ready for international exchange and cooperation

Twenty of the most dynamic emerging producers from across Europe have been selected to take part in European Film Promotion's (EFP) promotion and networking platform PRODUCERS ON THE MOVE before and during the Festival de Cannes (May 16 - 27, 2023).

These are the 20 producers from 20 European countries who were selected for the programme from all of the nominations submitted by the European national film promotion institutes (EFP’s member organisations):

Gentian Koçi (Albania), David Bohun (Austria), Julie Esparbes (Belgium), Vanya Rainova (Bulgaria), Miljenka Čogelja (Croatia), Stelana Kliris (Cyprus), Alice Tabery (Czech Republic), Emile Hertling Péronard (Denmark), Emilia Haukka (Finland), Silvana Santamaria (Germany), Vicky Miha (Greece), Júlia Berkes (Hungary), Kathryn Kennedy (Ireland), Valon Bajgora (Kosovo*), Dominiks Jarmakovičs (Latvia), Erik Glijnis (The Netherlands), Elisa Fernanda Pirir (Norway), Radu Stancu (Romania), Juraj Krasnohorský (Slovak Republic) and Julia Gebauer (Sweden).

They will all take part in a tailor-made programme to foster international co-productions, intensify the exchange of experiences and help create new professional networks. The pre-festival online programme, which started yesterday and runs until 4 May, includes 1:1 speed meetings, roundtables and pitching sessions. The producers will then meet during the Festival de Cannes from 18 to 22 May and take part in a programme spread over five days, which will include case studies, social events and an extensive promotional campaign via the international trade magazines.

Three of the selected producers will be presenting their films at this year's Festival de Cannes: Dutch Erik Glijnis co-produced Lost in the Night by Amat Escalante which is running in the Official Selection - Cannes Premiere as an entry from Mexico. Following Dalva in 2022, Julie Esparbe's The (Ex)perience of Love by Ann Sirot and Raphaël Balbonin will be screened in Cannes‘ Critics Week as a title coming from Belgium while Juraj Krasnohorský’s animated short Electra by Daria Kashcheeva will be premiering in the La Cinef selection as an entry from the Slovak Republic.

Other participants of this year’s PRODUCERS ON THE MOVE line-up have already been behind a number of award-winning films: Miljenka Čogelja produced Juraj Lerotić’s Safe Place whose tally of prizes includes three awards at the Locarno Film Festival and two awards at the Sarajevo Film Festival as well as being Croatia’s candidate for the 95th Oscars. Gentian Koçi’s own films as producer and director, Daybreak and A Cup of Coffee and New Shoes On, were both Albania’s Oscar entry in 2018 and 2023 respectively. Other prize-winners are David Bohun from Austria (The Trouble With Being Born: Special Jury Award 2020, Berlinale; Special Award of the Jury 2021, Austrian Film Awards 2021; Movements of a Nearby Mountain: Grand Prix 2019, Cinema du Reel; Political Film Award of Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung 2019, Filmfest Hamburg), Germany’s Silvana Santamaria (Pamfir: George Gund III Memorial Central and Eastern European Competition 2023, Cleveland International Film Festival; Scythian Deer/Grand Prix 2022, Molodist International Film Festival) and Romania’s Radu Stancu (Alis: Crystal Bear 2022, Teddy Award 2022, Berlinale; To the North; Premio Bisanto D’Oro 2022, Venice Film Festival).

Some of the producers have concentrated on the production of documentaries such as Emile Hertling Péronard from Denmark, who produced Lin Alluna’s feature-length documentary Twice Colonized, which premiered at Sundance in January 2023; Czech producer Alice Tabery whose credits include the films Traces of a Landscape by Petr Záruba and Reconstruction of Occupation by Jan Šikl; and Greece’s Vicky Miha who produced Gregoris Rentis‘ hybrid documentary Dogwatch; or Elisa Fernanda Pirir whose production of Luis Alejandro Vero’s Calls From Moscow screened at this year’s Berlinale.

In addition to creative documentaries, animation and feature films, Dominiks Jarmakovičs from Latvia has also been producing films for younger audiences like Jaak Kilmi’s Christmas in the Jungle and The Sleeping Beast and is now raising the finance for Signe Baumane’s animated feature Karmic Knot.

Some producers from this year's selection were also creatively involved in their own productions, including Stelana Kliris from Cyprus, who wrote, directed and produced The Islander, and Ireland’s Kathryn Kennedy who wrote the screenplays for the psychological horror feature Púca (Pooka) and the satire My Mother, She Wrote as well as co-writing the scripted animated series The Thin Place with Anthony Murphy.

The line-up also includes producers who continue long-standing collaborations with ”their“ directors, discover new talents in their respective countries or focus on debuts such as Júlia Berkes from Hungary (Gábor Reisz/ For Some Inexplicable Reason, 2014; Bad Poems, 2018; Explanation for Everything, in post-production; Hajni Kis / Wild Roots, 2021; Ich bin Marika), Kosovo’s* Valon Bajgora (Blerta Basholli: Hive, 2021; Era), Sweden-based Julia Gebauer (The Swedish Connection by Thérèse Ahlbeck and Marcus A. Olsson), Finland’s Emilia Haukka (The Woodcutter Story by Mikko Myllylahti) and Vanya Rainova from Bulgaria (January by Andrey Paounov).

EFP PRODUCERS ON THE MOVE is made possible thanks to the support of Creative Europe – the MEDIA Programme of the European Union, Eurimages, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, as well as the participating national film promotion institutes (EFP’s member organisations) from the Producers on the Move’s countries: Albanian Center of Cinematography, AFC - Austrian Films, Bulgarian National Film Center, Croatian Audiovisual Centre, Deputy Ministry of Culture (Cyprus), Czech Film Center, Danish Film Institute, Finnish Film Foundation, German Films, Greek Film Centre, National Film Institute Hungary, Kosovo Cinematography Center, National Film Centre of Latvia, Norwegian Film Institute, Romanian Film Development, Screen Ireland / Fís Éireann, SEE NL (The Netherlands), Slovak Film Institute, Swedish Film Institute and Wallonie Bruxelles Images. The main media partner is Variety, with Cineuropa as an additional media partner and Festival Scope as a programme partner.

* “This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.”