The 2022-2023 edition of the European Short Pitch finished last week in Rennes.
European Short Pitch, initiated by NISI MASA – European Network of Young Cinema, is an annual program aimed at discovering and supporting young European talents in the development of their short films, and fostering co-production and collaboration between industry professionals from all over Europe. European Short Pitch combines mentoring on short film development with a pitching and networking event, the Co-production Forum. Since its creation in 2007, European Short Pitch has accompanied over 300 scriptwriters and directors in the development of their projects. Many of those short films had a successful run and were screened at festivals such as Cannes, Berlinale, Locarno, Sundance or IFFR.
The Co-production Forum is an international pitching and networking event aimed at promoting short film projects, works-in-progress and talents taking part in the annual edition of European Short Pitch.
The line-up of the 2022-23 edition, held in partnership with the Travelling Film Festival, included twelve projects in development, mentored by ESP’s tutors and consultants during its annual development workshop, as well as four works-in-progress, also benefiting from tailor-made editing and distributing consulting.
In November 2022, the respective creative teams behind the selected projects in development got to work at the Development Workshop. The first WIP project was subsequently confirmed in December, selected in partnership with Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur and will be accompanied by three additional European projects in post-production.
Projects
- Bloom by Tamara Broćić (Serbia)
- Boyfriend by Leesa Ulanova-Wilson & Braden Wilson (Estonia)
- Raserhead in a Knitted Shopping Bag by Lili Koss (Bulgaria/France)
- Gusto Gusto by Marja Bål Nango (Norway)
- Husky by Lana Bregar (Slovenia)
- Last Night of the Year by Ivana Hucíková (Slovakia)
- Ox Blood by Clàudia Munuera (Spain)
- Robert [The Robot] by Aaron Lucas (Germany/France/Belgium)
- Sajbija by Carmen Baltzar (Finland)
- Siblings by Jessica Laurent (France)
- The Unrelieved Weight of an Inert Mass by Eirini Vianelli (Greece)
- Vultures by Dian Weys (Netherlands/South Africa)
Works-In-Progress
- Honeymoon by Alkis Papastathopoulos (Greece/Cyprus)
- One Day Something (Terrible) Is Going to Happen by Dalija Dozet (Croatia)
- Place the Sun Sets; The West by Amin Zouiten (Sweden/Morocco)
- Scales Fell from their Eyes by Coline Confort (Switzerland)
The tutors and consultants were script tutors Andreea Borțun (Romania), Britta Krause (Germany) and Nayeem Mahbub (Bangladesh/Sweden), production consultant Émilie Dubois (France), editing consultant Cătalin Cristuțiu (Romania), distribution consultant Christina Demetriou (UK/Germany) and pitching consultant Licia Eminenti (Italy/France)
This edition’s jury was made up of Ukrainian producer Aleksandra Kostina from Bosonfilm, head of International Relations at Le Groupe Ouest Camille Ferrero and film curator, lecturer and the co-head of the film department at Geneva University of Art and Design (HEAD) and part of the artistic committee at Locarno Film Festival (Open Doors) and Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur (among others) Delphine Jeanneret.
Awards 2022-2023
European Short Pitch Award granted by Région Bretagne (aimed at the 12 projects and awarded by the European Short Pitch Jury) – €3.000 development grant: Bloom by Tamara Broćić (Serbia)
Music & Cinema Award (aimed at the 12 projects and 4 works in progress): Boyfriend by Leesa Ulanova-Wilson & Braden Wilson (Estonia)
Participation rights and invitation to the European Market for Film Music Composition “3rd Character” organized by the International Festival Music & Cinema Marseille
Distribution Award – Radiator IP Sales (aimed at the 12 projects and 4 works in progress): Place the Sun Sets; The West by Amin Zouiten (Sweden/Morocco)
Consultation on distribution and promotion strategy provided by Radiator IP Sales (Belgium)
Mastering-in-kind Award – The Pack (aimed at the 4 works in progress): Honeymoon by Alkis Papastathopoulos (Greece/Cyprus)
DCP mastering and 4K upscaling offered by post-production company The Pack (Belgium)
Photo credits: ESP.
