19/08/2022 - New works by Thanassis Neofotistos, Dina Duma and Marysia Nikitiuk lead the list of winners of this year's edition of Sarajevo's professional platform

The winners of this year's CineLink Co-Production Market

This year’s edition of CineLink Co-Production Market presented 12 feature projects currently in development and financing from up and coming filmmakers from South-East Europe that have already gained some notoriety with their documentary and short projects. The projects were presented to more than 150 producers, funders and sales agents from more than 30 countries. The amount of 76.000 € in cash and services was offered through awards.

The Eurimages Co-Production Development Award, decided by a jury consisting of Inke Van Loocke (International Film Festival Rotterdam), Klaudia Śmieja-Rostworowska (Madants), Nino Kirtadze (Georgian National Film Centre) and Anne Christine Knoth (Council of Europe – Eurimages), went to Thanassis Neofotistos’ project The Boy With the Light Blue Eyes, which is described as “a coming of age queer Greek tragedy”. The project was awarded €20,000. In the same category, the Eurimages Special Co-Production Development Award went to Marysia Nikitiuk’s project Cherry Blossoms which deals with the post-traumatic state in which the heroes who survived the Russian-Ukrainian War meet the heroine from Bosnia who survived the war in the 1990s.

The film centres of Serbia and Montenegro also gave their awards decided by the shared jury whose members were Gordan Matić from the Film Center Serbia, Aleksandra Božović from the Film Centre of Montenegro, Berhooz Hashemian of Silkroad Production and Čedomir Kolar of A.S.A.P. Films. The Film Center Serbia CineLink Award went to the project Skateboarding Is Not for Girls directed by Dina Duma, which also bagged the Female Voices CineLink Award sponsored by the Slovenian Film Centre, while the Film Centre of Montenegro CineLink Award was given to Banu Sivaci’s Hear the Yellow. The project Petty Thieves by Mate Ugrin won thé ARTEKino International Prize of €6,000.

Here is the complete list:

Eurimages Co-Production Development Award
The Boy with the Light Blue Eyes – Thanassis Neofotistios (Greece)
Producer: Ioanna Bolomyti
Production company: Argonauts Productions S.A.

Eurimages Special Co-Production Development Award
Cherry Blossoms – Marysia Nikitiuk (Ukraine)
Producer: Igor Savychenko
Production company: Directory Films

Film Centre Serbia CineLink Award
Skateboarding Is Not for Girls – Dina Duma (North Macedonia)
Producer: Labina Mitevska
Production company: Sisters and Brother Mitevski

Film Centre Montenegro CineLink Award
Hear The Yellow – Banu Sivaci (Turkey)
Producer: Zeynep Koray
Production company: ZKF

ARTEKino International Prize
Petty Thieves – Mate Ugrin (Croatia/Germany)
Producer: Karsten Krause
Production Companies: Fünferfilm, Kadromat, In the Cut

Female Voices CineLink Award Sponsored by Slovenian Film Centre
Skateboarding Is Not for Girls – Dina Duma