SECOND FILMS
Greece, UK
Daniel Florêncio (Director)
Nancy Kokolaki, Dionyssis Samiotis, Nefeli Zygopoulou (Producers)
Tanweer Productions (Greece)
I Made It Films (UK)
Logline: In 1970s Greece, two land surveyors arrive in a secluded Peloponnesian village to install a telephone line. Initially welcomed, they soon face growing suspicion and hospitality from the villagers, fueled by rumors spread by a retired British Army Colonel.
BALLERINA SHOES
Slovakia
Teodor Kuhn (Director)
Jakub Viktorín, Tomáš Hrubý (Producer)
Nutprodukcia s.r.o. (Slovakia)
Logline: When a Roma girl from an impoverished community wins a local running race, a small town coach must face his prejudice and decide whether he wants to make her a champion or help her have a better life.
LASTIMA
Italy
Mario Piredda (Director)
Chiara Galloni (Producer)
ARTICOLTURE (Italy)
Logline: Vera, a jobless Romanian in her 40s, is forced to transfer Ana, a young Brazilian prostitute, from one city to another: the “simple task” turns into a daily/life long journey of two very different women across a sunburnt Sardinia Island, searching for a common paradise.
SURVIVING PÖLKWITZ
Germany
Jannis Alexander Kiefer (Director)
Paula Elina Klossner, Stephen Buske (Producers)
Tidewater Pictures (Germany)
Logline: In a village where everyone is perishing -either physically or mentally- Hannah (19) endeavors to escape her provincial home, a small island in the Baltic Sea. Yet, fleeing proves more challenging than expected, and not just because of the surrounding sea.
PLUS MINUS ONE
BAREFOOT BULL
Bulgaria
Petar Krumov (Director)
Rossitsa Valkanova (Producer)
KLAS Film (Bulgaria)
Logline: A young cowherd leaves his father’s farm to find in the capital his cousin, a seductive TikTok star. He believes she’ll be his ticket to fame and quick money.
BEAR HUG
Greece
Alexandros Skouras (Director)
Eleni Oulani, Lina Yannopoulou (Producers)
Argonauts Productions (Greece) (in partnership with MFI)
Logline: Forced to give up the comfort zone of his solitude, Makis embarks on a relentless quest to uncover the true identity of a departed stranger.
BOYS’ GAME
Cyprus
Director Corinna Avraamidou (Director)
Producer Andros Achilleos (Producer)
Seahorse Film Productions (Cyprus)
Logline: When a fight amongst teenage boys goes tragically wrong, a family is faced with difficult dilemmas that force them to question their ethical values.
DEATH IS FOR THE LIVING
Bulgaria
Kristiyan Bozov (Director)
Kristina Grozeva, Petar Valchanov (Producers)
Abraxas Film (Bulgaria)
Logline: A young homosexual girl from Sofia threatens the traditions and existence of a secluded Bulgarian Muslim society during the eccentric, three-day long funeral for her beloved one.
HEARTBEAT
Germany, Azerbaijan, Canada
Sergej Waldrat (Director)
Samaya Hillenbrand, Thomas Hillenbrand (Producers)
Doghouse Filmproductions (Germany), Mew Movies (Azerbaijan), Quiet Revolution Pict. (Canada)
Logline: A shy petty crook must make life worth living for a suicidal pensioner to take her pumping heart for his dying mother.
I WILL DRINK WITH THE BEES
France
Léa Triboulet (Director)
Jérôme Blesson (Producer)
La Belle Affaire Productions (France)
Logline: Aurora, 15, doesn’t accept her mother’s brutal death. She goes to spend the summer with her aunt in the Pyrenees, in a small abandoned industrial town, where bees are mysteriously reappearing.
LADY SUNSHINE
Hungary
Anna Korom (Director)
Anna Szijártó (Producer)
Kinomoto Kft. (Hungary) (in partnership with Crossroads Co-Production Forum)
Logline: Mária, a plastic surgery addict amateur singer meets her old lover Kálmán, who doesn’t recognize her and falls in love with her. Being trapped in her incognito as her musician alter ego Lady Sunshine, Mária has to finally face her true self.
PORTRAIT OF FORTUNA
Poland
Tomasz Jurkiewicz (Director)
Magdalena Sztorc (Producer)
Before My Eyes (Poland) (in partnership with EAVE)
Logline: Young Robek quits his job in Austria to go back to his village after his girlfriend, Aśka, sick and tired of the long distance, starts exacting revenge on him. It’s not long until Robek settles the score.
REPORT ON THE MIRACLES OF THE EARTH
Portugal, Angola, Bulgaria
Carlos Conceição (Director)
João Matos, Kamen Velkovsky, Carlos Conceição (Producers)
Terratreme (Portugal), Mirabilis (Angola), Alaz Film (Bulgaria)
Logline: A European engineer ventures into the Angolan jungle and, through a bizarre sequence of dreamlike events, ends up paying off another man's promise.
SYDNEY SMILE FUTURE PERFECT
Greece
Gregoris Rentis (Director)
Mando Stathi, Myrto Stathi (Producers)
BYRD (Greece) (in partnership with EAVE)
Logline: When Nu, a young gymnast joins the National Team’s training camp, she quickly rises amongst her teammates but her future in the Olympics is challenged when she comes up against the dark side of the gold medal.
THE MIRACLE NUMBER THREE
Poland
Grzegorz Jaroszuk (Director)
Alicja Gancarz, Magdalena Zimecka (Producers)
Orka (Poland)
Logline: Małgosia and Krzysztof, who work for a megalomaniac city developer Zbigniew, unexpectedly find themselves agreeing to help the allotment holders. Mushroom picking, pigeon breeding, and conversations about what truly matters, alter their perspective on their meticulously planned lives.
THIS BROKEN WORLD
Irland, Finland
Richard Keane (Director)
Richard Keane (Producer)
Out Left Productions (Ireland), TBC (Finland)
Logline: A dangerously in debt young small-time criminal from the city finds himself the prisoner of a suicidal widower whose isolated farm he tried to burgle.
VESTIGE
Kosovo
Rita Krasniqi (Director)
Jon Gojani (Producer)
Kot Productions (Kosovo)
Logline: After a stray dog biting incident in a small town, tensions rise within the community as a hunt for the strays is organized. Things take a turn for the worst when the townsmen begin hunting each other instead of the dogs.
TV SERIES
LITTLE RED FOX
France
Nuria Gómez Garrido (Director)
Hector Ulloque (Producer)
Chakalaka Films (France)
Logline: A German Jewish girl flees the Nazis and goes to Paris, learns to photograph and, at the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, finds a way to emancipate herself as a woman while fighting fascism as a photojournalist.
SPARE LIFE
Bulgaria, Germany
Boris Despodov (Director)
Boris Despodov (Producer)
Arthouse Blockbusters (Bulgaria, Germany)
Logline: Spare Life is a coming-of-age story of two beautiful 12-year-old conjoined twin sisters – Zlata and Srebra, treated as freaks and outcasts even by their own family, who live for the day they do the separation surgery. A film about separation, no matter how difficult it is and how much you have to sacrifice, where the beauty and the repulsion are merged.
THE GENE OF DOUBT
Bulgaria
Zornitsa Sophia (Director)
Krastyo Lambev (Producer)
Concept Studio (Bulgaria)
Logline: A "talent gene" DNA test emerges, limiting art to the "certified." A writer rejects testing, sacrificing career to join the Anonymous Artists' resistance. They question the value of their creations, demonstrating that doubt is a crucial catalyst for the creative process, even in death.
THE SHEPHERD
Greece
Filippos Tsitos (Director)
Stelios Mavrodontis, Nicholas Alavanos (Producers)
FILMIKI PRODUCTIONS (Greece)
Logline: A bankrupt merchant of Grecian souvenirs climbs the pecking order of a global smuggling antiquities ring, when he discovers under his abandoned sheep pen a priceless ancient Macedonian tomb.
PROJECT IN BANK
EMIL
Bulgaria
Yana Titova (Director)
Ivan Hristov, Andrei Arnaudov (Producers)
Medium Station (Bulgaria)
Logline: Film-biography about the life of Emil Dimitrov, about the professional and personal relationship between him and his impresario Vasil Andreev. A story about their extraordinary success on the world stage, while their work was censored in Bulgaria and they themselves were discriminated against for their sexual orientation.
FLY!
Bulgaria
Zornitsa Sophia (Director)
Zornitsa Sophia (Producer)
MQ Pictures (Bulgaria)
Logline: “Fly!”, a teen dystopia, features a post-apocalyptic world where a flying girl is hunted down as an anomaly. Alya forces herself to become a “normal” member of the oppressive society in order to find her long-lost parents.
IN THE MEANTIME
Serbia
Gordan Matic (Director)
Gordan Matic, Ales Pavlin, Riccardo Di Pasquelle (Producers)
Re-Kreativno dud (Serbia)
Logline: DO OUR SOULS HAVE AN END? Irony is the hesitation between laughter and sorrow. Sometimes we’d like to know EVERYTHING… And sometimes NOTHING!
MOTHER TONGUE
Italy, Romania
Caterina Biasiucci (Director)
Antonella di Nocera (Producer)
Parallelo 41 Produzion (Italy), Tangaj Film (Romania)
Logline: Rosaria, 16 years old and five months pregnant, is welcomed by the family of her best friend Rita who lives in a house in the small country village cemetery where her father is the caretaker.
LAZARUS
Bulgaria
Dimitris Georgiev, Mariy Rosen (Directors)
Teodora Mladenova, Elena Doroshenko (Producers)
New European Entertainment (Bulgaria)
Logline: A man with mental issues hides his mother's corpse and lives off her pension. He faces the brutal reality of the small town and loses control of his life. Inspired by true stories.
NATURE MORTE
Ukraine, Norway
Elena Rubashevska (Director)
Arne Dahr, Veronika Kryzhna (Producers)
IE Kryzhna (Ukraine), Lightsource film (Norway)
Logline: The story follows the childless couple’s intimate Relationship, dynamics with the nuclear power plant construction unfolding in the background.
PANNA SOPHIA/COMENIUS
Czech Republic
Václav Kadrnka (Director)
Václav Kadrnka, Simona Kadrnková (Producers)
Sirius Films (Czech Republic)
Logline: In 1627 Europe is in the midst of wars. A young pastor and his family are facing exile. He is called to examine a sick girl with strange visions. The images she offers may be a new path to hope. Based on a true story from the life of Comenius.
PETER DEUNOV - THE TEACHER
Bulgaria
Dimitar Gotchev (Director)
Dimitar Gotchev, Zlatina Filipova (Producers)
Elbur Films (Bulgaria)
Logline: A documentary about the life and teachings of Peter Deunov, whose influence rose to international level, comparable to great spiritual figures such as Gandhi and Steiner, presenting an important message about spiritual development of the new generation and the challenges ahead the world.
RAHMA
Turkey
Faysal Soysal (Director)
Faysal Soysal (Producer)
Ivan Tonev (Producer)
Balkon Film (Türkiye)
ARSDIGITAL (Bulgaria)
Logline:
A nurse who has tried everything to have a child despite her illness travels to Georgia for surrogacy as a last resort and finds herself in a new adventure with an orphaned refugee girl disguised as a boy.
WOMANISER
Bulgaria, UK
Vesela Kazakova, Mina Mileva (Directors)
Velesela Kazakova, Mina Mileva, Julie Baines (Producers)
Activist38 (Bulgaria) Dan Films (UK)
Logline: A 17-year-old provocateur challenges stereotypes and political correctness in his new English school.
VR PROJECT
SELINA
Germany
Sven Haeberlein (Production & Game direction)
Sven Haeberlein (Narrative Design & Mocap)
Trotzkind (Germany)
Logline: A Narrative VR Adventure
WORK IN PROGRESS
THE SHAMELESS
Switzerland, France, Bulgaria
Konstantin Bojanov (Director)
Nicolas Wadimoff, Philippe Coeytaux, Palmyre Badinier, Frédéric Corvez, Maéva Savinien, Rossitsa Valkanova, Vincent Wang (Producers)
Akka Films (Switzerland), Urban Factory, House on Fire (France), Klas Film (Bulgaria)
Logline: In the shadowy depths of Delhi, Renuka, a defiant woman on the run from the police, finds sanctuary among a community of sex workers. When she meets Devika, their forbidden love pushes them to navigate a treacherous maze of brutality, risking everything to outrun their oppressive community.
TRIUMPH
Bulgaria, Greece
Kristina Grozeva, Petar Valchanov (Directors)
Kristina Grozeva, Petar Valchanov, Konstantina Stavrianou, Irini Vougioukalou, Maria Bakalova, Julian Kostov (Producers)
Abraxas Film, Five Oceans, Red Carpet, Dystopia Films (Bulgaria), Graal Films (Greece)
Logline: After the fall of communism in the 1990's, a classified task force of high-rank army officers, led by a psychic channeler, start digging a hole in search of mysterious artifacts. These artifacts will change history and will make Bulgaria great again. The ultimate Triumph!
TARIKA
Bulgaria, Germany, Luxembourg
Milko Lazarov (Director)
Veselka Kiryakova (Producer)
Red Carpet Films (Bulgaria), 42film (Germany), AMOUR FOU Luxembourg (Luxembourg)
Logline: Tarika, a girl with extraordinary abilities, lives in a border area where people of different ethnicities coexist in harmony until one day their livestock mysteriously start dying. The superstitious villagers put the blame on Tarika and decide to kill her.
MUM
Serbia, Croatia, Bulgaria
Nikola Lezaic (Director)
Nicola Lezaic, Marija Lero, Sinisa Juricic, Nikolay Moutafchiev (Producers)
Qče (Serbia), Nukleus Film (Croatia), Premierstudio (Bulgaria)
Logline: A film director stuck in advertising, goes on a journey with his father, to return the remains of his late grandmother to her home village in Croatia. There he learns a lesson about parenthood, family, memories.
APOLLON BY DAY ATHENA BY NIGHT
Turkey
Emine Yıldırım (Director)
Dilde Mahalli, Emine Yıldırım (Producers)
Rosa Film, Ursula Film (Turkey)
Logline: Raised as an orphan, Defne, a cranky newbie psychic, finds herself in the ancient town of Side (Antalya), accompanied by the ghosts of a Marxist revolutionary, a prostitute and a primeval priestess; as she searches for her long lost mother.
COLD CLOUDS
Georgia
Kakhaber Kikabidze (Director)
Vladimer Katcharava (Producer)
20 Steps Productions (Georgia)
Logline: In the heart of Tbilisi, poet Dati's infatuation with Anna leads him into a tangled web of love and deception, while police captain Zurmukhtashvili's pursuit of a serial killer entangles them all in a dangerous game of betrayal and revelation.
DEAL AT THE BORDER
Kyrgyzstan
Dastan Zhapar Uulu (Director)
Suiumkan Sulaimanova (Producer)
“Kyrgyzfilm” National Film Studio, Creative Center Foundation (Kyrgyzstan)
FACING THE SUN
Bulgaria
Lyubomir Mladenov (Director)
Poli Angelova, Nikolay Todorov (Producers)
Screening Emotions (Bulgaria)
Logline: Neda feels isolated in the small town. Her fate sends the big world to a guest. Instead of finding joy at the meeting, she face hatred and ruin.
GERI’S WISH
Bulgaria, Finland
Tonislav Hristov (Director)
Kaarle Aho, Andrea Stanoeva (Producers)
Making Movies (Finland), Soul Food (Bulgaria) - Documentary
KAFE 404
Greece
Alexandros Tsilifonis (Director)
Katerina Kaskanioti (Producer)
Central Athens Film Productions (Greece)
Logline: Having inherited is parents failing dinner, Jimmy struggles to keep the lights on. When a botched shootout leaves him holding a bag of cash he must rally his unenthusiastic staff together to fight off the local mafia and keep the family business alive.
OVERTIME
Slovenia, Austria
Áron Horvath Botka (Director)
Ana Kovačič, Aron Horvath Botka (Producers)
Lilit, Lavina (Slovenia), Ave Nim (Austria)
Logline: Klara's routine is shattered when a night of fun becomes a frantic escape. With the law on her tail and her own demons in pursuit, she races against time to outrun the consequences of a fatal accident and secure her freedom.
PIG SLAUGHTER
Czech Republic, Slovakia
Adam Martinec (Director)
Matěj Paclík (Producer)
Breathless Films, Czech Television, Innogy, FAMU (Czech Republic), Filmsomnia (Slovakia)
STILL LIFE WITH GHOSTS
Spain, Serbia
Enrique Buleo (Director)
Alejandra Mora, Alicia Yubero (Producers)
Quatre Films Audiovisuales, Cuidado con el Perro (Spain), This and That (Serbia)
Logline: Distressed by the troubles and difficulties of life and death, ghosts and humans of a small town of La Mancha will do the impossible to put an end to their problems and will not hesitate to carry out extreme and desperate plans to achieve it.
STRANDZHA
Germany, Bulgaria
Pepa Hristova (Director)
Julia Cöllen, Karsten Krause, Frank Scheuffele (Producers)
Fünferfilm (Germany), Agitprop (Bulgaria) – Documentary
Logline: In one of the last primeval forests in Europe, ancient cultures and migration shape the landscape and its inhabitants. The no man‘s land between Bulgaria and Turkey has been been an interspace for centuries.
THE CHILDREN OF POPODIA
France, Georgia
Sofia Babluani (Director)
Gela Babluani (Producer)
Les Films de la Strada (France), Cinema 13 (Georgia)
Logline: When love prevails over the fear of difference, difference becomes a richness that beautifies the world.
THE LOST SON
Slovenia, Croatia, N. Macedonia, Italy, Greece
Darko Štante (Director)
Miha Černec, Nina Robnik (Producers)
Staragara (Slovenia), Propeler Film (Croatia), Kaval Film (N. Macedonia), Staragara I.T. (Italy), Graal (Greece)
Logline: A detective encounters his long-lost, violent brother, sparking a chain of events that unravels their lives. As he endeavors to help his brother, the consequences of his actions reverberate, shaking their existence to the core.
THE OTHER SIDE OF SUMMER
Czech Republic, Croatia
Vojtěch Strakatý (Director)
Ondřej Lukeš (Producer)
Beginner’s Mind, Czech TV (Czech Republic), Wolfgang & Dolly (Croatia)
Logline: Best friends Bětka and Alma are spending a dull summer at a lakeside with Bětka's older sister Marie. The teenage girls want to experience something big but their efforts fail until they discover a mysterious pool on an island.
THE PLEASURE IS MINE
France, Argentina, Brazil
Sacha Amaral (Director)
Agustin Gagliardi, Soledad Mariel Fernández (Producers)
Protest Studios (France), Gentil Cine (Argentina), Quadrophenia Films (Brazil)
Logline: Antonio (20), lives in Buenos Aires, sells marijuana, maintains relationships through apps and steals from his lovers. The conflict with his mother leads him to run away, taking him on an irreversible journey south.
THOSE WHO WHISTLE AFTER DARK
Turkey, Germany, Bulgaria
Pınar Yorgancıoğlu (Director)
Zeynep Ekmekci, Dilde Mahalli, Bekir Yusuf Açıksöz, Önder Furkan Besli (Producers)
İndiBindi Film (Turkey), Marlene Film GmbH & Co KG (Germany), Portokal (Bulgaria)
THE WHEELS OF HEAVEN
Bulgaria, UK
Ben Charles Edwards (Director)
Dessy Tenekedjieva (Producer)
Black Sea film (Bulgaria), Goldfinch Entertainment (United Kingdom)
Logline: In this coming-of-age thriller, a troubled young girl meets a charming older boy who gradually gives her the strength to stand up to her abusive stepfather. But is the boy, as he claims, The fallen angel Lucifer sent to guide Iva in her destiny to save the human race? Or a deluded and dangerous cult leader?
Focus Bulgaria:
SNESCHA AND FRANZ
Bulgaria, Austria
Svetoslav Draganov (Director)
Svetoslav Draganov (Producer)
Cineaste Maudit Production (Bulgaria), Wiener Stadt und Landesarchiv (Austria) – Documentary
Logline: The call to distant lands, cultures and adventures against the meaning of creating a "family hearth". Is it possible to strike a good balance between individual longing and shared family wishes?
SILENT OBSERVERS
Bulgaria, Germany
Eliza Petkova (Director)
Veselka Kiryakova (Producer)
Red Carpet Films (Bulgaria), Wood Water Films (Germany)
Logline: In a remote Bulgarian mountain village, six animals with hidden secrets reveal the darker side of human superstitions and fears. The film is a sensitive observation of a village's population decline through the eyes of its four-legged residents.
ETERNITY PACKAGE
Bulgaria
Magdelena Ilieva (Director)
Martichka Bozhilova (Producer)
Agitprop, Little Wing Productions (Bulgaria), Mammut Film (Italy)
Logline: In a quirky twist of fate, a struggling Bulgarian funeral director partners with his father's murderer to teach dance at a retirement home, finding that life's last laugh isn't about the grudges we hold, but the steps we dare to take.
GUNDI – LEGEND OF LOVE
Bulgaria
Dimitar Dimitrov (Director)
Ivan Hristov, Andrey Arnaudov (Producers)
Medium Station, ImmerseFX (Bulgaria)
Logline: The film "Gundi - Legend of Love" follows the sporting achievements and unknown personal moments from Gundi's life. It shows why his meeting with Lita is fateful. It traces the stages and difficulties in their relationship with the System. And how love helps Gundi climb the difficult path from a person through a star and why the freedom - loving legend becomes a myth.
SHEPHERD/THE ANGEL'S BREAD
Bulgaria
Milena Andonova (Director)
Nevena Andonova (Producer)
Proventus Film House, Bulgarian National Television, Doli Media Studio, Magic Shop, Nu Buyana Film Studios, Kinolight, Maxim 15 (Bulgaria)
Logline: John, a cowherd boy, and Alexius, a clergyman, both strive for higher communion with God. Alexius witnesses John’s growing in asceticism. What will prevail – Alexius’ envy or John’s prayer?
WE ARE ALL CHILDREN
Bulgaria
Svetla Tsotsorkova, Svetoslav Ovcharov (Directors)
Svetla Tsotsorkova (Producer)
Front Film (Bulgaria) – Documentary
Logline: Roma, Turkish, and Bulgarian children study in a school that may soon shut down.
ZVEZDA
Bulgaria
Kamen Stoyanov (Director)
Zornitsa Sophia, Stefan Minchev (Producers)
MQ Pictures Ltd., Doli Media Studio, Magic Shop (Bulgaria)
Logline: After graduating in London, the artist Zvezda had to return to Bulgaria to help her single mother. The impetuous Zvezda manages to arrange her first solo exhibition in a renowned Sofia gallery, but the planned opening triumph is postponed due to the Covid lockdown. Zvezda decides to isolate herself in the gallery among her paintings as a living sculpture to be observed from the windows and online in a radical exhibitionism, risking not only herself but her mother's anxiety and health. The celebrity achieved at a time of deficient cultural events, however, came at the expense of her humanity and values.