KARLOVY VARY 2021 KVIFF Eastern Promises

KVIFF Eastern Promises unveils up-and-coming projects for the class of 2021

29/06/2021 - A slew of promising projects from the CEE region, the Balkans, the Middle East and North Africa will be showcased in the KVIFF industry platform, ahead of the main festival

The Hatcher by Grzegorz Molda, which is taking part in First Cut+

This year, the industry platform of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, KVIFF Eastern Promises, will precede the festival itself. Set to unspool from 28 July-12 August, it will host 29 selected film projects that will be showcased to industry professionals, online, in several sections: Works in Progress (10-12 August), Works in Development – Feature Launch (28 July) and First Cut+ Works in Progress (3 August). The most promising projects are in with a chance of receiving awards of a total value of €115,000.

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The Works in Progress section will introduce 12 fiction and documentary features in the late stages of production or post-production, hailing from the CEE region, the Balkans, the countries of the former Soviet Union, the Middle East and North Africa. This year’s selection includes Michal Blaško’s drama Victim [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Michal Blaško
film profile], the Ada Solomon-produced In the Name of the Mother and of the Father by Tudor Platon, Attila Dávid’s Aurora and Sara Dolatabadi’s An Owl, a Garden and the Writer.

KVIFF is collaborating with the MIDPOINT Institute, the When East Meets West co-production market and the Trieste Film Festival for Works in Development – Feature Launch. Nine projects have been picked for the platform, all of which were developed within the Feature Launch programme and are currently seeking co-production partners. Among the chosen projects are the Czech drama Head Nurse, with the attached director, Jan Vejnar, following the titular head nurse as she attempts to avoid her entire hospital collapsing owing to mass resignations, while simultaneously crossing her own moral boundaries; Šimon Holý’s coming-out drama Thinking David; Maria Reinup’s What It Feels Like for a Girl; and Judita Gamulin’s Leave the Door Open, which stages a drama involving four families inside a Scandinavian furniture store.

Finally, the market support programme focusing on Central and Eastern European feature films, First Cut+, will be presenting eight projects that have previously participated in one of the First Cut Lab editing programmes.

Here is the full list of KVIFF Eastern Promises 2021 projects:

Works in Progress

And His Brothers - Aleksandra Likhacheva (Russia/Germany/Belgium)
Aurora - Attila Dávid (Hungary)
Boney Piles [+see also:
film review
interview: Taras Tomenko
film profile] - Taras Tomenko (Ukraine)
Destiny - Yaser Talebi (Iran)
Faggots, Friends - Alex Baczyński-Jenkins (Poland/UK/Germany)
In the Name of the Mother and of the Father - Tudor Platon (Romania)
A Long Break [+see also:
trailer
film profile] - Davit Pirtskhalava (Georgia)
Lucky Girl [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Marysia Nikitiuk
film profile] - Marysia Nikitiuk (Ukraine)
An Owl, a Garden and the Writer - Sara Dolatabadi (Iran)
Tina & Megi - Ioseb "Soso" Bliadze (Georgia/Germany)
Unwanted - Lena Lanskih (Russia)
Victim [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Michal Blaško
film profile] - Michal Blaško (Slovakia/Czech Republic/Germany)

Works in Development – Feature Launch

Aliya - Dekel Berenson (Israel/Russia/Poland)
Bijuterie - Tomas Vengris (Lithuania/Italy)
The Bomber - Pauls Kesteris (Latvia)
Brothers - Bojan Stijović (Montenegro)
Head Nurse - Jan Vejnar (Czech Republic)
Leave the Door Open - Judita Gamulin (Croatia)
No Reverse - Branislav Milatović (Montenegro)
Thinking David - Šimon Holý (Czech Republic)
What It Feels Like for a Girl - Maria Reinup (Estonia)