The 14th edition of When East Meets West (WEMW) is scheduled to run from 21-24 January, drawing in over 500 film professionals from more than 50 countries to Trieste. An integral part of the 35th Trieste Film Festival, the Italian co-production forum is focusing on Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, alongside Spain, Portugal and Latin America, for the second consecutive year. The Co-production Pitching Forum selection was announced in December (see the news). Additionally, the event has now announced the line-up for its segments targeting films in the post-production phase as well as the participants in the EAVE Slate and the Inspirational Labs.

(El artículo continúa más abajo - Inf. publicitaria)

The upcoming tenth edition of Last Stop Trieste (LST), the platform dedicated to documentary works in progress, organised in collaboration with the Trieste Film Festival, will feature six creative docs previously chosen from partner platforms: Ex Oriente Film, Docu Rough Cut Boutique, Balkan Discoveries, Baltic Sea Docs and ZagrebDox Pro. All selected films will be in contention for the Film Centre of Montenegro Award, a newly introduced cash prize of €2,000 sponsored by the Film Centre of Montenegro, alongside the long-standing HBO Award, a cash prize of €1,000.

In its seventh iteration, This is IT, a specialised category exclusively devoted to feature films and hybrid works distinguished by a robust visual and artistic approach, is being organised by WEMW and the Trieste Film Festival, in collaboration with the Milano Film Network. This section showcases productions either produced or co-produced by Italian producers, or originating from the spotlighted territories of East & West 2024. Nine films, primed for their premieres, will vie for the Arte Video Award, a cash prize valued at €5,000.

Continuing its tradition for the fifth successive year, WEMW is presenting the winter session of the global works-in-progress segment, First Cut+. This session aims to introduce eight promising titles from Brazil, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Israel, Kosovo, Lithuania, Slovakia and the Netherlands to attending sales representatives and festival programmers. These titles will vie for the TRT Award, a cash prize of €5,000 sponsored by the Turkish public broadcaster TRT.

Finally, WEMW has unveiled the 12 companies chosen for the third EAVE Slate programme, drawn from Europe and Latin America. Additionally, a total of 95 participants representing 35 countries will take part in nine Inspirational Labs. These labs are conducted in partnership with the CEE Animation Workshop, ESoDoc, the European Virtual Production Alliance, the MIDPOINT Institute, the Fantastic Film Forum and Spielfabrique. This collaborative effort is supported by Creative Europe and the IBERMEDIA Programme, and is realised in conjunction with Apulia Film Commission, Film Centre of Montenegro, Film Commission Vallée d’Aoste, Fondazione Campania Film Commission, the Greek Film Centre, ICAA – Spanish Film and Audiovisual Arts Institute, the Icelandic Film Centre, IDM Film Commission Südtirol, REACT Regional Audiovisual Cooperation & Training, the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, Film Center Serbia, Friuli Venezia Giulia Audiovisual Fund, the Slovenian Film Centre and Telefilm Canada. The complete list of participants is available here.

Here is the list of the selected titles and companies participating in the WEMW sidebars:

Last Stop Trieste

Abandoned - Vytautas Puidokas (Lithuania/France)
Producers: Uku Films, Grande Ourse Films

Blueberry Dreams - Elene Mikaberidze (Georgia/France/Belgium)
Producers: Parachute Films, Wide Studios, Iota Production

Dad’s Lullaby - Lesia Diak (Ukraine/Romania/Croatia)
Producers: DramaFree, Filmways, Petnaesta Umjetnost

December - Grzegorz Paprzycki (Poland/Lithuania)
Producers: Telemark, Just a Moment

Forbidden - Anelise Salan (Romania)
Producers: The L studio, Labyrinth Films

Pavilion 6 - Goran Dević (Croatia/UK)
Producers: Petnaesta Umjetnost, BBC

This is IT

100 Litres of Gold - Teemu Nikki (Finland/Italy)
Producers: It’s Alive Films Oy, The Culture Business

Before Memory - Joaquín González Vaillant (Uruguay)
Producers: Bocacha Films, Jabalina Films

Caravan - Zuzana Kirchnerová (Czech Republic/Slovakia/Italy)
Producers: MasterFilm, nutprodukcia, Tempesta

The Last Summer - João Nuno Pinto (Portugal/Italy/Argentina)
Producers: Wonder Maria Filmes, Albolina Films, Aurora Cine

Man of the House - Andamion Murataj (Albania/Italy/Austria/Croatia/Kosovo/North Macedonia/Greece)
Producers: Lissus Media, Palomar SpA, Ellly Films Gmbh, Peglanje Snova doo, Thumbs Up, Manufaktura Production, Akran

The Remnants of You - Gala Gracia (Spain/Italy/Portugal)
Producers: Potenza Producciones, Bastian Films, Sajama Films, Garbo Produzioni, Fado Filmes

Still Here - Suranga D Katugampala (Italy/Sri Lanka/France)
Producers: 5e6, Rai Cinema, Okta Film, Kaiya Collective, Suboscura Films

Still Life with Ghosts - Enrique Buleo (Spain/France/Serbia)
Producers: Quatre Films Audiovisuales SL, Cuidado con el perro, IKKI FILMS, This and That

Weightless - Sara Fgaier (Italy)
Producers: Limen, Avventurosa, Dugong Films

First Cut+

Celebration - Bruno Anković (Croatia/Slovenia)
Producers: Rea Rajčić, Tina Tišljar (Eclectica)
Co-producer: Pakt Media

Continent - Davi Pretto (Brazil/France/Argentina)
Producer: Paola Wink (Vulcana Cinema)
Co-producers: Dublin Films, Murillo Cine, Pasto

Hana - Ujkan Hysaj (Kosovo)
Producers: Ujkan Hysaj, Kushtrim Koliqi (AJO Pictures)

Hunger Strike Breakfast - Karolis Kaupinis (Lithuania/Czech Republic/Latvia)
Producer: Marija Razgutė (M-Films)
Co-producers: Background Films, Tasse Film

March to May - Martin Repka (Czech Republic/Slovakia)
Producer: Tomáš Pertold (Breathless Films)
Co-producer: 0000 films

Tropicana - Omer Tobi (Israel/Canada)
Producers: Hilla Medalia (Medalia Productions), Gil Sima (Sima Films)
Co-producer: Filmoption International

White Flash - Laura Hermanides (Netherlands)
Producer: Chris Stenger (Family Affair Films)

Wishing on a Star - Peter Kerekes (Italy/Austria/Slovakia/Czech Republic/Croatia/Taiwan)
Producer: Erica Barbiani (Videomante)
Co-producers: Mischief Films, Kerekes Films, Artcam Films, Restart, Volos

EAVE Slate

80 Mundos SRL - Maria Eugenia Lombardi (Argentina)
Campfilm - Sára László (Hungary)
Casatarantula - Nicolas van Hemelryck (Colombia)
Chullachaki Cine - Enid Campos (Peru)
December - Vlado Bulajić (Slovenia)
dispàrte srl - Alessandro Amato (Italy)
Enquadramento Produções - Leonardo Mecchi (Brazil)
Fünferfilm UG - Julia Cöllen (Germany)
Gargantua Films - Marko Paljic (Serbia)
Goldman Film - Edwin Goldman (Netherlands)
PIPSER doo - Miljenka Čogelja (Croatia)
Sisyfos Film Production - Ashley Smith (Sweden)