Projects
Projects
Frontline
Original title: Frontline
Directed by: Alisa Kovalenko
Produced by: Kasia Kuczynska (Haka Films, Poland)
Country of production: Poland, Denmark
Runtime: 90'
Expected release: January, 2025
Production stage: Post-production
Budget: $360 000 (43% in place)
1st feature: No
Looking for: Festivals, Sales Agents, Buyers, Gap Financing
Synopsis:
The battle rages on, but everything seems so calm and fragile, until a missile shatters everything. A first-hand look into the reality of the Ukrainian front line, by a director and a mother, who became a soldier. Frontline reveals a very different and unseen side of war through a camera that is both a soldier’s and a documentary filmmaker’s eye.
Director’s profile:
Alisa Kovalenko is a Ukrainian award-winning documentary director from Kyiv. Her debut feature-length documentary “Alisa in Warland” had its world premiere in the First Appearance competition at IDFA 2015. Her second film “Home Games” (2018), a social fairy-tale with a sensitive female gaze about the broken dreams of a young professional female football player featured in over 100 festivals. After the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Alisa left the editing room of her then upcoming film “We Will Not Fade Away” and joined a volunteer fighting unit of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. She fought in the trenches for four months before returning to finish the film, which premiered at Berlinale Generation 2023 and has been having a very successful festival run. Alisa is a recipient of multiple awards and scholarship, including a Chicken & Egg Award (2024).
Producer’s profile:
Kasia Kuczynska is a Polish producer at HAKA Films in Warsaw. She graduated from Lodz Film School and Wajda School. Katarzyna has worked on international co-productions such as “Communion”, directed by Anna Zamecka, which went on to win the European Film Award Award for Best Documentary in 2017. HAKA FILMS’ first documentary, “Boylesque” by Bogna Kowalczyk, premiered at Hot Docs 2022 winning Best International Filmmaker Award. HAKA Films co-produced Alisa Kovalenko’s latest feature-length documentary, “We Will Not Fade Away”. In 2024 HAKA FILMS premiered their third documentary, LILI by Sylwia Rosak at Santa Barbara IFF. Kasia was a part of Ji.hlava’s Emerging Producers 2023 programme.
Playtopia
Original title: Playtopia
Directed by: Bara Jichova Tyson
Produced by: Alice Tabery (Cinepoint, Czech Republic)
Country of production: Czech Republic, Romania, France
Runtime: 80'
Expected release: February, 2026
Production stage: Pre-production
Budget: €496 000 (45% in place)
1st feature: No
Looking for: Co-producers, Gap Financing, Buyers, Sales Agents
Synopsis:
A playful exploration of power, money, hierarchy, and inequality through the eyes of children from all walks of life. Playtopia tells the story of a filmmaker and mother delving into the minds of 8 children, seeking to understand their perceptions of our world and its future. The film combines the real and the imagined in a documentary film with whimsical and magical elements.
Director’s profile:
Bara Jichova Tyson is a Czech-American artist and filmmaker. Her first feature documentary film Talking About Adultery premiered at the 2019 Sheffield Doc/Fest and its North American premiere was at DOC NYC. As a co-editor and writer, Bara co-created the feature documentary “Organ Player” directed by Narcissister (2018 Sundance Film Festival). She edited the feature documentary “Instructions on Parting”, directed by Amy Jenkins ( 2018 MoMA /Doc Fortnight). Jichova Tyson was also the art director of « Now, Forager, » a feature film by Jason Cortlund and Julia Halperin, selected for the 2012 New Directors/New Films. Jichova Tyson studied fine art and film at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam. In 20027 she obtained a BFA from MASSART in Boston, MA. In 2016, she was a recipient of The MacDowell Fellowship.
Producer’s profile:
Alice Taberywas was born in France in 1985. She graduated from FAMU in Prague, studied at the Film School CCC in Mexico City, La Fémis in France and Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg in Germany. Her first feature film she produced at FAMU, the documentary New Life by Adam Olha (Hot Docs 2013, Audience Award at Jihlava IDFF). She co-produced two feature films – Eva Nová by Marko Škop (FIPRESCI Award at Toronto IFF 2015) and Little Crusader by Václav Kadrnka (Crystal Globe at Karlovy Vary IFF 2017, Eurimages Development Award). Last few years she has been focusing on documentaries: Traces of a Landscape (Visions du Réel 2020, Student Jury Award at Jihlava IDFF), Reconstruction of Occupation (Karlovy Vary IFF 2021), Adam Ondra: Pushing the Limits (Tallinn Black Nights 2022, Vancouver IFF), Atirkül in the Land of Real Men (IDFA 2023). She is an EAVE and Producers on the Move graduate.
My Father’s House
Original title: My Father's House
Directed by: Mahdi Fleifel
Produced by: Geoff Arbourne (Inside Out Films, UK)
Country of production: Palestine, Denmark
Runtime: 100'
Expected release: January, 2025
Production stage: Production
Budget: $510 019 (19% in place)
1st feature: No
Looking for: Buyers, Co-Producers, Gap Financing
Synopsis:
Nine years after his father’s death, the filmmaker Mahdi Fleifel returns from years of exile to the small town of Elsinore in Denmark where he grew up and begins a personal journey of reconciliation. My Father’s House is a film about memory, exile, and a father and his son.
Director’s profile:
Born in Dubai, Mahdi Fleifel lives and works between Denmark, England and Greece. A graduate of the UK’s National Film & Television School, he studied Fiction directing under Stephen Frears and Pawel Pawlikowski. In 2010 he founded the company Nakba FilmWorks. Fleifel’s critically acclaimed debut feature, A WORLD NOT OURS, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and received over 30 awards, including the Berlinale Peace Prize and the Edinburgh, Yamagata and DOC:NYC Grand Jury Prizes. He was named Best New Nordic Voice at Nordisk Panorama and received the New Talent Award at CPH:DOX in 2013.
Producer’s profile:
Geoff Arbourne is the Emmy award-winning producer and founder of Inside Out Films. An independent and enterprising production company built around a global community of filmmakers operating out of the U.K. and South Africa.
Palestine Comedy Club
Original title: Palestine Comedy Club
Directed by: Alaa Aaliabdallah (Regash, Palestine)
Produced by: Charlotte Knowles (Tough Crowd, UK)
Country of production: Palestine, UK
Runtime: 90'
Expected release: December, 2024
Budget: €261 740 (30% in place)
1st feature: Yes
Looking for: Festivals, Sales Agents / Distributors, Buyers, Gap Financing
Synopsis:
Palestine Comedy Club follows five Palestinian stand-up comedians who write and tour a stand-up comedy show exploring the unlikely, often dark humour that surrounds the complexity of Palestinian identity. What starts as a blending of comic traditions to encourage honest and open reflections through the shared enjoyment of laughter becomes an existential imperative to share common humanity.
Director’s profile:
Regash (Alaa Aliabdallah) has worked as a photographer and filmmaker with many artists and organisations such as the Palestinian Circus School, Freedom Theatre, Stereo48 Dance Company, and Sarreyet Ramallah. Regash is an internationally recognised portrait and street photographer, with an online audience of over 20,000 people. He produces photography for international fashion brands and magazines. Palestine Comedy Club is Regash’s debut feature documentary. He personally shot the comedy tour, all six comedy performances and five interviews. Regash is also including his beautiful street photography in the Palestine Comedy Club film, creating collage stories of each of the cities visited on the tour to provide audiences with a deeper dive into the diverse cultures found across Palestine.
Producer’s profile:
Charlotte Knowles is an award-winning TV and film producer. Her work has been featured on BBC, ITN, and Arte. Notable achievements include her term as CEO of the Independent Film Trust, where she oversaw the development and production of various critically acclaimed projects, including the award-winning, Scottish BAFTA and BIFA nominated documentary « Rebel Dykes. » In 2022, Charlotte founded Tough Crowd Limited, a production company exploring narratives at the intersection of politics and pop-culture. Palestine Comedy Club is the first feature documentary to appear from Tough Crowd. Under the Tough Crowd banner, Charlotte also created the CreativeHQ App, a mobile app providing professional development and business coaching for creative media producers.
The Myth of Mahmoud
Original title: أسطورة محمود
Directed by: Mayar Hamdan, Shaima Al-Tamimi
Produced by: Shaima Al-Tamimi (Y2P, Qatar)
Country of production: Palestine, Qatar, USA, Yemen, Kenya, Lebanon
Runtime: 90' / 52' for TV
Expected release: February, 2027
Production stage: In-Production (55-60% shot)
Budget: $120,000 (35-30% in place)
1st feature: Yes
Looking for: Financing, Co-Production, Distributors, Buyers, Strategic Guidance
Synopsis:
In this reflexive and creative documentary, Mayar picks up the camera to capture the intricate lives of her Palestinian family, who have resided in Doha for over 60 years. Against the backdrop of never-ending conflicts in their hometown, Gaza, the family’s Doha home reflects their turmoil. The focal point is Mayar’s mother, Amal, whose sense of displacement and grief are concealed beneath a veil of sarcasm.
Director’s profile:
Mayar Hamdan, a Palestinian multi-platform writer, director, and producer, brings a distinctive design sensibility to her work, exploring MENA-centered themes like migration, displacement, generational trauma, and female-centered stories through the lens of color theory. With a background in art & technology from CalArts, film training & development via the Doha Film Institute, game writing for multiple indie studios in Barcelona, and as a Lead Narrative Designer for Saudi game studio Lunacy, she now serves as a story consultant for multiple AAA games and as a writer for a Saudi Netflix series in Development. Her diverse portfolio includes writing, directing, and producing projects like ‘Beit Byoot’ (2019), available on Sundance TV, ‘Don’t Get Too Comfortable’ (2021), which premiered at the Venice International Film Festival, and Ibqi: A Visual EP, set to be released in 2024.
Producer’s profile:
Shaima Al-Tamimi, a Yemeni-East African visual storyteller based in Qatar, uses her lived experiences to address social issues focusing on migration, healing, and sociocultural dynamics. A 2020 Photography and Social Justice Fellow at the Magnum Foundation, she created ‘Don’t Get Too Comfortable’ (2021), which was nominated for the Orizzonti Award for Best Short Film at the Venice International Film Festival and showcased at over 35 festivals worldwide. Shaima is also on the board of YWT, an organization based in Yemen that focuses on providing opportunities in film mentorship and production to the youth of Yemen.
Unmaking of
Original title: مش میكینج أوف
Directed by: Bilal Alkhatib
Produced by: Bilal Alkhatib (Palestine), Ala' Abu Ghoush (Palestine), Tania El Khoury (Les Films de l’Altaï, France, Lebanon)
Country of production: Palestine, France, Lebanon
Runtime: 85'
Expected release: April, 2025
Production stage: Post-production
Budget: $93 150 (41% in place)
1st feature: Yes
Looking for: Co-producers, Gap Financing, Distributors
Synopsis:
Less than two weeks before shooting a movie by Cherine Dabis in the West Bank, a war break out in Gaza. For a week, the camera follows the studio crew, documenting the war’s impact on the artists and showcasing their adaptation to tough decisions amid an intensely harsh reality.
Director’s profile:
Bilal Alkhatib is a filmmaker from Palestine, holding a BA degree in Media and Tv. He started working in the film industry as a cinematographer and gaffer, He has written and directed several documentary and short films that participated in the international festivals, such as the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival. His recent film « Palestine 87 » won numerous awards, Golden Tanit for Best Short Film at the Carthage Film Festival and Best Film at the Jerusalem Arab Film Festival. Bilal is also working on his first feature film and studying master’s degree in cinema.
Producer’s profile:
Ala’ Abu Ghoush is a filmmaker from Jerusalem, He has worked as a production designer in numerous feature films that have received various international awards, In 2009 he moved to France, where he studied cinema at the ENSAV, He directed three short films: « Hammurabi, » « Goldfish, » and “Metro Gaza. »
Tania El Khoury After filmmaking and psychology studies in Beirut, Tania moved to Paris in 2002 she finished a master’s degree in cinema. In 2017, she founded the production company Khamsin Films in Beirut and in 2020 she founded the Paris-based production company Les Films de l’Altaï. She produced recently the latest feature fiction of filmmaker Ghassan Salhab, The River (International Competition, Locarno 2021), Sonia Ben Slama’s newest feature documentary Machtat (International competition Visions du Réel, ACID Cannes 2023)
Tale of Baba
Original title: La grange à Baba
Directed by: Matthias Joulaud, Lucien Roux
Produced by: Juliana Fanjul, Annick Bouissou (Akka Films, Switzerland), Alexandre Cornu (Les films du tambour de soie, France)
Country of production: Switzerland, France
Runtime: 80'
Expected release: April, 2025
Production stage: In production
Budget: €590 000 (85% in place)
1st feature: Yes
Looking for: Sales Agents / Distributors, Buyers, Gap Financing
Synopsis:
Didier, a deaf farmer from birth, has just lost his eldest brother. Now alone in his isolated house in the Cantal mountains, he must find his way without his brother’s help. He must overcome his fear of the unknown and forge links with the other inhabitants of the hamlet. Tale of Baba follows Didier’s routines as he has to reinvent his language and his exchanges, turning his handicap into a strength.
Director’s profile:
Matthias Joulaud, a filmmaker with a multidisciplinary background in photography and drawing from the Beaux Arts in Paris, brings a unique perspective to his cinematic endeavors. Graduating with a Master’s degree in filmmaking from ECAl and HEAD in Lausanne-Geneva, Matthias’ work is characterized by a subtle and intimate visual style, influenced by his exploration of analog photography and color film.
His portfolio spans across documentary, fiction, and music video genres, showcasing his versatility and artistic range. Notably, his short film « Ramboy, » produced in collaboration with AKKA Films and the ECAl-HEAD Master’s program, has received recognition at various international festivals, including Visions du Réel and IDFA. With a focus on capturing the essence of human experiences, Matthias Joulaud’s work resonates with audiences, earning praise for its authenticity and emotional depth.
Co-director’s profile:
French filmmaker and cinematographer, Lucien Roux acquired a Master’s Degree in Plastic and Visual Arts through the partnership between ESADMM (Marseille) and the Université du Québec UQAM (Montréal). With extensive skills in visual and audiovisual arts, he is currently collaborating on documentary projects alongside anthropological researchers from The National Center for Scientific Research Norbert Élias. Lucien has worked on various feature-length and short documentary film projects. He notably co-directed « Ramboy, » a short film with an exceptional journey, awarded at numerous festivals such as IDFA (best Youth Film 2022). It received the Golden Chair award at the Norwegian Short Film Festival which in turn earned it an entry for the Oscars, and was selected by the New York Times Op-Docs platform.
Producer’s profile:
Producer and director. Based in Geneva since 2011, Juliana Fanjul has a MA in arts from ECAL-HEAD. She specialised in documentary filmmaking at the International Film School in Cuba, after doing a BA in audiovisual communication in Mexico City. Her films Muchachas (Visions du Réel 2015), Radio Silence (IDFA 2019) and Je suis noires (Prix Cinéma Suisse 2023) have been screened and awarded at numerous international festivals. As a freelancer, she has produced documentaries for Radiotelevisione Svizzera (RSI) and Al Jazeera English. In 2021, she joined Akka Films to produce documentaries. She is a teacher and Head of the Documentary Department at the International Film School in Cuba.
ROAD 190
Original title: ROAD 190
Directed by: Emilie Cornu, Charlotte Nastasi
Produced by: Joëlle Bertossa (Close Up Films, Switzerland) and Anton Iffland Stettner (Stenola Productions, Belgium)
Country of production: Switzerland, Belgium
Runtime: 85'
Expected release: April, 2025
Production stage: Shooting
Budget: €480 000 (90% in place)
1st feature: Yes
Looking for: Festivals, Sales Agent, Distributors
Synopsis:
From his cell in Livingston prison, Texas, Mabry, a death row inmate, imagines the final journey that will one day take him to the place of his execution. Sixty kilometers along which live and work those whose daily lives are tinged by the omnipresence of the prison system.
Director’s profile:
Emilie Cornu (1994) lives in Geneva, Switzerland. She holds degrees in law and criminology and currently works as a psychocriminologist in several Geneva prisons. ROAD 190 is her first feature film co-directed with Charlotte Nastasi.
Co-Director’s profile:
Charlotte Nastasi (1994) was born in Switzerland. In 2013 she moved to Brussels to study at Institut des Arts de Diffusion (IAD) where she earned a master’s degree in documentary filmmaking. Since 2022 she has been working at the CBA- Centre de l’audiovisuel à Bruxelles, in charge of the distribution and promotion of French-speaking Belgian documentaries. ROAD 190 is her first feature film co-directed with Emilie Cornu.
Producer’s profile:
Over the past years, Close Up has produced several important documentary and fiction films. These include ‘Advocate’, by Rachel Leah Jones: EMMY for best documentary 2021; ‘The Swallows ok Kaboul’ by Zabou Breitman: Un certain Regard Cannes 19; ‘I Am Not Your Negro’ directed by Raoul Peck: best documentary Cesar 2018 and nominated for the 2017 Oscars. More recently Carmen Jaquier’s ‘Thunder`, TIFF 2023 and Swiss representative for the Oscars 2024, `The plough` by Philippe Garrel `Silver Bear at Berlinale 2023, and Karim Sayad’s ‘2G’ IDFA 2024.
Songs of Sisterhood
Original title: Songs of Sisterhood
Directed by: Hanna Nobis
Produced by: Esther van Messel (First Hand Films, Switzerland), Hanna Nobis (Offhand, Poland)
Country of production: Switzerland, Poland
Runtime: 52' / 79'
Expected release: November, 2025
Production stage: Production
Budget: EUR 350’000 (42% in place)
1st feature: No
Looking for: Financing, presales, and co-producers to ensure it reaches the fullest
Synopsis:
Lu and friends were celebrated on social media for their fight against conservative, oppressive norms of today’s Poland – in reality, life is a struggle.
Director’s profile:
Hanka Nobis
Born in 1990 in Białystok, studied Interdisciplinary Studies. Acting since 2009 in theatre, making videos, installations and costumes. Nobis’ first feature-length documentary POLISH PRAYERS (2022) premiered at IDFA LUMINOUS, supported by the Swiss Federal Office of Culture and Zurich Film Fund in the development & production phase. SRF, RTS, HBO MAX and MDR/ARTE are co-producers. POLISH PRAYERS was selected at over 20 festivals ,among others at CPH:DOX, One World Prague, Thessaloniki, DocPoint Tallinn, GoEast, Pink Apple Zurich, Brussels, Crossing Europe, Kosovo, Ecuador, Queer Filmfestival Lisbon, South Korea, Locarno Panorama, DOC NYC and DocsBarcelona (Winner Youth Award) In 2023, Hanka Nobis was rewarded with the Zurich Film Award as Best Director of the Year, from across all categories.
Producer’s profile:
Esther van Messel
Born 1965 in Vienna, is based in Zurich and is a graduate from the Tel Aviv University. She headed Warner Bros. Israel and from 1992 produced feature films and documentaries in Zurich. Since 1998, she runs FIRST HAND FILMS for production, global sales and theatrical distribution.
Helvécia
Original title: Helvécia
Directed by: Pablo Francischelli
Produced by: Luc Peter, Katia Monla (Intermezzo Films, Switzerland)
Country of production: Switzerland (Germany & Brazil ongoing)
Runtime: 80'
Expected release: March, 2025
Production stage: Editing
Budget: €420 000 (37% in place)
1st feature: No
Looking for: Co-Producers, Buyers, Gap Financing, Strategic Guidance, Sales Agents, Distributors, Festivals
Synopsis:
Wesley, a 15-year-old, lives in Helvécia, a former Swiss and German colony in Brazil. As he experiences the transition to adulthood and the discovery of a first love, he tries to escape the destiny of most of the village’s inhabitants: working on eucalyptus plantations. During the summer holidays, he gets together with his friends to overcome the lack of prospects and share their passion: taming wild horses
Director’s profile:
Pablo Francischelli is a film director, producer and editor. His most recent documentary feature film « Dois Tempos » (2021), premiered at It’s All True/É Tudo Verdade International Documentary Film Festival and was screened in movie theaters, museums and film festivals around the world. Before that, he directed the film « Electric Accent » (2017), and « Siba – Playing Through the Storm » (2012).
He also directed the doc series « A Invenção do Olhar » (nominated for the Brazilian Cinema Grand Prix), « Seven lives, seven strings » (Best Script award at São Paulo International Film Festival) and « Refugee’Sounds » (in partnership with UNHCR) among others. As a teacher, he collaborates with HEAD – Haute École D’Art et Design de Genève, Escola de Cinema Darcy Ribeiro and SAE Institute Geneva.
Producer’s profile:
Luc Peter is an independent film director and producer since 1995. He directed and produced his first feature-length documentary in 1995. Since then, he has directed 8 film documentaries and numerous TV documentaries. In 2000, he joined Intermezzo Films as an associate producer and was trained in production at EuroDoc in 2006. Founded in 1993, Intermezzo Films is run today by Luc Peter and Katia Monla and produces independent documentaries and fiction. It supports ambitious projects and revisits narrative forms to foster innovative and creative films. With over 60 films to its name, Intermezzo Films is today one of the most prominent production companies in the French speaking part of Switzerland. The films it produces have been presented and rewarded in the finest festivals (Sundance, IDFA, IFFR, ACID Cannes, Visions du Réel, Venice Film Festival).