COTTBUS: Romania’s 4 Proof Film is coproducing the Turkish film SAF, which was pitched at connecting cottbus, which ended on 11 November.
COTTBUS: Poland has decided to make the expansion of Polish participation in international coproductions a strategic priority. Polish producers are also increasingly getting involved as minority coproducers in international productions. As part of this strategy a delegation of Polish filmmakers from Krakow were in Cottbus this year for the connecting cottbus East-West coproduction market.
COTTBUS: Polish powerhouse production company Opus Film is part of the team behind The Return, a 90-minute drama to be directed by short film and documentary film director Krzysztof Rzaczynski. The film was presented in Cottbus by Maciej Rzaczynski, cofounder of production company East Studio, along with the director.
COTTBUS: Producer/writer Petar Mitric presented the Serbian post-war LGBT project Strawberry Jam at the 18th edition of connecting cottbus, which concluded on 11 November 2016.
COTTBUS: Ivan I. Tverdovsky’s award winning metaphorical Russian drama Zoology picked up the 25,000 EUR main prize of the 26th Cottbus Film Festival at the closing ceremony on 12 November 2016. The film also earned the Best Actress award.
COTTBUS: A larger venue, new programmes and an increase in coproduction funding initiatives opened the path to a 25% increase in attendance at the 18th edition of connecting cottbus (9-11 November, 2016), the East-West pitching forum that led the way in fostering coproduction between CEE territories. Some 200 professionals attended three days of meetings with producers and directors of 11 film projects.
COTTBUS: Poland and Romania are working on tax incentives, and Serbia will double the cap on incentives in 2017, representatives of film funds told the audience at the connecting cottbus panel on funding news, held on 10 November 2016.
COTTBUS: The Ukrainian/Swiss Wild East crime comedy Voroshilovgrad won the best pitch award at connecting cottbus on 10 November 2016 and the Macedonian drama Sister received the coco Post Pitch Award.
COTTBUS: Czech director Vit Zapletal and producer Mikulas Novotny of Background Films presented the 1970’s era drama Hornet in a Bottle at the 2016 edition of connecting cottbus on 10 November 2016.
COTTBUS: Macedonia arrived at connecting cottbus on 10 November with Sister, an intimate drama about testing the limits of friendship. The film is produced by List Production and directed by Dina Duma.
