Agora, the industry section of the Thessaloniki Intl. Documentary Festival, has selected 14 projects for its Pitching Forum. All the projects are from Southeastern Europe and the Mediterranean region, although the filmmakers can be from elsewhere.
Agora, which runs March 7-15, has also revealed the projects that will feature in its new initiative Agora XR Lab.
Among the filmmakers attached to projects in the Pitching Forum is Poland’s Michał Marczak, whose “All These Sleepless Nights” won a prize at Sundance, and whose “Fuck for Forest” played at SXSW.
Also selected is Belgium’s Volkan Üce, whose “All-In” took awards at Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival and Istanbul Film Festival; Hungary’s Alexa Bakony, whose “Colors of Tobi” picked up a prize at Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival; and Portugal’s Ana Sofia Fonseca, whose “Cesária Évora” won a prize at Krakow and IndieLisboa.
The projects, which include two series, one documentary for kids and one animated documentary, come from 15 countries. Also pitching are projects by Greece’s Lefteris Charitos, Georgia’s Ana Kvichidze, the U.K.’s Kinda Kurdi and Bulgaria’s Anthoniy Hristov, among others.
The projects will compete for the IEFTA Award for best documentary in development, with a 10,000 Euros cash-prize. Partners include the Onassis Foundation, which present the Onassis Film Award and 5,000 Euros to a Greek filmmaker with a project in either Thessaloniki Pitching Forum or the Agora Docs in Progress. Other partners are the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation, which presents the ERT Award of 2,000 Euros for a Greek project; and the Mediterranean Film Institute Script2Film, which grants the MFI Scholarship.
Other awards include the Eurodoc Award of 1,000 Euros; the Documentary Assn. of Europe offers the DAE Consultancy Award with a bespoke consultation with an industry expert; Aylon Digital Services offers a digital transfer of archival material; and the International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film offers the DOK Leipzig Award, which includes two industry passes and accommodation.
The selected projects can participate in a workshop with the following tutors: Ove Jensen, producer and documentary expert, Paradiddle Pictures (Denmark), Brigid O’Shea, co-director and international consultant, DAE (Germany), Peter Jaeger, consultant, Jaeger Creative (Austria), and Mila Turajlić, director/producer, Poppy Pictures (Serbia).
Agora XR Lab is a workshop dedicated to XR and new media projects in development. Creative producer and writer Vassiliki Khonsari is the lead mentor for this edition. Khonsari is the co-founder of iNK Stories, a New York-based studio.
THESSALONIKI PITCHING FORUM PROJECTS“About Horses, Wives and Weapons”Director: Volkan Üce, Production: Emmy Oost – Cassette for Timescapes, Co-production: Samuel Feller – Magellan Films, Belgium
“Born Greek – Made American” (working title)Director: Lefteris Charitos, Production: Stelios Cotionis – Foss Productions, Co-production: Alexis Varouxakis – Adrenaline Entertainment, Greece, U.S.
“Bugboy”Director: Lucas Paleocrassas, Production: Rea Apostolides – Anemon, Executive Production: Madeleine Avramoussis, Co-production: Maria Stevnback Westergren – Toolbox, Adam Leibovitz – Flach Film Productions, Greece, Denmark, France
“Closure”Director: Michał Marczak, Production: Monika Braid – Braidmade Films, Poland
“Highways of Hope”Director: Alexa Bakony, Production: Gábor Osváth, Veronika Gál – Filmfabriq Ltd., Hungary
“Last Summer”Director: Jan Jurczak & Eleanora Iadkouskaya, Production: Frieder Schlaich – Filmgalerie 451, Germany
“Life on Pause”Director: Anthoniy Hristov, Production: Svetla Turnin – Documentary Media Foundation, Bulgaria
“Mama Klorin”Director: Doreida Xhogu, Production: Mina Dreki – Marni Films, Greece
“Memoirs of Jerusalem”Director: Kinda Kurdi, Production: Kinda Kurdi – K² Visual Media, Co-production: Brian Hill – Century Films Ltd, Jordan, U.K.
“Missing in Action”Director: Kateryna Holovko, Marharyta Melnychuk, Production: Aliona Kachkan – Tabor, Ukraine“My Aunties”Director: Hazal Hanquet, Production: Aslihan Altuğ, Anna Maria Aslanoğlu – Istos Film, Turkey
“Oh Heart, Don’t Be Afraid”Director: Ana Kvichidze, Production: Avtandil Khorava – Moonbow Production, Co-production: – Natalia Imaz – Parabellum films, Mariam Bitsadze – 17/07 Productions, Niko Mikadze – Murman Original Pictures, Georgia, Germany
“Resisting Residents”Director: Nikos Pilos, Production: Dafni Kalafati – Filmiki Productions, Greece
“Taken by the White Man”Director: Ana Sofia Fonseca, Production: Daniella Rice, Ana Sofia Fonseca – Carrossel Produções, Portugal
THE AGORA XR LAB PROJECTS“Bitxo”Creator: Lau Maquedano, Production: Alberto López Garrido – Lamola Studios, Valet Siv Manrique – Piragna Animación & Lau Maquedano, Co-production: Natxo Carrasco – HD Studio, Rubén Coca – Artyc Content, Spain, Colombia
“Imagine Farewell Station”Creator: Aristotelis Maragkos, Production: Konstantinos Koukoulis – Πlankton films, Co-creator: Dimitris Delinikolas, Co-production: Emptyfilm, Greece
“Murder Is Her Hobby”Creators: Emilie Valentin & Stella Jacob, Production: Arnaud Colinart & Oriane Hurard – Atlas V, Co-production: Clarens Grollmann – K5 Factory, France, Germany
“Solembia”Creator: Christos Bourantas, Greece
“Sourdough Tales”Creators: Danai Belosinof & Elia Kalogianni, Greece, The Netherlands
