email print share on Facebook share on Twitter share on LinkedIn share on reddit pin on Pinterest

TRANSILVANIA 2020 TIFF Industry / Awards

Transilvania Pitch Stop announces its winners

by 

- The industry section of the 19th Transilvania International Film Festival, dedicated to both local and international projects, has unveiled the winners of its 2020 edition

Transilvania Pitch Stop announces its winners
Transilvania Pitch Stop 2020 (© Vlad Cupșa)

The 7th edition of the Transilvania Pitch Stop (TPS) platform, which this year encompassed hybrid sessions that took place both ‘live’ in Cluj-Napoca and online, announced its winners during the 19th Transilvania International Film Festival. This year, the TPS invited nine local and international projects to its co-production platform, as well as four Romanian and Moldovan projects to its workshop.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

Aiming to facilitate international visibility and establish the right connections to ensure financing and further development, this year’s TPS co-production platform brought together projects from Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Romania, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine, currently in development and financing stages, which were presented to international film professionals (producers, distributors, sales agents, representatives from films funds, etc.) partly live, partly via an online platform on August 7.

Valued at €20,000, the prestigious Eurimages Co-production Development Award went to the Russian project Kretsul, directed by Alexandra Likhacheva and produced by Anna Shalashina (WISH Media). Based on the biography of judo champion Oleg Kretsul, the film will focus on a period of the athlete’s life starting from 1997, when he lost his wife and his eyesight in an accident, to 2001, when he returned to the world-class sport as a Paralympian.

The jury, which brought together French producer Marianne Dumoulin, Serbian film producer Miroslav Mogorovic and Eduart Makri, Chairman of the Albanian National Centre of Cinematography, “chose to support the project which tells us the story of a human victory, based on the friendship between two men, two sportsmen who manage to overcome their drama thanks to their tenacity and an exceptional friendship. Based on a contemporary true story, it tells a winner story in a different way, where success is based on human values.”

The Post-production Services Award offered by Chainsaw Europe and worth €25,000 was handed to the Georgian project Panopticon, directed by George Sikharulidze and produced by Vladimer Katcharava (20 Steps Productions). The film depicts the story of a 16-year-old boy, who, against the background of the turbulent society of post-Soviet Georgia and abandoned by his newly-turned-monk father, has trouble finding a balance between his awakening sexuality and his growing devotion to God.

The Transilvania Pitch Stop Award, offered by Dacin Sara and endorsed with €3,500, went to the Romanian project Blue Banks, directed by Andreea Cristina Borțun and produced by Gabriela Suciu-Pădurețu (Atelier de Film). Told over four seasons, the film will focus on a young mother’s ambition to live her life according to her own dreams.

Sep & Ana, a Romanian film project directed by Paul Cioran and produced by Claudiu Mitcu (We are basca) emerged triumphant at this year’s Transilvania Pitch Stop Workshop, which took place between 3 and 6 August and was tutored by script analyst and film consultant Christian Routh and script consultant and screenwriter David Pope. The programme, dedicated to first and second time Romanian and Moldavian filmmakers, provides personalised guidance on script development, offering a platform for pitching local and international feature film projects. The winner of the Transilvania Pitch Stop CoCo Award will be invited to the next Connecting Cottbus to be presented at the East West Co-Production Market pitching session. Furthermore, the TPS participants are also eligible for the Villa Kult Cultural Residency Award, consisting of a five-day residency in Berlin during the Berlin Film Festival (2021), a tailor-made cultural programme designed to stimulate the development process of their film project.

Here is the complete list of winners of the 2020 edition of Transilvania Pitch Stop:

Transilvania Pitch Stop
Eurimages Co-production Development Award (€20.000)
Kretsul - Alexandra Likhacheva (Russia)

Post-production Services Offered by Chainsaw Europe (€25,000)
Panopticon - George Sikharulidze (Georgia)

Transilvania Pitch Stop Award (€3,500)
Blue Banks - Andreea Cristina Borțun (Romania)

Transilvania Pitch Stop Workshop
Transilvania Pitch Stop CoCo Award
Sep & Ana – Paul Cioran (Romania)

Here is the complete list of projects selected for Transilvania Pitch Stop 2020:

Transilvania Pitch Stop
Azure - Stratis Chatzielenoudas (Greece)
Blue Banks - Andreea Cristina Borțun (Romania)
Circle - Erhan Tahhuşoğlu (Turkey)
Dandelion Nectar - Anna Kuznetsova (Russia)
Death and The Maiden Adina Pintilie (Romania)
Kretsul - Alexandra Likhacheva (Russia)
Panopticon - George Sikharulidze (Georgia)
Snowdrops at the end of the train - Galina Georgieva (Bulgaria)
Yakiv - Victoria Trofimenko (Ukraine)

Transilvania Pitch Stop Workshop
Conscience - Eugen Marian (Republic of Moldova)
Echo - Marius Olteanu (Romania)
Hora - Dima Stoianov (Republic of Moldova)
Sep & Ana - Paul Cioran (Romania)

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

Did you enjoy reading this article? Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive more stories like this directly in your inbox.

Privacy Policy