Projects
Projects
Caiti Blues
Original title: Caiti Blues
Directed by: Justine Harbonnier
Produced by: Nellie Carrier (Cinquième maison, Canada), Julie Paratian (Sister Productions, France)
Country of production: Canada, France
Runtime: 70'
Expected release: November, 2022
Production stage: Post Production
Budget: $264 127 (63% in place)
1st feature: Yes
Looking for: Gap financing, festivals, sales agents
Synopsis:
Caiti Blues portrays the daily life of a 30 year old singer, Caiti Lord, and the locals of Madrid, US, an ancien ghost town transformed in a landmark for hippies and marginal people. Through Caiti’s life and artistic practice, this film explores more universal struggles such as self-acceptance, the burden of social norms and the ideological challenges of her generation in the US current political landscape.
Director’s profile:
After getting a Master’s degree in comparative literature, Justine directed her first short film, Angèle. Distributed by Spira (Canada), the film had its world premiere at the MoMA in New York. All while directing experimentals projects – including the video poem Waste Land, which was distributed by La Maison de la poésie in Montreal – Justine participated in documentary development for production companies. Her second short film, Andrew Keegan is Moving was screened in various film festivals (FID Marseille, RIDM, DOXA). Justine is currently developing her first feature Caiti Blues, with Sister productions (France) and Cinquième Maison (Québec).
Producers’s profile:
Nellie Carrier produced in 2016 her first feature, Sashinka by Kristina Wagenbauer, (FNC, Seattle int. film fest., Canadian Screen awards 2019). In 2017, She co-created Cinquième maison and produced the same year the short films Girlfriends (TIFF 2018) and Looking for strong woman (best director Rhode Island festival, best short film Berlin film fest. and Big water fest.). She co-produced in 2019 the short film As prings comes by Marie-Ève Juste (TIFF, FNC 2020) and Miryam Charles’ first feature This house as line producer (Berlinale – forum, Hot Docs 2022), both with Embuscade films. She is currently co-producing the documentary Caiti Blues (copro France-Canada), by Justine Harbonnier and the short films Ghislaine (Franie-Éléonore Bernier), and Nuit blonde (Gabrielle Demers). She is developing short and features, including fiction feature Querelle de Roberval by Gabrielle Demers.
Lagoons: Battle for Paradise
Original title: Лимани. Бій за Рай
Directed by: Serhii Lysenko
Produced by: Anna Kapustina (Albatros Communicos, Ukraine), Oleksandra Kravchenko (Ukraine)
Country of production: Ukraine
Runtime: 75'
Expected release: October, 2023 (date is subject to change due to the war of Russia in Ukraine)
Production stage: Post Production
Budget: €198,300 (80% in place)
1st feature: No
Looking for: Festivals, sales agents / distributors, buyers, gap financing, strategic guidance
Synopsis:
During one year, the wheel of wildlife at Tuzly Lagoons Nature Park in Ukraine comes full circle, as people who want to live as a part of Nature, fight those who only want to use it. Heavenly landscapes inhabited by rare animals and birds become a stronghold for the dangerous struggle of Ivan and Iryna, the two park managers and activists, against the poachers, illegal developers and corrupted politicians.
Director’s profile:
Serhiy Lysenko studied film directing at the Kyiv University of Theatre, Cinema, and Television. From 2005 until 2011 he worked as a director and screenwriter of television films. In 2012, he founded his own company and began making documentary films. At present, he works as a filmmaker and film editor. Currently based in Kyiv, filming for the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the frontline of the Russian war against Ukraine.
Producer’s profile:
Anna Kapustina is a producer based in Ukraine and the founder of the production company ALBATROS COMMUNICOS. In 2003 – 2014 had been producing commercials, TV programs and reality-shows. Since 2014 is a producer of the Ukrainian film community #BABYLON`13. Selected participant at IDFAcademy Summer School, Dok.Incubator and B2BDoc. Her latest film The Earth Is Blue As An Orange won The Best Director Award at the Sundance FF.
Born in Kherson, Ukraine in 1983. Since 2011, Oleksandra Kravchenko has worked in the film industry: as a communications director (Odesa International Film Festival, Arthouse Traffic film distribution company), executive marketing manager (Animagrad animation studio / FILM.UA Group), and independent producer (ESSE Production House, DGTL RLGN, Albatros Communicos, Moon Man).
Clout Chasers – like, follow and love me!
Original title: Clout Chasers
Directed by: Anna-Maija Heinonen & Krista Moisio
Produced by: Oskar Forstén ( Polygraf, Finland)
Country of production: Finland
Runtime: 80',58'
Expected release: January, 2024
Production stage: Production
Budget: € 414,000 (76% in place)
1st feature: Yes
Looking for: Buyers, Co-producers, distributors and strategic guidance in the international market place
Synopsis:
Twenty-year-old Atte has gotten the attention of forty thousand online followers by branding himself as a funny and laid-back “party guy”, who discusses topics on drug abuse with his followers. One morning he wakes up in a pre-trial detention center and starts to question his need to be admired and the cost of online stardom. At the same time, eighteen-year-old Jonsu starts cutting Atte out of her life.
Director’s profile:
Anna-Maija Heinonen (born in 1993) is a Helsinki-based filmmaker. Since graduating from film school in 2016, she has been exploring topics regarding youth, taboos and underground phenomenons. She’s interested in stories that portray the ambivalence of human experience in modern times. In her first upcoming feature documentary, Clout Chasers, she and co-director Krista Moisio explore the use of social media and self-branding as a tool for self-discovery and approval in Gen Z. Upon discovering the film’s topic and protagonist, she knew instantly that this is the project she wants to devote her time, passion and heart to. In her spare time she is developing her screenwriting and editing skills.
Co-Director’s profile:
Krista Moisio (born in 1992) has a sharp eye and a beating heart for subcultures and phenomenons trending among teens. She has a deep-rooted need for understanding different kinds of people, and loves to develop her understanding by spending a lot of time on online forums and social media. This spare time hobby paid off when she discovered the clout phenomenon on Jodel (Finland’s most popular communication platform) in 2020. In her first feature documentary she wants to help people understand what Gen Z is all about. Finnish teens have felt neglected in the public eye, it seems like nobody truly understands their needs. The film Clout Chasers tells their story. Clout chasing isn’t just about fame or impact on social media, it’s a modern way to be accepted by others.
Producers’s profile:
Oskar Forstén was born in Helsinki in February 1981. He studied all aspects of filmmaking in a wide range of schools between the years 1998 and 2009 in Finland, Sweden and the UK. He founded the production company ”4KRS Films ” together with Arthur Franck back in 2007 for the love of creative documentaries. During the past 10+ years the name of the company has changed regularly (now Polygraf), but the objective is still the same: to produce engaging documentary content. As a producer Oskar focuses on non-fiction projects with a strong visual and narrative approach. He’s looking for stories with a universal appeal and his films have been competing and screened at festivals around the world. Oskar lives in Helsinki with his small family of three. When not working, he spends his time in the Finnish archipelago and Scandinavian mountains.
Donkey Boys
Original title: فتية الحمير
Directed by: Ahmad Al-Bazz
Produced by: Ameen Nayfeh (Odeh Films, Palestine), Paul Cadieux (Megafun Productions Inc, Canada)
Country of production: Palestine, Canada
Runtime: 70'
Expected release: Late 2022
Production stage: Post Production
Budget: € 250,000 (50% in place)
1st feature: Yes
Looking for: Festivals, buyers
Synopsis:
Donkey Boys is a humorous, intimate look at daily life in the West Bank, seen through the eyes of a young activist and veterinary student. Mounes and his friends are on a mission to create the greatest donkey tour Palestine has ever seen. It’s a terrible business idea and destined for failure, but, like their stubborn donkeys, our heroes defiantly persevere in the face of economic and political obstacles.
Director’s profile:
Ahmad Al-Bazz, born in 1993, is a multi-award-winning journalist and documentary filmmaker based in the West Bank city of Nablus, Palestine. Ahmad holds an MA degree in Film and Television Studies and Creative Practice from the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom (2018), and a BA degree in Media and Mass Communication from An-Najah National University in Palestine (2014). Since 2012, Ahmad has been a member of the Activestills documentary photography collective.
Producers’s profile:
Born in Palestine in 1988. Despite an early interest in filmmaking, in 2010 he earned his B.Sc. in Nursing from Al-Quds University. Two years later, he earned an MFA in film production from the Red Sea Institute of Cinematic Arts in Jordan with the goal of being able to tell authentic stories from his region. Beside writing and directing award winning short films, in 2020 Ameen Finished his first feature narrative 200 Meters starring Ali Suliman. Which premiered in the 77th Venice Film Festival and won the BNL people’s Choice Award at the Venice Days competition. The film was also Jordan’s official submission to the Oscars 2021. So far the film had won a total of 20 international film awards.
I am a comedian
Original title: I am a comedian
Directed by: Fumiari Hyuga
Produced by: Emi Ueyama (ARTicle Films, Japan), Gary Byung-Seok Kam
Country of production: Japan, Korea
Runtime: 105'
Expected release: November, 2022
Production stage: Post Production
Budget: €135,000 (90% in place)
1st feature: No
Looking for: Festivals, Sales agents, Distributors, Buyers
Synopsis:
Daisuke Muramoto (39) has been in the entertainment industry for 20 years. In 2013, he became the champion in one of the most prestigious comedy contests in Japan, rising to the top from a field of 1855 contestants. At the time he was flooded with offers, appearing on TV almost every day. However, because he repeatedly criticized politicians, Japanese entertainment industry – in 7 years, Daisuke’s appearance on TVhas plummeted to zero.
Director’s profile:
Fumiari Hyuga joined the production company ‘Documentary Japan’ in 2006. He has directed various TV programs and short documentaries for NHK and the other channels. His short film Tokyo Kurds (17) has been selected for numerous Films Festivals including HOT DOCS Films Festival, DMZ Documentary Festival, and also won the Excellence Award in TokyoDocs Short Documentary showcase. Fumiari continued to follow the subject, feature length film Tokyo Kurds (21) screened International premier at JEONJU International film festival as International Competition, Taiwan International Documentary Festival as Asian Competition and so on.His latest film I am a comedian (22) chosen at DMZ Documentary Festival`s industry rough-cut presentation.
Producers’s profile:
Gary Byung-Seok Kam 2020 Oscar Nominated Short Films: Documentary In the Absence (18), Shadow Flowers (19), Best Documentary award- National Competition at the DMZ Docs, IDFA , DOC Point Helsinki , and so on. Emi Ueyama, producer based in TOKYO Japan, The legacy of Frida Khalo (15) have won awards and screened at numerous festivals including JEONJU IFFl, HOT DOCS and so on.Tokyo Kurds (21) screened as International premier at JEONJU IFF as International Competition, Taiwan International Documentary Festival as Asian Competition and so on. Her latest film I am a comedian (22) chosen at DMZ Docs`s industry rough-cut presentation.
Malqueridas
Original title: Malqueridas
Directed by: Tana Gilbert
Produced by: Paola Castillo (Errante, Chile), Dirk Manthey (Dirk Manthey Film UG, Germany)
Country of production: Chile, Germany
Runtime: 75'
Expected release: February, 2023
Production stage: Early edition
Budget: €240,495 (70% in place)
1st feature: Yes
Looking for: Festivals, sales agent, distributors, buyers, gap financing.
Synopsis:
Women in prison reconstruct their experience of motherhood through videos and photographs captured with their forbidden cell phones while serving their sentences. Malqueridas offers a reflection on the severity of motherhood when faced with confinement and the loss of affections.
Director’s profile:
Filmmaker from the University of Chile, with a master’s degree in Documentary Filmmaking at the same university. Her first short film, Rest, Zulema was produced during her second year in film school, and was awarded and screened in several national and international festivals (Best documentary short film Femcine 2013). Her last short film I’m still here was released at Hot Docs 2017 and participated in 25 international IFF, and received several awards such as: Best Short Film at Cine Las Americas (United States), Jury Award at MiradasDoc (Spain), among others. Professor of documentary courses at University of Chile and Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. She is developing her career with an interest in social gender issues.
Producers’s profile:
Filmmaker graduated from the EICTV in Cuba. She has been a speaker on documentary filmmaking for several Chilean institutions and Latin American seminars. She is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Since 2020 and co-founder of CCDOC / Chiledoc, a non-profit organization that has made an impact on the national and international visibility of Chilean documentaries. Among her productions, the Chilean-Brazilian co production Haydee and the Flying Fish, directed by Pachi Bustos, acknowledged in Hot Docs, DocsMx and others festivals; the Canadian-Chilean co-production Cielo, directed by Alison McAlpine, selected in New York Film Festival and Karlovy Vary; Beyond my Grandfather Allende, by Marcia Tambutti Allende, Best Documentary Film at Cannes 2015, among others films. Director of the renowned documentaries as Border, 74m2, Genoveva and The last trace.
A Successful Man
Original title: Nem haltam meg
Directed by: Asia Dér
Produced by: Noémi Veronika Szakonyi, Máté Artur Vincze (Match Frame Productions, Hungary
Country of production: Hungary
Runtime: 80'
Expected release: January, 2023
Production stage: Post production
Budget: €92,300 (100% in place)
1st feature: No
Looking for: Festivals, sales agents, distributors, strategic guidance
Synopsis:
A life loving, successful gallery owner’s life turns upside down when at the age of 50, he is diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He takes it as a chance to confront his long suppressed existential questions. But coming face to face with his true self turns out to be more frightening than death. If not a fatal illness, what can make us slow down to be able to listen to what we really need?
Director’s profile:
Asia Dér graduated as a documentary director from the DOCnomads MA program. Her graduation film was nominated for the best short film at the Hungarian Film Festival. Currently she is pursuing her doctoral studies at the University of Theatre and Film Arts Budapest.
Her first feature film, Her Mothers (co-directed with Sári Hargonics), was premiered at Hot Docs 2020 and it was screened at more than 30 international film festivals. It won Best Film Award at Moscow International Documentary Film Festival DOKer and at CROSSING EUROPE Film Festival Linz. Asia is a member and a professor at FREEszfe association and a presidium member of the Hungarian Documentary Association.
Producers’s profile:
Noémi Veronika Szakonyi is a freelance film director and producer. She is the owner and managing director of Match Frame Productions, a Budapest based boutique film production company, focusing on social issues driven documentaries and short films. The films she produces are supported by HBO Europe, Creative Europe MEDIA and the Hungarian Film Institute. As a director, she works on her first long-term feature documentary, Afterglow, and on her first television film, Six weeks, which is currently in post-production. Noemi is a Sundance Documentary Film Program Grantee 2015, 2019 and 2021, due to Afterglow and her first feature documentary as a producer, Her Mothers which premiered at Hot Docs 2020. She has currently four documentary projects is production and post-production and one VR piece in post production.
Lucky Girl
Category: Ukrainian Features Preview
Directed by: Marysia Nikitiuk
Produced by: Yanina Sokolova + Julia Sinkevych (Yanina Sokolova Production)
Country of production: Ukraine, Germany
Original title: Ya, Nina
Genre: Feature film
Language: Ukrainian
Runtime: 100
Completed in: 2022
Synopsis:
Nina is a young and successful TV star. She has everything in her life, until her life suddenly changes after she is diagnosed with osteosarcoma. Going from the highest peak to the darkest places she faces personal crisis, confronts fears, stereotypes, betrayal in order to reinvent herself.
Alex Honnold: The Soloist VR
Genre: Adventure, Documentary, Sports
Produced by: Jonathan Griffith Productions
Directed by: Jonathan Griffith
Original title: Alex Honnold : The Soloist VR
Lead artist: Jonathan Griffith
Runtime: 2x 30 minutes
Language: English
Completed in: 2022
Synopsis:
A gripping two part series following Alex Honnold around his stomping grounds in the US before taking you to the high mountains of the European Alps. Alex Honnold: The Soloist VR is a ground-breaking VR production using the latest in high resolution 3D 360° capture in some of the most remote and wildest locations possible. From the director and Producer of Everest VR : Journey to the Top of the World , this experience brings you right by Alex’s side as he solos thousands of feet above the ground. In Episode 1 of Alex Honnold: The Soloist VR, viewers begin by getting to know Honnold, before following him to Yosemite National Park, home of the famed El Capitan, and Red Rocks. Viewers are then brought to Europe where Honnold teams up with Swiss climber and Red Bull athlete Nicolas Hojac to tackle some of the toughest climbs in the Dolomites.
Director’s statement:
The film is the result of two years of meticulous planning and crafting. What really sets it apart aside the visuals is the narrative. Leaning on the strenghts of VR we striped the entire experience down to the bare bones; you will find yourself fully immersed in a live action adventure- there is no voice over, and only minimal music. The end result is a far more intense and immersive experience because of it.
Origin: UK
Devices: HTC Vive series/Ocolus Rift series/Quest
Platform: VeeR, Alexandria
Den Mother Crimson
Category: Buyers Showcase
Directed by: Siluck Saysanasy
Produced by: J. Joly, George Assimakopoulos, Katarina Kovecses (Branded to Film)
Country of production: Canada
Genre: Science-fiction
Language: English
Three experts are brought together to consult. As the nature of their task is revealed, they must grapple with the moral implications and the outcome it may have on the world.