Projects
Projects
The Songs from Within
Original title: 歌舞的我們
Directed by: Elvis A-Liang LU
Produced by: Stefano Centini (Volos Films,Taiwan), Katrina Hsieh (Volos Films,Taiwan)
Country of production: Taiwan
Runtime: 85'
Expected release: March, 2025
Production stage: Shooting
Budget: €320 980 (30% in place)
1st feature: No
Looking for: Festivals, Buyers, Co-Producers, Gap Financing
Synopsis:
Mufan and Chen Wei are two young aboriginal gender-fluids living in a small mountain village of the Paiwan tribe. Striving to be themselves, they face a conservative and catholic culture imposed on their tribe by Western missionaries that turned them into taboos. As everyone avoids them, they become to each other the only way of understanding the world around them and the only reason to stay alive.
Director’s profile:
Elvis A-Liang Lu is a Taiwanese documentary director. After graduating from the National Taiwan University of Arts (NTUA), he worked as a director and cameraman on several commercial and independent Taiwanese documentaries. In 2017 he released his first feature-length documentary, The Shepherds, revolving around the story of Taiwan’s first LGBT friendly church. The film competed in the documentary section of the Taipei Film festival and was shown in the Sydney World Film Festival and “Euro Kino” Czech Independent Film festival. In 2022, his second feature documentary A Holy Family premiered in the international competition at Visions du Réel, at Lussas and FIPADOC in France, and won best documentary, editing and Grand Prize at the Taipei Film Festival. He is currently working on his next film, The Songs from Within.
Producer’s profile:
Stefano Centini is the founder of Volvos Films (since 2018) and an international co-production producer. After a post-graduate Masters as Creative Producer in Italian National Film Academy, he then completed his education at INALCO with a Master’s Degree in Chinese Language and Culture. Now based in Taiwan, he has produced Absent Without Leave (2016) and Ten Years of Taiwan (2019). Aims on international co-production, Volos Films production include Secrets of the Ocean Tribes (winner of 3 Golden Bell Awards in 2022), A Holy Family (Taipei Film Festival Grand Prize winner, 2022), the first Filipino-Singapore-Taiwan co-production In My Mother’s Skin (Sundance Midnight Section, 2023) and Tomorrow is a Long Time (Berlinale Generation 2023).
Oma
Original title: Oma
Directed by: Armin Septiexan
Produced by: Lodimeda Kini (SkolMus, Indonesia), Armi Cacanindin (Popple Pictures, Philippines) | Gugi Gumilang (Executive Producer)
Country of production: Indonesia, Philippines
Runtime: 90'
Expected release: October, 2025
Production stage: Late Production
Budget: €321 500 (17.5% in place)
1st feature: Yes
Looking for: European and US co-producers, Commissioning editors, Sales agent
Synopsis:
Oma unfolds the story of a family divided by the dark history of Indonesia’s anti-communist purge in 1965. After testifying in the International People’s Tribunal ‘65 The Hague, Oma (Grandmother) Net Markus (84) is finding a way to pass on the family history to Mikael (17), her grandson. Despite Mikael’s curiosity, he is facing a dilemma as his other grandmother is loyal to the anti-communist narrative.
Director’s profile:
Armin Septiexan is a visual artist based in Savu Island, West Timor Indonesia. Oma is his first debut feature-length documentary which he has been filming since 2019. Armin’s previous work focuses on using visual art to communicate in brutal honesty about human rights issues such as Distance (2020) with Asian Justice and Rights (AJAR) about a migrant worker from Kupang, West Timor being a human trafficking victim; The Reunion of Stolen Children (2019) with AJAR about the displaced people during post-war of Timor Leste. In 2022, Armin directed Ammu Hawu, a short animated documentary about how an Indigenous Community in Sabu Island where he lives, is facing challenges in preserving their local wisdom. With his project Oma, Armin has participated in First Cut Lab Philippines (2024), DocEdge Kolkata (2024), Docs by The Sea (2023), and In-Docs Open Table (2023).
Producer’s profile:
Lodimeda Kini, an Indonesian emerging producer focuses on documentaries and animations for science communication and changemaking. Her work includes Water and Society (2020) about water scarcity in West Timor, Ammu Hawu (2022), Kika Ga (2024) a mixed 2D-3D animation about human-nature relationship in Sabunese culture. Armi Rae Cacanindin is the founder and CEO of Popple Pictures, producing both fiction and documentaries from filmmakers with distinct voices. Her project includes the critically acclaimed epic first feature of Carlo Manatad, Whether the Weather is Fine which won the Youth Jury Award in Locarno 2021 and was a big winner at the 2021 Metro Manila International Film Festival, the multi-awarded creative documentary, Aswang, by Alyx Arumpac that won the FIPRESCI award at its IDFA 2019 premiere, and bagged top awards in Montreal, DMZ Docs, Thessaloniki, Jogjakarta and DocAviv.
The Arctic Circle of Lust
Original title: Pohjoinen intohimo
Directed by: Markku Heikkinen
Produced by: Hannu-Pekka Vitikainen (Zone2 Pictures, Finland), Dirk Manthey (Dirk Manthey Film, Germany), Fredrik Lange (Vilda Bomben Film, Sweden)
Country of production: Finland, Germany, Sweden
Runtime: 80'
Expected release: February, 2025
Production stage: In production
Budget: €539 295 (90% in place)
1st feature: No
Looking for: Festivals, Sales Agents / Distributors, Buyers
Synopsis:
The relationships and self-image of family men in remote northern regions are thrown into a crisis when a man is caught having an affair with another man. It is a warm-hearted family film about ordinary Finnish men who face an unnamed sexual desire, bisexuality and need to decide either to keep their secrets or “come out of the closet” regardless of the pressure of conformity created by society.
Director’s profile:
Markku Heikkinen is an award-winning documentary film director and screenwriter who has made more than twenty feature and short films. He graduated as Master of Arts in ELO Film School in Aalto University majoring in Documentary film 2006 with best ratings. Heikkinen is an active social debater and has worked also as a freelance journalist in numerous radio- and tv-shows in YLE from 1984 to 2013. He worked as a screenwriter for Ruthless Times- Songs of Care (dir. Susanna Helke) His film No Road Home won the critics prize and also the audience award at Docpoint Helsinki. He received a Cinema State Prize in 2015.
Producer’s profile:
Hannu-Pekka Vitikainen has a strong reputation in the Finnish film business thanks to his distinguished work as a cinematographer. After graduating ELO Film School in Aalto University majoring in cinematography he’s worked with Finland’s most talented directors on award-winning films including In The Shadow Of The Holy Book (IDFA Main competition), Emergency Call (IDFA Masters series). He produced Gods of Molenbeek which screened in more than 60 international film festivals including Hot Docs, Visions du Réel, Dok.fest Munich, DocPoint. He founded Zone2 Pictures in 2005 and has produced creative documentary films and is developing feature fiction films. Zone2 is one of the leading documentary production companies in Finland, and with Gods of Molenbeek, it won the Jussi-Prize for the best documentary film in Finland.
The Horsemen of the Apocalypse
Original title: Apokalypsens Ryterre
Directed by: Lene Berg
Produced by: Ellen Ugelstad (Twentyone Pictures, Norway)
Country of production: Norway, France
Runtime: 100'
Expected release: December, 2025
Production stage: Production
Budget: €800 350 (40% in place)
1st feature: No
Looking for: Festivals, Sales Agents / Distributors, Buyers, Strategic guidance
Synopsis:
In 1975, the renowned Norwegian film director Arnljot Berg was arrested in Paris and charged with the murder of his third wife. Forty years later his daughter Lene Berg is visited by the ghost of her now long-deceased father. He claims that she remembers everything wrong and that it’s time to ask the right Questions. But what is it that he wants her to remember? And what are the right questions?
Director’s profile:
Director Lene Berg (Oslo, 1965) is a trained film director from Dramatiska Institutet in Stockholm. She has directed four feature films and a number of shorter films. Berg also works in other media, and has produced works for museums, galleries, as well as for cinema, books, and public spaces. She has had numerous exhibitions both nationally and internationally, including Manifesta (2010) and the Sydney Biennale (2008).Her film “Ung Løs Gris” was produced for the Norwegian pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2013. The film “Kopfkino” (2013) was nominated for an Amanda award and for Best Nordic Documentary at CPH:DOX. Berg’s most recent production is the autobiographical film “False Belief,” which premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2019, where it was nominated for a Teddy award and an Amnesty Prize.
Producer’s profile:
Awardwinning filmmaker and producer Ellen Ugelstad received a BFA from the Academy of Arts University, in San Francisco, California. She founded the collective TWENTYONE PICTURES , an independent production company focusing on auteur driven films, upon her return to Norway. “Indian Summer”, tells the story of her younger brother living with schizophrenia. and was nominated for the International Young Talent Award at DOK Leipzig, and the Nordic Dox Award at CPH:DOX. The film also won two nominations at the Norwegian Emmy-Awards. Her short film “The Meetingroom” won best screenplay at the Norwegian Shortfilmfestival in 2017. Both “The Green Valley” and “The Wonders Beneath the Sea”, received the Golden Chair award at the Norwegian Shortfilm festival, qualifying them for Oscars consideration.
Cyclovia
Original title: Cyclovia
Directed by: Finlay Pretsell
Produced by: Sonja Henrici (Sonja Henrici Creates / Parcel of Rogues UK, Scotland), Nicolas van Hemelryck (Casatarantula, Colombia), Sigrid Dyekjaer (Real Lava, Denmark), Tobias Janson (Story AB, Sweden)
Country of production: UK, Colombia, Sweden, Denmark
Runtime: 90'
Expected release: December, 2025
Production stage: Pre-production
Budget: €1 349 276 (37,24% in place )
1st feature: No
Looking for: Sales Agents, Distributors, Buyers, Investors, Commissioners, Gap Financing
Synopsis:
“Cyclovia” is a cinematic voyage through Colombia, weaving intimate tales of love and life amidst the rhythmic pulse of biking. From high up in the Andes to the Amazon, it immerses us in diverse lives: elite cyclists, refugee couriers, and daring youngsters on heavy bikes without brakes. A sensory odyssey unveiling the simple and transformative power of the bike, providing freedom and independence for all.
Director’s profile:
Finlay is a BAFTA winning filmmaker and producer driven by the authenticity and rawness of non-fiction cinema. He immerses his audience in an experience they wouldn’t have access to themselves. His debut feature, the award-winning film Time Trial (2018) takes the audience to the core of bike racing via disgraced Tour de France cyclist David Millar, using pioneering sound and visual techniques Finlay’s breakthrough as a filmmaker was in 2007 with Standing Start followed by Ma Bar, Cutting Loose and other award-winning shorts which he co-directed with his friend Adrian McDowall. His films have have screened in hundreds of film festivals around the world including IDFA, Sundance, SXSW, Hotdocs, Sheffield Docfest, Visions du Réel, Berlinale etc.. In 2019 Finlay set up a joint label “Parcel of Rogues” with Sonja Henrici.
Producer’s profile:
Sonja is a leading German-British producer of many acclaimed feature documentaries and campaigns, including The Oil Machine (Sheffield/ IDFA/ BBC), Merkel (Telluride/ IDFA/Netflix), Time Trial (SXSW), Donkeyote (IFFR), I Am Breathing and more. She was Co-Director/Exec Producer of Scottish Documentary Institute from 2013 – 2020 and founder of its production arm, SDI Productions. In 2021 she founded Sonja Henrici Creates for all her future creative and production work. “Parcel of Rogues” is her joint label for Finlay Pretsell projects. Her films have screened on all continents, in top festivals, cinema, TV, VOD, DVD, in over 60 countries. She loves to collaborate internationally from her base in Edinburgh. Forthcoming feature docs (2024): Love & Trouble by Amy Hardie and Tracing Light by Thomas Riedelsheimer. Sonja is a member of AMPAS and BAFTA.
Wolf Park
Original title: Wolf Park
Directed by: Demelza Kooij
Produced by: Anita Norfolk (Folk Film, Norway)
Country of production: Norway, Sweden, Italy
Runtime: 85'
Expected release: April, 2025
Production stage: Production
Budget: €320 000 (58% in place)
1st feature: Yes
Looking for: Festivals, Sales Agents / Distributors, Gap Financing
Synopsis:
A filmmaker has recurring dreams about wolves. She visits a wolf park, hoping it will help her understand their hold on her. There she becomes captivated by the young female wolf Talla. For years she returns to witness Talla’s confinement, as it is a lens through which she sees herself. Wolf Park questions the natural and artificial, free and confined, and our paradoxical relationship with the wild.
Director’s profile:
Dr Demelza Kooij is a filmmaker, artist, and researcher. In her work she depicts other worlds: un(der)explored territories nearby and far away; the beyond human, film as art, ecologies of the sea, land, sky and exchanges in-between. Demelza’s work is presented at film festivals, art exhibitions, and museums. Highlights are winner of the Jury Prize at the 57th Ann Arbor Film Festival 2019 for WOLVES FROM ABOVE, Wroclaw Media Art Biennale, and screenings at Festival Du Nouveau Cinéma Montréal, Hamptons IFF, Edinburgh IFF, Zinebi, Full Frame, Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp [M HKA], FACT Liverpool, and The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Seoul [MMCA].
Producer’s profile:
Anita Norfolk is the founder of Folk Film, an independent production company in Bergen, Norway. It most recently co-produced feature documentaries MOTHERLAND (winner DOX:AWARD 2023, nominated for the European Film Awards) and HOW TO SAVE A DEAD FRIEND (Acid Cannes 2022, winner DOC:NYC). Anita also produced Demelza Kooij’s short film WOLVES FROM ABOVE. Prior to Folk Film Anita worked for over a decade in the UK, first in animation for video games developer Rockstar Games (Grand Theft Auto IV, Red Dead Redemption), before moving into producing for the award-winning studio Mosaic Films. She was the development producer on feature documentary OUT of THIN AIR (Netflix, BBC Storyville), and series producer on When I Worry About Things (BBC), an animated documentary series that won an RTS award. Anita is a Eurodoc alumni.
Elevated
Original title: Elevated
Directed by: Gustav Littorin
Produced by: Mario Adamson, Ashley J.Smith (Sisyfos Film, Sweden); Clara Harris (Sisyfos Film Production Ltd, Scotland)
Country of production: Sweden, Scotland
Runtime: 90'
Expected release: August, 2025
Budget: €677 345,67 (36% in place)
1st feature: Yes
Looking for: Festivals, Sales Agents / Distributors, Buyers, Gap Financing
Synopsis:
A group of outsiders on the autism spectrum strive to rise above their loneliness by building a community in the most unexpected of places – an elevator. Led by Andrew, the star of the elevator filming scene on YouTube, they use the magical multi-sensory experience of elevator riding to discover who they want to be and demand acceptance in a world that is not made for them.
Director’s profile:
Gustav Littorin is a filmmaker based in Stockholm, Sweden. He has previously directed the short documentaries Elevatours and Sara: en på 1,3 miljoner, as well as the fiction shorts Jag vill att vi stanna and Kasta Sten. While filming Elevatours in Finland, he met Andrew Reams, star of the worldwide elevator-filming community. Since 2019 he has been working on the feature documentary, Elevated, where he is an invited guest in the neurodivergent world of the elevator community. This autumn he will begin his final year in the bachelor’s program in Directing at Stockholm University of the Arts. Elevated is his feature debut.
Producer’s profile:
Clara Harris studied documentary filmmaking in Sweden before joining Sisyfos Film. Now based in her hometown of Edinburgh, she runs Sisyfos’ Scottish outpost. She produced the documentary shorts There’s Not Much We Can Do (Glasgow Short FF; Doc NYC) and Yellow is the Color of Happiness (Tempo Doc Fest). Mario Adamson and Ashley J. Smith are Artistic Directors of Sisyfos Film in Stockholm, Sweden. Rooted in animation, grown through documentary, Sisyfos seeks to flourish in fiction, XR, and experiential projects. Through creative collaborations with emerging and established filmmakers we make high-profile, award-winning stories for an international market. Mario and Ashley have produced acclaimed films such as Motherland (DOX:Award, CPH:DOX; EFA nomination), How to Save a Dead Friend (Grand Jury Award Doc NYC), and Scheme Birds (Best Documentary, Tribeca; Swedish Academy Award nomination)
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.
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.
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