RESONANCE by Yordan Petkov is in production
In Production and Post-Production August 2024
In production
- KALEVALA: THE STORY OF KULLERVO by Antti J Jokinen, producer: EAVE+ graduate Marko Röhr is in production. The big screen adaptation of the Finnish national epic poem Kalevala consists of Karelian and Finnish folklore and mythology. Set in the 1100s in North Karelia, it will be mainly shot in Nurmes, where extensive period- appropriate sets will be built including houses, storehouses, and courtyards. The film is being produced by Johanna Enäsuo and Marko Röhr for Reel Media (Finland) with Jokinen’s own banner Storm Inc. (Finland). The feature is made in collaboration with SF Studios, the Finnish Film Foundation and Yleisradio. It also received backing from the North Karelia Cooperative Society (PKO), the Nordisk Film & TV Fond and the Regional Council of North Karelia.
- SAND IN YOUR HAIR by Mantas Verbiejus, producer: EAVE graduate Živile Gallego is shooting. The story, penned by Verbiejus himself in tandem with Gediminas Cibulskis, follows Malvina, a former ballerina in her mid-eighties once celebrated for her gracefulness on stage, but who now languishes in a monotonous routine. After she unexpectedly meets Kipras, a talented painter of her age, he becomes the catalyst for change. Together, they defy society’s expectations about seniors, transcending age and challenging taboos. As they escape from relatives and institutions, they discover that freedom isn’t merely physical; it’s about breaking free from invisible chains. Their journey unfolds as a pas de deux – a dance of resilience, rebellion and redemption. Can love overcome loneliness, and can two ageing hearts rewrite their own ending?
- ROMERIA by Carla Simon, producer: EAVE graduate and Spanish National Coordinator Maria Zamora is in production. Written by Simón herself and with clear personal connotations, the film’s plot follows Marina who travels to the Galician city of Vigo to meet the family of her biological father. Like her mother, he died of AIDS when she was very young. Through meeting her uncles, aunts and grandparents, Marina tries to reconstruct a coherent account of her father and the love story he had with her mother. However, she fails to do this because they are all too ashamed of the couple's drug problems, something that Marina reminds them of with her presence. But the teenage love story she has with her cousin allows her to reimagine her parents and connect with them. With her mother's diary, she invents a story that frees her from the stigma her family feels towards them and fulfils her desire to understand the past. According to the filmmaker, “I’m lucky to be part of a big family full of stories that have been my source of inspiration. I find family relations fascinating because we don't choose them. Family is the source of many conflicts, traumas and fights, but also of love, trust and deep loyalty.” She concludes, “Romería is not only the story of my family, but of a whole generation that disappeared at the end of the last century touched by AIDS and of all the orphans left behind with no roots, past or memories.” ROMERIA is produced by María Zamora - who at the next San Sebastian Film Festival will receive the Spanish Ministry of Culture's 2024 National Cinematography Award - for ELASTICA in co- production with Ventall Cinema (Germany), Dos Soles Media and Romería Vigo A.I.E.. ROMERIA is funded by the Spanish Film Institute (ICAA), Institut Català de les Empreses Culturals, Xunta de Galicia, Eurimages, Europa Creativa MEDIA, FFA, Community of Madrid, RTVE, Vodafone, Movistar Plus+, Netflix, 3Cat, ZDF/ARTE and The Post Republic.
- LA DANSE DES RENARDS by Valéry Carnoy, producer: EAVE graduate Julie Esparbes is in production. With this first feature film, the director is exploring young masculinities, dictates and pressure. In a sports-focused boarding school, we meet Camille, a young boxing pro who was recently crowned French champion and whose best friend Matteo recently saved him from a mortal accident. An unspoken anguish slowly overcomes Camille, to the point of calling into question his passion for boxing and his close friendship with Matteo. Meanwhile, foxes are proliferating in the forest bordering the school and begin causing trouble on the school grounds. LA DANSE DES RENARDS is being shot between 5 August and 17 September in Brussels, Godinnes and Charleville Mézières. The film is produced by Julie Esparbes on behalf of Hélicotronc The movie is co-produced by Inès Daïen Dasi on behalf of Les Films du Poisson. The film enjoys support from the Wallonia-Brussels Federation Film and Audiovisual Centre, the French CNC, Canal+, Ciné+, screen.brussels, Wallimage, the Tax Shelter initiative, RTBF, Proximus, BeTV and the Grand Est region.
- RESONANCE by Yordan Petkov, co-producer: EAVE SLATE graduate and EAVE participant Mina Dreki is in production. The story follows an hermit on a mission and an ambitious young policeman, who find themselves strangely entangled by the howling sirens of a malfunctioning Early Warning System. The end of the world, however, is a solitary occupation. “The look and feel of Resonance is defined by what we have turned to calling an ‘Eastern’ or a Western with a distinct East European sensibility. The cinematic language of Resonance takes its cues from the main character of the film. He is a person who is patient, observant, disciplined, and perhaps, most crucially, stoic. These qualities will hold true for the camera as well. As a film that explores our relationship with nature and the consequences of our indecencies towards it, Yordan Petkov said. Bulgaria’s Garti Films, Portokal and Klas Film are producing in co-production with Marni Films (Greece) and Ikinci Yeni Film (Turkey). The project is supported by the Bulgarian National Film Center, the Greek Film Centre, the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT), the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Creative Europe MEDIA Development Support, and SEE Cinema Network. The project was developed at TorinoScriptLab (2021) and Biennale College Cinema (2021), and it was pitched at Brussels UP: Up & Coming (2021), Evia Film Project (Special Jury Prize for Creative Vision 2022), Sofia Meetings (Gruvi Marketing Award 2023) and cocoPitch/Connecting Cottbus, Cannes Producers Network Award 2023. The film is currently being shot for 22 days near Sofia. The postproduction will be completed in May 2025.
In post-production
- LA FEMME LA PLUS RICHE DU MONDE by Thierry Klifa, co-producer: EAVE graduate Jacques-Henri Bronckart is in post-production. Very loosely based on the Bettencourt affair, the story follows the richest woman in the world (Isabelle Huppert) and a writer-photographer known throughout Paris (Laurent Lafitte) as they meet during a photo shoot and go on to become inseparable. Their loving friendship amuses and intrigues the billionaire’s personal and professional entourage, setting their tongues wagging and ultimately disconcerting them… LA FEMME LA PLUS RICHE DU MONDE is produced by Mathias Rubin on behalf of Récifilms, in co-production with Belgium’s Versus Productions. Pre-purchased by Netflix, the movie enjoys backing from the SOFICA companies Sofitvciné, Cinémage, Cinéaxe and Cofimage, as well as support from Wallimage and Screen.Brussels. Having kicked off on 17 June, the 22-day film shoot has been split equally between France and Belgium.
- DESIRE LINES by Dane Komljen, producers: EAVE graduates Natasa Damnjanovic, Miljenka Cogelja has wrapped shooting. The film is done as a paneuropean co-production from Serbia, the Netherlands, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Germany. Branko obsessively trails his brother through neon-lit Belgrade nights, trying to fathom his unusual behaviour. On this path, Branko realises that he is the strange one, an observer, an apparition. Branko keeps walking and leaves the city behind, crossing landscapes and borders on his way to a very special place where everyone and everything has a story to share. “It took eight years and five countries from inception to the shooting of DESIRE LINES“, producer Natasa Damnjanovic said. „What was meant to be the director’s sophomore feature came after another feature film and one documentary, with a short film in between. Perseverance and passion are essential in this line of work, but few professions can match the sense of fulfilment it offers.” The film was shot in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina by Belgrade-born Berlin-based cinematographer Ivan Marković and German cinematographer Jenny Lou Ziegel. The 30 shooting days were scheduled from 5 July to 20 August 2024. Natasa Damnjanovic and Vladimir Vidic are producing through Serbia’s Dart Film in co-production with Marc Thelosen of Dutch SeriousFilm, Dane Komljen and Armin Hadzic through Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Mak Film and Marletti, as well as Miljenka Cogelja through Croatia’s Pipser and Zsuzsanna Kiraly through Germany’s Flaneur Films. The institutional support has come from: Hubert Bals Fund, Creative Europe MEDIA, Film Center Serbia, Netherlands Film Fonds, Audio-visual Center of Republika Srpska, Sarajevo Canton Ministry of Culture and Sport, Croatian Audiovisual Centre, Medienboard Berlin Brandenburg and Eurimages.
Page published 30 August 2024. Updated 3 September 2024.
