27/10/2017 - On 26 October, the flagship industry project of the Ji.hlava IDFF publicly presented 18 talented producers from 16 European countries plus Morocco

Bringing together talented European documentary film producers, Emerging Producers, the promotional and educational project of the Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival, is becoming more highly acclaimed and well known each year. In its six years of existence, it has enrolled over 100 alumni, many of whom have subsequently become successful producers.

Divided into three main parts – promotion, networking and navigation – the aim of the project is to connect the emerging producers and to provide them with educational, networking and promotional support in order to help them establish contacts with producers from other countries, and thereby also potentially increase the number of future European co-production projects. In addition, the project is intended to teach the participants how to navigate the European film industry and its institutions.

Speaking about the project, festival director Marek Hovorka said, “A film festival is not just a place for screening films – it should also dedicate its programmes to the filmmakers, especially producers, who usually come second.” 

A public presentation of the 17 participants from European countries and one from a guest country, which this year was Morocco, was held on Thursday 26 October in Jihlava’s DIOD Cinema. This year’s 18 participants are as follows:

Alaa Eddine Aljem (Le Moindre Geste), Morocco
He produces experimental films and video installations in addition to documentaries. Among the three works he presented was the surreal-looking The Desert Fish, which he also directed. 

Bas Broertjes (Kaliber Film), the Netherlands
The feature documentary Young Wrestlers [+see also:
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Irina Calado (Até ao Fim do Mundo), Portugal
Her project Until Porn Do Us Part [+see also:
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David Evans (Dave Evans), UK
He produced and directed the crowd-funded title Pretty Villages. My Grandfather the Spy, a Cold War espionage doc backed by Film Cymru Wales and BBC Wales, which is currently in development. 

Barbara Janišová Feglová (HITCHHIKER Cinema), Slovakia
She is interested in historical topics and socially engaged films. She produced A Hole in the Head [+see also:
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interview: Robert Kirchhoff
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Anna Gawlita (Kijora Film), Poland
In addition to documentaries, she also produces fiction. One of her projects is being screened in this year’s competition at Ji.hlava: Opera About Poland by Piotr Stasik.

Tena Gojić (Tena Gojić), Croatia
She also works with low-budget films; her latest success was A Brief Excursion [+see also:
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Volia Chajkouskaya (Volia Films), Belarus
She has completed two titles: The Road Movie by Dmitrii Kalashnikov, which premiered at the IDFA in 2016 and enjoyed subsequent festival success, and Test 730 by Daria Korol. Currently working on Babushka. Lost in Transition by Aleksandar Mihalkovich.

Veronika Kührová (Analog Vision), Czech Republic
She is especially interested in auteur films, unconventional, experimental projects, and new media. Currently developing Kiruna 2.0, a documentary by Greta Stocklassa set in a Swedish mining town.

Józsa László (Speakeasy Project), Hungary
Currently, he is producing three documentaries, while his project ULTRA [+see also:
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Carolina Levi (Tangram Film), Italy
Currently developing three projects: Tasmania Buyers Club by Nicola Moruzzi, Folk Studio by Luca Scivoletto and the TV series Beatrice Cenci – The Trial.

Max Milhahn (Telekult Film- und Medienproduktion GmbH), Germany
He has produced films for ARTE, while others were screened at Dok Leipzig and dok.point – such as Foreign by Miriam Fassbender and Dancing Alone by Biene Pilavci. Interested in social issues and human rights stories. 

Mark Olexa (DOK MOBILE), Switzerland
He works with image and sound to create a unique reality. His first feature-length documentary, the formally compelling Halflife in Fukushima, which he produced and directed, premiered at Visions du Réel.

Ülo Pikkov (Silmviburlane), Estonia
Exemplifying his filmmaking philosophy and practice is the arresting short animated documentary film Empty Space, in which he examines the concepts of memory, childhood and fear. He produced Flowers from the Mount of Olives by Heilika Pikkov and has three more projects in production. 

Fabrizio Polpettini (La Bête), France
His project In Praise of Nothing [+see also:
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interview: Boris Mitić
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Radim Procházka (Produkce Radim Procházka), Czech Republic
Presenting himself in a fresh and creative way, Procházka has produced several internationally successful films, including the film-novel Obscurantist and His Lineage by Karel Vachek. 

Ruth Reid (Her Films), Sweden
Working on projects as diverse as films for galleries, cinema and television, she is especially interested in female-orientated topics in films made by women, such as Man by Maja Borg and Pioneer Queers by Ingrid Ryberg. 

Milan Stojanović (Sense Production), Serbia
Working with socially and politically engaged emerging filmmakers and open to minority co-productions, he has worked on The Way of the East by Katarina Mutić, Barbarians [+see also:
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interview: Ivan Ikic
film profile] by Ivan Ikić and The Forbidden Aunt by Bojana Novaković.

The second session of this year’s edition of the Emerging Producers project will be held in Berlin during the Berlinale, from 13-16 February 2018, while other activities and the promotion of Emerging Producers will take place at major film events throughout the year. The detailed description of the project can be found here, while the complete list of current participants, including additional information on each of them, is available in the Emerging Producers catalogue.