Three awards were handed out March 23 for the best pitches of CPH:FORUM 2023.
SPECIAL EURIMAGES DEVELOPMENT AWARD FOR A UKRAINIAN PROJECT (€20,000)
This year’s jury, composed of Emma Scott (Head of Distribution & Short Film Production, Screen Ireland), Rikke Tambo Andersen (producer, Tambo Film) and Heino Deckert (producer, ma.je.de), awarded the prize to Red Zone by Iryna Tsilyk and the production company MOON MAN (Darya Bassel, Ukraine).
The project conveys the idea that war not only kills people – it also changes those who survive. In particular, on very subtle levels. Ukrainian filmmaker Iryna Tsilyk is sharing her very intimate, female perspective on the question – what it means to be a woman in the war times.
On their motivation for choosing Red Zone, the jury said: “This innovative look at the inner lives of women as they go about their daily lives with humour and courage while in the midst of a terrifying war captivated the imagination of the jury.”
EURIMAGES CO-PRODUCTION DEVELOPMENT AWARD (€20,000)
For the tenth year running CPH:FORUM and Eurimages presented the Eurimages Co-Production Development Award of €20,000 for the best pitch of this year’s CPH:FORUM.
The prize went to Only On Earth by Robin Petré, produced by Hansen & Pedersen (Signe Skov Thomsen, Malene Flindt Pedersen, Denmark/Spain).
The project depicts a journey deep into one of Europe’s hottest fire zones, Galicia, where wild horses roam the mountains under the watch of local cowboys. These horses are excellent at fire prevention, but now they are vanishing in the clash between humans and nature.
On their motivation for choosing Only On Earth, the jury said: “The Eurimages Co-production Development Award goes to a visually stunning project, that brought us to a place where nature is burning, climate change is evident, but hope is to be found between humans and animals.”
UNIFRANCE DOC AWARD
For the first time, CPH:FORUM, Unifrance and TitraFilm presented the Unifrance Doc Award for the best French majority or minority co-produced pitch of this year’s CPH:FORUM. The prize was won by Cuba & Alaska by Yegor Troyanovsky, produced by 2Brave Productions (Olha Beskhmelnytsina, Ukraine) and TAG Film (Christian Popp, France).
The award consists of €2300 in subtitling support with TitraFilm, to be used within 3 years, and a one-year Unifrance membership for one year for the producer of the winning project, valued at €1590. A Unifrance membership also gives access to other support such as the refund of promotion expenses limited at €1500, making the total value of the award €5390.
The jury was composed of Nora Philippe (director, EURODOC), Vibeke Vogel (Producer at Bullit Film, DK), Emelie Persson (Deputy Program Director Culture and Society, SVT, SE).
The project depicts two young paramedic women in Cuba and Alaska live on the edge in the war-torn Kharkiv region – their mission is to save lives while sharing good humour, and belief in victory.
On their motivation for choosing Cuba & Alaska, the jury said: “This pitch took us to a space and time where life and death dwell together in an unspeakable proximity, where courage and combat are female, and where fight against oppression is lead in the name not only of Ukraine, but also of us further in Europe and in the world. We wish to acknowledge a project that is bold and strikingly alive, the intimate access to a singular sisterly duo, a portrait that embraces the complexities of youth, care, creativity and trauma, and finally a coproduction endeavor (Ukraine + France) that will hopefully, bring the project to full funding and rapid completion.”
