13/01/2022 - The Italian co-production forum has unveiled its picks for its sections targeting films at the post-production stage, the Slate Market and the Inspirational Labs

The “new generation” When East Meets West (WEMW) is ready to unspool from 24-28 January in a unique, hybrid format that will combine digital connections and real emotions for the first time. The Italian co-production forum, which is an integral part of the 33^rd Trieste Film Festival, is focusing on Russia, the UK, Ireland, Canada and the USA, with the Co-production Pitching Forum selection having already been announced in December (see the news). In addition, it has just unveiled the selection for its sections targeting films at the post-production stage.

The eighth edition of Last Stop Trieste (LST), the documentary work-in-progress platform run together with the Trieste Film Festival, will showcase six creative docs that were previously selected for one of the partner platforms: Ex Oriente Film, Docu Rough Cut Boutique, Balkan Discoveries, Baltic Sea Docs and ZagrebDox Pro. All films will be eligible for the HBO Europe Award, the Flow Digital Cinema Award and the First Hand Fund Distribution Award.

Organised for the fifth time (it is also the fifth year that WEMW and the Trieste Film Festival are running in partnership with the Milano Film Network), This is IT, the section exclusively dedicated to feature films produced or co-produced by Italian producers, includes two titles hailing from the WEMW 2022 spotlight territories, for the first time ever. A total of ten films – seven fiction titles and three documentaries – which are currently in the post-production phase, and are thus ready for their festival premieres or international distribution, will be presented.

Finally, WEMW has announced the five companies selected for the inaugural Slate Market & EAVE Consultancies programme. Furthermore, 44 participants from 27 countries – selected from among 112 applicants – are joining the all-new WEMW Inspirational Labs, run in collaboration with CEE Animation Workshop, ESoDoc, EUROVOD and the MIDPOINT Institute, and intended to stimulate producers and encourage them to differentiate their business models, discover new formats and explore new markets. The full list of participants can be found here.

Here is the list of the selected titles and companies participating in the WEMW sidebars:

Last Stop Trieste

Atonal Glow [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Alexander Koridze (Georgia)
Producer: Alexander Koridze

Body [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Petra Seliškar (Slovenia/Croatia/North Macedonia/France)
Producers: Tamara Babun, Petra Seliškar

Bottlemen [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nemanja Vojinović
film profile] - Nemanja Vojinović (Serbia/Croatia)
Producers: Marija Stojnić, Nemanja Vojinović

Diary of a Bride of Christ [+see also:
film review
interview: Marta Smerechynska
film profile] - Marta Smerechynska (Ukraine)
Producer: Natalia Libet

Fragile Memory [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Igor Ivanko
film profile] - Igor Ivanko (Ukraine/Slovakia)
Producers: Igor Ivanko, Maria Ponomarova, Alexandra Bratyshchenko

Too Close [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Botond Pusok (Romania)
Producer: Irina Malcea

This is IT

Il posto - A Steady Job [+see also:
film review
interview: Gianluca Matarrese and Matt…
film profile] - Gianluca Matarrese, Mattia Colombo (Italy/France)
Producer: Giovanni Donfrancesco

After the Bridge - Davide Rizzo, Marzia Toscano (Italy/France)
Producers: Adam Selo, Olga Torrico, Christie Molia

An Invisible Enemy - Riccardo Campagna, Federico Savonitto (Italy)
Producer: Federico Savonitto

Birth Year - Mikhail Mestetskiy (Russia)
Producers: Sergey Kornikhin, Simon Zakruzhniy

8 Days in August [+see also:
film review
interview: Samuel Perriard
film profile] - Samuel Perriard (Switzerland/Italy)
Producers: Martin Rattini, Sarah Born

It’s Raining - Mino Capuano (Italy)
Producers: Girolamo Capuano, Andrea Rosasco

The Man Without Guilt [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ivan Gergolet
film profile] - Ivan Gergolet (Slovenia/Italy/Croatia)
Producers: Miha Černec, Igor Prinčić, Boris T Matić

Margini [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Niccolò Falsetti
film profile] - Niccolò Falsetti (Italy)
Producers: Alessandro Amato, Luigi Chimienti, Manetti Bros

The Store - Amy-Ro Sköld (Sweden/Italy)
Producers: Francesca Portalupi, Lovisa Charlier

White Road - Ella Menzheeva (Russia)
Producers: Elena Glikman, Victoria Lupik

Slate Market

Achtung Panda! - Jamila Wenske (Germany)
Éclipse Film - Julianna Ugrin (Hungary)
Just a moment - Dagné Vildžiūnaitė (Lithuania)
Kinocompany - Ari Matikainen (Finland)
Tico Film Company - Sarah Pennacchi (Italy)

With the professionals, projects and works in progress selected for the different sections of WEMW, in partnership with ROSKINO, the British Film Institute, Telefilm Canada, SODEC, CMPA, Ontario Creates and Screen Ireland, a delegation from each country will be joining the “WEMW Universe” both physically and virtually.

WEMW is being organised once again by the FVG Audiovisual Fund in collaboration with the Trieste Film Festival, EAVE and Creative Europe Desk Italy, and thanks to the support of the Creative Europe – MEDIA programme, MIC-Direzione Generale per il Cinema, CEI – Central European Initiative, Film Center Serbia and the Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia.