This year, the MIDPOINT TV Launch programme drew to a close and, for the first time, showcased its projects during the 24^th Black Nights Film Festival and its Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event industry section. This was the last stop for the six-month training course, which was rounded off by the Season Finale pitching presentation of the nine participating projects. Owing to the current circumstances, the event was held online, much like the whole programme (see the news).

The HBO Europe Award, which comes with a prize of $5,000 granted by HBO Czech Republic, was bestowed upon the Croatian project Afterparty, written by Dora Šustić and produced by Maja Pek-Brünjes. The series is a contemporary drama, which follows Lucija, in her late twenties, and her best friends Ruža, Maja and Iva as they explore the world, while the political aspirations of the ultra-conservative movement threaten their sexual freedom, health and self-esteem. When Lucija decides to work for a warm-hearted pro-life activist, Anđela, her relationship with her best friend and lover, Maja, is put to the test, while Iva’s reluctant decision to have an abortion widens the gap between the girls.

Steve Matthews, HBO Europe’s VP and executive producer of drama development, and a development executive tutor at TV Launch, handed out the award during the closing ceremony of Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event, remarking: “The difficulties of running the MIDPOINT programme online this year have certainly not resulted in any loss of quality: the participants all rose to the challenge with professionalism and innovation. As always, this was a very difficult decision: several of the projects displayed extremely high levels of craft and attainment from teams who were collaborative and determined always to keep pushing themselves. But one stood out for having achieved those craft objectives, but it also displayed an additional spark of personal passion and the courage to explore difficult and controversial modern topics with great honesty. A writer’s job is to explore an issue, not to preach about it – and for that reason, the winner of this year’s HBO Europe Award is Afterparty.”

MIDPOINT TV Launch is already preparing to welcome its future participants, and the call for applications for next year will open in a few days’ time, with the deadline set for 31 January 2021.