– The Brussels International Film Festival will host a new edition of its industry event, aimed at promoting collaborations between Belgian and European producers
Director Adrian Silisteanu, who is participating with his project Another Story About My Son
From 4 to 12 September, the Brussels International Film Festival will welcome some twenty European producers to the Belgian capital to take part in the 10th Brussels CoProMarket, the aim of which, over the past decade, has been to promote collaborations between Belgian and European producers and thereby open up new financing opportunities for projects in development. The event is built around a selection of projects split into two sections for features: the Gap Financing Sessions – European-initiated projects led by experienced producers looking for Belgian partners – and Up-and-Coming Producers, a section entirely dedicated to spotlighting and supporting emerging producers. For the record, the Short Film Sessions, specifically designed for short films, took place during the Brussels Short Film Festival last spring. The overarching idea is to showcase Belgian know-how internationally, as well as potential funding avenues.
The Gap Financing Sessions will welcome four projects: Another Story About My Son (Romania) by Adrian Silisteanu, which tells the story of the leader of a Roma community who agrees to a movie being made about an inter-ethnic conflict which cost his son his life, and who realises that the viewpoint taken in the film doesn’t reflect his reality; Comrades (France) by Anna Kazejak, which places us alongside an 11-year-old boy into the Stalinist gulag; My World Upside Down (Slovakia) by Daniel Rihak, which is a comedy about a young choirboy torn between his genuine convictions and the rejection he faces in his small and extremely conservative village, and Funny and Sad Life of George by Lithuanian filmmaker Egle Vertelyte.
Projects well worth highlighting in the Up-and-Coming Producers section include the Belgian project Prélude, by Lisa Sallustio (who made her mark with the short film Assoiffé), which presents a dystopia set in the near future in which an epidemic obliterates memories and society is governed by relentless productivity. The hero – a sidelined sociologist called Basile who’s working in an isolated state-run centre – secretly encourages residents to share their memories and rebuild a collective life… The line-up also includes three French projects (Drink, Fight and Try by Emile Parseghian, Freewheeling by Adnane Tragha and The Night of Hostages by Vassili Schémann), two German projects (Close to Hanna by Laura Engelhardt and Farewell by Eline Gehring), one Dutch project (Black Egg by Tom Gera), one Spanish project (Underdog by Carla Linares) and one Estonian project (Whiteship by Teresa Väli).
Over the past nine editions of Brussels’ CoProMarket, no fewer than 58 projects secured co-production partners or are currently in negotiations, representing almost 50% of submissions.
The selected projects are as follows:
Gap Financing Sessions
Comrades – Anna Kazejak (France)
Production: Blick Productions
My World Upside Down – Daniel Rihak (Slovakia)
Production: What If Films
Another Story About My Son – Adrian Silisteanu (Romania)
Production: Domestic Film
Funny and Sad Life of George – Egle Vertelyte (Lithuania)
Production: Inscript
Up-and-Coming Producers
Close to Hanna – Laura Engelhardt (Germany)
Production: Filmbetrieb
Farewell – Eline Gehring (Germany)
Production: Kaskada Pictures
Black Egg – Tom Gera (Netherlands)
Production: Bandit Amsterdam
Underdog – Carla Linares (Spain)
Production: Diacronic
Drink, Fight and Try – Emile Parseghian (France)
Production: Morituri
Prélude – Lisa Sallustio (Belgium)
Production: Tamam Films
The Night of Hostages – Vassili Schémann (France)
Production: H Rouge Productions
Freewheeling – Adnane Tragha (France)
Production: Seguia Films
Whiteship – Teresa Väli (Estonia)
Production: Homeless Bob Production
(Translated from French)
