For the second year in a row, Works in Development – Feature Launch, an initiative organised by MIDPOINT and the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF), will present eight feature-film projects that were developed during this year’s programme and will also offer more networking opportunities during KVIFF’s Eastern Promises Industry Days (30 June–2 July).

Ahead of the presentations, the projects, which hail from eight different countries (the Czech Republic, Croatia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Romania, Serbia and Ukraine), were developed over the course of the previous two programme workshops. The first step was at the Trieste Film Festival in January, while the second workshop unspooled in Kaunas, Lithuania, this May. The third and final workshop, which will mostly be focused on pitching training, will begin in Prague just a couple days before the presentation at the KVIFF.

On 1 July, at the Works in Development – Feature Launch presentation, the teams of writers, directors and producers will have up to seven minutes to present each project and its accompanying visuals, which will then be followed by one-to-one meetings with potential co-producers.

The best project will pick up the KVIFF & MIDPOINT Development Award, valued at €10,000, while the other winners will receive the connecting cottbus Award and a chance to pitch at this year’s co-production market, and the Rotterdam Lab Award, which will invite one producer to participate in next year’s professional training programme for producers, organised by International Film Festival Rotterdam. In addition, all Feature Launch 2019 producers will have a chance to complete the one-year programme next January at Trieste’s When East Meets West co-production market, during the Feature Launch Spotlight event.

Furthermore, MIDPOINT is organising a discussion panel about the new EU directive on copyright law. Under the title “Copyright and Scriptwriting: Getting It Right”, representatives of writers’ guilds, talent agencies and local professionals will try to shed light on this new law that is to be implemented in all EU countries over the next two years and which will completely alter the legal framework. The discussion will take place on 2 July, and you can find more information about it here.

Finally, one MIDPOINT graduate is actually taking part in this year’s KVIFF official selection. A Certain Kind of Silence [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Michal Hogenauer
scheda film] (Czech Republic/Netherlands/Latvia), a feature debut written and directed by Michal Hogenauer and produced by Petr Oukropec (Negativ), which previously participated in the MIDPOINT Intensive CZ 2014 programme, will world-premiere in the East of the West competition.

The MIDPOINT Feature Launch 2019 projects are as follows:

A Sensitive Man – Tomáš Klein (Czech Republic)
Writers: Tomáš Klein, Kateřina Traburová
Producer: Tomáš Michálek (Masterfilm)

Grey Skies – Konstantine Kalandadze (Georgia)
Producer: Elene Mergvelashvili (Parachute Film)

Horia – Ana-Maria Comănescu (Romania)
Producer: Carla Fotea (microFILM)

How is Katia? [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Christina Tynkevych
scheda film] – Christina Tynkevych (Ukraine)
Writer: Julia Gonchar
Producer: Veronika Stepanchuk (Evos Film)

Rattlesnakes – Nikola Ljuca (Serbia)
Producer: Maja Ilic (Biberche Productions)

Riviera – Orfeas Peretzis (Greece)
Producer: Konstantinos Vassilaros (StudioBauhaus)

Some Birds – Daniel Héver (Hungary)
Writer: Zsanett Kertész
Producer: László Dreissiger (Filmfabriq Cinemart Ltd)

Traces – Dubravka Turić (Croatia)
Producer: Ira Cecić (Kinorama)