22/03/2022 - Bulgarian director Stephan Komandarev, Dutch filmmaker Rosanne Pel, Czech duo Tomas Weinreb - Petr Kazda and Georgian director Levan Koguashvili represent Europe

15 feature film projects (carried by 16 filmmakers) from 16 countries have been selected for the 18th edition of the Cinéfondation Atelier, which will unfold within the 75th Cannes Film Festival (from 17 to 28 May).

This year, Europe will be represented by four projects, including Made in EU by Bulgarian filmmaker Stephan Komandarev, who previously directed The World is Big and Salvation Lurks around the Corner [+see also:
trailer
film profile], The Judgement [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Stephan Komandarev
film profile], Taxi Sofia [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Stephan Komandarev
film profile] (well-liked in Cannes, in the Un Certain Regard section in 2017) and Rounds [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Stephan Komandarev
film profile].

Also selected is the project Anna Ist from Dutch filmmaker Rosanne Pel, revealed in 2018 in Toronto with her feature debut Light as Feathers [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rosanne Pel
film profile].

Also showcased in the project The Forest from Czech filmmakers Tomas Weinreb and Petr Kazda, discovered with I, Olga Hepnarova [+see also:
film review
trailer
making of
interview: Tomáš Weinreb, Petr Kazda
film profile] which opened the Panorama section of the 2016 Berlinale.

Also worth highlighting is the project Guria from Georgian director Levan Koguashvili (winner of several awards last year with Brighton 4th [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Levan Koguashvili
film profile]).

Another project is the Swiss co-production project The Blind Ferryman by Iraqi director Ali Al-Fatlawi and the project Philax from Turkish filmmaker Rûken Tekeş (Aether [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]).

Africa will be particularly well represented at the 2022 Atelier, with projects from Zimbabwe (Naishe Nyamubaya as director), from Sudan (Suzannah Mirghani), Egypt (Ahmed Fawzi Saleh) and Ethiopia (Beza Hailu Lemma).

The other selected project for the 2022 Atelier include the new project (already awarded at the Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum of the San Sebastián Film Festival last year – read our interview with the director and the producer) from Colombian director Juan Andres Arango (La Playa D.C. [+see also:
trailer
film profile]), as well as those from Israeli filmmaker Michal Vinik (Blush [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]), Palestinian director Ihab Jadallah, Filipina filmmaker E del Mundo and Burmese director Sein Lyan Tun.

Created in 2005 with a view to encouraging creative filmmaking and fostering the emergence of a new generation of filmmakers by helping round off funding on their films, the Cinéfondation Atelier has, to date, thrown its weight behind 231 projects, 182 of which are completed and 19 are currently in pre-production. It will allow the selected projects for 2022 to be present with their producers from 22 to 27 May on the Croisette, and to take part in individual meetings with professionals interested in their projects. The Atelier’s Project Book and the registration forms will be available in mid-April on the website of the Cinéfondation.

The 15 selected projects are as follows:

Anna Ist - Rosanne Pel (Netherlands)
Chimbo cheBere (The Hyenas Song) - Naishe Nyamubaya (Zimbabwe)
Cotton Queen - Suzannah Mirghani (Sudan)
Guria - Levan Koguashvili (Georgia)
Hamlet from the Slums - Ahmed Fawzi Saleh (Egypt)
Made in EU - Stephan Komandarev (Bulgaria)
Philax - Rûken Tekeş (Turkey)
Sam - E del Mundo (Philippines)
The Beer Girl In Yangon - Sein Lyan Tun (Myanmar)
The Blind Ferryman - Ali Al-Fatlawi (Iraq/Switzerland)
The Doubt - Ihab Jadallah (Palestine/Israel)
The Forest - Tomas Weinreb et Petr Kazda (Czech Republic)
The Last Tears Of The Deceased - Beza Hailu Lemma (Ethiopia)
Where The River Begins - Juan Andres Arango (Colombia)
You Are My Everything - Michal Vinik (Israel)

(Translated from French)