East Doc Link – Co-production Network
East Doc Link is a new networking activity aimed at strengthening co-production opportunities between producers in V4 and Western Balkans. The aim is to improve co-production opportunities within the region and creating natural meeting points for project exchange and cross-border cooperation. This is the result of an established partnership with three documentary markets in the region and producers’ associations from V4 countries:
East Doc Platform (March, Prague, CZ)
Beldocs (May, Belgrade, RS)
MakeDox (August, Skopje, MK)
The programme will take the form of three networking events, each taking place in the above-mentioned markets during the year. A group of producers (with or without a project) will be invited from the respective regions to attend the selected markets, with pre-scheduled meetings with projects and local producers. Each partner event will nominate producers for each event. In this way, we can ensure circulation of producers (and other film professionals) interested in minority co-production to attend markets in the V4-West Balkan regions and participate in market activities (meetings, pitching, etc., depending on current opportunities and needs).
The whole programme is enriched with online, pre-scheduled individual meetings for participating producers to invite more producers from outside the region (e.g. from Western or Southern European countries).
Past events:
MakeDox
The last event of the East Doc Link took place at MakeDox in Skopje (August 21-28). It was part of this year’s MakeCoProDox Forum, a unique platform dedicated to fostering creative documentary co-productions across the Balkans. Since its launch in 2019, MakeCoProDox has become a key meeting point for filmmakers, producers, industry professionals, and representatives from regional film centers.
The delegation included Monika Lošťáková (Producer, nutprodukcia, Super Film), Vítězslav Chovanec (Czech Film Center), Michal Sikora (Producer, Lonely Production), Gabriela Daniels (Producer, Europe Media Nest), Maria Krauss (Producer, Plesnar & Krauss Films), and Veronika Fidrmuc Dvořáčková (East Silver Manager at IDF).
The event also brought together a wide range of European industry professionals – including Mark Edwards, Monica Baptiste Gouffray, Jean-Jacques Peretti, Carine Chichkowsky, Laëtitia Kulyk, Inka Achté, Bastien Gauclère, Alex Szalat, Thanos Stavropoulos, James Berclaz-Lewis, Pamela Cohn, Sergio Gomes, Chiara Zappalà – as well as regional experts Ivana Naceva, Ilija Tiricovski, Sashko Potter Micevski, Morana Ikic Komljenovic, and Neda Milanova, creating ample opportunities for cross-border networking and collaboration.
Producers participating in the MakeCoProDox Pitching Forum also joined the networking, including Armando Andria, Aleksandra Mitrić-Štifanić, Sovran Nrecaj, Ema Mikolaci, Ida Barac, Rok Biček, Ana Lampret, Marin Lukanović, Marko Kumer Murč, Michalis Kastanidis, Alexis Anastasiadis, and Deniz Inal.
Photos: MakeDox Photo Team
Beldocs
Beldocs Industry Days 2025 were held during the 18th edition of the Beldocs International Documentary Film Festival, taking place from May 21–28, 2025, in Belgrade, Serbia. The Industry Days took on May 22-25. The program included:
- Beldocs Pitching Forum – A platform showcasing powerful, visually driven documentary projects in development, production, or post-production to key international industry decision-makers.
- Beldocs XR Academy – A three-day intensive workshop for authors of XR projects (documentary, artistic, or educational) in early development.
- Balkan Young Talents – A collaborative initiative with Al Jazeera Balkans Documentary Film Festival (AJB DOC), focused on discovering and nurturing new voices from the region.
A key component of the event were tailor-made co-production meetings between six selected producers from the V4 region and six producers from the Western Balkans. The aim was to foster international collaboration and support filmmakers—especially those from Serbia, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the wider Western Balkan region—who may have limited access to international industry platforms.
To further expand the impact, pre-scheduled online co-production meetings were organized for the V4 producers on May 5th, offering additional networking and collaboration opportunities ahead of the in-person event in Belgrade.
The delegation from the V4 countries included:
- Jan Bodnár (Czech Republic)
- Wanda Kapralová (Czech Republic)
- Monika Lošťáková (Slovakia)
- Tereza Tokarová (Slovakia)
- Maria Krauss (Poland)
- Zsófia Zurbó (Hungary)
- Lucie Zelená (Czech Republic)
Photos: Beldocs
East Doc Platform
This year's edition took place on March 13-19, 2025. Part of the event were also pre-scheduled individual meetings and the dedicated Co-Production Booster programme.
As part of the open programme at East Doc Platform, a panel discussion ALL THE MONEY FOR CULTURE took place on 19 March at the French Institute in Prague, which visitors could attend for free. More information can be found here.
The delegation at East Doc Platform included:
- Viki Réka Kiss (Good Kids Kft.)
- László Józsa (Speak Easy Project)
- Barbara Janišová Feglová (HITCHHIKER Cinema)
- Matej Sotník (guča films)
- Jakub Pinkava (Punk Film)
- Malgorzata Prociak (ZK Studio)
- Marta Dużbabel (With Passion Production)
- Maria Krauss (Plesnar & Krauss Films)
- Ishak Jalimam (realstage)
- Lara Grozdanić (realstage)
- Nejra Kozaric (AJB DOC Film Festival)
- Nađa Lapčević (Varda Pictures)
- Jovana Jovičić (Lucha)
- Ilija Tiricovski (FlatForm Film)
- Ivana Shekutkoska (Minimal Collective)
- Sara Ferro (PPFP film production / MakeDox)
Photos: Štěpán Lohr
Partners:
Czech Republic: The Association of Producers in Audiovisual – APA
Slovakia: Association of Independent Producers
Hungary: MADOKE
Poland: Polish Producers Alliance – KIPA
Serbia: Beldocs
North Macedonia: MakeDox 
Supported by:
The International Visegrad Fund supports regional cooperation between civil society organizations to advance their relations, exchange and share ideas and promote mutual understanding. When promoting European values in Central Europe, they work together towards a better-connected future.