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BLACK NIGHTS 2016 Industry

A wide variety of projects presented at Tallinn's International Works in Progress

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- The Slovakian title The Line has emerged victorious at Industry@Tallinn’s International Works in Progress pitching session

A wide variety of projects presented at Tallinn's International Works in Progress
The Line producer Wanda Hrycová receives the award during the ceremony (© BNFF)

Amongst the many industry events taking place during Tallinn’s Black Nights Film Festival, a selection of film projects from all over the world were given the floor to compete for the attention of industry heads, sales agents, festivals and producers, with a view to gaining some endorsement in the guise of in-kind awards.

Altogether, 14 projects were presented during two consecutive sessions, and there was plenty of variation in terms of genre, budget and origin. The pitched projects ranged from straight-up genre films (Israeli director-producer Eitan Gafny shocked the early-morning crowd with some effectively gruesome scenes from his upcoming period thriller, Children of the Fall, telling the story of a killer who picks off his victims on Yom Kippur, straight after the Six-Day War) to a goofy comedy revolving around the cultural differences between Eastern and Western Europe (Andrea Magnani’s Easy, an Italian-Ukrainian co-production), and a gay romance with a Buddhist and metaphysical twist (Malila – The Farewell Flower, from as far away as Thailand). The budgets were also extremely varied: the Indian DIY project Village Rockstars by Rima Das was largely self-financed and budgeted at $150,000, while the Russian space odyssey “Salyut-7” by Klim Shipenko, about the space station of the same name that went rogue, will undoubtedly be one of the biggest productions in its home country come next year, with an estimated $6.5 million budget.

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In the end, the jury’s favourite, “for successfully combining creative and commercial potential”, was The Line by Peter Bebjak from Slovakia – an account of a crime family on the border of Slovakia and Ukraine, which has to tackle problems in its inner circle as well as the emergence of a new product, drugs.

Becoming an A-category event has allowed the Black Nights Film Festival to approach its films without any limitations when it comes to putting together the competition programmes. Applying the same strategy to industry events like the International Works in Progress leaves one with the feeling that it could still perhaps benefit somewhat from a thematic focus (like the European Genre Forum pitch in Tallinn) or a geographical one (like the Baltic Event co-production market pitching sessions) in order to make it a little more coherent for the audience to follow. However, the current approach should appeal to those whose potential target is not overly specific, and who can handle some sudden twists and turns in the course of the pitching sessions. If they are willing to embark on this wild ride, they may just find the strong contenders that are evidently present in Tallinn, too.

Here is the list of winners at the Industry@Tallinn International Works in Progress awards: 

Orbital Vox Studios Post-Production Award (€5,000 in post-production services)
The Line (Slovakia/Ukraine) 

Think of the Music Award (€1,500 in music licences)
The Ballroom (Costa Rica/Mexico)

Special Mention Award
Easy (Ukraine/Italy) 

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