16/11/2013 - An “original, distinctive and daring project” won the 30,000€ Eurimages Coproduction Development Award for the best project presented at the New Cinema Network

From left: Eurimages Director Roberto Olla, Marko Skop and Alice Tabery

The Czech project Little Crusader, to be directed by Vaclav Kadrnka and produced by Alice Tabery and Marko Skop for Sirius Films, has been awarded the 30,000€ Eurimages Coproduction Development Award for the best project presented at the New Cinema Network, the coproduction forum of the Rome International Film Festival.

The Eurimages Jury, composed of Dorien van de Pas, Marie-Pierre Duhamel and Sandra Hebron, has explained that it was “challenging” to make a decision “because of the very strong shortlist of newcomers and established filmmakers.” Moreover, they stressed “the quality of the producer-director teams”.

According to the Jury, Little Crusader is an “original, distinctive and daring project, which combines a visionary director with an energetic and ambitious producing team, who together have demonstrated to have a clear understanding of coproducing in Europe”.

With an estimate budget of 1.4 M€, Kadrnka’s second feature film tells the story of Bořek the knight, who is searching for his only son Jan, who has run away from home stirred by stories about the heroism of child crusaders. Bořek’s crusade becomes a journey into his own unconscious, where he confronts his greatest fear as he meets the people Jan has encountered and experiences the hostile landscape he might have travelled through.