The Belarusian Independent Film Academy received more than 40 applications with feature-length film projects to participate in the pitching event at the European Film Market.  Irena Katsialovich and Ihar Sukmanov, the co-founders of the Film Academy, selected 8 of them. The pitching will be moderated by Heleen Gerritsen, director of the goEast – Festival of Central and Eastern European Film.

The following projects will be presented:  "Nobleman Zavalnia or Belarus in fantastic stories " by Maksim Ptushkin, "Under the grey sky" by Mara Tamkovich, "Lofts for pigeons" by Marta Veras, "Leave easy come back safe" by Sasha Kulak, "The Hunting" by Nadzeya Yakimovich, "Awakening" by Viktoria Schneider, "Northern Lights" by Yulia Pogrebnyak.

Both beginners and experienced directors will present 4 feature films, 2 documentaries and 1 animation project at various stages of development, from script to work-in-progress. Invited mentors Leena Pasanen and Stefano Tealdi will prepare authors for pitching and participation at the European Film Market. They will help filmmakers in putting together a pitch, organizing meetings with representatives of the international film industry, and navigating the film market independently.

"We hope that pitching at the European Film Market will help authors of the selected projects to find partners and like-minded people and take concrete steps toward implementation of their ideas. It is important to us that Belarusian filmmakers get more opportunities to present on international platforms; we hope that professionals Leena Pasanen and Stefano Tealdi will help them present filmmaker’s projects even more effectively," says the board of the film academy.

Pitching event is a continuation of the Belarusian Independent Film Academy's participation at the EFM: last year,  both the institution itself and 10 Belarusian film projects in the works were presented at the film market. Same as last year, there will be a stand of the Belarusian Independent Film Academy at the Marriott Hotel at the European Film Market.

Please, fill out the form to get into the guest list!

This year's participation of the Film Academy at the EFM is supported by the Estonian Agency for International Development Cooperation - ESTDEV and the German Marshall Fund, as well as with information support from German Films.

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Leena Pasanen is an independent film expert, consultant, and tutor. She worked as Managing and Festival Director of DOK Leipzig from 2015 to 2019. She has been a regular expert and tutor at several training programmes and markets, for example, Documentary Campus, EsoDoc, WEMW and EAVE, and has served as a jury member at several international festivals, among others Sundance and IDFA. 

Stefano Tealdi is a producer, director, film expert, consultant. He develops, produces and directs documentaries, docuseries and feature-length dramas, and is a tutor at Biennale Cinema College Venice, Amman Film Industry, Attagirl, Cannes Docs, Documentary Campus, ESoDoc, La Fabrique Cinémas – Institute Francais, Factory, Films de 3 Continents – Produire au Sud, Imagination – Arab Film Scriptwriting, Jump In – Poitiers FF, Ouga Film Lab, Red Sea Lodge, TFL-Torino Film Lab, Scuola Holden, ZELIG Film School.

Heleen Gerritsen is a producer, film director, and the director of goEast – Festival of Central and Eastern European Film. She has worked as a producer for companies and broadcasters such as ARTE, ZDF, VPRO, and SWR. In 2009, Heleen produced her first feature-length documentary and set up her own production company. She was the festival director of the European Documentary Film Festival dokumentART in Neubrandenburg. Since 2017, Heleen has been at the helm of goEast. Heleen is a founding member of the Documentary Association of Europe and a member of the European Film Academy.