EAVE project SERAFIMA is in production
Development & Production News October 2025
In development
Finnish Film Foundation
The Board of The Finnish Film Foundation granted production support to 10 new films, including documentaries and short film in October. Among them:
- A WOMAN’S TRIUMPH by Alexander Zwart, producers: EAVE graduate Joonas Berghäll
- HAAVEISIIN VAJONUT by Marie-Eve de Grave, producers: Interchange graduate Charlotte Uzu, EAVE graduate Kaarle Aho
- SILVER BLUES by Rodrigo Areias, producer: EAVE graduates Mark Lwoff and Misha Jaari
Sorfønd
Supported by the Norwegian Sorfønd:
- SOON WE WILL ALL BE HISTORY HERE by Saeed Taji Farouky, producers: EAVE graduates May Odeh, Estelle Robin You
- QASHQAI TRIBE: ONCE UPON A TIME IN SHIRAZ by Hamed Zolfaghari, producer: EAVE graduate Verona Meier
- MEHAL SEFARI by Abraham Gezahagne, producer: EAVE graduate Ingrid Lill Hogtun
www.sorfond.no/news/nine-projects-selected-for-the-s%C3%B8rfond-grant-in-2025
In production
- EAVE project SERAFIMA by Veiko Ounpuu, producers: EAVE graduates Andreas Kask and Esko Rips is in production. The film promises to be “a powerful adaptation of Vahur Afanasjev’s celebrated novel Serafima and Bogdan, a sweeping story of power, love, and betrayal set against the backdrop of turbulent historical change.” Õunpuu described SERAFIMA as “an exploration of how systems of power rewrite our memories, suppress resistance, and traumatise entire nations.” He added: “Serafima is a victim of the system – in a world where those who preserve their humanity are punished, while authority favours and rewards those who have completely lost their moral compass.” Producer Andreas Kask highlighted the film’s transnational spirit: “Serafima is a brilliant example of a unified Estonian-Latvian-Polish film space. The creative team is mainly Estonian, but Latvia provides the environment and technical capacities needed to bring this story to life. The screenplay was penned by Õunpuu himself with Martin Algus. The film is produced by Nafta Films in co-production with Nafta Films Latvia, Poland’s Orka Film and Estonia’s Apollo Film Productions. Producing are Kask and Esko Rips, working alongside co-producers Alicja Gancarz for Orka Film, Gunda Bergmane for Nafta Films Latvia, and Tanel Tatter and Veiko Esken for Apollo Film Productions. The production is backed by the Estonian Film Institute, the Estonian Cultural Endowment, Creative Europe – MEDIA, ERR, the Polish Film Institute, the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia, and the Riga Film Fund.
- LET LOVE IN by Felix van Groeningen, producers: EAVE graduate Hans Everaert and EAVE FFF graduate Lorenzo Gangarossa is in production. The film tells the story of one couple’s emotional journey as they question everything they once took for granted when a long-kept affair is confessed. But what looks like a tale of a relationship in crisis reveals itself as a story of healing and reconnection. A quest begins for honesty, true intimacy and deep understanding, redefining what it means to be lovers. LET LOVE IN is a Belgian-Italian co-production staged by Hans Everaert for Antwerp-based Menuetto, and van Groeningen and Vandermeersch for their company, Rufus, in co-production with Mario Gianani, Lorenzo Mieli and Lorenzo Gangarossa for Mediawan-owned OUR Films, with Circle One serving as a collaborator. Financing comes from the Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF), Kinepolis Film Distribution (KFD), Proximus, VRT and the Belgian Tax Shelter, in cooperation with BNP Paribas Fortis Film Finance and Casa Kafka Pictures. The shoot, spanning 35 days, is taking place across several Belgian locations and is now entering its final stages.
- EROSION by Michael Koch, producer: EAVE+ graduate Christof Neracher has begun principal photography on his third feature, a drama about personal collapse and spiritual reckoning. The drama follows Christian Andersen, a renowned US neurosurgeon whose life unravels after a tragic incident. Grappling with guilt and denial, he suffers a devastating personal blow when his own daughter goes missing. Determined to find her, he sets out on a journey into a primeval mountain world and into the depths of his own inner self. Peter Sarsgaard plays the lead role, marking a rare Swiss-German co-production with a US star in the central part. As in his A PIECE OF SKY, Koch has also cast local non-professional performers to embody the rural characters inhabiting the Alpine setting. Filming is currently under way in the Swiss canton of Uri. Shooting in Switzerland and Germany will continue until mid-November 2025. EROSION is a Swiss-German co-production, staged by Christof Neracher for Zurich-based Hugofilm Features in co-production with Christoph Friedel and Claudia Steffen for Cologne-based Pandora Filmproduktion, SRF, SRG SSR and ARTE. The film is supported by the Swiss Federal Office of Culture (BAK), the Zurich Film Foundation, the Basel Film Fund, the Central Switzerland Film Fund, Suissimage, the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, the German Federal Film Fund (DFFF) and WDR.
- MILA/MARIJA by Andrina Mracnikar, producers: EAVE+ graduates Danijel Hocevar, Alexander Dumreicher-Ivanceanu and EAVE graduate Katja Lenarcic has started shooting. The Slovenian/Austrian/Greek drama is set in a mountain village in Carinthia, 1943. Nineteen-year-old Mila and her brother Hanzi join the partisan resistance group fighting the Nazi occupation of the land from the relative safety of the forests. Soon she finds herself leading her own unit and having to make decisions about life and death. But when the country has been liberated and she embarks upon a new life, Mila once again, has to confront the crucial question: submission or resistance? “My aim with Mila/Marija is to make the first feature film depicting the history of the Slovenian ethnic group and the resistance of the Carinthian partisans to the Nazi regime. It is also an extremely important project for me personally, because the history of the Carinthian Slovenes and the anti-fascist resistance is part of my own family background,” says director and writer Andrina Mracnikar in a statement. MILA/MARIJA is produced by Danijel Hocevar and Katja Lenarcic through Vertigo and Alexander Dumreicher-Ivanceanu and Bady Minck through Amour Fou (Austria) in co-production with Ioanna Davi through Indigo View (Greece) and Ruth Beckermann Filmproduktion (Austria), in collaboration with Austrian national television’s ORF Film/Television Agreement and RTV Slovenija, and in association with FS Viba Film. The project is supported by the Austrian Film Institute, Slovenian Film Centre, Filmfonds Wien, Hellenic Film & Audiovisual Center, the Slovak Audiovisual Fund, Carinthia Film Commission and Future Fund of the Republic of Austria. The 29-day shooting started on 7 October 2025 and it will end mid-November 2025. The shooting is taking place in Globasnica and the surrounding forests in Carinthia, as well as in other towns, villages and forests in Slovenia, and also in Austria within the Carinthia region.
- REMAINS OF LIFE by Sevda Shishmanova, producer: EAVE graduate Veselka Kiryakova, co-producer: EAVE+ graduate Harry Flöter is shooting. The film is based on the true story of the 2012 Burgas Airport bombing, which killed a Bulgarian bus driver of Muslim origin, five Israeli tourists, and a Lebanese suicide attacker. Set against the aftermath of the attack, the narrative follows a forensic photographer tasked with documenting the scene, while also unfolding through the final days of the victims (including the assassin), weaving together intimate portraits that reveal the human cost of violence. The script penned by Sevda Shishmanova and Milena Petrova is grounded in extensive research, including interviews with the victims’ families, surviving passengers, investigators, as well as witness records, forensic photography, and archival footage. “The question I keep getting asked is how I am going to shoot and screen this film, given the extreme sensitivity in the world that divides people, after the massacre of 7 October 2023 done by Hamas, and the unbearable pain of Gaza after Israel's military response. It is extremely difficult. As a director with a journalistic background, I witness how the politicians have finally lost their greatest ally - the people and the battle for humanism. However, the creators have a mission to see it through to the end - with our last remaining empathy. We have a duty to society, a debt to our viewers, to tell the stories of what is common in pain to all of us: respect for life. The characters in our film also go through this only path that humanity has: to see the pain of others”, Sevda Shishmanova said. “This film offers a deeply personal and humanising perspective on the victims of terrorism, emphasising how individuals are often caught in the crossfire of larger political and geopolitical conflicts. In a polarised and unsettled global landscape, the story aims to foster empathy and understanding by highlighting the personal toll of violence, illustrating that behind every headline are real people whose lives are profoundly affected”, producer Veselka Kiryakova said. Asked about the difficulties of the production, Kiryakova added: “The main challenges in producing this film stem from the current situation in Israel. It significantly affects our ability to secure financing. Additionally, the ongoing conflict creates logistical and safety concerns, complicating shooting schedules and location access. Despite these obstacles, our commitment remains to tell this story with authenticity and compassion, believing that it can contribute meaningfully to the international dialogue.” REMAINS OF LIFE is produced by Veselka Kiryakova of Bulgarian Red Carpet and Georgi Skerlev of Bulgarian Mindstream productions in co-production with Harry Flöter of German 2Pilots Filmproduction GmbH. The filming of this Bulgarian/German joint is taking place in Bulgaria and Israel.
- ONE MONTH by Janez Burger, producers: EAVE graduates Miha Cernec, Nina Robnik is in production. The intimate drama follows three characters on the margins of society: an unemployed female intellectual, a pregnant girl from a dysfunctional family, and a gay man who grew up as an orphan. Housing hardship forces them to share a home and to navigate a tense yet caring coexistence that explores what family means in a time of precarious work conditions and social struggles. “In a world where geo-strategic relations and social tensions verge on desperation, this film adopts a lighter tone while exploring whether human coexistence is still possible and how much effort it requires to achieve it,” says Janez Burger, who co-wrote the script together with Croatian screenwriter and director Ognjen Svilicic. ONE MONTH is produced by Nina Robnik and Miha Černec through Staragara, in coproduction with Propeler Film (Croatia) and Staragara I.T. (Italy). The project was supported by the Slovenian Film Centre, RTV Slovenija and FS Viba Film, while Creative Europa - MEDIA gave it support for development. The 33-days shooting of this Slovenian/Croatian/Italian co-production is taking place in Ljubljana, Kamnik, Solkan and at the FS Viba Film studio.
In post-production
- THE HIVE by Martin Rosete, producer: EAVE+ graduate Jonas Katzenstein is in post-production. The plot - penned by Gabriel Dowrick, George Nicholis, Ben Phelps and Gemma Ventura - takes viewers inside the Hive, a high-tech counter-terrorism unit tasked with neutralising threats. With a political summit about to be held in Tenerife, Commander Kate McKenzie (played by Franka Potente), known for her ruthless, no-nonsense methods, needs an insider with knowledge of a dangerous terrorist group posing a constant risk. Undercover agent María Gómez (Sophie Cookson) arrives at the Hive on the eve of the summit, just as a bomb explodes in the city centre, accompanied by a warning: a senior UN executive will be killed in 90 minutes. McKenzie then mobilises her elite team: the hunt has begun, and María may prove pivotal. Shot in July and August, the film is currently in post-production, with its release date to be confirmed. Various Tenerife locations play a key role, including the metropolitan area of Santa Cruz, the Faculty of Fine Arts in La Laguna, the natural landscape of La Esperanza and the former Tabacalera in Santa Cruz, which doubles as the story’s operations centre. After filming on the island, production moved to Cologne (Germany) to wrap the shoot. THE HIVE is being produced by Maximilian Leo, Scott Veltri, Jack Heller, Georgia Poivre and Jonas Katzenstein for Germany’s augenschein Filmproduktion and by Sebastián Álvarez for Volcano Films, in association with Tower Way, Assemble Media and ZDF. The project is supported by Film und Medienstiftung NRW and the German Federal Film Fund (DFFF).
www.augenschein-filmproduktion.de
- ATLAS OF THE UNIVERSE (WT) by Paul Negoescu, producer: EAVE graduate and Romanian National Coordinator Radu Stancu and EAVE graduate Ioana Lascar is in post-production. The screenplay follows Filip, a ten-year-old boy living in a remote village. As the first day of school approaches, Filip has to travel to the nearby town to get the shoes he will wear for the entirety of the next year. Unfortunately, the kid is given the wrong pair, and he will find himself using a plethora of inventive ways to get the right shoes, as without them, the school year would be ruined. The project has recently wrapped production and is now in the editing room. It is being produced by Radu Stancu and Ioana Lascar through deFilm (Romania) and by Poli Angelova through Screening Emotions (Bulgaria). Support came from the Romanian National Film Center Eurimages and the Bulgarian National Film Center. The film was shot over one month in August and September in various towns and on the outskirts of Bucharest. Producer Radu Stancu said that ATLAS OF THE UNIVERSE (WT) was the second feature of his career featuring a child “in almost every frame” and that as many as six child actors made their debut on this occasion. He said the finished movie will cater for young audiences and families. “I think we can positively influence children's perception of the world, stimulating their interest in culture, and whetting their appetite for authentic and contemporary European films with a strong artistic identity and relevant stories.”
- FIVE DAYS AT THE SEA by Ivana Škrabalo, producers: EAVE graduates Miljenka Cogelja and Jelena Angelovski, co-producer: EAVE graduate Jerca Jeric is currently in post-production. The plot: Masa arrives on an island with her boyfriend, where her longtime friend Jagoda has recently moved in with a new partner. Maša is pregnant but keeps this a secret from her boyfriend, confiding only in her friend. What was meant to be a carefree summer getaway turns into a test of a life stage in which each character is pushed out of their own comfort zone. “FIVE DAYS AT THE SEA is a true summer film set on a remote Adriatic island off the Croatian coast. The story follows two couples as they awkwardly navigate the trials of late coming-of-age. Their conversations teeter on the edge of the absurd, much like the situations they stumble into on this seemingly idyllic getaway. What should be a relaxed short holiday slowly turns into a testing ground for relationships and personal uncertainties”, Croatian producer Tena Gojic said. Tena Gojic is producing through Croatia’s Dinaridi Film in collaboration with Miljenka Čogelja Pipser (Croatia), in co-production with Jerca and Andraz Jeric through Slovenia’s Temporama, Ivana Shekutkoska through North Macedonia’s Minimal Collective, and Jelena Angelovski through Serbia’s Obol Film. The Croatian Audiovisual Centre, the Croatian national broadcaster (HRT), the Slovenian Film Centre (SFC), the North Macedonian Film Agency (FASM), and TZ Sali are backing the project. The film was shot from 15 May to 10 June 2025 in Dugi otok, Croatia, and will be completed in the spring of 2026.
Page published 31 October 2025.
