21. October 2024 | redaktion2 This years 7th edition of the well established industry event European Work in Progress Cologne(EWIP) came to a successful end with the award ceremony on the evening of October 16th 2024. During the two EWIP days, over 250 top-class colleagues from the European film industry (world sales, distribution, festivals, production, financing and marketing) met to look out for the most promising film projects of the coming months and to exchange ideas. The independent jury of renowned and highly experienced experts – Heino Deckert (Ma.ja.de. Filmproduktions GmbH), Priscila Miranda (film producer / independent film distributor Fenix), Sophie Stejskal (Filmladen Filmverleih), Urte Fink(ZDF/ARTE), Paul Ridd (Festival Director Edinburgh International Film) – decided among the 29 international film projects presented and awarded prizes worth almost a total of €60,000. A grant awarded together with long-standing and new award sponsors and partners: TorinoFilmLab, K13 Studios, MMC Film & TV Studios Cologne, LAVAlabs Moving Images, Gruvi, Way Film, mm filmpresse and usheru. For the past seven years, the Cinenova cinema has traditionally served as the perfect EWIP venue for the pitches and meetings as well as panel discussions and case studies held in cooperation with the Creative Europe Desk NRW, the Creative Europe Desks Germany and the International Film Distribution Summit – IFDS. This year’s EWIP guests included curators from Cannes (Semaine de la Critique and Quinzaine des Cinéastes), Berlinale, Venice, Karlovy Vary, Locarno, Tribeca, BFI London Film Festival, Filmfest Hamburg and Les Arcs. They were joined by some of the most important international and European sales agents, including Alphaviolet, Be for Films, Coproduction Office, Films Boutique, New Europe Films Sales, Totem Films and many more. High-profile guests from the film distribution also came to Cologne. The high density of influential industry representatives is one of EWIP’s greatest strengths. It offers creative minds in the fields of directing and production the opportunity to network with financing and distribution partners in the shortest possible time. EWIP is significantly supported by the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, one of the leading film funding institutions in Europe, the Creative Europe MEDIA programme of the European Union and the City of Cologne. It is thanks to the support of the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW that EWIP could be launched and has been able to establish itself in the European film industry over the past seven years. The firmly established industry event also takes place in co-operation with the Film Festival Cologne, KölnBusiness as well as the Creative Europe Desks Germany and the International Film Distribution Summit – IFDS. Since its beginnings, EWIP has taken place in the run-up to the Film Festival Cologne. Please find all the award winners and the jury’s statements here: European Work in Progress K13 Studios Award Voucher worth €10,000 for Dolby Atmos mixing SEA OF GLASS (Thalassa apo gyali) Director: Alexis Alexiou / Crime Thriller / 125 Minutes / Greece, Bulgaria, Cyprus / Spring 2025 Production: Afroditi Nikolaidou, Elina Psykou, Alexis Alexiou (Tugo Tugo Productions) A story of violence and how it is passed from men onto the earth; a story about two women who, stuck in a run-down off-season seaside resort, come together to confront the past, family stereotypes, and the closed provincial community. Jury statement: Goes to a film that the team itself describes as a mixture of The Postman Always Rings Twice and Thelma & Louise. European Work in Progress K13 Studios Award Voucher worth €5,000 for synchronisation TRUTH OR DARE Director: Maja Classen / Documentary Experimental, Gender & Sexuality / 75 Minutes / Germany / April 2025 Production: Saralisa Volm (Poison GmbH) An exploration of desire in the queer sex positive party scene in Berlin, in times when the spaces for it seemed possibly lost forever. Jury statement: Talking about sex and boundaries is an important conversation to be had – now more than ever. We give this award to TRUTH OR DARE for being brave enough to have this conversation. European Work in Progress MMC Studios Award Voucher worth €10,000 MADE IN EU Director: Stephan Kommandarev / Social Drama / 110 Minutes / Bulgaria, Germany, Czech Republic / 2025 Production: Stephan Komandarev, Katya Trichkova (Argo Film) When small town factory worker Iva is revealed to be the first case of covid in rural Bulgaria, albeit not having left her town in years, she is faced with an entire community turned against her. As the death toll rises, her demonization spirals into a rabbit hole of revelations on the factory’s exploitation, the capitalization of Bulgaria and the machinery driving Europe itself. Jury statement: During Covid many few filmmakers thought about the cinematic potential of this global phenomenon. But this project touched us in the way new. European Work in Progress MMC Studios Award Voucher worth €5,000 for stage and room hire ŻEJTUNE Director: Alex Camilleri / Musical / 103 Minutes / Malta, Germany, Qatar / 2025 Production: Alex Camilleri, Oliver Mallia (Solari Productions Ltd., Pelikola Ltd.) Mar, a young woman, is determined to claim her family inheritance and leave the small island of Malta behind for good. But an encounter with Nenu, an elderly troubadour, introduces her to the mesmerising art of Maltese folk singing, tempting her to rediscover a love for the countryshe wishes to escape. Jury statement: Searching the frame, searching the voice, searching the home instead of leaving. The relationship between generations and cultures left us intrigued to see more of Mar and Nenu. European Work in Progress LAVAlabs Moving Images Award Voucher worth €10,000 for visual effects LOST LAND Director: Akio Fujimoto / Drama / 100 Minutes / Japan, France, Germany, Malaysia / March 2025 Production: Christian Jilka, Kazutaka Watanabe (Scarlet Visions GmbH, E.x.N K.K.) Shafi and his sister Somira, two young Rohingyas, undertake a dangerous journey from their refugee camp in Bangladesh on their way to Malaysia, in the hope of being reunited with their family. Jury statement: The image of two children crafting a ladder to catch bananas touched our hearts immediately. Offering us a window into a global humanitarian issue with intimacy & empathy. European Work In Progress TorinoFilmLab Audience Design Award Two meetings with a TFL expert to develop a marketing and sales strategy MINIMALS IN A TITANIC WORLD (presented in the frame of FOCUS ON AFRICA) Director: Mbabazi Sharangabo Philbert Aimé / Drama / 79 Minutes / Rwanda, Germany, Cameroon / Early 2025 Production: Ishimwe Samuel (Imitana Productions) After The mysterious death of the young Serge, his girl friend and best friend have to deal with the grief, which bonds them together. Jury statement: This project struck us with its vivid sense of place and time, mood of sombre beauty & sense of a social harmony generated by shared grief. European Work in Progress mm filmpresse Award Voucher worth € 7,500 for international festival press work TRUCK MAMA (presented in the frame of FOCUS ON AFRICA) Director: Zipporah Nyaruri / Documentary / 80 Minutes / Kenya, South Africa, The Netherlands / 2025 Production: Zipporah Nyaruri (Visual Asili c/o Zippy Creatives) Driving a 20t truck on East Africa’s notorious highway, also known as the ‘Devil’s Highway’, a mother’s guarded freedom faces an ultimate test when she gives birth to her youngest child. Jury statement: A woman driving her truck whilst racing her family struck us as a potent symbol of all woman in the world. European Work in Progress Gruvi Award Voucher worth €5,000 for marketing ad technology (audience analysis, landing page design, GDS report) BALEARIC Director: Ion de Sosa / Fantasy-Drama / 75 Minutes / Spain, France / Spring 2025 Production: Marina Perales Marhuenda, Xavier Rocher (La Fabrica Nocturna Cinéma) Three ferocious dogs keep a group of young people prisoners in a pool belonging to a luxurious house they have sneaked into, while neighbors gather at a party in a villa nearby to celebrate the start of summer. It’s St John’s Eve, a favourable day for magic. Jury statement: We were very impressed by this project’s strikingly odd visuals, elaborate concept & merging of genres into something that surely promises intrigue, sly commentary and a truly cinematic experience. European Work in Progress Way Film Translation Award Voucher for subtitling worth €4,000 A USEFUL GHOST (Pee Chai Dai Ka) Director: Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke / Dark Fantasy-Comedy / 124 Minutes / Thailand, France, Singapore / 2025 Production: Cattleya Paosrijaroen, Soros Sukhum (185 Films Co., Ltd.) Worried about her husband being allergic to dust, Nat, a recently-dead woman, returns as a ghost possessing a vacuum cleaner to clean the house and protect her family from other vengeful ghosts in the house. To become a useful ghost, she needs to get rid of the useless ones. Jury statement: Grief can take many shapes or forms. It can sometimes even be useful. We give this award to a film that gives dusty ghost stories a new spin. European Work in Progress usheru Award Voucher worth €5,000 to build a premium discovery web platform to showcase the winning film to the industry and build an audience. THE BADGERS (Grevlingene) Director: Paul Magnus Lundø / Family-Adventure / 90 Minutes / Norway / February 2025 Production: David L. Leader (73 Eyes Film Production) A spirited orphan boy revolts against his hyper-woke foster mother to realize his dream of becoming a skilled Scout, like his deceased father. Jury statement: Goes to a children’s film that we found cute and old fashioned in an endearing way.
