During the Cannes Film Festival, 20 emerging producers from across Europe took part in European Film Promotion’s promotion and networking platform Producers on the Move. They had been selected by the 37 national film institutes that are members of EFP. PvNew invited them to pitch their projects to our readers, which we present below.
Gentian Koçi, Albania
Project: “Cold Sun” (in development)
Director: Gentian Koçi
As he attempts to rebuild his life in his hometown after being freed from jail after serving a 25-year sentence for killing his wife, a man in his fifties falls in love with a woman in her forties and gradually realizes that this love is going to be his true prison.
Julie Esparbes, Belgium
Project: “The Dance of the Foxes”
Director: Valéry Carnoy
A coming-of-age story, about a 17-year-old boxer who, following an accident, will have to reinvent himself in a more sensitive way. Valéry Carnoy addresses the subject of the injunction to virility, in a highly visual first feature.
Vanya Rainova, Bulgaria
Project: “Resonance”
Director: Yordan Petkov
Conceived as an act of slow and steady seduction, “Resonance” in an “Eastern” about a recluse on a mission and an ambitious young policeman who find themselves strangely entangled by the howling sirens of the malfunctioning Public Warning System in a small isolated town.
Miljenka Čogelja, Croatia
Project: “Milch Cow” (in development)
Director: Miroslav Sikavica
The story centers around a family’s investigation of the theft of a deceased war veteran’s savings during his wake, leading to a bizarre hostage situation. The debut film explores the fragility of interpersonal relationships and the destructive power of mistrust.
Stelana Kliris, Cyprus
Project: “The Islander”
Director: Stelana Kliris
A romantic comedy about a disgraced rock star who moves to an isolated clifftop house on a Mediterranean island, only to discover that his new home is a suicide hot-spot that comes with unwanted visitors and an old flame.
Emile Hertling Péronard, Denmark
Project: “Homo Sapienne”
Imagine “Euphoria” as a feature film set in Greenland, and you will get “Homo Sapienne”: an urban coming-of-age story of five young individuals in Nuuk, the northern most capital of the world, as they come to terms with their identity, sexuality and gender. The film will be written, produced and directed by, and starring Indigenous Greenlanders and shot on location in Nuuk.
Emilia Haukka, Finland
Project: “Abyss”
Director: Aino Suni
Aamu and Melissa, both recovering addicts, are in love. Their chance for happiness is their biggest tragedy. Finnish tour-de-force director Aino Suni’s new feature film “Abyss” is about learning to swim above your inner dark void.
Silvana Santamaria, Germany
Project: “The Witness”
Director: Nader Saeivar
Writers: Nader Saeivar and Jafar Panahi
A thrilling story about 60-year-old Tarlan who happens to witness a murder and then decides to stand up for the victim, even though it puts her own family in danger.
Kathryn Kennedy, Ireland
Project: “Púca” (“Pooka”)
Screenplay: Kathryn Kennedy
A psychological folk horror set in late 19th century Ireland. Peggy, 16, pregnant and fleeing from famine, is alone in a stone cottage on a desolate coastal mountain, as she waits for a boat to take her to freedom. But Peggy disturbs the Púca, a dark shapeshifter, who wants to eat her baby.
Dominiks Jarmakovičs, Latvia
Project: “Karmic Knot”
Director: Signe Baumann
“Karmic Knot” is the third part of an animated trilogy by the award winning and critically acclaimed director Signe Baumane (“My Love Affair with Marriage”). It is a story about a family that loses everything due to the collapse of the Soviet Union and the challenges of rebuilding their life after.
Erik Glijnis, The Netherlands
Project: “Tenok”
Director: Shariff Korver
“Tenok,” the upcoming horror feature by director Shariff Korver (“Do Not Hesitate,” “The Intruder”), is a film about illegal adoption of South American children set in The Netherlands of the 1990s.
Elisa Pirir Ruiz, Norway
Project: “Elena”
Director: Dalia Huerta Cano
“Elena,” to shoot in Guatemala in 2024, is about 19-year-old Elena, who is torn between supporting her activist mother protesting against the building of the power plant or to follow her own path. Elena is made to feel like her life and dreams are not as important as her mother’s fight. Against her own desires, Elena spends her days supporting her family’s activism.
Radu Stancu, Romania
Project: “Magnum Opus”
Director: Bogdan Mirică
Film director Alex has grown up dealing with his father’s crushing notoriety as an actor, paparazzi, and family secrets. When his father doesn’t show up at his shoot, everything turns into chaos.
Juraj Krasnohorsky, Slovak Republic
Project: “The Fall”
Director: Juraj Lehotský
A dark comedy in English about a spoiled 72-year-old acting star who, having lost everything, faces a lonely life in the countryside with his reclusive sister. He refuses to accept his fate, leading to hilarious outcomes.
Julia Gebauer, Sweden
Project: “The Swedish Connection”
Director: Thérèse Ahlbeck, Marcus A. Olsson
“The Swedish Connection” is the incredible but true story about how an unknown Swedish bureaucrat turned an entire country from Nazi collaborator to moral superpower. Told with a biting sense of humor by Student Oscar nominees Thérèse Ahlbeck and Marcus A. Olsson.
