Tales of Fruits and Monsters et Klára Is Here l'emportent à When East Meets West
- Le projet de deuxième long-métrage, hybride, du réalisateur slovène Gregor Božič et le premier long du Hongrois Dávid Csicskár ont décroché les prix principaux au forum de la coproduction italien

Cet article est disponible en anglais.
When East Meets West (WEMW) has wrapped its 15th edition with an awards ceremony at the Savoia Excelsior Palace in Trieste, unveiling this year’s main victors. After the four-day co-production forum, running from 18-22 January, the jury announced its two top winners. The event, hosted by Alessandro Gropplero, WEMW's head, and Alessandra Pastore, market manager, organised inspiring pitching sessions, work-in-progress presentations and networking meetings.
The WEMW Co-Production Forum jury, composed of Jean-Baptiste Bailly-Maitre (Alpha Violet), Svetlana Cherrier (Ciclic Centre-Val de Loire) and Edvinas Pukšta (Black Nights Film Festival), handed the Film Center Serbia Award, a €5,000 cash prize, to Tales of Fruits and Monsters, the second feature by Slovenian director Gregor Božič. The project is being produced by Nosorogi (Slovenia) and Bocalupo Films (France). The story follows Sergej, who embarks on a journey to find a rare pear from his mother’s childhood, leading him through Mediterranean orchards, haunted forests in Japan, and deep into the labyrinths of his imagination.
Klára Is Here, the debut feature by Hungarian filmmaker Dávid Csicskár, took home the €5,000 Ciclic WEMW Award, courtesy of the French Centre-Val de Loire region. Produced by Filmfabriq (Hungary), the film tells the story of Péter, an elderly man caring for his wife, Klára, who suffers from dementia. When he falls in love with her vibrant old friend, he faces a dilemma between his commitment to his wife and the possibility of a new life. The newly introduced GoGo2025 Residency Award was given to the Estonian-Latvian-Ukrainian documentary Under the Yellow Sky by Maryna Nazarenko, produced by Undi Tead.
Several other awards were presented in partnership with various international training programmes and markets. Lithuanian director Aistė Žegulytė won the EWA Network Award for Equality & Inclusion, valued at €500, for her project Biodestructors, produced by Studio Uljana Kim, To Be Continued and Studio Locomotive. Serbian producer Jelena Radenkovic (Big Time Production), selected with her project Big Women, was awarded a scholarship to attend the EAVE Producers Workshop, while Belgian director Leen Michiels received the DAE Talent Development Prize. Additionally, Natalia Pavlove, producer of the Czech-Lebanese project Running with Beasts, and Alice Drago, producer of Salvatierra, earned free badges for the Cannes Marché du Film Producers Network. The Pop Up Film Residency Award was presented to Tales of Fruits and Monsters director Gregor Božič and the Taskovski #DocsConnect Award to the documentary Berliner, directed by Anna Khazaradze. The CEE Animation Award went to Twisted, helmed by Martina Sarritzu and Giorgia Malatrasi.
In the three WEMW work-in-progress sections focused on films at the post-production stage, the international jury of Last Stop Trieste, which included Sarah Dawson (IDFA), Maria Bonsanti (EURODOC) and Carmen Vicencio (American Documentary), handed the HBO Europe Award (a €1,000 cash prize) to My Dad’s Lessons, a Croatian project by director Dalija Dozet. The jury also granted the Film Center Montenegro Award (a €2,000 cash prize) to Electing Ms Santa, a co-production between Moldova and Romania directed by Raisa Razmerita. The Artevideo Award went to Divia, a project by Dmytro Hreshko, staged by Gogol Film (Poland), UP UA Studio (Ukraine) and Valk Productions (Netherlands).
The jury of This is IT, the work-in-progress section dedicated to films being co-produced with Italy or produced by the WEMW spotlight territories, was headed up by Caterina Mazzucato (Bio to B – Biografilm), Gaia Furrer (Giornate degli Autori) and Pascale Ramonda (Ramonda Ink). This jury granted the Laser Film Award to the Italian-Romanian co-production On Their Own by Tudor Jurgiu. The award includes four days of colour-grading services and one DCP worth €10,000.
Regarding First Cut+, which targets feature films that previously participated in First Cut Lab workshops, the international jury, including An Feyfer (Flanders Audiovisual Fund), Ilse Ronteltap (Netherlands Film Fund) and Gabor Greiner (Films Boutique), gave the TRT Prize (€5,000 cash) to the Brazilian project Amores by Grace Passô. As for the HAVC & MIDPOINT Development Award (worth €3,000), it was given to Kurkuma by director Drishya Gautham and producer Mathivanan Rajendran, from India.
The Italy-Baltic Development Awards for Co-Production, offering a total of €40,000 in cash prizes from the Italian Ministry of Culture, the Estonian Film Institute, the Lithuanian Film Centre and the National Film Centre of Latvia, rewarded the Italian majority project Three Mothers, directed by Enrico Lando. This project, co-developed by Italian company Jolefilm and Latvian firm Air Productions, secured €20,000. The Baltic co-productions Dolce Far Niente, directed by Elena Kairyté, and The Art of Biting Your Tongue, helmed by Ieva Norvele, won the €13,000 and €7,000 awards, respectively.
As for the CIRCLE Awards, the Cineuropa Spotlight Award went to Flora Linghwa Huang, a director and producer from Taiwan, for her project White Waters.
Finally, WEMW 2025 introduced the Inspirational Lab Special Gifts programme, which awarded the International Screen Institute Special Gift to Time Huszar, entailing a spot on its Market Ready course, and the TorinoFilmLab Special Gift to Samaya Hillenbrand, including a spot at the TFL Next Workshop. The programme also included private counselling sessions on green production with Trentino Film Commission – Green Film.
Here is the list of winners at the 2025 edition of WEMW:
WEMW Co-production Forum awards
Film Center Serbia Development Award
Tales of Fruits and Monsters – Gregor Božič (Slovenia/France)
Producers: Nosorogi, Bocalupo Films
Ciclic WEMW Award
Klára Is Here – Dávid Csicskár (Hungary)
Producer: Filmfabriq
GoGo2025 Residency Award
Under the Yellow Sky – Maryna Nazarenko (Estonia/Ukraine/Latvia)
Producer: Undi Tead
EWA Network’s Award for Equality & Inclusion
Aistė Žegulytė (Studio Uljana Kim, Lithuania) – Biodestructors
EAVE Producers Workshop Award
Jelena Radenkovic (Big Time Production, Serbia) – Big Women
Taskovski #DocsConnect Award
Anna Khazaradze (1991 Productions, Georgia) – Berliner
DAE Talent Development Award
Leen Michiels (Krater Films, Belgium) – Better Than Gold
CEE Animation Award
Twisted – Martina Sarritzu, Giorgia Malatrasi (Italy)
Producer: Rodaggio
Marché du Film Producers Network Award
Natalia Pavlove (Other Stories, Czech Republic) – Running with Beasts
Alice Drago (Epica Film, Italy) – Salvatierra
Pop Up Film Residency Award
Gregor Božič (Nosorogi, Slovenia) – Tales of Fruits and Monsters
Last Stop Trieste
HBO Europe Award
My Dad’s Lessons – Dalija Dozet (Croatia)
Producer: Hulahop
Film Center Montenegro Award
Electing Ms Santa – Raisa Razmerita (Moldova/Romania)
Producers: HaiDOC Productions, Tangaj Production
Arte Video Award
Divia – Dmytro Hreshko (Poland/Ukraine/Netherlands)
Producers: Gogol Film, UP UA Studio, Valk Productions
This Is IT
Laser Film Post Production Award
On Their Own – Tudor Jurgiu (Italy/Romania)
Producers: Indyca, Libra Film
First Cut+
TRT Prize
Amores – Grace Passô (Brazil)
Producers: Entre Films, Desvia, Globo Films
MIDPOINT Shorts
HAVC & MIDPOINT Development Award
Kurkuma – Drishya Gautham (India)
Producer: Stray Factory (India)
Italy-Baltic Co-development Awards
The Art of Biting Your Tongue – Ieva Norvele (Latvia/Italy)
Producers: Tasse Film, Corego
Dolce Far Niente – Elena Kairyté (Lithuania/Italy)
Producers: Baltic Production, Kiné Società cooperative
Three Mothers – Enrico Lando (Italy/Latvia)
Producers: Jolefilm, Air Productions
CIRCLE Women Doc Accelerator awards
Cineuropa Spotlight Award
White Waters - Flora Linghwa Huang (Taiwan)
European Film Market - Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Initiative Award
Letters to My Children - Ines Tanovic (Bosnia & Herzegovina)
EWA Talent Encouragement Award
Letters from Home - Xin Fang (China)
Docs Barcelona Award
Al Bayt - Francesca Bertin (Italy)
Sheffield DocFest Award
Portrait of A - Rand Beiruty (Jordan)
PR and Marketing Consulting Award - Awarded by Marijana Harder
Amazonas - Clara López Rubio (Spain)
Studio Rulli Putorti Legal Support Award
Somewhere over the Rainbow - Koval Bhatia (India)
DAE Strategy Award - Awarded by the DAE Executive Board
Maty or the Real Life - Fagamou Fama Ndiaye (Senegal)
(Traduit de l'anglais)
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