31-03-2023

KVIFF EASTERN PROMISES 2023 opens submissions for this year's Works in Progress showcase and First Cut Lab workshop

    Works in Progress Works in Progress source: www.kviff.com

    KVIFF Eastern Promises, the festival's Industry section, has just opened its submissions for the Works in Progress showcase and First Cut Lab workshop. The selected projects will be invited to participate in this year's KVIFF Eastern Promises Industry Days which will take place during this year's Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

    Works in Progress 2023

    Works in Progress is a platform where selected producers and directors from the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the Balkans, the former Soviet Union, the Middle East, and North Africa showcase their documentary and feature projects in late production or post-production stage to an industry audience of sales agents, festival representatives, distributors, and co-producers.

    Besides this unique opportunity to secure additional financing, co-production partners, post-production, international sales, or premiere screenings, the most promising projects also receive prizes that allow the producers to finish the film. The winner is awarded a post-production services package and two projects are awarded 5,000 EUR each, one sponsored by TRT Cinema and one by KVIFF.

    Works in Progress serves as a very effective launchpad into the festival circuit and foreign markets, as the showcased projects are often selected for upcoming festivals like Sundance, Toronto, Venice, Rotterdam or Berlinale. The recent editions of Works in Progress showcased successful films like the Ukrainian film Stop-Zemlia (Silver Bear at Berlinale), Georgian Brighton 4th (three awards at Tribeca) or Georgian A Room Of My Own awarded at last year's KVIFF.

    Submissions for Works in Progress 2023 open on April 4, 2023. The deadline for Works in Progress 2023 submissions is May 4, 2023.

     

    More information on the submissions and requirements on https://www.kviff.com/en/film-professionals/works-in-progress

     

    The winners of Works in Progress 2022 were

    • The Burdened (Yemen, Sudan), directed by Amr Gamal and produced by Mohsen Alkhalifi, Amr Gamal, Amjad Abu Alala and Mohammed Alomda (Works in Progress Post-production Award)
    • Windless (Bulgaria, Italy) directed by Pavel G. Vesnakov and produced by Veselka Kiryakova, Alessandro Amato and Luigi Chimienti. (Works in Progress TRT Award)
    • Endless Summer Syndrome (Turkey, France) directed by Kaveh Daneshmand and produced by Gem Deger, Eva Larvoire, Cédric Larvoire and Kaveh Daneshmand (Works in Progress Karlovy Vary IFF Award)

    Further details on the projects are available in the Book of Projects.

    First Cut Lab Karlovy Vary 2023

    First Cut Lab Karlovy Vary is a programme designed for 2 long feature fiction films in the editing phase from the Czech Republic or Slovakia. Selected producer/director teams will screen their full rough cut in a private session and receive expert feedback on their edit from three top international film professionals (creative producers, festival programmers, sales agents, etc) as well as tailor-made advice from a consultant editor. The main goal is to foster the artistic potential of the selected rough cuts and, at the same time, to increase the sales, festival and circulation potential of the completed films. The workshop will take place between 5-8 July 2023 in Karlovy Vary.

    Submissions for First Cut Lab Karlovy Vary open on April 4, 2023. The deadline for submitting a project to First Cut Lab Karlovy Vary is May 15, 2023.

    More information on the submissions and requirements on https://www.kviff.com/en/film-professionals/first-cut-lab

    For an overview of previous participants and advisers, see the First Cut Lab website: www.firstcutlab.eu

    KVIFF Eastern Promises Industry Days 2023 will take place during this year's KVIFF from Sunday, July 2, 2023 to Wednesday, July 5, 2023. Besides Works in Progress and First Cut+, the Works in Development – Feature Launch and First Cut+ showcases will also be held.

    About KVIFF Eastern Promises

    KVIFF Eastern Promises, the festival's industry section, has the exciting mission of bridging the gap between talented filmmakers and their potential partners, festivals and audiences. “We strive to help discover promising talent from the regions of Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East, revealing it to over 1,300 distributors, sales agents, producers and festival programmers who attend the festival each year. Both European and non-European local distributors as well as major international sales reps rely on Karlovy Vary when searching for new movies. International sales companies introduce their films to both distributors and journalists from around the world,” says Hugo Rosák, the Head of the KVIFF Film Industry Office.

    The KVIFF Industry days program takes place each year during the festival (Sunday, July 2 to Wednesday, July 5 this year) and features workshops, panels, and presentations as well as accompanying social events for invited film professionals. KVIFF Eastern Promises' primary focus on the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East makes it possible for key European and American industry players to discover fresh new projects in various stages of development and production.

    The festival curates projects in the making which at the time of their presentation seek partners for production or post-production, international sales or festival premieres. All film projects span the region of Central, Eastern and post-soviet Europe, with the new addition of the territories of the Middle East. Filmmakers and producers pitch scripts in development, films in production or post-production as well as documentary projects, all selected from a wide array of highly competitive submissions, in the Works in Progress, Works in Development – Feature Launch and First Cut+ showcases.

    More information about KVIFF Eastern Promises, its mission, program and services for film professionals on https://www.kviff.com/en/film-professionals/kviff-eastern-promises