New Visions Forum launched at Ji.hlava
- Twenty-one European and 16 US documentary or documentary-related projects have been pitched at the first edition of the forum at the Czech festival
From 28-29 October, the newly launched New Visions Forum took place in Jihlava as part of the Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival. The event consisted of two pitching sessions (one for European and one for American projects) a day, followed by a feedback talk. The forum was accompanied by the New Visions Market (27-30 October), where the participants could take part in the Matchmaking Accelerator, which offered them the opportunity to meet and talk to various film professionals, such as festival representatives, curators, sales agents and distributors.
The first day of the forum was reserved for projects in development, while the second was devoted to projects at different stages of production and post-production. The pitching sessions and feedback talks were moderated by Cíntia Gil, former director of Doclisboa and Sheffield Doc/Fest, and Veton Nurkollari, artistic director of Dokufest. The participants in the first feedback talk session were Josh Siegel, of MoMA (USA); Diana Tabakov, of DAFilms (Czech Republic); Kamila Zlatuškova, of Serial Killer Festival (Czech Republic); Gabriela Bussman, of Golden Egg Production (Switzerland); and Marie Hermanova, of the Czech Academy of Sciences (Czech Republic).
The second feedback talk saw the involvement of photographer Libuše Jarcovjáková (Czech Republic); Cara Cusumano, of the Tribeca Film Festival (USA); Anna Hoffmann, of the Berlinale (Germany); Irena Taskovski, of Taskovski Films (UK); and Jasmina Sijerčić (France), who all offered their opinions. The event was non-competitive, aimed at forging co-production ties between film professionals from European countries and the United States, so no awards were given out.
As well as being open to US filmmakers and producers looking for co-production, sales, distribution and broadcasting opportunities in Europe, the forum also welcomed new and innovative forms of documentary filmmaking, such as docu-series and web-series, VR and AR, live documentaries, expanded-cinema projects and video games. The projects were also diverse in terms of their genres, consisting not only of documentaries, but also including experimental films, essays, short films, hybrids and fiction films with documentary elements.
Here is the full list of European titles presented at the forum:
Projects in development
Against the Wind – Tatiana Soboleva (Russia)
I Crossed the Desert with a Gun in My Hand – Laurence Garret (France/Italy/Mexico)
Nistru. The Irreversible Flow of Life – Iurie Tocmas (Latvia/Moldova)
Youth – Mariana Gaivão (Portugal/France/Germany/Czech Republic)
Beautiful Void – Andris Gauja (Latvia/Estonia)
Intruders – David Krøyer (Denmark)
One of Us – Rachel Close (Romania)
The Soil of the Namib – Christian Zipfel (Germany)
Kafila – Isaac Stillwell (France/Morocco)
Listening Centre – Carlotta Berti (Italy)
It’s Not Your Fault – Paula Ďurinová (Slovakia/Czech Republic/Germany)
Projects in production or post-production
Mara – Sasha Kulak (Belarus/France/UK)
Taurophilia – Francesco Montagner (Czech Republic/Slovakia)
Who Is Missing Today – Květa Přibylová (Czech Republic)
Hard Exit – Carmen Torres (Spain)
The Visit and a Secret Garden [+see also:
trailer
film profile] – Irene M Borrego (Spain/Portugal)
Hyperion Has Escaped – Arnaud Gerber (Germany)
Distances [+see also:
film review
film profile] – Matej Bobrik (Poland)
The Cabinet – Živile Mičiulyte (Lithuania)
Modern Flat – Dainius Liškevičius (Lithuania)
Necropolis – Keren Alexander (Israel/Finland)
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