The 12^th edition of the Italian co-production forum When East Meets West (WEMW) is taking place in a special hybrid format from 24-28 January, as an integral part of the 33^rd Trieste Film Festival (21-30 January), and is welcoming 22 film projects hailing from 18 countries, which will be presented to more than 600 decision makers and professionals from all over the world. This year, the East & West spotlight is trained on Russia, the UK, Ireland, Canada and the USA.

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The 22 feature-length projects in development – 12 fiction films and ten documentaries – were decided upon after a new record of 435 applications were sent in from 56 countries, another increase on last year’s figures. Among the selected projects are the upcoming films by Serbian director Miroslav Terzić (Stitches [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Miroslav Terzić
fiche film]), Ukraine’s Iryna Tsilyk (The Earth Is Blue as an Orange [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Iryna Tsilyk
fiche film]) and Quebecois filmmaker Chloé Robichaud (Boundaries), along with the debuts by promising talents such as Slovenian filmmaker Katarina Rešek Kukla, Italian-American director-cinematographer Mo Scarpelli and Moscow-based documentarian Nastia Korkia.

Meanwhile, a series of changes and innovative concepts have been introduced at WEMW, such as the Slate Market (see the news) and the Inspirational Labs (see the news), which mark the beginning of a new era. Also, following the “out of the box” edition of last year, where professional moments were mixed with a more playful atmosphere, the participants will also have access to a hybrid match-making service for the first time. As Alessandro Gropplero, head of WEMW, explains, the heart of the market will not change: “We have just closed the call for all of our well-established programmes and brand-new initiatives, and we are thrilled to announce that, for the first edition of the Slate Market and the WEMW Inspirational Labs, we received a total of more than 150 applications: this clearly shows a deep need for European film professionals to diversify their strategy and formats, and it confirms that WEMW could play a decisive role for their future.”

As in previous years, the projects will be competing for the Film Center Serbia Development Award, the EAVE European Producers Workshop scholarship, the Cannes Marché du Film Producers Network Prize, the DAE Accelerator Award, and the Flow Postproduction Award. Fiction projects will also be eligible for the Pop Up Film Residency Award, while all female directors are in with a chance of winning the EWA Network Best Woman Director Award.

Along with the Co-Production Forum, the Slate Market and the Inspirational Labs, the programme of WEMW 2022 will include several work-in-progress sections (Last Stop Trieste, This is IT, First Cut+ and First Cut Lab Trieste), webinars and case studies. Moreover, following the success of the last edition, WEMW 2022 will include a series of fun activities, and will feature live music, quiz shows, informal gatherings and the WEMW lottery as part of the new WEMW digital universe. From early January onwards, it will be possible to request an online industry accreditation here.

Here is the full list of WEMW 2022 projects:

A Day, 365 Hours [+lire aussi :
critique
fiche film] – Eylem Kaftan
Production company: zk films (Turkey)

A Siege – István Kovács
Production company: Good Kids Kft (Hungary)

A Song That Slays – Mo Scarpelli
Production company: dispàrte (Italy)

Devolution – Nicolas Boucart
Production company: Tarantula (Belgium)

Ella’s Riot – Anne Marte Blindheim
Production company: Einar Film Drama (Norway)

Europhoria – Bjarke Underbjerg
Production company: Snowglobe (Denmark)

The Excursion – Miroslav Terzić
Production company: This and That Productions (Serbia)

Fantasy – Katarina Rešek Kukla
Production company: December (Slovenia)

The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed – Joanna Arnow
Production companies: Nice Dissolve, Ravenser Odd (USA)

Lesbian Lines – Cara Holmes
Production company: Blinder Films (Ireland)

Man of Marble – Szymon Kuriata
Production company: Film Kraków (Poland)

My 9-th Life – Iryna Tsilyk
Production company: ForeFilms (Ukraine)

Night & Day – Tina Gharavi
Production companies: Asterisk Films, Piccadilly Pictures (UK)

Petty Thieves – Mate Ugrin
Production companies: Fünferfilm UG (Germany), In The Cut (France), Kadromat (Croatia)

Saving a Language – Francesca Pirani
Production company: Nefertiti Film (Italy)

Short Summer – Nastia Korkia
Production company: Forest Film (Russia)

So Far From Mikulov – Marie Dvořáková
Production company: Evolution Films (Czech Republic)

Still Nia – Paula Onet
Production companies: microFILM (Romania), Seppia (France)

Two Golden Women – Chloé Robichaud
Production company: Amérique film (Canada)

Unconventional Gardeners – Alessandro Bernard
Production company: Zenit Arti Audiovisive (Italy)

Until The Day Ends – Jelena Maksimović
Production company: Taurunum Film (Serbia)

Who I Am Not [+lire aussi :
critique
fiche film] – Tunde Skovran
Production companies: Double 4 Studios (USA), Bulldog Agenda (Germany)