In just a week’s time, the European Short Pitch (ESP) development workshop will commence. Its twelve selected projects participating in its upcoming ESP 2022|23 has been revealed on their website.
ESP’s 16th edition, under the direction of Julie Marnay (Head of Programme) and Olga Lamontanara (Head of Coproduction Forum), celebrates its mentorship programme that supports emerging European talent.
The team is incredibly proud of the 2022|23 development line-up, which covers a broad representation of European countries from East to West. This year, they’ve also expanded their presence beyond the continent, with participants strongly connected to Europe but coming from as far away as South Africa, Australia, and Canada. This year’s selection reflects a variety of thematic approaches and genres ranging from drama to comedy, romance, and dystopia, tackling topics such as minorities in modern society and youth awakening. In tow with its previous editions, 83% of all selected projects have a female director or co-director.
Since 2019, Région Bretagne (France) has been a part of the programme, and this year’s Coproduction Forum will again be taking place in partnership with the Travelling Film Festival in Rennes. European Short Pitch also offers a stage for Breton talent, and we are happy to have a project from the region participate.
Thirteen European countries are represented in the twelve selected projects, which include 10 live-action fiction and 2 animations:
- Bloom by Tamara Broćić, produced by Lucha / Jovana Jovicic – Serbia
- Boyfriend by Leesa Ulanova-Wilson and Braden Wilson, produced by Alexandra Film / Marianne Ostrat – Estonia
- Eraserhead in a Knitted Shopping Bag by Liliya Kosseva, produced by Portokal / Vanya Rainova – Bulgaria
- Gusto Gusto by Marja Bål Nango and Ingir Bål Nango, produced by Máigon Film / Marja Bål Nango – Norway
- Husky by Lana Bregar, produced by Staragara / Nina Robnik – Slovenia
- I Curse You With All the Love In My Body by Carmen Baltzar, produced by Kenno Filmi Osk / Danai Anagnostou – Finland
- Last Night of the Year by Ivana Hucíková, produced by Kraft / Monika Kraft – Slovakia
- Robert (the Robot) by Aaron Lucas, produced by Black Boat Pictures / Valentin Le Blanc – Germany / France / Belgium
- Sang de Bou by Claudia Munuera, produced by Fractal 7 / Marc Guanyabens Pous – Spain
- Siblings by Jessica Laurent, produced by Sun Creature France / Charlotte de la Gournerie – France (Focus Brittany)
- Sleep Leap by Eirini Vianelli, produced by Heretic Films / Danae Spathara – Greece
- Vultures by Dian Weys, produced by Electronic Roof Films / Le Roux Fourie – Netherlands / South Africa
Under the guidance of a team of script consultants, the participants will soon embark on the development of their projects. The ESP tutors for this year will include Romanian filmmaker and playwright ESP alumna Andreea Bortun, who, as well as enjoying international recognition on the festival circuit as a writer and director (Cannes Quinzaine des Réalisateurs, Toronto, Karlovy Vary), is also the co-founder of the Pustnik Screenwriters Residency; Berlin-based Britta Krause, a freelance script consultant with a professional background in writing, directing and editing as well as extensive experience as a scriptwriting tutor (Semaine de la Critique’s Next Step, the Doha Film Institute, TorinoFilmLab, Nipkow Programm, Attagirl (BFI) and Full Circle Lab); Stockholm and Tallinn-based Bangladeshi Nayeem Mahbub, former participant of Berlinale Short Form Station, Less is More and European Short Pitch, with a background in film and video editing (Swedish comedy series Streams (SVT)), Nayeem is now working as a script consultant and lastly, French producer and scriptwriter Emilie Dubois. With her experience in producing more than 40 short films, the associate and Head of Development at Insolence Productions will share valuable insights into production with all participants.
The first portion of the programme, a development workshop, is from 14-18 November 2022. The objective is to improve scripts and prepare them for presentation to people in the industry with authority.
Winter will bring an expanded film selection, including 2 to 4 work-in-progress films. One of the films is Swiss and was selected in partnership with the Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur.
After initial sessions, participants will have further consultations on the script, sales, and distribution. The last step is the Coproduction Forum from 9-10 February 2023 (onsite) & 13-15 February online (dates TBC). There will be a final pitch and 1:1 meetings with industry professionals. The Coproduction Forum format is hybrid, both online and onsite, during the Festival Travelling in Rennes.
About European Short Pitch(ESP)
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 coproduction and collaboration between industry professionals from all over Europe.
European Short Pitch combines mentoring on short film development with a pitching and networking event named Coproduction 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 career and were screened at festivals such as Cannes, Berlinale, Locarno, Sundance or IFFR…