27/10/2023 - The online industry initiative, designed to foster the creation of TV series in the Balkan region, has selected eight projects originating from ten countries

Director Nadya Todorova, who is taking part with True Tender Heart

Following last year's successful event, the third edition of Series Rough Pitch – The Balkan Way will kick off online on 30 October at 12.00 (CET) and will be live-streamed via the official YouTube channel of the organiser, CED – MEDIA Desk Croatia, as well as on the respective Facebook pages of the co-organising CED – MEDIA Desks in Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia.

The head of MEDIA Desk Croatia, Martina Petrovic, stated that the goal of the pitching platform is to “develop safe spaces for culturally diverse stories that need to be told”.

According to selector and tutor Helene Granqvist, “The initiative gives a fabulous overview of the quality of Balkan stories – they have a streak of heart, feeling and humanity. After three years of doing this training, I can say there is a lot of wisdom, fun and exciting, mysterious stories coming out of the region.” Her colleague Valeria Richter confirmed that “there are lots of prejudices regarding stories from the region, as they are mostly related to war or human trafficking”. However, she emphasised the fact that the event aims to support new, diverse voices who might be lacking enough opportunities to present their work.

The call was open to participants from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Slovenia and Serbia. A total of 21 projects were submitted in 2023, and after the eight final participants were selected, they worked on the projects with the two tutors and prepared their presentations for the pitching session. The competing projects are Montenegro’s Estavela, dealing with political history; a contemporary seductive crime story from Serbia called Wool; two Croatian projects – Dear Insects and Other Creepy Stories, discussing consumerism, and Stringers, on independent journalism; Bulgaria’s True Tender Heart, which looks critically at true crime; Greece’s Dark Water, whisking us away to the island of Lesbos; the Hungarian title The Nest Club, which is highly relevant to today’s Europe; and the Macedonian psychological thriller 17/3, based on a personal story about an introverted novelist.

The jury members – including Andrea Hoffmann from the Berlinale Co-Production Market and Co-Pro Series, Solène Moreau from the Series Mania Forum, Grace Maharaj from WIFT Sweden, Anne Lajla Utsi from the International Sámi Film Institute, and Dunja Vujovic from TV4 Sweden – will decide on the best project worthy of receiving the €5,000 award. The Series Mania Forum will offer free accreditations to selected participants, while the tutors will reward one project with a Special Mention.

Here is the full list of selected projects:

True Tender Heart
Scriptwriter/director: Nadya Todorova (Bulgaria)

Dear Insects and Other Creepy Stories
Scriptwriter/director: Karla Lulić
Producers: Karla Lulić, Jelena Mađarić
Production company: Dobar film (Croatia)

Stringers
Scriptwriter: Nikola Kuprešanin
Production company: Force Majeure (Croatia)

Dark Water
Scriptwriter/creator: Orfeas Peretzis
Producer: Konstantinos Vassilaros
Production company: StudioBauhaus (Greece)

The Nest Club
Scriptwriter: Bojána Papp
Production company: Moviebar Productions (Hungary)

Estavela
Director: Matija Jovanović
Scriptwriters: Matija Jovanović, Milo Vučinić
Producer: Nemanja Popović
Production company: Makina Production (Montenegro)

17/3
Scriptwriter: Onur Ozcan
Production company: DNF Films (North Macedonia)

Wool
Creator: Milena Džambasović
Production company: Film Road Production (Serbia)