Projects

Projects

Cannes Docs

Conscious

Original Title: Conscious

Directed by: Suki Chan

Produced by: Aimara Reques (Aconite Productions, Scotland), Teresa Grimes (Conscious Productions Studio, England)

Country of Production: Scotland, England

Runtime: 90'

Expected Release: May, 2025

Production Stage: Editing

Budget: $654 223 (74% in place)

1st Feature: Yes

Looking for: Festivals/Sales Agents/Distributors/Gap financing

Synopsis:

« Conscious » is a hopeful and cinematic experience, taking us closer to understanding the strength and frailty of the human mind. Through the lens of dementia, the film explores what it means to be conscious. What can a neuroscientist and three people living with dementia tell us about consciousness in a technological age?

Director’s profile:

Suki Chan is an established British film artist. Her films take audiences on an immersive journey and shine a light on subjects that challenge and destabilise our understanding of reality. Chan seeks out narratives that explore alternative ways of looking at the world. Her passion is to change perception and build empathy for other people’s experiences. Suki is a recipient of the 2020 Film London’s FLAMIN Productions Award, a major award supported by Arts Council England and a member of BAFTA Connect and Women In Film & TV (WFTV). CONSCIOUS is her first feature documentary.

Producer’s profile:

Aimara Reques is an award-winning producer and the CEO of Aconite Productions, the award-winning company behind films such as the ambitious AQUARELA, which premiered in Venice in 2018 and was shortlisted for the Oscars in 2020, and Electric Malady, which was nominated for a BAFTA and premiered in competition at CPH:DOX 2022. Aimara has over 30 years of experience in the film industry and has collaborated with a number of internationally renowned directors and producers. She is also a winner of two BAFTA Scotland Awards; a Fox Searchlight Award; an Amnesty International Media Award; and the Golden Star Award from El Gouna Film Festival.

Cannes Docs

Cuba&Alaska

Original Title: Куба та Аляска

Directed by: Yegor Troyanovsky

Produced by: Olha Beskhmelnytsina (2Brave Productions, Ukraine), Christian Popp (TAG film, France), Hanne Phlypo (Clin d'Oeil Films, Belgium)

Country of Production: Ukraine, France, Belgium

Runtime: 90'

Expected Release: November, 2024

Production Stage: Late production, Post-production

Budget: €814 000 (70% in place)

1st Feature: No

Looking for: Sales Agents, Distributors, Gap Financing, Festivals

Synopsis:

Leaving their civilian lives behind, two female paramedics Cuba and Alaska go to war. They encounter friendship, love, and acceptance there, but also pain, sorrow, and death. As the prospect of returning to their once peaceful lives slips away, they find solace in creating art and fashion. And they cling to the hope that, in the midst of adversity, a brighter future may yet unfold.

Director’s profile:

Yegor Troyanovsky is a Ukrainian director, screenwriter, and cinematographer. He has solid professional experience in the audiovisual sector working in film production, television programs, advertising, and music videos on Ukrainian and American TV. Yegor is the author and film director of his first short documentary films ‘Rear’ (participated in the VI Odessa International Film Festival) and ‘Aerodrome’. His first full-length documentary film ‘Demon’ was a participant in XI Odessa International Film Festival and received the FIPRESCI award for ‘BEST FILM’. Yegor Troyanovsky is also one of the creators of the critically-acclaimed historical documentary series: ‘Collapse. How Ukrainians Destroyed the Evil Empire’.

Producer’s profile:

Olha Beskhmelnytsina is a Ukrainian producer with more than 15 years of experience in film production. She is a co-founder of a women-led “2Brave Productions”. Her credits include award-winning movies such as “Rules of two walls” (Special jury prize at Tribeca FF 2023) by David Gutnik, « Stop-Zemlia » by Kateryna Gornostai (Crystal Bear Generation 14+ at Berlinale 2021), « Intercepted” 2024 by Oksana Karpovych (Two special mentions award at Berlinale 2024 ), “Collapse. How the Ukrainians ruined the Empire of Evil” (2021 Documentary Series for Ukrainian National Channel). Alumni of Ex Oriente and Eurodoc training programs. She is the Chairwoman of the board of the Ukrainian Film Academy.

Cannes Docs

Birdie

Original Title: Ptaszek

Directed by: Aneta Ptak

Produced by: Małgorzata Staroń (Staron-Film, Poland)

Country of Production: Poland

Runtime: 71'

Expected Release: May, 2025

Production Stage: Shooting, Editing

Budget: €260 000 (40% in place)

1st Feature: Yes

Looking for: Festivals, Sales Agents, Pre-sale, Gap Financing

Synopsis:

Birdie is a self exploratory visual journey of woman emancipation through the medium of her camera. An unexpected series of events throws Aneta off guard and in one sudden blast sweeps away from her life two most important men – her father and her husband. The unwanted breakup of her marriage triggered by the unforeseen death of her dad forced her to search for consolation in filming process

Director’s profile:

Aneta Ptak graduated from the Faculty of Multimedia Communication at the Academy of Fine Arts in Poznan, Poland in 2010. She exhibited her short films, video art installations, performances in museums and galleries across Europe including Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw, Poland (2009), Platform Gallery, Vaasa, Finland (2009), Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art, Warsaw, Poland (2010). Her experimental short films have been screened on international festivals in Poland and other European countries. In 2010 she received a grant from The Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of Poland. Currently she is a Phd student in National Film School in Lodz, Poland. Since 2017 she has been working as a movie post production specialist. Previous films: “Emma”, 2019, Poland, fiction, 15′ 28 » (2019), “Under the surface”, 2019, Poland, documentary, 11′ 09 » (2019)

Producer’s profile:

Małgorzata Staroń is a Polish producer whose principal aim is to produce author driven, ambitious fiction films and creative documentaries, sometimes in difficult shooting conditions. Besides international co-productions, she focuses on discovering new emerging directors in Poland and abroad. She produces real, contemporary stories, touching deep human needs and fascinations – in a poetic way. The most important for her is the artistic level of her productions and their international presence.
Last films:
2022 Apolonia Apolonia 116’ (L.Glob) documentary – Oscar Shortlist, IDFA Grand Prix
2022 Autobiography 116’ (M.Mubarak) fiction – Venice Orizzonti/Critics’ Week 2022 2022 January 116’ (V.Kairiss) fiction – Tribeca 2022 Winner

Cannes Docs

Frontline

Original Title: Frontline

Directed by: Alisa Kovalenko

Produced by: Kasia Kuczynska (Haka Films, Poland)

Country of Production: Poland, Denmark

Runtime: 90'

Expected Release: January, 2025

Production Stage: Post-production

Budget: $360 000 (43% in place)

1st Feature: No

Looking for: Festivals, Sales Agents, Buyers, Gap Financing

Synopsis:

The battle rages on, but everything seems so calm and fragile, until a missile shatters everything. A first-hand look into the reality of the Ukrainian front line, by a director and a mother, who became a soldier. Frontline reveals a very different and unseen side of war through a camera that is both a soldier’s and a documentary filmmaker’s eye.

Director’s profile:

Alisa Kovalenko is a Ukrainian award-winning documentary director from Kyiv. Her debut feature-length documentary “Alisa in Warland” had its world premiere in the First Appearance competition at IDFA 2015. Her second film “Home Games” (2018), a social fairy-tale with a sensitive female gaze about the broken dreams of a young professional female football player featured in over 100 festivals. After the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Alisa left the editing room of her then upcoming film “We Will Not Fade Away” and joined a volunteer fighting unit of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. She fought in the trenches for four months before returning to finish the film, which premiered at Berlinale Generation 2023 and has been having a very successful festival run. Alisa is a recipient of multiple awards and scholarship, including a Chicken & Egg Award (2024).

Producer’s profile:

Kasia Kuczynska is a Polish producer at HAKA Films in Warsaw. She graduated from Lodz Film School and Wajda School. Katarzyna has worked on international co-productions such as “Communion”, directed by Anna Zamecka, which went on to win the European Film Award Award for Best Documentary in 2017. HAKA FILMS’ first documentary, “Boylesque” by Bogna Kowalczyk, premiered at Hot Docs 2022 winning Best International Filmmaker Award. HAKA Films co-produced Alisa Kovalenko’s latest feature-length documentary, “We Will Not Fade Away”. In 2024 HAKA FILMS premiered their third documentary, LILI by Sylwia Rosak at Santa Barbara IFF. Kasia was a part of Ji.hlava’s Emerging Producers 2023 programme.

Cannes Docs

Playtopia

Original Title: Playtopia

Directed by: Bara Jichova Tyson

Produced by: Alice Tabery (Cinepoint, Czech Republic)

Country of Production: Czech Republic, Romania, France

Runtime: 80'

Expected Release: February, 2026

Production Stage: Pre-production

Budget: €496 000 (45% in place)

1st Feature: No

Looking for: Co-producers, Gap Financing, Buyers, Sales Agents

Synopsis:

A playful exploration of power, money, hierarchy, and inequality through the eyes of children from all walks of life. Playtopia tells the story of a filmmaker and mother delving into the minds of 8 children, seeking to understand their perceptions of our world and its future. The film combines the real and the imagined in a documentary film with whimsical and magical elements.

Director’s profile:

Bara Jichova Tyson is a Czech-American artist and filmmaker. Her first feature documentary film Talking About Adultery premiered at the 2019 Sheffield Doc/Fest and its North American premiere was at DOC NYC. As a co-editor and writer, Bara co-created the feature documentary “Organ Player” directed by Narcissister (2018 Sundance Film Festival). She edited the feature documentary “Instructions on Parting”, directed by Amy Jenkins ( 2018 MoMA /Doc Fortnight). Jichova Tyson was also the art director of « Now, Forager, » a feature film by Jason Cortlund and Julia Halperin, selected for the 2012 New Directors/New Films. Jichova Tyson studied fine art and film at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam. In 20027 she obtained a BFA from MASSART in Boston, MA. In 2016, she was a recipient of The MacDowell Fellowship.

Producer’s profile:

Alice Taberywas was born in France in 1985. She graduated from FAMU in Prague, studied at the Film School CCC in Mexico City, La Fémis in France and Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg in Germany. Her first feature film she produced at FAMU, the documentary New Life by Adam Olha (Hot Docs 2013, Audience Award at Jihlava IDFF). She co-produced two feature films – Eva Nová by Marko Škop (FIPRESCI Award at Toronto IFF 2015) and Little Crusader by Václav Kadrnka (Crystal Globe at Karlovy Vary IFF 2017, Eurimages Development Award). Last few years she has been focusing on documentaries: Traces of a Landscape (Visions du Réel 2020, Student Jury Award at Jihlava IDFF), Reconstruction of Occupation (Karlovy Vary IFF 2021), Adam Ondra: Pushing the Limits (Tallinn Black Nights 2022, Vancouver IFF), Atirkül in the Land of Real Men (IDFA 2023). She is an EAVE and Producers on the Move graduate.

Cannes Docs

My Father’s House

Original Title: My Father's House

Directed by: Mahdi Fleifel

Produced by: Geoff Arbourne (Inside Out Films, UK)

Country of Production: Palestine, Denmark

Runtime: 100'

Expected Release: January, 2025

Production Stage: Production

Budget: $510 019 (19% in place)

1st Feature: No

Looking for: Buyers, Co-Producers, Gap Financing

Synopsis:

Nine years after his father’s death, the filmmaker Mahdi Fleifel returns from years of exile to the small town of Elsinore in Denmark where he grew up and begins a personal journey of reconciliation. My Father’s House is a film about memory, exile, and a father and his son.

Director’s profile:

Born in Dubai, Mahdi Fleifel lives and works between Denmark, England and Greece. A graduate of the UK’s National Film & Television School, he studied Fiction directing under Stephen Frears and Pawel Pawlikowski. In 2010 he founded the company Nakba FilmWorks. Fleifel’s critically acclaimed debut feature, A WORLD NOT OURS, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and received over 30 awards, including the Berlinale Peace Prize and the Edinburgh, Yamagata and DOC:NYC Grand Jury Prizes. He was named Best New Nordic Voice at Nordisk Panorama and received the New Talent Award at CPH:DOX in 2013.

Producer’s profile:

Geoff Arbourne is the Emmy award-winning producer and founder of Inside Out Films. An independent and enterprising production company built around a global community of filmmakers operating out of the U.K. and South Africa.

Cannes Docs

Palestine Comedy Club

Original Title: Palestine Comedy Club

Directed by: Alaa Aaliabdallah (Regash, Palestine)

Produced by: Charlotte Knowles (Tough Crowd, UK)

Country of Production: Palestine, UK

Runtime: 90'

Expected Release: December, 2024

Budget: €261 740 (30% in place)

1st Feature: Yes

Looking for: Festivals, Sales Agents / Distributors, Buyers, Gap Financing

Synopsis:

Palestine Comedy Club follows five Palestinian stand-up comedians who write and tour a stand-up comedy show exploring the unlikely, often dark humour that surrounds the complexity of Palestinian identity. What starts as a blending of comic traditions to encourage honest and open reflections through the shared enjoyment of laughter becomes an existential imperative to share common humanity.

Director’s profile:

Regash (Alaa Aliabdallah) has worked as a photographer and filmmaker with many artists and organisations such as the Palestinian Circus School, Freedom Theatre, Stereo48 Dance Company, and Sarreyet Ramallah. Regash is an internationally recognised portrait and street photographer, with an online audience of over 20,000 people. He produces photography for international fashion brands and magazines. Palestine Comedy Club is Regash’s debut feature documentary. He personally shot the comedy tour, all six comedy performances and five interviews. Regash is also including his beautiful street photography in the Palestine Comedy Club film, creating collage stories of each of the cities visited on the tour to provide audiences with a deeper dive into the diverse cultures found across Palestine.

Producer’s profile:

Charlotte Knowles is an award-winning TV and film producer. Her work has been featured on BBC, ITN, and Arte. Notable achievements include her term as CEO of the Independent Film Trust, where she oversaw the development and production of various critically acclaimed projects, including the award-winning, Scottish BAFTA and BIFA nominated documentary « Rebel Dykes. » In 2022, Charlotte founded Tough Crowd Limited, a production company exploring narratives at the intersection of politics and pop-culture. Palestine Comedy Club is the first feature documentary to appear from Tough Crowd. Under the Tough Crowd banner, Charlotte also created the CreativeHQ App, a mobile app providing professional development and business coaching for creative media producers.

Cannes Docs

The Myth of Mahmoud

Original Title: أسطورة محمود

Directed by: Mayar Hamdan, Shaima Al-Tamimi

Produced by: Shaima Al-Tamimi (Y2P, Qatar)

Country of Production: Palestine, Qatar, USA, Yemen, Kenya, Lebanon

Runtime: 90' / 52' for TV

Expected Release: February, 2027

Production Stage: In-Production (55-60% shot)

Budget: $120,000 (35-30% in place)

1st Feature: Yes

Looking for: Financing, Co-Production, Distributors, Buyers, Strategic Guidance

Synopsis:

In this reflexive and creative documentary, Mayar picks up the camera to capture the intricate lives of her Palestinian family, who have resided in Doha for over 60 years. Against the backdrop of never-ending conflicts in their hometown, Gaza, the family’s Doha home reflects their turmoil. The focal point is Mayar’s mother, Amal, whose sense of displacement and grief are concealed beneath a veil of sarcasm.

Director’s profile:

Mayar Hamdan, a Palestinian multi-platform writer, director, and producer, brings a distinctive design sensibility to her work, exploring MENA-centered themes like migration, displacement, generational trauma, and female-centered stories through the lens of color theory. With a background in art & technology from CalArts, film training & development via the Doha Film Institute, game writing for multiple indie studios in Barcelona, and as a Lead Narrative Designer for Saudi game studio Lunacy, she now serves as a story consultant for multiple AAA games and as a writer for a Saudi Netflix series in Development. Her diverse portfolio includes writing, directing, and producing projects like ‘Beit Byoot’ (2019), available on Sundance TV, ‘Don’t Get Too Comfortable’ (2021), which premiered at the Venice International Film Festival, and Ibqi: A Visual EP, set to be released in 2024.

Producer’s profile:

Shaima Al-Tamimi, a Yemeni-East African visual storyteller based in Qatar, uses her lived experiences to address social issues focusing on migration, healing, and sociocultural dynamics. A 2020 Photography and Social Justice Fellow at the Magnum Foundation, she created ‘Don’t Get Too Comfortable’ (2021), which was nominated for the Orizzonti Award for Best Short Film at the Venice International Film Festival and showcased at over 35 festivals worldwide. Shaima is also on the board of YWT, an organization based in Yemen that focuses on providing opportunities in film mentorship and production to the youth of Yemen.

Cannes Docs

Unmaking of

Original Title: مش میكینج أوف

Directed by: Bilal Alkhatib

Produced by: Bilal Alkhatib (Palestine), Ala' Abu Ghoush (Palestine), Tania El Khoury (Les Films de l’Altaï, France, Lebanon)

Country of Production: Palestine, France, Lebanon

Runtime: 85'

Expected Release: April, 2025

Production Stage: Post-production

Budget: $93 150 (41% in place)

1st Feature: Yes

Looking for: Co-producers, Gap Financing, Distributors

Synopsis:

Less than two weeks before shooting a movie by Cherine Dabis in the West Bank, a war break out in Gaza. For a week, the camera follows the studio crew, documenting the war’s impact on the artists and showcasing their adaptation to tough decisions amid an intensely harsh reality.

Director’s profile:

Bilal Alkhatib is a filmmaker from Palestine, holding a BA degree in Media and Tv. He started working in the film industry as a cinematographer and gaffer, He has written and directed several documentary and short films that participated in the international festivals, such as the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival. His recent film « Palestine 87 » won numerous awards, Golden Tanit for Best Short Film at the Carthage Film Festival and Best Film at the Jerusalem Arab Film Festival. Bilal is also working on his first feature film and studying master’s degree in cinema.

Producer’s profile:

Ala’ Abu Ghoush is a filmmaker from Jerusalem, He has worked as a production designer in numerous feature films that have received various international awards, In 2009 he moved to France, where he studied cinema at the ENSAV, He directed three short films: « Hammurabi, » « Goldfish, » and “Metro Gaza. »

Tania El Khoury After filmmaking and psychology studies in Beirut, Tania moved to Paris in 2002 she finished a master’s degree in cinema. In 2017, she founded the production company Khamsin Films in Beirut and in 2020 she founded the Paris-based production company Les Films de l’Altaï. She produced recently the latest feature fiction of filmmaker Ghassan Salhab, The River (International Competition, Locarno 2021), Sonia Ben Slama’s newest feature documentary Machtat (International competition Visions du Réel, ACID Cannes 2023)

Cannes Docs

Tale of Baba

Original Title: La grange à Baba

Directed by: Matthias Joulaud, Lucien Roux

Produced by: Juliana Fanjul, Annick Bouissou (Akka Films, Switzerland), Alexandre Cornu (Les films du tambour de soie, France)

Country of Production: Switzerland, France

Runtime: 80'

Expected Release: April, 2025

Production Stage: In production

Budget: €590 000 (85% in place)

1st Feature: Yes

Looking for: Sales Agents / Distributors, Buyers, Gap Financing

Synopsis:

Didier, a deaf farmer from birth, has just lost his eldest brother. Now alone in his isolated house in the Cantal mountains, he must find his way without his brother’s help. He must overcome his fear of the unknown and forge links with the other inhabitants of the hamlet. Tale of Baba follows Didier’s routines as he has to reinvent his language and his exchanges, turning his handicap into a strength.

Director’s profile:

Matthias Joulaud, a filmmaker with a multidisciplinary background in photography and drawing from the Beaux Arts in Paris, brings a unique perspective to his cinematic endeavors. Graduating with a Master’s degree in filmmaking from ECAl and HEAD in Lausanne-Geneva, Matthias’ work is characterized by a subtle and intimate visual style, influenced by his exploration of analog photography and color film.

His portfolio spans across documentary, fiction, and music video genres, showcasing his versatility and artistic range. Notably, his short film « Ramboy, » produced in collaboration with AKKA Films and the ECAl-HEAD Master’s program, has received recognition at various international festivals, including Visions du Réel and IDFA. With a focus on capturing the essence of human experiences, Matthias Joulaud’s work resonates with audiences, earning praise for its authenticity and emotional depth.

Co-director’s profile: 

French filmmaker and cinematographer, Lucien Roux acquired a Master’s Degree in Plastic and Visual Arts through the partnership between ESADMM (Marseille) and the Université du Québec UQAM (Montréal). With extensive skills in visual and audiovisual arts, he is currently collaborating on documentary projects alongside anthropological researchers from The National Center for Scientific Research Norbert Élias. Lucien has worked on various feature-length and short documentary film projects. He notably co-directed « Ramboy, » a short film with an exceptional journey, awarded at numerous festivals such as IDFA (best Youth Film 2022). It received the Golden Chair award at the Norwegian Short Film Festival which in turn earned it an entry for the Oscars, and was selected by the New York Times Op-Docs platform.

Producer’s profile:

Producer and director. Based in Geneva since 2011, Juliana Fanjul has a MA in arts from ECAL-HEAD. She specialised in documentary filmmaking at the International Film School in Cuba, after doing a BA in audiovisual communication in Mexico City. Her films Muchachas (Visions du Réel 2015), Radio Silence (IDFA 2019) and Je suis noires (Prix Cinéma Suisse 2023) have been screened and awarded at numerous international festivals. As a freelancer, she has produced documentaries for Radiotelevisione Svizzera (RSI) and Al Jazeera English. In 2021, she joined Akka Films to produce documentaries. She is a teacher and Head of the Documentary Department at the International Film School in Cuba.