Unspooling 27 – 31 March, the 4th edition of the Budapest Debut Film Forum (BDFF), dedicated to talented individuals taking their first steps in the worlds of feature films and series, has unveiled its winners at the close of a four-day workshop held for the 10 teams behind the selected projects.

The jury composed of Gábor Greiner (Films Boutique), Marge Liiske (Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival), Czech producer Julietta Sichel and her homologue and compatriot Marek Novak crowned the Hungarian project Lady Sunshine as its winning feature film, as represented by director Anna Korom, producer Anna Szijártó and screenwriter András Soós. The story revolves around 55-year-old cosmetic surgery addict Mária who reunites with the love of her youth Kálmán (60 years old), who no longer recognises her. Feeling desperate, she undergoes even more operations to avoid being unmasked, but it only brings her closer to exposure... Lady Sunshine also scooped the Special Pop-Up Film Residency Prize, which will help the creators to develop their film in the various Visegrád countries (Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia).

Triumphant in the category of series, the Lithuanian series project Cold, written by Birutė Kapustinskaitė and Arturas Voinicius, and produced by Greta Akcijonaite, takes us back to Lithuania in 1991. The fate of five people intertwines amidst chaos as they each seek redemption and uncover secrets surrounding a 50-year-old story of betrayal, while the nation resists Soviet oppression.

The four-day-long BDFF, meanwhile, played host to a variety of round tables on the subject of co-production opportunities (involving film institutes from neighbouring countries, such as Croatia, Serbia and Slovakia), how to fund them, and the state of play for content geared towards young audiences in Europe. Participants were also introduced to two case studies exploring the (co)production of two first films: Victim [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Michal Blaško
scheda film] by Slovakia’s Michal Blaško and White Plastic Sky [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Tibor Bánóczki, Sarolta Sz…
scheda film] by the Hungarian duo Tibor Bánóczki - Sarolta Szabó.

The Budapest Debut Film Forum is backed by the International Visegrad Fund and the National Film Institute of Hungary in partnership with New Europe Film Sales, the Pop-Up Film Residency, Ishorts and the Visegrad Film Forum.

The award-winners are as follows:

Award for Most Promising Feature Film Project
Lady Sunshine - Anna Korom (Hungary)

Award for Most Promising Series Project
Cold - Birutė Kapustinskaitė and Arturas Voinicius (Lithuania)

Pop-Up Film Residency Award
Lady Sunshine - Anna Korom