16. September 2020  |   

This year’s edition is headed towards a new record number of submissions and EWIP award winners have successfully been launched in the international festival circuit.

The third edition of European Work in Progress Cologne (EWIP) promises to be a success again this year. The positive trend of the last two years continues as the projects submissions have not only become more numerous, but also more international.

The industry event is organised in cooperation with AG Verleih, the association of German independent film distributors, and takes place from 5 – 7 October, 2020 during the 30th Film Festival Cologne. The new location is the Cinenova cinema. European Work in Progress Cologne is mainly supported by the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, one of Europe’s leading film funding institutions.

“Established here three years ago, EWIP Cologne has far exceeded our expectations and has become a steppingstone for successful art house projects. The fact that the international, national and regional film industry perceives this in the same way, is represented by the large number and quality of this year’s submissions from all over the world. Our sincere best wishes for a particularly productive and successful edition 2020,” says Petra Müller, Managing Director of Film- und Medienstiftung NRW.

With 165 film projects, the number of submissions is higher than in previous years. Approximately 70 countries are involved in the projects. Reflecting the broad range of the projects, more than 100 feature films, several documentaries and animated films were entered to participate in this year’s industry event.

This overwhelming response illustrates that European Work in Progress Cologne has established its role as a networking platform. The opportunity to connect promising and international co-productions with top-flight industry representatives holds high prospects of strengthening the European film industry in the future.

Among this year’s guests are delegates from the renowned Cannes International Film Festival, Venice International Film Festival, Berlinale, Locarno Film Festival and the Tribeca Film Festival. The guest list features several world sales companies and film distributors, including The Match Factory from Cologne as well as Charades, BAC Films and Wild Bunch from Paris.

The winner films from 2019 have already created considerable festival buzz: The debut film NAKED ANIMALS, produced by CZAR Film (Germany), celebrated its world premiere at this year’s Berlinale in the ‘Encounters’ section, where it received a ‘Honorable Mention‘ as part of the ‘GWFF Best First Feature Award’. THE WHALER BOY, a co-production of Rock Films (Russia), Orka (Poland) and Man’s Films Productions (Belgium), is currently presented at the ‚Giornate degli autori‘ in Venice. The world sales company Loco Films (France) acquired the rights due to EWIP. MEMORY HOUSE, co-produced by Bossa Nova Films (Brazil) and Maneki Films (France), will premiere at this year’s San Sebastian Film Festival in the ‘New Directors’ section and later screened at the Toronto Film Festival in the ‘Discovery’ section. MEMORY HOUSE is also part of the ‘Cannes 2020 Official Selection’.

With their selection of award winners at the initial edition of EWIP 2018, the jury hit the mark as well: The international co-production MARTIN EDEN, produced by Avventurosa (Italy), Ibc Movie with Rai Cinema, Shellac Sud, Match Factory Productions, BR Bayerischer Rundfunk and ARTE (Germany), celebrated its premiere at the Venice Film Festival in 2019 and was screened at the Toronto International Film Festival in the same month. The film has received numerous nominations and awards. In Venice, the film was nominated for the ‘Golden Lion’, Luca Marinelli won the ‘Coppa Volpi’ as ‘Best Actor’ and Pietro Marcello was awarded the ‘ARCA Cinema Giovani Award’. The film was also successful in Toronto, where it received the ‘Platform Prize‘.

This year, 28 feature films and documentaries suitable for an international theatrical release have been chosen by the selection committee. The jury will once again acknowledge the best pitches with awards including post-production services and international festival publicity worth 37.500 Euros. Award-sponsors are K13 Studios, LAVAlabs Moving Images, ARRI Media as well as ZOOM Medienfabrik.

Once more, the jury is comprised of four top-representatives from the film industry. Triin Tramberg, programme coordinator and head of Creative Gate for Tallinn Black Nights Festival, has a special expertise in creative industry events. Leslie Chen, Senior Advisor of Blossoms Entertainment, Melanie Andernach, CEO and co-founder of MADE IN GERMANY Filmproduktion as well as Sebastian Lückel, head of acquisitions, co-productions and programming at ARD Degeto, complete the high-class EWIP jury of 2020.

Accreditation is open until 25 September 2020. The complete programme will be announced by end-September.

For participation a prior registration is required. The industry event will take place in compliance with the applicable rules of social distancing and hygiene standards.

Please find more information on the website: www.european-work-in-progress.eu.

For all your enquiries please do not hesitate and contact the team or the press agency.

CONTACT:

EUROPEAN WORK IN PROGRESS
Olimpia Pont Cháfer & Hen-Suk Jung
e-mail: contact@european-work-in-progress.eu

PRESS ENQUIRIES

ZOOM Medienfabrik GmbH
Felix Neunzerling & Pia Kasten 
Suarezstraße 62 | 14057 Berlin
e-mail: office@zoommedienfabrik.de
phone: +49 30 3150 6868