València Film Afers, the Mostra de València’s first international co-production forum (running 22 and 23 October), is set to present ten projects coming from European and Middle Eastern countries. The forum was conceived as a meeting point for projects in progress and funding sources. Unlike development laboratories, its focus isn’t on mentoring ideas but on helping film initiatives become a reality by encouraging investment and creating links with international companies who are willing to commit to co-producing them.

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The projects in question are: 50 Meters, which sees Egyptian filmmaker Yomna Khattab dissecting her father’s life and redefining their relationship by immersing herself in the male-dominated world of his water aerobics team (a group of men over sixty) which he takes part in three days a week in order to distract from the monotony of his life and his constant feelings of loneliness; the comedy A State of Distraction, by Elie Khalife, set in a version of Lebanon on the edge of collapse and revolving around a highly enthusiastic director who, unphased by his producer’s decision to drop his project, decides to shoot his new movie despite the challenges involved, only to see his leading actress disappear from the film set under mysterious circumstances; The Pigeon Tower by Amal Ramsis, in which, one evening, three girls from Cairo decide to involve themselves in a game dominated by men; A Day in March, by Çiğdem Sezgin, which follows in the footsteps of Ali who had been about to divorce his wife Gülce, whom he’s been with for five years. In order to save their marriage and to enjoy a calmer life, they suddenly decide in the middle of winter to leave Istanbul and migrate to a village; L’aguait’ (The Lookout), in which Spanish director Marc Ortiz exonerates a character who had been silenced on account of her intersex condition: La Pastora is a former intersexual maquis who becomes a bloodthirsty bandit after deserting the army and who the Guardia Civil uses to discredit the resistance; Savanna and The Mountain, which is a docufiction by Portuguese director Paulo Carneiro, revolving around Covas do Barroso, a village in the Wonderful Kingdom inhabited by a group of farmers, shepherds, pensioners, and beekeepers; El Max, by Egypt’s Amrosh Badr, exploring the lives of seven interrelated characters navigating destitution, social isolation and hopelessness in the coastal town of Elmax, as they cope with the threat of their world disappearing; The Sad Life of Happy Pig! by Lebanon’s Christy Whaibe, in which Chady discovers his father was assassinated during the war, on the orders of one of the elected deputies; Clara Santolaya´s first film Alegre y Olé, a co-production between Peru and Spain which shares the emotional journey embarked upon by Lena as she tries to come to terms with her grandfather’s Alzheimer’s after attempting to take her own life and spending a month in a psychiatric facility; and another Spanish project looking for an international co-producer, Gabriel Ochoa’s Nena (Babe), which sees Estela dropping off her son and daughter in the care of her sister Lola and her husband Eduardo for a few days in the summer of 1987. It’s the first time they’ve been away from their parents who are in the process of separating.

Registration for industry accreditation can be arranged via this link.

The list of projects is as follows:

50 Meters - Yomna Khattab (Egypt)
Production: Ahmed Amer (A.A. Films)

A State of Distraction - Elie Khalife (Lebanon)
Production: Diala Kachmar (ARTRIP Production)

The Pigeon Tower - Amal Ramsis (Egypt)
Production: Klaketa Árabe

L’aguait’ (The Lookout) - Marc Ortiz (Spain)
Production: TV ON Producciones

Savanna and The Mountain - Paulo Carneiro (Portugal)
Production: Bam Bam Cinema

A Day in March - Çiğdem Sezgin (Turkey/Spain/Bulgaria)
Production: Mart Filmcilik (Turkey), Tarannà Films (Spain), Baky Pictures (Bulgaria)

The Sad Life of Happy Pig! - Christy Whaibe (Lebanon)

Alegre y Olé - Clara Santolaya (Peru/Spain)
Production: La Soga Producciones, Suena Perú, Batiak Films

Nena (Babe) - Gabriel Ochoa (Spain)

El Max - Amrosh Badr (Egypt)
Production: Transit Films