The Transilvania Pitch Stop (TPS) co-production platform will celebrate its tenth anniversary on 15 June as part of the industry sidebar of the Transilvania International Film Festival (9-18 June). Having previously lent its support to internationally acclaimed films, such as Christos Nikou’s Apples [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Christos Nikou
fiche film], Natasha Merkulova and Aleksey Chupov’s The Man Who Surprised Everyone [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
fiche film], Marius Olteanu’s Monsters. [+lire aussi :
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interview : Marius Olteanu
fiche film], and Ivana Mladenovic’s Soldiers: Story from Ferentari [+lire aussi :
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bande-annonce
interview : Dawid Ogrodnik
interview : Ivana Mladenovic
fiche film], the event continues to discover and shore up prominent Eastern European filmmakers and producers, with its perimeter stretching from Central Europe through the Balkans, towards the Caucasus.

The ten selected projects by first- and second-time directors will once again be presented in front of a variety of industry professionals, including producers, distributors, sales agents, representatives of funding bodies and so on. Traditionally, the platform aims to put together a strong selection from Romania and its neighbouring states, all destined to be European co-productions, as well as to foster cross-border cooperation, especially between the Black Sea countries eligible for the programme. Over 90 projects were selected during the previous editions of TPS, many of which were screened and won awards at major festivals around the world.

This year, five projects will benefit from tailored script consultancy provided by script editor and film consultant Christian Routh, who regularly works with national funding agencies and events in Eastern Europe, while prior to their presentations, the teams behind all of the projects will be coached by renowned pitching consultant and film producer Agathe Berman, who has been developing her expertise in “pitchology” since 2018, as well as creating film essays, mixed-media projects and scripts for exhibitions.

The contenders are competing for a wide range of awards provided by TIFF’s industry partners, the number of which increases year on year: the Chainsaw Europe Post-production Award offers €25,000 in post-production services; the TPS Development Award, sponsored by Avanpost Media and TIFF, provides €7,000 in cash; the CNC Moldova Award is worth €1,500; €500 come as part of the VILLA KULT Development Award; and the coco Award invites the winner to a five-day residency organised by the Connecting Cottbus Co-Production Market.

Here is the complete list of the selected feature-length projects:

The Life We Never Had – Martin Markov
Producer: Vanya Rainova – Portokal (Bulgaria)

Just One Drop – Stefan Tolz
Producers: Martichka Bozhilova, Karine Jana Sardlishvili, Stefan Tolz – Agitprop (Bulgaria), Studio 99 (Georgia), Filmpunkt (Germany)

Little Death – Efthimis Kosemund-Sanidis
Producers: Yorgos Tsourgiannis, Anamaria Antoci – Horsefly Films (Greece), Tangaj Production (Romania)

Soft Shours – Anna Gyimesi
Producer: Zsuzsanna Gyurin (Hungary)

The Circle – Vareriu Andriuta
Producers: Iulia Andriuta, Carmen Rizac – Amprenta Films (Moldova), Avanpost (Romania)

Pyrrhic – Cosmin Nicolae
Producer: Velvet Moraru - Icon Production (Romania)

F.E.Z.Z. – Teodor Mirea
Producers: Liviu Marghidan, Ruxandra Flonta – Scharf Film Production (Romania)

Pastoral – Michael Önder
Producer: Jozef Erçevik Amado – Bluff Film (Turkey)

Veha – Elif Sözen
Producers: Elif Sözen, Soner Alper – Elves Films, Nar Film (Turkey)

Second Line – Olga Stuga
Producer: Olga Stuga (Ukraine)