The 15th edition of When East Meets West came to an end after four intense full days of pitching sessions, works in progress, inspirational labs, talks, meetings and hugs. During the closing award ceremony, the WEMW Co-Production Forum Jury consisting of Jean-Baptiste Bailly-Maitre (Alpha Violet), Svetlana Cherrier (Ciclic Center-Val de Loire) and Edvinas Puksta (Black Nights Film Festival) announced the two top winners of this year.

“Tales of Fruits and Monsters”, second feature by Gregor Božič, received the Film Center Serbia Award (a € 5.000 prize). The film is produced by Nosorogi (Slovenia) and Bocalupo Films (France) and tells the story of Sergej, who sets on a journey to find a rare pear from his mother’s childhood. From the abandoned Mediterranean orchards to the haunted forests in Japan, the quest eventually brings him to the labyrinths of his own imagination.
Debut feature “Klára is Here” by Dávid Csicskár received the € 5.000 cash prize Ciclic WEMW Award (granted by the French Centre-Val de Loire Region). The film is produced by Filmfabriq (Hungary) and follows the story of Péter, an elderly man who has been caring for his wife, Klára, who suffers from dementia: when he falls in love with Klára’s vibrant old friend, he is torn between his duty and the promise of a new life.

The jury has also delivered the brand-new GoGo2025 Residency Award to the Estonian-Latvian-Ukrainian “Under the Yellow Sky” by Maryna Nazarenko, produced by Undi Tead.

Thanks to the partnership with a large network of international training programmes and markets, several other major awards were announced: Lithuanian director Aistė Žegulytė, selected at WEMW with her project “Biodestructors” (produced by Studio Uljana Kim, To Be Continued, Studio Locomotive), was awarded the EWA Network’s Award for Equality & Inclusion of the value of € 500; whilst Serbian producer Jelena Radenkovic (Big Time Production), selected at WEMW with the project “Big Women”, was awarded a scholarship to attend the EAVE Producers Workshop; the Belgian director Leen Michiels received the DAE Talent Development prize; Natalia Pavlove, producer of the Czech-Lebanese feature “Running with Beasts”, and Alice Drago producer of “Salvatierra”, will receive free badges for the Cannes Marché du Film Producers’ Network. 

The Pop Up Film Residency Award was given to Gregor Božič, director of “Tales of Fruits and Monsters” (Nosorogi, Slovenia and Bocalupo Films, France); the Taskovski #DocsConnect Award was assigned to the documentary “Berliner” directed by Anna Khazaradze and produced by Nino Chichua and Anna Khazaradze (1991 Productions, Georgia) and Heino Deckert (Ma.ja.de. Filmproduktion, Germany), while the CEE Animation Award went to “Twisted” directed by Martina Sarritzu and Giorgia Malatrasi, and produced by Silva Fedrigo (Rodaggio, Italy) and Chiara Toffolo (Tesla, Italy). 

On to the three WEMW works in progress sections targeting films at the post-production stage: the 2025 international jury of Last Stop Trieste, composed of Sarah Dawson (IDFA), Maria Bonsanti and Carmen Vicencio (American Documentary), assigned the HBO Europe Award (a € 1.000 cash prize) to “My Dad’s Lessons”, the Croatian project by director Dalija Dozet and producers Dana Budisavljević (Hulahop), and the Film Center Montenegro Award (€ 2.000 cash prize) to “Electing Ms Santa”, the Moldova/Romania project directed by Raisa Razmerita and produced by Ion Gnatiuc (HaiDOC Productions, Republic of Moldova) and Anamaria Antoci and Anda Ionescu (Tangaj Production , Romania). The Artevideo Award went to Dmytro Hreshko’s “Divia”, produced by Gogol Film (Poland), UP UA STUDIO (Ukraine) and Valk Productions (Netherlands). 

This year the international jury of This is IT, the work in progress section dedicated to films co-produced with Italy or produced by the WEMW spotlight territories, was headed by Caterina Mazzucato (Bio to B – Biografilm), Gaia Furrer (Giornate degli Autori) and Pascale Ramonda (Ramonda Ink). The jury assigned the Laser Film Award to the Italy and Romania co-production “On Their Own”  by Tudor Jurgiu. The prize consists of 4 days of colour grading services and 1 DCP for a total value of 10.000€. 

Regarding First Cut+, the works in progress targeting feature films that previously took part in a First Cut Lab workshop, the international jury consisting of An Feyfer (Flanders Audiovisual Fund), Ilse Ronteltap (Netherlands Film Fund) and Gabor Greiner (Film Boutique) assigned the TRT Prize, worth € 5.000, to “Amores”  by Grace Passô (Brazil).

The jury composed of Marie Lamboeuf (Salaud Morisette), Karim Aitouna (Haut Les Mains productions/Waq Waq Studio) and Andrea Magnani (Pilgrim) assigned the HAVC & MIDPOINT Development Award, a cash prize of € 3.000, to the Indian project “Kurkuma” by Drishya Gautham and producer Mathivanan Rajendran (Stray Factory).

Last but not least, the Italy-Baltic Development Awards for Co-Production, delivered three cash prizes for a total award of € 40,000 granted by the Ministero della Cultura (MiC), Estonian Film Institute, Lithuanian Film Centre and National Film Centre of Latvia. The Italian majority project “Tre madri (Three Mothers)”, directed by Enrico Lando and co-developed by Italian company Jolefilm and Latvian company Air Productions, was awarded with € 20.000.

Two Baltic majority co-productions received an award: the project “Dolce Far Niente” directed by Elena Kairyté and co-developed by Lithuanian company Baltic production and Italian company Kiné Società cooperative was awarded with € 13.000; while the “The Art of Biting Your Tongue”, directed by by Ieva Norvele and produced by the Latvian company Tasse Film and the Italian Corego, received an award of € 7.000.

This year WEMW also presented for the first time the Inspirational Lab Special Gifts programme. The International Screen Institute Special Gift, consisting of one spot on their Market Ready Course, was awarded to Time Huszar while TorinoFilmLab Special Gift, consisting of one spot on one of their TFL Next Workshop went to Samaya Hillenbrand; the programme included also a set of private counseling sessions on green production, held by Trentino Film Commission – Green Film.

The 2025 edition of WEMW drew to a close with a slate of impressive numbers: more than 650 registered participants from over 50 countries, nearly 600 scheduled individual meetings, over 15 different activities running simultaneously over a 4-day programme shaped together with almost 100 international partners and supporters,  and thousands & thousands of memorable and inspiring moments amongst all attendees. 

WEMW CO-PRODUCTION FORUM AWARDS

Film Center Serbia Development Award
Tales of Fruits and Monsters
by Gregor Božič  (Slovenia)
Nosorogi (Slovenia)

Ciclic WEMW Award
Klára Is Here
by Dávid Csicskár
Filmfabriq (Hungary)

GoGo2025 Residency Award
Under the Yellow Sky
by Maryna Nazarenko
Undi Tead 

EWA Network’s Award for Equality & Inclusion
Aistė Žegulytė (Studio Uljana Kim, Lithuania)
Biodestructors

EAVE Producers Workshop Award
Jelena Radenkovic (Big Time Production, Serbia)
Big Women

Taskovski #DocsConnect Award
Anna Khazaradze (1991 Productions, Georgia)
Berliner

DAE Talent Development Award
Leen Michiels (Krater Films, Belgium)
Better Than Gold

CEE Animation Award
Twisted
by Martina Sarritzu, Giorgia Malatrasi
Rodaggio (Italy)

Marché du Film Producers Network
Natalia Pavlove, Other Stories (Czech Republic)
Running with Beasts
Alice Drago, Epica Film (Italy)
Salvatierra

Pop Up Film Residency Award
Gregor Božič (Nosorogi, Slovenia)
Tales of Fruits and Monsters

 

LAST STOP TRIESTE

HBO Europe Award
My Dad’s Lessons
by Dalija Dozet
Hulahop (Croatia)

Film Center Montenegro Award
Electing Ms Santa
by Raisa Razmerita
HaiDOC Productions (Republic of Moldova), Tangaj Production (Romania)

Arte Video Award
Divia
by Dmytro Hreshko
Gogol Film (Poland), Up Ua Studio (Ukraine), Valk Productions (Netherlands)

 

THIS IS IT

Laser Film Post Production Award
On Their Own
by Tudor Jurgiu
Indyca (Italy), Libra Films (Romania)

 

FIRST CUT+

TRT Prize
Amores
by Grace Passô
Entre Films, Desvia, Globo Films  (Brazil)

MIDPOINT SHORTS

HAVC & MIDPOINT Development Award
Kurkuma
by Drishya Gautham
Stray Factory (India) 

ITALY-BALTIC CO-DEVELOPMENT AWARDS

The Art of Biting Your Tongue
by Ieva Norvele
Tasse Film (Latvia), Corego (Italy)

Dolce Far Niente
by Elena Kairyté
Baltic production (Lithuania), Kiné Società cooperative (Italy)  

 Tre madri (Three Mothers)
by Enrico Lando
Jolefilm (Italy), Air Productions (Latvia)