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SARAJEVO 2020 CineLink Industry Days / Awards

Srđan Vuletić’s The Otter wins the Eurimages Award at CineLink

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- The industry section of the 26th Sarajevo Film Festival has handed out its awards

Srđan Vuletić’s The Otter wins the Eurimages Award at CineLink
Director Srđan Vuletić

The CineLink Industry Days, the Sarajevo Film Festival’s industry section, which ran online from 15-20 August, has handed out its awards. The CineLink Co-Production Market jury, comprising Sehad Čekić (Film Centre of Montenegro), Georges Goldenstern (Cinéfondation), Behrooz Hashemian (Silkroad Production), Elena Kotová (Eurimages), Annamaria Lodato (ARTE France Cinéma), and Gordan Matić (Film Center Serbia), decided to present Bosnian filmmaker Srđan Vuletić with the €20,000 Eurimages Co-production Development Award for his project The Otter.

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Written by Montenegrin novelist Stefan Bošković, the film is a coming-of-age story about a shy sixteen-year-old girl, Hana, who believes that she is having the best day of her life as the boy she’s secretly in love with, YouTube star Mario, invites her on an excursion to shoot a video. However, on that day, Hana’s father dies. The Otter is produced by Ivan Đurović for the Montenegrin independent production company Artikulacija Film.

The Film Center Montenegro CineLink Award, worth €10,000, was bestowed upon the Serbian project Spite, from documentarian and second-time fiction writer-director Andrijana Stojković (The Box). Produced by Mirko Bojović for BaBoon Production, the film follows a Bosnian war veteran fighting to gain custody of his daughter by having an exemplary life, but his past haunts him and is materialised in Basset, the ghost of a Syrian man.

The sophomore feature project Supporting Role, by Georgian writer-director Ana Urushadze (Scary Mother [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ana Urushadze
film profile
]
), snagged the Film Center Serbia CineLink Award, worth €10,000. The story focuses on a retired film star, who was known for his heroic leads and now goes to a casting for a young director’s debut feature, where he is offered the supporting role of an unpleasant old man who eventually commits suicide. Written by Urushadze, the project is produced by Davit Tsintsadze for Georgia’s Zaza Films, in co-production with Ivo Felt, of Tallinn-based Allfilm.

The Artekino International Prize, worth €6,000, went to Turkish project Suddenly by Melisa Önel (Seaburners), and follows 40-year-old Reyhan, who has lost her sense of smell and decides to change her life. She vanishes without notice and leaves her body behind, becoming invisible in order to find herself again. Written by Feride Çiçekoğlu and the director, the project is being produced by Alara Hamamcıoğlu of Vigo Film.

Finally, the EAVE+ Scholarship went to Greek producer Vasilis Chrysanthopoulos, of PLAYS2PLACE, who was participating in CineLink with Neritan Zinxhiria’s debut feature The Gospel According to Kimon.

In the CineLink Drama section for TV series in development, the jury comprising Cia Edström (TV Drama Vision - Göteborg Film Festival), Nebojša Taraba (Drugi Plan), and director Miroslav Terzić, have picked Black Delta by Romanian creative Dragos Bucur and Sofia Bucur as the winner of the Croatian Audiovisual Center Drama Award. The series follows a teenager who, while she investigates a boy’s disappearance with her father, uncovers a religious order, mythical beings and some of her own family’s secrets. The series is produced by Cristian Nicolescu for Digital Cube.

Moreover, crime-drama series The Abyss by Marjan Alčevski and produced by Siniša Juričić for Zagreb-based Nukleus Film, has won the TV Drama Vision Pitch Award and will be presented at TV Drama Vision in Göteborg next year.

Here is the complete list of prizewinners:

CineLink Co-Production Market awards

Eurimages Co-production Development Award

The Otter – Stefan Bošković (Montenegro)
Writer: Stefan Bošković
Producer: Ivan Đurović (Artikulacija Film)

Film Center Montenegro CineLink Award

Spite – Andrijana Stojković (Serbia)
Writer: Andrijana Stojković
Producer: Mirko Bojović (BaBoon Production)

Film Center Serbia CineLink Award

Supporting Role – Ana Urushadze (Georgia/Estonia)
Writer: Ana Urushadze
Producer: Davit Tsintsadze (Zaza Films)
Co-producer: Ivo Felt (Allfilm)

Artekino International Prize

Suddenly – Melisa Önel (Turkey)
Writers: Feride Çiçekoğlu, Sofia Georg Melisa Önel
Producer: Alara Hamamcıoğlu (Vigo Film)

EAVE + Award

Vasilis Chrysanthopoulos – The Gospel According to Kimon (PLAYS2PLACE, Greece)

Work in Progress awards

TRT Award
Ulbolsyn – Adilkhan Yerzhanov (Kazakhstan/France)
Producer: Olga Khlasheva (Short Bothers)
Co-producer: Guillaume de Seille (Arizona Productions)

Post Republic Award
Vera Dreams of the Sea [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kaltrina Krasniqi
film profile
]
– Kaltrina Krasniqi (Kosovo/North Macedonia/Albania)
Producer: Shkumbin Istref (Isstra Creative Factory)
Coproducers: Ognen Antov (Dream Factory), Dionis Papadhimitri (Papadhimitri Film Production

CineLink Iridium Award
Moon, 66 Questions [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jacqueline Lentzou
film profile
]
– Jacqueline Lentzou (Greece/France)
Producer: Fenia Cossovitsa (Blonde)
Co-producer: Fiorella Moretti (Luxbox Films)

CineLink Drama awards

Croatian Audiovisual Center Drama Award
Black Delta – Dragos Bucur, Sofia Bucur (Romania)
Producer: Cristian Nicolescu (Digital Cube)

TV Drama Vision Pitch Award
The Abyss – Marjan Alčevski (Hungary)
Producer: Siniša Juričić (Nukleus Film)

Pack & Pitch Talents Sarajevo

CineLink Award

Affricata – Anna Gyimesi (Hungary)

Post-production Services from Studio Chelia
No Elephant in the Room – Clara Kleininger (Romania)

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