CineLink Work in Progress is a section of the Sarajevo Film Festival’s CineLink Industry Days, which serves as a showcase of the most exciting new works from Southeast Europe and the MENA region.
“The Death of Cinema and My Father Too” presented at the 2018th CineLink Work in Progress and has been selected to the Cannes Film Festival 2020 line-up.
The selection includes 9 exciting new feature-length films: 7 fiction and 2 documentary, which will be presented to the high-profile industry professionals (funders, sales agents, distributors, broadcasters and festival programmers) with the aim of assisting their completion and enhancing their distribution possibilities.
“This year’s selection is one of the possible answers to the question how the film industry is responding to the pandemic. We have received more than 70 projects in different production stages and even these numbers demonstrate that the regional cinema is alive and kicking. Nine exciting completely different film projects will be presented to a selected group of industry representatives looking to find a way to the audience. Our Work in Progress platform is of even greater importance to the filmmakers and decision makers dealing with ongoing reality of interrupted film chain,” explains Amra Bakšić Čamo, Head of CineLink.
The projects will compete for three awards: the Post Republic Award (50,000 EUR in kind), the CineLink Iridium Award (20,000 EUR in kind) and the Turkish National Radio Television Award (25,000 EUR in cash). The jury deciding the awards: Vanja Kaludjercic – International Film Festival Rotterdam, Tobias Pausinger – The Match Factory, Elise Jalladeau – Thessaloniki International Film Festival, Petra Gober – The Post Republic and Esra Demir Kiran – Turkish National Radio Television.
Selected projects:
EASTER
(documentary)
Director: Nikoloz Bezhanishvili
Producer: Nikoloz Bezhanishvili
Production Company: Nikadocfilm
Georgia
MOON 66 QUESTIONS
(fiction)
Director: Jacqueline LENTZOU
Producer: Fenia Cossovitsa
Coproducer: Fiorella Moretti
Production Company: Blonde, Luxbox Films
Greece, France
ULBOLSYN
(fiction)
Director: Adilkhan Yerzhanov
Producer: Olga Khlasheva
Coproducers: Guillaume de Seille
Production Company: Short Bothers, Arizona Productions
Kazakhstan, France
VERA DREAMS OF THE SEA
(fiction)
Director: Kaltrina Krasniqi
Producer: Shkumbin Istref
Co-producer: Ognen Antov, Dionis Papadhimitri
Production Company: Isstra Creative Factory, Dream Factory, Papadhimitri Film Production
Kosovo, North Macedonia, Albania
THE MAIDEN’S POND
(fiction)
Director: Bassem Breche
Producer: Jana Wehbe
Coproducers: Tania El Khoury
Production Company: The Attic, Les Films de L’Altai
Lebanon
THE LAST PROJECTIONIST
(documentary)
Director: Alex Bakri
Producer: Thomas Kaske
Coproducer: May Odeh
Production Company: Kaske Film, Odeh Films
Palestine, Germany
STREAMS
(fiction)
Director: Mehdi Hmili
Producer: Moufida Fedhila
Coproducers: Marie-Pierre Macia, Claire Guédea, Donato Rotunno, Yasmine Clandestino
Production Company: Yol Film House, MPM Film, Tarantula, Clandestino
Tunisia, France, Luxembourg
ELA ILE HILMI & ALI
(fiction)
Director: Ziya Demirel
Producer: Anna Maria Aslanoglu
Coproducers: Tanay Abbasoglu, Dirk Engelhardt, Öykü Canlı
Production Company: Istos Films, TN Yapim, Yumurta Yapım Sanat
Turkey
SNOW AND THE BEAR
(fiction)
Director: Selcen Ergun
Producer: Nefes Polat
Coproducers: Michael Eckelt, Selcen Ergun, Miloš Ivanović
Production Company: Nefes Films, Riva Film, Albino Zebra Film, Set Sail Films
Turkey, Germany, Serbia