Significantly, this is the first time Eurimages is presenting an award at Baltic Event in Tallinn. Only six other markets such as Rotterdam’s Cinemart and the Berlinale Co-production Market have this award.
The BE jury was made up of Ewa Puszczynska, producer at Opus Film (Poland), Petri Kemppinen, CEO, Nordisk Film & TV Fond (Norway), and Dorien van de Pas, Head of New Screen NL & Consultant Talent Development and Representative of the Netherlands to Eurimages.
They said, “Our jury met with the teams from 13 projects, very different kinds of stories and productions. We decided to give our development prize to a project that tells a multilayered story about immigration. The story is told in an original and authentic way through the perspective of a young boy. The most important themes are freedom and identity. The main characters come to the conclusion that there is no such thing as an ideal country. Leaving one country for another will always let you longing for a paradise, which is never the same as in your dreams. There is a tension between what you see and how it is and this is told by two generations in one family. The project already has one co-producing country [Latvia] attached.So the Eurimages co-production development award of €20,000, the first one at the Baltic Event here in Tallinn, goes to the project Motherland.”
The BE Co-Production Market 2015 project catalogue can be downloaded here:
http://be.poff.ee/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/BE_copro_projects_2015.pdf
FilmFly Award for Works in Progress
Director Lina Luzyte and producer Dagne Vildziunaite’s Lithuania-Romania co-production Together For Ever won the FilmFly Award for Works in Progress.
This year, 14 projects selected by BE Works in Progress and 8 selected by BNFF in the inaugural International Works in Progress together competed for this award in the Estonian Film Institute’s FilmFly training programme that aims to boost private sector investment in the new media and film industries.
Zsuzsi Bankuti, Head of Acquisitions at The Match Factory, Lenka Tyrpakova, Programmer at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, and Azize Tan, Advisor at Istanbul Film Festival, were on the jury.
They stated: “The combination of the selected scenes and the presentation by the producer made us believe in the international potential of the film. It clearly represents the story which was pitched and gives a strong feeling about the totality of the film.”
The jury also gave two Special Mentions – to Egypt-France co-production Ali, the Goat and Ibrahim from director Sherif Elbendary and producers Hossam Elouan and Mohamed Hefzy; and to Austria-Ukraine co-production Ugly from director Juri Rechinsky and producers Franz Novotny and Alexander Glehr.
The Works in Progress catalogue can be found here:
http://be.poff.ee/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/BE_2015_wip.pdf
Other BE Co-production Market awards
Back to the solely BE Co-production Market line-up, the Best Pitch Award, which entails coverage throughout the project’s life-cycle including a special feature-format focus in Screen International, went to Estonian project Erik Stoneheart from producer Evelin Soosaar-Penttila and director Ilmar Raag.
The Clear Light Award, worth of €5,000 in LED lighting services by Estonian company Digital Sputnik, went to Motherland (writer/director Tomas Vengris and producer Uljana Kim from Lithuania) as well.
The jury said, “Sometimes enlightenment is understanding not solution - in Motherland there is a promise for great cinematic experience.”
The Producers’ Network Awards - free passes to the 2016 Cannes Marche du Film for the two most promising producers by the Marche du Film – went toGary Cranner of Chezville (Norway) and Johanna Aust of Flickfilm (Germany).