It’s a wrap for this year’s European Work in Progress Cologne (EWIP, 16-18 October) and International Distribution Summit (IDS, 17-19 October). The two Cologne-based events saw the participation of over 250 industry representatives active in the fields of festivals, production, distribution, world sales, financing and marketing.

On the evening of 17 October, the international jury of experts – made up of Michael Stütz (head of the Panorama section at the Berlinale), Holger Stern (ZDF/ARTE feature-film editor), Lorna Lee Torres (International Sales, Magnolia Pictures), Reta Guetg (head of the Industry section at the Zurich Film Festival) and Hattie Yu (film producer and consultant) – handed out nine awards (worth over €61,500) to the most deserving of the 30 participating projects showcased at the gathering. The prizes were granted by sponsors and partners K13 Studios, MMC Film & TV Studios, TorinoFilmLab, LAVAlabs Moving Images, Gruvi, Way Film and mm filmpresse.

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Among this year’s award-winning projects are Jasmin Gordon’s Maximage-produced drama The New Illusion (Switzerland), the winner of the K13 Studios Award (worth €10,000 for Dolby Atmos mixing), as well as Ivona Duka’s 1950s Yugoslavia-set LGBT tale Strangers in the Night (Croatia/Canada/Cyprus/Bosnia and Herzegovina/Serbia/Poland) and Ma Xue’s Chinese-French co-production Aroma Dream, both in receipt of the MMC Studios Awards, worth €5,000 and €10,000, respectively.

Once again, the Cinenova theatre served as the venue for the pitches, one-to-one meetings, panel discussions and case studies. EWIP was backed by the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW and organised in co-operation with KölnBusiness. Since its inception, EWIP has been held in the run-up to the Film Festival Cologne (19-26 October), with which it has also established a solid partnership.

On the evening of 18 October, the winner of the Best International Innovation Distribution Award was announced. The brand-new prize, endowed with €10,000 in services offered by Comscore and Gruvi, aims to “recognise and reward the work and efforts of international colleagues to bring quality films to audiences through innovative and ground-breaking new models and strategies that inspire the film industry”. It went to Enrique Costa, co-founder and managing director of Spain’s Elastica Films.

Sabine Chemaly, who handed out the award, stated: “With Elastica Films, Enrique Costa is clearly the best newcomer in recent years. He launched the company in Cannes in 2021 in the midst of the pandemic, taking high risks as an entrepreneur. But his passion was, and is, very strong. It has been the driving force in creating a brand that many, in years, have not yet managed to establish. He is a distributor that has based its success not only on a very diverse, strong and curated selection of films, but also on a good and solid co-operation with other industry stakeholders.”

The IDS is funded by the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW and the Filmförderungsanstalt (FFA), and is supported by MMC Film & TV Studios, AG Verleih, EWIP, Creative Europe Desk NRW and Film Festival Cologne.

Here is the full list of award winners:

European Work in Progress

K13 Studios Award (worth €10,000 for Dolby Atmos mixing)
The New Illusion – Jasmin Gordon (Switzerland)
Producer: Maximage

K13 Studios Award (worth €5,000 for synchronisation)
Armand - Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel (Norway/Netherlands/Sweden/Germany)
Producer: Eye Eye Pictures

MMC Studios Award (worth €10,000)
Aroma Dream – Ma Xue (China/France)
Producers: Beijing Drama Pictures (China), House on Fire (France)

MMC Studios Award (worth €5,000 for stage and room rental services)
Strangers in the Night – Ivona Duka (Croatia/Canada/Cyprus/Bosnia   and Herzegovina/Serbia/Poland)
Producer: 4Film

LAVAlabs Moving Images Award
Transamazonia - Pia Marais (France/Germany/Switzerland/Brazil/Taiwan)
Producers: Pandora Film Produktion (Germany), GAÏJIN (France)

TorinoFilmLab Audience Design Award
Vena - Chiara Fleischhacker (Germany)
Producer: Neue Bioskop Film GmbH

mm filmpresse Award
Waterdrop – Robert Budina (Albania/Romania/Italy/Kosovo/North Macedonia)
Producers: Erafilm (Albania), Avanpost (Romania)

Gruvi Award
The Wolves Always Come at Night – Gabrielle Brady (Mongolia/Australia/Germany)
Producers: Chromosom Film (Germany), Over Here Productions (Australia), Guru Media (Mongolia)

Way Film Translation Award
The Night before Easter – Dagim Sissay (Ethiopia)
Producer: History Film Company

International Distribution Summit

Best International Innovation Distribution Award
Enrique Costa – Elastica Films (Spain)