2004 The Table (short film) 2006 Meet the Family Hollander (series of shorts) Hopsi Topsi Land (Semi-documentary) 2008 Meet the Family Hollander (further series of 13 shorts) 2009 Happy End Production company Quintus Films Frits Harkema has been in the film business since 1974. He started as a freelance producer and, from 1983-94, was a partner in Cineteam Commercials. He founded Quintus Films in 1994. In addition to around 1,800 commercials, video clips and corporate films, he has also worked on the following films and TV series: 1978 Entrée Brussels 1979 Striptease; Bloody Mary 1980 Charlotte 1982 Rigor Mortis; A Hot Summer Night 1989 Egg 1992 The Betrayed 1993 Tralievader 1997 Joe the Musical 1998 Escort VSOP; I Want to Go to Prison 1999 Force Majeur 2000 Discovery of Heaven 2001 Big Brother III 2002-03 Boy Ecury 2004 Passage 2005 Shift 2006 Hopsi Topsi Land; Meet the Family Hollander; November 2008 Meet the Family Hollander 2010 LEX Current status Partners attached: Joodse Omroep, Jewish Historical Museum, Amsterdam; Netherlands distributor: Cinemien Aims at the NPP Seeking participation for the remaining €130,000.

Producer Frits Harkema

Director Frans Weisz Producer Frits Harkema Writer Frans Weisz, Batya Wolff Based on the life and paintings of Charlotte Salomon Format Filmed on video and stock materials; transferred to HD 1920x1050 at 25 fps Language Dutch, German, English, French (partly subtitled) Genre Documentary, partly dramatised Running time 85 mins & 2 x 43 mins Target audience Theatrical and international television Budget €526,000

Contact Frits Harkema Quintus Films Sumatrakade 1249, 1019 RK Amsterdam Netherlands Tel: (31) 20 509 5095 frits@quintusfilms.com www.quintusfilms.com

2010 NPP 37

The Sky Above Us De lucht boven ons

LEV Pictures, Netherlands

As the smoke from the NATO bombing rises over Belgrade, three people are confronted with the risks they take just to live an ordinary life Synopsis It is the spring of 1999 in Belgrade. The sun is out and the parks are full of people. There are friendly talks on the terraces and rakia on the table. It is as if the NATO bombing, now under way for almost a month, isn’t happening. It is as if it never even started.

Yet if you watch more closely, there is a tension among the people. There is a thick silence in the air as they leave the streets well before dark as the city gets ready for yet another night of waiting. Dogs are barking, sensing what is about to happen: another night of sirens, of shelters, of the sound of bombers.

Another night of waiting for what will - maybe tonight, maybe not - fall out of the sky above.

It is in this time and place that Ana, Sloba and Bojan find the need to create their own reality in order to hold onto their sanity.

Ana, a young actress whose play is due to open in a few days, finds her reality threatened now that the RTS building (Radio Television Serbia), located next door to their theatre, is back on the list of possible targets. She is torn between holding on to the reality which is everything for her, and giving in to her concerned husband Marko and, by doing so, giving in to a life dominated by fear.

For Sloba, his work as a technician at RTS is essential if he is to support his wife and son, who have fled to the countryside. He has to believe that NATO will never strike RTS; he has to believe that, if it ever came to that, his superiors would warn him. He has to believe that his life of carefully laid plans will diminish the risk he takes by living in Belgrade. This is the world he needs to 38 NPP 2010

believe in, even if he doubts it. This is his reality.

As for Bojan, he has found refuge in Belgrade’s nightlife. The romantic encounter with his old flame Nada and the difficulties in his relationship with Ivana dominate his emotions, blanking out the war and his fear of the bombs.

Talk about the threat of RTS being bombed reaches fever pitch.

And for each of them, holding on to their own reality is put to the test.

Director’s statement Following the experiences of shooting the short film Sunset From a Rooftop in Belgrade and the intensification of my relationship with my subject and friends, I found myself more and more drawn to that schizophrenic period of the NATO bombing.

In understanding more about how they dealt with that time, I found myself touched by its outcome. I recognised the mechanism as one I am familiar with myself.

Turning the subject of a generation stuck between two aggressors - NATO on one side, Milosevic on the other - into a feature film gives me the opportunity to discover the secret of their mental survival. The secret to that lies, I believe, in their ability to create their own reality.

By telling this story through the eyes of three characters, I will be able to explore a wide variety of motivations and to share with the audience each character’s experience of that time.

Director/writer Marinus Groothof After graduating from the Film Academy in Camera and Lighting, Marinus was no longer able to suppress his true passion: writing and directing films. Since then, he has made several short films.

Filmography 2006 Monday, short, writer/director; 16mm 2007 November, short, writer/director; 16mm 2008 Morning to Noon, short, writer/director; 16mm; second prize, Shocking Shorts programme, NBC Universal 2009 Sunset From a Rooftop, short, writer/director; 35mm; Best Short Film 2009, Netherlands Film Festival; nominated for Best Live Action Short Film Oscar Production company LEV Pictures LEV Pictures is one of the fastest growing film production compa-

Writer/director Marinus Groothof

nies in the Netherlands. Founded in 2007 and based in Amsterdam, LEV’s goal is to produce and develop short films, feature films and documentaries. The company has so far made 10 short films and three documentaries, winning Best Dutch Short in 2009.

Currently a feature documentary on the work and life of film director Anton Corbijn is in production, together with a web series with Entourage writer Kenny Neibart and BAFTA-winning director Tom Green.

Our first feature film, Plan C, will shoot in the spring of 2011.

Select filmography 2007 Road, short, writer/director Daniel Bruce; Best Actress, Sapporo Film Festival 2008 Akiko, short, writer/director Michael Sewandono; nominated for Best Short Film 2008, Netherlands Film Festival 2009 Sunset From a Rooftop, short, writer/director Marinus Groothof: Best Short Film 2009, Netherlands Film Festival; selected for Best Live Action Short Film Oscar Current status Second draft, developed at the EAVE Producers Workshop 2010.

Packaging for finance.

Aims at the NPP Finding co-producers and sales agents and exploring further funding possibilities.

Producer Sander Verdonk

Director Marinus Groothof Producer Sander Verdonk Co-producer Miroslav Mogorovic, Art & Popcorn, Belgrade Writer Marinus Groothof Based on an original story Format 35mm Language Serbian Genre Drama Running time 90 mins Target audience Crossover, upscale audience. Male/female 25+. Lovers of quality cinema. Students Budget â‚Ź1,400,000

Contact Sander Verdonk LEV Pictures Keizersgracht 676, 1017 ET Amsterdam, Netherlands Tel: (31) 20 581 85 15 sander@levpictures.com www.levpictures.com

2010 NPP 39

Previous Departures from this Platform…

What became of the Netherlands Production Platform projects from 2002-2009 (as of August 2010)

NPP 2009

Completed My Brothers (Paul Fraser), Treasure Entertainment, Ireland.

Galway Fleadh 2010, Opening Film In pre-production Aimer à perdre la raison (Joachim Lafosse), Versus Productions, Belgium Flying Lessons (Igor Cobileanski), Saga Film, Romania Frog (Antonio Nuic), Propeler Film, Croatia The Inner Zone (Fosco Dubini, Donatello Dubini), Dubini Filmproduktion, Germany Liza, the Fox-Fairy (Károly Ujj Mészáros), Filmteam, Hungary My Sister Came By Today (Yan Ting Yuen), seriousFilm, Netherlands Financing The Boy Who Did Not Cry (Olivier Coussemacq), Local Films, France Come to My Voice (Hüseyin Karabey), A-Si Production, Turkey Cornea (Jochem de Vries), NFI Productions, Netherlands Fair Game (Pieter Verhoeff), Waterland Film & TV, Netherlands Heaven on Earth (Pieter Kuijpers), Pupkin Film, Netherlands Honour Killing (Paula van der Oest), Pupkin Film, Netherlands Kneeling on a Bed of Violets (Ben Sombogaart), NL Film & Television, Netherlands Land (Jan-Willem van Ewijk), Augustus Film, Netherlands Mister John (Christine Molloy & Joe Lawlor), Samson Films, Ireland Mr. Lu’s Blues (Maria von Heland), 27 Films Production, Germany My Brother the Devil (Sally El Hosaini), S Films, UK The President (Marcel Visbeen), Selwyn Film, Netherlands The State of Shock (Andrey Kosak), Vertigo/Emotion Film, Slovenia The Trakl Affair (Michael Ginthör), FreibeuterFilm, Germany

40 NPP 2010

Son of Babylon

Completed Beyond (Original title: The Pigsties, Pernilla August), Hepp Film AB, Sweden. Venice 2010, Critic’s Week The Runway (Ian Power), Fastnet Films, Ireland. Galway Film Fleadh 2010, Best Irish Feature Shocking Blue (Mark de Cloe), Waterland Film & TV, Netherlands.

Rotterdam Film Festival 2010 The Snow Queen (Marko Räät), F-Seitse, Estonia. Released 2010 Son of Babylon (Mohamed Al-Daradji), Human Film. Berlinale 2010, Panorama, Amnesty International Award and Peace Film Award; Netherlands Film Festival 2010, Closing Film

NPP 2008

In production 1-900 (Michael DiJiacomo), Column Film, Netherlands. In postproduction The Bear (Dan Chisu), Libra Film, Romania. In post-production The Fields (Michael R. Roskam), Savage Film, Belgium. In postproduction Our Grand Despair (Seyfi Teoman), Bulut Film, Turkey. In postproduction Istanbul (Ferenc Török), Uj Budapest Filmstudió, Hungary.

Shooting Playoff (Eran Riklis), Topia Communications, Israel. Shooting Sonny Boy (Maria Peters), Shooting Star Film Production, Netherlands. Shooting A Kronstadt Tale (Ben van Lieshout), Another Film, Netherlands.

In pre-production Financing Corps Diplomatique (Nadia Farès), Dschoint Ventschr Filmproduktion, Switzerland Invasion (Dito Tsintadze), Twenty Twenty Vision Filmproduktion, Germany Olga, Tomorrow I’ll Dance (Hans Hylkema), Sigma Pictures, Netherlands Seeing Chris (Tom Cairns), Newgrange Pictures, Ireland Shanghai-Belleville (Show-Chun Lee), Clandestine Films, France

2010 NPP 41

Dusk

NPP 2007

Completed Adrienn Pál (Ágnes Kocsis), Print KMH, Hungary. Cannes 2010, Un Certain Regard Ob ihr wollt oder nicht (original title: Laura, Ben Verbong), Elsani Film, Germany. Released 2009 Visions of Reality (Gustav Deutch), KGP Kranzelbinder Production, Germany Wake Wood (David Keating), Fantastic Film, Ireland. Lund International Fantastic Film Festival 2009 Dusk (original title: Without Limit, Hanro Smitsman), Corrino Film, Netherlands. Premiering at the Netherlands Film Festival 2010 In production The Flowers of Kirkuk (original title: Kirkuk, Fariborz Kamkari), Farout Out Films, Italy. In post-production The Great Kilapy (Zézé Gamboa), David & Golias, Portugal. In post-production Tomorrow Will Be Better, (Dorota Kedzierzawska), Kid Film Sp Zoo, Poland. In post-production Tony Ten (Mischa Kamp), Lemming Film, Netherlands. Shooting Milo (Berend Boorsma and Roel Boorsma), Fu Works. In preproduction Supernova (Tamar van den Dop), Revolver, Netherlands. In preproduction Visions of Reality (Gustav Deutsch), KGP Kranzelbinder Production, Austria. In pre-production Financing A Happy Marriage (Peter Delpeut), Waterland Film & TV, Netherlands My Father’s Notebook (Marleen Gorris), Eyeworks Egmond, Netherlands Kurai Kurai - Tale with the Wind (Marjoleine Boonstra), Volya Films, Netherlands Obsession (Jeroen Dumoulein), Fobic Films BVBA, Belgium

42 NPP 2010

Love and Other Crimes

Completed Bon appétit (David Pinillos), Morena Films, Spain. Malaga Film Festival, Special Jury Prize, Best Screenplay, Best Actor Christmas Story (Juha Wuolijoki), Diadik GmbH, Germany.

Sarasota Film Festival, Audience Award; Two Jussi Awards Here and There (Darko Lungulov), Media Plus, Serbia. Tribeca Film Festival 2009, Best Narrative Award The Hourglass (original title: The Sands, Szabolcs Tolnai), Art & Popcorn, Serbia. Serbian Film Festival 2007; Hungarian Filmweek, Best Director; Best Cinematographer Involuntary (Ruben Östlund), Platform Production, Sweden.

Cannes 2008, Un Certain Regard Love and Other Crimes (Stefan Arsenijevic), Art & Popcorn, Serbia.

Berlinale 2008, Panorama; winner of Awards at Wiesbaden Film Festival; Linz Film Festival; Sofia Film Festival; City Novi Sad Mission London (Dimitar Mitovski), SIA Advertising, Bulgaria.

Released 2010 The Storm (original title: 1953, Ben Sombogaart), NL Film & Television, Netherlands. Released 2009 Some Other Stories (Hanna Slak, Ivona Juka, Ines Tanovic, Marija Dzidzeva, Ana Maria Rossi), SEE Films, Serbia/Slovenia/Croatia/ Bosnia & Herzegovina/Macedonia. Released 2010 Summer Heat (Monique van der Ven), Zomerhitte BV, Mulholland Picures, Netherlands. Released 2008 Two Eyes Staring (original title, Dead Girl, Elbert van Strien), Accento Films. Released 2009 Zero (Pawel Borowski), OpusFilm, Poland. Released 2009 In production Practical Guide to Belgrade, with Singing and Crying (original title: From Belgrade with Love, Bojan Vuletic), Art & Popcorn, Serbia. In post-production Hitman (Samir), Dschoint Ventschr Filmproduktion, Switzerland.

In pre-production The Zig Zag Kid (Vincent Bal), Bos Bros Film & TV Productions, Netherlands. In pre-production Financing Moscow Velocity (Johnny O’Reilly), Swipe Films, UK Swchwrm (original title: My Adventures by V. Swchwrm, Froukje Tan), Kasander Film Company and Flinck Film (formerly Lemming Film), Netherlands Smooth Operator (Stewart Raffil), T Films, Luxembourg Surface (director tbc), Isabella Films, Netherlands

NPP 2006

2010 NPP 43

Nadine

NPP 2005

Completed Atlantis (Digna Sinke), Waterland Film & TV, Netherlands. San Sebastian Film Festival 2009 Kino Lika (Dalibor Matanic), Kinorama, Croatia. Pula Film Festival 2008, Golden Arena Nadine (Erik de Bruyn), Rocketta Film, Netherlands. Netherlands Film Festival 2007 The War Is Over (Mitko Panov), Kamera 300, Switzerland.

Rotterdam Film Festival 2007 Yemin, or It’s Hard to Be Nice (Srdjan Vuletic), Refresh Production, Bosnia & Herzegovina. Sarajevo Film Festival 2007, Opening Film In production Black Butterflies (original title: Smoke & Ochre, Willem van der Sande Bakhuyzen), Riba Film, Netherlands. In post-production Allez, Eddy! (Gert Embrechts), Manta Film, Netherlands. In preproduction Financing Exhibition (Rudolf van den Berg), Film Events, Netherlands The Journey of the Empty Bottles (Karim Traïda), De Productie, Netherlands White (Angelina Maccarone), MMM Film Zimmermann & Co GmbH, Germany White Women (Melinda Jansen), Rinkel Films, Netherlands

44 NPP 2010

Wolfsbergen

Completed Madonnas (Maria Speth), Pandora Films, Germany. Berlinale 2007, Forum; Festival Mar del Plata, Best Actress Night Run (Dana Nechustan), Waterland Film & TV, Netherlands.

Netherlands Film Festival 2006, Golden Calf for Best Leading Actor and Best Supporting Actor; Dutch Film Critics Award, Best Film Winter in Wartime (Martin Koolhoven), Isabella Films, Netherlands. Released 2008 Wolfsbergen (Nanouk Leopold), Circe Films, Netherlands.

Berlinale 2007, Forum; Caligari Film Prize, Special Mention; Toronto Film Festival 2007 The World is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner (Stephan Komandarev), RFF International, Bulgaria. Bulgarian Oscar submission; Sofia Film Festival 2008, Best Bulgarian Film and Audience Award; Bergen Film Festival 2008, Jury Award; Zurich Film Festival 2008, Audience Award; Sarajevo Film Festival 2009

NPP 2004

In production Mamarosh (Moma Mrdakovic), Yalla Film Productions, France. In post-production Frost Flowers (Andrea Vacchiato), Hadaly Pictures, UK. In preproduction Lingling (Paddy Jolley), Zanzibar Films, Ireland. In pre-production Financing Lenja’s Dream (Ben Sombogaart), The Kasander Film Company, Netherlands A Love Supreme (Pieter van Hees), Another Dimension of an Idea, Belgium

2010 NPP 45

You Bet Your Life

NPP 2003

Completed Benjamin’s Briefcase (Michael Shamberg), Yalla Film Productions, France. Turned into series entitled P.S. Beirut. First chapter complete Blind (Tamar van den Dop), Phanta Vision Film, Netherlands.

Golden Gryphon, Giffoni Film Festival 2007 Dotcom (Luis Galvão Teles), Fado Filmes, Portugal. Coimbra Caminhos do Cinema Português 2007, Audience Award Ex-Drummer (Koen Mortier), CCCP, Belgium. Warsaw International Film Festival 2007, Special Jury Award; Rotterdam Film Festival 2007, Tiger Competition; Raindance Film Festival, Jury Prize House of Boys (Jean Claude Schlim), Delux Productions, Luxembourg. Lëtzebuerger Filmpreis 2009 The Rabbit on the Moon (Jorge Ramirez Suarez), Beanca Films, Germany. Berlinale Special 2005; Toulouse Latin American Film Festival Reykjavik-Rotterdam (original title: SAS Reykjavik-Rotterdam, Óskar Jónasson), Blueeyes Productions (formerly Icelandic Film Corporation), Iceland. Winner of five Nordic Oscars 2008; Rotterdam Film Festival 2010 You Bet Your Life (Antonin Svoboda), coop99 Filmproduktion, Austria. Toronto International Film Festival 2005 Financing Jammed Love (original title: Those Who Survived the Plague, Barbara Gräftner), Bonusfilm GmbH, Germany Soul Mate (director tbc), Film Instigator Films & Media (was Rapid Film), Ireland

46 NPP 2010

Eep!

Completed The Aviatrix of Kazbek (original title: Mountains at Sea, Ineke Smits), Isabella Films (formerly Pieter van Huystee Films), Netherlands. Rotterdam Film Festival 2010, Closing Film Calimucho (Eugenie Jansen), Circe Films, Netherlands. Berlinale 2009, Forum Eep! (Rita Horst), Lemming Film, Netherlands. Berlinale 2010, Generation K-plus Floris (Johan Nijenhuis), NL Film & Television, Netherlands.

Released 2004 Hidden Flaws (Paula van der Oest), Filmproducties de Luwte, Netherlands. Netherlands Film Festival 2004, Closing Film Jam (Lieven Debrauwer), K-Line, Belgium. Venice Giornate Degli Autori 2004, Opening Film The South (Martin Koolhoven), Isabella Films, Netherlands.

Netherlands Film Festival 2004, Golden Calf, Best Actress; Viareggio European Film Festival, Audience Award, Best Film Spoon (Willem van der Sande Bakhuyzen), Lemming Film, Netherlands. German Children’s Film & TV Festival 2005, MDR Broadcasting Board Award; Kristiansand International Children’s Film Festival, Children’s Film Award

NPP 2002

Financing The Mirror (Elbert van Strien), Accento Films (formerly Ijswater Films), Netherlands Silent Rebels (director tbc), Rheingold Films, Germany Treasure Hunters (Christian Theede), Busse Halberschmidt, Germany

2010 NPP 47