MEDIA Programme of the European Union

20 19 with the support of

Supported by Creative Europe – MEDIA Programme of the European Union, LIM | Less is More is led by Le Groupe Ouest (France), developed with Control N (Romania), Vlaams Audiovisueel Fonds – VAF (Belgium), Krakow Festival Office – KBF (Poland), and the Transilvania International Film Festival – TIFF (Romania), with in partnership in partnership with the Lithuanian Film Centre, the Norwegian Film Institute, as well as North Macedonia Film Agency. developed with developed

The European development programme for limited

budget feature films by created

2 — 3 with the support of in partnership with in partnership developed with developed created by created Supported by Creative Europe – MEDIA Programme of the European Union, LIM | Less is More is led by Le Groupe Ouest (France), developed with Control N (Romania), Vlaams Audiovisueel Fonds – VAF (Belgium), Krakow Festival Office – KBF (Poland), and the Transilvania International Film Festival – TIFF (Romania), in partnership with the Lithuanian Film Centre – LFC, the Norwegian Film Institute – NFI, as well as North Macedonia Film Agency.

LIM is supported by Creative Europe – MEDIA Programme of the European Union LE GROUPE OUEST | European Film Lab was founded on the coast of western Brittany (France) in 2006. In thirteen years, over 700 filmmakers have received residential coaching, making Le Groupe Ouest leader in Europe in this field. In 2016, after founding the Cross Channel Film Lab and on the back of ten years experience hand in hand with TorinoFilmLab, Le Groupe Ouest launched LIM | Less is More. Le Groupe Ouest is LIM’s managing partner and coordinator. www.legroupeouest.com Founded in 2009 by two screenwriters and a director, CONTROL N is a cultural association, whose projects center around training workshops, film courses and seminaries, dedicated to both amateurs and film professionals. Although its projects touch different areas of culture (theatre, dance, photography, media exhibitions), Control N’s main focus is screenwriting, script development and film related events. Its declared purpose is to discover and promote young talented film enthusiasts and to push for cinema education in Romania. www.controln.ro

The Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF) is the cultural public funding body of Belgium’s Flemish Community. VAF aims to stimulate and support the independent audiovisual creation in Flanders through an integrated approach. VAF also offers the Flemish professional sector the necessary framework along with a wide range of accompanying activities and support measures in the area of Talent Development, Research, Film Activities and Sustainability – the latter known as ’e-Mission’. www.vaf.be Krakow Festival Office (KBF) is one of the most active institutions in Polish cultural life, responsible for Krakow’s biggest festivals and spectacular events heralded in Poland and across Europe in the fields of music, theatre, film, fine arts and literature since 2000. Via the activities of Krakow Film Commission and Krakow Regional Film Fund, KBF supports the development of the audiovisual industry in the Malopolska Region (film funding, production support, professional training and industry events). www.biurofestiwalowe.pl

Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF) is the biggest international feature film festival in Romania and has grown rapidly to become one of the most spectacular annual events in the region. The main goal is the promotion of cinematic art by presenting some of the most innovative and spectacular films of the moment that feature both originality and independence of expression, that reflect unusual cinematic language forms or focus on current trends in youth culture. www.tiff.ro 8 — 8

The Lithuanian Film Centre (LFC) contributes to the designing of the effective film sector policy and to foster the sustainability of the Lithuanian film industry. Aiming to encourage the development of the Lithuanian film sector, LFC provides funding for film development, production, distribution and promotion. LFC supports the promotion of Lithuanian film at various film festivals, as well as supporting and sponsoring film education initiatives. The Centre is also responsible for preservation and dissemination of the Lithuanian film heritage.

www.lkc.lt

The Norwegian Film Institute (NFI) is the Norwegian government’s administrative body for the film sector and advises on film policy issues. 85% of the NFI’s budget (EUR 76 million in 2019) is earmarked for audiovisual development, production and distribution. The Institute also offers personal grants for training and talent development for the film industry. The NFI represents and promotes Norwegian films, games and drama series at festivals and film cultural events nationally and abroad.

www.nfi.no The North Macedonia Film Agency goals are to provide annual financial support for national film production, international co-productions and national film festivals. It aims to provide continuous support for script development, support for young film professionals participating in international film workshops and training programs and to organise international events providing opportunities for networking of national film professionals. It also aims to promote national cinematography at renowned international film festivals and events. http://filmfund.gov.mk

Brittany stands out for its wealth of production in cinema and the audiovisual arts. The region supports a wide variety of creative works while ensuring that related sectors remain considerably strong and well structured. Cinema and the audiovisual arts actively help paint the image of a region that is creative, attractive, dynamic and open. The FACCA fund for supporting creative works in cinema is Brittany’s main source of financial assistance in cultural production, widely helping develop and structure a community of entrepreneurs and jobs in this sector. www.bretagne.bzh manifesto by Antoine Le Bos — Artistic Director and Anna Ciennik — Project Manager Massimiliano Nardulli — Talent Manager

LIM | Less is More has been set up to empower a generation of filmmakers intent on opening new avenues and finding new audiences by tackling new issues. Our motto is Igor Stravinsky’s “The more art is bound by limitations, the freer it is”.

We live in an age of over-consumption and deep ecological concern. Humanism is in trouble and society is struggling to create meaning. Stories lie at the heart of what makes us human. Cinema is one of today’s powerful storytelling tools directly connected to our dreams and nightmares. It restores our ability to create meaning for present and future generations.

LIM uses limitations as a creative tool. Its spirit and ambition far exceed the facile business of restricting budgets. Self- imposed limitations help dig deep into character and emotion. They are a catalyst for boundary-breaking film experiences.

Artful limitation strategies help bring out a filmmaker’s unique vision, giving his or her work a strong advantage in an overcrowded market. Obviously also, introducing limitations early in the writing processes increases a film’s chances of being made rapidly. The screenwriter’s job is to streamline apparent complexity. A well-understood limitation strategy triggers strong artistic choices which can help make the engineering of an individual’s imagination meaningful to all. table of content 14 — 15 projects 48 — 49 development angels

16 — 17 Exiled Paradise 50 Patricia Drati Raed Andoni 51 Marina Gumzi 18 — 19 Psychedelicatessen Harry Ayiotis 52 Aleksandra Kostina

20 — 21 Accidents 53 Karla Lulić Michał Bielawski 54 Patrice Nezan 22 — 23 The Mind Patrol Tudor Botezatu 55 Héloïse Noé

24 — 25 Blue Banks 56 Michał Oleszczyk Andreea Borțun 57 Alki Politi 26 — 27 The Vision Brian Deane 58 Céline Pourveur & Bob Kelly 59 Susana Santos 28 — 29 Collateral Effects Rodrigues Wessam Hachicho 60 Joanna Solecka 30 — 31 God Sister Nelicia Low 61 Elena Stanisheva

32 — 33 Birdie Jasna Nanut 62 — 63 tutors

34 — 35 When they all vanish 64 Pierre Hodgson Mark Noonan 65 Răzvan Rădulescu 36 — 37 Mami Wata C.J. Obasi 66 Yann Apperry

38 — 39 In the Belly of a Tiger 67 Claire Barré Jatla Siddartha 68 Séverine 40 — 41 Tremble Cornamusaz Tracy Spottiswoode 69 Matthieu Taponier 42 — 43 Swap Gjorce Stravreski 70 Antoine Le Bos

44 — 45 Clean Koen Van Sande 71 LIM’s team & Temina Kiasinian & partners

46— 47 Silver Island 72 — 73 events Zara Zerny & Tommy Oksen

14 — 15 projects Exiled Paradise Raed Andoni — Palestine [email protected] M + 33 6 79 15 95 15 Synopsis 16 — 17 During the filming of a historical movie on the life of Christ, the main actor André is injured. While the producers search for an alternative actor for the role of Christ, André and a local marginal actor called Ziad, experience an event in a real situation resembling one of the legends. They are its real heroes.

Director’s notes EXILED FROM PARADISE recalls the legend of Christ and its connection to our collective memory of the values of love, giving, sacrifice and non-violent struggle. Yet it is situated in a contemporary narrative dealing with competition and domination. This analogy reveals questions about our deep desires and the options available for mankind today. Raed Andoni, a Palestinian filmmaker, began his career in 1997 as a producer. He produced a number of films acclaimed in international festivals and markets. In 2006 he directed his first 60 minute documentary IMPROVISATION which was screened in various international festivals and TV channels. His feature FIX- ME premiered in the official competition at the Sundance Film Festival in 2010, was in the ACID selection at Cannes festival 2011 and many others festivals and was released in theaters in France and Switzerland. Andoni’s latest film GHOST HUNTING premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival 2017 and won the Glashütte Original Documentary Award and the people’s choice award. Ghost Hunting took part in over 150 festivals and won 20 prizes before it became Palestine’s Official ticket to the OSCARS in 2019. Psyche- delicatessen Harry Ayiotis — Cyprus [email protected] M + 49 17677613320 Synopsis 18 — 19 This is a story of grief, memory and atonement. It takes place during one night in the last divided capital in the world, Nicosia, Cyprus. Mario, a charming drug dealer, is losing his grip on reality. A deeply buried trauma of which he has no recollection, is causing him frequent disassociated blackouts. Following his therapist’s advice, Mario undergoes an experimental drug treatment intended for grief relief. During the session, a technical glitch sends Mario into a spiral of psychedelic psychosis. Hallucinating, he sees a young girl claiming to be his dead daughter. During this nocturnal odyssey, Mario is determined to keep the trip going for fear of losing his child again. The only one who can help him is his estranged sister, Salome, who runs an underground grief relief centre, Former lawyer turned fuelled by the black-market version of the self-taught filmmaker drug. Salome tries to guide Mario out of his from Cyprus, Harry Ayiotis trip, terrified of what might happen if he recalls has written and directed a memory so painful it could tear him apart. three short films prior to television development and Director’s notes series storytelling. In 2017 PSYCHEDELICATESSEN is an unrelenting his project THE MIDNIGHT psychedelic pop thriller which explores grief, SHIFT was accepted at the Midpoint TV Launch program and the price to pay for remembrance. for which he co-developed In Cyprus, my home country, grief is like the bible and co-wrote the a widely accepted currency. Even though pilot script. The project my generation is far removed from the won the HBO Award for troubling events of our history, we still feel Best Series at the Sarajevo their unbearable weight passed on by older Film Festival in 2017. Psyche- generations. It makes me reflect: how can In 2018 Harry graduated from Serial Eyes post- we make amends for something we haven’t graduate program for experienced, something we don’t recall? series storytelling section It makes me reflect on grief in a new light of the Deutsche Film delicatessen und Fernsehakademie and makes me reconsider the process of dealing with this troubling emotion. based in Berlin where he What if there was a drug that could shorten developed an anticipation the grieving process? Or if you’re particularly modern western series. He is currently in masochist, prolong it indefinitely. What if you development with two could forget your loved one immediately after original German-based the funeral? And what if you could continue series as creator and co- seeing them long after they’ve left this world? creator with Munich based What if all of this can be achieved with a single producer H&V Entertainment. pill? For those who like to play God, psychedelic One of the two projects drugs are the ultimate toys. And who loves was selected for the Torino Series Lab 2019 where it was playing God more than film directors? pitched at Series Mania. Accidents (Wypadki) Michał Bielawski — Poland [email protected] M + 48 501135334 Synopsis 20 — 21 ACCIDENTS is set in western, provincial Poland. Almost 40-year-old Tomek is a fitness instructor, a divorced husband, father of a teenage girl and a loser. His ex-wife uses him for sex, people around him like him the most when he buys them drinks, even his daughter uses him as an alibi to meet her boyfriend. But Tomek is restless. He feels that he might have more affinity with the local criminals who show up in the neighbourhood bar. Tomek persuades them to employ him in their car-crashing business, namely an insurance scam they pull. The money is big. For Tomek, it is a promise of something better. Unexpectedly, his daughter knocks on his door, wanting to move in. She needs a place to meet her boyfriend. Tomek agrees. Confusion grows when the local criminals Michał Bielawski was born in pay him a visit him to ask a favour. They need Warsaw in 1974. He graduated Tomek to steal a car in Berlin and drive it back from the Humanities to Poland. He agrees. But on his way back in Department at the University the stolen car, he discovers that something’s of Warsaw. For ten years, gone wrong. The car isn’t going to stop. he worked as a journalist for radio and television. In 2013, Director’s notes he received the Polish Film Institute Award for the TV Tomek is a man with the Peter Pan syndrome program ONE SCENE. In the who navigates by his needs, not necessarily same year, he debuted with conscious of their roots. He seeks to be the feature documentary accepted by those who reject him. So he adopts MUNDIAL. THE HIGHEST alpha male attitudes, thinking it will help STAKES, in which he mixes the perspective of political him gain respect. By stifling his individual prisoners of the communist voice, Tomek shuts out his emotions. Through regime with the story of the Tomek, the story questions masculinity. 1982 World Cup held in Spain. Has it come to a dead-end? Do the tools His interest in history and of a heroic, living-on-the-edge man apply sports are shown in “1989”, in everyday life at moments when empathy a documentary about the or understanding is needed? From the first political transformation in Poland, and THE TEAM, car crash to the last, facing difficulties in his a documentary about relationships, Tomek looses self-confidence the Polish national volleyball and, finally starts to question his ability team. His most recent film, to deal with life. This self-centred man, who THE WIND, A DOCUMENTARY constantly avoids responsibility, will find THRILLER, co-produced himself trapped in a car. From that moment, by HBO, is a journey into he will be forced to re-establish himself and the community of Polish highlanders who are his relationships. Will he be able to? affected by an extremely destructive wind. The Mind Patrol (Paza Mintii) Tudor Botezatu— Romania [email protected] M + 40 723439578 Synopsis 22 — 23 A slick taxi driver and a corrupt politician are forced to face their own moral issues in a desperate attempt to become better people. All because of a terrible Romanian Doomsday, in which 50.000 evil people from all around the country are to die without any explanation every 6 hours.

Director’s notes The project illustrates the fundamental myth of Romania according to which the country has been reduced to nothingness because of the selfishness, the disinterest and the greed of the ruling class. In other words, there are a few people here in Romania who could change things for the better but fail to do so because they are either ex-communist politicians or incompetent, corrupt and totally self-centred. Tudor Botezatu entered the Or simply because they don’t aspire to change. film industry ten years ago These people are the politicians, the ruling and, while still a student, party acolytes, the powerful institution he worked as a location representatives, mobsters, interlopers and scouter, set production priests. In Romania, most are convinced they assistant, script supervisor, 2nd and 1st assistant director. themselves are good people and that the He did it all. These diverse others are simply evil. The general perception experiences shaped is that if these people didn’t exist, things would the director he is now: take a sudden turn for the better. The film perceptive, straight-forward, intends to dismiss this myth, to show that even sharp, hard-working, if these corrupt individuals disappeared, our a good communicator and problems would not just vanish into thin air. a great problem solver. Due to his charisma and his leadership skills, he never let unpredictable incidents ruin a day’s shoot. As a director, Tudor is mostly interested in the human fervour and tends towards a humorous and sarcastic approach. He has written and directed several short films, commercials and music videos and participated in various both national and international film festivals. He has never let this success go to his head: he remains the same relaxed young man from Jassy. Blue Banks (Malul vânăt) Andreea Borțun — Romania [email protected] M + 40 727704077 Synopsis 24 — 25 LAVINIA is a 28 year old woman living with her son, DANI, and her partner, MARIAN, in an impoverished village on the banks of the Danube. Even though they’re not married and MARIAN is not her son’s biological father, he has grown attached to the boy, becoming a stronger parental figure than his mother. When MARIAN dies of a sudden heart attack LAVINIA is left alone, with no apparent future. Avoiding confrontation with an emotionally demanding son, she immerses herself in work. EMIL, a 21 year old electrician takes her to Marseille for the summer to work there. LAVINIA feels entitled to live this teenage romance she missed out on because of having to raise DANI. Marseille, more than EMIL, is like a breath of fresh air to LAVINIA. It’s time off from DANI. But her freedom, Marseille, all Andreea Borțun is a prove to be mere illusions. Her son forces her to Romanian writer/director. return home, back to where she started, where A film graduate of UNATC she bitterly fronts up to her only possible life. Bucharest, she has studied philosophy at BARD College Director’s notes Berlin and Bucharest University. Andreea’s The general feeling governing Lavinia’s life is directorial debut, the short one of profound dissatisfaction. The relationship film BLUE SPRING, was between what she thinks she deserves and selected in 2015 for the what she actually does in order to deserve official competition of the that, is of importance to me. I feel a sense 40th Toronto International of absurdity in our lives created by this tension Film Festival and her second between our capacities and our projections short, LOVE LOCKER, won the Berlinale Talents & of (cheated) expectations. The life Lavinia Canon Short Prize Award expects and feels entitled to, doesn’t take as well as the France 3 into account her position in the world and the Award (Paris Courts Devant). conditionings of that world. She’s in an in- She is the co-founder of between place where ambitions are high and Pustnik, an international unrealistic. She is surrounded by elements screenwriting residency which create false images of what she could which takes place every year in Romania. She had have: media, migration, community values. her debut in theatre with a Lavinia lives in a world in which she feels she show directed by Neil LaBute is constantly wronged, robbed of her rights, and her first full-length of what she should be entitled to. For her, play was part of Edinburgh happiness, the feeling of accomplishment, Fringe Festival 2015. of justice are always somewhere else. She has recently received Where she lives is never right or enough. development funding for her first feature, BLUE BANKS and production funding for her latest short. The Vision Brian Deane — Ireland | Writer-Director [email protected]

Bob Kelly — Ireland | Writer [email protected] M + 353 (89) 433 5205 Synopsis 26 — 27 THE VISION is the story of Michael, a struggling lone parent trying to raise his kids in rural Ireland. His son Sean, sees a vision of a beautiful ethereal lady beckoning him to come with her to an ancient dolmen near the family’s house. Michael fears his son may be mentally unwell after his wife Sarah suffered a psychotic break 6 years ago, who has remained in a local mental hospital. Michael’s mother in law, Nancy helps as best she can but Michael struggles Brian Deane has 35 nominations to deal with his daughter’s anger and son’s and 27 International awards withdrawal. After the vision Sean becomes from the world’s top festivals fixated with nature and returning to the hill but for his drama work including Michael fearing for his son, refuses to allow Seattle, Newport, Cleveland, him to go there, forcing him to stay grounded Palm Springs and TIFF. He is a Berlinale Talent alumni in the real world. The cold war between father and made history in 2016 by and son continues until strange things start being the 1st director to have to happen in the house, as whatever is on two short films in competition the hill tries to actively reach Sean. The family, at the world famous Sitges including Sarah and Nancy are forced together Fantastic Film Festival. He is during a wild and unnatural storm where they passionately compelled to bring must face whatever is on the hill as well as the stories of outsiders, misfits and those from the margins the skeletons in their own family closet. of society to the big screen. Director’s notes THE VISION is about a clash of worlds as well as forces. Sean, his mother and the forces from the hill are all connected through a sense of wonder and natural beauty. We will capture the beauty of nature using a very small depth of field, combined with deep space cues, highlighting the beauty in the smallest details, whether it’s an insect crawling along a leaf or small grubby hands tracing the bark of an ancient tree, this will be juxtaposed with Bob Kelly is a Lecoq-trained Michael’s world where structure, balance and actor who has performed safety are encapsulated using the flat walls extensively internationally. of the house interiors and exteriors creating He is an established a feeling of claustrophobia and imprisonment. theatre-maker, having As the two worlds collide the film will start to performed in a wide range combine visual elements from both worlds of projects for some of the as Michael learns to tear down his own walls biggest theatre companies in Ireland. He is currently to heal his family and as the forces of nature touring with TINTOWN, an again find equilibrium. The film’s overall original work written for Blue look will be handheld with a cinema Verité Raincoat Theatre company, style and longer takes used to help ground and working on a musical the more fantastical elements in reality. adaptation for Landmark Productions and the Galway International Arts Festival. Collateral Effects Wessam Hachicho – Syria / Norway [email protected] Synopsis 28 — 29 SALEEM (17) has had to flee Syria to Norway with his father RAFEEQ (47). They are waiting for separate asylum interviews. Rafeeq seems stressed. In Saleem’s interview, we learn that he never knew his father. Saleem’s mother was the prime caregiver who died during the war. They are located to a transit area. They fail to communicate. Saleem’s curiosity about the past makes Rafeeq aggressive. Saleem starts resenting his father. One day, Saleem gets a black eye during a fight, and this way sees from his father’s authority! He lies to the child-service to get himself moved to another camp. Rafeeq receives his first rejection for asylum papers. By mistake, Saleem gets a copy of the police interview with his father and learns the truth about Rafeeq’s past: a political prisoner he had been arrested and tortured. Wessam Hachicho was After his release, he had stayed away from born in Deir Ezzor, Syria his family to protect them. Ashamed, Saleem in 1983. A writer-director, reaches out to his father to find him a legal she completed her bachelor way to stay in Norway. Will Saleem and degree in Film & TV, from Rafeeq be reunited as father and son? Westerdals Oslo ACT in 2017. She is currently Director’s notes based in Oslo, Norway. As a photographer, Wessam As a refugee myself, it’s necessary for me worked on various short to clarify that seeing us only as “refugee films and documentaries with figure" creates a barrier between us and various directors which has accepting the new country as our home. helped develop her visual We need to be seen as individual entities storytelling style. For her, writing is part passion, with individual stories, dreams, and part therapy and she has capabilities in order to stop clinging on the been doing it consistently past, to feel at home and start a new life. since arriving in Norway. This film is an attempt to break the anonymity Being in a new country was of a refugee. By telling this father and son a bit of a culture clash, story I want to show who they are, how they especially having to almost got to this point in life? And most importantly start from scratch. This put her in a constant state of why? I want the audience to see behind comparison between her the “refugee figure" to relate to them on a old and new home. Trying personal level. To give them the opportunity to find peace and balance, to experience and understand freedom, to she took on writing in an find an identity. Maybe understanding that attempt to understand others can help to make this world a more what happened to her compassionate place. Everyone should have homeland, people, and self. access to humaneness and be given equally all the basics to achieve this. I believe that how we apply authority has a direct effect on an individual’s identity in all societies. God Sister ( ) Nelicia Low – Singapore [email protected] M + 65 96282088 Synopsis 30 — 31 18-year-old HUI, a wannabe Instagram model, is stuck taking care of her older autistic brother XIANG on Matsu Island in Taiwan, as her mother has run away and her father only cares about his business. At her amateur play where none of her followers show up, her MOTHER suspiciously appears. Her Mother has started her own cult, praying to the water goddess Matsu, but is in deep trouble because she had claimed that the Goddess was going to appear the week before. She proposes that Hui act as the Goddess for an hour in exchange for taking care of Xiang. Hui readily agrees. They manage to fool the cult followers, but when Hui sees how much they love her, she decides to move into the cult compound with Xiang, usurping Mother’s position as the leader. Mother furiously launches a war against Hui, Nelicia Low grew up in making Hui fat. Hui forces Mother to shave multilingual Singapore, her head. Meanwhile, Xiang is happy to have where she was born the protection of the Goddess Matsu, as he is with a thirst for stories. afraid of water and is learning how to swim. She represented Singapore Father arrives and steps in to stop the madness. as a National Fencer and retired after the 2010 But he only makes matters worse. When her Asian Games to focus on parents team up, things turn fatal. Hui must filmmaking. She received decide if she will adopt her parents’ evil ways… her MFA in Film Directing at Columbia University in Director’s notes New York. Her short film My older brother is autistic, and the irony is that FREEZE premiered at th in my family, my parents and I are all more insane the 38 Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film than he is. I see the humour in our situation, and Festival, and went on to would like to explore my dysfunctional family screen at the 53rd Taipei through dark comedy. I thought it would be funny Golden Horse Film Festival, if the cult was a metaphor for the love that both 33rd Busan International the daughter and mother are seeking, which is Short Film Festival, as well ridiculous for they are already a family by blood. as over 70 international film I’ve always felt that my autistic brother was the festivals around the world. She is currently working on only “sane” person in my family, and that the her first feature, GOD SISTER, rest of us were horrible. But upon writing this a dark comedy set on Matsu script, I realized – Perhaps IF there is any good island in Taiwan. Having in me at all, it is BECAUSE of my autistic brother. grown up with an autistic This film is a journey of a character who thinks brother in a complicated that her autistic brother is only a burden at first family, Nelicia’s films explore then comes to realize that she actually needs the paradox of mentally-able people actually being more her brother because he brings out the good in disturbed than their mentally her, despite the madness of her parents, the disabled counterparts, as same madness she has inherited. We know that well as love and perversity our mentally disabled loved ones need us, but in the context of family. do we realize that we need them even more? Birdie Jasna Nanut — Croatia [email protected] M + 385 98 923 8003 Synopsis 32 — 33 Young Buga comes to a small European town with high expectations: she can finally begin her independent life. She starts working in a big pharmaceutical company, doing research on an antidepressants. She hadn’t realized that the job would require brutal killings of lab animals, and that her boss, Johann, would be such a pain in the ass. Buga feels trapped, she becomes depressed and finds solace in fooling around with her colleagues. She starts turning up late for work. Johann is amazed by her lack of respect towards this opportunity the company has given her, so he starts to watch her closely, to teach her discipline. While breathing down her neck, he becomes attracted to her and starts questioning his own seemingly perfect life. Is it possible that he who has it all – a nice house, a respectful career, a loving family – has actually After fifteen years of working been asleep all these years, and that she, an in TV, Jasna decided to immature Balkan girl, has finally woken him up? move on and become a And now that he is awake, what is he supposed filmmaker. While studying to do with his 50th birthday approaching fast? at the Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb, she wrote and Director’s notes directed four shorts which Youth is wasted on the young. In our mid 20s, participated in Zagreb Film we have to figure out our lives, find out who Festival, Premiers Plans d’Angers, Poitiers Film we are and what we want. Young Buga hasn’t Festival and many others. a clue about these issues. It annoys her even She obtained an MA in Film more that her boss Johann has no such worries. Directing in 2016. She won He seems perfectly satisfied. So she puts him two Croatian Film Critics to the tests, just for the fun of it. She comes to Awards for Best Short, work hung over, she’s late with the results… first with her graduate film And she triggers off something in him. He starts PLAYING THE TIGER, and feeling restless. Soon, he’s burning inside. the other with her first professional short TANYA And then, just like Buga, Johann becomes a year later. She started disoriented. His identity, his roles and values are developing her first feature substantially questioned, proven ineffective. film SEVENTH HEAVEN three What excites me about this story is the absurdity years ago. In the meantime, of the main character’s position. It’s fatal, she started writing her larger than life from the inside, and completely second script BIRDIE. ridiculous from the outside. Johann is a very She’s currently in post- serious Western European, and Buga is a production of her newest short THREE SECONDS, spoiled Balkan girl with no respect. Would he an omnibus she’s doing jeopardizes his reputation for her? Crosses the with two co-directors. line for the first time in his life? And if so, what might he find on the other side? Middle age can also be wasted - on the middle aged. When they all vanish Mark Noonan — Ireland [email protected] M + 353 877931323 Synopsis 34 — 35 Fleeing an unhappy relationship, Daria (40) takes refuge on a remote island where her peaceful existence is shattered by the unexpected arrival of younger sister Esmé (36) and daughter Hannah (11). Headstrong and rebellious, Daria is the total opposite of her civil servant sister, but is concerned for her sister’s mental health when a frantic Esmé claims the world is coming to an end. The next day Esmé has disappeared, leaving her daughter in Daria’s care. Daria finds her already strained relationship with men challenged, as the male islanders claim to see a sickness in women -- the women are gradually disappearing in front of their eyes. Amidst rumours from the mainland about the dangers of these vanishing women, a dangerous and uncertain energy spreads through the island resulting Mark is an Irish director in a bizarre men’s uprising, and forcing with a bachelor’s degree in Daria and Hannah to act quickly to discover Architecture from University if the vanishing is a legitimate extinction College Dublin and an MA event or just another Salem witch hunt. in Film from Dublin City University. An alumnus of Director’s notes the Berlinale Talent Campus and the TIFF Film Lab in WHEN THEY ALL VANISH is an exploration of Toronto, his debut feature how we see one another through the gendered film YOU’RE UGLY TOO (2015) lens and questions if men are broken beyond premiered in the Official repair in the modern world. I have always Selection of the 65th Berlinale been interested in the sadness of men and and was nominated for where it comes from. Regardless of gender, both Crystal Bear and Best Debut Feature awards. The children are born wild and untamed. These feral film was also nominated creatures are capable of boundless kindness at the 28th European Film and empathy. And yet some turn into savages, Academy awards and most of them men. Boys and men need help. screened at over a hundred The way we are preparing boys to go into the film festivals worldwide, world as men is not working and I think we winning the Directors Guild need to admit this. Boys go into the world on of America Finder’s Series in LA, Best Debut Feature in the coattails of an almost endless chain of Galway, Best Breakthrough unexamined privilege. But perhaps patriarchy Feature in Boston, and Best is a bondage for boys too? Even if they don’t Screenplay Awards in Tokyo realise it, surely it disfigures them also? and Athens. His debut feature And doesn’t this disfigurement diminish the documentary KEVIN ROCHE: ultimate prospects of humans everywhere? THE QUIET ARCHITECT (2017) was released to critical acclaim in Irish, UK, German and US cinemas last year. Mami Wata C.J. Obasi — Nigeria [email protected] M + 234 8032256564 Synopsis 36 — 37 When Mama Efe, the intermediary between the Mermaid Goddess called Mami Wata and the people of Lyi, a small fishing village in West Africa, is murdered by a deceitful mercenary called Jasper, the village is thrown into chaos. Zinwe, Mama Efe’s rebellious daughter, along with Prisca, Mama Efe’s protégé, must put aside their differences in order to defeat Jasper and restore dignity and glory to the village. The two women discover friendship and solidarity as they form a unified bond to vanquish their common enemy. Prisca believes her purpose lies in helping Zinwe to achieve this, given that Zinwe is the daughter of the late Mama Efe and the expected Chosen One. But in fact it is Prisca, the true successor to Mama Efe, and her destiny is much greater than she could have ever imagined. C.J. Obasi directed OJUJU & O-TOWN, which has screened Director’s notes in many festivals, including Mami Wata is a popular West African folk tale. the Pan African Film Festival When the figure of Mami Wata struck me, I saw in Los Angeles, Shockproof a sublime image of the goddess on the ocean Film Festival in Prague, New Voices in Black Film Festival shores, standing in all her glory and beauty in New York, Gothenburg as she calls for her long lost child. I saw this Film Festival and Fantasia image in deeply contrasted monochrome, and Film Festival in Montreal, knew exactly the story I wanted to tell! I wanted cumulating acclaim from to tell the story of a beautiful village. I wanted the likes of Screen Anarchy, to talk about a powerful Goddess, who gifted IndieWire & The Hollywood her daughter to the people. I wanted to talk Reporter. He has won many awards and nominations about destiny and human strength. I want to including Best Nigerian Film make a kickass fantasy film about African (OJUJU), the African Movie spirituality grounded in universal themes, Academy Awards (African exploring genre through an ancient belief Oscars), and the Trailblazer system, as well as subverting genre through Award at the Africa Magic that same belief system. African cinema has Viewers Choice Awards come a long way but we need to take it to (AMVCA). His short film HELLO, RAIN premiered in the next level; in some ways, maybe create a the International Competition new cinema. I believe we must do this through of the Internationale Short genre. And Mami Wata for me epitomizes this Film Oberhausen, and in over need to see a new kind of African cinema. 25 festivals like Fantasia Film Festival, where it received the Special Mention for the Jury prize, and the BFI London Film Festival where it was nominated for the Short Film Award. He is currently participating in LIM | Less is More development lab with his feature project MAMI WATA. In the Belly of a Tiger Jatla Siddartha — India [email protected] M + 91 9769979407 Synopsis 38 — 39 Inspired by true events, at the far edges of India Shining, an elderly couple in a remote village in Northern India must decide who will be killed by a tiger to get government compensation for their family’s survival.

Director’s notes In July 2017, the half-eaten body of a 55-year-old woman was found at the edges of a forest in Bankati village, one of the impoverished villages surrounding the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve in northern India. While examining her body, village officials noticed the first signs of a disturbing new farmer suicide trend. It was suspected that villagers had begun sending their elderly members into the tiger reserve as prey, to then relocate their bodies to the surrounding Born to director father and fields in order to obtain compensation actress mother, Siddartha from the Indian government. Villagers are grew up with filmmaking. not entitled to claim compensation if they He is a cinematography die in the reserve, but if they are killed in graduate of Film and a tiger attack outside the reserve, they Television Institute of India (FTII) and was admitted to can receive up to 10 lakhs in government Asian Film Academy as part compensation (less than 12,000 Euro). of cultural exchange program Over the past months, I have spent time in Busan Film Festival. in these villages. Inspired by the true stories Siddhartha was also awarded of Pilibhit’s villagers, IN THE BELLY OF A TIGER Kodak Scholarship for his is a fictional account of one family. excellence in Cinematography I believe this is a story that cannot be forgotten, at his film school. His first short film, THE ARTIST, and their lives deserve to be shared on screen. premiered at Busan in 2012. His first feature, LOVE AND SHUKLA (2017) had its World Premiere at Busan and then in Tallinn. He wrote, directed, co produced, and co edited this film. The film continued to travel to more than 35 international film festivals, including receiving the NETPAC award and Signis award and many others. It has been sold to NETFLIX. His second feature IN THE BELLY OF A TIGER received Busan Script development Fund (ACF), participated in NFDC film lab and is part of LIM2019. Tremble Tracy Spottiswoode — UK (Wales) [email protected] M + 44 7768514088 Synopsis 40 — 41 Wales 1877. Desperate for money, ex-miner Jones and ageing widow Siencyn agree to rob a grave and ferry the corpse of murderer Henry Tremble 25 miles across the mountains at night. Capture means the death penalty. As the journey unfolds, so does the tale of the dead man. They ponder his motives; reflections on their own lives prompted by his deeds. A year ago, Tremble set out to murder his employer and family, before killing himself. His village tricked another into burying him. Bad luck ensued. Now that village is sending him back, paying Siencyn to perform a sin eating ritual to lift the curse and save his soul. But damning her own. Atheist Jones can’t see past his own misfortune. Consumed by grief and guilt after the death of his brother in a mine I’m a filmmaker from Wales, accident, he seeks a new life in Australia. inspired by its history, myths, Fearing police on their trail, they take a lonely landscape and language. mountain track, lose their way, then the coffin, My career began as actor and when horse and cart are stolen. Can they find the designer: devised work led to body by dawn and with it, their own salvation? writing and directing theatre, radio, TV and film, always Director’s notes with emphasis on the visual. Study in Prague introduced Based on a true story TREMBLE employs Czech New Wave and seeded the cinematic grammar of a neo western many cold war projects e.g. with a Celtic twist. Tremble’s vengeful killing a BBC Films commission, spree takes place on a hot August day in long R4 play and my animated choreographed shots. In contrast, the coffin’s short CODENAME CORGI won awards worldwide journey is at night, nothing’s clear, mist including 2 x BAFTA Cymru rolls in, the moon disappears. Characters and Gold at Chicago IFF. are small against mountains and night sky. Survival against all odds is We feel their insignificance, the struggle a favourite theme; films in to find meaning in life when surrounded development include WIRA by death and burdened by the past. set in the Warsaw Uprising. TREMBLE will be mainly in Welsh language I was Development Exec and BFI Network Manager and draw on Celtic myths, its score at Ffilm Cymru 2010-17, composed on ancient Welsh instruments exec producing shorts and but with a contemporary feel. The settings developing features e.g. show the inequality between rich and poor UK Oscar entry I AM NOT A and the explosive consequences of the WITCH. 2018 saw a return to resentment it fuels. These issues are relevant making my own work with today. Wales is one of the poorest nations a Creative Wales award, Ffilm Cymru support for in Europe, 25% of people living in poverty. TREMBLE and a BFI/BBC That feeling of powerlessness, inability funded short film. to direct one’s destiny is shared by Jones, Siencyn and Tremble. But they choose different paths to control their fate. Swap Gjorce Stravreski — Macedonia [email protected] M + 389 75633107 Synopsis 42 — 43 On his last day in prison, Bobby, a computer scientist turned kleptomaniac and alcoholic, learns of a weird method that can help if the things go wrong. An offbeat prison counsellor tells Bobby he should swap something he cares about. Then swap again. And after 10 swaps it will set him free from the urge to steal and drink. Prison authorities find Bobby a lousy job and an apartment. One night, depressed, he steals a bottle of bourbon from a supermarket. He’s about to open the bottle in a nearby park when a young woman shows up and he decides to test the swaps. They have a charming chat. Nina gives him a book and her phone number in exchange for the liquor. Bobby dates Nina and continues to swap. A whole world of weird characters opens Gjorce Stavreski is a up to him: a junky filmmaker, an amputated film director based woman, a musician hooked on porn. Bobby in Skopje, Macedonia. exchanges not only things, but emotions Graduated from the as well. The weird method seems to work: department of film he has a girl, a job, a bright new life. direction at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Skopje. But on the last swap, he has to trade his An awarded film and video newfound peace with the darkness of his past. professional who has made films, documentaries and Director’s notes commercials, working as Bobby has been living in hell for too long. Losing director, producer and his daughter in a freak accident shattered his screenwriter. His films have belief in rationale. Unable to work, this has been screened in many festivals throughout the revealed a dark side he wasn’t aware that he had. world where he has won The film is my personal exploration of meaning international awards. and absurdity. I swapped math and sciences His feature debut for arts in my twenties and since then I’ve been SECRET INGREDIENT constantly in awe of how reason and chaos are received international part of our world in equal measure. We usually acclaim: in just over a think that humans are smart and rational, but year it was selected at 56 film festivals winning our emotions, instincts, impulses and the vast 17 international awards. void in our brain where the thoughts are only It was a Macedonian foreign the tiny surface, are equally as powerful. language Oscar candidate Yes, we manage to find meaning in a and the first Macedonian film meaningless world. We build myths, societies, shown on HBO. Distributed families and attach values to them which give theatrically in Italy, Spain us reason to live. But then, sometimes we and South Korea. Gjorce is a recipient of a lose them and our mind becomes powerless, prestigious national award ruminating over the loss, trying to find an for math and sciences and answer where there is none. Until we build a diehard Sudoku fan. another myth, another life, another lie. Clean Koen Van Sande — Belgium | Writer-Director [email protected] M + 32 477344794

Temina Kiasinian — Belgium / Armenia | Co-writer [email protected] Synopsis 44 — 45 CLEAN is an intimate author film with a wide impact. Not another expensive action driven police film or drug story. This film is about the inner battle of the protagonist, about the human tragedy behind a family confronted with a drug addict family member. Where do you draw the line as a brother, sister, father or mother? And what line will you draw? There is fear and doubt, there is the almost compulsive urge to care. After all it is family. But at the After successfully finishing same time there is aversion, disapproval. his studies as a film director with the award-winning The hesitation that family members of drugs- short WES, Koen wrote and users experience to talk about it openly, makes directed fiction series such the damage even greater than it already is. as ’16+’ and ’De Vijfhoek’. By embedding these hypocrite, moral and He made several shorts in ideologic issues in an average middle-class preparation for the bigger family and showing the deep human work resulting in RESEARCH destruction that these cause, the audience and CRACKS (both selected in International festivals). His is taken out of its comfort zone and forced latest short LOCKDOWN won to think about the inhumane and absurdity best international film at the of choices that are made, based on tragic SIPFEST in Australia. He also misunderstandings about drug addiction. got funded in 2016 to write, produce and direct a big budget Director’s notes fiction series (10 EP) for VTM. CLEAN is a tragedy about police inspector Kurt and his drug-addict brother, Wim. It is the duality between the incorruptible law official and the unruly junkie which drive the drama and the action. Will Kurt be able to get Wim of the drugs? The problems in the family stemmed from the early years when Wim was a free spirit with wild dreams while Kurt was a stable kid following in his conservative father’s footsteps. After finishing her studies Years later these opposite personalities are in photography and textile Clean still present in the two brothers. Everything design at the Royal Academy is set up for a family tragedy which has of Fine Arts in Antwerp 2009 been heading their way for a long time. Temina started her career as a photographer, art director CLEAN raises the question of how to deal with and producer in the fashion misfits in our society, with those who step out industry. She worked on large of line. The question confronts us with our film sets with international own hypocrisy and how we subsequently judge directors and photographers and condemn and close our eyes in fear. such as Jean Claude Thibaut, The story is set in the dark underworld Arthur De Kersauson and of Antwerp, drug capital of Europe, Mario Testino for clients as Vogue US, Louis Vuitton and where the police are fighting the ’vermin’. Dior. In 2016 Temina started But the criminal tension elements are focussing on fiction. She wrote not intended to outweigh the atmospheric her first short film BLUE BIRD character developments in CLEAN. which she directed in May 2019. Silver Island Zara Zerny — Denmark / Canada | Writer-Director [email protected] M + 45 61 46 26 82

Tommy Oksen — Denmark | Co-writer [email protected] M +45 29 84 96 58 Synopsis 46 — 47 SILVER ISLAND is an absurd fairy tale love story between Frank, a lonely old man with a boy’s autistic explorative mind, and Alice, a charming old woman with dementia living in a fantasy world of memories. Frank has lived his whole life on a farm with his controlling mother who is in incurable grief from losing Frank’s twin brother at the age of 10. When the farm burns down Frank is forced to temporarily move in to a nursing home where he is surrounded by the Zara Zerny graduated from elderly, who have only their memories to think the independent film school, and talk about. One day Alice starts to mistake Super16, as a director. Her Frank for her dead husband, Ejnar. At first Frank character driven style along with her long tableaux, forces rejects her, but his curiosity eventually leads the viewer to see the world she him to enter Alice’s mind and he falls not only wants to depict. Of prime interest in love with her, but also with her memories to Zara, this is what she wants of Ejnar. For the first time he feels the love and to further develop. Zara also has beauty of a relationship and he transforms into a bachelor in Graphic Design Ejnar, a persona he always has dreamt of being. from Gerrit Rietveld Academy. But it all comes to an end when Alice no longer Her films have been screened at various festivals: Rotterdam FF, sees him as Ejnar, for he has transformed Nordisk Panorama, into another person with new memories. Slamdance FF, IndieCork FF (Best Short Film), Moscow IFF, Director’s notes Drama FF (special mention, I wish to tell a story about a first love in a nursing Best Documentary)... She is in home told through the enchanting realm development with her 1st fiction of memories. I want to explore how a place feature and her 1st documentary associated with death, sickness and termination feature, both with support from the Danish Film Institute (DFI). can also be humane and life assuring. I want to explore the beauty of people connected to their memories in their last stages of life. The story is about a man entering first an estranged but very real place at a nursing home, and secondly about the poetic and surreal world of Alice’s mind. This experience enables him to leave the scared, shy and introverted boy he was behind him and begin a journey of transformation into a person he dreams of being. A person with memories Tommy Oksen was born of love. The cycle of memories is the drive that and raised in a small town in Southern Jutland. He reveals the unpredictable, the sad and the educated as a scriptwriter beautiful feelings Frank should experience. from the independent film The underlying, emerging theme guiding the school Super16 (Copenhagen). film is the beauty of living in our memories. He has written several short films and written and directed three short films of his own. Tommy is now working on his 1st feature film with writer- director, Zara Zerny, which is selected for LIM2019 and supported by the DFI.

with writers anddirectors. common languagetogether common tools anda benefit from evolving We believe everyone will involved intheprocess. managers andeveryone sales agents, film-fund professionals, producers, collaboration between script be anacross-the-board art ofdevelopment should we strongly believe thatthe “Story editors” because restricted notionof an alternative to the more “Development angels” as We have chosentheterm

Development

angels 48 — 49 DEVELOPMENT ANGELS

Patricia Drati — Denmark Producer [email protected]

2019 Patricia Drati is a creative producer and DON’T GIVE A FOX film development consultant, working feature documentary in both documentary and fiction. WESTERN RAMPART Between 2009-2015, Patricia was Head of CPH:LAB short fiction at CPH:DOX International Documentary Film Festival. She curated, developed and managed 2017 the cross-cultural training and production AMAL feature documentary lab for international filmmaking talents. (co-producer) She holds the Danish Film Academy Award 2012 in Short Film category for the production of a 2014 short film by Jeppe Rønde, GIRL IN THE WATER. STRANDED IN CANTON Since 2013, Patricia has also been working feature documentary internationally as a script reader and script editor. Patricia completed TorinoFilmLab as 2013 a story editor in 2016, where she has since WALK WITH ME short fiction been a member of the reading committee. Patricia has been a consultant for various talent LA ISLA development schemes in Denmark, including short fiction Filmworkshops in Copenhagen and Odense. 2011 RESISTENTE short documentary 50 — 51

Marina Gumzi — Slovenia Producer / Writer [email protected]

2019 Studied dramaturgy, performance studies and film STORIES FROM THE production in Ljubljana, Berlin, Ludwigsburg and Paris. CHESTNUT WOODS Before switching to film, Marina wrote for theatre by Gregor Božič and worked as a freelance dramaturge. She learned fiction debut from and worked alongside prominent stage artists 2017 such as Robert Wilson, Karmina Šilec and Tomi PLAYING MEN Janežič. In 2011, after completing post-graduate by Matjaž Ivanišin studies in film production at Atelier Ludwigsburg- documentary Paris, she took over the position of head manager for audiovisual program within MARIBOR 2012 2014 – European Capital of Culture. In the same year LITTLE HOUSES she became managing director of NOSOROGI, by Darko Sinko Ljubljana-based micro studio for production of films and Matjaz Ivanišin documentary by up-and-coming authors. In 2015, she co-founded the Berlin-based film festival of new Slovenian In production cinema, Neues slowenisches Kino, and curated FIUME O MORTE! its first two editions. Curious about contemporary by Igor Bezinović avant-garde visual practices, Marina is striving to documentary produce and curate unconventional cinematographic (co-producer) narratives as well as create own contents for and about cinema. Lives in Ljubljana and Berlin. In development THE JUNGLE BOOK PROJECT by Gregor Božič documentary DEVELOPMENT ANGELS

Aleksandra Kostina — Ukraine Producer BOSONFILM www.bosonfilm.com [email protected] Has been working in the film industry since 2007. At first as a line producer, producing TV films, documentaries, and TV shows. Since 2013 works as a freelance line and executive producer on numerous feature films, mostly international co-productions. Over the last few years Aleksandra has focused on the development of her projects, and projects where she was attached as a development producer for other companies. In 2018 she established her own production company BOSONFILM. Aleksandra was selected for the EWA mentoring programme 2019, she is alumni of MAIA Producers Workshop 2018, and participated in Cannes Producers Workshop 2017, EAVE on-demand sessions on strategic film marketing 2017, Producers Workshop New York Film Academy 2016, and Directors Across Borders 2013. Her current project as a producer is a debut feature film, PAMFIR, by the Ukrainian director Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk, which was recently selected for the Cinéfondation Residence du Cannes Film Festival, and Sofia Meetings Co-production Market. 52 — 53

Karla Lulić — Croatia Producer / Writer / Director DOBAR FILM [email protected] [email protected]

2018 A Croatian producer, screenwriter and director, with IN THE NAME OF an MA degree in Cinema and TV production at the THE STRAWBERRY, Sorbonne University in Paris. She is a founder of Dobar THE CHOCOLATE Film (translation: “A Good Film”), a Croatian production AND THE HOLY SPIRIT company dedicated to make good films. In 2018, she by Karla Lulić short film released her debut short film, a Croatian comedy in co-production with France, called IN THE NAME OF In post-production THE STRAWBERRY, THE CHOCOLATE AND THE HOLY FOLLOWING... SPIRIT. It was screened in Los Angeles, as a world by Karla Lulić premiere at SEEfest, awarded in Rome at RIFF 2018. short film It had a national premiere as the first short film in history of Pula film festival and was screened at the opening In preparation ceremony in famous Roman Arena with more than EMERGENCY EXIT by Bogdan Muresanu 5000 spectators. The film is still in the festival circuit. debut feature film Her second short film FOLLOWING…, a comedy with post-apocalyptic elements is now in post-production. In development She has two feature films in development with MIRROR OF her Croatian production company Dobar Film and NIGHTINGALES she collaborates with the Romanian production by Karla Lulić company Kinotopia where she works as a producer debut feature film on a debut feature and a documentary. In 2018, Karla collaborated with the Mediterranean Film Institute MFI advanced workshop for projects in development as an Assistant trainer. DEVELOPMENT ANGELS

Patrice Nezan — France Producer LES CONTES MODERNES www.lescontesmodernes.fr [email protected]

2019 Producer Patrice Nezan, aims to partake in THE TOWER intellectual debates within our contemporary by Mats Grorud societies by any necessary means (fiction, animation, ANOTHER DAY creative documentary, VR and transmedia). IN BAGHDAD Les Contes Modernes federates authors and by Maysoon Pachachi artists from various horizons who question the CORPUS CHRISTI world in all its complexity around us and who by Jan Komasa place the aesthetic search at the heart of their creations. Our artistic process advocating body 2018 movement rather than dialogues is an attempt LES BERGERS DU FUTUR to create a universal language, to cross borders. by Lionel Roux Les Contes Modernes is a production company based in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes 2016 region in the South of France, between HOTEL MACHINE Lyon and Marseille, in La Cartoucherie, a hub by Emmanuel Licha of excellence for the animation industry. Les Contes Modernes supports projects which 2014 develop a humanist, empathic and creative approach COME IL VENTO by Marco Simon on the world of today and of tomorrow. Puccioni SOUTH TO NORTH by Antoine Boutet 54 — 55

Héloïse Noé — France Producer CINEMA DEFACTO www.cinemadefacto.com [email protected]

2018 Born in 1989, Héloïse Noé graduated in Film Production THE LOAD at the ESG Business School of Paris in 2014. by Ognjen Glavonic She worked as production secretary for Diez Films st 1 feature on several international video clips for artists THE HARVESTERS such as Sam Smith, and was a freelance journalist by Etienne Kallos for Paris Premiere – covering the 67th Cannes 1st feature Film Festival – among other cultural events. Keen to develop this international asset into feature film 2017 production, she joined Cinema Defacto as a production LOS PERROS by Marcela Said and post-production coordinator. For two years she 2nd feature was involved in several critically acclaimed arthouse features such as LOS PERROS by Marcela Said and DOPO LA GUERRA by Annarita THE LOAD by Ognjen Glavonic. She became Head Zambrano of Development in 2018, working alongside first-time 1st feature and experienced filmmakers attempting to explore MILLA the borders of cinematographic experimentation by Valérie Massadian via an independent production system. 2nd feature

2016 APPRENTICE by Boo Junfeng 2nd feature DEVELOPMENT ANGELS

Michał Oleszczyk — Poland Script consultant & film critic [email protected]

Michał Oleszczyk is a script consultant and film critic based in Warsaw. He works as an Assistant Professor at Artes Liberales Department of University of Warsaw. His writing on film has appeared in “Cineaste”, RogerEbert.com and on the Criterion Collection website. He has served several times as a screenplay evaluation expert at Polish Film Institute, and between 2013-2016 worked as the Artistic Director of Poland’s largest festival of Polish films, Gdynia Film Festival. He is a guest script consultant for the Screenplay Atelier, one of the leading screenwriting workshops in Poland. He has been awarded the Polish Film Institute Award for Best Polish Critic, the Jan Machulski Honorary Award for continuous support of independent Polish Filmmaking, as well as Krzysztof Mętrak Award for Best Young Polish Critic. 56 — 57

Akli Politi — Greece Writer & Director [email protected]

Alki Politi is a writer and director based in Athens. She graduated from the department of Film Studies at the Fine Arts at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and did her Master’s in Screenwriting, Directing and Production at the University of Panthéon/Sorbonne Paris I. She has worked as assistant director for various productions and as script consultant in Greece and in France. As a filmmaker she has written and directed a few short films and is now developing her first fiction feature film. In 2018 she worked in collaboration with the Mediterranean Film Institute’s script workshop as an assistant trainer. DEVELOPMENT ANGELS

Céline Pourveur — Belgium Producer RHIZOM-ART www.rhizom-art.be [email protected] Céline Pourveur is a producer based in Belgium. The first part of her career, she worked for seven years in the film and television industry, as a 2nd Assistant Director and from 2014 on, as Production Assistant for the Belgian production company Savage Film. In 2018, she founded the production and distribution platform company Rhizom-art.

Rhizom-art supports artists working at the crossroads of cinema, performance, theatre, dance and visual arts. Experimental films, video installations, hybrid audiovisual works are her main focus. 58 — 59

Susana Santos Rodrigues — Portugal Film curator, project analyst & distributor VAIVEM www.vaivem.com.ar [email protected] Zimbabwe-born Portuguese film curator, project analyst, distributor and producer, living between Europe and Latin America. Latin American and Portuguese delegate to the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, in the Czech Republic, and to the Cinéma du Réel – International Documentary Film Festival, in France. Programming advisor to the Bildrausch FilmFest Basel, in Switzerland, and member of the selection committees of the Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival in Brazil, and of the Hubert Bals Fund (HBF – from the Rotterdam International Film Festival), in the Netherlands. International consultant to the Doha Film Institute, in Qatar and external expert assessing projects for the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA), European Union’s Creative Europe – Media sub-programme. In 2013, she co-founded the distribution and production outfit VAIVEM, active in Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, and Portugal, releasing in theatres, HORSE MONEY, by Pedro Costa; MUSEUM HOURS, by Jem Cohen; NO TODO ES VIGILIA, by Hermes Paralluelo; EL INCENDIO, by Juan Schnitman; and A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT, by Ana Lily Amirpour, among others. DEVELOPMENT ANGELS

Joanna Solecka — Poland Marketing & Social Media Strategist ALPHAPANDA www.alphapanda.com [email protected]

2018 Marketing strategist and TorinoFilmLab expert in the ANOTHER DAY Audience Design field. Creative producer for shorts and OF LIFE documentaries. Lecturer at the international training feature film workshops for fiction and documentary filmmakers. TOUCH ME NOT Her career began at Wajda Studio and Wajda feature film School in Warsaw where she worked for more than 10 years as Head of PR, Festivals & Sales developing 2017 promotion and distribution strategies for shorts, OVER THE LIMIT documentary features and documentaries. This included handling two Oscar campaigns for the nominated short THE TRIAL. OLEG SENTSOV documentaries RABBIT A LA BERLIN and JOANNA. VS. RUSSIAN STATE Since 2015 Joanna has been working for Alphapanda, documentary a European marketing agency for the film industry specialized in social media. Alphapanda’s expertise covers all areas of marketing and promotion, including strategy, social media campaigns, advertising, research and outreach. Alphapanda’s client list spans from Hollywood majors (20th Century Fox, Warner Bros) and European Film Awards to independent producers and distributors. 60 — 61

Elena Stanisheva — Macedonia Producer VEDA FILM PRODUCTIONS [email protected]

2019 Elena Stanisheva is a film producer based in Skopje. SNAKE After her graduation at the National University, by Andrej Volkashin with a major in French language, she participated short fiction in the certificate producers program at the NYFA GOD EXIST, HER in New York, became a talent at the Sarajevo NAME IS PETRUNIJA Talents 2013 and the same year received a scholarship by Teona S. Mitevska to study scriptwriting at FAMU, Prague. feature film She started her career working with the acclaimed 2018 “Golden Lion” award-winning director Milcho FORM B16 Manchevski, gaining significant knowledge in the field by Ivan Ivanovski short animation of international co-productions. After establishing her company VEDA FILM, she co-produced her first 2017 short film To Guard a Mountain which won numerous KOLIVO international awards. In 2016, she participated the EPI by Andrej I. Volkashin short fiction European Co-production workshops in Berlin. Later in 2017 she participated in the Rotterdam Lab for 2012 producer, Cannes Producers Workshop, Mediterranean TO GUARD A MOUNTAIN Film Institute in Greece and became alumni at MAIA by Izer Aliu Producers Workshops. From 2015, she is collaborating short fiction with the writer/director Andrej I. Volkashin on all his 2010 projects and developing his first feature films THE SWEET MOTHERS BITTERNES OF THE RIPE POMEGRANATES. by Milcho Manchevski feature film

62 — 63

LIM | Less is More is structured around three one-week workshops in residency – in March, June and October – in small villages in different parts of Europe. The development work of the sixteen film projects selected for the year 2019 is supervised by eight script-consultants — all of them being writers in activity. Each project benefits from the insight of four tutors. As for the Development angels, immersed in group work with the writers & filmmakers during a whole week, their involvement is followed by a dedicated tutor. tutors TUTORS

Pierre Hodgson

Pierre Hodgson was born in London in 1959. After Oxford, he came to Paris where he was coordinator on Olivier Assayas’ first film and 1st AD to Raul Ruiz on TREASURE ISLAND, shot in Portugal. The next years were split between a job as a TV producer in London and screenwriting for Joao Canijo in Lisbon. Two of these films went to Un Certain Regard. He continues to combine making documentaries with screenwriting, including Philippe Grandrieux’ SOMBRE, Randa Chahal’s INFIDELES and three features by Jerôme de Missolz. He has worked with Thomas Bidegain, Patricia Mazuy, Jean-Gabriel Periot and Marina de Van among others. He tutors at Le Groupe Ouest | European Film Lab since 2014. 64 — 65

Răzvan Rădulescu

Răzvan Rădulescu (born in Bucharest, in 1969) studied linguistics, French Literature and then Opera directing before starting to work in cinema. As a screenwriter (THE DEATH OF MR. LĂZĂRESCU; TUESDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS; CHILD’S POSE), script consultant (4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS, 2 DAYS; THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF NICOLAE CEAUȘESCU) and director (FIRST OF ALL, FELICIA; EVROPA) he followed a basic principle: cinema on screen is about what we see and hear, while off screen it is about what we think and feel. Since 2005, he took occasional teaching jobs in Dramaturgy (ESAV Marrakesh, York University Toronto, Scuola Holden Torino and Academy of Arts Karlsruhe). TUTORS

Yann Apperry

Yann Apperry is a Franco-American writer born, the recipient of two of the national literary awards, the Prix Médicis for his novel DIABOLUS IN MUSICA and of Prix Goncourt des Lycéens, for FARRAGO. Apperry also writes for film: the features 24 MESURES (2007) and YVES SAINT LAURENT (2014), directed by Jalil Lespert. Most recently, the award-winning VR and 3D short ALTÉRATION, directed by Jérôme Blomet. He is currently developing two feature films. AMOROSTASIA, a neo-noir dystopian, for the production company Les Armateurs, and the animated WAR WITH THE NEWTS, based on Karel Čapek’s novel. Apperry also writes for the stage, both as a playright and librettist. Among his last works: LE DERNIER LIVRE DE LA JUNGLE, a musical contemporary take on Kipling’s Jungle Books, produced by France Culture, with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. 66 — 67

Claire Barré

Claire Barré is a screenwriter and novelist. After training as an actress, she turned towards writing and studied two years as a screenwriter at C.E.E.A. Upon finishing the program, she wrote for several television series (TF1, France 2 and Arte). Her screenplay AN IDEAL WIFE received the Sopadin prize for Best Screenwriter, opening the world of cinema to her. She has since worked with numerous directors (Anne Fontaine, Fabienne Berthaud, Audrey Dana, Olivier Ayache-Vidal, Fred Garson.). The first film she has co-written, A BIGGER WORLD by Fabienne Berthaud, starring Cécile de France, will be released in 2019. A second one, POLICE, by Anne Fontaine, was shot at the beginning of the year. Claire has published five novels and has been a consultant and screenwriting professor in the University of Nanterre, in C.E.E.A., in Femis, in Brazil, and Colombia. TUTORS

Séverine Cornamusaz

Born in 1975 in Lausanne, Switzerland. Graduated from the Vevey School of Photography and the New York Film Academy. CŒUR ANIMAL is her first fiction feature film (Swiss Film Prize 2010: Best film and Best actor). CYANURE, her second fiction feature film, a Swiss-Canadian co-production, was released in February 2013. She directed a historical documentary: 14-18 DES ENFANTS BELGES EN SUISSE (2018). She is currently preparing a comedy (CONQUISTADOR - shooting 2020).

From 1997 to 2005, she worked as an editor. Since 2003, she has been teaching cinema - screenwriting, directing, directing the actors, regularly in Switzerland and France. 68 — 69

Matthieu Taponier

Matthieu Taponier was born in 1982 in Paris, France. After studying Modern Literature, he completed an M.F.A. at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Since 2009 he has been working as a screenwriter, script editor and film editor. He was a TorinoFilmLab Script&Pitch story editing trainee in 2012 and is a script consultant in many workshops (the Semaine de la critique « Next Step » lab, Cross Channel Film Lab, Le Groupe Ouest, Biennale College Cinema, Hezayah Screenwriting Lab, First Cut Lab, etc.). He worked as a script consultant and editor on Laszlo Nemes’ SON OF SAUL, Grand Prix at Cannes 2015, and as a co-writer and editor on SUNSET, Fipresci Prize at Venice 2018. TUTORS

Antoine Le Bos

Antoine was coming from a previous life in sailing and philosophy when he graduated from C.E.E.A in Paris. He first directed short films and on-stage experiments, before signing or co-signing around 25 feature scripts for independent filmmakers. He won the Gan Foundation Price as a writer in 2005, created Le Groupe Ouest in Brittany in 2006, which has become N°1 place in Europe for the coaching of writers in residency. He’s been closely collaborating with TorinoFilmLab since 2007 and has been tutoring for NFDC Lab (India), TFL (Italy), Biennale College (Venice), Moulin d’Andé (France), Maïa Workshops, Doha Film Institute, and many others. With Le Groupe Ouest, he has created the Cross Channel Film Lab experience, and in 2015 launched LIM | Less is More, the European development programme for limited budget features. He is LIM Artistic Director, as well as the mentor of LIM’s "Development angels" all year long. LIM’s team 70 — 71

Antoine Le Bos Artistic Director [email protected]

Anna Ciennik Project Manager [email protected]

Massimilano Nardulli Talent Manager [email protected]

Charlotte Le Vallégant Head of studies [email protected] Text Le Groupe Ouest Maxime Poënces Photographs Logistics Robert Słuszniak / KBF p.4; 6-9; 72; 74-75 [email protected] & portraits p.19; 37; 39; 58 Brigitte Bouillot / Le Groupe Ouest Maina Le Gars p.5; 66; 69; 73 Communication Gabriel Brunet-Sanz p.9 [email protected] Vlad Cupşa / TIFF p.72 Ana Agopian Iulia Rugină / Control N Methodological supervisor p.70; 73 [email protected] Graphic design Rodhamine Dany de Seille Printing Press Sun Graphic [email protected] © LIM 2019

Le Groupe Ouest’s partners

Control N’s partners workshop 1 Tiff event eventsKrakow Transilvania region International

LIM starts out on its 2019 journey Film Festival in Przegorzały – a suburb of Krakow. For a whole week, the During an important European film team and participants set up event, the core of all the 16 LIM camp at the Hotel Wolski, located projects still in an early development in Lasek Wolski Forest. In the stage, will be presented to an forest are many scenic walks – audience, confronting the in Sowiniec Hill with the Piłsudski authors with film professionals. Mound, the baroque Camaldolese Among these professionals are Monastery atop Srebrna Góra producers, distributors, sales (the Silver Mountain), the agents, broadcasters. An essential zoological garden, three rocky tool for this public presentation nature reserves… – so participants is a very personal video giving the will be able to enjoy strolls. essence of each project, recorded The purpose of this first workshop by the filmmaker him or herself. is clear for the filmmakers: The aim of this encounter is to also to find the core of each project, create an international network both thematically and narratively. of film professionals, all united It will be a search for the power around LIM’s objectives: the use driving each story as well as of limitations as a launching revealing the subconscious pad for a new momentum interrogation lying at its heart. in independent cinema…

Przegorzały, Krakow region, Poland Cluj-Napoca, Romania March 5 – 10, 2019 June 7 – 8, 2019 72 — 73

workshop 2 workshop 3 Transylvania Brittany

Deep in the mountains, For a whole week, the team 20 kilometers from the and participants set up nearest village, LIM’s team camp in a small village on and participants enter phase 2 Brittany’s rocky northern coast of their work: the deep digging. - the home of Le Groupe Ouest - Combining feedback from in what used to be a farm in professionals and following the heart of the countryside, the path of the first rewrites in a few hundred meters from between the first two workshops, the ocean. Here, with a broader the goal is to establish a bone coalition of combined groups structure for the script while and consultants, the projects integrating the creative trigger enter the final stage of of budget limitations. Long walks development. The purpose is in the Transylvanian forests to finalise a strong treatment with combined consultants and or a first draft if possible. groups, help find the way… This is about raising the right questions and finding the right Băișorii Mountain Resort, Romania answers, finding doors and June 9 – 13, 2019 windows, connecting the need for limitations to enhance Organised with the support of a powerful story.

Plouneour-Brignogan, Brittany October 11 – 16, 2019

74 — 75 The enemy of art is the absence of limitations

ORSON WELLES