AGORA 06-14.11.2020

Crossroads Co-production Forum November10-13

We are happy to announce the Crossroads CoPro Forum selection of projects from Southeastern Europe, the Black Sea and the Mediterranean region, which will take place online, during the Thessaloniki International Film Festival (November 5-15, 2020).

 

20,000 SPECIES OF BEES
Director: Estibaliz Urresola, Producer: Lara Izagirre – Gariza Films, Spain
Logline: What would you do if your 6-year-old son told you he was a girl?

ANNA!
Director: Marco Amenta, Producer: Simonetta Amenta – Eurofilm, Co-producer: Antoine de Clermont-Tonnerre - Mact Productions, Italy | France
Logline: Anna (50), a strong woman with a difficult character, will undertake the greatest battle of her life by suing a large construction conglomerate that wants to build on her land.

AS GOD WILLS
Director: Mari Gulbiani, Producer: Kate Kalandarishvili – Midifilm, Georgia
Logline: What leads young men from Pankisi Gorge to radicalization and Jihad fascination? What is it that convinces them to become part of ISIS? A very delicate and topical theme tackled by a female director.

Illustration by Ka Ki Wong

BIRTHDAY
Director: Lara Zeidan, Producers: Séverine Tibi, Anaïs Calmels - Sevana Films, Lebanon | France In collaboration with the Mediterranean Film Institute
Logline: Beirut, May 2008. A regular after-school day for Razan, who turns fourteen tomorrow, is disrupted by gun battles that erupt throughout the city.

HELLO
Director: Stephan Komandarev, Producers: Stephan Komandarev, Katya Trichkova - Argo Film, Co-producers: Eike Goreczka - 42film, Elie Meirovitz - EZ Films, Bulgaria | France | Germany In collaboration with Sofia Meetings
Logline: Blaga (70) falls victim to a phone scam and loses the money saved for her and her late husband’s dream grave. In order to collect the sum again, she starts working for the scammers as a “mule”.

I’M HERE, I’M FINE
Director: Emine Emel Balci, Producer: Dilek Aydin – Heimatlos Films, Turkey
Logline: Unable to overcome her postpartum depression, new mother Filiz (34) is drawn to solve another woman’s struggle, which will surprisingly help both women heal their sufferings.

KRIEGSAUSGABE
Director: Tarık Aktaş, Producer: Güneş Şekeroğlu – Hay Film, Turkey
Logline: A dystopian epic journey set in the backdrops of Mesopotamia with a brief detour to German lands.

KYUKA - JOURNEYING TO THE MOON THROUGH THE ENDLESS SEA
Director: Kostis Charamountanis, Producer: Danae Spathara – Heretic, Greece
Logline: During their summer holidays on the family sailboat, an overprotective father and his adult twin children are confronted by their traumatic past in a coming-of-age trip.

MEDIUM
Director: Christina Ioakeimidi, Producer: Louizos Aslanidis – EKSO Productions, Greece
Logline: A teenage girl is challenged to discover herself, through the ferocity and uniqueness of a first love with a man, who turns out to be gay.

NALA AND STELLA
Director: Tonia Mishiali, Producers: Tonia Mishiali, Anna Różalska, Stelana Kliris - Bark Like A Cat Films, Co-production: Match&Spark, Cyprus | Poland
Logline: When an 18-year-old African asylum seeker and a local recovering drug addict form an unlikely bond, together they will discover an unexpected twist on the meaning of love and family.

Photo by Mohamed Al-Theeb

ONCE UPON A TIME IN TRIPOLI
Director: Abdullah Al-Ghaly, Producer: Miftah Saeid - Cyrene Productions / Hassala Films, Libya | Egypt
Logline: In the midst of anarchy, in chaotic Libya, three friends try to survive in Tripoli where violence is the rule of the land. A close-up story of the transformation of three ordinary young Libyans into murderers.

PATTY IS SUCH A GIRLY NAME
Director: Giorgos Georgopoulos, Producers: Christos V. Konstantakopoulos, Fenia Cossovitsa, Fani Skartouli - Faliro House Productions - Blonde Audiovisual Productions, Greece
Logline: While training for the next judo Olympics, young Daphne explores her sexuality and questions the passion for victory.

RETIRO
Director: Elina Fessa, Production: Vasilis Chrysanthopoulos - PLAYS2PLACE, Greece
Logline: When a couple loses their daughter on their trip to Madrid, their relationship is tested. But when they find her, it draws them further apart, threatening to unravel the other couples traveling with them.

Photo by Vera Chotzoglou

THE SUMMER WITH CARMEN
Director: Zacharias Mavroeidis, Producer: Panos Papahadzis, Dimitris Tsakaleas (Associate Producer) – Argonauts Productions, Greece
Logline: A Mamma Mia meets Cage aux folles meets Beethoven kind of film. But low budget.

TAKOTSUBO
Director: Miki Polonski, Producer: Shira Hochman - MINA Films, Co-producer: Janja Kralj - Kinoelektron, Israel | France
Logline: An immigrant family who came to Israel from the former Soviet Union are unable to liberate themselves from their memories and sorrow. In time and silence the dissolution of their body and soul leads them to acts of sacrifice and grace.

THEY COME OUT OF MARGO
Director: Alexandros Voulgaris, Producer: Eleni Bertes – LOGLINE, Greece
Logline: The life of a famous musician, struggling to write her most personal work yet, is disrupted when she suddenly finds herself pregnant, leading her to a violent and intense emotional encounter.

VACUUM
Director: Yelizaveta Smith, Producer: Aleksandra Kostina - Bosonfilm, Ukraine In collaboration with MIDPOINT Institute
Logline: A young archaeologist comes back to the city, where she grew up, with a neat plan to sell the apartment of her missing father as soon as possible, but her past and present change her plans unexpectedly.


The Crossroads Co-production Forum Awards include: The Two Thirty-Five (2|35 Inc) main prize of a co-production award (image and sound) to the winning project in post-production services. The CNC (Centre national du cinéma et de l’ image animée) Award of 8.000 euro for script development. The ARTE Kino International Prize of 6.000 euro. The Producers Network of the Cannes Film Festival - free accreditation for the 2021 edition. Project selection at Sofia Meetings 2021 of the Sofia FF. The Mediterranean Film Institute Script2Film Workshops scholarship for 2021. The THESSALONIKI EAVE Marketing Workshop Scholarship for its 2021 Marketing Lab. Asterisk* will offer Packaging and Project Marketing Strategy to one project. Initiative Film is offering script consultancy in one Greek project. CINEMED will include at least one Greek project in the Development Grant selection according to its state of development and follow the films from Crossroads and Works in Progress in regards to its program selection.