The seventh edition of European Work in Progress Cologne (EWIP) closed out its final day with an awards ceremony honouring the prize-winners of its pitching competition, held at Cologne’s Cinenova cinema. Running from 14-16 October, EWIP hosted over 250 film professionals from the European film industry, inviting them to exchange ideas and keep a lookout for the most promising film projects of the coming months and year. Attendees included curators from top European film festivals, a collection of the continent’s sales agents and high-profile guests from the domain of film distribution.

Out of a record number of 220 submissions, 29 productions were selected for inclusion in this year’s edition (see the news). All of the projects were European co-productions, with the exception of one presented in the context of the industry event’s second year of a focus on Africa.

This year’s independent jury included Heino Deckert (Ma.ja.de. Filmproduktions GmbH), Priscila Miranda (film producer and distributor with Fenix), Sophie Stejskal (Filmladen Filmverleih), Urte Fink (ZDF/ARTE) and Paul Ridd (festival director of the Edinburgh International Film Festival). The jury handed out ten prizes worth nearly €60,000, supported by K13, MMC Film & TV Studios Cologne, LAVAlabs Moving Images, mm filmpresse, Gruvi, Way Film and usheru.

The jury first handed out the K13 Studios Awards, which bestowed a voucher for Dolby Atmos mixing on Alexis Alexiou’s crime-thriller Sea of Glass and a voucher for synchronisation services on Maja Classen’s experimental documentary Truth or Dare. Described by the film’s team as a mixture between The Postman Always Rings Twice and Thelma & Louise, Alexiou’s southeastern European co-production confronts the past and the patriarchal legacy of violence within their community. Classen’s film, which explores the queer sex-positive party scene in Berlin, was honoured by the jury for “being brave enough to have this conversation” about “sex and boundaries […] now more than ever”.

Two European-Asian co-productions caught the eye of the jury. The LAVAlabs Moving Images Award for €10,000 worth of visual effects went to Akio Fujimoto’s Lost Land, a fictional account of two young Rohingya children leaving a refugee camp in Bangladesh in search of their family in Malaysia. The jury stated that the film “offered a window into a global humanitarian issue with intimacy and empathy”. Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke’s Thai-set dark fantasy-comedy A Useful Ghost, presented with the Way Film Translation Award for subtitling, worth €4,000, follows a woman who returns as a ghost possessing a vacuum cleaner in order to protect her family.

The first MMC Studios Award, accompanied by a €10,000 voucher, went to Stephan Komandarev’s social drama Made in EU, which the jury said touched them in a new way in light of its COVID-era story. The second award, €5,000 towards stage and room hire with MMC Studios, went to Żejtune by Alex Camilleri, a heartfelt dramatic exploration of the Maltese folk-music tradition of għana. The jury shared that “the relationships between generations and cultures left [them] intrigued to see more” of the two main characters.

Two films from Africa were also crowned winners: Minimals in a Titanic World by Mbabazi Sharangabo Philbert Aimé, presented with the TorinoFilmLab Audience Award, and the documentary Truck Mama by Zipporah Nyaruri, presented with the mm filmpresse Award.

EWIP is supported by the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, the Creative Europe – MEDIA programme of the European Union and the City of Cologne. The industry event also takes place in cooperation with Film Festival Cologne, KölnBusiness, Creative Europe Desks Germany and the International Film Distribution Summit (IFDS).

Here is the full list of winners at this year’s EWIP:

K13 Studios Award (prize for Dolby Atmos mixing)
Sea of Glass – Alexis Alexiou (Greece/Bulgaria/Cyprus)
Producer: Tugo Tugo Productions

K13 Studios Award (prize for synchronisation)
Truth or Dare – Maja Classen (Germany)
Producer: Poison GmbH

MMC Studios Award
Made in EU – Stephan Komandarev (Bulgaria/Germany/Czech Republic)
Producer: Argo Film

MMC Studios Award (prize for stage and room hire)
Żejtune – Alex Camilleri (Malta/Germany/Qatar)
Producers: Solari Film, Pelikola Ltd

LAVAlabs Moving Images Award
Lost Land – Akio Fujimoto (Japan/France/Germany/Malaysia)
Producers: Scarlet Visions GmbH, E.x.N K.K.

TorinoFilmLab Audience Design Award
Minimals in a Titanic World – Mbabazi Sharangabo Philbert Aimé (Rwanda/Germany/Cameroon)
Producer: Imitana Productions

mm filmpresse Award
Truck Mama – Zipporah Nyaruri (Kenya/South Africa/Netherlands)
Producer: Visual Asili c/o Zippy Creatives

Gruvi Award
Balearic – Ion de Sosa (Spain/France)
Producer: La Fabrica Nocturna Cinéma

Way Film Translation Award
A Useful Ghost – Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke (Thailand/France/Singapore)
Producer: 185 Films Co, Ltd

usheru Award
The Badgers – Paul Magnus Lundø (Norway)
Producer: 73 Eyes Film Production