V4 Co-Pro Meetings
29.05, 17.00 – 18:30 V4+UA Round Table – POTOCKI PALACE – PP 1 (for participants only)
30.05, 14:30 – 15:30 Panel discussion about the possibility of launching the ‘Visegrad Co-Production Fund’ with participation of the representatives of film institutions and producers organisations from Visegrad countries – ASP 1 – access with passes: Industry, Industry Pro, Industry Light, Media, Student
31.05, 10.00 – 18.00 Individual meetings with decision makers – Krakow Technology Park – KPT (for participants and invited experts only)
The V4 Co-Pro Meetings during the Krakow Film Festival is a co-production event for film professionals from the Visegrad countries. Its idea is to initiate contacts between film producers and filmmakers from the region in order to establish cooperation in a field of film production. Participants of the V4 Co-Pro Meeting will also meet with Ukrainian producers to discuss co-production opportunities.
An important highlight of this year’s event will be a discussion on the possibility of launching ‘V4 Film Fund’, a Visegrad co-production fund, which was a demand of the 2023 Visegrad producers’ meetings. The discussion will be attended by representatives of producer organisations and film institutions from Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary.
The meeting in a round-table formula will be accompanied with the individual consultations with invited experts from TV stations, VOD platforms, production companies or sales agencies.
PARTICIPANTS:
Haruna Honcoop BE WATER MY FRIEND | CZECH REPUBLIC
BE WATER MY FRIEND is a film production company established in 2024 in Prague, Czech Republic. Founded by Czech-Japanese filmmaker Haruna Honcoop and Czech commercial director, cameraman and producer Karel Picha based in Taipei. We bring a unique blend of creativity and international flair to the world of visual storytelling and focus on a production of authors driven documentary films.
Petr Kratochvíl BEDNA FILMS | CZECH REPUBLIC
Bedna Films was founded in 2009 as a full-service production house specialised in TV and Online commercials. Later, the company started to cooperate with the Czech Television and have co-produced numerous documentaries, mostly dealing with historical subjects. Since 2014, the company has been fully focused on development and production of Feature films, TV series and formats. The company is represented by its founders, Jakub Červenka (director, producer) and Petr Kratochvíl (producer).
Ondřej Herskovič HERAFILM | CZECH REPUBLIC
Creative Director in the film production company Herafilm founded in 1993, which has produced more than 1000 documentaries (mostly series). Herafilm specializes in the production of programmes popularizing science and technology for television and other media. It also focuses on mediating and promoting communication between scientists and the general public.
Michaela Kaliská NINJA FILM | SLOVAKIA
Ninja film is an independent film production company based in Bratislava. It was co-founded in 2021 by director Martina Buchelová and producer Michaela Kaliská. Their aim is to give space to young voices and bolder audiovisual approaches. They are currently in post-production with their feature debut called Lover, Not a Fighter.
Tomáš Gič SILVERART | SLOVAKIA
Silverart is a production company focused on feature co-production films and TV series, striving for eco-friendly sustainable and gender-balanced productions on- screen and off-screen. Focusing on international co-productions, the company’s films were theatrically released in Austria, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary or France, acquired by RTVS, NPO, Netflix, dafilms and screened at film festivals worldwide.
Monika Lošťáková SUPER FILM | SLOVAKIA
Super Film started as a small company with focus on animation production, over time it began to grow into a strong independent company. The company is focused on animated and documentary films and TV projects, currently expanding its portfolio with interesting co-production projects including feature films (Ordinary Failures premiered at Giornate Degli Autori).
Viktoria Denes ÉCLIPSE FILM | HUNGARY
Éclipse Film is a Budapest-based independent film production company, founded by Julianna Ugrin. The company concentrates on high-quality productions with relevant, particular and artistic content. It develops and produces mainly documentaries, but also author fiction films on an international level, connecting emerging Hungarian filmmakers with experienced members of the industry. Our films have participated in festivals like Sundance, Locarno, IDFA, HotDocs, DOK Leipzig, Sarajevo IFF, CPH:DOX.
Claudia Kovács KARTON FOUNDATION | HUNGARY
Founded in 2001, kArton Foundation focuses on cultural projects that promote visual culture. It has completed over 100 initiatives, including films like Sajdik about illustrator Ferenc Sajdik and Scena a series showcasing Hungarian art. Say Beef on Hungarian animated ads; Daesh documenting the fight against ISIS in Iraq, Syria, Mali, and globally; Purgatory about Hungarians in third-world prisons; and Kim about a young painter’s tragic story. The foundation continues to address significant societal issues.
Maciej Ostatek RABAN | POLAND
RABAN is an independent audiovisual production group consisting of the Raban Foundation and the Raban Film Studio. We specialize in the production of films and series, collaborating with companies such as Canal+, Netflix, Viaplay and Polish Television. Film is our way of telling extraordinary stories that we believe in and want to share with the audience. We take on topics that move us, and we approach each production individually, with care and passion.
Marta Dużbabel ATM | POLAND
ATM Grupa s the largest independent production studio in Poland. We have been operating since 1992 and are the only company in the industry with the status of a public company listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. The Group’s infrastructure companies are ATM System and ATM Studio. ATM System and ATM Studio offer comprehensive technological facilities, including HD production vehicles, film and sound equipment, film and stage lighting and post‐production systems.
Monika Błachnio KALEJDOSKOP FILM STUDIO | POLAND
Kalejdoskop Film Studio is Warsaw based film production company founded in 1988. Its portfolio has over 200 documentaries including OSCAR® nominated 89 mm from Europe by Marcel Łoziński. Studio has produced various kinds of documentaries and feature films, as well as TV series, animated films, educational, historical and nature ones.
Aliona Kachkan TABOR | UKRAINE
Tabor is an independent production company that creates feature films & documentaries premiered at A‐class film festivals among which The Butterfly’s Vision by Maksym Nakonechny premiered at Cannes 2022; This Rain Will Never Stop by Alina Gorlova won awards at IDFA, Festival dei Popoli, Go East, One World, Ice Docs IFF, Las Palmas IFF, Beldocs IFF; School #3 by Liza Smith & Georg Zeno presented at Berlinale 67’s Generation 14+ section & awarded Grand Prix.
Olha Symonenko LLC EIDOS.PRODUCTIONS | UKRAINE
LLC eidos.productions based in Kyiv is an Ukrainian independent documentary production company. For more than 10 years, we have been recording oral history memories and testimonies in the form of short documentary essays. We have been collaborating with Ukrainian filmmakers who explore the history, memory, conflicts, and their consequences in their films. Since 2023, we have been expanding our activities and diving into the production of creative documentaries.
EXPERTS:
Stephanie Owens Sundance FF / Sundance Institute | USA
The Sundance Film Festival brings together the most original storytellers and the most adventurous audiences for its annual program of dramatic, documentary, and short films; New Frontier films, performances, exhibitions, and virtual reality experiences; episodic storytelling; lively filmmaker conversations and panel discussions; and dynamic music events. Since 1985, hundreds of films launched at the Festival have gone on to gain critical acclaim and reach new audiences worldwide.
Outi Rousu Pystymetsä |Finland
The production boutique Pystymetsä (freely translated ’upright forest which stands firm’) was established in 2001 by the sisters Outi and Sirkka Rousu. Outi has been a professional in the film industry since 1985 and she has produced some 50 films, in all film genres. Sirkka is a specialist in the field of child and family welfare. Pystymetsä makes films in all genres. For us, film genre is not in focus, but the themes and the impact that film can do. We are interested in current themes, which tell stories about us, our fellow humans, and the lives they live. We explore themes related to the lives of children, young people, and families. Pystymetsä is a member of the ECFA – European Children’s Film Association.
Heather Haynes Hot Doc | Canada
Hot Docs is dedicated to advancing and celebrating the art of documentary and creating production opportunities for documentary filmmakers. Each year, Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival—North America’s largest doc festival, conference and market—presents over 200 cutting edge films from around the world. Year round, Hot Docs supports the Canadian and international industry with professional development programs and a multi-million-dollar production fund portfolio, and fosters education through documentaries with its popular free program Docs For Schools
Michael Kaschner ZDF Digital Medienproduktion GmbH | Germany
ZDF is part of the public broadcasting system in Germany and has an enviable reputation as one of the most important providers of factual programming in Europe. In the highly competitive German TV market, ZDF runs numerous regular documentary strands including weekly broadcasts of documentaries in two prominent prime‑time slots, with high market shares of 12-15%. Topics such as expeditions to unknown worlds, legends and mysteries in the history of mankind, spectacles of nature, archeology, the evolution of man and the turning points of 20th‑century history have been shown to attract large audiences.
Robert Y. Chang P.O.V. | USA
Produced by American Documentary, POV is the longest-running independent documentary showcase on American television. Since 1988, POV has presented films on PBS that capture the full spectrum of the human experience, with a long commitment to centering women and people of color in front of, and behind, the camera. In 2018, POV Shorts launched as one of the first PBS series dedicated to bold and timely short-form documentaries. All POV programs are broadcast nationally on PBS, POV.org and the PBS Video app. POV films and projects have won 46 Emmy Awards, 27 George Foster Peabody Awards, 15 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards, three Academy Awards and the first-ever George Polk Documentary Film Award.
Christian Popp TAG FILM | France
Tag Film is a French production company run by Enrica Capra, Isabelle Truc and Christian Popp producing highly ambitious creative documentaries and fiction for all screens. With ties in Belgium (Isabelle also runs Iota Productions in Brussels) and Italy (Enrica also runs Graffiti Film in Torino) Tag Film is set up for and passionate about international co-production beyond all borders and cultures.
PANELISTS:
Tomáš Hudák | Slovakia / Festival Relations at National Cinematographic Centre / Slovak Film Institute
The Slovak Film Institute (SFI) is the only state institution in Slovakia in the area of cinematography dealing with film and cinematography in a comprehensive manner. It collates, conserves, protects films and other audiovisual works and documentation materials and makes them available to the public. The National Cinematographic Centre of the SFI is responsible for collating and providing complex information and services related to Slovak cinematography, presenting Slovak films both in Slovakia and abroad, supporting foreign film events in Slovakia and for the publication of general and professional filmological publications within the SFI‘s publishing activities.
Małgorzata Prociak | Poland / KIPA the Polish Producers Alliance
The Polish Producers Alliance (KIPA) is one of the largest independent business organizations, boasting over 170 member entities. Among these entities are production companies specializing in film, television, and advertising, as well as film schools and regional film funds (RFF). Since its inception in 2000, KIPA has played a crucial role in the development of the Polish audiovisual industry. The primary goal of KIPA is to represent the economic interests of its members, particularly before the government and key players in the audiovisual market. The chamber facilitates the integration of producers, serving as a platform for the exchange of experiences and collaboration.
Veronika Dvořáčková | Czech Republic / Institute of Documentary Film
The Institute of Documentary Film (IDF) has been supporting creative documentary films from Central and Eastern Europe since 2001. The IDF provides both emerging and experienced filmmakers with training, financing, networking and pitching opportunities, helps them get international attention and co-productions, rewards the exceptional projects with awards and further opportunities and improves their orientation on the international market. The promotional and practical service of the IDF includes a wide range of online and offline catalogues being created annually, updating a thorough database of CEE documentaries and professionals and a calendar of important deadlines for producers, and bringing news from the world of documentary film in general via dokweb.net and social media.
Marta Materska-Samek | Poland / Jagiellonian University / Department of Management and Media Economics and Advertising
The Department of Management and Media Economics within the Jagiellonian University Institute of Culture was established in 2008. It currently functions as the Chair of Management, Media Economics and Advertising. The Chair’s scientific activity focuses on the study of processes determining media management, including, without limitation: information as the basic good of the 21st century, advertising in its various aspects (cultural, social, communication, economic, etc.), media economics, media systems, legal bases of media organisations, IT systems supporting management, etc.
Katarzyna Ślesicka – Poland / Władysław Ślesicki Film Foundation (project’s partner) – moderator
Co-director of Doc Lab Poland, producer and CEO of My Way Studio, a boutique production company based in Warsaw, Co-director of Andrzej Wajda Film Cener in Warsaw. She has produced more than 40 films. Her credits include creative documentary films such as: “K2. Touching the Sky” by Eliza Kubarska, which premiered in Locarno FF in 2015 and “End of the World” by Monika Pawluczuk, the winner of Hot Springs FF in 2015. She’s running DOC LAB POLAND, a training programme for documentary film professionals in Poland and CEDOC: Central European Co-production Market at the Krakow Film Festival. In years 2005-2015, Katarzyna worked as executive director at Wajda School & Studio. Alumna of EAVE, Ex Oriente Film, Berlinale Talents.
V4 Co-Pro Meetings is supported by the Visegrad Fund
Institute of Documentary Film in Prague (Czechia)
Association of Slovak Film Clubs (Slovakia)
All -Dox Ltd / Budapest Documentary Film Festival (Hungary)
Wladyslaw Slesicki Film Foundation (Poland)