Screen Talent Europe, Mediefabrikken and the Norwegian Short Film Festival invite emerging producers, directors and screenwriters from Northern Europe to pitch new short film projects. The event takes place Thursday June 15th at Grimstad Scandic Hotel. The first session starts at 10.00 am.
14 short films will be pitched during the forum. In a 5-minute pitch, each participant will present their project to a pitching jury and an audience of potential co-producers, co-financiers and filmmakers attending the festival. The best pitch will receive a production grant of 5000 €.
Aidan Gibson – Ireland – Galway Film Centre
Duncan run of bad luck seemed to follow him throughout his childhood until the day he discovered the power of his lucky underwear.
When he wore them everything seemed to finally work out and life was good.
Twenty years later Duncan still wears them but he has to ration his lucky days as he runs out of time and fabric.
Aidan is a filmmaker from Ireland who’s always looking for means to bring a script to production. When he is writing he is typically trying to take an unusual idea and ground it in drama; a good hook doesn’t last without depth and drama without a strong concept has to be work hard to maintain it’s audience. Aidan has written and directed nine short films previously and is currently working on his first feature.
Andrias Høggeni – Denmark – Copenhagen Film Workshop
The small chicken Henrietta is interned at a poultry-farm. Days away from being slaughtered, she suddenly get an idea, out of nowhere: She’s figured out how to cure cancer! And even though she is a voiceless chicken, she still desperately tries to communicate her idea out to an uncaring world.
Andrias grew up on the Faroe Islands, and got his start making short films working for the local faroese tv-station. He moved to Denmark in 2009, and is currently studying at the alternative danish film school Super16 in Copenhagen from which he will graduate next year.
Anne Falkesgaard Hansen – Denmark – Copenhagen Film Workshop
A quiet week of studying in the old family cabin far up north, suddenly becomes a quest of paranoia, when Pelle one morning discovers at set of footprints in the snow outside the isolated cabin. Pelle now has to deal with the fact, that he might not be alone.
After 3 years of internship at Zentropa, Anne was accepted at the National Film School of Denmark, starting this august. The past year she has produced 4 short films, one of them just being selected for OFF. Currently she has several projects in development, Footprints being one of them.
Håvard Fandrem – Norway – Mediefabrikken
Two French men in a dying relationship are taking a road trip through Norway. Their encounter with other tourists, their fear of infidelity, and memories from the past, forces them to reconsider how they look at each other. A rough and honest glance at male tenderness told from the perspective of tourists in Norway.
Håvard studied Film at Westerdals Oslo ACT. He won best director for his graduate film, Neverland, at Amandus – Lillehammer International Student Film Festival. Neverland is also screening in the competition program at The Norwegian Short Film Festival.
Jeppe Wowk – Denmark – Odense Film Workshop
VÆRELSET is a humorous dramatization about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The drama is playing out in a nursing home where the two old men Palle (Palestinian) and Isak (Israeli) is fighting for the same room, which they both claim their right to. During the fight between them, they both experience newfound energy and health. A film about how war revitalizes man.
Jeppe is a 26 year old producer-graduate from the film school “18 FRAMES” in 2013. He has produced a number of low-budget shorts. Jeppe founded the production company Nano Film which is now collaborating with META Film in development of ”Værelset”. In addition, Jeppe has worked freelance as a production manager and Assistance Director, but I now solely focusing at producing.
Johan Heinstedt – Sweden – Filmbasen Stockholm
BLISS is a live-action short that touches on the subjects of the attraction to danger, sexual abuse between men, and loneliness. The main character Martin, meets Björn and Øystein. After what happened that night, his world is turned upside down. But he is torn betweeen self-loathing and a strange lust.
Johan is a freelancing actor and producer, working with Pentagram Film in Stockholm. His experience range from high-end commercials to short but provocative YouTube sketches. He has produced two live-action short films, and he is motivated by creating stories that you want to watch again.
Julia Lindström – Norway – Mediefabrikken
Meryem is longing to transfer from adult education to regular Norwegian High School. She only needs to pass the last math test, but hands in a blank test. Meryem tricks her best friends into breaking an entrance at the school, in an attempt to avoid being the only one left behind in adult education.
Julia grew up in Stockholm where she studied screenwriting and documentary filmmaking. In 2016 she graduated from the Norwegian Film School with a bachelor´s degree in directing. Characters are very important to Julia, and her films deal with subjects such as class, freedom and egoism. She is always searching for the “larger than life”-moments.
Kristoffer Sindre Vittersø – Norway – Mediefabrikken
ISLAND OF HOME is a 20-minute psychological thriller about an overprotective mother who must find her mentally ill son when he escapes into the darkness of an unknown island that he’s been having recurring dreams about. Directed by Kenneth Karlstad, the film is both an exploration of psychology and a mystery – just like the island itself.
Kristoffer Sindre Vittersø is a producer based in Oslo. After graduating from The Norwegian Film School in 2016, Kristoffer has worked as a coordinator, production manager and junior producer, as well as having several projects in development. He is currently working as a junior producer in Nordisk Film Production.
Lisa Forslund – Sweden – Filmcloud Gothenburg
GLASBITAR is about feeling ugly. Lollo, the main character has an anxiety disorder called BDD and is obsessed with her appearance. The film search into how close all women are to her obsession in the way we hate our bodies.
Lisa started a film collective called “tjejfilm” in 2013. After that she worked for a year as a director’s assistant for Ninja Thyberg. Lisa has studied film at Fridhems Folkhögskola and she is now studying at Akademin Valand. Most of her projects evolve around the way we perceive the female body.
Nagham Abboud – Ireland – Filmbase Dublin
Mohammad Abdel-Rehman is an Iraqi man in his mid thirties who has been living in Dublin,Ireland.
He immigrated to this country to escape from his country’s terrible social and financial circumstances. He has a wife and a little girl in his homeland and is married to an Irish woman who doesn’t know about his first wife.
An actor, director, and producer, Nagham Abboud has performed in and organized film, theatre, television, and cultural events in Lebanon, Germany, the United Kingdom and Italy.
She worked as a casting and assistant director and production manager in Lebanese and international feature films
Paolo Sandén – Sweden – Film i Skåne
25-year-old Johanna is sure there’s something wrong with her. Something in her character that everyone sees but her, and that keeps her from advancing in life. But when she shows up at her best friends’ apartment and confronts them about it, things get weird.
Paolo has previously made a number of short films that have been screened at festivals in Sweden and abroad. His focus has always been on writing and directing, but he has also done the sound design, editing and the score on theese projects – all in order to evolve as a storyteller.
Sebastian Gerdes – Denmark – Aarhus Film Workshop
HELL IS OTHER PEOPLE is a docu-fiction revolving a small town church, and the people working there. It’s loosely based on real events, but is orchestrated to fit a narrative. My goal is to blur the lines between how people perceive the film. Fiction or documentary.
Sebastian is currently working as a freelance director, producer, editor and screenwriter. He has a bachelor in Multiplatform Storytelling and Production, with focus on web-series. At graduation he received a grant for “Heartfelt Storytelling”. Sebastians main strengths are documentaries and comedy-driven storylines with subtle tounge-in-cheek attitude.
Marja Bål Nango – Norway – Filmveksthuset Tvibit
THE TONGUES is a symbolic film about how Rovvi, a young Sámi woman, experiences the psychological and physical consequences of a dark event and how she takes up the struggle to maintain her reputation.
Marja Bål Nango studied film and TV at Lillehammer University College and Nordland Vocational College of Art and Film, as well as film production at Nordland College of Art and Film, and Sámi University College in Kautokeino. She has previously directed Half of This, Half of That, Before She Came, After He Left and Hilbes biigá.
Brynhildur Thorarinsdottir – Sweden – Film i Skåne
Grace is 13 year old and got a serious chrush on 23 year old Alma. She has decided and she knows what she what. Her feelings are so strong. Yet, she isn´t allowed to feel that way. The film is about her not accepting that. Grace is a classic coming of age love story with an non-traditional twist.
Brynhildur is a director and a producer, based i Sweden with roots in Iceland. Relations, sexuality and intimacy are recurring themes in her films and she uses her art to politicize and raise awareness around these topics with the aim to create a more open and nuanced debate.
Jury
Gabe Van Amburgh
Gabe Van Amburgh has been a Short Film Programmer and Film exhibition manager for the SXSW Film Festival since 2011. He has 20 years of experience in film exhibition and started contributing to the SXSW Short Film program in 2015.
Nele Luise Fritzsche
Nele Luise Fritzsche is a curator and programmer. She is heading the international competition for scripts Script Pitch as well as the script lab both being part of interforum, the international platform for short film, which she has co-founded with interfilm in 2013 at the International Short Film Festival interfilm Berlin. As member of the film selection committee, Nele is programming for interfilm Festival since 2014.
Jakob Rørvik
Jakob Rørvik is a writer-director. He has a background in Media Studies, as well as an MA in Fiction Direction from the National Film & Television School in the UK. He has made ten short films and screened at leading festivals such as Cannes Cinéfondation, South By Southwest and Aspen Shortsfest. He is currently developing two features, a TV series and a new short. This year he also participates in the Nordic Film Lab
Screen Talent Europe
Screen Talent Europe is a network of film workshops and film centers in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Faroe Islands, Germany, Ireland, and France. The purpose of the network is to promote and foster co-operation between the partners and to help lmmakers exchange knowledge, experiences and methods through talent camps, network meetings and co-productions.