Albert Serra and Pawel Pawlikowski are among 23 European film-makers who will be presenting their films in person as part of European Film Promotion’s (EFP) Opening Doors programme at this year’s Busan International Film Festival (Oct 3-13).

Catalonian filmmaker Serra will travel to the South Korean festival for his Golden Leopard winner Story Of My Death, while Polish director Pawlikowski will introduce Ida, his first feature shot in his native Poland, which won a FIPRESCI prize on its world premiere in Toronto last week.

At last week’s Gdynia Film Festival, Ida was named the Golden Lion Grand Prix for Best Film. The award went to Pawlikowski and his producers Ewa Puszczynska and Piotr Dziecol of Lodz-based Opus Film. There were also prizes for the lead actress Agata Kulesza and the film’s cinematography and art direction.

EFP is supporting five European film-makers in Busan, who will compete for the festival’s new Flash Forward Audience Award in the section dedicated to young, original non-Asian cinema.

The five are:

  • Switzerland’s Petra Volpe (Dreamland)
  • Italy’s Paolo Zucca (The Referee)
  • Sweden’s Maximilian Hult (Home)
  • the UK’s Tammy Riley-Smith (Delicious)
  • Belgium’s Benny Vandendriessche (Drift). 

Among the other film-makers selected by EFP member organisations for Opening Doors are French director Denis Dercourt with his first German-set feature A Pact; Ireland’s Brendan Muldowney with Love Eternal; and veteran Greek editor Yannis Sakaridis will bring his directorial debut, the political drama Wild Duck.

A full line-up of the European film-makers and their films can be found at www.efp-online.com.

EFP will also be organising a European umbrella stand at the associated Asian Film Market (Oct 7-10) and reports its largest ever participation with 33 sales agents and six EFP member organisations registered this year.

EUROPEAN FILM WEEK IN MOSCOW

Preparations are underway for EFP’s first venture into the Russian market with a European Film Week under the banner of ¨Westwind¨ in Moscow from Oct 23-27.

Around 10-12 European films will be screened at Moscow’s 35mm Cinema, which is a member of the Europa Cinemas network, and the five-day event will be complemented by roundtable discussions and one-to-one meetings between sales agents, film-makers and local buyers.

The line-up of films screening in Moscow will be selected by the sales agents, EFP member organisations and Westwind’s local partner organisation for its potential for the Russian market.

Both initiatives in Busan and Moscow are supported by the European Union’s MEDIA Programme, Germany’s State Minister for Culture and Media (BKM), Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein and the City of Hamburg’s Ministry of Culture.

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