First Cut+ 2021
First Cut+ Jury
Michael Arnon
Born and raised in San Francisco, CA, Michael studied political science, French literature, media and culture in Berkeley and Paris. Michael worked for Paris-based sales agents Celluloid Dreams, Le Pacte and Coproduction Office before partnering with Gordon Spragg and Laurin Dietrich at WOLF. Launched in early 2010, WOLF is a Berlin-based boutique PR and marketing firm specialised in helping filmmakers effectively communicate and achieve their vision. WOLF’s approach encompasses the entire production cycle: from overcoming initial obstacles to getting a new project noticed to preparing completed films for launch at major international film festivals.
Esra Demirkiran
Esra Demirkiran is Festival Coordinator at TRT Cinema (TRT is Turkey’s public broadcaster). She is a coordinator of 12 Punto, Turkey’s largest script development and co-production platform for Turkish and international feature films. For almost a decade, she worked as a news editor and executive-produced several flagship programs and documentaries for Turkey’s Haberturk news network. Prior to her journalism experience, Esra was the Board President and Co-Director of NISI MASA, a Paris based European cinema network. In the past, besides working as a film critic and festival-distribution consultant for award winning Turkish feature films, she has contributed to the planning and organization of various Turkey-based film festivals such as the Festival on Wheels and Istanbul. She studied Sociology at the Middle East Technical University and holds an MA degree in Film & TV from Istanbul Bilgi University.
Laurin Dietrich
Laurin Dietrich studied Cultural Anthropology, Literature and Communication in Berlin and Paris and worked for Paris-based international sales agent Celluloid Dreams in sales and acquisitions before partnering with Gordon Spragg and Michael Arnon at WOLF. Launched in early 2010, WOLF is a Berlin-based boutique PR and marketing firm specialised in helping filmmakers effectively communicate and achieve their vision. WOLF’s approach encompasses the entire production cycle: from overcoming initial obstacles to getting a new project noticed to preparing completed films for launch at major international film festivals.
Alexis Hamaide
Alexis Hamaide worked as Marketing Manager for the Paris-based international sales agency Playtime (ex-Films Distribution) between 2012 and 2019. He supervised the international marketing strategies for A-list festival films such as François Ozon’s By the Grace of God, 120 BPM (Robin Campillo) and Son of Saul (Laszlo Nemes) among others. In October 2019, Alexis teamed up with Viviana Andriani and Gabriele De Bortoli to set up L’Avventura Studio, a digital creative agency specialized in arthouse films. Alexis holds a master’s degree in Cultural Management from Paris-Dauphine (2018), a Story Development certificate from UCLA and a Master of Arts in Media and Communications from Goldsmiths (London).
Boris Pugnet
When I was a student I ran a small art house cinema near Paris for Village Roadshow, and then started to work in a multiplex for Pathé. After that I worked for an independent distribution company as head of theatrical sales, then for three years in the marketing department of SND (Twilight, The Hurt Locker, etc). I worked for five years as the head of marketing of Le pacte, an independent distributor (Moretti, Kore Eda, Jarmusch, etc). Since 2017, I’ve worked as a marketing consultant and trailer editor for both independent and major companies such as Art-House, Condor, Rouge Distribution, Fox, Pathé, etc. I also run masterclasses and marketing workshops for Esis, Ina, Femis, Eave (Luxemburg), CEEA Trebon Animation Film Festival (Czech Republic), and the Namur International Film Festival (Belgium).
Federico Spoletti
Born and raised in Italy, Federico Spoletti is co-founder and Managing Director of SUB-TI, an international subtitling company based in London, which provides audiovisual translation services all over the world. SUB-TI works with more than 40 languages and focuses especially on subtitling for international film festivals. Amongst SUB-TI’s clients are the Venice Film Festival, the Zurich Film Festival, the British Film Institute (BFI) in London, or the MoMA in New York.
Federico is also co-founder of SUB-TI ACCESS, a company involved in cultural accessibility for the hearing and visually impaired, specializing in subtitles for the deaf and audio description for the blind.
In 2011, Federico Spoletti launched FRED Film Radio - The Festival Insider. FRED is a web-based radio network which boasts 29 channels, broadcasting in 25 languages, with thematic channels dedicated to specific cinema content such as film education and the film industry. A media partner of many film festivals around the globe, FRED Film Radio was awarded a European grant within the Creative Europe framework for “FRED at School”, a project aiming to promote film literacy among secondary school students throughout Europe.
The Hatcher
Matecznik
This film is director's feature debut.
Film synopsis
After being released from a juvenile detention centre, Karol lives alone in an apartment. Tracked by an ankle bracelet, Karol cannot leave and has no contact with the outside world. A woman, Marta, arrives every day to take care of him and help him re-adjust to normal life. Marta makes sure that Karol is obeying the rules and learning to be a better person. But, as the relationship between them deepens, Marta’s lessons grow increasingly unconventional, and Karol begins to wonder who is taking care of who.
Director’s filmography
Grzegorz Mołda - born in Włoszczowa in 1993, lives in Warsaw, Poland. He left his studies in cultural anthropology in Cracow in order to begin his education at film directing school in Gdynia. His diploma film Time To Go premiered at the 70th Festival de Cannes, Short Films Competition. The film was shown at many other international festivals. The Hatcher is his first feature film. In 2019, he took part in the TFL Script Lab with the feature film project Only Lola.
Producer’s filmography
Izabela Igel is an EAVE and Wajda School graduate and film producer with a background in television and advertising production, and has worked for some of Poland's top companies (TVN, Endemol Neovision); she moved on to focus on film marketing (distribution and festivals) before joining Alter Ego Pictures (production company) in 2011. In 2016, she opened her own company Harine Films. Her first feature Floating Skyscrapers directed by Tomasz Wasilewski premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and went on to win the top prize in the East of the West competition at Karlovy Vary IFF, as well as a number of awards for best film, best director and best actor at film festivals in Poland and abroad. Izabela also serves as a trainer for several institutions: Story Lab, Wajda School, and Full Circle Lab
Author’s statement
The idea for The Hatcher was born while reflecting on parenting and education. I was wondering what it really meant to "educate someone" in terms of family, or even in a broader social context – how systems and authorities "educate" us as citizens. I wanted to take a look at this by telling an intimate story of human relationships.
Contact / Presenters
Harine Films
Sobieskiego 112/66, 00-764, Warsaw, Poland
Email: [email protected]
Izabela Igel | Producer
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: +48 501 338 454
Grzegorz Mołda | Director
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: +48 501 338 454
A Hope
Bir Umut
Film synopsis
Umut, a stage actor trying to break into film, lives with his wife Asiye, a director at their theatre company. One day, his estranged mother, whom he has not seen in 20 years, suddenly shows up in the city for treatment of her serious illness. While Umut tries to keep his mother's visit and his troubled past hidden from Asiye, he soon learns Asiye has been keeping an even bigger secret from him.
Director’s filmography
Ümit Köreken was born in Turkey. He wrote and directed the Turkish-German co-production feature film Blue Bicycle. The film participated in more than thirty national and international film festivals, including the Berlin Film Festival, and won many awards including Best Film and Best Director. He is married and has two children. Completed Films: 2021 A Hope / Feature Film / Director Turkish German Slovenia TRT Co-Production, 2019 Muhammed Ali / Documentary / Co-Director Turkish German Co-Production 2016 Blue Bicycle / Feature Film / Director Turkish German Qatar TRT Co-Production 66th Berlinale Generation Section 53rd Antalya International Film Festival Best Film, Best Director and Best Script
Producer’s filmography
Nursen Çetin Köreken was born in Bulgaria. She studied Turkish Language and Literature and Tourism and Hotel Management at university. She continues to study a master's degree in film design. She wrote and produced the Turkish-German co-production feature film Blue Bicycle. The film participated in more than thirty national and international film festivals, including the Berlin Film Festival, winning many awards, including Best Film. Completed Films: 2021 A Hope / Feature Film / Producer Turkish German Slovenian TRT Co-Production 2019, Muhammed Ali / Documentary / Co-Director Turkish German Co-Production 2016 Blue Bicycle / Feature Film / Producer Turkish German Qatari TRT Co-Production, 66th Berlinale Generation Section, 53rd Antalya International Film Festival Best Film, Best Director and Best Script
Author’s statement
A Hope is a coming-of-age story. The emotions of people in their adulthood are shaped by the pain, sadness, resentments, happiness and hopes they experience in their childhood. I aimed to establish a structure that would leave the judgement of the current condition of modern man, “who has formed ideas”, up to the viewer. The story takes place in a high tempo with strong tension from the first scene to the last. This tempo is achieved through the use of an over-the-shoulder camera that breaths and follows the characters step by step. The film, on a scale of 1:85:1, will bring the audience and the characters closer to each other. A modern and practical lighting setup supporting this form was used. The musical universe of the movie also has a structure that corresponds to the dynamics of the character and story.
Contact / Presenters
Drama Yapım Film Medya
Mecidiyekoy Mah. Cemal Sahir Sok. No:29/27, 34390, Istanbul, Turkey
Email: [email protected]
www www.dramayapim.com
Nursen Çetin Köreken | Producer
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: +905 434 764 534
Ümit Köreken | Director
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: +905 434 764 566
Metamorphoses
Metamorfoze
This film is director's feature debut.
Film synopsis
In the heat of a summer day, door-to-door vacuum saleswoman Draginja discovers a dead body that resembles her.
In the heat of a summer day, a midwife called Draginja hires a fake husband and borrows a baby from the maternity ward to show off in front of her old friends.
In the heat of a summer day, Draginja roams the city streets befriending anyone she encounters, hoping to recover her lost memory.
In the heat of a summer day, through three different life possibilities, a middle-aged woman tries to shed her skin.
Director’s filmography
Dušan Zorić and Matija Gluščević studied film directing at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade. Their films have been screened at a great number of international festivals, winning several awards. Dušan's documentary Love had its world premiere at Visions du Réel in 2017 and was also selected for Sarajevo Film Festival, among others. His latest short Foreign Body (2018) had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival (Orizzonti). Matija's documentary Utopia (2016) was screened at Pula FF and Belgrade Documentary and Short FF. His short fiction Loop had its world premiere at the 70th Locarno Film Festival.
Producer’s filmography
Non-Aligned Films is a Belgrade-based production company that has produced Ognjen Glavonić’s Zivan Makes a Punk Festival (Cinéma du Réel) and Stefan Ivancić’s shorts 1973 (Visions du Réel) and Moonless Summer (Cannes-Cinéfondation). The company’s filmography includes Ognjen Glavonić’s Depth Two (Berlinale-Forum) and The Load (Cannes Quinzaine des réalisateurs), and the co-production by Ivan Salatić You Have the Night (Venice Film Festival, Critics' Week).
Author’s statement
The question of identity is an important one for every person, but it’s often a terrible and painful experience. The very idea of confronting oneself seems frightening. The answer to the question of ‘who are we?’ and ‘what can we be?’ is largely influenced by the perception others have of us, and thus how we experience ourselves. Overcoming these limitations means being free. The journey of exploring within ourselves is the path of heroes, and that’s why Draginja eventually becomes one. Metamorphoses is not only a film about changing but also about accepting and re-establishing oneself. Draginja metamorphoses into her fullness by accepting everything she can be.
Contact / Presenters
Non-Aligned Films
Valjevska 8, 26 000, Pančevo, Serbia
Email: [email protected]
www https://nonalignedfilms.com
Dinaridi Film
Radnički dol 21, HR-10000, Zagreb, Croatia
Email: [email protected]
www dinaridi.com
Čarna Vučinić | Producer
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: +381 693 341 503
Narcosis
Narcosis
This film is director's feature debut.
Film synopsis
When a beloved husband and father disappears, his wife (Thekla Reuten) – who can communicate with the spirit world – and her two children each cope with the loss in their own peculiar way.
Director’s filmography
Martijn is a writer and director. He graduated with honors from the Willem de Kooning Academy in 2004 and later decided to study at the Dutch Film Academy. He has won advertising awards such as Spinawards, ADCN Awards, VCP Kodak Award, Esprix, and a Cannes Lion. Martijn specializes in realistic films dealing with the small inconveniences in life.
Free (2014) - 50 min - Grand Prix & Best Directing Nice, Best Short Oldenburg
Stand-By Me (2013) - short - Official Dutch Submission for the Academy Awards
Producer’s filmography
Trent studied Economics and Philosophy before he graduated from the Dutch film academy in 1997. In 2005, he began to produce independently, working with enthusiastic, nice and skilled people to make emotional, special and layered films in a collaborative manner. So far OAK has produced over 15 feature films and many shorts.
Holiday (2018) - co-producer - competition in Sundance, winner New Horizons, The Wound/Inxeba (2017) - co-producer - competition at Sundance, Berlin and longlisted for Oscar Best Foreign feature film, Hold On (2016) - Best short at Tribeca and Huesca, Villegas (2012) - co-producer - Official Selection Cannes, Hunting & Sons (2010) Official Selection NDNF New York, BFI London, Sao Paulo, Can Go Through Skin (2009) - FORUM Berlinale, Ingmar Bergman Debut Award
Author’s statement
Narcosis is about a mother and her two children, who have to find life again after the loss of their husband and father. He goes diving in one of the deepest underwater caves in the world, never to surface again. We follow the broken family a year after this loss and see how they also try to keep themselves from drowning. Although they have to deal with grief and loss, the film strives towards hope and light.
This contrast will give the film a melancholic touch. We will bring this feeling to life in the acting, locations, colours and imagery of the camerawork, but also in the music and life of the characters.
Contact / Presenters
OAK Motion Pictures
Jacob van Lennepkade 334P, 1053NJ, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Email: [email protected]
www oakmotionpictures.com
Trent | Producer
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: +624 607 869
Martijn de Jong | Director
Email: [email protected]
A Piece of Sky
Drii Winter
This film has sales company attached.
Film synopsis
In a remote mountain village, the young love between Anna and Marco is put to a severe test. As a result of a brain tumour, Marco increasingly loses his impulse control. In the tense relationship between the village community and the effects of Marco’s illness, Anna tries to preserve a love that in the end even outshines death.
Director’s filmography
Michael Koch graduated from the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne, Germany. He wrote and directed several successful short films including Poolside, which premiered in the Competition at Locarno 2006, We Are the Faithful, which won the Canal+ Prize at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival 2006, and Polar, which received Special Mention at Berlinale 2009 and won the German Camera Award as well as the German Short Film Award 2009. Michael’s debut feature film Marija had its world premiere in the Competition at Locarno 2016. The film was screened at several festivals such as Toronto, Busan, Angers and Gothenburg, winning numerous national and international prizes.
Producer’s filmography
Since 2002, Christof Neracher has produced over 30 narrative and documentary films including the award-winning features Aloys (Berlinale 2016 / FIPRESCI Award), Chrieg (Max Ophüls Award / 2014), Harry Dean Stanton - Partly Fiction (Venice, 2012), Pepperminta (Sundance /2010) and Vitus (Shortlist Academy Awards / Best Foreign Language Film, 2007). As a creative, finance and hands-on producer, he has worked closely with filmmakers including Pipilotti Rist, Fredi M. Murer, Dani Levy and Tobias Noelle. Currently, Christof Neracher is producing A Piece of Sky, Michael Kochs’ second feature Film, Jill by Steven Hayes, starring Tom Pelphrey and Juliet Rylance, and the Docufiction Fever Dream by Tobias Nölle.
Author’s statement
The first impulse to work on A Piece of Sky came from an encounter with a young woman in a remote mountain village. She told me about her very own way of dealing with her husband's illness and death. I had the feeling that her inner peace and her connection with nature made her react to the challenge of fate differently than we might expect. She spoke about her belief in the cycle of nature. And I think her ability to understand illness and ultimately death as part of a natural cycle enabled her to follow the path she chose. I spent months and years with the local mountain people. It became very clear to me that they should embody all their characters themselves. With their own bodies as well as their own thoughts and destinies, they had a decisive influence on the film.
Contact / Presenters
Hugofilm Features GmbH
Zypressenstrasse 76, 8004, Zürich, Switzerland
Email: [email protected]
www www.hugofilm.ch
New Europe Film Sales
Puławska 152/5, 02-670, Warsaw, Poland
Email: [email protected]
www www.neweuropefilmsales.com
Christof Neracher | Producer
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: +41 794 377 518
Michael Koch | Director
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: +491 784 236 866
Power
Moc
Film synopsis
On the border of two Central European countries, a young boy is killed in a hunting accident. Steiner, an intelligence agent, is brought in to investigate. But when the facts of the case point to a prominent politician about to be elected to a major international post, Steiner realises his job is to hush up the crime, not to solve it. As Steiner searches for someone to take the fall for the politician, the boy’s parents and a crusading journalist continue searching for the truth. From a small town in the middle of nowhere, Steiner’s investigation will take him to the very heart of political power and its deepest moral dilemmas. What is worth sacrificing for the greater good?
Director’s filmography
Mátyás Prikler - Born in Bratislava in 1982, Mátyás Prikler graduated from the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava, where he studied film direction under the guidance of Stanislav Párnický. Between 2005 and 2006, he studied at the Hungarian Film Academy in Budapest, where he attended classes by János Szász and Attila Janisch. His short film Fine, Thanks (2009) was screened within the Cinéfondation section at the 2010 Cannes International Film Festival. His first feature-length movie Fine, Thanks premiered at IFF Rotterdam in January 2013. Together with producing partner Zora Jaurová, he also produces feature and documentary films (MPhilms).
Producer’s filmography
Zora Jaurová holds an MA degree in theatre and has worked as a dramaturge and critic and later in EU affairs and diplomacy. For several years, she was the vice-president of Culture Action Europe. She was the co-author and director of Kosice – European Capital of Culture 2013. She is the President of the Slovak Creative Industry Forum – national platform for creative industries. Zora Jaurová works as a producing partner in MPhilms, and her first feature film Slovakia 2.0 was released in 2014. Since 2015, she has been a member of the prestigious producers’ network ACE (Atelier de Cinema Europeen). Together with Mátyás Prikler, she produced the TV series Ex-Prime Ministers (2018), and co-produced Wild Roots (2021) by Hajni Kis, which will be released at IFF Karlovy Vary 2021.
Author’s statement
The film Power is a drama that plays with genre features – mainly the political thriller and detective story. Through the tale of a mortal accident involving a high-level politician and the following efforts to investigate it – or rather to hush it up – the film reveals the machinery of political power and its self-preservation, but also asks questions about the real identity of political figures and the stories behind their public faces. Each of our main characters is trying to find the truth about what really happened. But whose story is really true?
Contact / Presenters
MPhilms
Horná 5, 831 52, Bratislava, Slovakia
Email: [email protected]
www www.mphilms.sk
Zora Jaurová | Producer
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: +421 910 947 491
Mátyás Prikler | Director
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: +421 904 674 408
Upurga
Upurga
This film is director's feature debut.
Film synopsis
Andrejs is an adventure guide who is afraid of real adventures. But that’s exactly what he gets when his sister, an influencer, goes missing in the valley of a wild river together with a vegan sausage advertising crew. Facing the ancient forces of nature, Andrejs’ deepest anxieties awaken as he engages in a futile search that pushes his body and mind to the extreme. During his journey, the young man meets various locals, such as a silent cabbage fermenter or a weird brotherhood of hunters who speak a language completely of their own. They are the protectors of a wondrous natural phenomena, haunting and beautiful at the same time. Andrejs doesn’t know that every path in this strange forest leads exactly to the thing you’re looking for - but to find it, you first have to get lost.
Director’s filmography
Uģis Olte is a Latvian director / editor who enjoys staying playful when dealing with serious subjects. He is equipped with the senses of a musician and convinced that dreams, myths and fairy-tales can be useful tools for telling any story. He has created numerous original TV documentary formats, filmed a bunch of weird music videos and also three short fiction films (The Red Spot, KK2678 and King Of The Wild Things). His efforts in the documentary genre have resulted in three feature length films - Stuck in Stikine (2007), Double Aliens (2015) and Liberation Day (2016, co-directed with Morten Traavik).
Producer’s filmography
Uldis Cekulis created the independent production company VFS FILMS 22 years ago. In 2007, he was named among the seven filmmakers to receive the International Trailblazer award at MIPDOC in Cannes. He has worked on almost 50 creative documentaries and author-driven prime time TV docu-series both as a producer and sometimes as a cameraman. Most of his produced films have travelled around the world, and many have received prestigious awards, such as the Shanghai IFF Golden Goblet (Bridges of Time by Audrius Stonys and Kristine Briede) or the Karlovy Vary IFF Crystal Globe (Immortal, by Ksenia Okhapkina). His coproduced Italian-Latvian docu-feature The Rossellinis by Alessandro Rossellini premiered at the 77th Venice IFF.
Author’s statement
I grew up in the Latvian countryside, and once I found myself desperately lost in a forest that I thought I knew like the back of my hand. I had to beg a gang of wild boars to leave me alone after accidentally stepping into their lair. And once I almost drowned twice in one day in a creek that was only a foot deep. I want to tell the story of a young man’s initiation by facing the ancient forces of nature. It's a story that deals with elements that I know by heart. The viewer gets seated on the shoulder of our main protagonist Andrejs and follows his wandering viewpoint as he delves deeper and deeper into a mystery that is much bigger than himself. The film's tone attempts to forge opposing elements into one amalgam as it meanders from menacing dread to quirky humour, from believable realism to mythological dreamscapes.
Contact / Presenters
VFS Films
Lapu iela 17, LV1002, Riga, Latvia
Email: [email protected]
www vfs.lv
Uģis Olte | Director
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: +371 26 480 909
Uldis Cekulis | Producer
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: +371 29 298 077
Sergejs Timonins | Local Cinema Distributor (Latvia)
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: +371 25 912 995
Valeria Gets Married
Valeria Mithatenet
This film has sales company attached.
Film synopsis
Christina is a Ukrainian bride who marries an older Israeli man. Her younger sister Valeria is arriving today to meet her own Israeli husband and is supposed to follow in her older sister's footsteps.
But Valeria is struggling with her decision, forcing both sisters to reconsider the choices they have made.
Director’s filmography
Blush (San Sebastian, Karlovy Vary)
Producer’s filmography
Tel-Aviv on Fire (Venice FF), Paradise Now (Golden Globe winner, Oscar nominee), Jellyfish (Camera d'Or), Walk on Water (Berlin FF), James' Journey to Jerusalem (Cannes FF)
Author’s statement
I asked myself time and again why I was so fascinated by the men and women who willingly participate in such an “arrangement”. I have come to realize that my interest has mostly to do with how these relationships serve as a mirror for all committed relationships between a man and a woman, whether married or not. The arrangement between a Ukrainian bride and Israeli groom may fall on the extreme end of the relationship scale, but at the core of many relationships there is a financial component that creates a hierarchy or imbalance. In this film, I take a microscopic look at the meaning of choice in a world where no real choice exists.
Contact / Presenters
Lama Films
22 sderot chen, 6416603, Tel-Aviv, Israel
Email: [email protected]
www www.lamafilms.com
m-appeal world sales UG
Prinzessinnenstr. 16, 10969, Berlin, Germany
Email: [email protected]
www www.m-appeal.com
Ayelet Kait | Producer
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: +972 545 679 367
Amir Harel | Producer
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: +544 708 295
Michal Vinik | Director
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: +972 546 643 007
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