BROTHER
A young judo champion struggles to hold his family together after his father is sent to prison.
14 year-old Dawid could become a judo champion, if it wasn’t for his short temper and aggression he finds hard to control. It’s the only legacy he has from his violent, imprisoned father. Dawid struggles to live up to his mother’s hopes for him while keeping an eye on his conniving 9 year-old brother. He gets a chance to turn his life around when he’s invited to an important judo tournament in Berlin. But will he have what it takes to seize this one-in-a-lifetime opportunity?
WRITER: MACIEJ SOBIESZCZAŃSKI, Poland
Maciej Sobieszczański is a director and screenwriter. As a director, Sobieszczanski made his debut with Łukasz Ronduda with the film “Performer”, a story from the borderland of arts, about the real-life outstanding Polish artist Oskar Dawicki. The film premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2015 and received the Think: The Award. The film was shown in major galleries around the world, including at Tate Modern in London. For his second film “Zgoda/Reconciliation” he received the best director award at the 2017 international film festival.
DYAD
Smart, angry, self-reliant Dida will stop at nothing on the way to her one tangible goal that justifies all moral compromises – to buy a plane ticket, so she can join her estranged mother in the USA.
A special offer on a ticket to Dida’s dream of a new life in New York with her mother will expire in a few hours. Dida steals, blows and bullies to raise the cash, but as the pressure mounts, she goes berserk and is suspended from school. To cap it all, her pregnancy test reads positive. Finally, she is able to talk about her plans with her elusive mother, Zoya, which reveals a truth she has been blind to — Zoya, now working as a prostitute, never intended to take her daughter to America with her. Dida snaps and spirals into extreme behaviour with fatal consequences.
WRITER: YANA TITOVA, Bulgaria
Yana Titova is a Bulgarian writer/director/ actress who spends her time between Sofia and London. After having a very successful career as an actress, Yana has changed her professional path towards directing. Yana is a Berlinale Talent Campus Alumni. Her career started with three award-winning fiction short films “The Bridge”, “Solveig”, “The House”, and the documentary 88MHZ, which screened widely and garnered numerous awards. Yana’s directorial feature film debut “A Dose Of Happiness” had its wide theatrical release in Bulgaria in November 2019 and became the highest-grossing Bulgarian film of 2019 holding the 8th place of all-time cinema admissions for Bulgarian-made films. Following its success in Bulgaria, the film will be shown on HBO Europe in May 2020.
FURIOUS BEAUTY
Five women named Eliska represent several generations of a witty and eccentric Czech family. During a big Catholic festival in a small town, each one of them has her own adventures.
Welcome to a small, ordinary Czech town, changed beyond recognition once a year during a big Catholic pilgrimage. Every christian family wants to host the miracle-working image of the virgin mary in their home, including Grandmother (66). She is determined to use any means necessary to get the picture for the 100th birthday of her mother – Great-Grandmother (99). Meanwhile, her family arrives for the festival – mother (37), big sister (15) and Little Sister (6), each with her own special problem and secret desire. And strange similarities are beginning to appear in everyone's lives.
WRITER: ELIŠKA KOVÁŘÍKOVÁ, Czech Republic
Eliška Kováříková is a Dramaturgy and Scriptwriting master’s student at the Prague film school FAMU, where she directed several short films. In 2017 she founded film-acting classes for children in Prague, where she still works as a lecturer. “Furious Beauty” won development prizes at Karlovy Vary IFF in 2019 and at Famufest in 2018.
http://scripteast.pl/furious-beauty/
I AM A GYPSY
Can a child beat prejudice, or will prejudice beat the child? A gay Romani boy’s struggle for education in the segregated school system of small town Hungary.
Hungarians and Gypsies have been living together for centuries. The status quo is that the Hungarians are smart and the Gypsies are stupid. There is a gay, 7-year-old boy, Lali, who wants to challenge this. But he does the unpardonable: he wins a competition against Hungarian kids. The powers that be turn against him and take away everything from Lali. They kick him out of school, they humiliate him, let him starve. The only thing they can’t take away is Lali’s victory. He's proven that a Gypsy can be as smart, if not smarter, than a white Hungarian if he’s given an equal opportunity.
WRITER: GERGELY FONYO, Hungary
Gergely is a prolific feature film and television director. His directorial debut “Johnny Famous“ won Best Picture at the Hungarian Film Week in 2000. His musical comedy feature “Made in Hungaria” was selected for Karlovy Vary Variety Critics Choice Section and won Best Picture at the Granada Film Festival in 2009. “The House of the Stone Monkeys”, a TV-movie he directed, was selected for at Banff World Media Festival, and the Sichuan International TV Festival in 2015. His other notable work includes HBO Hungary’s dramedy series “Tarsas Jatek”. Gergely is recently focusing on writing his own scripts. As an author, he is interested in telling stories of how traumatic childhood experiences, addiction, social discrimination, abuse, and minority existence shape our lives and identity.
http://scripteast.pl/i-am-a-gypsy/
JIMMY L
An African-American boxing champion goes to Europe to regain his pride, but when the Nazis take over, he struggles to keep his honor.
On the eve of World War II, Jimmy Lyggett, a Black American boxing champion travels to Zagreb with his Croatian fiancée hoping to establish himself as a boxing trainer. After the Nazis take power, he becomes the coach of the national team but must struggle against racism and his own conflicting allegiances
WRITER: PAVO MARINKOVIĆ, Croatia
Born in Zagreb, Croatia, in 1967, Pavo graduated with a degree in Dramaturgy at the ADU in Zagreb. His first theatre plays were released in the early 90s and won a lot of domestic awards. After a 10-year tenure as a commissioning editor for the public broadcaster HRT (1996-2005), he started a career as a freelancing writer-director. He has made three feature films, “Ministry of Love” (2016), “Love Life of a Gentle Coward” (2009), “Trešeta” (2006), and one feature documentary “Occupation, the 27th Picture” (2013). His films were screened at prestigious film festivals such as Montreal World FF, Karlovy Vary IFF, IFF Mannheim-Heidelberg, FF Kerala, Pula FF, Sarajevo FF, Chicago IFF, etc and won some awards (Mannheim, Pula, Alexandria, Houston, Bergamo, Napoli, Bucharest).
LOVABLE
Matiss has it all figured out – a well-balanced life with the widowed Agate and her little daughter Stasija, a well-paid job as a housing repossession manager and a well-managed fling on the side. He has the wits, has the charm, yet he’s unattached, keeping his options open for greater success surely coming his way soon enough.
Matiss, 26 lives in the home of Agate, 43 and her daughter Stasija, 9. He has a good job and a sexy young lover, but when Agate suddenly dies, he is asked to take responsibility for Stasija. His corrupt boss suggests he ditch the little girl and keep the house by forging a few documents. Matiss goes for it and sends Stasija to an orphanage. But his lover turns on him and his boss tricks him into repossessing the house for himself. Matiss’ dreams are in ruins, and all his friends have deserted him, but Stasija calls to ask for his help, and it dawns on him that she may be his only true friend.
WRITERS:
STANISLAVS TOKALOVS, Latvia
Stanislavs started working on sets in all possible positions, including stunts, at the age of 19 while studying film directing in Raindance Film School. His short film “A Little Longer” was awarded National prize “Lielais Kristaps” in 2015 and has been selected for various film festivals. His first feature, “What Nobody Can See,” premiered at Moscow IFF and won the Silver Screen Prize at Hollywood Film Festival.
WALDEMAR KALINOVSKI, Latvia
Polish-American filmmaker with 29 feature film credits as production designer, 15 as an actor, 3 as producer and 2 as a screenwriter. Waldemar currently works out of Riga, Latvia, in partnership with Stanislavs Tokalovs. He received a Master of Arts degree from Cal Arts and has presented various seminars on a range of aspects of filmmaking in Latvia, Denmark, Sweden, and the US.
ORUNIA 4EVER
In a reborn Poland, two young guys set up Poland’s first independent television, bringing the local community together but challenging their friendship.
When they unwittingly start a pirate TV station, best friends Sebbie and Boggie dream of a bright future full of fame and fortune. But they have to conceal their activities from both the communist authorities and the new militant opposition. It seems that the only one who can help them succeed is the local gangster boss, but as their operation grows, broadcasting forbidden porn, local news stories and amateur karate movies, the boys’ friendship is challenged. They now have to decide what are their real priorities; fame or friendship?
WRITER: ELŻBIETA BENKOWSKA, Poland
Born in the year of the dragon, proud inhabitant of Orunia, daughter of a shipyard worker and an accountant, sister of a mathematician, granddaughter of three Kashubians, and a citizen of the Free City of Danzig, who decided to become a film director. For her short film “Olena” she received several awards, including a Palme d’Or nomination in the short film category at the 66th Cannes Film Festival. She went on to direct the first part of the film triptych “The New World” produced by Akson Studio. Currently, she is working on the script for her feature- length debut “Orunia 4ever”, for which she already received a Special Prize in The ScriptPro 2019 Contest.
http://scripteast.pl/orunia-4ever/
THE COLONEL AND THE DERVISH
While political dogma clashes with long-established religions in post-War Serbia, a secret agent’s loyalty to the state is tested when she confronts her old, war-time lover, who is now a devout Muslim dervish.
Yana is a secret service agent sent to a remote Serbian town to investigate religious leaders who are defying the strict state system after the Second World War. Communist Yugoslavia has just broken its ties with Stalin, so its own dogma is firmer than ever. Yana’s rebellious new colleagues complicate her mission, but it is her old flame from the War – now a local Muslim dervish – who compels her to challenge her beliefs. In the struggle to remain faithful to their dogmas, it is only love that may be able to save them from themselves.
WRITER: VLASTIMIR SUDAR, Serbia
Vlastimir Sudar is a writer, director, and producer born in Sarajevo, who studied filmmaking in London at the Central Saint Martins College. He has a Ph.D. in Film Studies from the University of St Andrews in Scotland. Vlastimir completed his first feature-length fiction film “Granice kiše” (“Borders, Raindrops”) with a colleague in 2018, which was screened at 30 festivals since, winning 13 awards. The project was developed at Sarajevo Film Faestival’s CineLink program, where it won an award for the script. Vlastimir also directed short films, pop-videos, and short fashion films. He wrote a book about the famous Yugoslav filmmaker Aleksandar Petrović, entitled “A Portrait of
the Artist as a Political Dissident”, published in English in 2013 and in Serbia in 2017.
http://scripteast.pl/the-colonel-and-the-dervish/
THE LOST SON
Meeting again after a decade, two brothers have to face the consequences of the violence in their childhood.
Andrej (38) is a policeman working on family violence cases who lives a settled life with his girlfriend. Called out to a domestic incident, he encounters his violent brother, Kristian, whom he has not seen for ten years, and Andrej’s life turns upside down. While trying to reconcile with his temperamental brother, he himself becomes more unpredictable and aggressive, and jeopardizes everything he has struggled to build in his life. To save himself he will have to confront the dark past he tried to escape from.
WRITER: DARKO ŠTANTE, Slovenia
Filmmaker from Ljubljana, Slovenia. He has a master’s degree in Film Direction from the national film academy in Ljubljana. He made several shorts and documentary films. Some were shown on the Slovenian national television. “Consequences” (2018) was his feature debut. It had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival 2018. It’s been selected at over 40 international film festivals and received great reviews from the press (Hollywood Reporter, IndieWire, Variety, etc.) It won the Best Direction award at the 21st Festival of Slovenian Film, as well as the FIPRESCI award and others. It got several international awards. The film has been distributed in several countries (USA, France, Germany, Taiwan, Spain, HBO Europe, etc.)
http://scripteast.pl/the-lost-son/
TREMBLING GIANT
After the trees decide to leave our planet, the world faces extinction. In order to save the last forest left on Earth, Helen, a young eco-terrorist, has to fight against her own kind and also her own mother.
The near future, 16-year-old Helen is living in the time of the great “tree exodus” that has been underway for years. All the trees are uprooting themselves and drifting off into space, leaving humanity on the brink of extinction. The last forest left on Earth, named the Trembling Giant, will soon depart our planet. In order to save human civilization, mankind has been forced to enslave the Giant, but rebellious young Helen believes that respecting the will of the trees is our only hope. To prove it, and to save the forest, she will have to find the source of the exodus. But what if she is the one driving it?
WRITER: JACEK PIOTR BŁAWUT, Poland
Graduate of The Wajda School and The Academy of Fine Arts in Wrocław. Director, scriptwriter, and cinematographer for feature films and documentaries. In his work, he focuses on musical documentaries and feature cinema for the young viewer. Winner of Best Documentary Prize at Krakow Film Festival and Special Mention at the International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography CAMERIMAGE (2016) for “Samotność Dźwięku’’. His feature “Day of Chocolate” received the Krzysztof Kieślowski Award for the Best Eastern European Script, Teachers’ Award
at International Young Audience Film Festival ALE KINO in Poznań (2018) and INIS Prize at Montréal International Children’s Film Festival (2019). A member of the Polish Film Academy.
http://scripteast.pl/trembling-giant/
WINDLESS
In a remote village the corrupt mayor and his supporters are preparing for the construction of a casino, but they need to buy the land owned by some villagers. One of them, a kite maker, determined to teach his son integrity, refuses to sell, and all hell breaks loose.
Asen is a kite maker who lives with his son in a village that is preparing to build a casino and make everyone rich. When the boy’s bike is stolen, the authorities cover up the crime, leading Asen to confront the endemic corruption. He refuses to sell his land for the casino and becomes the most hated man in the village. In the ensuing confrontations his tortured son turns to violence. Asen is forced to betray his principles in order to protect him and lets him leave for a new life with his mother, while he is left alone to face an uncertain future. Desperate to build the casino, the villagers sell the cemetery and exhume the bodies of their ancestors.
WRITER: TEODORA MARKOVA, GEORGI IVANOV, NEVENA KERTOVA, Bulgaria
Teodora Markova is a film and TV writer who has been working with Nevena Kertova and Georgi Ivanov for over 10 years. Their first feature movie “Bubblegum” (2017), won the Best Screenplay Award at the Bulgarian National Awards Golden Rose. It was followed by “Letters from Antarctica” (2019), developed with the support of ScripTeast. The team has created five TV series, among which is “Under Cover” (2011), distributed in 187 territories and nominated for best foreign TV series at Monte Carlo Television Festival. Their latest mini-series “Father’s Day” (2019) was selected at several forums: Venice International Film Festival – Gap Financing Market; Série Series Fontainebleau – projects in development; Berlinale 2017, European TV Drama Lab
– projects in development program.
