On Saturday, December 19, the “Flahertiana Forum” pitching ended. This year it became part of the international project “Real Stories from the East 2020 goes digital”. From 11 to 18 December, 39 participants from Armenia, Georgia, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine presented 23 projects of future films. Their speeches on the Pitch the Doc platform were followed online by over 70 producers, production editors, sales agents, representatives of festivals, foundations and other organizations from 15 countries.

Before the pitching, the participants underwent training which included master classes, lectures and individual consultations with tutors from different countries. Based on the results of the pitching, the partners identified the projects that will receive prizes:

Pitch the Doc Prize – “Three Meals a Day”. Director Aleksey Sukhovey and producer Natalia Zhogova (Russia) will receive a consultation of the experts from the online platform for pitching documentary projects Pitch the Doc.

Prize of the FIPADOC festival – “A Picture To Remember”. Director Olga Chernykh and producer Regina Miranovskaya-Davidson (Ukraine) will receive accreditations for the industrial events of the FIPADOC festival for a producer and director.

Prize of the DOK Leipzig festival – Fisherman. Director Lilit Mkhitaryan and producer Nvard Khovkhannisyan (Armenia) will receive two accreditations to participate in the DOK Leipzig festival for director and producer.

This year, Flahertiana Forum, French association Docmonde, German non-fiction film association AG DOK, and SiberiaDoc have joined forces in the project “Real Stories from the East 2020 goes digital”. The project is being implemented within the framework of the German Documentaries project with the support of the German Federal Foreign Office.