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SOFIA 2022 Sofia Meetings / Awards

The 19th edition of Sofia Meetings announces its award-winning projects

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- After the event celebrated its first physical edition in three years, a project from Latvia took home the main award, whilst other prizes went to Israeli-Georgian and Polish-Ukrainian co-pros

The 19th edition of Sofia Meetings announces its award-winning projects
l-r: Kaarle Aho, Ingrid Lill Høgtun, Marta Romanoa-Jekabsone, Estee Yacov-Mecklberg and Mira Staleva during the presentation of the Cinelab Romania Award

The 19th edition of Sofia Meetings wrapped up last week, after a two-year break from its in-person incarnation as a result of the pandemic. It ran from 9-12 June, with online activities starting on the 6th. The event showcases dozens of new film and television projects to an industry audience of producers, distributors, sales agents and programmers, with the projects selected largely deriving from South-Eastern Europe, at varying stages of financing. Another 26 projects were shown in a Works in Progress section.

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A jury consisting of three industry executives was responsible for doling out awards to the first set of projects: this consisted of Estee Yacov-Mecklberg, of Israel’s 2 Team-Productions; Kaarle Aho, of Finland’s Making Movies; and Ingrid Lill Hogtun, of Norway’s Barentsfilm.

The key award of €25,000, courtesy of Cinelab Romania and intended for post-production costs, went to Escape Net, the second feature by Latvian director Dzintars Dreibergs. Producer Marta Romanova-Jekabsone was on call to present the pitch for the project, which is about a sibling relationship split by the circumstances of the communist era in Riga. The sister joins the country’s successful basketball team in the hopes it will reunite her with her brother abroad. Dreibergs’ last feature was 2019’s Blizzard of Souls [+see also:
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, a great domestic and international success for the Latvian industry.

The Focusfox Award, courtesy of Hungary, went to As If You Were Never Here by Eti Tsicko, a co-production between Israel and Georgia. A prize of €10,000 will assist with post-production services, due to take place in Hungary, for the film, which focuses on a female Israeli defence lawyer who travels to Georgia, aiming to represent a migrant worker embroiled in a guardianship lawsuit for the child she had to leave behind.

Eastwest Film Distribution’s award, granting a script consultancy worth €5,000 with Irish-American script doctor Steven Goldsmith, went to Svitlana Topor’s No Smoking at the Border, taking place on trains between its two co-production territories of Ukraine and Poland, where a young woman observes the cigarette trafficking on the carriages.

The Young Producer Award from YAPIMLAB went to Slovenian filmmaker Darko Štante’s The Lost Son, with the Turkish organisation providing one week of project consultancy in Istanbul. The Mediterranean Film Institute presented a scholarship to director Andris Gauja for his tense drama The Collaborator, which takes place in Nazi-occupied Latvia.

Set to be announced at a later date are the Sofia Meetings projects picked to be showcased at the Crossroads Co-Production Forum, the Apulia Film Forum and the Producers Network at the Cannes Marché du Film.

Sofia Meetings will return to its regular dates next year, running between 23 and 26 March during the back half of the Sofia International Film Festival, itself taking place from 16-26 March 2023.

The full list of award winners is as follows:

Cinelab Romania Award
Escape Net - Dzintars Dreibergs (Latvia)
Producers: Dzintars Dreibergs, Inga Pranevska and Marta Romanova-Jekabsone (Kultfilma)

Focusfox Award
As If You Were Never Here - Eti Tsicko (Israel/Georgia)
Producer: Amir Harel (Lama Films)

Eastwest Filmdistribution Award
No Smoking at the Border - Svitlana Topor (Poland/Ukraine)
Producer: Vasyl Malko (Emily Production)

YAPIMLAB Young Producer Award
The Lost Son - Darko Štante (Slovenia)
Producers: Nina Robnik and Miha Černec (Staragara)

Mediterranean Film Institute Award
The Collaborator - Andris Gauja (Latvia/Lithuania)
Producers: Andris Gauja and Elza Gauja (Riverbed)

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