WEMW 2023 opens the first round of calls for entries and launches the new East & West focus
After two editions marked by unpredictable difficulties but at the same time by new approaches and innovative perspectives, WEMW (Trieste, 22-25 January 2023) launches its thirteenth edition with the primary wish to consolidate the wide range of existing programmes and activities, and with the main goal to help the international film community to face the possible upcoming challenges of our industry.
Starting from today it is possible to apply for all the sections that focus on outstanding ideas and projects from development to post-production, whereas during the second half of the month it will be possible to apply for all the initiatives focusing on company sustainability and professional empowerment.
WEMW 2023 marks the beginning of a new formula dedicated to the spotlight territories: for the very first time the market will inaugurate a 2-year East & West focus on Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine & Spain, Portugal, Latin America. Thanks to this new focus the next two 2023 and 2024 editions of WEMW will bring several projects and professionals from these areas to Trieste, but they will also offer a safe space meant to facilitate exchange and collaboration.
WEMW 2023 will be much more than a simple co-production platform, it will become a special ecosystem designed to combine market, training, policy making, strategy, dialogue, inspiration, and where every participant should be able “to find a possible way”.
Producers from Europe*, North America & Latin America have time until November 4 to submit a fiction or documentary project in development to the WEMW Co-Production Forum. All 20 selected projects will be presented to more than 600 industry professionals and will compete for a rich series of prizes: FILM CENTER SERBIA Development Award (5.000 EUR cash prize), the scholarship for the EAVE Producers Workshop, Flow PostProduction Award (15.000 EUR in post-production facilities), the EWA Network Award (1.000 EUR cash prize), and two Producers Network Badges. Moreover, thanks to a brand-new partnership with the French regional fund Ciclic Centre-Val de Loire, the list of confirmed prizes has just become longer and for this special 2023 edition all selected teams will compete also for the CICLIC WEMW Award (5.000 EUR cash prize granted by the French Centre-Val de Loire Region)”. Through this interregional collaboration, WEMW and Ciclic Centre-Val de Loire aim to support a real diversity of independent production, by fostering international coproduction.
Starting from today and until November 20, there will also be the possibility to submit a project to the two work in progress sessions of WEMW. Last Stop Trieste will select documentaries in fine cut stage that have been presented in previous years at one of our partner events: Ex-Oriente Film, Balkan Discoveries at the Balkan Documentary Centre, Docu Rough Cut Boutique, ZagrebDox PRO, Baltic Sea Forum and When East Meets West. Selected documentaries will be showcased to an exclusive panel of festival programmers, sales agents and commissioning editors and each selected team will be offered feedback sessions. This is IT will address long feature fiction films and hybrid works with a strong visual and artistic approach produced/co-produced by Italian producers or coming from any of the East & West 2023 spotlight territories (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine & Spain, Portugal, Latin America). Selected teams will have the chance to screen 8′ of their films in post-production (or at least partially shot) to an exclusive panel of international decision makers.
Finally, producers from one of the WEMW 2023 spotlight countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine & Spain, Portugal, Latin America) will be able to apply until December 5 to First Cut Lab Trieste, the consultancy programme designed for first and second feature films in the editing phase. The selected teams (director/producer/editor) are offered a creative framework, both challenging and protective, where to open up new perspectives and to explore the whole artistic potential of their films. They screen their rough cut in a private session, and receive expert feedbacks from three international film industry advisors, as well as tailor-made advice from a consultant editor. Once the workshop is over, the participants receive a report & a roadmap that can serve as guidance for further editing. Eventually, the ambition of First Cut Lab is to enhance the audience opportunities of the films. More info at http://firstcutlab.eu/.
In the second part of October, WEMW will launch all other calls for the Inspirational Labs and the EAVE Slate, a series of initiatives meant to encourage producers to develop different content, explore new business models and reinforce their company sustainability.
WEMW 2023 will grant physical access to the market to all film professionals selected in any of the activities included in the programme, but for those who will not be able to reach Trieste it will still offer the possibility to follow the entire event in a digital format.
More news will be announced soon, so stay tuned! Follow us on Facebook!
* Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Norway, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom