23. August 2023 | redaktion2 We are pleased to announce the jury for the 6th edition of European Work in Progress Cologne (EWIP). Once again five renowned and highly experienced experts from the international film industry will evaluate the selected projects and attribute the different EWIPawards for which they compete. The members of the jury include: Michael Stütz is Head of Berlinale’s Panorama section since June 2019. Originally from Austria he studied Theatre, Film and Media at the Universität Wien and Freie Universität Berlin. After an internship for the TEDDY Award 2005, the queer film award of Berlinale, he became assistant to Wieland Speck, long standing head of the Panorama section. During that time Michael Stütz also worked for film productions at Studio Babelsberg. Furthermore he actively participates in a diverse range of international film festivals as panel speaker, curator and member of the jury (e.g. Guadalajara IFF, Thessaloniki IFF and CineLink Sarajevo IFF) and is also a guest lecturer at many universities. From 2011 to 2017 he was also co-head of the XPOSED Int. Queer Film Festival Berlin and in 2021 was called into the Jury of Wiener Filmfonds. Holger Stern is a long standing ZDF / ARTE commissioning editor and responsible for the co-production and acquisition of interesting movies. As of late he was co-producing the award winning films TRIANGLE OF SADNESS (2022) and HOLY SPIDER (2022). Furthermore Holger Stern, who studied at Freie Universität Berlin and Université Paris, directed a number of TV documentaries himself for Arte and 3sat. He also published articles in different media on a wide variety of subjects related to the film industry. Lorna Lee Torres is the Head of International Sales at Magnolia Pictures, where she leads foreign sales and oversees the development of the department. She has been with Magnolia since 2016. Prior to Magnolia, Lorna worked at Visit Films where she handled Sales and Marketing, and also worked for European telecom operator Orange, in their film division, Orange Studio. She began her international experience with stints at Unifrance in New York, the Festival de Cannes and FICCO in Mexico. She is French and American, and has a Master’s degree in Audiovisual Law and Business from the University of Pantheon Sorbonne. Reta Guetg is part of the Zurich Film Festival Team since 2016, currently as Head of Programme & Industry. She holds a Master of Arts in Film Studies «Netzwerk Cinema» from the Universities of Zurich and Lausanne. Reta is the CO-founder of the «shnit Foundation» and has overseen the artistic direction from 2005 until 2014. After its initiation in Switzerland, «shnit» has developed to become an international short film festival with a unique concept – a transnational film festival simultaneously taking place in multiple cities on five continents. She still takes an active part within film politics as president of the Bernese Film Association and as board member of Cinéville, that runs a two-screen cinema in Bern. Haixia Yu (aka Hattie) is a skilled Chinese film producer and talent manager, with a broad network spanning the US, Europe, Australia, South Korea, Japan and China. Her notable work includes films like “Out of Crimes” and “Reborn”,” and consulting for “The Hollywood Reporter” on Asia and France market strategies. She’s also an active participant in international film festivals, serving on the jury of the Sitges Film Festival 2017, among others. Up to 30 European co-productions will compete on the EWIP stage in Cologne and enter the race for the numerous awards and support. A total of 50,000 Euros in funding is at stake, which will be awarded by the partners of EWIP, namely K13 Studios, MMC Film & TV Studios, LAVAlabs Moving Images, Dolby, Gruvi, Way Film and mm filmpresse. The European Work in Progress (EWIP) will be organized in cooperation with AG Verleih – the German Association of independent film distributors and is significantly supported by the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, one of Europe’s leading film funding institutions. Since its first edition EWIP is held ahead of the Film Festival Cologne. Buyers, industry delegates and journalists will have the opportunity to get an overview of the latest and most exciting film projects in their late production stages.
