Young Horizons Industry has unveiled the projects chosen for its eighth International Co-production Forum, which concentrates on films and series designed for young audiences. Scheduled to run in Warsaw from 30 September-2 October, both on site and online, the event has selected 11 films and ten series from a competitive pool of 97 submissions. Among these selections, 16 projects will be highlighted in the In Development category, with an additional five featured in the Work in Progress section.

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A jury was entrusted with curating this year's selection. The films were chosen by Fiona van Heemstra, a screenwriter from the Netherlands; Moritz Hemminger, head of Sales and Acquisitions at The Playmaker, Germany; and Anna Waśniewska-Gill, producer and partner at WONDER X, Poland. The series projects were selected by Marina Narishkin, an expert in the entertainment business and a serial entrepreneur from France; Dunja Karlovsek, editor of children’s shows and media psychologist at RTV Slovenija; and Tim Biedert, a production and development executive from Germany.

The selected projects represent a diverse array of 16 countries, including co-production partnerships. Poland leads the pack with five projects, followed by four from CEE countries, including Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Ukraine. Norway and Belgium each contribute three and two projects, respectively, while Germany, Austria, Brazil, Finland, France and Ireland are represented by one project each. Among the selected titles, 20% (four projects) are international co-productions involving countries such as the Czech Republic, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain. The majority of these are geared towards children aged 7-12 (70%), with a focus on preschool audiences accounting for 20%, and teens and young adults making up the remaining 10%.

Among the selected films, there are five live-action projects, two animations, one live-action/animation hybrid and three documentaries, totalling 11 films. The selected series encompass five animations, three live-action, one live-action with CGI, and one animated documentary (anidoc), making a total of ten series. The selected projects span a wide spectrum of genres, including comedy, fantasy, coming of age, fairy tale, musical, drama, animated documentary and adventure titles.

Three projects (Whatever Happened, Welcome to Vegetown and Rainy Days) received direct invitations as winners of Young Horizons Industry, selected by the team at m:brane, the Animarkt Stop Motion Forum and the CEE Animation Forum.

Young Horizons Industry serves as a co-production forum and meeting place for dedicated film professionals focused on creating content for young audiences. Its primary objective is to facilitate connections among creators and potential collaborators. By fostering dialogue and partnerships between projects and industry stakeholders, it aims to cultivate an environment conducive to idea exchange and collaborative ventures.

Young Horizons Industry is co-financed by the Polish Film Institute, the Creative Europe – MEDIA sub-programme, the City of Warsaw and the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, as part of the Polish Creative Industries Development Centre "Centrum Rozwój Sektorów Kreatywnych" programme.

Here is the list of selected projects:

In Development

The Adventures of Baltazar Gąbka (live-action film)
Producer: TV Working (Poland)

Basia and a Doggy Summer (animated film)
Producers: GS Animation, Grupa Smacznego (Poland)

Christmas Snow (live-action film)
Producer: Contrabas Video Production (Ukraine)

Holy Mary (live-action film)
Producer: Samson Films (Ireland)

Lampie (live-action/animated film)
Producer: Leitwolf Filmproduktion (Germany)

Little Big Ones (anidoc series)
Producer: Czech Television (Czech Republic)

Mega Pals (live-action with CGI series)
Producers: 20 Pictures to Midnight, RTBF, House Media Company, Coin Film, Digital Voodooh (Belgium/Luxembourg/Poland/Germany)

The Mystery of Music (live-action film)
Producer: Overlock Entertainment (Bulgaria)

The Mystery Package (documentary film)
Producer: A5 film (Norway)

Rainy Days (animated series)
Producer: Animadre Studio (Austria)

Rat King (animated film)
Producer: Traumhaus Studios (Germany)

Sneakermania (live-action series)
Producer: Helsinki-filmi (Finland)

The Treehouse (animated series)
Producers: Tropical Entretenimento, Smart Diseños (Brazil/Netherlands)

Ursa the Polar Bear (animated series)
Producer: Upnorth Film (Norway)

Welcome to Vegetown (stop-motion animated series)
Producer: Toku (France)

Whatever Happened (live-action series)
Producer: Fabelaktiv (Norway)

Work in Progress

Animals of the East (documentary film)
Producer: Admiral Films (Slovakia)

Ban (live-action series)
Producers: 20 Pictures to Midnight, RTBF (Belgium)

Ghetto Classic (documentary film)
Producers: Dynamo Film, WKND (Poland/Spain)

The Great Book of Feelings (animated series)
Producer: EGoFilm (Poland)

Pixie (live-action film)
Producers: Green Rat Production, Heaven'S Gate, WFDiF, Stuchlik Wojciech Film Production (Poland/Czech Republic)