Last night, the Visions du Réel initiative at the Nyon International Film Festival in Switzerland (12-21/04/2024) awarded its very first Eurimages Co-Production Development Award of €20,000 to the project THE LAST DAYS OF THE HOSPITAL by Mehran Tamadon.  This feature-length documentary will be produced by Delphine Morel of TS Productions (France) and Elena Tatti of Box Productions in Switzerland. The jury for the award, presented in the framework of VdR-Industry, was made up of Susana Santos Rodrigues (IndieLisboa Film Festival, Portugal), Swiss producer Vadim Jendreyko (Mira Film) and Eleni Chandrinou for Eurimages (Greece). It chose to reward a project that is both challenging and urgent, in which the director immerses the audience in a world beyond the comfort zone, using an unconventional approach that questions audience perceptions of people living in a mental health institution.

On a proposal by the Eurimages Fund and as part of its special measures to support the Ukrainian film industry, the same jury decided to award a Special Co-production Development Award also of 20,000 euros to a Ukrainian project entitled FIXING THE WAR.  This documentary will be directed by Vadym Ilkov and Clare Stronge and produced by the Ukrainian company Moon Man in co-operation with the Irish company Plainsong Films. The jury was impressed by this European co-production that is intimate, raw and authentic, and will go behind the curtain of news creation to show the people that really make it happen. The film gives a key to understanding how the media function in the 21st century – from the trenches of war to the making of news.

All the winners can be found on the event website.

The next Eurimages Co-production Development Award will be awarded for the first time as part of the Eastern Promises initiative organised by the Karlovy Vary  International Film Festival (CZ), which will take place from 28 June to 6 July 2024. 

11.03.2024 - Last week, the Eurimages Co-Production Development Award (20,000 euros) presented as part of Cartoon Movie (5-7 March 2024, Bordeaux) went to PESTA by Hanne Berkaak. The project will be produced by Mikrofilm (NO), in co-operation with Xilam Films (FR) and Knudsen Pictures (DE).

The jury, made up of Gaetano Maiorino (True Colors, IT), Martin Gondre (Best Friend Forever, BE) and Eleni Chandrinou (GR) for Eurimages, chose to reward a predominantly female co-production proposing an artistically daring and ambitious project about an unlikely love story set in Norway during the Black Death (more information on the event website).

20.02.2024 - Sunday night, the first Eurimages Co-production Development Award (€20,000) of the new 2024-2026 cycle presented at the Berlinale Co-Production Market went to the project SCREAMING GIRL to be directed by Antonio Lukich and produced by the Ukrainian company ForeFilms.

The jury composed of producer Uljana Kim (Studio Uljana Kim, Lithuania), international sales agent Oscar Alonso (Latido Film, Spain) and Emma Scott (Screen Ireland) for Eurimages, chose to reward this European co-production for its “fresh take on the life of a refugee through a unique satirical lens; it reflects the absurdity of existence in describing the main character’s tragi-comic journey towards a new reality.”

More information on the event’s website.