EAST DOC PLATFORM

EAST DOC FORUM

East Doc Forum 2025: Projects Revealed

29. 1. 2025

Author: Anna Jurková

The East Doc Forum, the leading pitching event for Central and Eastern European documentary filmmakers, returns in 2025 with a new slate of outstanding projects. This year, a total of 25 feature-length documentary or docuseries projects in development or early production have been selected to participate.

As the grand finale of the year-long Ex Oriente Film workshop, 17 of these projects have been developed through this training program. All selected teams will present their projects to key international decision-makers during the pitching session at the French Institute in Prague (Kino 35) on March 18, 2025 from 9:00 to 14:00.

List of selected projects:

Sounds of Revolution (dir. Nikoloz Bezhanishvili, prod. Nikoloz Bezhanishvili (NIKADOCFILM), GE, status: development)

Sounds of Revolution captures the collective chant and cacophony of a crowd rising as one, fighting to reclaim their country's soul from the grip of autocracy.

Always Far Away (dir. Roman Ďuriš, prod. Richard Šimeček (Svjetski films s.r.o.), co-prod. Michal Sikora, SK, CZ, status: production)
Vojta was born in nomadic circus, traveling from town to town every week. His innocent curiosity for the outside world, struggles with the daily routine of duties that should prepare him to take over the family tradition

Recovery (dir. Roman Bondarchuk, Vadim Ilkov, prod. Darya Bassel (Moon Man LLC), UA, FR, status: development)
As shelling intensifies, Ukrainians actively rebuild their country, spanning efforts from grassroots volunteer initiatives to international policymaking. Revealing challenges and paradoxes of the reconstruction process in times of destruction.

Letters to my Creator (dir. Ivo Briedis, Alex Shiriaieff, prod. Uldis Cekulis (VFS Films), LV, SE, status: production)
The journey of a Soviet-born transgender person to freedom to be themselves, and back.

Inner Landscapes (dir. Zofia Sawicka, prod. Zofia Kujawska, Maciej Kubicki (Telemark Sp. z o.o.), PL, status: production)
As the train runs through the endless wilderness, the journey of its passengers leads more and more inward. The diverse personal stories create a mosaic that sheds light on the human condition in today’s world.

Romi Vajda - the Palace Revolution (dir. Olga Lucovnicova, Verbeke Annabel, prod. Nicolai Frederik  (While We're Here), BE, RO, MD, status: development)
Romi Vajda - the Palace Revolution enters the vibrant microcosm of a Romani community at the key moment in their existence.

Rotations (dir. Eliška Andršová Cílková, prod. Lukáš Kokeš (nutprodukce), CZ, status: production)
A 16-year-old Czech figure skater risks injury to land a quadruple jump. She moves to Europe’s top ice rink to pursue her goal, but under mounting pressure, she develops a paralyzing fear of jumping altogether.

Eat a Book (dir. Iskra Angelova, prod. Martichka Bozhilova (Agitprop), BG, status: development)
In the coming of age docu series ALISA (9) and her mother ISKRA (in her 40s) will cook recipes from classical books for children in the homeland of the respective recipe.



These projects will be pitching alongside 17 Ex Oriente Film projects. 

Feature-length documentaries:

Be Realistic, Demand the Impossible (dir. Vanja Jambrović , prod. Tibor Keser, Vanja Jambrović  (Restart), HR, status: production)
Berlin - a shimmering dream for a peculiar, self-ironic married couple in their mid-50s, is shattered by harsh reality, testing their love and identity as they struggle to start from scratch in a foreign country.

Blue Sweater with a Yellow Hole (dir. Tetiana Khodakivska, prod. Elena Saulich  (Pronto Film), UA, FR, CZ, status: production)
Ukrainian children Taisa (15) and Kyrylo (12) draw memories of their time in Russian so-called “re-education” camps, where six months of propaganda left them questioning their reality.

Cooperative (dir. Mykhailo Volkov, Roman Blazhan, prod. Roman Blazhan (Minimal Movie), UA, status: development)
A building with 600 garages becomes a microcosm of Ukrainian society, where old traditions meet new realities amid uncertainty, drama, and humor—showing how ordinary people bring light to the darkest times.

The Island of Freedom (dir. Haruna Honcoop, prod. Hui-chen Huang, CZ, TW, SK, status: development)
A portrait of a place and its politically aware people, whose lives are shaped by personal ties to annexation, in a region where the threat of such an event remains ever-present.

My father, the ICEMAN (dir. Łukasz Kowalski, prod. Anna Mazerant  (4.30 STUDIO), PL, status: production)
Young lawyer Ewa grew up as the daughter of a racist murderer. Her father, Janusz, killed anti-apartheid hero Chris Hani. After freeing him 30 years later, she discovers he’s even more dangerous.

St. Barbara's Children (dir. Oliwia Tonteri, prod. Aino Halonen, Oliwia Tonteri (Kompot (FIN)), FI, PL, status: development)
A documentary follows a Polish-born director's journey from Helsinki's emptying coal field to the mines of Silesia, where vanishing mining culture meets the green transition.

Operation Champion (dir. Mariam Nikolaishvili, prod. Irina Gelashvili  (RADIUM FILMS), GE, status: development)
Gvantsa, a 30-year-old wheelchair fencing champion, can fully recover through surgery. If she does a surgery she will lose her career, sports family and a chance to bring her emigrant mother at home.

Parallel Space (dir. Martin Piga, prod. Tereza Tokárová (CinePunkt), SK, status: development)
When one feels a lack of freedom, there are three possibilities: to adapt, to fight, or to invisibly construct their own reality.

Retrospective (dir. Gabrielė Urbonaitė, prod. Uljana Kim, Migla Butkute (Studio Uljama Kim), LT, status: development)
Is art greater than life? As interdisciplinary artists Nomeda and Gediminas Urbonas prepare for their career retrospective, their filmmaker daughter reflects on what it means to grow up in a family of artists.

SLAVA (dir. Soňa G. Lutherová, prod. Maroš Hečko, Peter Veverka  (AZYL, spol. s.r.o), SK, CZ, DE, Italy, status: development)
An intimate journey with avant-garde opera director Sláva Daubnerová, who seeks to balance her art with the quest we all have in common - to understand ourselves.

Virtual Girlfriends (dir. Barbora Chalupová, prod. Pavla Klimešová (Helium Film), CZ, SK, status: production/postproduction)
They say that you can't put a price on love — on OnlyFans you can. Documentary film by Barbora Chalupová reveals the consequences of selling and exposing your identity.

Gone Guy (dir. Andrei Dascalescu, prod. Ligia Ciornei (Filmlab), RO, UA, status: production)
The journey of a young man who braves incredible risks, countless challenges and profound loneliness, on a quest for discovery, introspection and healing. The only thing this adventurer dreads: reaching the endpoint.

Docuseries:

Cradle To Grave (dir. Stanislav Donchev, prod. Teodora Doncheva, BG, status: development)
By transferring religious rites into the secular ritual halls, the communist party attempted to penetrate not just the individual’s everyday existence but the most intimate corners of his soul too.

Frozen Ocean (dir. Viktória Dénes , prod. Julianna Ugrin (Éclipse Film), HU, FR, status: development)
A young filmmaker and her crew set sail on an Arctic voyage inspired by a historic expedition, navigating remote landscapes to explore how the region’s stories of nations and global challenges shape our shared future.

Near Light (dir. Niccolò Salvato, prod. Mara Cracaleanu (Melancholia Pictures), RO, IT, FR, DE, status: development)
Near Light is a coming-of-age docuseries following the outstanding journey of three young convicted murderers in European prisons, as they carve their path back into society.

One Inch Eastward (dir. Irina Maldea, prod. Brendan Culleton (Akajava Films), Ireland, BG, RO, UA, status: development)
Russian president Boris Yeltsin’s desire for his country to be respected as a world power collides with his own internal problems and Bill Clinton’s efforts to keep the US as a European power.

SPORT TO THE PEOPLE (dir. Đuro Gavran, prod. Miljenka Čogelja (Pipser d.o.o.), HR, IT, SI, RS, CZ, FR, DE, status: development)
Yugoslavia used sports to shape healthy individuals and unite a socialist society. Sports mirrored the rise, triumphs, and ultimate collapse of a utopian dream, capturing a nation’s journey from unity to disintegration.

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