Davide Abbatescianni

Healing from trauma is the main theme of Zaina Erhaim’s very intimate debut feature. “For the last seven years, I’ve been trying to suppress my memories and my traumas…Two years ago I decided to face it all, once and for all,” explained the helmer during her presentation. The creative documentary project is being produced by Brian Hill for London-based independent film and TV production outfit Century Films.

The Sacred Way was the famous road connecting Athens to Eleusis. Ancient Greeks used to walk this 21 km path to engage in body-cleansing and spirit-awakening, as part of the initiations known as the Eleusinian Mysteries. In her debut feature Nikoleta Paraschi embarks on her own pilgrimage visiting what today, at first glance, looks just like a busy highway, like many others.

A painful and deeply intimate father-daughter story is the main focus of Ksenia Ciuvaseva’s debut feature, pitched at this year’s Thessaloniki Docs in Progress. “The insight into my father’s life did make me understand him better, but there was still something I was struggling with and couldn’t find my peace with,” the director told the festival’s professional audience.

“Have you ever imagined Pippi Longstocking being old? Well, that’s Maomi,” said director Judit Oláh during the presentation of her doc feature Maomi – Larger Than Life, currently in late development and produced by Inez Matis for Pi Productions (Hungary), Annika Mayer for Majmun Films (Germany) and Anna Stylińska and Katarzyna Slesicka for My Way Studio (Poland).

20-year-old Constantina is the protagonist of Holy Human Angel, a new creative documentary feature directed by Athens-born Angeliki Aristomenopoulou (Citizen Europe) and presented at this year’s Thessaloniki Pitching Forum. The project, currently in development, is produced by Yuri Averof and Rea Apostolides for Anemon Productions (Greece), Vicky Miha for Asterisk* (Greece) and Heather Millard for Compass Films (Iceland).

The recent EFM Baltic Doc Rough Cut Showcase promoted new non-fiction feature projects nearing completion. Lithuanian Arturas Jevdokimovas’ new doc project promises to portray the full life cycle of a Christmas tree, beginning with the picking of a pine cone in the Georgian mountains and planting in Denmark, until its inevitable death in a waste container. BDE reports.

EFM hosted a panel this week titled “A New Reality: Decolonising the Post-Soviet Screen.” The debate, moderated by MEDICI’s Tamara Tatishvili and goEast Film Festival director Heleen Gerritsen, also saw the participation of German Films MD Simone Baumann, Baltic Sea Forum for Documentaries’ project manager Zane Balčus, Tajik director Anisa Sabiri, Lithuanian filmmaker and activist Romas Zabarauskas and Kyiv Critics’ Week’s co-curator Daria Badior.

EFM’s Baltic Doc Rough Cut Showcase promoted new doc feature projects nearing completion. Stanislavs Tokalovs’ project forms a portrait of Latvia’s Russian-speaking community, following three women from his own family – his grandma, who came to Latvia from Russia in 1955 at the age of 93; his mother, a former university lecturer, and his sister, who is starting her adult life by trying to break away from her family.

This year’s European Film Market focused on the three Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. One of the industry initiatives, the Baltic Doc Rough Cut Showcase, promotes new non-fiction feature projects nearing completion. The Estonian project Kelly - Someone Else’s Dreams was initially planned as a sports documentary revolving around the record-breaking freestyle skier before it turned into a much darker story…

The brand-new, four-part high-end documentary series Juan Carlos was presented February 20 as part of the EFM’s Up Next: Germany, a showcase of the country’s most interesting upcoming series projects. Produced by Emmy-nominated producer Christian Beetz (Gebrüder Beetz Filmproduktion, controlled by Munich-based conglomerate Leonine Studios), the series promises to explore the rise and fall of former Spanish King Juan Carlos I.