Ready for takeoff: European Work in Progress Cologne 2021
On-site and online – Today, more than 200 high-profile representatives from world sales, distribution, festivals, production and funding will meet for the European Work in Progress Cologne (EWIP) 2021 (October 19-21), which takes place within the 31st Film Festival Cologne. 140 submissions with participation from 61 countries were submitted to the selection committee this year, 24 projects made it into the selection.
Programmers from the leading festivals Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Locarno and Rotterdam, major world distributors such as BAC Films, The Match Factory, Film Republic, Wild Bunch, Charades, Pluto Film and Urban Distribution International as well as established distributors from all over Europe such as Frenetic Films, AS Fidalgo Film Distribution and Gutek Film will be on site when the 24 selected projects from 22 production countries are presented. The impressive thematic diversity as well as the welcoming increase in high-profile guests shows that EWIP has rapidly established itself as an industry platform thanks to the constant support of the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW.
Opening the international industry event, Petra Müller, Managing Director of the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, welcomes this year’s jury.
Petra Müller, Managing Director Film- und Medienstiftung NRW: "To establish such an effective and high-calibre market platform together within such a short time is really a great thing. We thank everyone who has made EWIP what it is today with so much energy and love. Thanks also to the current jury and this year’s participants for their commitment. We are happy to have helped initiate this project and look forward to the coming days of exciting projects and intensive exchange.
Torsten Frehse, CEO EWIP and AG Verleih board member: "We are stunned by the response! Never in EWIP’s young history have we had this kind of positive response from the industry. This means we will be able to report record attendance for this year. That’s a huge success. Thank you to all the partners, sponsors and the entire team!"
All participating projects can receive prizes with a total value of 52,500 €. An independent jury of recognized industry representatives will decide on the award winners: longtime Arte editor and director Alexander Bohr (Mainz), Clémence Lavigne, co-head of sales and acquisitions for The Party Film Sales (Paris), Daniel Melamed CEO and film distributor, New Cinema (Tel Aviv), Aranka Matits, founder of the Featurette agency (Amsterdam), as well as Fabian Massah, film producer and CEO of Endorphine Production (Berlin). This year’s award sponsors are K13 Studios, MMC Studios Cologne, LAVAlabs Moving Images, ARRI Media and ZOOM Medienfabrik.
EWIP is mainly supported by the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, one of Europe’s leading film funding institutions. The industry event takes place in cooperation with Film Festival Cologne and AG Verleih, the association of German independent film distributors.
This year’s venue is once again the Cinenova Cinema, the perfect place for pitches, meetings, and panel discussions in Cologne. Also this year, a careful and comprehensive hygiene concept will again ensure the safety of all participants and allow the participation on site. The event is regulated by the current hygiene regulations of the country (3-G rule).