Earlier this week, Cinekid announced the projects selected for this year’s edition of its Junior Co-Production Market. The event is set to return to Pathé Amsterdam Noord during the 2024 edition of Cinekid for Professionals (29 October-1 November). On this occasion, 19 projects will be presented to the industry, including 11 films, seven series and one work in progress.

The latter is Nóra Lakos’ I Accidentally Wrote a Book, a Hungarian-Dutch co-production set for release next year and developed within the framework of the 2020-21 Script LAB and the 2022 Directors LAB. The project was also pitched (at the development stage) at the Junior Co-production Market in 2021, where it scooped the Eurimages Co-Production Development Award (see the interview). Nova van Dijk’s Kittens (Netherlands) and Sandra Moser’s Rosanna, Jaris, and the Otherworld (Switzerland) also took part in the 2024 edition of the Directors LAB.

New participating countries include Estonia with Rise of the Water Fox by Carlos E Lesmes, Nigeria with Time Skippers: Sankofa Squad by Somto Ajuluchukwu (the only African project being showcased at this year’s gathering) and My Home Is in the Hills from Nepal’s Arun Fulara, whose short Shera is also playing at the festival this year.

Other buzzy projects are Tony, Shelly and the Magic Light [+leggi anche:
recensione
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scheda film] director Filip Pošivač’s The Axolotls (Czech Republic), Esben Toft Jacobsen’s Swedish-Danish-Dutch co-pro Millie and the Secret of the Crocodile and Aik Karapetian’s new effort The Sorcerer’s Eye (Latvia).

Commenting on the upcoming edition of the event, head of Cinekid for Professionals Sara Juričić said: “As we prepare to showcase yet another edition of the Junior Co-production Market, I want to take a moment to acknowledge the artistic talent and inspiration that came our way this year. Whether we’re talking about living and breathing siblings saving each other, or little aquatic animals saving their community, these stories remind us of the importance of connection and responsibility, not just to each other, but also to the world around us.

“Many of these projects are brought to life through films, but we're also seeing a growing number of series each year. That’s why we are particularly proud to present the Council of Europe Series Co-production Development Award [worth €50,000] this year, an initiative within the Council of Europe's pilot programme for series co-productions.”

Indeed, for the first time this year, Cinekid is taking part in said pilot programme and gets to reward one project with the Council of Europe Series Co-production Development Award. This initiative aims to facilitate independent producers’ access to series development funding and foster creative collaboration as the foundation for future co-productions.

In addition to this, there are more awards that will be handed out. The best feature-film project with European co-production potential intended for theatrical release will receive the prestigious Eurimages Co-Production Development Award, worth €20,000. The PUBLIKUM Audience Awareness Award is worth €9,000 and comprises services granted by Danish business consultancy Will & Agency. Lastly, the Filmmore Post-Production Award comes with a €5,000 prize and will go to the best live-action project; the prize consists of services from the Filmmore post-production house. The award winners will be announced on 31 October. 

Here is the full list of this year’s selected projects:

The Axolotls (Czech Republic) (animated feature)
Director: Filip Pošivač
Producer: Bionaut

Billy & the Boingo Band (Austria/Canada/UK) (animated series)
Director: Shabnam Rezaei
Producers: Big Bad Boo Vienna, Paper Owl Films, Paddy Gillen, Grainne McGuinness

Caramel’s Words (France/Spain) (animated feature)
Director: Salvador Simó
Producers: Les Films du Cygne, Sygnatia

Crunch Crunch Farm (Ireland) (animated series)
Director: Olha Yevtieieva
Producer: Distillery Films

Hunnic Summer (Serbia) (live-action feature)
Director: Nedeljko Kovačić
Producer: Magnus Production

I Accidentally Wrote a Book (Hungary/Netherlands) (live-action feature)
Director: Nóra Lakos
Producers: JUNO11 Pictures, BIND

Kittens (Netherlands) (live-action feature)
Director: Nova van Dijk
Producers: Studio Ruba, Kleine Storm

The Legend of Salamanders (France/Slovakia/Germany) (animated feature)
Director: Catherine Maximoff
Producer: Les Contes Modernes

Lina’s Friends (Belgium) (live-action series)
Director: Frederik Sonck
Producer: Eyeworks Film & TV Drama

Millie and the Secret of the Crocodile (Sweden/Denmark/Netherlands) (animated feature)
Director: Esben Toft Jacobsen
Producers: Snowcloud Films, Vi Glæder os Preben, Viking Film

My Home Is in the Hills (Nepal) (live-action feature)
Director: Arun Fulara
Producer: Underground Talkies Nepal

Puck (Sweden) (animated series)
Producer: BCD FILM

Rise of the Water Fox (Estonia) (live-action feature)
Director: Carlos E Lesmes
Producer: Stellar Film

Roc & Lola (Italy) (animated series)
Director: Andrea Giro
Producer: Primal Shape Srl

Rosanna, Jaris and the Otherworld (Switzerland) (live-action feature)
Director: Sandra Moser
Producer: tellfilm GmbH

Scrumple (Netherlands/Belgium) (live-action feature)
Director: Jamille van Wijngaarden
Producers: Lemming Film, Lemming Film Belgium

Sissi & Caesar (Spain/Chile) (animated series)
Director: Gabriela Villalobos
Producers: Pangur Animation, Tres tercios studio

The Sorcerer’s Eye (Latvia) (animated feature)
Director: Aik Karapetian
Producer: Mistrus Media

Time Skippers: Sankofa Squad (Nigeria) (animated series)
Director: Somto Ajuluchukwu
Production Companies: VX ANIMATION