Work on the second module within the program for women directors and documentary producers CIRCLE Women Doc Accelerator takes place from Thursday, August 29th to Monday, September 2nd at Petrovaradin Fortress in Novi Sad, and is dedicated to strategic planning and marketing. The program, which runs in three modules, is aimed at women in the film world who are developing an international potential project with the focus on documentary filmmakers from Southern and Eastern Europe.
The experts will work with the directors / producers of eleven projects from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belarus, Montenegro, Italy, Israel, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Serbia, Ukraine and Spain over several days. The program provides participants with a thorough analysis of their projects and places particular emphasis on new approaches to storytelling, funding and audience engagement with the ongoing development of digital media.
Experts on the second module in Novi Sad include Joan Solecka of Poland, a marketing strategist and expert on audience design, and a creative documentary filmmaker working for Alphapanda, one of the leading film marketing agencies; Phil Jandaly from Sweden, editor and documentary editing consultant working as an expert on EDN; Alexander Govedarica of Canada – sales agent working for Syndicado, one of the leading distribution houses for documentaries; Jelena Mišeljić from Montenegro – producer, selector and professor at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Cetinje; Ivana Mladenović from Serbia, the director of the award-winning films Ferentari Stories and Ivana the Terrible, which was awarded the Special Jury Prize this year in Locarno, and whose case study program participants will work on this module; and Maša Marković from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cinelink Coordinator and Selector of the Dealing With the Past program at the Sarajevo Film Festival.
The first module, held from June 2nd to 6th in Podgorica, was dedicated to analyzing and developing the creative potential of the project. Participants of the CIRCLE program had the opportunity to work with renowned experts including Rada Šešić from the Netherlands – director, selector of the Documentary Competition Program at the Sarajevo Film Festival, and a member of the selection team of IDFA Amsterdam and IFFR Rotterdam; Bruges Osh from Germany – Director of the Co-Pro Market at the DOK Leipzig Film Festival; Simona Nobile from Italy – screenwriter, MEDIA Fund expert and representative of the international organization EWA; Tamara Kotevska of Macedonia – co-director of the film Honeyland, this year’s multiple Sundance Festival winner, whose film will be analyzed through a case study, and Oliver Sertić of Croatia – award-winning film producer, distributor and director of the Liburnian Film Festival.
The third module, to be held in Leipzig, is dedicated to networking with the international professional community and presenting projects to potential partners and financiers. The aim of the program is to empower women working in the film industry by working on specific projects, as well as improving professional skills, learning about the latest tendencies, professional tools and networking through participating in the DOK Leipzig Festival Co-Pro Market.
Selected participants of this year’s program are directors Alina Gorlova from Ukraine, Andjelka Vujinović from Serbia, Andrea Gautier director and producer from Spain, Anna Savchenko from Belarus, residing in Belgium, Asia Dér from Hungary, Charlie Cauchi from Malta, Federica Martino from Italy, Joanna Janikowska from Poland, Lee Nechushtan from Israel, Bosnian producer Ena Omerovic who lives in the Netherlands, as well as Tina Kuzman, director and producer from Montenegro.
The program is organized by the production company Wake Up Films from Novi Sad in cooperation with UnderhillFest from Podgorica, DOK Leipzig Festival, European Women’s Audiovisual Network (EWA), MEDIA Desk Serbia and MEDIA Desk Montenegro, and with support from Film Center of Serbia, Film Center of Montenegro, the Secretariat of Culture of the City of Novi Sad and the Petrović Njegoš Foundation.
CIRCLE Women Doc Accelerator is the first program of its kind in Europe and one of the first in the world to emerge from the need to empower women in documentary filmmaking and enhance their professional capacity, self-awareness and confidence through working on specific projects. One of the significant goals of the program is the formation of groups that will function after the completion of these modules, where the participants will consult with each other and assist in future work in order to get on the professional stage as quickly as possible.