The selection of projects to the new international program of the IDFF Flahertiana is complete. Flahertiana Forum is aimed to promote films at the initial stage of production to the international market. The projects were submitted from Poland, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia. 29 projects was selected to participate in this international training and pitching program, and 3 of them came from Perm.

Several participants of this year’s competition programs of Flahertiana will pitch their new projects on Flahertiana Forum: Anna Ganshina, Anna Moiseenko, Vadim Vitovtsev, Andrey Ananin, Natasha Kasianova and Anastasia Kuzyakova. Two Perm filmmakers, Olga Averkieva (Novy Kurs Film Studio) and Irina Zhuravleva (LESFILM studio) will pitch their projects as well. Another Perm project is the film “My Personal Dragon” (dir. Mila Kudryashova) which has been launched this summer in Perm Krai and is devoted to paleontological research in Russia.

Flahertiana Forum is a five-day project held during the IDFF Flahertiana which can open the way for the documentaries made by filmmakers from the countries of the Eastern Partnership (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine) and Russia. The main event of the Flahertiana Forum is the Pitching for the European producers. The experts of the Pitching in 2017 are filmmaker, producer Cay Wesnigk (Germany), festival worker, journalist, translator Ira Kormannshaus (Germany), filmmaker, producer Dorota Rozskowska (Poland), producer, distributor Jörg Langer (Germany), DOK.fest Munich director Daniel Sponsel (Germany), head of the German branch of Taskovski Films Heleen Gerritsen (Germany), filmmaker and producer Frank Müller (Germany), producer and director of the Balkan Documentary Centre Martichka Bozhilova (Bulgaria), author, filmmaker and producer Maria Wischnewski (Germany), author and filmmaker Linda Meier-Matern (Germany), author and producer Kordula Hildebrandt (Germany), producer and distributor Denis Vaslin (France), producer Ilona Bicevska (Latvia), producer and cinematographer Alfred Kahl (Germany).

"The German Association of Documentary films AG DOK got the grant of the Federal Foreign Office of Germany to conduct Flahertiana Forum and the Flahertiana Team is doing it utmost to make the project a success. Through films, we can work against prejudices and built trust. We hope that some such films will come out from our Flahertiana pitching Forum, will get made as co-productions between East and West and then are seen by many people who otherwise would not know about the issues they address. We hope that out of this first time Flahertiana pitching Forum, something steady will develop and it will be repeated and become an address for European producers to meet with producers and filmmakers from the countries of the Eastern Partnership and Russia in many years to come," - says Cay Wesnigk, co-organizer of the AG DOK. Flahertiana Forum is based on an initiative of Flahertiana Festival, German Association of Documentary filmmakers AG DOK, and German Documentaries, and funded by the Federal Foreign Office of Germany. The IDFF Flahertiana plans to make Flahertiana Forum an annual part of the festival.

List of the selected projects:

Looking for Diana Apcar, Armenia, dir. Mariam Ohanyan

Open in 2017, Russia, dir. Alexey Sukhovey

In a Strange Skin, Russia, Yulia Sergeeva

Georg and Alexandra, Russia, dir. Oleg Galitsky

Gunel, Azerbaijan, dir. Natig Rasulov

#HOMEWARD, Russia, dir. Nikita Belorusov

Iron Caravans. Сhusovaya, Russia, dir. Maria Vasenina, Anna Yevdokimova, Andrey Vitoshkin

The Land of Great Opportunities, Russia, dir. Andrey Ananin

The Pit, Russia, dir. Nikolai Bem

Bone to Bone, Russia, dir. Giuri Dzhokhadze

Forest, Russia, dir. Irina Zhuravlyova

Little Heroes, Russia, dir. Leonid Imennykh

Snow Leopard People, Russia, dir. Anna Ganshina

My Personal Dragon, Russia, dir. Mila Kudryashova

Literary Museum of Petrus Brovka, dir. Lina Medvedeva

Mel, Armenia, dir. Inna Sahakyan

Guardians of the Bridge, Russia, dir. Mumin Shakirov

Unrecognized, Russia, dir. Svetlana Prokudina

Inhabitants, Armenia, dir. Mery Aghakhanyan

Clouds on the Roof, Georgia, dir. Lali Kiknavelidze

Baikal Poach-busters, Russia, dir. Anna Moiseenko

Lifetime Resort, Russia, dir. Anastasia Kuzyakova

Missing Girls, Russia, dir. Vadim Vitovtsev

Elastiс Apartment, Russia, dir. Yulia Vishnevetskaya

I Will Grow, Russia, dir. Olga Averkieva

Theatre №6, Russia, dir. Konstantin Narykov

Who Left, Russia, dir. Maria Muskevich

I'm a Nomad, Russia, dir. Vadim Vorontsov