ScripTeast, which works with scriptwriters from across the CEE region, has seen the production of 16 films from its first eight workshops. This year’s projects include three from Poland, two from the Czech Republic and two from Romania, along with projects from Slovakia, Estonia, Bulgaria and Hungary.
The complete list of scripts follows:
Genisis by Árpád Bogdán and Dorottya Gergely (Hungary): A neo-Nazi group is terrorizing Hungarian Roma families. We follow three interweaving stories of a gypsy orphan, an abused teenager, and a crime photographer, as the events impact on their lives.
Glebe by Ioan Antoci (Romania): A former political prisoner and his torturer confront each other at the Glebe, which is the mysterious ancient burial place where everything started, to conclude their unfinished business.
Kosovo Game by Piotr Głowacki (Poland): A young UN lawyer in Kosovo is determined to set up a basketball team out of victimized kids from a refugee camp, but the war intervenes. Make sport not war.
Marita by Cristi Iftime and Anca Buja (Romania): An immature young man argues with his girlfriend and decides not to join her on their Christmas trip to her parents. Instead, he travels with his divorced father to visit his own family in hope of recapturing his childhood. The journey will make him question his illusions about himself and his family.
Masaryk by Julius Sevcík and Petr Kolečko (Czech Republic): It is 1939. Flamboyant Czech diplomat Jan Masaryk flees to America following the German invasion of Czechoslovakia. His nerves are shattered and he buries himself in a mental hospital, struggling with the will to survive. Under the care of Dr. Stein, a psychiatrist and German emigré, Masaryk re-lives the diplomatic battles leading to the outbreak of the II World War and tries to overcome his enemies – inside and out
Nanook by Milko Lazarov and Simeon Ventsislavov (Bulgaria): After years living in Denmark, AGA, a young Inuit woman, is called home to Greenland to deal with her mother’s illness. Her parents, SEDNA and NANOOK, are traditionalists, living off of the land, struggling against the changes brought by “civilization”. AGA tries to convince her mother to return with her to Copenhagen, but comes into conflict with her stubborn father, who clings to his ancient way of life.
Never Give Up by Matej Minač (Czech Republic) A comedy based on true events about a young Czechoslovakian director who receives an invitation to go to Rome and film an interview with Federico Fellini. It’s the offer of a lifetime, but can he persuade the communist leadership to let him go, and overcome the indifference of the crew to make his dream project come true?
The Man with the Magic Box by Bodo Kox (Poland): In a not so distant dystopian future, Adam moves into an old apartment block and finds himself time-travelling to the 1950’s by listening to a strange radio he discovers in a closet. What starts as a hallucination or dream becomes a politically subversive reality that threatens his 2027 existence.
The Tattooist by Agda B Pain and Martin Repka (Slovakia): After many years in prison the tattoo master gets to know his adolescent son. But instead of winning his heart, he abuses him for personal revenge against his long-time rival. At the very last moment he finally realizes that his lost son is the key to his freedom.
The Uncle Who Looked Like Me by Katrin Maimik and Andres Maimik (Estonia): Middle-aged intellectual Hugo, already suffering from post-divorce depression, sinks even further when he is forced to take care of his intrusive and patronizing father, who pretends that he has only months to live. When father and son fall in love with the same woman, Hugo becomes determined to emerge as the winner of her affections.
Wild Roses by Anna Jadowska (Poland): Marta has a secret she is desperate to keep. While her husband is working abroad, she gives birth to an illegitimate child and secretly puts it up for adoption. She tries to maintain a normal routine with her family but struggles to overcome feelings of guilt. Can Marta live with her secret and face the reality of life in a small village?
