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INDUSTRY Bulgaria

Projects from Iceland, Georgia, Greece and Bulgaria win pitching awards at Sofia Meetings

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- The 10th Sofia Meetings (March 14-17), the co-production market of the Sofia International Film Festival, presented 26 projects

The 10th Sofia Meetings (March 14-17), the co-production market of the Sofia International Film Festival, presented 26 projects in three sections: six projects in Second Films programme, ten projects in Plus Minus One (first or third films), and additional ten in the section Projects in Bank.

In the Second Films section, the Best Pitching Award, donated by Vienna-based Synchro Film, Video & Audio was given to Icelandic project Kanari, by producer Tobias Munthe and director Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurdsson. The comedy-drama, about an Icelander who’s afraid of flying, has a projected budget of €2,250,000, and so far has €250,000 in place. Production companies are London-based Flickbook Films and Icelandic Kjartansson.

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The Best Project Award in the same section, donated by Digimage–LVT Post Production, went to the Georgian project Another Paradise by director Nana Janelidze and producer Rusudan Glurjidze. Set in Georgia in the second half of the 1990s, it is a generational story of a 25-year-old woman whose once influential family is down on its luck in the political and social turmoil of the period. With budget of €860,530 and 30% of financing in place, Another Paradise is being produced by N&N Studio and Cinetech.

In the Plus Minus One section for first or third films, the Best Pitching Award, donated by Hungary’s Focusfox Studio, was given to the Greek project Lignite by director Gregory Rentis and producer Maria Tsigka. Previously presented at Sarajevo Film Festival’s CineLink, it tells the story of two brothers, 14 and 10 years old, who lose their father unexpectedly and are forced to face the life in world of adults. Produced by Argonauts Productions, with Markus Halberschmidt of Germany’s Busse & Halberschmidt on board as co-producer, Lignite has the projected budget of €580,000.

The Best Project Award in the same section, donated by LVT Sofia Post Production, went to the Bulgarian project The Lesson by Kristina Grozeva (director and producer), Petar Valchanov (director and producer) and Magdelena  Ilieva (producer). The film is based on a true story about a school teacher who robbed a bank and explores the question, what makes a decent, law-abiding person become a criminal? Produced by Abraxas Film Ltd, the project has €16,000 in place out of the total budget of €600,000.

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