Ji.hlava Documentary Movie Pageant has revealed to Selection the tasks that the individuals of its 2023 Rising Producers program are engaged on. The producers had been requested to ship an elevator pitch for his or her tasks.
Yearly since 2010, the competition has chosen 18 up-and-coming producers of documentary movies (17 European and one representing a non-European visitor nation), that are then supplied with academic, networking and promotional assist.
Right here’s what they submitted:
“Goals at Sundown”Producers: Genovéva Petrovits, Kristóf Sólyom, Kino Alfa (Hungary)Director: Ibolya SimóGenre: Inventive documentary
Synopsis: Procrastination is a primary human trait. Usually we fail to do precisely what we would like as a result of we’re afraid we gained’t succeed. Transylvania’s impoverished villages are largely populated by the aged who’ve spent their whole lives in guide, agricultural and farm work. With the assistance of a social employee, motivated by solely good intentions, they are going to be introduced out of their consolation zone.
Pitch: We’ve got already seen aged individuals in documentary movies, however we now have not seen these dwelling among the many hidden mountains of Transylvania via the eyes of a younger filmmaker who was born and raised there after communism. The disturbing fact is that these individuals had been all through their life pushed, managed, and adopted others’ orders. However perhaps with the arrival of the top of their life, they’ve already learnt to say no and to do what they need.
“Past the Fold”Producers: Roisín Geraghty, Bronte Stahl, Night time Workers, Little Rose Movies (Eire, U.Ok.)Director: Ross McCleanGenre: Observational documentary
Synopsis: Ryan desires of his personal sheep farm following launch from a Northern Irish jail. However the challenges on the skin threaten to unravel his ambitions. Filmed on two sides of the jail partitions, the movie contemplates whether or not it’s inside Ryan’s energy to interrupt the cycle.
Pitch: Northern Irish cinema to today continues to undergo from the tyranny of the Troubles. “Past the Fold,” conversely, represents a person whose path is in some methods decided by the legacy of the Troubles, having grown up in Unionist social housing, a world rarely represented in cinema, via a direct observational strategy.
“Maintain Time for Me”Producers: Matheus Mello, Migranta Movies (Spain); Fradique (Angola); Laura Kloeckner, Seera Movies (Germany); Kamy Lara (Angola); WonderMaria (Portugal)Director: FradiqueGenre: Street film
Synopsis: When Luanda is sinking, a grieving younger state photographer is assigned to search out an eccentric overly-suspicious Cuban biologist who disappeared after she joined a secret expedition to discover a new capital for Angola, 30 years in the past.
Pitch: “Maintain Time for Me” is the second function movie by the thought-provoking Angolan filmmaker Fradique. On the street, two travellers burdened with grief share their recollections and unstated fears, igniting hope amidst an environmental disaster the place a metropolis turns into an island, mushrooms communicate, and vehicles remodel into boats within the desert.
“In Cod We Belief”Producers: Pasi Hakkio, Wacky Tie Movies (Finland), Benedikte Bredesen, f(x) produksjoner (Norway)Director: Guro Saniola BjerkGenre: Documentary
Synopsis: Within the 80s, rumors about Båtsjord as a fish-Klondike unfold. Since then, this tiny fishing village within the far north of Norway has attracted individuals from all around the world in quest of a greater life. These days Båtsfjord has solely 2,200 inhabitants, however greater than 30 totally different nationalities.
Pitch: The world is split into us and others. In Båtsjord, you should not have the chance to take action. A heat movie with heat characters. A movie lively. It’s deliberate to be prepared in late 2024.
“Mistérios”Producers: Rui Ribeiro and Sophie Barbara, Barca13/Insulares Filmes (Portugal)Director: Gonçalo TochaGenre: Documentary
Synopsis: Within the Azores Triangle, a territory comprised of three volcanic islands in the midst of the Atlantic Ocean, deeply rooted insular communities adapt to evolving modern challenges amidst mysterious and highly effective nature, seismic occasions, holy rituals and scientific analysis, seafarers and whales, previous and new settlers.
Pitch: Shot over 5 years on an nearly each day foundation, “Mistérios” marks the return of filmmaker Gonçalo Tocha to the Azores, the place he filmed the award-winning “It’s the Earth, Not the Moon” in 2011. On account of privileged entry to individuals, locations and occasions, coupled with a deeply immersive and private strategy, “Mistérios” encompasses a distinctive scope and scale.
“Making Associates With the Concept of a Father”Producers: Ralitsa Golemanova, Smarty Pants Shooter (Bulgaria)Director: Nikolay StefanovGenre: DocumentarySynopsis: Director Nikolay Stefanov seeks reconciliation with the previous via his investigation of the unsolved homicide of his father in 1994. However his conflict with present-day actuality in Japanese Europe reveals the urgent want for collective reconciliation with the area’s post-totalitarian legacy.
Pitch: Merging the non-public and the historic, the previous and the current, the movie tells an intimate story about fatherhood, dad and mom and kids, and shifting on from previous traumas. That is Nikolay Stefanov’s second documentary, after 2022’s “No Place for You in Our City” (CPH:DOX, and 25 plus festivals; 5 awards), and the second a part of his trilogy about his homeland.
“Trying to find Residence”Producers: Florent Coulon, VraiVrai Movies (France)Director: Dima Abou GhoushGenre: DocumentarySynopsis: Dima is a Palestinian filmmaker. She is pressured to maneuver right into a neighborhood run by the Israeli administration, the place her household has no residence allow. To be able to discover the problem of her identification, she decides to make a movie during which she recounts her personal life, looking out to know what it means “to be at house.”
Pitch: This challenge is an exploration of the idea of “house” immersed within the complicated Israeli-Palestinian battle. Dima’s journey via varied areas has a deep private and historic significance, shedding mild on Palestinian struggles. By way of private archives and animated sequences, this household road-movie emphasizes the significance of respecting human wants within the pursuit of a significant “house.”
“Dolce Far Niente”Producers: Rūta Adelė Jekentaitė, Baltic Productions (Lithuania)Director: Elena KairytėGenre: Documentary
Synopsis: Lora Guerra, the widow of famend scriptwriter Tonino Guerra, maintains her dedication to him: boldly preserving their house and his legacy towards the passage of time. This intimate documentary celebrates love’s endurance and ponders what stays after we’re gone. By way of touching, comedian and on a regular basis moments, the story delicately captures the battle of fading recollections.
Pitch: “Dolce Far Niente” is a compelling and intimately profound exploration of affection’s enduring essence. Director Elena Kairytė skilfully employs the observational technique for this cinematic journey. The movie delves into the challenges and victories of preserving recollections and legacy, providing common themes, heartfelt moments, and nostalgic undertones. It guarantees to deeply resonate with audiences, igniting a strong emotional connection.
“Complete Eclipse”Producers: Andrijana Sofranić Šućur, Set Sail Movies (Serbia)Director: Marija StojnićGenre: Animated documentary
Synopsis: “Complete Eclipse” tells a narrative of the bizarre reception of the entire photo voltaic eclipse of 1999 in Yugoslavia, as skilled by atypical individuals shortly after the bombing of the nation within the spring of that yr. Emergency measures had been launched to guard the inhabitants from the dangerous results of the eclipse, resulting in a national lockdown.
Pitch: On this brief, animated documentary, the director reconstructs the eclipse of ‘99 by juxtaposing elusive recollections of the witnesses with surreal TV archival footage. This sometimes humorous movie is a cautionary story concerning the penalties that come up when collective trauma and susceptibility to media manipulation collide.
“Up within the Air”Producer: Oksana Syhareva (Ukraine)Director: Oksana SyharevaGenre: Documentary
Synopsis: Younger Ukrainian circus acrobats develop their abilities and efficiency up within the air. First, a century-old circus constructing, and native authorities officers problem the trail to their desires. Now the warfare has taken away their house they usually have set off on a journey to inform the world about themselves.
Pitch: In my documentary, the values and worlds of three generations of Ukrainian circus artists collide. The older technology honors Soviet values, whereas the youthful technology desires to create a brand new world. The warfare lastly divided these worlds. Learn how to discover the bottom underneath the toes of the youngest amongst them?
“Parallel Polis”Producer: Tereza Tokárová, CinePunkt (Slovakia)Director: Martin PigaGenre: Documentary
Synopsis: In a quickly evolving world, Pavol and Marianna reject the restrictions of the established order. By way of parallel buildings, lifehacking and borderless freedom, they problem societal norms and limitless potentialities of our time. The query is how the system works on this planet of anarchists?
Pitch: “Parallel Polis” is a documentary exploring the lives of digital-era fanatics. Director Martin Piga presents their “sci-fi” actuality with an intimate, long-term observational strategy. This documentary invitations viewers to query societal conventions and affords a glimpse of a distinct lifestyle via sturdy protagonists on this thought-provoking journey.
“The Magic Metropolis – Birmingham In line with Solar Ra”Producers: Beata Saboova and Vincent Metzinger, Naoko Movies (Belgium); Sophie de Hijes and Nicolas Lesoult, Les Movies de la Butte (France)Administrators: Guillaume Maupin and Pablo GuariseGenre: Documentary
Synopsis: Herman Poole Blount, later often known as Solar Ra, born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1914, turned a legendary jazz musician and the founding father of an odd cosmic philosophy. The “Magic Metropolis” impressed his mystical considering and music. The movie portrays Solar Ra’s early years, depicting town’s political and magical essence.
Pitch: This distinctive movie explores the early years of one of many main musical figures of the twentieth century and showcases Birmingham as a metropolis on the crossroads of music and political histories. Mixing documentary and fiction, it affords a compelling portrait via playful and creative storytelling involving Birmingham’s communities.
“The Cloud Manufacturing unit”Producers: Mareike Wegener, Hannes Lang, Petrolio Movie (Germany) in co-production with Arte/La LucarneDirector: Hannes LangGenre: Documentary brief
Synopsis: “The Cloud Manufacturing unit” is an experimental exploration of the sky above the commercial panorama of the Rhenish coal mining area, the place emission-enriched air plenty ascend into the environment to remodel the local weather. What can these anthropogenic clouds inform us about our future? And how much castles can we construct on this air?
Pitch: “The Cloud Manufacturing unit” makes an attempt to seize our current, this decisive second in time, during which decarbonization and unfavourable emissions would possibly nonetheless be capable of put an finish to international warming. With its distinctive inventive strategy, the movie seeks to ponder the way forward for humanity and the connection to our habitat in a singular place that stands in for the bigger international scenario.
“Insurance coverage In opposition to Meteorites”Producers: Kasia Kuczyńska, Haka Movies (Poland)Director: Natalia ŚliwowskaGenre: Documentary/private true crime
Synopsis: Since her brother died in a mysterious automotive accident, Natalia grew up underneath the load of her mom’s obsession along with his unresolved dying. Twenty years later Natalia decides to seek for the reality to finish the frozen state of mourning that her household has been caught in ever since.
Pitch: Utilizing daring and stunning instruments, we discover the influence of unprocessed grief on the lifetime of the entire household. Following totally different threads, from in depth proof, via reapproaching the witnesses, and at last searching for solutions inside the religious world, the director will try to provide closure to her family members and herself.
“Backyard of Goals”Producers: Hana Blaha Šilarová, Body Movies (Czech Republic)Director: Marta Zveibil HrubáGenre: Documentary
Synopsis: Capturing 4 seasons of the yr at a neighborhood backyard, the movie exhibits the conflict between the previous and the brand new. Whereas the senior gardeners have been engaged on their tons for many years, new gardeners have appeared lately, bringing approaches akin to neighborhood gardening and extra ecological strategies.
Pitch: “Backyard of Goals” exhibits a ardour for gardening and illustrates the generational divide within the strategy to it. The director is an enthusiastic gardener herself and explores our potentialities of coexisting with nature in an city context. We wish to create a feel-good movie, inviting the viewers to our inexperienced oasis.
“Learn how to Repair Your self”Producers: Gints Grūbe and Inese Boka-Grūbe, Mistrus Media (Latvia)Manufacturing supervisor: Anete RuperteDirector: Armands ZačsGenre: Documentary
Synopsis: The movie “Learn how to Repair Your self” portrays the technology of its director, a despair and anxiety-prone man in his thirties: the battle of self-preservation and being socially accepted, intergenerational relationships and particular person tragedies.
Pitch: “Learn how to Repair Your self” stands out by specializing in the current battle. It not solely highlights the problem but additionally exhibits that we’re resisting it and that there are methods to battle towards it.
