Trieste – December 17, 2020 – 21 film projects from 14 countries will be presented at the 11th edition of When East Meets West, the Italian Co-Production Forum taking place from January 25-28, 2021 in the frame of the Trieste Film Festival. The 21 projects in development - 10 feature documentaries and 11 fiction features - were selected out of a record number of 387 submissions from 56 different countries and will be presented, most of them for the very first time, to more than 500 decision makers and professionals from all over the world, in particular from the East & West 2021 spotlight countries: Israel and Italy.
The final selection will include several debut features such as A WINNER IS SEEN AT THE START by Zhannat Alshanova, BYE MOM by creative duo Marie De Hert and Ellen Pollard, PORCUPINE by Eva Randolph but also upcoming films by Emma Dante (Venice 77 Competition with THE MACALUSO SISTERS), Jaśmina Wójcik (Leipzig 2018 with SYMPHONY OF THE URSUS FACTORY DOK) and Tawfik Abu Wael (Locarno Film Festival 2011 with LAST DAYS IN JERUSALEM).
“We are very happy to see that our final line up will include 8 debut features and 15 films directed by female filmmakers. It is a clear direction we started several years ago, especially thanks to our long term partner EWA, and year after year it is showing great results in terms of quantity and quality of applications. This year like never before, our project selection will be “out of the box” and more diverse in terms of styles, genres, profiles, themes and countries. We are very proud and excited to present this line up as we are sure there is something for each taste.”, remarks Alessandro Gropplero, head of WEMW.
On top of the usual meetings with attending decision makers and registered professionals, each project will have a series of curated meetings with a number of WEMW business angels handpicked in cooperation with EAVE and EURODOC. In this way, selected teams will have the opportunity to be advised on co-production, financing, marketing, sales or distribution, based on the current priorities and needs of their project.
“It is pretty evident that in these very complex times filmmakers from all around the world are putting amazing efforts and energy into their new projects. This is why WEMW 2021 will not only help selected teams to establish new possible connections with international partners, but will also try to accompany them in this challenging creative and financing process by offering concrete tailor-made advice.”
This year all 21 projects will also compete for the Film Center Serbia Development Award, the EAVE European Producers Workshop scholarship, the Cannes Producers Network Prize and the Flow Postproduction Award. Moreover, all selected fiction projects will compete for the Pop Up Film Residency Award, whereas all female directors will be eligible for the EWA Network Best Woman Director Award.
Under these challenging circumstances, WEMW is planning an out of the box edition, not only because professionals from all over the world will live in the brand new WEMW digital space for a few days, but because the programme is set to create a special virtual experience for each participant, offering different ways to work, network, connect and, most importantly, have fun together.
Together with the Co-Production Forum, the programme of WEMW 2021 will be as rich as ever and include work in progress sections - Last Stop Trieste, This is IT, First Cut +, workshops - First Cut Lab, MIDPOINT Cold Open – webinars and case studies, but there will also be room for some new out of the box activities, starting with the WEMW lottery and many others soon to be unveiled.
Starting from today it will be possible to request an online industry accreditation at www.wemw.it so you can join the full programme of this special edition of WEMW and network with all the international decision makers and professionals attending the event.
The 21 projects selected for WEMW 2021 are:
A PICTURE TO REMEMBER by Olga Chernykh REAL PICTURES (Ukraine)
A SAFE PLACE by Sara Summa CHROMOSOM FILM GMBH (Germany)
A WINNER IS SEEN AT THE START by Zhannat Alshanova ACCIDENTAL FILMS (Kazakhstan)
AGE by Gustav Ågerstrand, Åsa Ekman FILM AND TELL (Sweden)
BYE MOM! by Marie De Hert, Ellen Pollard BORGERHOFF & LAMBERIGTS (Belgium)
EUROPE-EAST by Elena Rebeca Carini SMALL BOSS (Italy)
FILL IN THE BLANKS by Atiye Zare ASSOCIATE DIRECTORS (Belgium)
FOALS by Salomé Hévin PIVONKA (France)
HILCHICK by Adam Sanderson MOVIEPLUS PRODUCTIONS (Israel)
HOUSEKEEPING FOR BEGINNERS by Goran Stolevski LIST PRODUCTION (North Macedonia)
KING MATT THE FIRST by Jaśmina Wójcik PINOT FILMS (Poland)
LUXEMBOURG, LUXEMBOURG by Antonio Lukić LIME LITE || FORE FILMS (Ukraine)
MISERICORDIA by Emma Dante ROSAMONT (Italy)
PARADISO by Giulio Mastromauro DISPÀRTE (Italy)
PORCUPINE by Eva Randolph BUBBLES PROJECT (Brazil)
PRACTICES IN HARMONY by Anna Kis POSTE RESTANTE (Hungary)
SLOW by Marija Kavtaradze M-FILMS (Lithuania)
THE FATHER by Tereza Nvotova DANAE PRODUCTION (Slovakia)
THE MECHANICS OF THINGS by Alessandra Celesia FILMS DE FORCE MAJEURE (France)
THE RETURN FROM THE OTHER PLANET by Assaf Lapid BLACK SHEEP FILM PRODUCTIONS (Israel)
WISE HASSAN by Tawfik Abu Wael METRO COMMUNICATIONS (Israel)
