The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival’s Promises industry strand has unveiled the winners of its project showcase, which ended this evening. Scroll down for the full list of winners.
This year’s edition featured 38 film and series projects that were presented to industry figures. The Promises programme included the festival’s established Works in Development – Feature Launch & Focus Queer, KVIFF Central Stage, and KVIFF Talents programmes alongside the inaugural Book-To-Screen at KVIFF, an initiative for books searching for film adaptation deals.
Book titles this year include: Flying Mountain from Swiss director Steiner; Ukrainian co-productions Screaming Girl from director Lukich and Noah from writer-director Marysia Nikitiuk; Czech film The Stones Are Rolling to Prague from Tomáš Hodan, about the preparations for the Rolling Stones’ big concert in Prague in 1990; Czech comedy A Few Branches Off by Tomáš Pavlíček; Romanian-Hungarian director Groșan’s upcoming mob drama Lesdenzero; Polish helmer Olga Chajdas’s upcoming female road movie Tribe; German artist Sebastian Fritzsch’s Trainrider; Slovenian writer-director Goran Vojnović’s adaptation of his own book Yugoslavia, My Fatherland; Slovak helmer’s Michal Blaško’s coming-of-age drama Cowgirl; and Austrian director Sebastian Brauneis’ boxing biography Hansi.
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In the Works in Progress sidebar, the MIDPOINT & KVIFF Development Award was handed to Selamlik (Sweden, Denmark), directed by Jerry Carlsson, written by Khaled Alesmael and produced by Frida Mårtensson. The award comes with a 20,000 euro cash prize for further development, sponsored by the Eurimages fund.
Discussing the pic, the jury, Gyda Velvin Myklebust (Head of New Nordic Films), Michel Plazanet (Centre National du cinema), and Jasmina Sijerčić (producer), said the film is a story that “resonates strongly in today’s geopolitical context, with, unfortunately, too many displaced individuals. We hope this award will contribute to placing Selamlik at the heart of the European co-production scene, where we trust its team will find dedicated collaborators to bring this powerful story to life.”
Scroll down for the full list of winners. Karlovy Vary ends on Sunday.
Eurimages Co-production Development Awards
Eurimages Co-production Development Award Jury:
Gyda Velvin Myklebust, Head of New Nordic Films
Michel Plazanet, deputy director of International and European affairs, Centre National du Cinéma
Jasmina Sijerčić, producer
Eurimages Co-production Development Award
The jury has decided to award the 20,000 EUR cash prize for further development, sponsored by the Eurimages fund, to Selamlik (Sweden, Denmark), directed by Jerry Carlsson, written by Khaled Alesmael and produced by Frida Mårtensson.
Jury statement: “The jury decided to grant the Eurimages Co-production Development Award to a project about a love story that the war made impossible – set between past and present, between countries lost and found. It’s a story that resonates strongly in today’s geopolitical context, with, unfortunately, too many displaced individuals. We hope this award will contribute to placing Selamlik at the heart of the European co-production scene, where we trust its team will find dedicated collaborators to bring this powerful story to life.”
Eurimages Special Co-production Development Award
An additional prize was donated by Eurimages to support a particularly promising Ukrainian project. The jury has decided to award a special 20,000 EUR cash prize for further development to Reminiscence (Ukraine), directed and written by Anastasia Tykha and produced by Darya Bassel.
Jury statement: “This award goes to a project led by a female creative team – an emerging director and an established producer – telling a story that explores the universal themes of loss, grief and survival, with the desire to find a way to keep living in today’s Ukraine. We are confident that this award, given at such an important stage of development, can help encourage other European partners to come on board with Reminiscence.”
Works in Development – Feature Launch & Focus Queer
MIDPOINT & KVIFF Development Award
Jury:
Angeliki Vergou, festival advisor, Thessaloniki IFF, Director of Hellenic Film Academy
Danijel Hočevar, producer at Vertigo, mentor at MIDPOINT Feature Launch
Anamaria Antoci, producer
This year, KVIFF showcased nine projects that have gone through development and mentoring within the MIDPOINT – Feature Launch programme and four projects from the MIDPOINT – Focus Queer programme, designed to foster diversity in storytelling and provide crucial support to filmmakers in the realm of queer narratives.
The jury has decided to award the 10,000 EUR cash prize for further development, jointly sponsored by MIDPOINT, Barrandov Studio and KVIFF, to They Bloom at Dawn (North Macedonia), directed and written by Angela Dimeska and produced by Ognen Antov.
Jury statement: “The jury unanimously decided in favour of a project about human and family relationships in the context of an environmental crisis. It brings a community together and reminds us that personal courage and collective responsibility are closely linked.”
Connecting Cottbus Award
Connecting Cottbus representatives Marjorie Bendeck and Katharina Stumm have decided to give the award to the film Reminiscence (Ukraine), directed and written by Anastasia Tykha and produced by Darya Bassel.
The project will be granted the opportunity to pitch at Connecting Cottbus, the East-West co-production market, during the Film Festival Cottbus.
Statement: “A mother and daughter disconnected in their grief, an empty apartment that holds a presence and denies its loss, fragmented memories that hit like lightning – we were very taken with this quiet and personal exploration of the consequences of war.”
Rotterdam Lab Award
Rotterdam Lab representative Alessia Acone has chosen Monika Matuszewska, producer of the film Confirmation (Poland) as the winner. The winner will participate in the Rotterdam Lab professional training programme for producers, which takes place during the International Film Festival Rotterdam.
Statement: “Rotterdam Lab will boost this producer’s career, helping her identify her next steps in the complex producing landscape. She already has in-depth, realistic and empathetic knowledge of the field, and the programme will connect her with fellows who’ll guide, inspire and support her.”
Marché du Film Producers Network Award
Cannes Marché du Film Producers Network representatives Yago Mateo and Alexandra Zakharchenko have chosen Tomáš Hrubý, producer of Cowgirl (Czech Republic), and Eva Váchová, producer of A Few Branches Off (Czech Republic), both from the KVIFF Central Stage showcase, as the winners.
The winners will participate in the Marché du Film and Producers Network during the next Cannes Film Festival.
The selected projects are:
Feature Pool (120,000 CZK for further development):
Exposed (Czech Republic), directed by Klára Tasovská and produced by Lukáš Kokeš
Until We Leave (Czech Republic), written by Lucia Čižinská and produced by Tereza Wiński
Nera (Czech Republic, Slovenia), written and directed by Ivana Vogrinc Vidali and produced by Dagmar Sedláčková
Creative Pool (50,000 CZK for further development):
The Inhalatorium (Czech Republic), stop-motion feature film, directed, written and animated by Bára Anna Stejskalová and produced by Jakub Rálek
Burning Witches (Czech Republic), miniseries, written by Martina Babišová and Věra Starečková and produced by Dagmar Sedláčková
K-Dream (Czech Republic), miniseries, written and directed byAdam Sedlák and Adam Mišík, produced by Monika Soukup and Linda Krejčí
Book-to-Screen at KVIFF
A new collaboration with the Frankfurt Book Fair, Moravian Library in Brno, and Book World, supported by the PPF Foundation, this showcase puts literary adaptations firmly into the KVIFF Industry Days program. Inspired by a successful Berlinale program, Book-to-Screen at KVIFF presented 8 books with strong screen potential, written by authors from Central and Eastern Europe. The aim of this new programme is to cultivate IP development and the systematic handling of literary rights in the region.
The 8 literary works, selected by an international jury for their high cinematic potential, were:
Playing Wolf (Czech Republic)
Folk-horror psychological thriller by Zuzana Říhová, published by Argo.
The True Way Out (Czech Republic)
Autobiography of journalist Patrik Banga, published by Host.
Cupid at the Kremlin Wall (Georgia)
Historical drama by Aka Morchiladze, published by Sulakauri Publishing.
Aspic Bistro (Lithuania)
Magic-realism satire by Ieva Dumbrytė, published by Kitos knygos.
The River Odyssey of Kora from Willow Meadow (Poland)
Children’s book by Adam Robiński, published by Widnokrąg.
Queen of Hearts (Moldova)
Dystopian novel by Iulian Ciocan, published by Polirom.
The Zone (Slovakia)
Graphic novel by Daniel Majling, published by BRAK.
Amadoca (Ukraine)
Historical war novel by Sophia Andrukhovych, published by The Old Lion Publishing House.
