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CineLink Reveals First Projects Selected for its 2017 Edition

First and second time filmmakers to take part in prep workshop ahead of presentation at CineLink Industry Days


Seven feature film projects in early development have been announced as part of this years CineLink line-up. This part of the selection focuses on projects from first and second time directors from Southeast Europe. The projects will take part in bespoke preparatory workshop designed to help with overall project development ahead of their presentation at CineLink Industry Days from August 12th till the 17th.

Jovan Marjanovic, Head of Industry at Sarajevo Film Festival said: “Come August we will have discovered over 35 projects of different film forms and in different stages of development and production, but it is always this first batch of projects to be selected that fall into the real “discovery” category.  We look forward to spending time with them and helping nurture and fine tune their ideas before presenting their work to potential partners at the CineLink Coproduction Market.”

Amra Baksic Camo, Head of CineLink added: “The selection is quite diverse in terms of topics and points of view, but all are authentic, passionate, witty, but thought provoking works from some of the most exciting emerging talent from our region.”

CineLink 2017 projects include:

AFRIKA
Director: Maya Vitkova
Writer: Maya Vitkova
Producer: Maya Vitkova
Production company: Viktoria Films
Co-producer: Anca Puiu, Mandragora (Romania)
Bulgaria, Romania

After a very successful film VIKTORIA (premiered at Sundance 2014) which dealt with Bulgarian political past, Maya Vitkova is developing a second feature film AFRICA, focusing on a contemporary family story.

CAT IN THE WALL
Director: Mina Mileva, Vesela Kazakova
Writer: Mina Mileva
Producer: Mina Mileva, Vesela Kazakova
Production company: Activist38
Bulgaria

Mina Mileva and Vesela Kazakova are director-producer duo known by two successful and controversial documentaries UNCLE TONY (2014) and A BEAST IS STILL ALIVE (2016) dealing with recent Bulgarian history. Their first feature film CAT IN THE WALL tackles the relationship between migrants and locals in London.  

DESIRE LINES
Director: Dane Komljen
Writer: Dane Komljen
Producer: Nataša Damnjanović, Vladimir Vidić
Production company: Dart Film
Serbia / Bosnia and Herzegovina

DESIRE LINES is a second feature film of Dane Komljen who is internationally known for his hybrid style and his short films were screened and won awards at Cannes, Locarno, Rotterdam, and FID Marseille and his first feature ALL THE CITIES OF THE NORTH premiered in Locarno 2016.

THE DRAGON HAS COME
Director: Christos Passalis
Writer: Christos Passalis, Eleni Vergeti
Producer: Maria Drandaki
Production company: Homemade Films
Greece

THE DRAGON HAS COME is a first feature film by a Greek actor and theater director Christos Passalis know by his performance in DOGTOOTH.

THE HIVE
Director: Eylem Kaftan
Writer: Eylem Kaftan
Producer: Canol Balkaya
Production company: caba film
Co-producer: Mehmet Aktas, Janna Heine mitosfilm (Germany)
Turkey, Germany

THE HIVE is the feature fiction directorial debut about female urban farmer fulfilling her mother’s last wish dedicated to produce honey but her path is crossed by a bear family. This project is directed by Eylem Kaftan who has directed several documentary feature films.

HOLY EMY
Director: Araceli Lemos
Writer(s): Araceli Lemos, Gulia Caruso
Producer(s): Elina Psykou, Giulia Caruso, Konstantinos Vassilaros
Production company: StudioBauhaus
Greece

Araceli Lemos is a Greek director and editor. HOLY EMY is her feature directorial debut and it is an intimate character driven drama set in Filipino community in Greece.

TAKE ME HOME
Director: Balazs Simonyi
Writer: Balazs Simonyi
Producer: Balazs Simonyi, Laszlo Jozsa, Monika Mecs
Production company: Speak Easy Project, M&M Film
Hungary

TAKE ME HOME is the feature directorial debut, a hybrid between documentary and fiction film by Hungarian documentary filmmaker Balazs Simonyi. The film deals with child euthanasia and its taboo. 


About CineLink Industry Days
Over the 15 years since its launch, the Sarajevo Film Festival's industry section has become a major hub for Southeast European film professionals, and has played a crucial role in the expansion of cinematic co-production in the region.  It has also become a key destination for professionals from across Europe who are in search of talent and co-production possibilities, or who simply wish to obtain in-depth knowledge about this dynamic region’s business development.

The Festival's industry offering attracts almost 1,000 professionals to its annual event in late August and includes activities for people from all spheres of the business through its interlinked CineLink Industry Days sections:

·         CineLink Co-Production Market
·         CineLink Work-in-Progress
·         CineLink Drama
·         Docu Rough Cut Boutique
·         True Stories Market
·         Talents Sarajevo Pack&Pitch
·         Avant Premiers
·         Regional Forum

Our vision is to serve the current needs of the business, as well as to shape its future. We see more films than ever being made outside the existing value chain, as well as the former borders between cinema and TV blurred in terms of quality of content – and there are so many more screens on which all of this can be seen. Everything is converging, and we have designed this year’s programme to reflect this.

In addition to our flagship selection of quality projects in development at the CineLink Co-production, screenings of fiction and documentary films in post at CineLink Work-in-Progress, and extracts from finished films going into distribution at Avant Premier Trailers, the new CineLink Drama section features new and exciting high-quality drama projects by established filmmakers from the region. At the same time, the True Stories Market presents film and TV professionals with cases from the archives of key organisations documenting the Yugoslav wars of the 90's, while young talents pitch their short film projects at Talents Sarajevo Pack&Pitch. Everything in one place; everything connected.

Exploring synergies: Managing Intellectual Property Across Creative Industries
Docu Rough Cut Boutique 2024 is waiting for your projects!
“Going European: A Co-production Training for Writers” 2024 Opens Call for Entries
21st CineLink Industry Days Awards
Docu activities at CineLink Industry Days on the 29th edition of the Sarajevo Film Festival