A successful Coproduction Forum for ESP!
This 2020 edition has been rich in changes for European Short Pitch. With a new team helmed by Julie Marnay (Head of Programme) and Olga Lamontanara (Head of Coproduction Forum), the programme put a selection of young European talents marked by a significant female presence (65%) and a broad representation of European countries on the foreground. The programme took place entirely online, and building on this unprecedented configuration, the ESP team launched a new website before the Coproduction Forum: europeanshortpitch.org
The selection was composed of 12 projects at development stage, 2 works in progress and 2 producers invited in the new “Emerging Pros” section. Download our Book of Projects to find out more about all of them!
12 short film projects in development from 12 countries (10 fictions & 2 animations)
Apnea by Sonia Ladidà Schiavone / Italy, seeking production
Barbette by Paul Marques Duarte / France, produced by Blue Hour Films - Thomas Guentch > Brittany Focus
Dogwoman by Rozalia Szeleczki / Hungary, produced by FilmTeam - Petra Iványi
Duty Free by Hilke Rönnfeldt / Germany, produced by North Ship Film - Johanna Maria Jannsen > T-Port talent
Grasshoppers by Hanis Bagashov / Macedonia/France, produced by OXO Production - Ilija Tiricovski and La Belle Affaire Productions - Jérôme Blesson
Ice Hole by Anastasiya Gruba / Ukraine, produced by Bosonfilm - Aleksandra Kostina
If You Were Alive by Abdulrazzaq Al-jewari / Finland, produced by Tuffi Films - Venla Hellstedt > Finland Focus
Loose by Paula Skelin / Croatia, produced by Eclectica - Tina Tišljar
Rooftop View by Anna Zača / Latvia, seeking production > Baltic Pitching Forum talent
Stick Together by Laura Vandewynckel / Belgium, produced by De Wereldvrede - Joyce Palmers
Traitors of the Eyes by Saad Dnewar & Abdelrahman Dnewar / Germany/Egypt, produced by Reynard Films - Georg Neubert
Unorthodox by Konstantinos Antonopoulos / Greece, produced by Either/Or Productions - Fani Skartouli
2 work-in-progress short films in post-production
Mothers by Birutė Kapustinskaitė / Lithuania, produced by Artbox - Rūta Petronytė
When Night Meets Dawn by Andreea Bortun / Romania, produced by Atelier de Film - Gabriela Suciu
2 upcoming Finnish producers in the framework of the “Emerging Pros: Finland Focus”
Danai Anagnostou - Kenno Filmi
Marja Pihlaja - Tekele Productions
The Coproduction Forum organized in collaboration with the Brest European Short Film Festival took place online on 12-13 November gathering more than 100 professional attendees during our Pitching and Q&A Live Event and generating 209 meetings! We are eager to see new potential collaborations coming to life. Thanks to our partnership with T-Port, the video pitches are still available for professionals on the platform until the end of December 2020.
Another novelty of this year’s edition was the European Short Pitch Jury, comprised of Sarah Schlüssel (Berlinale Talents), Pierre-Emmanuel Urcun (Stank) and Radka Weiserová (Prague Shorts), who awarded the two main Prizes granted by the Région Bretagne to:
Grasshoppers by Hanis Bagashov, receiving the ESP First Prize of €2.000
Jury statement: “We were very touched by the relationship of the two protagonists, and the sensitive and poetic attitude of the director towards them.”
Duty Free by Hilke Rönnfeldt, receiving the ESP Second Prize of €1.000
Jury statement: “We were very impressed by the originality and complexity of the project, its unusual and unique setting, and the extremely well-written and powerful script.”
Moreover, the 3 additional in-kind awards given out by our partners, went to:
Stick Together by Laura Vandewynckel and TRAITORS OF THE EYES by Saad Dnewar & Abdelrahman Dnewar, awarded ex aequo with the Festival International du Film d'Aubagne Music & Cinema Award
When Night Meets Dawn by Andreea Bortun, awarded with the Distribution Award - Radiator IP Sales
Mothers by Birutė Kapustinskaitė, awarded with the Mastering-in-kind Award - The Fridge
We would like to warmly congratulate the award winners, as well as all our participants.
We also take this opportunity to, once again, thank our financial partners Région Bretagne and AVEK - Promotion Center for Audiovisual Culture for their crucial support.