22/02/2021 - The 12th edition of the specialised training programme for the development of European-Latin American projects is aiming to welcome 15 professionals this year

The leading training programme for developing European-Latin American co-productions, EAVE PUENTES, is getting ready for its 12^th edition, which will run between June and December this year and is seeking new participants, who should apply by 28 February (click here to apply).

The core focus of the workshop is the development of feature-film projects by experienced Latin American and European producers, with ten of them due to make the final selection. European applicants should demonstrate a clear involvement with Latin America, and vice versa. Furthermore, other European professionals – sales agents, financiers, distributors, festival programmers and co-production market representatives – who are interested in collaborating and working with Latin America, or producers without a project, can also apply, and four or five of them will be able to join the group.

Kristina Trapp, EAVE CEO, explains: “For over a decade, PUENTES has been successfully bringing together producers from Europe and Latin America. In the meantime, it has established itself as the place to go when you want to work on something involving Europe and Latin America. The results are impressive: 69% of PUENTES projects that get made secure an international sales agent and 85% get successful festival exposure. In addition, numerous long-term co-production relationships between our participants are created each year.”

EAVE PUENTES is split into two workshops. The first part will run in late June in South Tyrol (Italy), and it is organised in partnership with IDM Alto Adige, with the support of the FVG Audiovisual Fund and MiBACT (Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities). Later this year, in November or December, the second workshop will travel to Uruguay, in partnership with Mutante Cine, with the support of ICAU (Instituto de Cine y Audiovisual de Uruguay), Egeda and Montevideo Socio Audiovisual. Furthermore, the participants will be invited to attend Ventana Sur after the second workshop, thanks to a special partnership, thus enriching their connections and collaborations in the region.

PUENTES creates a safe space for discussion and the exchange of experiences, where the participants can share challenges and tips from their industries and communicate with colleagues from other regions. Also, the selected projects will serve as real-life case studies, and the workshop will follow their development cycles. For the second year, producer and co-production specialist Fernanda del Nido (A Fantastic Woman [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]) is the head of studies, while among the experts are producers and EAVE graduates Jean des Forêts and Agustina Chiarino as group leaders, and Jacques Akchoti as script consultant. They will be joined by guest experts from both Europe and Latin America.

Some of the recent films that have participated in EAVE PUENTES as projects include Maternal [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Maura Delpero
film profile] by Maura Delpero, produced by Alessandro Amato (Disparte, Italy) and Campo Cine (Argentina); Our Mothers [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Cesar Diaz
film profile] by César Diaz, produced by Géraldine Sprimont (Need Productions, Belgium), Perspective Films (France) and Cine Conception (Guatemala); Death Will Come and Shall Have Your Eyes [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by José Luis Torres Leiva, produced by Campo Cine (Argentina), Globo Rojo (Chile), Constanza Sanz Palacios Films (Argentina) and Autentika Films (Germany); Killing the Dead by Hugo Gimenez, produced by Gabriela Sabaté (Sabaté Films, Paraguay), Zona Audiovisual (Argentina), Altamar Films (France) and Pandora Film (Germany); and August [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Armando Capó, produced by Marcela Esquivel Jiménez (La Feria Producciones, Costa Rica), Paraiso Production Diffusion (France) and D’Safia Producciones (Cuba). Also, two projects are currently in post-production: Clara Sola by Nathalie Álvarez, produced by Nima Yousefi (Hobab, Sweden) and Géraldine Sprimont (Need Productions, Belgium); and Lily and the Dragonflies by René Guerra, produced by Juliana Vicente (Preta Portê, Brazil).

The PUENTES workshop is made possible with the support of the European Union's Creative Europe - MEDIA programme and IBERMEDIA, and with the recognition of Italy's Directorate-General for Cinema of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities.