PriFORUM Best Pitch competition projects revealed

22.06.2018

The 10th edition of PriFest continues the tradition of hosting a unique opportunity for film projects (which are at the preproduction phase), namely the Best Pitch Competition. A good number of ambitious projects from the region (Kosovo, Albania, Macedonia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Turkey, Romania and Serbia) have applied for the opportunity to have their film project compete for a number of prizes.

The projects that have been selected for the 10th edition of the Best Pitch Competition are:

  1. MONEY FOR THE FUNERAL from Bulgaria, with Magdelena Ilieva as director and Martichka Bozhilova as producer;
  2. BUNKER from Macedonia, with Marko Crnogorski as director & producer and Jan Paunoska as screenwriter;
  3. LOOKING FOR VENERA from Kosovo, with Norika Sefa as director and Besnik Krapi as producer;
  4. IN VINO FEMINAS from Macedonia, with Goce Cvetanovski as director and Bogdan Jonchevski as producer;
  5. THE WALNUT TREE, from Turkey, with Faysal Soysal as director and Baris Yildirim as producer;
  6. TENANT from Macedonia, with Marko Gjokovik as director and Angela Nestorovska & Vladimir Anastastov as producers.
  7. ARNAUTISTAN NOIR from Kosovo, with Matko Bulent as director & producer and Artrit Bytyci as screenwriter;

Selected projects will also benefit from various trainings and networking events, such as a 2 day workshop on Script Development, led by renowned expert Clare Downs from EAVE-European Audio Visual Entrepreneurs.

All the selected projects for Best Pitch presentation will also have the unique opportunity to have a One to One coaching session on financing and co-production strategies with another great expert of the field, EAVE expert Linda Beath.

Again this year, PriFest and PriFORUM will collaborate with EAVE European Audio-Visual Entrepreneurs, this prestigious network of European film producers, and in cooperation with the Kosovo Cinematography Centre a number of producers will take part in the PriFORUM.

Traditional Best Pitch Competition has also new awards for winning projects this year:

  • Audio-post production award in the amount of 7,000 euros in services, awarded by the company: Audio Haus, Macedonia;
  • Color grading in the amount of 10,000 euros in services, awarded by the company: In My Country Production, Kosovo;
  • Traditional monetary award for Best Pitch in the amount of 1,000 euro awarded by PriFest.

The Best Pitch Competition is only one of many activities that fall under the umbrella of Prishtina Film FORUM, PriFest’s film industry development platform that is reaching its 10th edition together with the festival.

Fatos Berisha, Head of PriFORUM and Artistic Director of PriFest is very enthusiastic with the selection:

‘We are especially pleased that in addition to having a good number of applications, we have applications from many countries in the Balkan region. Additionally, producers, directors and screenwriters will have the opportunity to attend a series of trainings and activities during PriFORUM. We will host panel discussions on important subjects of coproduction, and we will also host the third edition of Prishtina Rendezvous, in which European salespeople and distributors meet film project authors from the region. In addition there will be a number of producers visiting PriFest and PriFORUM this year who will have a chance to express their interest on coproducing with Kosovo. PriFORUM each year provides what the local film industry needs most: promotion, presentation, training, as well as networking, coproduction and selling opportunities for film projects, and we are happy that we can do this for our filmmakers.”

PriFORUM and its activities - Best Pitch Competition, Script Development, Prishtina Rendezvous and the last but not least Work in Progress - have served as a catalyst for many regional film projects which by now have been finalized and have been highly critically acclaimed in film festivals and by the audience.

PriFORUM - Prishtina Film FORUM - is the film industry’s regional platform and is a component of PriFest. It will be held during the PriFest, namely from July 19-22. The 10th edition of PriFest, a small jubilee, will be held from July 17 to 22 in Prishtina.

Friendship. Forever. PriFest