As the 11^th Odesa International Film Festival has shifted its dates and made the leap to a digital format, running from 25 September-3 October (see the news), the gathering’s industry section, Film Industry Office, will also run online from 29 September-2 October. As every year, the leading platform will showcase everything that is up and coming in Ukrainian cinema, while Book Pitch, a new pitching event, is being introduced for potential film adaptations of literature.

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Starting with the projects that are at the early-development stage and are being produced or co-produced with Ukraine, 13 projects have been selected. Among them are the upcoming features by Myroslav Slaboshpytskyi (The Tribe [+leggi anche:
trailer
scheda film]), Roman Bondarchuk (Volcano [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Roman Bondarchuk
scheda film]), Daria Onyshchenko (The Forgotten), Taras Tkachenko (Black Raven) and Maryna Er Gorbach (Omar and Us), and the new documentary by Alisa Kovalenko (Home Games [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
scheda film]).

Meanwhile, in the Work in Progress section, ten completed feature-length films will be presented by their producers and directors. Some of the highlights in the selection include the new movies by Eva Neymann (Song of Songs [+leggi anche:
trailer
scheda film]) and Zaza Buadze (Chervonyi [+leggi anche:
trailer
scheda film]), along with the debuts by Short Film Palme d'Or winner Maryna Vroda, MIDPOINT Feature Launch alumna Christina Tynkevych and Kateryna Gornostai, plus Olha Zhurba's winning documentary project from East Doc Platform.

In the EastSeries section, organised by the Odesa IFF together with ScripTeast, in partnership with Independent Film Foundation and Star Media, the biggest international film company in Ukraine, five drama series have been selected to participate.

The newest pitching event is Book Pitch, a joint project between the OIFF and the X International “Book Arsenal” Festival. It is intended to seek out contemporary Ukrainian books that have the potential to be adapted into feature-length fiction films. A panel of experts comprising director-screenwriter Marysia Nikitiuk, culturologist and literary expert Oleksadr Mykhed, TV host and editor-in-chief Hanna Zhyzha, film producer Volodymyr Yatsenko, screenwriter-director Natalia Vorozhbyt, and journalist and literary expert Iryna Slavinska have shortlisted the eight projects to be presented to industry professionals.

In addition, the Odesa Film Industry Office and the Ukrainian Institute are organising a one-day educational networking event called promoLAB, focusing on promoting Ukrainian films internationally. On 30 September, leading professionals will hold webinars, panel discussions and specialised case studies on successful promotional cases. Julia Sinkevych, OIFF general producer, stated: “This specialised educational programme will help Ukrainian film professionals understand how to create a marketing strategy for positioning films at co-production markets and festivals. Given the global changes in the world, which have affected the international film market as well, filmmakers need to know what the rules of the game are now, and understand the importance of promoting their content in new realities.”

As every year, Cinema: Backstage will run, this time online, and will be chaired by OIFF consultant Tamara Tatishvili. At the conference held on 29 September, under the topic “Ukraine Joins Eurimages in the Midst of an Unprecedented Breakthrough in the Industry", the Eurimages representatives from Poland, Irena Strzelkowska, and Ukraine, Volodymyr Yatsenko, along with Eurimages project manager Sergio Garcia de Leanis, will have a chat. On the same day, the panel discussion "Creativity and Mental Stability - Reliable Companions on the Dangerous Road of 2020" will be held. Also, on the last day of the Film Industry Office, two panels will focus on “Support of the Audiovisual Sector by Creative Europe MEDIA” and “Digitalisation in the Ukrainian Film Industry: Trends and New Solutions”.

Here is the complete list of selected projects at Odesa’s Film Industry Office 2020:

Pitching session for projects in development

Adolescence – Eugene Koshin
Producer: Yuriy Minzyanov

Air Blue Silk – Irine Jordania (Georgia)
Producer: Tiko Nadirashvili

The Anthropocene – Myroslav Slaboshpytskyi
Producers: Oleg Kohan, Olexiy Makukhin

The Editorial Office [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Roman Bondarchuk
scheda film] – Roman Bondarchuk
Producers: Darya Bassel, Darya Averchenko

Expedition-49 – Alisa Kovalenko (Ukraine/France)
Producers: Oleksiy Kobelev, Valeriy Kalmykov, Stephane Siohan

Half-opened – Tamara Trunova
Producer: Ivanna Diadiura

He – Stanislav Bytiutskyi
Producer: Valeria Sochyvets

Klondike [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Maryna Er Gorbach
scheda film] – Maryna Er Gorbach (Turkey/Ukraine)
Producers: Maryna Er Gorbach, Sviatoslav Bulakovskiy, Mehmet Bahadir Er

Kvitka – Taras Tkachenko
Producer: Valeriia Borshchevska

Malevych – Daria Onyshchenko
Producer: Аnna Palenchuk

Nice Ladies – Mariia Ponomarova (Ukraine/Netherlands)
Producers: Rogier Kramer, Maksym Nakonechnyi, Anna Zobnina

The Twins – Eva Neymann (Ukraine/Slovakia/Lithuania/Poland)
Producers: Alla Belaya, Wanda Adamík Hrycová, Kestutis Drazdauskas, Krzysztof Solek

Forever, Forever [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Anna Buryachkova
scheda film] (working title: Us, 15) – Anna Buryachkova
Producer: Natalia Libet

Works in Progress

Between Us – Solomiia Tomashchuk
Producer: Polina Herman

Demiurge [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Olga Semak
scheda film] – Olga Semak
Producer: Oleksandr Techynskyi

How’s Katia? [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Christina Tynkevych
scheda film] – Christina Tynkevych
Producer: Olga Matat

Pryvoz – Eva Neymann
Producers: Gennady Kofman, Olha Beskhmelnytsina

Requiem to the Hot Days of Summer [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Giorgi Parkosadze
scheda film] – Giorgi Parkosadze (Georgia)
Producers: Giorgi Parkosadze, Tamta Tvalavadze

Roma – Olha Zhurba (Ukraine/Netherlands/Denmark)
Producers: Darya Bassel, Vika Khomenko, Willem Baptist, Nienke Korthof, Anne Konchke, Monica Hellström

Slightly Open Door – Khachatur Vasilian, Olexandr Bykov
Producers: Sergii Amelichev, Julia Chernyavska, Oleg Shcherbyna

Stepne [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
scheda film] – Maryna Vroda (Ukraine/Germany/Poland)
Producer: Maryna Vroda

Stop-Zemlia – Kateryna Gornostai
Producers: Vitaliy Sheremetiev, Vika Khomenko, Natalia Libet, Olga Beskhmelnytsina

Umbrella Sky – Zaza Buadze (Ukraine/Italy)
Producer: Andriy Suyarko

EastSeries

(S)mothering (Lithuania)
Writer/producer: Aiste Ptakauske

Black Friday (Poland)
Writer: Michał A Zieliński

Coffee With Cardamom (Ukraine/Poland)
Writers: Olha Krzhechevska, Nataliia Yakovleva, Nataliia Rybalko, Olena Lavrenyuk
Producer: Serge Lavrenyuk

The Hydra
Writer: Daria Onyshchenko
Producer: Oleksandr Driz

Sweet Beasts Of Burden (Poland)
Writer/producer: Wiktor Piatkowski

Book Pitch

Behind the Back - Haska Shyyan
Daughter - Tamara Horikha Zernia
Pack - Anastasiia Nikulina
Paper Soldiers - the Kapranov brothers
Roses Behind Wires. Confessions From a Female Prison – Iryna Ahapeieva
Third Cabin — Los-Angeles - Olena Zakharchenkod
Spies From the “Artemida” Asylum - Nataliia Dovhopol
Your Look, Chio-Chio-San - Andrii Liubka