18/06/2020 - With a total of 41 projects participating in its various sections, the leading industry event is welcoming film professionals via its digital platform

Director Bettina Blümner, who will be vying for the Eurimages Lab Project Award with her German-Cuban co-production Hello My Friend

For its 2020 edition, the industry programme of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, KVIFF Eastern Promises Industry Days, will take place on its original dates (6-8 July), but the programme will unspool entirely online. Eastern Promises has now unveiled the 41 projects that will be featured across its various sections and will be vying for awards of a total value of €165,000. Industry professionals may still register on the festival’s website to attend the event.

In the Works in Progress section, producers and directors representing eight projects currently in post-production, along with the eight projects that have been announced by First Cut+ (see the news), will present them to the attending guests. All projects will be eligible for the €10,000 TRT Prize, to be decided on by a jury comprising Vanja Kaludjerčić (International Film Festival Rotterdam), Gabor Greiner (Films Boutique), and Faruk Güven (TRT). Furthermore, the Post-production Development Award will be handed out by sponsors UPP and Soundsquare, with advice dished out by KVIFF’s artistic director, Karel Och.

Furthermore, eight projects have been picked in Docs in Progress, where documentaries at the late production stage or in post-production will be able to win the €5,000 award. The jury includes Salma Abdalla (Autlook Filmsales), Rada Šešić (film consultant and curator) and Charlotte Cook (Field of Vision).

For the fifth consecutive year, eight projects that experiment with the limits of traditional storytelling and are either in production or in post-production will be eligible for the Eurimages Lab Project Award, valued at €50,000. The most promising project will be selected by the German representative of Eurimages, Els Hendrix, Romanian filmmaker Adina Pintilie and Berlinale programmer Mark Peranson.

Finally, the nine projects that were developed during the latest edition of MIDPOINT Feature Launch (see the news) will be presented online in the Works in Development section, and apart from the €10,000 Development Award, they will also be looking to secure future partners and co-producers.

Here is the full list of selected projects for KVIFF Eastern Promises 2020:

Works in Progress

Absence – Ali Mosaffa (Iran/Czech Republic/Slovakia)
Producers: Ali Mosaffa, Jordi Niubo, Filip Remunda, Silvia Panáková, Eric Panák

The Alleys – Bassel Ghandour (Jordan/Qatar/France/Saudi Arabia)
Producer: Rula Nasser

Black Medusa – ismaël (Tunisia/Luxembourg)
Producer: ismaël

Field – Lasha Tskvitinidze (Georgia)
Producers: Nodar Nozadze, Giorgi Kobalia, Nato Sikharulidze

Snow White Dies at the End – Kristijan Risteski (North Macedonia)
Producer: Darko Popov

Stop-Zemlia – Kataryna Gornostai (Ukraine)
Producers: Vitaliy Sheremetiev, Viktoriia Khomenko, Olga Beskhmelnytsina, Natalia Libet

Troubled Minds [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lauris Abele, Raitis Abele …
film profile] – Raitis Ābele, Lauris Ābele (Latvia/Norway)
Producers: Roberts Vinovskis, Raitis Ābele, Kristele Pudane

Wiarołom – Piotr Złotorowicz (Poland)
Producers: Jerzy Kapuściński, Ewa Jastrzębska

First Cut+

Broad Peak [+see also:
interview: Leszek Dawid
film profile] – Leszek Dawid (Poland/Italy)
Producers: Maciej Rzączyński, Dawid Janicki, Krzysztof Rzączyński, Paweł Rymarz, Pola Łangowska

Brother's Keeper [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ferit Karahan
film profile] – Ferit Karahan (Turkey/Romania)
Producer: Kanat Dogramaci

I Am Fine, Thanks [+see also:
trailer
interview: Ernestas Jankauskas, Gabija…
film profile] – Ernestas Jankauskas (Lithuania)
Producer: Gabija Siurbytė

Imaculat [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Monica Stan, George Chiper-…
film profile] – Monica Stan, George Chiper Lillemark (Romania)
Producer: Marcian Lazar

January [+see also:
film review
film profile] – Andrey Paounov (Bulgaria/Portugal/Luxembourg)
Producer: Vanya Rainova

Runner [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Andrius Blaževičius
film profile] – Andrius Blaževičius (Lithuania/Czech Republic)
Producer: Marija Razgutė

The Users – Ivan Ikić (Serbia/Slovenia/Netherlands/Bosnia and Herzegovina/France)
Producers: Milan Stojanović, Marija Stojanović

Wild Roots [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Hajni Kis (Hungary/Slovakia)
Producers: Julie Berkes, Balázs Zachar

Docs in Progress

Every Single Minute [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Erika Hníková
film profile] – Erika Hníková (Czech Republic/Slovakia)
Producer: Jiří Konečný

Homes – Laila Pakalniņa (Latvia)
Producer: Laila Pakalniņa

Indoor – Tehran – Azadi Moghadam (Iran)
Producer: Afsaneh Salari

Intensive Life Unit [+see also:
trailer
film profile] – Adéla Komrzý (Czech Republic)
Producer: Pavla Janoušková Kubečková

Lines [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Barbora Sliepková
film profile] – Barbora Sliepková (Slovakia)
Producer: Barbara Janišová Feglová

The Pawnshop – Łukasz Kowalski (Poland)
Producers: Anna Mazerant, Łukasz Kowalski

Roma and the Camel Man – Irakli Metreveli (Georgia)
Producer: Nodar Nozadze

Until the Wedding – Daniel Stopa (Poland)
Producer: Małgorzata Staroń

Eurimages Lab Project Award

Atlantide – Yuri Ancarani (Italy/France)
Producer: Marco Alessi

Bula [+see also:
trailer
film profile] – Boris Baum (Belgium/Brazil)
Producers: Boris Baum, Alexis Schmitz

Burial [+see also:
film review
film profile] – Emilija Škarnulytė (Lithuania/Norway)
Producer: Dagnė Vildžiūnaitė

5 Dreamers and a Horse [+see also:
film review
interview: Vahagn Khachatryan and Aren…
film profile] – Vahagn Khachatryan, Aren Malakyan (Armenia/Germany)
Producers: Vahagn Khachatryan, Eva Blondiau

Hello My Friend – Bettina Blümner (Germany/Cuba)
Producer: Jamila Wenske

Roots [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Tea Lukač
film profile] – Tea Lukač (Serbia/Croatia)
Producer: Andrijana Sofranić Šućur

Stepne [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Maryna Vroda (Ukraine/Germany/Poland)
Producer: Maryna Vroda

Utopia – Juri Rechinsky (Ukraine/Austria/Netherlands)
Producers: Thomas Herberth, Maxim Asadchiy, Kirsi Saivosalmy

Works in Development - Feature Launch

CRISSEA IV – Vladimir Dembinski (Romania)
Producer: Bogdan Crăciun

The Fragile Beauty of Masculinity – Andrea Culková (Czech Republic/Slovakia)
Producers: Miroslav Novák, Katarína Krnáčová

Kyuka - Before the Summer Ends [+see also:
film review
interview: Kostis Charamountanis
film profile] – Kostis Charamountanis (Greece)
Producer: Danae Spathara

Neither Voice – Ester Ivakič (Slovenia)
Producer: Andraž Jerič

The Sanctuary – Katerina Borisova (Bulgaria)
Producer: Eleni Dekidis

Sara's Bungalow – Julia Rogowska (Poland)
Producer: Krystyna Kantor

Two Times One – Vladimir Petev (Bulgaria)
Producer: Vanya Rainova

Usud – Stefan Malešević (Serbia)
Producer: Andrijana Sofranić Šućur

Vacuum – Yelizaveta Smith (Ukraine)
Producer: Aleksandra Kostina