22/03/2017 - Seven projects in early development have been selected for Sarajevo's CineLink

The Sarajevo Film Festival's co-production market, CineLink, has announced the first batch of projects that will take part in this year's edition.

Seven feature-film projects by first- and second-time directors from Southeast Europe will take part in a preparatory workshop designed to help with overall project development ahead of their presentation at the CineLink Industry Days from 12-17 August. 

These include Africa by Bulgaria's Maya Vitkova (Viktoria [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Maya Vitkova
film profile]), Desire Lines by Bosnia and Herzegovina's Dane Komljen (All the Cities of the North [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Dane Komljen
film profile]), as well as The Dragon Has Come, the directorial debut by Greek actor Christos Passalis, best known for his role in Dogtooth [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Yorgos Lanthimos
film profile]. 

“Come August, we will have discovered over 35 projects of different film forms and at different stages of development and production, but it is always this first batch of projects to be selected that falls into the real ‘discovery’ category,” says Sarajevo's head of industry, Jovan Marjanović. “We look forward to spending time with them and helping to nurture and fine-tune their ideas before presenting their work to potential partners at the CineLink Co-production Market.”

Amra Bakšić Čamo, head of CineLink, added: “The selection is quite diverse in terms of topics and points of view, but all are authentic, passionate, witty and thought-provoking works from some of the most exciting emerging talents from our region.” 

Here is the first batch of CineLink projects announced:

Africa – Maya Vitkova (Bulgaria/Romania)
Producer: Maya Vitkova (Viktoria Films)
Co-producer: Anca Puiu (Mandragora)

Cat in the Wall [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mina Mileva, Vesela Kazakova
film profile] – Mina Mileva, Vesela Kazakova (Bulgaria)
Producers: Mina Mileva, Vesela Kazakova (Activist38)

Desire Lines – Dane Komljen (Serbia/Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Producers: Nataša Damnjanović, Vladimir Vidić (Dart Film)

The Dragon Has Come – Christos Passalis (Greece)
Producer: Maria Drandaki (Homemade Films)

The Hive – Eylem Kaftan (Turkey/Germany)
Producer: Said Nur Akkus (Pero Film)
Co-producers: Mehmet Aktas, Janna Heine (Mitosfilm)

Holy Emy [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Araceli Lemos
film profile] – Araceli Lemos (Greece)
Producers: Elina Psykou, Giulia Caruso, Konstantinos Vassilaros (StudioBauhaus)

Take Me Home – Balazs Simonyi (Hungary)
Producers: Balazs Simonyi, Laszlo Jozsa, Monika Mecs (Speak Easy Project, M&M Film)