After Budapest, Tallinn and Prague, the last part of PITCH_IT@Berlinale took place in Berlin on February 16th. There, the 15 great participant teams from the Czech Republic, Hungary and Germany presented their brand-hot projects to the public for the first time. The teams had been preparing for the last 10 months in cooperation with the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, the Goethe-Institut and the FAMU Prague. At the final pitch, the politically and socially relevant feature, documentary and animation films were presented under the supervision of pitching legend Sibylle Kurz.
You can find the catalogue with a summary of all the projects here:
Our PITCH_IT@Berlinale workshop series is divided into three steps before the final pitch takes place at the Berlinale 2023. In July, the participants travelled to Budapest for the first part of the pitching programe. The second part was organised in Estonia, Tallinn during the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival PÖFF. The third event concerning the fine tuning of the participants´ projects is going to take place in Prague in January. Finally, the movies are going to be pitched in Berlin on Febuary 16th. You can read a more detailed description of the past and upcoming events below.
... with highly decorated guests, such as funding specialist Tracie Holder (USA), filmmaker Ádám Császi (HU) and social media expert Paul Rieth (GER), who did presentations on the topic of green shooting, case studies, workshops and first pitches, we started with the individual content work of each project. With the support and intensive coaching from the internationally renowned pitching trainer Sibylle Kurz (GER), the participants were able to refine their ideas and complete their first pitching exercises, which were conducted half online/half digitally. All this took place in the historic rooms of the CEU Central European University, Budapest. After Budapest, presentations and trailers were created by the project teams, which were further developed over the summer with Sibylle Kurz´s support.
In November, the participants went to the physical Station 2 of Pitch_It@Berlinale: the excursion to Estonia, Tallinn to the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival PÖFF, giving the participants their first taste of festival air. The visit of the big international film market was not only inspiring for the respective project teams, but also gave them the opportunity to create synergies and exchange ideas as a group. Among others, they had the opportunity to network, including ice bathing at -3 degrees, to take one-on-one sessions with producers and distributors, as well as to attend several round tables with German Films and a film critic from Screendaily.
The final step befor the big pitch at the Berlinale took place in Prague in January. The third part of our workshop program was all about fine-tuning. Under the supervision of the editors and filmmakers Lucie Králová and Radim Prochazka, the participants finalised their trailers in the rooms of FAMU and the Goethe Institut, they did some final pitching exercises and were coached for the talks after the pitches. Finally, the participants faced a real audience from the industry and festivals during a test pitch, which served as a rehersal for the upcoming actual one.
On the afternoon of February 16th, the films are going to be presented to the public for the first time at the Berlinale.
Date: February 16th 2023, Thursday, 2:00PM-5:00PM
Location: Neue Schönhauser Str. 20, 10178 Berlin
In November, the participants went to the physical Station 2 of Pitch_It@Berlinale: the excursion to Estonia, Tallinn to the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival PÖFF, giving the participants their first taste of festival air. The visit of the big international film market was not only inspiring for the respective project teams, but also gave them the opportunity to create synergies and exchange ideas as a group. Among others, they had the opportunity to network, including ice bathing at -3 degrees, to take one-on-one sessions with producers and distributors, as well as to attend several round tables with German Films and a film critic from Screendaily.
The final step befor the big pitch at the Berlinale took place in Prague in January. The third part of our workshop program was all about fine-tuning. Under the supervision of the editors and filmmakers Lucie Králová and Radim Prochazka, the participants finalised their trailers in the rooms of FAMU and the Goethe Institut, they did some final pitching exercises and were coached for the talks after the pitches. Finally, the participants faced a real audience from the industry and festivals during a test pitch, which served as a rehersal for the upcoming actual one.
On the afternoon of February 16th, the films are going to be presented to the public for the first time at the Berlinale.
Date: February 16th 2023, Thursday, 2:00PM-5:00PM
Location: Neue Schönhauser Str. 20, 10178 Berlin
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Popo Fan during an online workshop with the pitching trainer Sibylle Kurz in Budapest. -
Presentation in the Goethe-Institut Budapest. -
The participants in Budapest. -
Round table with all the participants of our Pitch_It@Berlinale workshop in Tallinn. -
One-on-one session of the participants with professionals. -
Benjamin Rost and Mark Szilagyi at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival PÖFF. -
The participants with their mentors in Tallinn. -
The participats during their workshop in Prague. -
The participants during the final pitching exercise in Prague. -
Group picture at the final pitching event in Prague. -
Raphael Schanz presenting his movie "Toni and Stein" during the workshop. -
Sibylle Kurz and the other mentors during the pitching workshop in Prague.
We would like to introduce the participants of our PITCH_It@Berlinale workshop series. This year, 17 young filmmakers (writers, directors and producers) from Germany, Hungary and the Czech Republic with a total of 10 projects – some indiviual ones and some coproductions – were sellected. You can find each participant´s introduction and a short description of their project below.
As a producer, Julia Cöllen is committed to creating films with a clear artistic handwriting and to building up talents with outstanding cinematic signatures. Her company Fünferfilm produces features, documentaries and shorts, which have premiered in Venice, Berlin and Locarno in the past. As a graduate of EAVE Ties That Bind and EAVE Producers Workshop, Julia enjoys working creatively with people from all over the world.
GRAMMATIK
Romantic dramedy
Directed by Popo Fan
Written and produced by Julia Cöllen
GRAMMATIK
Romantic dramedy
Directed by Popo Fan
Written and produced by Julia Cöllen
As a director, Popo Fan‘s films include feature-length documentaries and fictional comedy shorts on intersectional topics of LGBTQ+ and migrants. Recently, before going to sleep, he would take time to view Tik Tok cooking videos, then think about how to make his new
bordercrossing film projects delicious and sexy.
GRAMMATIK
Romantic dramedy
Directed by Popo Fan
Written and produced by Julia Cöllen
bordercrossing film projects delicious and sexy.
GRAMMATIK
Romantic dramedy
Directed by Popo Fan
Written and produced by Julia Cöllen
Özlem Sariyildiz is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and editor. She was born in Turkey, but is currently based in Berlin. She loves listening to people and is fascinated by stories. She studied Industrial Design as well as Media and Cultural Studies and was a research assistant at University McGill. She makes films to say the things she desires to say aloud and she wants to keep it that simple.
DEAR FUTURE, I AM READY
Documentary
Written and directed by Özlem Sariyildiz
DEAR FUTURE, I AM READY
Documentary
Written and directed by Özlem Sariyildiz
Raphael Schanz is a documentary film director based in Berlin. He studied communication and social sciences in Erfurt, Berlin and Jerusalem. After a first career in political communication, he attended the self-organized school filmArche in Berlin to study film directing and now addresses urgent social issues through visual storytelling. His short film „Going Alone“ about state funerals has been screened all over the globe and he is now developing his first feature.
TONI+STEIN ARE BOCCHAN+SEICHAN
Feature-length documentary
Written and directed by Raphael Schanz
TONI+STEIN ARE BOCCHAN+SEICHAN
Feature-length documentary
Written and directed by Raphael Schanz
András Kocsányi is a Hungarian director and screenwriter. He is doing his PhD at the SZFE Budapest on satirical comedies. He is a hypochondriac, but he is working on it. He has been thrilled by this thing called cinema since he had seen Alien at the age of three. He usually laughs about tragedies and cries on comedies.
SINE MORBO
Feature-length black comedy satire
Written and directed by András Kocsányi
Produced by Éva Török
SINE MORBO
Feature-length black comedy satire
Written and directed by András Kocsányi
Produced by Éva Török
Éva Török‘s childhood dream was to tell stories. As she has seen her own life through film frames since she was a little girl, she decided to become filmmaker at the age of 10. Unable to decide, which position she was most interested in, she ended up becoming a creative producer. As she likes to stick her nose into everything and as she is a little bit of a control freak, it proved to be the ideal choice.
SINE MORBO
Feature-length black comedy satire
Written and directed by András Kocsányi
Produced by Éva Török
SINE MORBO
Feature-length black comedy satire
Written and directed by András Kocsányi
Produced by Éva Török
Attila Veres is a writer and screenwriter. He makes a living out of scaring people. He wrote three books of weird horror fiction to high acclaim and released a selection of his writings in English, which you are welcome to purchase at your convenience. He also bangs out screenplays, some of which have even been produced. He loves talking about himself in the third person singular.
FEELS LIKE HOME
Feature-length thriller/drama
Written by Attila Veres
Directed by Gábor Holtai
Produced by Ádám Farkas
FEELS LIKE HOME
Feature-length thriller/drama
Written by Attila Veres
Directed by Gábor Holtai
Produced by Ádám Farkas
Ádám Farkas says: „I am a committed fan of Cinema who is lucky enough to have the chance of working every day in our trade. I went through the chain of command from Set PA to being a Producer and tried to fully learn how each department works. Also a good way to find out that I will never be good enough as a gaffer nor a sound engineer. I believe that making movies should be finding balance between being an art form, but an industry as well.“
FEELS LIKE HOME
Feature film
Written by Attila Veres
Directed by Gábor Holtai
FEELS LIKE HOME
Feature film
Written by Attila Veres
Directed by Gábor Holtai
Gábor Holtai is a director from Budapest, Hungary. He divides his time between directing for television and developing his own projects. Based on the success of his latest short film, he is now convinced that horror is the new drama and that light-heartedness is a medical condition. He also cares deeply about social justice issues and surrounds himself with old rescue dogs.
FEELS LIKE HOME
Feature film
Written by Attila Veres
Directed by Gábor Holtai
FEELS LIKE HOME
Feature film
Written by Attila Veres
Directed by Gábor Holtai
Emília Goldberg studied sociology and psychology at Pázmány Péter Catholic University and Buddhist philosophy at Princeton University. She earned a diploma from the Budapest Metropolitan University in motion picture studies in 2020 and is currently in her last year of studies in a master‘s program at the Department of Film Studies at ELTE university with a specialization in filmmaking.
PISTA
Feature-length drama
Written by Emília Goldberg and Gábor Móray
Directed by Emília Goldberg
Produced by Ferenc Pusztai
PISTA
Feature-length drama
Written by Emília Goldberg and Gábor Móray
Directed by Emília Goldberg
Produced by Ferenc Pusztai
Zsuzsi Konrád studied film directing at SZFE in the class of Ildikó Enyedi 2017-2021. In all of her projects so far, she was experimenting with the subject of how to get rid of any kind of formal solution in the name of honesty. She made her first documentary about her father: Hi Papa. Her first feature film screenplay, Lady O Shana and Her Brothers, is the opposite. The magical environment of a vampire castle allows a freer and deep narrative.
LADY O SANA AND HER BROTEHRS
Feature-length vampire drama
Written and directed by Zsuzsi Konrád
Produced by Lili Horvát and Dóra Csernátony
LADY O SANA AND HER BROTEHRS
Feature-length vampire drama
Written and directed by Zsuzsi Konrád
Produced by Lili Horvát and Dóra Csernátony
Jan-Karel Pavlík had his first international premiere in LA at the age of 14. Currently, he is a director student at FAMU. His art, presented at various festivals, explores the relation between the raw human and inhumanity in modern society.
JUBILEE
Short fiction film
Written and directed by Jan-Karel Pavlík
Produced by Julie Soffer
JUBILEE
Short fiction film
Written and directed by Jan-Karel Pavlík
Produced by Julie Soffer
Julie Soffer, a producer student of FAMU, has worked together with Jan-Karel Pavlík since the first day of university. She is experienced in film, commercial, festival, theatre and exhibition production - loving the richness and flexibility of what producing offers. Traveling around the globe, she is now working on an audiovisual book from Tanzania that combines sounds, pictures, videos and smell that transmit what Tanzania means to her.
JUBILEE
Short fiction film
Written and directed by Jan-Karel Pavlík
Produced by Julie Soffer
JUBILEE
Short fiction film
Written and directed by Jan-Karel Pavlík
Produced by Julie Soffer
Klára Mamojková enrolled at FAMU’s Department of Production in 2018, where she has been involved in several school projects as head of production or production assistant. She is fond of documentary films that thematise current articulations of social, personal and ecological themes, oftentimes with a view to minorities or oppressed groups.
IF PIGEOS TURNED TO GOLD
Feature documentary
Directed by Pepa Lubojacki
Produced by Klára Mamojková and Wanda Kaprálová
IF PIGEOS TURNED TO GOLD
Feature documentary
Directed by Pepa Lubojacki
Produced by Klára Mamojková and Wanda Kaprálová
Pepa (Josefina) Lubojacki (they/them) is Prague-based scriptwriter and filmmaker. In their work, they focus on topics such as gender binarity and stereotypes, family trauma, addiction and co-dependency. Pepa loves strawberries and pigeons and they are vegan for the animals, owning many, including fifty water snails. For the past two years, they have been working on their first fiction book about non-binarity, human-eating creatures and addiction.
IF PIGEOS TURNED TO GOLD
Feature documentary
Directed by Pepa Lubojacki
Produced by Klára Mamojková and Wanda Kaprálová
IF PIGEOS TURNED TO GOLD
Feature documentary
Directed by Pepa Lubojacki
Produced by Klára Mamojková and Wanda Kaprálová
Kristina Škodová, Czech producer, joined the production company CINEPOINT to combine her passion for creative documentaries and animation. She is also working as a distributor of short films, drawing from an academic background in Film Studies at Univerzita Karlova and in Film and TV Production at FAMU. She finds inner peace in wandering through nature and swimming in cold water.
LAND OF FIRE
Feature-length documentary
Written and directed by Nikola Klinger
Produced by Kristina Škodová
LAND OF FIRE
Feature-length documentary
Written and directed by Nikola Klinger
Produced by Kristina Škodová
Nikola Klinger is a film director focused on documentary and experimental cinema. He often works on projects while traveling or camping. He likes to use and repair old cameras, cars and motorcycles.
LAND OF FIRE
Feature-length documentary
Written and directed by Nikola Klinger
Produced by Kristina Škodová
LAND OF FIRE
Feature-length documentary
Written and directed by Nikola Klinger
Produced by Kristina Škodová
Direkt2Pitch
The DIRECT2PITCH program supports 10 young filmmakers (writers, directors and producers) from Germany and the Czech Republic with a total of 5 projects – one indiviual project and four coproductions – during their first steps in the film industry. The participants had the chance to join the workshops offered during our PITCH_IT@Berlinale program. You can find each participant´s introduction and a short description of their project below.
Barbara Mattes was born in Vienna, Austria and raised in Belgrade, Former Yugoslavia. She graduated high school in Zagreb, Croatia and studied International Business Administration, while waiting tables, sorting stamps and dispatching air plane passengers. She came into the film industry by chance and worked her way up from swiping studio floors to negotiating production budgets. Holding a degree in screenwriting from Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, she currently works as a freelance writer for TV, series, cinema and transmedia.
THE BUS RIDE
Feature-length drama, roadmovie
Written and directed by Barbara Mattes
THE BUS RIDE
Feature-length drama, roadmovie
Written and directed by Barbara Mattes
Jennifer Mallmann deepened her knowledge on cinematic storytelling during her studies of "Motion Pictures" at the University of Applied Sciences Darmstadt. She is an active member of the non-profit association "Soup and Sock e.V". Since 2017, she has been studying documentary film directing at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. In 2020, she received a scholarship for the Global Campus of Human Rights Summer School in Venice. In 2022, she was selected as a scholarship recipient of the Deutschlandstipendium.
CONVICTS OF MORIA
Documentary
Written and directed by Jennifer Mallmann
Producd by Svenja Vanhoefer
CONVICTS OF MORIA
Documentary
Written and directed by Jennifer Mallmann
Producd by Svenja Vanhoefer
Svenja Vanhoefer studied theatre, literature and media studies at the LMU in Munich. After her studies, she completed various directing internships at the Residenztheater, the Kammerspiele and in the independent theatre scene before discovering the versatility of the film industry for herself. As a trainee at the commercial film production company Embassy of Dreams, she learned the production craft, which she was then able to apply during various international commercial shoots for several years. Since 2021, Svenja has been studying film production at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg with a focus on executive and line production.
CONVICTS OF MORIA
Documentary
Written and directed by Jennifer Mallmann
Producd by Svenja Vanhoefer
CONVICTS OF MORIA
Documentary
Written and directed by Jennifer Mallmann
Producd by Svenja Vanhoefer
Jonas Riemer was born in 1990 and studied animation at the Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF. Since 2015, he has directed fictional and documentary short films that playfully mix animation and live-action film. His short film MASCARPONE was screened at more than 100 international festivals, including the „Next Generation Short Tiger“ in Cannes, and won 28 awards. In 2020, he directed the animated documentary DER ÜBERS MEER KAM financed by the Cast&Cut grant from Nordmedia. Among many international festivals, the film was part of the International Competition in Clermont Ferrand and won the „Best Animation Award“ at the International Filmmakerfest in New York. Jonas works as a freelance writer and director in Potsdam.
THE COSMIC EGG
Feature-length tragicomedy
Directed by Jonas Riemer
Produced by Lukas Koll
THE COSMIC EGG
Feature-length tragicomedy
Directed by Jonas Riemer
Produced by Lukas Koll
Lukas Koll graduated in Film-Studies and Art-History from the University of Mainz. Before and during his student years, he worked as a unit manager and assistant director on various TV-, short and feature-films. After graduating, Lukas spent two years in New Zealand and Sydney, Australia, where he attended a course at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School. He has produced short films, music videos and documentaries, including several international co-productions, and contributed to many other projects, including the Student Academy Award winning animated short LAIKA & NEMO. Since 2019, he has been enrolled in the MA Film- & Television Production at Filmuniversity Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF. His graduation short film EISSPIN, DER SEHR SCHRECKLICHE adapts a novel by Walter Moers for the big screen. As managing partner at Arkanum Pictures, Lukas focusses on the development and production of innovative and bold stories with an international appeal for broadcasters and cinema.
THE COSMIC EGG
Feature-length tragicomedy
Directed by Jonas Riemer
Produced by Lukas Koll
THE COSMIC EGG
Feature-length tragicomedy
Directed by Jonas Riemer
Produced by Lukas Koll
Bruno Grandino is a Brazilian cinematographer. He started his path in the filmmaking industry ten years ago in São Paulo, where he began his studies at Fundação Armando Alvares Penteado. During that time, he had shot 4 shorts as a cinematographer and participated in more than 50 other films encompassing shorts and features, mainly as a gaffer, grip and camera assistant. After freelancing for a few years as a cinematographer, Bruno was admitted to FAMU, the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, Czech Republic for a master’s degree in cinematography, where he has continued to work in film projects.
PROJECT FAIRYTALE
Feature film
Written by Sheida Sheikhha
Directed by Sheida Sheikhha
Produced by Natália Pavlove
Cinematography: Bruno Grandino
PROJECT FAIRYTALE
Feature film
Written by Sheida Sheikhha
Directed by Sheida Sheikhha
Produced by Natália Pavlove
Cinematography: Bruno Grandino
Natália Pavlove studied International Relations and Management and is currently completing her Master's degree in Producing at FAMU. She has completed internships at universities in Paris, Melbourne, Rome, Vienna and Berlin. During her studies, she produced several short fiction or animated films, such as the short film Vinland, which was selected for the Karlovy Vary IFF and Cairo IFF. She has also worked with various production and distribution companies in the Czech Republic on the development, production, and distribution of feature films, series, and documentaries.
PROJECT FAIRYTALE
Feature film
Written by Sheida Sheikhha
Directed by Sheida Sheikhha
Produced by Natália Pavlove
Cinematography: Bruno Grandino
PROJECT FAIRYTALE
Feature film
Written by Sheida Sheikhha
Directed by Sheida Sheikhha
Produced by Natália Pavlove
Cinematography: Bruno Grandino
Sheida Sheikhha is an Iranian filmmaker based in Prague. She recently graduated the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts (FAMU) with an MFA. Prior to her time in Prague, Sheida studied Architecture and Film Studies at the University of Tehran in Iran. Throughout her studies, she’s has directed multiple shorts and assisted in many others as a 1st and 2nd AD. Her films often revolve around the subject of memory, freedom or captivity as well as auround the importance of choice.
PROJECT FAIRYTALE
Feature film
Written by Sheida Sheikhha
Directed by Sheida Sheikhha
Produced by Natália Pavlove
Cinematography: Bruno Grandino
PROJECT FAIRYTALE
Feature film
Written by Sheida Sheikhha
Directed by Sheida Sheikhha
Produced by Natália Pavlove
Cinematography: Bruno Grandino
Jakub Jirásek is a writer, director and musician. Born in Prague in 1993 and raised in
Switzerland, he is currently based in Berlin and Prague. He has a Master degree in Film Directing at FAMU, Prague and spent one semester of Erasmus at Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris 3. His last fiction short Don’t Be a Pussy premiered at Premiers Plans d’Angers, won a few prizes at festivals and was shortlisted for the BAFTA Student Award in 2020. His latest documentary short White Room premiered at Raindance Festival 2021 in London and is still on its festival circuit. Jakub is currently finishing his upcoming fiction short Love, 9 to 5. He has directed several music videos and commercials for clients, such as Czech National Broadcast, Pilsner Urquell, Skoda, Erste Bank or Amnesty International.
MARTHA
Feature-length comedy
Written by Jakub Jirásek and Josef Kokta
Directed by Jakub Jirásek
Switzerland, he is currently based in Berlin and Prague. He has a Master degree in Film Directing at FAMU, Prague and spent one semester of Erasmus at Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris 3. His last fiction short Don’t Be a Pussy premiered at Premiers Plans d’Angers, won a few prizes at festivals and was shortlisted for the BAFTA Student Award in 2020. His latest documentary short White Room premiered at Raindance Festival 2021 in London and is still on its festival circuit. Jakub is currently finishing his upcoming fiction short Love, 9 to 5. He has directed several music videos and commercials for clients, such as Czech National Broadcast, Pilsner Urquell, Skoda, Erste Bank or Amnesty International.
MARTHA
Feature-length comedy
Written by Jakub Jirásek and Josef Kokta
Directed by Jakub Jirásek
Currently, Josef Kokta works as a freelance TV, film and radio screenwriter and script editor. He also cooperates as a creative producer at the national public radio broadcaster Český rozhlas, where he produces audio drama and fiction podcasts. He studied political science, film theory and history, journalism as well as screenwriting and dramaturgy at FAMU. As a screenwriter, he has written several short films, one mini-series and two feature films. Last year, he wrote two episodes of the series Cases of Exceptional Marta for the Czech commercial television Voyo. Currently, he is working on several feature films, TV series, web series and audio dramas.
MARTHA
Feature-length comedy
Written by Jakub Jirásek and Josef Kokta
Directed by Jakub Jirásek
MARTHA
Feature-length comedy
Written by Jakub Jirásek and Josef Kokta
Directed by Jakub Jirásek
The art of pitching is the professional oral presentation of a project idea or story. A task that even brilliant filmmakers and producers often fail at. A successful pitch of a film project can decide whether a project is realized or not.
PITCH_IT@Berlinale offers intensive workshops in the fields of production, directing, distribution and film-marketing. All Mentors are highly experienced and decorated members of the current film industry and will guide your project throughout this programme. Furthermore, the pitching training by communication trainer Sibylle Kurz is intended to help the participants to prepare their projects in line with the actual film market requirements and offer skills for networking in the international film industry.
At the end of the trainings, the participants can present their film projects to employees of international film festivals (e.g. Sundance, IDFA, Dok.Fest München etc.) and film funding agencies alongside Berlinale 2023.
We look forward to applications from filmmakers in the fields of animation, documentary, feature film and experimental film.
The language of the training and the workshop is English.
The conditions of participation and details can be found in the call for entries. The application deadline is April 19th, 2022.
A jury made up of internationally renowned film experts from Hungary, the Czech Republic and Germany decides on the participation of the applicants.
