Twenty-nine film projects have been selected for the seventh edition of European Work in Progress Cologne (EWIP), the pitching event held from October 14-16.
Among the titles being pitched to an international audience of sales agents, distributors and festival programmers is Bulgarian filmmaker Stephan Komendarev’s seventh feature Made In EU, about a provincial town turning against a seamstress after it appears she is the first local to have contracted Covid.
Other projects include German director Frédéric Halambek’s second feature Marielle, starring child actor Laeni Geiseler as a girl with the telepathic ability to know what her parents are doing in their private lives; and rising Japanese director Akio Fujimoto’s Lost Land which follows two young Rohingyas as they undertake a dangerous journey from their refugee camp in Bangladesh to Malaysia in the hope of finding their family.
For the second year running, EWIP will also have a focus on African cinema by presenting Rwandan director Mbabazi Sharangabo Philbert Aimé’s Minimals In A Titanic World; Nigerian filmmaker Daniel Etim Effiong’s action thriller The Herd; and Kenyan Zipporah Nyaruri’s documentary Truck Mama about a woman truck driver on East Africa’s notorious highway.
The event will also host the eight participants of the first residency organised by the African-European Distribution Academy, including Aaron Kassaye who presented footage of The Night Before Easter by Ethiopia’s Dagim Sisay at last year’s edition of EWIP.
This year’s line-up was selected from more than 220 submissions with the chosen projects competing for awards worth nearly €60,000.
The members of this year’s international jury are German producer/sales agent Heino Deckert (ma.ja.de), Brazilian producer/distributor Priscila Miranda (Fenix), Austrian distributor Sophie Stejskal (Filmladen), TV commissioning editor Urte Fink (ZDF/Arte) and Paul Ridd, director of Edinburgh International Film Festival.
Several projects from the 2023 EWIP line-up have premiered at international film festivals this year.
They include Konstantin Bojanov’s The Shameless, which premiered in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard; Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel’s Camera d’Or-winning debut feature Armand; and Burak Cevik’s thriller Nothing In Its Place, which screened in Karlovy Vary’s Proxima competition.
EWIP projects for 2024
The Badgers (Norway), dir. Paul Magnus Lundo, prod. David L. Leader (73 Eyes Film Production)
Balearic (Spain-France), dir. Ion de Sosa, prods. Marina Perales Marhuenda, Xavier Rocher (La Fabrica Nocturna Cinéma)
Beautiful Souls (Germany), dir. Tom Schreiber, prod. Ingmar Trost (Sutor Kolonko)
Cicadas (Germany-France), dir. Ina Weisse, prod. Felix von Boehm (Lupa Film)
Doha - The Rising Sun (US-Spain-France), dir. Eimi Imanishi, prods. Shrihari Sathe, Belen Sanchez Silvero, Virginie Lacombe, Eric Dupont, Eimi Imanishi, Damon Owlia, Jayne Baron Sherman (Dialectic, Incognito Films, Un Capricho de Producciones, Virginie Films)
Fabula (Netherlands-Germany-Belgium), dir. Michiel ten Horn, prods. Sander Verdonk, Thomas den Drijver (New Ams Film Company)
Filomination (Germany), dir. Aleksandra Odić, prods. Aleksandra Odić, Leonie Schäfer (Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin)
Foreigner (Spain-Sweden-Italy), dir. Lucía Aleñar Iglesias, prods. Tono Folguera, Ariadna Dot (Lastor Media)
Fucking Freedom (Germany), dir. Hille Norden, prods. Annette Unger, Sven Rudat, Paula Lichte (Leitwolf Filmproduktion)
The Herd (Nigeria-US), dir. Daniel Etim Effiong, prod. Feyifunmi Oginni (Filmone Studios) - presented within the framework of Focus On Africa
I Want It All (Germany), dir. Luzia Schmid, prod. Thomas Kufus (Zero One Film)
Late Shift (Greece-Romania), dir. Stefanos Tsivopoulos, prod. Nikos Smpiliris (Boo Productions)
Lost Land (Japan-France-Germany-Malaysia), dir. Akio Fujimoto, prods. Christian Jilka, Kazutaka Watanabe (E.X.N K.K., Scarlet Visions)
Made In EU (Bulgaria-Germany-Czech Republic), dir. Stephan Komandarev, prods. Stephan Komandarev, Katya Trichkova (Argo Film)
Marielle (Germany), dir. Frédéric Hambalek, prod. Philipp Worm (Walker + Worm Film)
Minimals In A Titanic World (Rwanda-Germany-Cameroon), dir. Mbabazi Sharangabo Philbert Aimé, prod. Ishimwe Samuel (Imitana Productions) - presented within the framework of Focus On Africa
Our Father (Serbia-Italy-Croatia-Bosnia and Herzegovina-Montenegro-North Macedonia), dir. Goran Stanković, prod. Snežana van Houwelingen (This and That Productions)
Paternal Leave (Germany-Italy), dir. Alissa Jung, prods. Cécile Tollu-Polonowski, Michael Weber, Viola Fügen, Sonia Rovai, Mario Gianani (The Match Factory, Wildside)
The Prank (Germany-Switzerland), dir. Benjamin Heisenberg, prod. Matthias Miegel (Kundschafter Filmproduktion)
Run (Germany-Croatia), dir. Uwe Boll, prod. Michael Roesch (Bolu Filmproduktions)
Sea Of Glass (Greece-Bulgaria-Cyprus), dir. Alexis Alexiou, prods. Afroditi Nikolaidou, Elina Psykou, Alexis Alexiou (Tugo Tugo Productions)
Sleepless City (Spain), dir. Guillermo García López, prod. Guillermo García López (Sintagma Films, Buenapinta Media)
Streetcoaches Vs. Aliens (Netherlands), dir. Michael Middlekoop, prods. Tom van Blommestein, Leontine Petit (Lemming Film)
Tales From Christiania (Denmark), dir. Karl Friis Forchhammer, prod. Rikke Tambo Andersen (Tambo Film Aps)
Truck Mama (Kenya-South Africa-Netherlands), dir. Zipporah Nyaruri, prod. Zipporah Nyaruri (Visual Asili c/o Zippy Creatives) - presented within the framework of Focus On Africa
Truth Or Dare (Germany), dir. Maja Classen, prod. Saralisa Volm (Poison)
A Useful Ghost (Thailand-France-Singapore), dir. Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke, prods. Cattleya Paosrijaroen, Soros Sukhum (185 Films Co)
Vlam (Netherlands), dir. Daphne Lucker, prods. Derk-Jan Warrink, Koji Nelissen (Visual Asili c/o Zippy Creatives)
Żejtune (Malta-Germany-Qatar), dir. Alex Camilleri, prods. Alex Camilleri, Oliver Mallia (Solari Productions, Pelikola)
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