EAVE project THE LOST SON by Darko Stante is shooting!
In Production and in Post-production October 2023
In production
- EAVE project THE LOST SON by Darko Stante, producers: EAVE graduates Nina Robnik, Miha Cernec, co-producer: EAVE graduate Konstantina Stavrianou started shooting. The film tells a story about police investigator Andrej, who encounters his long-lost brother Kristian during an intervention in a case of domestic abuse, where the latter is the perpetrator. Andrej left the family home, dominated by their abusive father, 12 years prior and severed all contact with his family. Now, he makes an effort to help Kristian, risking his professional career in process. The script, written by the filmmaker himself, was developed at the ScriptTeast and at EAVE Producers Workshop. Regarding his directorial vision, Štante said: “I am wondering if the cycle of violence, running from one generation into the next, making the victim become the perpetrator, can be broken. Despite the heavy topic, I am trying to make a film that can communicate with a wide audience, spreading the discussion further.” The producers of the film are Miha Černec and Nina Robnik for Slovenian outfit Staragara. The co-production companies are Propeler Film from Croatia (represented by Boris T Matić and Lana Matić), Kaval Film (Robert Jazadzizki) from North Macedonia and Graal Film (Konstantina Stavrianou) from Greece. THE LOST SON has received support from the Slovenian Film Centre, RTV Slovenia, Studio Viba Film, the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, the North Macedonia Film Agency, the Creative Europe – MEDIA programme and the Re-Act initiative. The shoot, taking place on location around Ljubljana and in Trieste, Italy, should last for 30 days, according to the schedule.
- TIES THAT BIND project CHINA SEA by Jurgis Matulevičius, producer: TTB graduate Ieva Cern, co-producer: EAVE graduate Jakub Kostal is currently shooting. The film written by Saulė Bliuvaitė tells the story of martial arts champion Osvaldas, who is expelled from the federation after accidentally hitting a girl. No longer able to participate in tournaments, Osvaldas spends his days in a cheap "China Sea" restaurant owned by a Taiwanese immigrant. When he convinces his former mentor to grant him a second chance, he takes a job as a martial arts coach for teens and proves to be good at it until the past catches up with him. The film is produced by Ieva Cern through Film Jam (Lithuania) in coproduction with Marta Gmosińska through Lava Films (Poland), Jakub Kostal through Bionaut (Czech Republic) and Amy Ma through Ma Studios (Taiwan). The Lithuanian Film Centre, the Polish Film Institute, the Czech Film Fund and the Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA) supported the project. The date of completion is the autumn of 2024.
- TIES THAT BIND project A MISSING PART by Guillaume Senez, producers: TTB graduate Nathan Duboutay, EAVE graduate Jacques-Henry Bronckart is shooting. The film paints the portrait of Jay, every day, he drives through Tokyo behind the wheel of his taxi looking for his daughter Lily. Separated for 9 years, he’s never been able to get custody. Just when he’s stopped hoping to see her again and is about to return to France, Lily comes into his taxi, but doesn’t recognise him… Guillaume Senez therefore returns to his favourite themes and also explores an aspect of Japanese culture that remains little known in the West, namely that many divorces lead to the almost complete rupture of bonds with one of the two parents, especially when that parent is a foreigner. Guillaume Senez is working for the first time with Belgian producers Nathan Duboutay and Jacques-Henry Bronckart for Versus Production. Co-produced by Les Films Pelléas (France) and Savage Film (Belgium), in partnership with the Centre du Cinéma et de l’Audiovisuel de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, RTBF, VOO and Be tv, Proximus, the Federal Belgian Government Tax Shelter and the Inver Tax Shelter, the Flanders Audiovisual Fund and O’Brother Distribution. In France, the film benefits from the support of the CNC, France 2 Cinéma, OCS, Disney+, Haut et Court Distribution, and Soficas Indéfilms, LBPI and Cinécap. Executive production in Japan is handled by Mam Film. Shooting which will continue until 3 December in Japan, between Tokyo, Sagami Bay and Yokohama.
http://www.versusproduction.be
- MARIANENGRABEN by Eileen Byrne, producer: EAVE graduate Bernard Michaux, co-producer: EAVE graduate Roberto Cavallini is in production. The novel adaptation of the same name by Jasmin Schreiber tells the story of Paula, whose will to live is extinguished after her little brother Tim drowns in the sea in Trieste. But when she meets old Helmut, who wants to take his ex-wife's urn to Italy, she finally sees a glimmer of hope. She decides to travel to the beach in Trieste, where her brother died, to find closure. During the journey, she not only picks up a new zest for life but also develops an unexpected friendship with Helmut. The international co-production involves partners from Luxembourg (Samsa Film), Austria (Film AG Produktions GmbH) and Italy (Albolina Film), with funding coming from Film Fund Luxembourg, IDM Südtirol, ÖFI+ and MiC. Alamode Film will release the film in German and Austrian cinemas throughout 2024.
- MARIA by Pablo Larrain, producer: EAVE graduate Jonas Dornbach is in production. Production began early this month on MARIA, the Chilean director’s new film on Maria Callas, known as La Divina and one of the most revered opera singers of the 20th century. Angelina Jolie is in the title role. Originally born in New York to Greek-immigrant parents, Callas received her musical training after returning to Greece, and battled through 1940s wartime poverty to establish herself later in Italy as a bel canto star; later on, her life was ridden by scandal, tragedy and her struggle with near-sightedness. The movie, as per the official logline, will tell “the tumultuous, beautiful and tragic story of the life of the world’s greatest opera singer, relived and re-imagined during her final days in 1970s Paris. Callas possessed a tremulous, emotive soprano range that will definitely be aurally familiar to viewers, given the abundance of classic opera “cues” in various cinema and media. It’s an instrument that feels like it could shatter glass, in the time-honoured cliché, yet it has a stirring, grandiose quality. The film is produced by Juan de Dios Larraín for Chile’s Fabula, Lorenzo Mieli for Italy’s The Apartment Pictures and Jonas Dornbach for Germany’s Komplizen Film.
- NEVER ALONE by Klaus Härö, producer: EAVE+ graduate Ilkka Matila is in production. The World War II-set drama is based on true events and Rony Smolar’s biography Uncle Stiller. The picture is predominantly set on the eve of World War II, when Finland began taking in refugees from Germany and Austria. In detail, the story centres on unsung hero Abraham Stiller, an elderly Jewish man who tries to prevent the Finnish government from handing over Jewish refugees to the Gestapo and to the Auschwitz concentration camp. Producer Ilkka Matila reported that the movie has been in the works for almost 15 years. The project is being filmed in Estonia and Finland. NEVER ALONE is being produced by MRP Matila Röhr Productions in co-production with Estonia’s Taska Film, Sweden’s HOBAB, Austria’s Samsara Filmproduktion and Germany’s Penned Pictures. It has also received backing from the Nordisk Film & TV Fond, the Finnish Film Foundation, MTV3, CMore, Konstsamfundet, the Church Media Foundation, the Swedish Film Institute, SVT, the Austrian Film Institute, ORF, the Estonian Film Institute and the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.
- MEURSAULT CONTRE-ENQUÊTE by Malek Bensmaïl, producers: EAVE graduate Anne-Laure Guegan and PUENTES graduate Geraldine Sprimont is in production. Written by Malek Bensmaïl and Jacques Fieschi based on Kamel Daoud’s novel of the same name, the story is set in Oran in 1996, when elderly, retired bachelor Haroun tells a young journalist an incredible story dating back to the summer of 1942: he claims to be the brother of the "Nameless Arab" killed in Albert Camus’ famous novel… The film is produced by Fred Prémel on behalf of Tita B Productions and by Hachemi Zertal for Algerian firm Hikayet Films, in co-production with Belgium’s Need Productions and Switzerland’s Imago Films. Notably backed by the CNC (via an advance on receipts and the Fonds Images de la Diversité fund), the Ile-de-France region and Procirep, the movie will be shot over a four-week period in Oran, Algiers and Hadjout.
- FLOOD by Martin Gonda, producer: EAVE graduate and Slovak National Coordinator Katarina Krnacova, co-producer: EAVE graduate Izabela Igel is in production. The producers are applying the principles of green filming. It is the second Slovak green film produced by Silverart. “Benefiting from our previous experiences, with the first Slovak ‘green-film’ STAND UP, directed by Juraj Bohus, we applied the principles of green filming also in the preproduction and the production of FLOOD . We hired a certified green film manager long ahead of the shooting to carefully plan all the steps towards a sustainable production. We use our set of 10 basic rules, the ‘Ten Green Commandments’, which cover all the departments throughout the entire production process,“ producer Katarina Krnacova said. Set in the 1980’s, FLOOD tells the story of Mara, whose home valley is doomed due to the project of a new water reservoir. The villagers are forced to gradually leave their homes. Mara longs to leave the countryside and study in town, however, her father, who is a Ruthenian farmer, keeps her tied to the family land, which he refuses to let go of despite the end approaching. Mara finds herself in the core of the village community fighting against the failing infrastructure, hidden terrors of the authorities and the incoming flood. „Most of the characters are played by authentic Ruthenian actors and non-professional actors from this particular region. It is actually the first feature film about Ruthenians that is also in their language, since most of the dialogues are in Ruthenian“ Krnacova said. Katarina Krnacova and Tomas Gic are producing through Silverart in co-production with Izabela Igel through Polish Harine Films, Viktor Schwarcz through CINEART TV Prague and Henry Gillet through Belgian Y-House. The film was supported by the Slovak Audiovisual Fund, the Polish Film Institute, the Radio and Television Slovakia, the Minority Culture Fund, Creative Europe MEDIA, the Košice Self-Governing Region, Czech Film Fund and the Belgian Tax Shelter.
In post-production
- AFTER THE SUMMER by Denis Tanovic, co-producers: EAVE graduate Miha Cernec, EAVE graduate and Slovenian National Coordinator Jozko Rutar, and EAVE graduate Anamaria Antoci is in post-production. The movie is envisioned as a comedy-drama with an unlikely late-summer romance at its core. That romance transforms into a story of acceptance and love towards the other, the island, one’s own roots and, most importantly, oneself. AFTER THE SUMMER is being produced by Lana Matic and Boris T Matic for Croatian production house Propeler Film. The co-producers are Jelena Mitrovic, Miha Černec, Josko Rutar, Mirsad Purivatra, EAVE FFF graduate Jovan Marjanovic and Anamaria Antoci. The film has been financially supported by the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, the Slovenian Film Centre, Film Center Serbia, the Sarajevo Canton Cinema Foundation, the Romanian National Film Center, BH Telecom and Creative Europe – MEDIA.
- THE PRICE OF MONEY: A LARGO WINCH ADVENTURE by Olivier Masset-Depasse, producer: EAVE graduate Jacques-Henri Bronckart is in post-production. The film has been adapted from volumes 13 and 14 of the comic hit series The Price of Money, and The Law of the Dollar, which return to their comic book roots by dragging the hero into a complicated investigation against a backdrop of globalisation and other mergers and acquisitions, confronting him with his own contradictions. Devastated by the kidnapping of his 15-year-old son, Largo Winch is trying to hold it together when one of his associates brutally takes his own life in the middle of a press conference. Just as the world seems to be turning against him and his industrial empire folding, he discovers that the two events may be linked: if he finds those responsible for his bankruptcy, maybe he’ll see his son again? Largo doesn’t yet realise that his quest will lead him directly to hell. The film is carried out by Belgian producer Jacques-Henri Bronckart on behalf of Versus Production and Nathalie Gastaldo Godeau for Pan-Européenne (France).
- LITTLE TROUBLE GIRLS by Urska Djukic, producer: EAVE graduate and Slovenian National Coordinator Jozko Rutar, co-producers: EAVE graduates Katarina Prpic and Marina Gumzi is currently in post-production. It is a story about a shy and sensitive teenager Lucia, who navigates between the expectations of society and the discovery of her own sexuality. "I am grateful that I can make films and that through artistic reflection, above all, through myself and through the world around me, I can provoke the audience with questions, criticism, empathy and a sense of one's own being," says director Urska Djukic, who penned the script with Marina Gumzi. LITTLE TROUBLE GIRLS is produced by Jozko Rutar through Spok Films (Slovenia), Miha Cernec and David Cej through Staragara I.T. (Italy), and Katarina Prpic through Izazov 365 (Croatia), in co-production with Slovenia’s Nosorogi and RTV Slovenija. The project is supported by the Slovenian Film Centre, RTV Slovenija, Direzione generale Cinema e audiovisivo del Ministero della Cultura DGCA-Mic (MIBACT), the Friuli Venezia Giulia Audiovisual Fund, the Film Commission Friuli Venezia Gulia (FVG) and the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, with technical support provided by FS Viba. The development of the film was supported by the Slovenian Film Centre, Creative Europe MEDIA, RE-ACT and Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine.
- THE SILENT TREATMENT by Caroline Strubbe, producer: EAVE graduate Tomas Leyers, co-producer: EAVE graduate Denis Vaslin is in post-production. Tess, an odd 18-year-old Belgian woman with Stockholm syndrome, stalks an introverted, forty something Szabolcs in Budapest. His girlfriend Andrea secretly tries to approach the young stalker in order to help her confront Szabolcs with her questions about her troubled past. Gradually all three of them discover to what extent this tragic background affects their current relationships and learn to reconcile their past. THE SILENT TREATMENT is produced by Tomas Leyers of Minds Meet (Belgium) in co-production with Denis Vaslin of Volya Films (the Netherlands) and Judit Stalter of Laokoon Filmgroup (Hungary). With support from the VAF (Flanders Audiovisual Film Fund), Screen Brussel, Minds Meet equity, GFW invest, Tax Shelter, NFF (the Netherlands Film Fund), LFF (Limburg Film Fund), the Netherlands Film Production Incentive and the Hungarian Tax Rebate. "This collaboration is fantastic with Caroline and her producers, Tomas Leyers - MindsMeet and the Voya Films from the Netherlands. It was a pleasure to be part of a production with a real Hungarian storyline, with Hungarian characters, and where Budapest can shape itself. One of the defining locations of our film is the justly famous Gellér Hotel, which we managed to capture with its original patina before its closure and complete renovation", Hungarian co-producer Judit Stalter.
- THE SHADOW by Jaak Kilmi, producer: EAVE + graduate Kristian Taska is in post-production. A struggling poet and an unlikely detective is solving frightening murder cases in 1890s Estonia, in a period of heavy Russification from the Tsar. Fighting crime and his inner demons, the detective is torn between madness and sanity, darkness and light. In crazy times, a madman might turn out to be the most effective of them all. Indrek Hargla, who penned Melchior the Apothecary series, wrote the script. Kristian Taska is producing through Estonian Taska Film, Tanel Tatter and Veiko Esken through Apollo Film Productions and Armin Karu through HansaFilm, in co-production with Tuuli Roosma through Reede. The project is supported by the Estonian Film Foundation, as well as the Tartu Film Fund, Apollo Film Productions and HansaFilm
Page published 30 October 2023.
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Awards October 2023
EAVE project CITIZEN SAINT wins the Grand Prix at CinÉast
30 October 2023
In Production and in Post-production October 2023
EAVE project THE LOST SON by Darko Stante is shooting!
Next: 30 October 2023
In Development October 2023
EAVE project THE DIFFICULT BRIDE receives funding
