KVIFF Eastern Promises, the festival's Industry section, has the exciting mission of bridging the gap between talented filmmakers and their potential partners, festivals and audiences. “This year brought us back to live pitching sessions after two pandemic years, and we were delighted to see the return of both our industry audience and the well-prepared creative teams to a true brick-and-mortar cinema," Hugo Rosák, the Head of the KVIFF Film Industry Office, commented. 

A total of 35 film projects were screened within the festival's three established programs (Works in Progress, Works in Development – Feature Launch and First Cut+) and the Odesa IFF Works in Progress selection. This showcase was held in Karlovy Vary instead of Odesa as a gesture of support towards the Ukrainian film industry impacted by Russian aggression. Read about the winners of this year’s selection here.