East Doc Platform, the co-production, funding and distribution market for documentary filmmakers from Central and Eastern Europe, will be moving online for the very first time in 2021.

“We were considering all the options, consulting with experts and trying to predict the situation in March, and all seems not to be in favour of a physical event,” explained IDF’s Programme Director Zdeněk Blaha. “Therefore, we have decided to go online and prepare the programme in the best possible way for both project participants and decision makers.”

Individual meetings with projects in production and post-production will take place on 10 and 11 March, Cineuropa has learned, during the East Doc Market. Which, in turn, will be divided into three pitching sessions, running from 15 to 17 March. Apart from two sessions focused on feature-length documentaries, one will be newly dedicated to documentary series and VR.

Among the selected projects, School of Seduction [+lire aussi :
interview : Alina Rudnitskaya
fiche film]'s Alina Rudnitskaya will present The Trans Syrian Express, while Alisa Kovalenko will opt for Expedition 49 about the last adventure of Ukraine's greatest alpinist. In the East Doc Market, Marta Smerechynska will go personal for Diary of a Bride of Christ [+lire aussi :
critique
interview : Marta Smerechynska
fiche film], about her younger sister who decided to become a nun, and in The Ultimate Joker, Krzysztof Dzięciołowski talks about a hugely controversial figure in his native Poland: the former master of communist propaganda, these days navigating the online waters.

“We were able to test various options and online solutions at the Ex Oriente Film workshop and other programmes during the year,” added Zdeněk Blaha, as 12 Ex Oriente Film projects and 5 East Doc Series projects will be part of the East Doc Forum as well. “Our team and technical equipment are ready, so I believe we can deliver a high quality programme online. It is also an opportunity to reach more people and let them know about the great projects we have selected this year from the record number of submissions.”

The 10th edition of the East Doc Platform will run in an extended format online from 6 to 17 March 2021.

Here is the full list of projects:

East Doc Forum 2021

Better to Go Mad in the Wild - Miro Remo (Czech Republic/Slovakia)
Producer: Tomáš Hrubý

Expedition 49 - Alisa Kovalenko (Ukraine/France/Poland)
Producer: Stephane Siohan

Frankenstein 2.0 - Davis Simanis (Latvia)
Producer: Guntis Trekteris

I Am a Bird Now (Underling In Bird Kingdom) - Marko Raat (Estonia)
Producer: Ivo Felt

I'm Not Everything I Want to Be - Klára Tasovská (Czech Republic/Slovakia)
Producer: Lukáš Kokeš

I Used to Be the Mayor - Alexander Sussmann (Germany/Hungary)
Producer: Viv Li

Swinging Fields - Sareen Hairabedian (Jordan/United States/Ireland)
Producer: Azza Hourani

The Orphan - Hosein Jalilvand (Georgia/Iran)
Producer: Nino Gogua

The Trans Syrian Express - Alina Rudnitskaya (Finland/Poland/Russia)
Producer: Pertti Veijalainen

Waitersgate - Konrad Szolajski (Poland/Norway)
Producer: Malgorzata Prociak

East Doc Market 2021

72 hours - Anna Savchenko (Belgium/Belarus/France)
Producers: Isabel de la Serna, Jean-Marie Gigon

Borderline - Annabel Verbeke, Anna Savchen, Isabella Rinaldi, Vytautas Puidokas, Tiha Klara Gudac, Georg Götmark (Belgium/Croatia/Lithuania/Norway)
Producer: Frederik Nicolai

Diary of a Bride of Christ [+lire aussi :
critique
interview : Marta Smerechynska
fiche film] - Marta Smerechynska (Ukraine)
Producer: Natalia Libet

Dida [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
fiche film] - Nikola Ilić, Corina Schwingruber Ilić (Switzerland)
Producers: Franziska Sonder, Karin Koch

Fight - Lilit Movsisyan (Armenia/France)
Producer: Clara Kawczak

Fragile Memory - Ihor Ivanko (Ukraine/Slovakia)
Producer: Mariia Ponomarova

Pure Unknown [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
fiche film] - Valentina Cicogna, Mattia Colombo (Italy/Slovakia)
Producer: Sebastiano Luca Insinga

The Ultimate Joker - Krzysztof Dzięciołowski (Poland)
Producer: Agata Jujeczka

We Have to Survive - Tomáš Krupa (Slovakia)
Producer: Tomáš Krupa

Workcenter - Aniela Astrid Gabryel (Poland)
Producer: Agnieszka Dziedzic

East Doc Interactive 2021

Darkening - Ondřej Moravec (Czech Republic)
Producer: Hana Blaha Šilarová

DreamNA - Ioana Mischie (Romania)
Producer: Theodora Mischie

Scaena / Episode One - Lizaveta Belaya (Belarus)
Producer: Mitya Sorkin

SELF Concept - Tadeusz Chudy (Poland)
Producer: Rafal Sakowski

Swarm - Ula Przybylska (Poland/Hungary)
Producer: Viktoria Szabo

Find more information here.