16/12/2022 - The line-up includes new projects by Mina Djukić, Volkan Üce, Marcelo Gomes, Letizia Lamartire, Marina Stepanska, Laurynas Bareisa and João Nuno Pinto

When East Meets West, the co-production forum established as an integral part of the Trieste Film Festival, has announced the selection of projects for its 13th edition, set to run from 22-25 January 2023.

Twenty-two feature-length projects from 19 countries, including 12 documentaries and ten fiction films, were selected from among 410 submissions and will be presented, most of them for the very first time, to more than 500 on-site decision makers and professionals from all over the world. This edition marks the beginning of a new formula dedicated to the spotlight territories: for the very first time, the market will inaugurate a two-year East & West Focus on Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, and Spain, Portugal and Latin America.

The selection combines projects by daring first-time directors, such as Spring Cleaning by Marija Apčevska (North Pole, Cannes Official Short Film Selection 2021) and Still Life with Ghosts by Enrique Buleo (Hell and Such, Clermont-Ferrand 2019); talented female filmmakers, including Faster than Shadows by Letizia Lamartire (We’ll Be Young and Beautiful [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Letizia Lamartire
film profile]) and It's Not a Full Picture by Marina Stepanska (Falling [+see also:
trailer
interview: Marina Stepanska
film profile]); and experienced auteurs, such as 2m2 by Volkan Üce (All-In [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]), Lisbon in the Rearview Mirror by Marcelo Gomes (Joaquim [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], Waiting For the Carnival), Sisters by Laurynas Bareisa (Pilgrims [+see also:
film review
interview: Laurynas Bareisa
film profile]) and The Last Summer by João Nuno Pinto (Mosquito [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: João Nunes Monteiro
film profile]).

In co-operation with IFFR's CineMart, the final WEMW line-up will also include When the Kids Sing the Hits, the second feature by Mina Djukić (The Disobedient [+see also:
trailer
film profile]), which will be presented at both events.

“We are extremely happy and honoured to be presenting such a variety of stories coming from many different corners of our planet. Twenty-two outstanding auteurs giving voice to our deepest passions, ties with the past, present challenges, hopes for a brighter future and search for identity,” says Alessandro Gropplero, head of WEMW.

This year, for the first time, all of the projects will be competing for two €5,000 cash prizes: the Film Center Serbia Development Award and the brand-new CICLIC WEMW Award (granted by France's Centre Val de Loire). Other prizes include the EAVE Producers Workshop scholarship, Marché du Film Producers Network Badges and the Flow Post-production Award. In addition, women directors will be eligible for the EWA Network's I HAVE A DREAM Award for Equality & Inclusion.

WEMW 2023 will again feature several sections dedicated to films in post-production (Last Stop Trieste, This is IT, First Cut+ and First Cut Lab Trieste) as well as the MIDPOINT Shorts Showcase, the second edition of the EAVE Slate and six new Inspirational Labs.

“The upcoming edition of WEMW perfectly reflects our new, multi-layered approach,” remarks Gropplero. “We would love for WEMW to become 'more than a market'; we want to create a new ecosystem that’s inclusive, sustainable, future-orientated, and supportive of projects, professionals and companies at any stage of their life.”

The works in progress and participants selected in all other sections will be unveiled in early January, but starting from late December, a limited number of industry accreditations will be available at www.wemw.it.

Here is the full list of WEMW 2023 projects:

2m2 - Volkan Üce
Production company: Menuetto Film (Belgium)

9 Month Contract - Ketevan Vashagashvili
Production companies: 1991 Productions (Georgia), Agitprop (Bulgaria)

Acting Classes - Sasha Shegai
Production company: East Wing (Kazakhstan)

Beyond the Smoke - Clément Carat
Production companies: Iliade et Films, Les Alchimistes (France)

Faster than Shadows - Letizia Lamartire
Production companies: Matrioska, Indigo Film (Italy)

Honeymoon - Zhanna Ozirna
Production company: Toy Cinema (Ukraine)

Hotel Diana - Suad Gara
Production company: Astar Productions (Azerbaijan)

It's Not a Full Picture - Marina Stepanska
Production company: JS Films (Ukraine)

Lisbon in the Rearview Mirror - Marcelo Gomes
Production companies: Carnaval Filmes, Misti Filmes (Brazil)

Measuring the Sky - Petar Orešković
Production company: Nukleus film (Croatia)

Milk and Honey - Tornike Gogrichiani
Production company: Nushi Film (Georgia)

Most People Die on Sundays - Iair Said
Production companies: Campo Cine (Argentina), Disparte (Italy)

(Not) Just a Matter of Time - Daniela Reyes Gutiérrez
Production company: Medio de Contención Producciones (Colombia)

Odyssey MD2020 - Pavel Braila
Production company: ArtWatt (Moldova)

Shakespeare Goes Armenian - Inna Sahakyan, Lilit Movsisyan
Production company: Bars Media (Armenia)

Sisters - Laurynas Bareisa
Production company: Afterschool Productions (Lithuania)

Spring Cleaning - Marija Apčevska
Production company: Kino Oko (North Macedonia)

Still life with Ghosts - Enrique Buleo
Production companies: Quatre Films (Spain), Ikki Films (France)

The Gang - Carol Rodríguez Colás
Production company: Fasten Films (Spain)

The Last Summer - João Nuno Pinto
Production companies: Wonder Maria Filmes (Portugal), Grifa Filmes (Brazil)

The Winning Generation - Marco De Stefanis
Production companies: BIND Docs (Netherlands), EiE Film (Italy)

When the Kids Sing the Hits - Mina Djukić
Production company: Sense Production (Serbia)