The Matchmaking Forum, the newly established industry section of Croatia's national Pula Film Festival, organised in collaboration with Avvantura Film Festival, took place from 18-21 July and, in addition to a co-production market and work-in-progress sections, consisted of meetings, presentations and a pitching session for books as potential source material for adaptations.

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Two sessions under the title "Matching Stories and Film", held in co-operation with the Sanjam knjige ("I Dream of Books") Pula book fair, showcased stories, collections and novels by contemporary authors with film-adaptation potential, from three publishing houses in Croatia and six in Slovenia. For the full list, scroll down. 

The jury decided that the collection of short stories Invisible Woman and Other Stories by Slavenka Drakulić was the best material worthy of adaptation and awarded the publisher, Fraktura. Drakulić's books have previously served as the basis of some successful films, including Vladimir Perišić's 2009 Sarajevo winner Ordinary People [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Vladimir Perisic: la viole…
scheda film] and Juanita Wilson's Serbo-Croatian-language As if I'm Not There [+leggi anche:
trailer
scheda film], Ireland's Oscar submission for Best Foreign-language Film in 2012. 

The Matchmaking Forum's partner countries were Georgia and Lithuania, which presented their respective co-production possibilities, budgets and tax incentives, including cash rebates (20% in Lithuania and 25% in Georgia). Another presentation was given by the film institutions of Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Macedonia, which showcased their tax-incentive schemes as well as co-production and filming options. Croatian Audiovisual Centre (HAVC) representative Tanja Ladović Blažević announced that, according to the new national law on audiovisual activities, the cash rebate is being increased from 20% to 25%, and even 30% in special cases (more details are expected to follow soon). 

Two regional film commissions, the local Istria Film Commission and the Fondazione Film Commission di Roma e del Lazio, also presented their services and co-production possibilities. While the Istria Film Commission cannot financially contribute to projects shooting in its region, and instead focuses on locations and providing certain services free of charge, Roma-Lazio offers access to funds for both co-productions and filming, without any limitations on the use of other regional funds in Italy.

An industry panel that showcased the strategies of HBO Adria, and a presentation of the emerging International Road Movie Festival in Plzen, Czech Republic, also formed part of the Matchmaking Forum.

Here is the full list of Matching Stories and Film titles:

Srebrenica – A Story of Evil – Ivica Đikić (Corto Literary Agency, Croatia)
The Children of Patras – Zoran Ferić (Corto Literary Agency)
Harmattan – Ivan Sršen (Corto Literary Agency)
The Pitt – Ivana Bodrožić (Corto Literary Agency)
Irena Tot’s Experiment – Ivana Serdarević (Fraktura, Croatia)
Goalkeeper – Andrija Škare (Fraktura)
Invisible Woman and Other Stories – Slavenka Drakulić (Fraktura)
Cuts and Scars – Igor Štiks (Fraktura)
Adios Cowboy – Olja Savičević Ivančević (Sandorf Publishing, Croatia)
Our Man in Iraq – Robert Perišić (Sandorf Publishing)
Contract – Mojca Širok (Mladinska knjiga, Slovenia)
First Love – Brane Mozetič (ŠKUC Lambda, Slovenia)
Our Class – Nika Matanović (Založba Pivec, Slovenia)
Expiry Date – Gašper Kralj (Založba/*cf., Slovenia)
Spovin (Memory Wine) – Anja Murgel (Založba Litera, Slovenia)
Map of Other Lives – Miha Mazzini (Goga Publishing House, Slovenia)