Pustnik has selected 4 fiction feature-length projects at advanced development stage for its first ever alumni residency, running May 7-14 in Câmpulung, Romania.
Ukranian writer-director Zhanna Ozirna returns to Pustnik with
Ground Zero, about a PhD student researching the Soviet industrial past who gets absorbed by an object of her study. With more than a half of its funding
secured by the Ukrainian State Film Agency and two co-production partners, the pre-production and shooting stages of the film are postponed to August 2023 due to the situation in Ukraine.Zhanna is a Berlinale Talents 2020 alumna and member of the Ukrainian Film Academy and Ukrainian Guild of Directors. Her last short,
The Adult, was presented in the special program ‘The State of a New Generation’ within InternationaleKurzfilmtage Winterthur.
Japanese director Kimie Tanaka participates with Paris Syndrome, co-written with Alice Van den Broek. Produced by French Cinenovo, the story deals with the mysterious disappearance of a young Japanese woman’s sister in Paris. After obtaining a re-writing fund from CNC, the project is in further need of development and consultations. Kimie’s debut short film Kotobuki won the Best Short Award in Short Shorts Film Festival, followed by Hide & Seek which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Her latest film Coffee Men is produced by Haut les Mains productions.
Co-written by the French-Serbian duo LéaTriboulet&Iva Brdar, I Will Drink With the Bees deals with the grief of losing a parent. After having received several screenwriting grants (Association Beaumarchais-SACD, Film Center of Serbia, RégionOccitanie / Pyrénées-Méditerranée), the project is now in search of a producer.Léa’s short film The brother (CNC quality prize) was selected at various international film festivals, including I
FFR, Clermont-Ferrand
and Festival du Nouveau Cinéma in Montréal. Iva Brdar is the recipient of Brücke Berlin Prize, Heartefact Prize and Sterija Award and a screenwriter and playwright whose works have been produced in theaters in both Europe and the U.S.
The fourth project is
The Ways We Look at the Sun, written and directed by
Ioana Țurcan from Romania, which tells the story of twin sisters growing apart. The film is being produced by Studioset and Anchor Films, aiming for a delivery date by autumn 2023. Ioana’s documentary
Cealaltă viață a lui Charon (2015) was nominated for Best Short Film at the Romanian Gopo Awards and in 2021 she directed her first fiction short,
Empiric, which depicts a young textile worker during the communist period in Romania.
Residents will work on their screenplays while receiving insight and guidance from internationally acclaimed guest consultants. These include Jean-Laurent Csinidis, creator of French production company Films de Force Majeure;
Bianca Oana, producer of
colectiv by Alexander Nanau (double Oscar nominee in 2021 for Best Documentary and Best International Feature); and
Dana Bunescu, film editor and sound designer, who received the Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution at the 2017 Berlin International Film Festival for Călin Peter Netzer’s film
Ana, mon amour.
Aside from the main residency, an educational workshop will be held for local youth. This is being led by screenwriter, producer and 2016 Pustnik alumna Anca Buja.
Pustnik is organized by T.E.T.A Association. Cultural program co-funded by the Administration of the National Cultural Fund (AFCN), Romanian Filmmakers’ Union (UCIN), Dacin Sara, French Institute Romania. Partners: European Short Pitch, National University of Theatre and Film "I.L. Caragiale" - UNATC Bucharest. Media partners: Film New Europe, Films in Frame, All about Romanian Cinema - aarc.ro
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