15/06/2023 - With a new brand and seven years of experience under its belt, the leading pitching and co-production forum for kids' and youth content has announced its 34 participating projects

Young Horizons Industry, previously known as Kids Kino Industry, represents the industry side of the Young Horizons International Film Festival. It is a three-day international co-production forum scheduled to take place from 4-6 October, both in Warsaw and online. Every year, approximately 300 film professionals attend this event to exchange ideas, share their expertise and develop fresh content specifically tailored for young audiences.

For its seventh edition, Young Horizons Industry has announced 34 projects, comprising 18 films and 16 series from 17 different countries. These projects will be presented in the in-development and work-in-progress pitching sections. Following the submission period, a total of 22 projects were shortlisted from among a record-breaking 109 submissions, while the remaining four projects were winners at m:brane, the CEEA Forum, the Animarkt Stop Motion Forum and BrLab. Additionally, the Polish animated film Diplodocus has been chosen for the market presentation section. The selected projects cover a wide range of age groups, including preschoolers, children, teens and young adults. Furthermore, they span various genres, from comedies and dramas to science-fiction, fantasy, and even folk-horror.

The projects chosen for the forum were recommended by the selection committee, consisting of Eleanor Coleman (Indie Sales and Blue Spirit, France), Julie Skaufel (Onkelfilm, Norway), Alexandre Dupont-Geisselmann (Farbfilm Verleih, Germany), Suzanne Kelly (RTÉ, Ireland), Natalia Cupryjak-Tworkiewicz (Canal+ Poland) and Arild Halvorsen (Fabelaktiv, Norway).

The Young Horizons division is a crucial component of the New Horizons Association, tasked with the distribution and backing of top-notch films and series targeting young viewers. The Young Horizons brand encompasses multiple interconnected domains, such as theatrical distribution through Young Horizons Distribution, online distribution via Young Horizons VoD, film education programmes catering to preschools and schools under the Young Horizons Education banner, the advancement and promotion of films and series both within Poland and globally through Young Horizons Industry, and the main event of the year, the Young Horizons International Film Festival. Accreditations for Young Horizons Industry will be on sale from 3 July. More information is available here.

Here is the complete list of projects selected for the seventh edition of Young Horizons Industry:

Projects in Development

Alienation
Producer: Filmfabriq (Hungary)
Format: live-action film

Armed with Drums
Producer: Fri Film (Norway)
Format: documentary film

The Art Detectives
Producers: Lequerica Films/Les Films de la Boussole (Spain)
Format: live-action series

Being a pART (Poland)
Format: documentary film

Big Bang Parade
Producer: Lunanime (Belgium)
Format: animated film

Billy & the Boingo Band
Producer: Big Bad Boo Studios (Canada/Austria – awarded at the CEEA Forum)
Format: animated series

Crazy Inventions
Producer: Badi Badi (Poland)
Format: animated series

Doggy Brawl
Producer: Under Ski Tower (Poland)
Format: live-action film

Electric Wonder
Producer: Helium Film (Czech Republic)
Format: live-action film

Exit Tales
Producer: Storyhouse (Belgium)
Format: animated documentary series

Fabled
Producer: Zik Zak Filmworks (Iceland)
Format: live-action film

Finding Home
Producers: Animadocs, Iliade et Films (Bulgaria/France/USA)
Format: animated documentary series

The Grimmsons
Producer: Laniakea Pictures (Poland)
Format: animated series

The Huggingtons
Producer: Klipp og Lim (Norway)
Format: animated series

If Pope Knew
Producer: AkbelFilm (Turkey)
Format: live-action film

Julian
Producer: UNI-SOLO Studio (Poland)
Format: documentary film

A Layup
Producers: Olga Papacz, Dynamo Film, New Horizons Association (Poland)
Format: documentary film

Mami Fatale and the Great Cookbook
Producers: GS Animation/Grupa Smacznego (Poland)
Format: animated film

The Marvelous Story of Aimar
Producer: Ceibita Films (Chile/Costa Rica – awarded at BrLab)
Format: live-action film

Maude
Producer: Snafu Pictures (UK)
Format: animated series

Patterns of Being
Producer: Entertain Pictures (Poland)
Format: documentary film

Princess Goldenhair
Producer: Three Brothers Production (Czech Republic)
Format: live-action film

Pucio
Producer: EGoFILM (Poland)
Format: animated series

Rainbow in Hell
Producer: Animoon (Poland)
Format: animated film

Sissi & Caesar
Producer: Tres Tercios Producciones Audiovisuales (Chile – awarded at the Animarkt Stop Motion Forum)
Format: stop-motion animated series

The Unreal World of Alda
Producers: KYK/kykmyndir (Faroe Islands – awarded at m:brane)
Format: animated series

We Keep Them in Our Hearts
Producer: True Fiction (Norway)
Format: documentary series (with mix of animation)

The Weight of Water
Producer: Beluga Two Films (UK)
Format: live-action film

Yesterday’s Girl
Producer: Tailored Films (Ireland)
Format: live-action series

Works in Progress

Elliot
Producer: Mattima Films (Norway)
Format: documentary series

Mouse & Crane
Producer: Those Eyes (Denmark)
Format: animated series/games & app

My Little Heroes
Producer: Peekaboo Animation (Spain)
Format: animated series

My Imaginary Friend
Producer: Tallfilm, Hacienda Film (Norway)
Format: documentary film

Market Presentation

Diplodocus
Producer: Human (Poland)
Format: animated film

Young Horizons Industry, part of the Young Horizons Festival, is co-financed by the Polish Film Institute, the Creative Europe – MEDIA sub-programme, the City of Warsaw and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Poland.