Crossroads Catalogue 2006

Crossroads’ Projects and Producers

COUNTRY TITLE PRODUCER DIRECTOR
6 BULGARIA MISSION LONDON Ivan Doykov Dimitar Mitovski
8 FRANCE MADEMOISELLE CHRISTINE Denis Carot Raoul Ruiz
10 FRANCE / A THOUSAND HOUSES
AFGHANISTAN OF DREAM AND TERROR Dimitri de Clercq Atiq Rahimi
12 GREECE WELCOME ABOARD Yorgos Lykiardopoulos Constantine Giannaris
14 GREECE MY FIRST BAPTISM Costas Lambropoulos Olga Malea
16 GREECE REAPERS Louizos Aslanides George Noussias
18 GREECE BLACK FIELD Filippos Marinakis Vardis Marinakis
20 GREECE BUZZHEART Yorgos Lykiardopoulos Dennis Iliadis
22 ISRAEL DISENGAGEMENT David Leffler Amos Gitai
24 ITALY L’ABBUFFATA Instituto Luce Mimmo Calopresti
26 ITALY THE CALL Rosanna Seregni Stefano Pasetto
28 LEBANON / CHAQUE JOUR EST UNE FETE Thierry Lenouvel Dima El-Horr
FRANCE
30 MOROCCO IN BRACKETS Hicham Falah & Hicham Falah &
Mohamed Chrif Tribak
Mohamed Chrif Tribak
32 PALESTINE CUT Khaled Chouket Yahya Adblraoof
JORDAN
Abdalraheem Al-abdallah
34 SERBIA THE AMBULANCE Goran Radovanovic Goran Radovanovic
36 SPAIN THE RUNNER'S SALARY Arantxa Zunzunegui Jo Sol
38 TURKEY MILK Semih Kaplanoglu Semih Kaplanoglu
40 TURKEY PANDORA’S BOX Yesim Ustaoglou Yesim Ustaoglou

BULGARIA
Mission London
Credits
Produced by: SIA Advertising
Director: Dimitar Mitovski
Scriptwriters: Dimitar Mitovski, Alek Popov
Co-Producers: National Film Centre
Budget: 1.600.000 Euros
Secured Financing: 28 %
Dimitar Mitovski
Director
Contacts
SIA Advertising
48, Shipka str., 1504, Sofia, Bulgaria
T.+ 359 2 946 3865 / 66
Mobile: +359 888467 981
mitovski@sia.bg
www.sia.bg
Filmography
Get the rabbit back (short), 2004
FSB after 20 years, 1998
Mystery & Magic (doc.), 1997
Breakfast on the Pier (doc.), 1991
Synopsis
When Varadin, the Bulgarian ambassador, arrives at his new posting in London - a few days earlier
than expected - he finds the embassy in disarray. The staff has done nothing to prepare the concert
to celebrate Bulgaria’s accession into the EU. Under pressure from the president’s wife, Varadin’s
career prospects rest on him ensuring the queen attends the concert. Varadin seeks help from PR
firm, “Famous Connections”, unaware that they provide sex impersonators. At the same time, the
embassy cook helps a gang of Serbian criminals to store in the embassy freezers a dozen of ducks
stolen from Richmond Park with the intention to sell them to a Chinese restaurant. What they don’t
know is that the ducks have GPS chips implemented in their bodies and Scotland Yard is on their traces.
To fully complicate the story Varadin falls in love with gorgeous Kati, a cleaner in the embassy by day
and stripper by night, unaware that she has started working for “Famous Connections” as a Princess
Diana look-alike. As the night of the concert approaches a series of revelations begins.
Director’s Statement
Mission London is a comedy with bittersweet elements and slapstick humor. A crucial element in
my work will be to create independent, unique and freestanding characters, each driven by its own
deep-seated motives. The characters will be overexposed but realistic. The film will be made in a
modern way, using the various means available to a contemporary director. I will borrow the visual
aspect of TV ads, pompous and lustrous, to accentuate the ironic and comic. The camera will use
the overstrained point of views and angles, typical in comic books. The story is very dynamic and I
consider using the same rhythm in the editing. The comedy is a genre, which offers exceptional
possibilities to the director and is often the audience’s favorite. I want to make the viewer enjoy
every second of the film and miss it once it’s over.
6

Sia Advestising
Company Profile
SIA Advertising Ltd. is one of the oldest private trade companies involved with production activity
in the field of audiovisual production in Bulgaria. Through the years SIA was able to develop different
branch companies in order to fully support their manifold activities: film production, production
services for all audiovisual sectors, television production, postproduction services including editing,
synchronization, dubbing, telecine, etc., graphic studio, 3D animation, organizing and carrying out
of castings, publishing agency. The company specializes in the production and realization of feature
films, documentary and TV movies, animation, theatre projects and music videos. SIA Advertising
actively participates in the development of Bulgarian film productions, as well as foreign cinema
productions, acting as producer or co-producer. Its aim is to create films for theatrical distribution
with serious artistic and technical specifications and a high quality of production, which aim at
international distinction.
Ivan Doykov
After his graduation from a language school in 1997 Ivan Doykov studied History of Art in the Sofia
University. Since then he was involved in activities related to film production and promotion. In
2005 he followed the prestigious Media Business School’s program for film producers – Mega Master
in audiovisual management. He obtained with honors his master’s degree and since then works as
a film producer in the leading production company SIA Advertising. At the moment he is responsible
for the financing and production of three feature films recently awarded the MEDIA program – Slate
funding 1 development subsidy.
Ivan Doykov
Producer
Contacts
SIA Advertising
48, Shipka str.,
1504, Sofia, Bulgaria
T.+ 359 2 946 38 65 / 66
mobile:+ 359 888 38 94 83
doykov@sia.bg
www.sia.bg
BULGARIA
7

FRANCE
Mademoiselle Christine
Credits
Produced by: Elzevir Films
Director: Raoul Ruiz
Scriptwriter: Raoul Ruiz
Co-producers: Atlantis Film (Romania)
Budget: 2.300.000 Euros
Secured Financing: The project has been
granted an advance against takings by the
French National Cinematographic Centre
Raoul Ruiz
Director
Contacts
Elzevir Films
38, rue des Martyrs,
75 009, Paris, France
T: + 33 (0) 1 55 31 27 42
karen.willemsen@elzevirfilms.fr
Selected filmography
Klimt, 2006
The Last Domain, 2005
Savage Souls, 2001
Son of Two Mothers or The Comedy
of Innocence, 2000
Time Regained, 1999
Synopsis
Summer 1925–Romania–Along the banks of the Danube. Nazarie, an archeologist atheistic–expert in
religions–and Polanyi, a historian and a “snooper” of old folk songs, are Mrs. Mosco’s guests as they
undergo researches in the valleys of the Danube. They are staying in the immense home of the widow
and her two daughters as well as a third prestigious guest, Egor, a young art painter. In this time of
suffocating heat, bouts of malaria are frequent but are no explanations for the events, which are
disturbing the guests in the villa. Caught in-between dream and reality, each of these events increase
in intensity and seem connected to the enigmatic persona of Miss Christina, Mrs. Mosco’s sister, who
died at the very young age of 30, under brutal circumstances full of mystery. Are these disturbing
phenomena precursory signs of the return of the “ghoul”, this legendary “man eater”, who seems
to travel through the centuries?
Director’s Statement
What really fascinated me in Mircea Eliade’s novel, was the balance between this gothic story involving
a solitary, melancholic, strange yet oddly familiar vampire–a sort of “winter tale”–and the tradition of
Romanian folklore with its anthropologic aspect. On the one hand, you have the filiations going back
to Polidori, Sheridan Le Fanu, Bram Stoker and, on the other hand, the traditions that Eliade himself studied
in the valleys close to the Danube, going back to Greek, Roman and Turkish myths. Balance I say, but a
very turbulent balance where reality, daily life, monotony, country life and supernatural intermingle and
slowly entangle. Reality and dream. The world’s everyday life mechanism with a supernatural background.
It is slightly upstream with gothic tradition. The story takes place in the valleys, and mostly in the open
in daytime. No Carpathian castle, no storm, but realism: malaria, tuberculosis, terrible heat wave,
unhealthy humidity that help us access the world of the fantastic.
8

Elzevir Films
Company Profile
Elzevir Films was created in 1993 by Denis Carot and Marie Masmonteil.
Their complementary backgrounds enabled Elzevir Films to develop its activity in cinema and in
television. In cinema, Elzevir Films is characterized by a production of first creations: Sans moi by
Olivier Panchot in 2007 with Canal +, Tout le Plaisir Est pour Moi by Isabelle Broué in 2004 or Pourquoi
pas Moi? by Stephane Giusti in 1999. Elzevir Films is also developing privileged relationships with
experienced artists such as Raul Ruiz: Le Domaine Perdu in 2005 with Atlantis Film (Romania),
Revolver (Italy), Impossible Films (Spain), Gemini Films (France) and Canal + and Mademoiselle
Christine in development; Radu Mihaileanu: Va, Vis et Deviens in 2005 with Oï Oï Oï Productions
(France), Transfax Films (Israël), K2 (Belgique), Cattleya (Italy), France 3 Cinema and RTL TVI – César
best scénario) and Elle ment in development; Djamshed Usmonov: Pour Aller au Ciel Il Faut Mourir
in 2006 with Pandora Films (Germany), Saga Films and Cine Manufacture (Switzerland) and Arte
France Cinema; Pan Nalin: Valley of Flowers in 2007 with Pandora Film (Germany), TPS and France
2 Cinema; and Stephane Giusti : Bella Ciao in 2001 and Made in Italy in development.
Denis Carot
He built his experience in managing cultural enterprises in the theatre. He was the manager of the
Centre Dramatique National d’Aubervilliers alongside Alfredo Arias then of the Théâtre National de
la Colline alongside Jorge Lavelli. He was for three years the general director of Lazennec Productions
before joining in the same function Serge Moati in Elzevir Films. He regularly makes interventions
as consultant in the audiovisual sector.
Denis Carot
Producer
Contacts
Elzevir Films
38, rue des Martyrs,
75 009, Paris, France
T: + 33 1 55 31 27 42
karen.willemsen@elzevirfilms.fr
denis.carot@elzevirfims.fr
Selected filmography
Valley of Flowers, 2007
To Get to Heaven, First you
Have to Die, 2006
The Lost Domain, 2005
Live and Become, 2005
Why Not Me?, 1999
FRANCE
9

FRANCE / AFGHANISTAN
Atiq Rahimi
Director
Contacts
CRM-114
67 rue Saint Jacques,
75005, Paris, France
T. +33 622299687
crm-114@wanadoo.fr
Selected filmography
Earth and Ashes, 2004
(A)fghanistan, Un État Impossible?
(doc.), 2002
Nous Avons Partagé le
Pain et le Sel (doc.), 2001
Zaher Shah, le Royaume de l’Éxil (doc.), 2000
A Chacun Son Journal (doc.), 1998
A Thousand Houses of Dream and Terror
Credits
Produced by: CRM-114
Director: Atiq Rahimi
Scriptwriters: Kambozia Partovi, Atiq Rahimi,
Pierre Bourdy, Rosemary Ricchio
Co-Producers: MNP Entreprise (France),
Barmak Films (Afghanistan)
Budget: 2.945.398 euros
Secured Financing: 20%
Synopsis
Set in Kabul just before the Soviet invasion of December 1979, A Thousand Houses of Dream and
Terror is the story of a young man in fear for his life and the story of a country tragically torn apart
by religion and politics. Its action takes place over two nights; its events are triggered by the random
persecution of a student as he makes his way home one evening, a little drunk, and is beaten to a
pulp by a group of soldiers. A strange woman drags Farhad’s body into her house where he spends
the night; half believing he has died and is suffering the deserved punishment of an infidel. As the
reality of his situation slowly becomes clear, Farhad begins to feel an impossible and forbidden love
for the woman who harbors him—a love that embodies an angry compassion for the suffering of
Afghanistan’s women and a yearning for the lost homeland he now must flee.
Director’s Statement
In 1984, Kabul was under the political terror of a communist, pro-Soviet regime. I sought exile and
secretly fled with a group of university classmates. We turned ourselves over to the Resistance in
a small village in southern Afghanistan under Moudjahidin Islamist control. There, we were viciously
interrogated by a gang of theologians who assumed we were either communist spies or spoiled
brats. That 24-hour road trip was part of an historical journey the entire country experienced—a journey
from the Red Terror of the Soviets to the Black Terror of the Taliban, from ideological terror to
religious terror. That transition was neither arbitrary nor abstract. Under the communist regime, the
Afghan people took refuge in a religious cocoon. And Afghanistan fell into a labyrinthine, no-wayout
situation. A Thousand Houses of Dream and Terror recounts that experience. That journey gives
shape to the film’s narrative structure, to a mind space where nightmares and reality, hope and
despair are inextricably intertwined.
10

CRM-114
Company Profile
CRM-114 is a feature-film production company, created by Dimitri de Clercq in December 2002, and
named in homage of his spiritual mentor and guiding light, the late filmmaker Stanley Kubrick. CRM-
114 oversaw production of the first French-Afghan feature, Terre et Cendres (Earth and Ashes), by
Afghan author Atiq Rahimi, for the company Les Films du Lendemain. The film was presented as an
Official Selection in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2004 Cannes International Film Festival
(Prix du Regard vers l’Avenir). The film has since been honoured with 16 international awards. In 2003,
it also oversaw production of Luc Bondy’s feature film Ne Fais Pas Ca! (Don’t Do That!). CRM-114 is
currently preparing several projects, including Atiq Rahimi’s new film, Les Mille Maisons du Rêve et
de la Terreur (A Thousand Houses of Dream and Terror); Rashid Masharawi’s new feature film Mataha;
Michelle Porte’s second feature, Sybil; and Sylvie Meyer’s first feature, La Vierge et la Drogue (The
Virgin and the Drug), adapted from Alberto Moravia’s eponymous short story. Projects in development
include Michelle Porte’s Une Lettre de l’Autre Monde (A Letter From the Other World) and Atiq
Rahimi’s Kabuliwala.
Dimitri de Clercq
Born in Belgium in 1967, Dimitri de Clercq holds a degree in film direction and production from New
York University. In 1990, he founded the Belgian production company, Nomad Films, with his father,
Jacques de Clercq. They co-produced Mathieu Kassovitz’s Café au Lait and produced Alain Tanner’s
The Diary of Lady M; Raoul Ruiz’s The Golden Boat; and Ray Müller’s 3-hour documentary, The
Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl, which was honored with an International Emmy award.
In 1994, Dimitri de Clercq co-directed the feature film The Blue Villa with Alain Robbe-Grillet. He
went on to produce several features for the Paris-based production company Les Films du Lendemain,
including two films by Raoul Ruiz, Time Regained and Savage Souls. In 2004, CRM-114 oversaw
production of the first French-Afghan feature, Earth and Ashes, by Atiq Rahimi, for Les Films du
Lendemain. Projects currently in development at CRM-114 include two new films by Atiq Rahimi, A
Thousand Houses of Dream and Terror and Kabuliwala; Rashid Masharawi’s Mataha; Michelle Porte’s
Sybil; and Sylvie Meyer’s The Virgin and the Drug.
Dimitri de Clercq
Producer
Contacts
CRM-114
67 rue Saint Jacques,
75005, Paris, France
T. +33 622299687
Mobile: + 33 622299687
crm-114@wanadoo.fr
Selected filmography
Earth and Ashes, 2004
Don’t Do That!, 2003
Serbie, Année Zéro, 2001
Savage Souls, 2000
Les Infortunes de la Beauté, 1999
FRANCE / AFGHANISTAN
11

GREECE
Welcome Aboard
Credits
Produced by: Highway Productions
Director: Constantine Giannaris
Scriptwriter: Constantine Giannaris
Budget: 3.000.000-5.000.000 Euros
Constantine Giannaris
Director
Contacts:
Ambatielou 6, Patisia,
11144, Athens, Greece
T. +30 2102280801
Mobile: +30 6974181288
giann@hol.gr
Filmography
Hostage, 2005
One day in August, 2001
From the edge of the city, 1998
3 Steps to Heaven, 1995
Synopsis
Rescue boat surrounded by dead and drowning Iraqis. Thirty adolescents rescued onto tanker. Captain
Jason weathers Operation’s Manager’s fury. No delays. Timetable for Gulf tight. Jason’s doctor wife Laura
tends to injured. Europe refuses asylum. Ship sails down West Africa. Laura drawn to orphaned Samir.
Laura’s son drowned. Laura and Jason locked in guilt and blame ever since. O.M says Doctors Without
Borders in Lagos will take youngsters. Unscrupulous agent in Lagos kidnaps ten youngsters. O.M. protests
innocence. Tension on board mounts. South Africa refuses asylum. Jason finds Laura sleeping with Samir.
Laura expelled from ship. Youngsters riot to board helicopter. Jason imprisons Samir and Rafiq. Ship enters
Indian Ocean. Girl accuses crewman of rape. Samir and Rafiq escape. Crewman found dead. Youngsters
told they’re returning home. They hijack ship. Jason taken prisoner. SWAT team sent in.Youngsters panic.
Laura phones and begs Samir release Jason. Jason freed but shot trying to protect Samir. Samir craddles
wounded Jason as soldiers pacify ship.
Director’s Statement
Interior scenes will be studio. Exteriors will be an actual tanker. As the film progresses the pace quickens.
The framing less precise, more nervous. This aids the unravelling of “order” on the ship. The story is
about a good man who does the decent thing only to have his world unravel as he confronts the realities
of sealed borders, venal interest, corruption, cultural prejudice, passions and the limits of his own
tolerance. Its underlying theme however is about family. Children without parents. Parents without
children. Children who through self-exile renounce their collective “families”–their homelands. Parents
who resolve their emotional Gordian Knot - the drowning of their son–and create a new family. Despite
the difficulties in dealing with the new world, we have little choice. Immigration is not just economics.
It’s the reconstitution of new global families in a world too small for parochial borders and cultural
intolerance.
12

Highway Productions
Company Profile
Founded in 1999 by George Lykiardopoulos, Highway is a production company that mostly uses freelance
personnel according to projects and it has as an aim to work with the young and promising generation of
Greek filmmakers in order to create the wave of the new generation of Greek directors. Highway’s themes
are current issues of the times such as immigration, social problems, etc. It is interested in attracting the
younger generation audience that predominantly watches American movies. Highway’s main concern is to
produce films that will travel out of the Greek market and meet an international audience.
GREECE
George Lykiardopoulos
He was educated at the Boston University College of Communication in Broadcast Administration and at
the Brown University (B.A. in Semiotics & Economics). From 1998 to 2001 he was Head of Productions at
Attika SA (Prooptiki SA). He was involved in the development, financing and production of the following
feature films: One day in August (directed by Constantine Giannaris), which was in the main competition
of the Berlin International Film Festival 2002 and was nominated for the European Film Awards 2002,
Under the Stars (directed by Christos Georgiou), which won the Prix den Montreal Best First Feature Film
at the 25th Montreal International Film Festival and Best First Feature Film at the 20th International Film
Festival of Uruguay Montevideo, as well as Best First Feature Film by the FIPRESCI Critics Jury (it also
received the Gold Remi – Best Foreign Feature, Gold Special Jury Award, was nominated for The Grand
Festival Award at the 35th Houston Worldfest International Film Festival and received the Granada
Audience Award for best feature film at the 1st Commonwealth Film Festival in Manchester) and Fading
Light (To Fos pou Svinei, directed by Vassilis Douros). He is the owner and producer of Highway Productions
in Athens, which he founded in January 2002. In 2003 he was the associate producer of Matchbox
(Spirtokouto, directed by Giannis Oikonomides), which was in competition at the Montreal International
Film Festival 2003. He also produced three shorts: The Large Pill (directed by Sevastianna Anagnostopoulou),
Lou & Lena (directed by Maria Lafi) and Paint it Black (directed by Nikos Leros). He produced Hostage
(Omiros, directed by Constantinos Giannaris) in 2005, and Liubi (directed by Lagia Giourgou), also in 2005.
In 2004 he co-produced Angel’s Fall (directed by Semih Kaplanoglou), which was in the official selection
of the Forum of the Berlin International Film Festival in 2005 and received six awards at the Antalia
International Film Festival (Turkey). He is also a theatre producer. In 2004 he produced Tape by Stephen
Belber (directed by Lagia Giourgou), in 2005 Crazy Eyes by John B. Mailer (directed by Lagia Giourgou).
George Lykiardopoulos
Producer
Contacts
Highway Productions
27, Aishylou street, 5th floor,
105 54, Athens, Greece
T +30 210 3314088
Mobile: +30 6972888051
highway@hol.gr
www.highway.gr
Filmography
Hostage, 2005
Liubi, 2005,
Angel’s Fall, 2004
Matchbox, 2003
One day in August, 2001
13

GREECE
My First Baptism
Credits
Produced by: CL Productions
Director: Olga Malea
Scriptwriter: Nicholas Papandreou & Olga Malea
Co-Producers: Tasos Papandreou
Budget: 1.500.000
Secured Financing: 30%
Olga Malea
Director
Contacts:
4 Kriezotou str.,
106 71, Athens, Greece
T. +30 69 44 30 17 15
Mobile: 6944301715
malea@otenet.gr
Filmography
The cow’s orgasm, 1997
The mating game,1999
Risotto, 2000
Honey and the pig, 2005
Synopsis
In summer 1965, Alex (12), son of a famous socialist Greek politician, is sent to the island of Crete
to baptize the baby girl of Mr. Panagakis, a local party supporter. Alex’s task is to deliver his father’s
speech at the baptism, in order to help collect the necessary votes at the up-coming elections.
However, although Alex tries very hard to be the good son, he seems to be having increasing doubts
about his role. “What is your dream?” Panos, the rebellious son of Mr. Panagakis, asks Alex. “To bring
democracy to Greece,” Alex replies without flinch. “This is your father’s dream,” Panos replies. “What
is your dream?” he asks again and Alex realizes that he has never thought of himself as a different
person from his father. Alex is in deep crisis. Will he follow his father’s mandate or choose to be himself,
at the risk of ... preventing democracy from coming to Greece?
Director’s Statement
My First Baptism is a tender comedy about the drama of coming of age. The mood of the film is
definitely light and humorous. The point of view is that of Alex, the 12-year old protagonist. Alex is
very insecure while at the same time having grandiose ideas about himself. Alex takes himself very
seriously and this makes his situation both funny and moving. The Cretan landscape and people play
a very important role in the film and in Alex’s development. Framing will be original and unexpected,
as the unknown and bewildering Cretan world is for Alex. Alex doesn’t quite understand what people
around him are talking about, and he realizes that he has to figure out a whole new code. These
conditions create innumerable situations for misunderstandings and extremely funny developments.
However, the closing scenes of the film are very touching, as Alex finally has to face his father and
stand opposite to him.
14

CL Productions
Company Profile
CL Productions is a company specializing in film and television productions and public events. It was
founded in 1985 and ever since has conducted a variety of events and productions. The company
has produced more than 90 feature films among of which Loafing and Camouflage, Sirens in Aegean
by Nikos Perakis, Eduart by Angeliki Antoniou, Brides by Pantelis Voulgaris, A Touch of Spice by Tasos
Boulmetis, Peppermint by Costas Kapakas, as well as Theo Aggelopoulos’ feature films The Weeping
Meadow, Ulysses’ Gaze, The Suspended Step of the Stork and Landscape In the Mist. Moreover, CL
Productions has produced many TV series such as Almost Never directed by Nikos Perakis and Lonely
by Neglect directed by Elisavet Chronopoulou. Furthermore, among the theatrical and cultural
productions are included the summer season performances for the Athens Theatre Festival in
Herodes Atticus, in the Ancient Epidaurus Theatre and also in the Ancient Epidaurus Small Theatre
from 2001 until 2005, the Thessalonikis Song Contest in October 2005, the Opening Ceremony of
the Olympic Games 2004 and the Athens Millennium 2000 event.
Lina Yannopoulou
Born in Athens. She studied French Literature at the University of Athens and Film Direction at the
Lycourgos Stavrakos Film School. Since 1993 she works as assistant director, continuity supervisor,
casting director, production manager and associate producer for several greek and foreign productions,
documentaries, television series, commercials, short and feature films, such as Ulysses’ Gaze by
Theo Angelopoulos, Think it Over by Katerina Evangelakou, Sweet Memory by Kyriakos Katzourakis,
Brazilero by Sotiris Goritsas, Touch me Not by Dimitris Yatzouzakis, The Cistern by Christos Dimas.
She is currently working as a producer for CL Productions.
Lina Yannopoulou
Producer
Contacts
CL Productions
65, Vrilissou str, Poligono,
11476, Athens, Greece
T. +30 210 6412700
Mobile: 6977862501
info@clproductions.gr
www.clproductions.gr
GREECE
Filmography
CCTV, 2004
15

GREECE
Reapers
Credits
Produced by: Ekso Productions
Director: Yorgos Noussias
Scriptwriter: Efi Gavrilou
Co-Producers: Lambros Triphyllis
Budget: 1.000.000 Euros
Secured Financing: 5%
Yorgos Noussias
Director
Contacts:
Pittaki 2,
17122, Athens, Greece
T. +30 2109318886
Mobile: +30 6944766063
ynousias@otenet.gr
www.ekso.gr
Filmography:
Evil, 2005
Location Scouting (short), 2000
Rectum (short), 1998
A Night At The Office (short), 1995
Synopsis
German occupied Greece–1942. Somewhere in the countryside. Having just taken hostage a leader
of the Greek resistance fighters, a Nazi company is retreating after the bloody battle to a nearby
abandoned village, with the Greeks hot on their trail. What they don’t know is that the village is
haunted. That same night, while the resistance fighters are preparing their attempt to take back
their leader, soldiers from both sides start to die mysteriously and horrendously. No man can have
done this. These events, after some tribulations, lead the two enemies to an unholy alliance. They
now have a much worse enemy, and only united will they stand a chance. But, the bloodthirsty
ghosts (for it is ghosts they are) will not be easily overcome, especially after the Greek leader is
found to have a connection to the curse, an element that adds to the constant mistrust between
the Germans and the Greeks. And all hell breaks loose...
Director’s Statement
Film making is in my opinion storytelling. Genre films are all about story, and especially since almost
everything has already been made, a lot of effort must fall on the story’s development. We know that
if you put ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances interesting things happen. This is Reapers’
aim. Reapers does not claim to be original. But still, when choosing a project, I prefer to think of a film
that I would like to see, instead of a film that I would like to make. Reapers is this kind of project. It
could be an interesting film to watch. Greek filmmaking is not known for its genre output but being
the creators of Evil, we claim some experience in the field. Apart from having the know-how of making
an effects heavy adventure horror film, we also know that the worldwide market for genre films is
vast. And the interest for a good Greek genre film can be considerable...
16

Ekso Productions
Company Profile
Ekso Productions was founded in 2002 by Louizos Aslanidis and is an independent production
company operating in southern Athens.
Our goal is to bring a cinematic view into everything we do, thus producing films and videos that
engage viewers and communicate successfully their objectives.
We have very good experience in producing short films. So far we had three successful collaborations
with the Greek Film Center in co-producing the short films The absolute moment, Money-go-round
and The house with the olive trees.
Recently we broke into feature film production with one of the few Greek genre films, the horror
comedy To Kako (Evil), which was released in Greek theatres on May 16th 2006.
Together with producer Lambros Triphyllis we are now developing three feature film projects, one
of them being Yorgos and Petros Noussias’ new film Reapers (working title).
Louizos Aslanidis
Louizos Aslanidis, through his company Ekso Productions, is an independent producer of shorts,
commercials, music videos, corporate videos and features.
Louizos Aslanidis
Producer
Contacts
Ekso Productions
Pittaki 2, 17122, Athens, Greece
T. +30 2109318886
Mobile: +30 6932279431
info@ekso.gr
www.ekso.gr
GREECE
Filmography
Evil, 2005
The house with the olive trees
(short), 2006
The Absolute Moment (short), 2004
The Soul of Damon Ploumis (short), 2003
Money-Go-Round (short), 2002
17

GREECE
Black Field
Credits:
Produced by: Filippos Marinakis
Director: Vardis Marinakis
Scriptwriter: Vardis Marinakis
Budget: 492.000 Euros
Secured Financing: 10%
Vardis Marinakis
Director
Contacts:
Zitrou 8, Koukaki,
11742, Athens
T. +30 210 9200270
Mobile: +30 6945992028
vmarinakis@yahoo.com
Filmography:
Second Nature (short), 2005
Summer Love (short), 2002
Synopsis
1654, Ottoman Empire, Greece. A Turkish soldier arrives heavily wounded in a remote Christian
female monastery and is nursed by Anthea, a sixteen year old Greek nun who under the silence
oath. They fall in love without realizing it. Anthea doesn’t dare to reveal to the Turkish soldier her
dark secret… She is a boy… Anthea was secretively raised as a girl by the Abbess in order to avoid
the obligatory and harsh recruitment of the Turkish army. One night the Turkish army invades the
monastery looking for their deserter comrade. Anthea and the Turkish soldier escape together in
the forest. They kiss and he finds out that she is a boy. Both are emotionally broken by the revelation.
Anthea is obliged to face the person that initiates her to manhood. As Anthea hardens the Turkish
soldier softens by returning to the carelessness of his boyhood. During this process their bond
strengthens and their latent love transforms into fraternal friendship.
Director’s Statement
Black Field is a dark love story. A period romantic story set in a monastery. Two people with mistaken
identities fall in a dead-end love and through a process of mutual initiation they liberate themselves.
A film in the tradition of directors like Terrence Mallic, Kim Ki Duk and Neil Jordan narrating strong
archetypal stories using strong visuals, mixing beauty, fear, poetry and humanity. A character based
film in a cinematic setting. The camera will follow Anthea. Her face and emotions will guide us with
passion throughout the film. The film starts as claustrophobic. We are inside the monastery, black
and white is dominating and the colour is almost absent. Gradually the outside world, nature, appears
reaching a crescendo when they escape in the forest where colour and sunlight floods the scenery.
Towards the end the storytelling boundaries loosen while the characters unfold their essence.
18

Filippos Marinakis
Filippos Marinakis recently returned from Los Angeles and is currently a Network Executive (original
Greek Programming) for Mega Channel in Greece. While in LA he worked for two years in Story
Development for Ithaka Entertainment (First-look producing deal with LionsGate Films) evaluating,
analyzing and eventually developing feature projects. During his days, three of their projects got a
producing deal with LionsGate, involving major talents like Nicholas Cage, Milos Forman etc.
Furthermore, he was Producer’s Assistant for two features and produced four short films while
obtaining his MFA from the prestigious American Film Institute (AFI). Prior his LA experience he was
working as a marketing manager in Greece covering most Media aspects (Advertising, Information
Technology, TV commercials, Telecommunications and Print Media). His first degree is a BA from
the Economic University of Athens (ASOEE) with a major in Marketing. His creative goal is to be part
of intelligent and visually appealing film concepts, which offer an alternative point of view to a
mainstream audience.
Filippos Marinakis
Producer
Contacts
Litous 10, Vouliagmenh,
166-71, Athens
T. +30 210 9200270
Mobile: +30 6995321085
info@filmproductions.gr
GREECE
Filmography
Keeper of the Past (short), 2005
Meant to be (short), 2004
A perfect day for Bananafish (short), 2004
Blue Ribbon (short), 2003
19

GREECE
Buzzheart
Credits
Produced by: Highway Productions
Director: Dennis Iliadis
Scriptwriter: Dennis Iliadis
Co-Producers: Process Media/Tim Perell
Budget: 1.000.000 Euros
Dennis Iliadis
Director
Contacts:
Highway Productions
27 Aishylou str.,
105 54, Athens, Greece
T. +30 2103314088 / 9
Mobile: +30 6944395251
diliadis@yahoo.com
Filmography
Hardcore, 2004
Morning Fall (short), 1997
Olé (short), 1993
Synopsis
Argyris, a not so handsome 18-year-old man, visits a physiotherapy center that provides “extra services” and
is charmed by a beautiful and somewhat fragile young employee, Mary. He shyly asks her out and surprisingly
she invites him to her parents’ country house for a three-day weekend where he is introduced as her
boyfriend. Argyris is intrigued by the parents’ high socioeconomic status, which does not justify Mary’s
choice of profession. They soon let him know that their daughter has serious psychological problems and
to make sure that Argyris is a safe match for her they have to submit him to some mild behavioral tests.
Mary explains that her mother was once a brilliant behavioral psychologist in the US and urges him to comply.
A series of tests begins, almost comical in the beginning; they turn more and more clinical and dangerous
while scenes from the past reveal a family structure where the balance is subverted. In the name of love,
Argyris becomes a guinea pig striving to survive. But no one is what they seem and while a dark secret
starts unraveling, the last day turns into a battlefield that will scar everyone for life…
Director’s Statement
Buzzheart, starts out like a familiar type of comedy: “boy falls in love at first sight with girl, prematurely
meets her eccentric parents and tries to win them over in a short period of time.” However, the film
takes advantage of this familiarity to quickly penetrate into much darker areas and progressively become
a psychological thriller where the viewer constantly tries to recompose what he is watching. It becomes
a very cinematic experience as it plays geometrically, ritualistically almost with the subjective and the
objective, the light and the dark, not in order to confuse the spectator but to clearly guide him to a
wholly different turnout. Buzzheart is strongly based on detailed research of extreme behaviorism in
psychology that bloomed in the 70’s and is now gaining new popularity. The idea of “conditioning” man
and the asphyxiating projection of ideal behaviors without caring for one’s individuality can become more
horrific than a dozen of chainsaw murderers...
20

Highway Productions
Company Profile
Founded in 1999 by George Lykiardopoulos, Highway is a production company that mostly uses freelance
personnel according to projects and it has as an aim to work with the young and promising generation of
Greek filmmakers in order to create the wave of the new generation of Greek directors. Highway’s themes
are current issues of the times such as immigration, social problems, etc. It is interested in attracting the
younger generation audience that predominantly watches American movies. Highway’s main concern is to
produce films that will travel out of the Greek market and meet an international audience.
GREECE
George Lykiardopoulos
He was educated at the Boston University College of Communication in Broadcast Administration and at
the Brown University (B.A. in Semiotics & Economics). From 1998 to 2001 he was Head of Productions at
Attika SA (Prooptiki SA). He was involved in the development, financing and production of the following
feature films: One day in August (directed by Constantine Giannaris), which was in the main competition
of the Berlin International Film Festival 2002 and was nominated for the European Film Awards 2002,
Under the Stars (directed by Christos Georgiou), which won the Prix den Montreal Best First Feature Film
at the 25th Montreal International Film Festival and Best First Feature Film at the 20th International Film
Festival of Uruguay Montevideo, as well as Best First Feature Film by the FIPRESCI Critics Jury (it also
received the Gold Remi – Best Foreign Feature, Gold Special Jury Award, was nominated for The Grand
Festival Award at the 35th Houston Worldfest International Film Festival and received the Granada
Audience Award for best feature film at the 1st Commonwealth Film Festival in Manchester) and Fading
Light (To Fos pou Svinei, directed by Vassilis Douros). He is the owner and producer of Highway Productions
in Athens, which he founded in January 2002. In 2003 he was the associate producer of Matchbox
(Spirtokouto, directed by Giannis Oikonomides), which was in competition at the Montreal International
Film Festival 2003. He also produced three shorts: The Large Pill (directed by Sevastianna Anagnostopoulou),
Lou & Lena (directed by Maria Lafi) and Paint it Black (directed by Nikos Leros). He produced Hostage
(Omiros, directed by Constantinos Giannaris) in 2005, and Liubi (directed by Lagia Giourgou), also in 2005.
In 2004 he co-produced Angel’s Fall (directed by Semih Kaplanoglou), which was in the official selection
of the Forum of the Berlin International Film Festival in 2005 and received six awards at the Antalia
International Film Festival (Turkey). He is also a theatre producer. In 2004 he produced Tape by Stephen
Belber (directed by Lagia Giourgou), in 2005 Crazy Eyes by John B. Mailer (directed by Lagia Giourgou).
George Lykiardopoulos
Producer
Contacts
Highway Productions
27, Aishylou street, 5th floor,
105 54, Athens, Greece
T +30 210 3314088
Mobile: +30 6972888051
highway@hol.gr
www.highway.gr
Filmography
Hostage, 2005
Liubi, 2005
Angel’s Fall, 2004
Matchbox, 2003
One day in August, 2001
21

ISRAEL
Disengagement
Credits
Produced by: Agav Films
Director: Amos Gitai
Scriptwriter: Amos Gitai, Marie-José Sanselme
Co-producers: Agat films (France)
ARTE France, R&C Produzioni (italy)
Budget: 3.986.997 Euros
Amos Gitai
Director
Contacts:
Agav Hafakot, 37
Rachi Street,
Tel Aviv 63265, Israel
T. +972 35255971
amos@amosgitai.com
Filmography
News From Home/News From House, 2006
Free Zone, 2005
Promised Land, 2004
Alila, 2003
Kedma, 2002
Kippur, 2000
Synopsis
Lausanne. Uli’s (Lior Ashkenazi) and Ana’s (Juliette Binoche) father, a colonel descending from an
important familly in Vaud just passed away in his Palace suite. The adopted brother and his sister
meet in front of the corpse after twenty years of separation.
Anna is very beautiful and a bit lost. Obviously troubled by the young woman, Uli learns suddenly
that he has three days to return to Israel : as a reservist he is called back to participate in the
disengagement of Gaza’s colonies.
Ana decides to liquify all her assets in Switzerland. Her confidante, the director of the Palace (Gilles
Tschudi) and her lawyer (Dominique Reymond) will take care of everything for her.
During this time, Uli goes through the Grand-Saint-Bernard tunnel and heads torwards Trieste. On
the road he is attacked by three skinheads and is saved by Mimi (Giovanna Mezzogiorno) a young
woman of loose morals accompanied by her husband Tuzzi (Sergio Castellito) and his mistress
Roberta. In Trieste he boards for Ashdod. On the boat, he meets Youssef a Palestenian returning to
his village.
In Gaza, the situation is less simple than it appears and the human drama is difficult to take in as he
meets young Dana who shows him her home and greenhouse that the army will soon to destroy.
But what Uli doesn’t know is that Dana is the daughter that Ana abandonned when she was 17 and
that Ana has just arrived in Israel to give her daughter the part of the inheritance that belongs to
her.
22

Agav Films
Filmography
News from Home/News from House, 2006, Production Company
Free Zone, 2005, Production Company
Alila, 2003, Production Company
Yom Yom, 1998, Production Company
War and Peace in Vesoul, 1997, Production Company
Zirat Ha’Rezach, 1996, Production Company
Milim, 1996, Production Company
Zihron Devarim, 1995, Production Company
The Neo-Fascist Trilogy: II. In the Name of the Duce, 1994, Production Company
The Neo-Fascist Trilogy: III. Queen Mary, 1994, Production Company
The Neo-Fascist Trilogy: I. In the Valley of the Wupper, 1994, Production Company
Golem, le jardin pétrifié, 1993, Production Company
Golem, l’esprit de l’exil, 1992, Production Company (France)
Naissance d’un Golem, 1991,Production Company
Wadi 1981-1991, 1991, Production Company
Berlin-Yerushalaim, 1989, Production Company
Brand New Day, 1987,Production Company
Esther, 1986, Production Company
Agav Films
Contacts
Agav Hafakot, 37
Rachi Street,
Tel Aviv 63265, Israel
T. +972 35255971
amos@amosgitai.com
laurent@truchot.net
ISRAEL
23

ITALY
L’Abbuffata
Credits:
Produced by: Istituto Luce,
Colorado Film, Dania Film, Gagè
Director: Mimmo Calopresti
Co-producers: Celluloid Dreams Productions
Synopsis
L’Abbuffata features Gerard Depardieu playing himself, a hero inspired by a film shot by three boys and
a girl from Calabre whose great passion for movies brutally crashes against the cynical mechanism of the
cinema industry in Rome.
Mimmo Calopresti
Director
Contacts:
Istituto Luce
Via Tuscolana 1055, Rome, Italy
T. +39 672992254
luce@luce.it
www.luce.it
Selected filmography
I Only Wanted to Live, 2006
L’ Ora Della Lucertola, 2004
Happiness Costs Nothing, 2003
Another World is Possible, 2001
I Prefer the Sound of the Sea, 2000
La Seconda Volta, 1995
Director’s Statement
During these past years I started going to Calabre, my hometown, either to spend a vacation by the sea
or on business. I started to spend a lot of time on a seashore near La Castella, a small village spreading
around an aragonese castle set on an outcropping of the ground into the Ionean Sea. The basis and roots
of this castle were built on ancient Greek foundations. I started to like this corner of the world especially
for its landscape which in my mind had immediately registered as middle eastern: the sea, a sand beach
but also rocks modeled by the wind and behind all this a rough landscape bestudded by small villages with
ancient acropolises contaminated by a barbaric modernism. The summer before last I directed a theater
spectacle that spoke of Ulysses’ landing on this beach. The presentation took place on the seaside with
the aragonese castle in the background. Besides professional actors I also used some local youngsters who
had come to watch rehearsals. This is how I discovered an interesting fact: in this kind of place there is
nothing. No theater, no cinema, no professional perspectives, not even a future. The only thing young
people have is their dreams. In their dream to make movies I found the idea of a film. These kids in order
to make their movie not only they will have to shake of the stupor of their every day life in the countryside
and involve a director, a real guru, living in the area but also take on the adventure of going to Rome and
be introduced to Italian cinema: the movie agents, the deceitful small-time producers and even some
important actors. But more importantly they will have the opportunity to wonder around in mythical
Cinecittà. They will end up going back to their small village but without their leading-man. However, in
reality, their efforts haven’t been in vain because one day….
24

Istituto Luce
Company Profile
Founded in 1924, one of the oldest Italian film companies, Istituto LUCE is a state financed company
distributing about 20 films per year. Istituto LUCE’s first screening was the documentary Aethiopia,
shown at the Augusteo theatre in Rome in November 1924.
L’Unione Cinematografica Educativa – L.U.C.E. was founded through the transformation of a small
company, Sindacato Istruzione Cinematografica, with the primary goal of using the cinema to spread
culture and knowledge.
In 1925 Istituto LUCE was acquired by the State and became the first State-owned film production
company in the western world. Soon, the promulgation of special national laws led to Istituto LUCE
documentaries being included in the scheduling of all Italian movie theatres.
The LUCE Historical Archives are made up of 12.000 newsreels, 3.000.000 images, 9.000 documentaries
and several other items, ranging from films dating back to the origins of cinema to collections and
film clips of 20th century events.
Istituto LUCE is particularly active in the production and distribution of the quality cinema, and over
its history it has distributed films of the greatest Italian directors, distinguishing itself also in the
distribution of foreign films by international prestige directors. Today it is a creative and productive
pole that, often in collaboration with authors of the new Italian cinema and important entrepreneurs,
produces and distributes the auteur cinema.
With this regular and long tradition, Istituto LUCE is still looking forward, carefully monitoring all aspects
of Italian and International cinema, and its goals are the preservation of Italy’s historical and cultural
heritage, the production and the cinematographic distribution, and the distribution of the home video
products, always keeping an eye on cultural and technological innovation.
Istituto Luce
Via Tuscolana 1055,
Rome, Italy
tel: +39 672992254
fax: +39 672992254
c.bedogni@luce.it
www.luce.it
Selected filmography
Ma che ci faccio qui! 2006
Fenice, La 2006
Io, Don Giovanni, 2006
“Delitti”, 2005
Kanzaman, 2005
ITALY
25

ITALY
The Call
Credits
Produced by: Sintra S.r.l.
Director: Stefano Pasetto
Scriptwriters: Stefano Pasetto,
Veronica Cascelli
Co-producers: Amka Films (Switzerland),
Tarantula (Belgium)
Budget: 2.500.000 Euros
Secured Financing : 50%
Stefano Pasetto
Director
Contacts:
Sintra S.r.l.
via Montebello 99, 00185, Roma, Italy
T. +39 069844838,
Mobile: +39 3478302335
stefano.pasetto@inwind.it
www.stefanopasetto.com
Selected filmography
Con le Unghie e coi Denti (doc.), 2006
Turtles on their Backs, 2005
Sorelle (short), 2000
Uno per gli Occhi….Uno per la Bocca
(short), 2000
14 (short), 1999
Synopsis
Bruxelles. Stiffened into tight bourgeois appearances and with her husband, Bruno, who disregards
her, Dora feels lonely and empty. Her only way to vent is her diary. On the complete opposite, Nina,
embodies all that Dora longs for: vitality and disinhibition. Dora escapes her past and her present
to join Nina in Genoa. She likes this new clandestine life. Meanwhile, Bruno finds Dora’s “papers”
and begins his process of discovery of his wife. When Nina begins to refuse Dora’s possessiveness,
the two women understand that this paradise of theirs is destined to give away two separate lives.
Dora, Nina and Bruno: three souls that have reached a dead point. They will become a bridge to
each other, a breach into a new life…
Director’s Statement
The subject of this film grew out of my interest in two fundamental issues. The first is one of the
greatest taboos in Western culture: the body. My inquiry regarding the rigidly codified set of
behaviors relating to our physicality lead me to consider the different degrees of openness to
contact: sensuality, sexuality (in its varied expressions), the somatization of discontents, the
medicalization of the body (accompanied by ethical issues and issues of individual choice) and the
fear of death. The second issue is the idea that relationships respond to an evolutionary pattern of
conscience. Some people appear in other people’s life to bring on decisive turning points, whether
they are conscious of it or not. Like secret agents on a mission, they return to base as soon as their
mission is accomplished. Perhaps it would all sound more familiar if we would call this destiny.
26

Sintra S.r.l.
Company Profile
Sintra is a Rome-based independent production company, founded in 1990. Its most successful
productions are the following art house films: Maurizio Sciarra’s Alla rivoluzione sulla due cavalla,
2001 (golden Pardo Best Film, bronze Pardo Best Actor Andoni Gracia at the 54th Festival of Locarno),
and Hiner Saleem Vodka Lemon, 2003, winner of the “Controcorrente” section at the 60th Venice
Film Festival. Sintra’s coproductions include: Siete dias, siete noches by Joel Cano (Cuba/France), Well-
Tempered Corpses by Benjamin Filipovic (France/Slovenia) andAntonio Hernandez Oculto (UK/Spain).
Stefano Pasetto’s first feature Tartarughe sul dorso featuring Barbora Bobulova and Fabrizio Rongione
is screened at the “Giornate degli Autori-Venice Days” in 2005. Also, Sintra coproduces L’Enfer by
Danis Tanovic (Italy/France/Belgium) and Persona Non Grata by Kristoff Zanussi (official
competition 62nd Venice Film Festival). In 2005, the feature Anastezsi (Italy/UK/Spain co-production)
by Miguel Alcantud starring Derek Jacobi and Angela Molina is completed. Nacido y Criado, coproduced
with Argentina and directed by Pablo Trapero, is in competition at the Rome Film Fest 2006,
1st edition. Sintra is currently developing the following projects: The Balance of the Souls by
Ferdinando Vicentini Orgnani, and The Call by Stefano Pasetto.
Rosanna Seregni (Producer)
Rosanna Seregni, founder of Sintra, is a member of the board of Italian Independent Authors and
Producers, European Film Academy, the “David di Donatello” awards and the European Association
of Producers (Le club des producteurs). She won the F.I.C.E Prize (Federazione Italiana Cinema
D’Essai) as best producer in 2005. Rosanna Seregni also teaches workshops on script and pitch
development for Latino-American projects at the Fundacion TyPA a Buenos Aires and the Rockefeller
Foundation in New York.
Rosanna Seregni
Producer
Contacts
Sintra S.r.l.
via Montebello 99,
00185, Roma, Italy
T. + 39 06 44 51 256
Mobile: +39 335 6157571
sintra.prod@mclink.it
Selected filmography
Born and Bred, 2006
Hell, 2005
Persona Non Grata, 2005
Turtles on Their Backs, 2004
Vodka Lemon, 2003
ITALY
27

LEBANON / FRANCE
Dima el-Horr
Director
Contacts:
Ciné-Sud Promotion
130 Rue de Turenne
T. +33 1 44545477, +961 3573085
cinepoeme@hotmail.com
Selected filmography
Nine Years Later, 2005
Prêt-à-Porter Imm Ali, 2001
The Street (short), 1997
Chaque jour est une fête
Credits
Produced by: Ciné-Sud Promotion
Director: Dima el-Horr
Scriptwriters: Dima el-Horr, Rabih Mroué
Co-Producers: Taxi Films (Lebanon)
Budget: 1.410.000
Secured Financing: 30%
Synopsis
It is Independence Day in Lebanon. Three women who do not know each other are on the same bus
headed for the same place: Marmal Prison. Tamara is going to prison to visit her husband who was
incarcerated on their wedding day. Lina only has one goal in mind: to get her husband, who was
sentenced to a long stretch, to sign the divorce papers, which will finally set her free. Hala travels with
a secret fear: hidden in her suitcase, she carries the weapon forgotten by her husband, a prison guard.
After a few humorous turns at the beginning of the journey, one incident changes the tone and sets
everything adrift. The women, against their intentions, are left to their fates, forsaken along endless
roads that lead nowhere, where fear and danger intermingle, where death can be around every corner,
waiting to pounce when least expected. Traveling through an arid landscape littered with mines and
decapitated dreams, the journey transforms into the women’s quest for their own independence.
Director’s Statement
We live today in a region seething with perpetually renewed wars, where we are simply incapable
of playing any constructive part in the failing political life. We have but a few small dreams that act
as a margin through which we oppose this age defined by our political leaders along rigid lines of
black and white – no grays. A small margin through which we expose some of our thoughts and
obsessions, our doubts, humor and sarcasm as individuals who refuse to live in this inflexible world.
This is our story inasmuch as it is the story of three women lost in a vast, “unknown terrain”, a land
menaced by the threat of a colossal bomb with the power to wipe all of us out. The three women
trudge along a suggested marginal line, a road lacking in everything but tired patriotic slogans. It
is a road fraught with danger, winding through an arid desert teeming with mines and decapitated
dreams.
28

Ciné-Sud Promotion
Company Profile
Ciné-Sud Promotion started life as a company designed to promote auteur cinema particularly and
which has developed a production arm since 1999.
Ciné-Sud Promotion was founded on the intiative of Thierry Lenouvel who, in assocation with the
distribution company “Les Films du Sémaphore” from 1983 to 1988, had distributed films by (amongst
others) Pedro Almodovar, Jean Baronnet, Liria Begeja, Youssef Chahine, Benoît Jacquot, Gaston
Kaboré, Piotr Kamler, Emir Kusturica, Philip Noyce, John Sayles and Shinji Somaï…Ciné-Sud and
Thierry Lenouvel participated in the organization of the Montpellier Film Festival till 1995, and since
then of the Amiens Film Festival; also in the creation and administration of the Script Development
Fund (Fonds d’Aide au Développement du Scénario).
Ciné-Sud Promotion has acted as public relations representative for, amongst others, Gianni Amelio,
Vicente Aranda, Yamina Bachir Chouikh, Bassek Ba Kobhio, Rachid Bouchareb, Mario Camus, Jean-
Michel Carré, Wang Chao, Malik Chibane, Jacques Davila, Guillermo Del Toro, Raymond Depardon, Djibril
Diop Mambety, Flora Gomez, Omer Kavur, Christine Laurent, Miguel Littin, Christophe Loizillon,
Francisco Lombardi, Goran Markovic, Rashid Masharawi, Julio Medem, Jafar Panahi, Manuel Poirier,
Jean-François Richet, Arturo Ripstein, Paulo Rocha, Christophe Ruggia, Carlos Saura, Silvio Soldini,
Bela Tarr, Paolo & Vittorio Taviani, Jean-Philippe Toussaint.
It has also been responisible for the promotion of numerous films at international film festivals
(Cannes, Berlin, Venice) and public events (centenary of Jean Renoir, press conferences of Fonds
Sud, Prix du Ministère de la Coopération lors du Festival de Cannes, Festival du Cinéma d’Animation
d’Annecy, etc.).
Ciné-Sud Promotion’s first production venture was as associate producer on two feature films
produced by 3B Productions, Haramuya by Drissa Touré (France/Burkina-Faso)(Cannes 1995/Un
Certain Regard) and Concert in the Street of Happiness by Asma El Bakri (France/Egypt).
Thierry Lenouvel
Producer
Contacts
Ciné-Sud Promotion
130, rue de Turenne,
T. +33 1 44545477
Mobile: +33 611 847830
thierrycinesud@noos.fr
Selected filmography
Falafel, 2006
Border Post, 2006
Summer Wedding, 2004
Moolade, 2004
Wall (doc.), 2004
LEBANON / FRANCE
29

MAROCCO
In Brackets
Credits
Produced by: Clipper Films
Director: Hicham Falah, Mohamed Chrif Tribak
Scriptwriters: Hicham Falah,
Mohamed Chrif Tribak & Aziz Kanjaa
Budget: 1.000.000
Secured Financing: 40%
Hicham Falah
Director/Producer
Contacts
1 rue Suger,
93200, Saint-Denis, France
Mobile France : (33) 6.81.89.62.31
Mobile Morocco : (212) 60.314.421
hicham.falah@libertysurf.fr
Synopsis
Beginning of the 1990’s. In one university in northern Morocco, a handful of Marxist-leaning students
and union activists resist the rising Islamism on the hearts and minds of their peers. At the time of
facing such determined and violent opponents, is it still possible to fall in love? Is it possible to
reconcile fidelity in its ideals and the mosses of its heart? In brackets follows the political and
emotional awakening of the last generation of politicized students in Morocco. The “roman
d’apprentissage” of young men and young ladies who were sacrificed on the altar of a political
alternation negotiated by the generation senior on their own. An episode of our history still
underestimated, which allows a better understanding of the present state of our society.
Director’s Statement
Our ambition is not to trace a history of “National Moroccan Students’ Union” (UNEM), but to make
a film at the present about an era that is no more.
How to respect the historical truth of the events, which have inspired us without falling in to the
trap of reconstitution? We have to appropriate today the space in which real facts took place and
train young professional and not-professional actors until our film becomes theirs. In this way, we
hope to “revive the flame”.
Filmography
Balcon Atlantico (co-director), 2003
L’Attention, 1997
30

Clipper Films
Company/Producers’ Profile
Hicham Falah is 36 years old; graduate of Louis Lumière Cinematography School in Paris, he directed
a first short film L’Attention (1997, 35 mm, 37’) then in co-direction with Mohamed Chrif Tribak, Balcon
Atlantico (2003, 35 mm, 20’). He’s working as cameraman & documentaries’ filmaker for several
french TV channels (more than thirty documentaries from 7’ to 52’).
MAROCCO
Mohamed Chrif Tribak is 35 years old; active member of the Moroccan federation of ciné-clubs, he
followed the FEMIS training course in film direction (Paris).
Since, he directed Balcon Atlantico with Hicham Falah and four other shorts: Nassima, Mawal, ET and
Thirty years. He is working as director of TV-dramas for the Moroccan channel 2M.
Armed with our respective experiments as director and “producer-in-fact”, we decided to create this
year our company, Clipper Films, dedicated first to the production of In Brackets, as well as our
collective and personal projects in Morocco (feature & shorts films, TV and cinema documentaries).
Mohamed Chrif Tribak
Director/Producer
Contacts
6, rue Abderahmane-Sahraoui,
Larache, Morocco
Mobile : +212 65608334
chriftribak@yahoo.fr
Selected filmography
Thirty Years (short), 2006
Bab El M’Dina, 2005
Tisser le temps, 2004
Balcon Atlantico (co-director), 2003
Nassima (short), 1998
31

PALESTINE / JORDAN
Yahya Al-abdallah
Director
Contacts:
1 bis rue Robert Planquette
75018, Paris, France
T. +33 633767397
fair_jo@yahoo.com
Selected filmography
The Arabic Citizen (short), 2005
Through the Eyes of Children (short), 2004
Six Minutes (short), 2004
La Gentile Grand-Mere (short), 2004
Family-sized (short), 2003
Cut
Credits
Produced by: The Arab Film Festival Foundation
Director: Yahya Al-abdallah
Scriptwriter: Yahya Al-abdallah
Co-Producers: The Royal film commission
Budget: 1.789.284 Euros
Synopsis
In a small Palestinian village, everyone lives and carries the weight of a different reality. Each person hopes
to find his path and his reason for being. This is the story—the stories— of every day citizens and their desires,
struggles, and conflicts. “Everyone in the world has a secret that mustn’t be shared, for a secret is lost forever
once it has been told.” This is the advice given to Salam by his grandfather. “Is there any reason to continue
to study under the dark shadow of the Palestinian occupation, which suffocates all hope of a better life?”
asks Omar to himself. What are the dreams and the hopes of Khaled, a mentally handicapped young man?
Ahmad, a little boy, lives alone with his mother as his father has passed away. Which is the true story about
who his father was? Isaac, 35, does not know how to live without guilt. His young son Cohen is dying in a
hospital bed in front of him. Five different stories, five different dreams, five different hopes, all united
by one shared and undeniable destiny.
Director’s Statement
Desires, dreams, objectives, hopes and aspirations are different for each and every one of us depending
on the environment we are surrounded in. Every human being grows up with dreams and aspirations,
and his sense of self worth is based upon their attainment. However, what becomes of the small dreams
of small men? No matter the simplicity of an aspiration, for those who desire it, it is primordial and vital.
For some, these dreams may bring a smile and the idea that another human being desires growth and
grandeur. However there are others in the world who unfortunately try to hold others back from achieving
their dreams. Some obstacles are impossible to surpass despite the energy we may put into them. This
film hopes to reveal some of these small dreams, and these small aspirations felt by small men. The
decisions of the large players of this world are made with their eyes closed. There is no regard for the
consequences of these small men otherwise known as—the public.
32

The Arab Film Festival Foundation
Company Profile
The Arab Film Festival Foundation is a non-profit cultural and film organization established in
Rotterdam (the Netherlands) in 2001. It has been the organizer of the yearly Arab Film Festival in
Rotterdam since 2001. It also organizes the yearly Caravan of Euro-Arab Cinema in several Dutch cities
(Amsterdam, The Hague, Utrecht, Groningen, Nijmegen…). The Arab Film Festival Foundation has
very important goals like the support of the European young filmmakers from Arab origin and it has
produced a lot of films during the last 3 years.
Khaled Chouket
Producer
Contacts:
The Arab Film Festival in Rotterdam
OBC, Unit 95, Heiman Dullaertplein 3
3024 CA Rotterdam, The Netherlands
T. +31 102444815
Mobile: +31 622800825 ,
chouk009@planet.nl
www.arabfilmfestival.nl
Selected filmography
5 years Arab Film Festival Rotterdam
(short documentary), 2006
Mosaic (short documentary), 2006
Ahlam, 2005
Going without Back (doc.), 2005
Brussel Mosques (doc.), 2005.
PALESTINE / JORDAN
33

SERBIA
The Ambulance
Credits
Produced by: Nama Film
Director: Goran Radovanovic
Scriptwriter: Goran Radovanovic
Co-Producers: Film Center of Serbia, Cine Box
(Serbia), Inkas Film (Athens)
Budget: 880.000,00 Euros
Secured Financing: 70%
Goran Radovanovic
Director
Contacts
Nama Film, 39A, Aleksinackih rudara,
11070, Belgrade, Serbia
T. +381 11 2603762
Mobile: +381 63 20 64 40
princip@eunet.yu
www.goranradovanovic.com
Selected filmography
Chicken Elections, doc., 2005
Casting, 2003
My country–for internal use only, doc., 2000
Model House, doc., 2000
OTPOR: The Fight To Save Serbia, doc., 2001
Synopsis
The Ambulance is a contemporary historical film reflecting the drama of the profound social changes
that the Serbian society underwent at the turn of this century. The story spanning from the collapse of
the last European totalitarian regime in 2000 to the current queuing of this fragile Balkan democracy in
the lobby of the European Union seven years later, is delivered through an account of the development
of the local ambulance service. Adhering to the spirit of poetic realism, this evolution is illustrated by
three stories set in three different periods linked by mutually connected and conditioned characters.
And there is also a dream in it...
Director’s Statement
I would like to make a modern historical film reflecting the drama of profound social changes in Serbian
society at the beginning of the century. I also wish to make a film that will mirror the spirit inherent to
the downfall of totalitarianism and to the stuttering years of Serbian democracy. Occasional but coherent
usage of archive material will grant the film the indispensable “factographic authenticity”, the “historical
layer” and the “epic frame”, namely – in the formal sense – in a modern and fresh approach: the archive
material will be treated as the backdrop and as a rear projection, in the literal sense of film language. I am
determined to make an uncompromisingly brave and modernly communicative film. My intention is to
make a profoundly human film pursuing universal values; a film whose characters will be equally loved
and understood by the audience, through a discreetly implemented idea of forgiving and repentance. The
Ambulance as a metaphor of the awareness that social erosion can only be stopped through mutual
understanding. The Ambulance as a metaphor of love surfacing from inside ordinary people in a big city
in a small country which, finally, should also be loved. For starters, let us pay some attention to those that
live around us...
34

Nama Film
Company Profile
Nama Film was founded by Goran Radovanovic with intention to produce his own films. In 2003
Nama Film co-produced Casting (Tiger TV, Germany) and in 2005 the documentary Chicken Election.
Nama Film gathers some of the most prominent Serbian independent film artists like Radoslav Vladic
– Cinematographer, Vladislav Lasic – Production Designer, Nemanja Mosurovic – Composer, Stevan
Maric – Editor.
SERBIA
Goran Radovanovic was Born in Belgrade in 1957. Graduated art history from Belgrade’s Faculty of
Philosophy in 1982. Between 1977 and 1980 he sojourned in Munich on a scholarship awarded by
the Goethe Institute. After his return to Belgrade, he worked as a film critic. Since 1984 he has
worked as writer and director of both feature and documentary films. Since 1994 he focuses on
documentary films and cooperation with independent media. He has directed 8 documentaries
that won over 30 International film awards. Goran Radovanovic’s films have been shown in the
official programmes of Yugoslav and numerous international film festivals. In order to produce his
own films Goran Radovanovic founded independent production company Nama Film.
Jesenka Jasniger Radovanovic
Born in Novi-Sad, Serbia. She is a painter, who graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts at the
University of Novi Sad. Worked in theater and film as production designer. Co-founder of Nama Film
with her husbund, director Goran Radovanovic.
Jesenka Jasniger Radovanovic
Producer
Contacts
Nama Film, 39A, Aleksinackih rudara,
11070, Belgrade, Serbia
T. +381 11 2603762
Mobile: +381 63 20 64 40
princip@eunet.yu
www.goranradovanovic.com
Selected filmography
Sleepwalking Land, 2005
Loving Maria 2006
Kiss Me, 2004
Hollow City, 2003
35

SPAIN
The Runner’s Salary
Credits
Produced by: Dream, Jordi Mendieta,
Ramon Vidal
Director: Jo Sol
Scriptwriter: Jo Sol
Budget: 1400000 Euros
Co-producers: Fausto Producciones-RIF Films
Secured Financing: 29%
Jo Sol
Director
Contacts:
c/ Ferrer de Blanes, 10,
2 0 1 0 , Barcelona, Spain
T. +34 678 225 482
josol69@hotmail.com
Filmography
The Taxi Thief, 2006
Tatawo, 2002
Synopsis
Lacha (11) belongs to a kids’ street gang that steals tourists in the historic centre of Barcelona. Khalid (11),
recently escaped from Morocco, has just arrived to Barcelona and saunters the streets looking for his cousin
Ali, hoping to find him and start a new life in Europe. Julia is an old lady who lives pestered by José Maria Suarez,
a real state agent interested in her centric apartment. Montse, a social worker, thinks about a plan to protect
the old lady while offering the opportunity of social integration to a Moroccan adolescent. The young man
is Ali, Khalid’s cousin. Destiny brings together Khalid and Lacha. A strong complicity, full of contrasts, starts
flourishing between them. Few blocks away, Ali’s life is not what he dreamt about, but José Maria Suarez will
make him understand that life is full of opportunities. If something happened to the stubborn Julia, his real
state agency would be very generous...
Director’s Statement
The play Blacks (Mataro, Spain, 1985), was produced and represented by a company mostly composed by
Subsaharans immigrants. It’s funny to closely observe this collective, which presents the highest level of
integration in the local community today. That made me think a lot about the “cultural factor”, so many times
discussed by anthropologists and social workers: often accused to be the biggest conflict between immigrants
and the receiving society, seemed to be what enabled them to obtain the empathy, confidence and finally
integration in our societies too. The Runner’s Salary, aims to transmit the feelings of those who live this
reality. We intend to do social quality cinema through this argument: loving but tough, relentless but
encouraging, a story full of contrasts as our beautiful city, Barcelona, and not as a documentary but as 100%
fiction. It describes a reality that has been stated by a conscientious field study, in the streets, in the squares,
and by interviews and meetings with social workers that confront this reality every day. I’ve taken references,
among others, from Walter Sales’ social cinema; recent productions as Turtles can Fly by Bahman Ghobadi
or The Rose’s Seller by Victor Gabiria.
36

Dream
Company Profile
Dream starts as a join venture between producers Jordi Mendieta (Dream Team) and Pancho Casal
(Continental Producciones), professionals with a long and renowned filmography in the fields of
cinema, TV and advertising in Spain. We define ourselves as a Catalan independent production
company that aims to promote local talent and industry as well as international partnerships. Our
goal is to contribute to the actual audiovisual scene with projects that bring together quality, social
compromise and commercial ambition. For that we count on a small but solid structure, supported
by two groups that guarantee, from the production point of view our uncompromising quality.
SPAIN
Arantxa Zunzunegui
Until recently she has worked as responsible of international co-productions for Continental
Producciones. She has an International Business Degree (Loyola Marymount University, L.A., USA) an
MBA from ESADE Business School (Barcelona, Spain) and a Master’s in Film production (La Coruna,
Spain). She has worked as a producer’s assistant for De Profundis by Miguel Anxo Prado, Concursante,
by Rodrigo Cortés, Dias Azules by Miguel Santesmases, Los Aires Dificiles, by Gerardo Herrero,
Something to remember me by, by Patricia Ferreira and Heroina by Gerardo Herrero, Un Rey en la
Habana by Alexis Valdes. She is the Associate Producer of the following projects in development:
The Far Country of the Pools, by Kike Maillo, Sex of Angels, by Xavier Villaverde and The King’s
Children by Manolo Gutierrez Aragon.
Arantxa Zunzunegui
Producer
Contacts
Dream
c/ Diputacio, 37-39, lc 6B,
Barcelona, Spain
T. +34 653657812
aranxta@continental-producciones.es
www.continental-producciones.es
www.dreamteambcn.com
37

TURKEY
Milk
Credits
Produced by: Kaplan Film Production
Director: Semih Kaplanoglu
Scriptwriter: Semih Kaplanoglu
Co-Producers: Heimatfilm GmbH + Co. KG,
Johannes Rexin
Budget: 890.000 Euros
Secured Financing: 72%
Semih Kaplanoglu
Director
Contacts
Kaplan Film Production
47/7 Tesvikiye Ihlamur Yolu,
Hatay Apt. Tesvikiye,
34365, Istanbul, Turkey
T +90 212 2912995
Mobile: +90 532 571 7932
kaplanfilm@ekolay.net
Filmography
Angel’s Fall, 2004
Away From Home, 2000
Elevator, 1993
Synopsis
Young Yusuf (18-20) is disconcerted when he learns that his mother Fatma (38-40) is having a secret
affair with the town’s railroad stationmaster. Should he behave in accordance with the traditional maledominated
culture and traditions of the town or should he develop a new perspective that accords with
the new modernization process that is ongoing in the area? His mother’s relationship, which he has
tried to ignore up to now, and the pain at being considered unfit for military duty, force Yusuf, a young
man who comes from a male-dominated culture, to make some serious decisions. Will young Yusuf be
able to find a way to cope with all the changes occurring in his life?
Director’s Statement
In Turkey’s rural areas, a new way of life has awakened in towns and villages that used to rely solely on
agricultural pursuits, due to the factories and the dams being built in the areas, and the mines being opened.
These new ways of living have not only changed the area economically, but have also forced a change to
traditional mores. I implanted these changes in the heart of our young poet Yusuf and his mother, a woman
who yearns for a new way of life. As each character assumes his or her own place in the events that are
being lived out, the conflicts that Yusuf faces in the turmoil wrought by the clash of the traditional and the
new are also being experienced by countless young people in Turkey. In Anatolian culture the mother figure
symbolizes such concepts as earth and nation and carries a sacred value. The heart of the notion of “mother”
is based on family honour, morality, customs and traditions and the mother is the representation of purity
and chastity. The concept of a mother’s “woman-ness” is almost never touched upon. Being weaned from
the breast is one of the prices he must pay for a modern life. Naturally enough, this societal change and
new life leads the mother to discover her woman-ness. With her son’s maturity, this new woman can
redirect her interests from her son into other directions.When this happens, can the son manage to stand
on his own two feet?
38

Kaplan Film Production
Company Profile
Kaplan Film Production was founded by director and writer Semih Kaplanoglu in 2002. Kaplan Film
Production finished the production of the film Angel’s Fall in 2004 with Greek Inkas Film Production.
The film was supported by Eurimages, Hubert Bals Fund, Greek Film Center and The Turkish Ministry
of Culture. After having its World Premiere at the 55th Berlinale, the film has been invited to many
prestigious festivals such as, Edinburgh, Moscow, Pusan, Vienna, Warsaw, Thessaloniki and Nantes
3 Continents Film Festival. The film has been commercially released in Turkey, Greece, Germany,
Austria and Spain. Angel’s Fall received the following awards: Best Film Award Mongolfiere d’Or, 3
Continents Film Festival (Nantes, France) in 2005, Best Film Alternativa Best Feature Film Award,
Barcelona Independent Film Festival in 2005, Preis der Nachwuchsjury, Best Actress Award 11 Film
Festival Turkei/ Deutschland in 2006, Fipresci Award, Jury Special Mention for Best Cinematography,
24th International Istanbul Film Festival in 2005, Special Jury Mention, Best Upcoming Actress (Tülin
Özen), 16th International Ankara Film Festival in 2005, 41st Antalya Film Festival, 2nd Film, Best
Actress (Tülin Özen), Best Cinematography, Best Sound Design, Best Art Direction, Best Laboratory
in 2004. Kaplan Film Production has started the production of the Yusuf Trilogy in which the films
are called Honey-Milk-Egg. Egg was selected to Cinemart Co-production Market and Paris Project
where meetings were held with international professionals. Egg will be a Turkish- Greek co-production.
The shooting of Egg will start in October 2006. Milk the second part of the trilogy, received production
support from World Cinema Fund of Berlinale. It is planned to be shot in March 2007.
Asli Filiz
Asli Filiz was born in 1982 in Izmir. She is graduated from Bogaziçi University the department of
Political Science and International Relations. She worked in Bir Film which is a leading independent
distribution company in Turkey and distributes European film mainly. In 2006 she participated in
the workshop “Generation Big Screen” during Venice Film Festival, which is supported by Euromed
Audiovisual. She works as an international sales representative in Kaplan Film. She worked as translator
for Semih Kaplanoglu’s previous film Angel’s Fall. She continues to work for the film Egg, which is
the first film of Yusuf Trilogy.
Asli Filiz
Producer
Contacts
Tesvikiye Ihlamur Yolu,
47/7 Hatay Apt. Tesvikiye,
34365, Istanbul, Turkey
T. +90 212 2912995
Mobile: +90 533 431 6107
asli@kaplanfilm.com
TURKEY
39

TURKEY
Pandora’s Box
Credits
Produced by: Ustaoglu Productions
Director: Yesim Ustaoglu
Scriptwriter: Yesim Ustaoglu
Co-Producers: Silkroad Production,
Les Petites Lumières
Budget: 835.547 Euros
Secured Financing: 44%
Yesim Ustaoglu
Director
Contacts:
Ustaoglu Film Yapim
Merkez mah. Bulut sit. A-Blok No 3,
Gungoren, Istanbul, Turkey
T. +90 2122519077
ustaogluyesim@yahoo.com
Selected filmography
Waiting for the Clouds, 2004
Journey to the Sun, 1999
The Trace, 1994
Life on Their Shoulders (doc.), 2004
Hotel (short), 1984
Synopsis
Nesrin (46), Güzin (43) and Mehmet (38) are siblings, born and grown up in a mountain village in the
eastern Black Sea region, who have founded their lives in Istanbul. Nesrin and her husband Faruk, both
engineers, live in an ultra modern housing complex with their son Murat (20). Ostensibly, they haven’t
any problem, material or otherwise. When Murat leaves home, they look for external reasons for this
“blow”, instead of looking into themselves as a couple and as parents. Güzin is a successful journalist, an
ex-leftist, working as an editor-in-chief for a major newspaper. She is self-involved and lonely and her private
life is like a desert. Mehmet leads a bohemian life. He is an artist with no passion and does not belong to
anything or any system. The key figure playing the role of a catalyst is the three siblings’ mother Nusret,
who has lived in the village all her life. One day, the siblings receive news of their mother’s disappearance
and go to their natal village together. Finding Nusret, they bring her to Istanbul. Nusret is suffering form
Alzheimer. The responsibility of looking after their mother affects the three siblings in different ways, forcing
all of them to face their existential problems.
Director’s Statement
Pandora’s Box is a story of alienation and isolation. It is a story of individuals whose lives have been shaped
by a sterile middle-class morality. It is a story that many people, in developing and/or developed countries
touched by the inevitable combination of capitalism and modernity, can identify with. It is a kind of
human landscape, both universal and singular at the same time... Lost idealism that is insidiously replaced
by conformism; elitist intellectuals whose living space has been narrowed because of their concessions
to the status quo and to the slick politics that are strangers to reality; contemptuous attitude towards
“other people”, prejudices, hypocrisy; depressions, escapism, nihilism; class differences and class conflicts;
false relationships; lack of communication; sense of guilt; fear and loneliness... In short, everything
pertaining to modern individuals is hidden in this Pandora’s Box.
40

Ustaoglu Film Production
Company Profile
Ustaoglu Film Production is established in 2003.
As co-production: Waiting For The Clouds, 2004, directed by Yesim Ustaoglu
France, Germany, Turkey, Greece – Life on Their Shoulder, 2004, directed by Yesim Ustaoglu France,
Turkey – Pandora’s Box, 2005-2007, written, directed by Yesim Ustaoglu, Turkey, Germany (in
development) – Autumn’s Lament 2005-2008, written, directed by Ozcan Alper, (in development).
TURKEY
Yesim Ustaoglu
Yesim Ustaoglu received international recognition for her 1999 film, Journey to the Sun. In competition
at the Berlin Film Festival, Journey to the Sun received the Blue Angel Award (Best European Film)
and the Peace Prize. The moving story of a courageous friendship undaunted by political cruelty,
Journey to the Sun swept the Istanbul Festival by winning Best Film, Best Director, the FIPRESCI
Prize and the Audience Award. After making several award-winning shorts, Ustaoglu made her
feature film debut with 1994’s The Trace (Iz). The film was presented at numerous international
venues, including Moscow and Gotenburg. With her new project Waiting for the Clouds, She was
awarded NHK Sundance-International Filmmaker’s award, 2003. And the DAAD scholarship (The
foundation of the German Academic Exchange Service), Artists in Berlin program, to write Waiting
for the Clouds, the story of a woman forced to live for 50 years with the haunting secrets of a
hidden identity.
Yesim Ustaoglu
Producer
Contacts
Ustaoglu Film Yapim
Merkez mah. Bulut sit. A-Blok No 3,
Gungoren, Istanbul, Turkey
T. +90 2122519077
ustaogluyesim@yahoo.com
Selected filmography
Waiting for the Clouds, 2004
Life on Their Shoulders (doc.), 2004
Journey to the Sun, 1999
The Trace, 1994
Hotel (short), 1984
41

This publication was compiled on the occasion of the 2nd Crossroads Co-production Forum organized by the
47th Thessaloniki International Film Festival (23-25 November 2006)
Festival President: Georges Corraface
Festival Director: Despina Mouzaki
Crossroads Artistic Director: Marie-Pierre Macia
Coordinators: Katerina Kaklamani, Fenia Cossovitsa
Assistant Coordinator: Elpida Kallinteri
Matchmaker: Lucas Rosant
Copy editing: Elpida Kallinteri, Katerina Kaklamani
Translations: Elpida Kallinteri, Katerina Kaklamani, Avra Georgiou
Acknowledgements CROSSROADS
Sofia: Stefan Kitanov & Mira Staleva (Sofia International Film Festival), Irina Kanousheva (Bulgarian Film Centre)
Barcelona: Angela Bosch & David Matamoros (Catalan Films & TV)
Tel Aviv: Katriel Schory (Israel Film Fund)
Madrid: Jesus Hernandez Moyano (Media Desk Spain)
Paris: Juliette Lepoutre
Rome: Giorgio Gosetti, Teresa Cavina, Festa Internazionale di Roma
Festival publications co-ordinator: Athena Kartalou
Cover design: Andreas Remountis
Design - Production: Z-AXIS
Logo credit: Designers United
Thessaloniki International Film Festival Publications
10 Aristotelous Square, 54623 Thessaloniki, Greece, T. +30 2310-378400, F. +30 2310-285759
9 Alexandras Ave, 11473 Athens, Greece, Δ. +30 210-8706000, F. +30 210-6448163
www.filmfestival.gr
info@filmfestival.gr
HELLENIC MINISTRY OF CULTURE
Copyright © 2006, Thessaloniki International Film Festival
WITH THE SUPPORT OF
THE MEDIA PROGRAM OF THE E.U.