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East Doc Platform Reveals Jury Line-up

6. 3. 2018

Author: Marta Jallageas

The East Doc Platform (EDP) is the largest co-production, funding and distribution platform tailor-made for Central and East European documentaries. Every year, connecting 120 East European filmmakers to decision makers - producers, broadcasters, distributors and festival programmers from around the world. Filmmakers will present almost fifty documentary projects from Central and Eastern Europe that can win one of several prizes worth a total of EUR 35,000 for further film development.

In 2018, IDF has launched a partnership with the Tribeca Film Institute to stimulate short form documentary storytelling. For the first time, IDF presents the IF/Then Short Pitch that will take place in the Central European region! The winner will receive USD 20,000 to complete the film and the IF/Then support for multi-platform distribution. The jury members are commissioning editor Margje De Koning (IKON) or an Emmy Award winning producer and executive director Amy Hobby (Tribeca Film Institute). The third member is one of the foremost documentary filmmakers working today Kim Longinotto, known for her successful documentaries Rough Aunties or Dreamcatcher. For the first time in Prague, we have the pleasure of hosting Lucila Moctezuma of Chicken & Egg Pictures, a US fund that supports women nonfiction filmmakers. The fifth member is IDFA senior programmer Martijn te Pas, responsible for selection and programming of documentary films. The award ceremony will be held on March 7th at 18:30 within the Guests meet Guests in Tibet Open House (Školská 28, Prague).

The East Doc Forum is the flagship pitching opportunity for the funding and co-production of projects in the development/early production stage presenting in front of Europe's and North America's leading commissioning editors and independent producers, distributors, buyers and film fund representatives. The East Doc Platform Jury awards the best project in development and production with the East Doc Platform Award and EUR 7,500 for further development of their documentary film. The international jury is composed by international experts from various film sectors. Respected sales agent Esther van Messel (First Hand Films) who represents close to 300 hand-picked films and 200 producers from all over the world for sales or French producer Serge Gordey (Temps Noir), known for his Oscar nominee and International Emmy awarded Five Broken Cameras. The third jury member is festival programmer, film lecturer, critic and film director Rada Šešić (IDFA, IFF Rotterdam, Sarajevo FF). The group also joined two commissioning editors Lejla Dedić (Al Jazeera Balkans) and Lars Säfström (SVT).

All projects selected to the East Doc Platform 2018 will compete for the HBO Europe Award worth EUR 2,000 dedicated to project development. "Working with the East Doc Platform is very important for HBO Europe because EDP is a meeting place for some of the most talented filmmakers in Central and Eastern Europe. HBO is always on the lookout for ambitious projects from these territories. This year, we are especially interested in creative, observation and investigative documentaries with a strong visual style that reflect today's world in all its complexity. In particular, we have been looking for quality projects on environmental issues," explains Hanka Kastelicová, VP & Executive Producer of Documentaries, HBO Europe.

For a second year now, the East Doc Platform has been collaborating with Current Time TV.With our partnership with Institute of Documentary Film, we want to recognize the growth and global value of the filmmaking industry, and the importance we place on East Doc Platform as an incubator of projects, corresponding to the mission of the Channel,” explains Executive Editor Kenan Aliyev and adds “Current Time is about telling real stories about real people. Collaborating with the East Doc Platform lets us encourage and enable some of the most talented and powerful independent voices in the region so they can tell the most important stories themselves, in their own voices. We are very excited to make this contribution to free speech and to the power of creativity – to free minds.” The Current Time TV Award in total amount of 1,500 EUR will go for the best documentary director.

General Media Partner, the Czech public broadcaster will announce the winner of the Czech TV Co-production Award – of the financial amount worth EUR 5,800. “Although Czech TV is the largest producer and co-producer of Czech documentaries, it cannot automatically accept all projects and has to be selective as well. To have the opportunity to find out about the latest topics, trends and approaches in documentary filmmaking in Eastern Europe is extremely valuable and inspiring,” says Věra Krincvajová, Czech TV documentary programming story editor, about participation in the EDP. The jury will include these Czech TV professionals: Markéta Štinglová, International Programming Manager; Věra Krincvajová, story editor, and Petr Morávek, Current, Documentary and Educational Programming Manager.

Thanks to partnerships with key European festivals, one project is annually selected for the IDFA Forum, Speed Meetings at the DocsBarcelona, DOK Leipzig Co-Pro Meetings and DOK Preview presentation, or attends Sheff/Doc Fest.

The award ceremony will take place on March 8th at 18:00 in Tibet Open House (Školská 28, Prague).  

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