The 7th CEE Animation Forum (formerly Visegrad Animation Forum), Central and Eastern Europe’s rapidly growing pitch competition and co-production event, will showcase 33 projects in development in three categories: short film, series/TV specials and feature films. These selections hail from across the region, lead by Czech Republic with six projects, followed by Hungary with three. Poland, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia and Romania each have two, and Slovenia, Latvia and Ukraine are also represented.
The 2019 Forum is set for May 6-8, as part of the Anifilm International Festival of Animated Film.
After the successful first edition of the feature films pitching competition, the organizers decided to open a regular call for this category.
“Receiving many feature animated film entries to this year’s call is a confirmation to us that the animation industry in the region and in the E.U. has a bright future as the level of the quality of projects in development is quite high. We intend to support all of the projects in pitchings, including feature projects, with a boost towards building international coproductions, pre-sales and promotion to access international markets,” said Matija Šturm, Executive Director of CEE Animation.
The winning feature project of the CEE Animation Forum 2018 was Of Unwanted Things and People, which was recently presented at Cartoon Movie and received the Eurimages Development Co-Production Award.
This year, the CEE Animation Forum has selected several promising projects from experienced filmmakers such as Czech directors Michaela Pavlátová (Tram, 2012) and Martin Kotík (Harvie and the Magic Museum, 2017). Several creators make a return visit to the pitching competition this year, such as Hungarian director Iván Tamás, after having received a special mention at VAF Třeboň 2015 for his animated series How the World Began, and Slovenian director Timon Leder, who created the successful short film The Weasel (VAF Třeboň 2014 special mention).
FEATURE FILMS IN DEVELOPMENT:
Allah Is Not Obliged (d. Zaven Najjar, p. Sébastien Onomo; France)
Babu in the Night City (d. Petr Vodička, p. Radim Procházka; Czech Republic)
The Guardian of Legends (d. Tomek Niedzwiedz, Waldek Mordarski, p. Magdalena Rawa, Tomasz Paziewski; Poland)
My Sunny Maad (d. Michaela Pavlátová, p. Kateřina Černá, Petr Oukropec; Ron Dyens, Peter Badač; Czech Republic, France, Slovakia)
Pearl (d. & p. Martin Kotík; Czech Republic)
Piece (d. Alan Holly, p. Ciarán Deeney, Carla Vulipiani; Ireland)
Sidi Kaba and the Gateway Home (d. Rony Hotin, p. Sébastien Onomo; France)
Solo Lobo (d. Zoltán Miklósy, Attila Herkó, p. Éva Konrád; Hungary)
SERIES / TV SPECIALS FILMS IN DEVELOPMENT:
The Brownies (d. Jordan Brankovski Zoltán Miklósy, p. Lachezar Velinov, Alexandra Lopez-Koleva; Bulgaria)
The Cat Princess (d. Iván Tamás, p. Bálint Gelley; Hungary) *
Grandma’s Pond (d. Friedrich Schäper, p. Ivan Zuber, Antoine Liétout, Friedrich Schäper; Germany) *
Kosmix (d. Klára Jůzová, Vojtěch Dudek, p. Martin Jůza; Czech Republic)
Move It or Lose It (d. Raffaele Compagnoni, p. Federico Riboldazzi; Italy)
Some of Us (d. Matan Rochlitz, Jean-Charles Mbotti Malolo, p. Laurent Duret; France, Italy)
Street Pack (d. & p. Matěj Holub; Slovakia)
The Very Hairy Alphabet (d. Eliza Plocieniak-Alvarez, p. Laura Messner; Germany)
The Wind Over Aleppo (d. Agnieszka Sadurska, p. Maria Deskur; Poland) *
* TV Special
SHORT FILMS IN DEVELOPMENT:
Amok (d. Balázs Turai, p. Gábor Osváth, Péter Benjámin Lukács; Hungary)
Butterfly on the Hook (d. Valeria Cozzarini, p. Remigio Guadagnini; Italy)
Family Portrait (d. Lea Vidaković, p. Draško Ivezić; Croatia)
The Goose (d. & p. Jan Míka; Czech Republic)
Money and Happiness (d. Ana Nedeljkovic, Nikola Majdak Jr., p. Jelena Mitrovic; Serbia)
Mouse House (d. Timon Leder, p. Jure Vizjak, Polona Kumelj; Slovenia)
Paolo´s Happiness (d. Thorsten Droessler, p. Grit Wisskirchen; Germany)
Playing God (d. Matteo Burani, p. Giancarlo Grande; France)
Raft (d. Marko Meštrović, p. Mia Bučević; Croatia)
Where To (d. Asparuh Petrov, p. Vessela Dantcheva; Bulgaria)
Selected creators will have the opportunity to consult with participating experts and receive feedback on improving their presentations, scripts or production strategies. Competition projects have the chance to find a co-production partner by presenting to nearly 200 film professionals, including producers, TV programmers, festival directors, distributors, investors or national film fund representatives.
As the last session of the CEE Animation Workshop is being organized alongside the Forum, several “wild card” projects from the program will also get to present in front of an audience:
FEATURE FILMS:
Gentle Jaco (d. Anthony Ho Wong, David Toušek, s. Hana Lehečková p. Marek Toušek; Czech Republic)
Twice Upon a Time (d. Vojin Vasovic, p. Vojin Vasovic, Milorad Kocić; Serbia)
SERIES:
Summer Kingdom (d. Roman Kepkalo, p. Yana Palamarenko; Ukraine)
SHORT FILMS:
Grandpa Is Sleeping (d. Matei Branea, p. Helga Fodorean; Romania)
Letter to Milena (d. Zane Oborenko, p. Sabine Andersone; Latvia)
Viskovitz (d. Serghei Chiviriga, p. Ioana Lascar; Romania)
CEE Animation is supported by the Creative Europe – MEDIA Program of the European Union and co-funded by state funds and foundations and professional organizations from the Czech Republic (ASAF, Association of Czech Animation), Hungary (MOME ANIM, Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design, Budapest), Poland (SPPA, Polish Animation Producers Association), Slovakia (APAF, Slovak Association of Animated Film Producers) and Slovenia (DSAF, Slovenian Animated Film Association).
Learn more at ceeanimation.eu.
