ACE 28 Producers Selected

ACE Producers is pleased to announce the eighteen producers selected to participate in the 28th ACE Session (2018/2019) with their projects in development.

Marco Alessi – Dugong – Italy
“Li muerti” by Massimiliano Verdesca

Francesca Andreoli – tempesta – Italy
“Valley of Thieves” by Caterina Carone

Christophe Audeguis – the cup of tea – France
“Ducks” by Neary Adeline Hay

Daniel Bekerman – Scythia Films – Canada
“The Eden Express” Director TBD

Maria Blicharska – Donten & Lacroix Films – Poland/France
“Comrades” by Olivier Patte and Rafael Lewandowski

Katja Draaijer – Baldr Film – The Netherlands
“Alpha” by Jan-Willem van Ewijk

Sophie Erbs – Cinema Defacto – France
“The Hunt of the Puma” by Marcela Said

Alise Ģelze – Tasse Film – Latvia
“Lovable” by Stanislavs Tokalovs

Dyveke Graver – Oslo Pictures – Norway
“A Prayer for the Dying” by Dara Van Dusen

Milos Lochman – moloko film – Czech Republic
“The Nightsiren” by Tereza Nvotová

Mike MacMillan – Lithium Studios Productions – Canada
“I Will Not Go Quietly” Director TBD.

Jan Macola – Mimesis Film – Czech Republic
“Resurrections” by Petr Vaclav

Alan Maher – Marcie Films – Ireland
“Chronicle in Time” by Andrew Legge

Emily Morgan – Quiddity Films – UK
“White” by Emily Young

Elli Toivoniemi – Tuffi Films – Finland
“Love of Wolves” by Zaida Bergroth

Izabella Tzenkova – Kotva Films – Bulgaria/USA
“Serenity” by Aslihan Unaldi

Alexander Wadouh – Chromosom Films – Germany
“Mission” Director TBD

Michael Wrenn – Invisible Republic – Australia
“These Kingdoms” by Shane Danielsen

These eighteen producers have been selected to attend the three residential ACE workshops with a project in development. Fourteen countries are represented in the selection: Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and the UK.

The selection committee was made up of members of the ACE board, ACE consultants, ACE president Antoine Simkine and director Jacobine van der Vloed. A record number of applications was received this year and the selection was made following interviews in  Amsterdam and Toronto.

The eighteen producers will attend four main events that make up the core of the training. The first is the Content Development Workshop held mid-October in Helsinki, Finland in collaboration with the Finnish Film Foundation and Aalto University. It consists of plenary sessions and individual meetings analysing the concepts, dramaturgy and target audiences of producers’ projects. Other sessions provide insight into early development problems such as preparing intention notes, working with talents and maintaining good relationships with writers and directors.

The second workshop is the Financing Strategies Workshop, held mid-November in Prague, Czech Republic, in collaboration with the Czech Film Fund and APA, the Czech Producers Association. The core of the workshop is made up of interactive sessions exploring international financing opportunities and strategies through detailed analysis of producers’ finance plans, with input provided by over 40 high-grade professionals from across the industry. These financing sessions are unique to ACE, creating an open exchange of experience and ideas which sheds light on the evolution of co-production practices, of public and private funding schemes, and of the global marketplace in the digital age.

The third is the Business Prospects Workshop held in the Netherlands (in partnership with the Netherlands Film Fund) at the beginning of April. This workshop aims to help the producers discover new business models and strategies in order to expand their knowledge and field of competence regarding marketing, (online) distribution, legal aspects, and overall management of their company and team.

Alongside these workshops the producers will also have the chance to have personalised consultations with script, finance and marketing experts throughout the year. After having completed the three workshops the participants are welcomed into the ACE Network by attending the ACE Annual Reunion, which will take place in Copenhagen in April 2019, thanks to the support of the Danish Film Institute.

The ACE Network has around 220 active members from more than 45 countries. Network members gather for further training and professional events at all major festivals and markets during the year, and regularly co-produce with each other.

ACE Producers’ Films in San Sebastián 2018

Official Selection

“Entre Dos Aguas” by Isaki Lacuesta
Produced by Paco Poch (ACE ES)

“High Life” by Claire Denis
Produced by Claudia Steffen (ACE DE)

“Rojo” by Benjamin Naishtat
Produced by Marleen Slot (ACE NL)

New Directors

“A Decent Man” by Hadrian Marcu
Produced by Anamaria Antoci (ACE DK)

“Journey to a Mother’s Room” by Celia Rico Clavellino
Co-produced by Jérôme Vidal (ACE FR)

Horizontes Latinos

“Our Time” by Carlos Reygadas
Co-produced by Eva Jakobsen (ACE DK)

“The Snatch Thief” by Agustín Toscano
Produced by Hernán Musaluppi (ACE AR)

Zabaltegi

“Sophia Antipolis” by Virgil Verrnier
Produced by Jean-Christophe Reymond (ACE FR)

Perlak

“Birds of Passage” by Cristina Gallego, Ciro Guerra
Produced by Cristina Gallego (ACE CO)
Co-produced by Nicolás Celis (ACE MX), Eva Jakobsen (ACE DK)

“Girl” by Lukas Dhont
Co-produced by Jean-Yves Roubin (ACE BE) and Laurette Schillings (ACE NL)

“Roma” by Alfonso Cuarón
Produced by  Nicolás Celis (ACE MX)

Made in Spain

“The Bookshop” by Isabel Coixet
Co-produced by Jamila Wenske (ACE DE)

“Lands of Loneliness” by James Longley
Co-produced by Nathalie Trafford (ACE FR)

“The Warning” by Daniel Calparsoro
Co-produced by Cristina Zumárraga (ACE ES)

ACE Producers’ Films at TIFF 2018

Special Presentations

“Colettes” by Wash Westmoreland
Co-produced by Ildiko Kemeny (ACE HU)

“Duelles (Mother’s Instinct)” by Olivier Masset-Depasse
Produced by Jacques-Henri Bronckart (ACE BE)
Co-produced by Bart van Langendonck (ACE BE)

“Girls of the Sun” by Eva Husson
Co-produced by Jean-Yves Roubin (ACE BE)

“The Grizzlies” by Miranda de Pencier
Produced by Damon D’Oliveira (ACE CA)

“Maya” by Mia Hansen-Løve
Produced by Philippe Martin (ACE FR), David Thion (ACE FR)
Co-Produced by Roman Paul (ACE DE)

“Roma” by Alfonso Cuarón
Produced by Nicolás Celis (ACE MX)

“Sunset” by László Nemes
Produced by Gábor Sipos (ACE HU)

Gala Presentations

“High Life” by Claire Denis
Produced by Claudia Steffen (ACE DE)

Masters

“Our Time” by Carlos Reygadas
Co-produced by Eva Jakobsen (ACE DK)

“The Wild Pear Tree” by Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Co-produced by Fabian Gasmia (ACE DE)

Contemporary World Cinema

“Angel” by Koen Mortier
Produced by Euridyce Gysel (ACE BE)

“Birds of Passage” by Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra
Produced by Cristina Gallego (ACE CO)
Co-produced by Nicolás Celis (ACE MX) and Eva Jakobsen (ACE DK)

“Black 47” by Lance Daly
Produced by Macdara Kelleher (ACE IT)
Associate producer: Bernard Michaux (ACE LU)

“The Great Darkened Days” by Maxime Giroux
Produced by Sylvain Corbeil (ACE CA)

“I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians” by Radu Jude
Produced by Ada Solomon (ACE RO)
Co-produced by Jonas Dornbach (ACE DE) and Janine Jackowski (ACE DE)

“The Most Beautiful Couple” by Sven Taddicken
Produced by Jamila Wenske (ACE DE)

“Styx” by Wolfgang Fischer
Produced by Marcos Kantis (ACE DE)
Developed during the ACE 23 Workshops

“The Vice of Hope” by Edoardo De Angelis
Produced by Pierpaolo Verga (ACE IT)
Developed during the ACE 27 Workshops

“Working Woman” by Michal Aviad
Produced by Amir Harel (ACE IL)

Discovery

“Girl” by Lukas Dhont
Co-produced by Jean-Yves Roubin (ACE BE) and Laurette Schillings (ACE NL)

“Her Job” by Nikos Labôt
Produced by Maria Drandaki (ACE GR) and Julie Paratian (ACE FR)

“Light as Feathers” by Rosanne Pel
Produced by Floor Onrust (ACE NL)

“The Load” by Ognjen Glavonic
Co-produced by Tom Dercourt (ACE FR) and Ankica Juric Tilic (ACE HR)

“Rafiki” by Wanuri Kahiu
Co-produced by Claire Gadea (ACE FR), Roman Paul (ACE DE)

“Saf” by Ali Vatansever
Co-produced by Anamaria Antoci (ACE RO)

“Tel Aviv on Fire” by Sameh Zoabi
Produced by Amir Harel (ACE IL), Bernard Michaux (ACE LU)
and Miléna Poylo (ACE FR)

TIFF DOCS

“Angels Are Made of Light” by James Longley
Co-produced by Signe Byrge Sørensen (ACE DK)

“Heartbound” by Janus Metz
Co-produced by Frank Hoeve (ACE NL)

Wavelenghts

“Blue” by Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Produced by Philippe Martin (ACE FR)

“In My Room” by Ulrich Köhler
Produced by Claudia Steffen (ACE DE)
Co-produced by  Jonas Dornbach (ACE DE), Janine Jackowski (ACE DE), Katrin Schlösser (ACE DE)

Platform

“Rojo” by Benjamin Naishtat
Produced by Marleen Slot (ACE NL)

Shortcuts

“To Plant a Fig” by Bobbie Peers
Produced by Skúli Malmquist (ACE IS)

ACE Producers’ Films at Venice 2018

Competition

“Close Enemies” by David Oelhoffen
Co-produced by Jacques-Henri Bronckart (ACE BE)

“The Favourite” by Yorgos Lanthimos
Produced by Ed Guiney (ACE IE)

“Our Time” by Carlos Reygadas
Co-produced by Eva Jakobsen (ACE DK)

“Roma” by Alfonso Cuarón
Produced by Nicolás Celis (ACE MX)

“Sunset” by László Nemes
Produced by Gábor Sipos (ACE HU)

Out of Competition

“Introduzione all’oscuro” by Gastón Solnicki
Produced by Gabriele Kranzelbinder (ACE AT)

Orizzonti Competition

“The Announcement” by Mahmut Fazil Coskun
Co-produced by Borislav Chouchkov (ACE BU)

“The Man who Surprised Everyone” by Natasha Merkulova and Aleksey Chupov
Produced by Katia Filipova (ACE RU)
Co-produced by Katrin Kissa (ACE EE)

“Sulla mia pelle” by Alessio Cremonini
Delegate producer: Tommaso Arrighi (ACE IT)

“Tel Aviv on Fire” by Sameh Zoabi
Produced by Amir Harel (ACE IL), Bernard Michaux (ACE LU)
and Miléna Poylo (ACE FR)

Sconfini

“Arriverderci Saigon” by Wilma Labate
Produced by Emanuele Nespeca (ACE IT)

“Il Banchiere Anarchico” by Giulio Base
Co-produced by Emanuele Nespeca (ACE IT)

“School’s Out” by Sébastien Marnier
Produced by Caroline Bonmarchand (ACE FR)

ACE NORDIC FOCUS TRAINING DAYS

ACE Producers is pleased to announce the up and coming producers selected for the ACE Nordic Focus Training Days 2018.

Scheduled over two-and-a-half days, the ACE Nordic Focus Training Days will be provided with the help of ACE consultants who have notably strong track-records in international project financing, sales (and online) distribution, and who will share their knowledge and international expertise.

The Training Days are designed to meet the needs of upcoming producers, at relatively early stages in their careers, from Finland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland and Estonia. Participation is not be limited to producers with the same high level of experience as is required for the main ACE Producers training programme.

The ACE Nordic Focus Training Days are supported by Aalto University, the Finnish Film Foundation, Audiovisual Producers Finland and the Nordisk Film and TV Fond.

Dates: 13th – 15th of October 2018

Location: Espoo and Helsinki, Finland

  ACE Nordic Focus Training Days 2018 Participants
Erik Andersson Läsk Sweden
Sveinn Geirsson Freyja Filmwork Iceland
Kasper Graversen Milk & Honey Denmark
Tõnu Hiielaid Tallifornia Estonia
Oskari Huttu Lucy Loves Drama Finland
Ami Lindholm Paperihattu Finland
Ari Matikainen Kinocompany Finland
Kirsi Mattila Icebreaker Productions Finland
Heather Millard Spier Films Iceland
Tatjana Mühlbayer Otaku Estonia
Esther Nissen Happy Ending Film Denmark
Andrea Reuter Helsinki Filmi Finland/Sweden
Isabella Rodriguez French Quater Film Sweden
Johannes Rothaus Nørregaard Metafilm Denmark
Siri Hjorton Wagner [sic] film Sweden

ACE Producers’ Films at Locarno 2018

International Competition

“A Land Imagined” by YEO Siew Hua
Co-produced by Denis Vaslin (ACE NL)

“Genèse” by Philippe Lesage
Produced by Galilé Marion-Gauvin (ACE CA)

“Wintermärchen” by Jan Bonny
Produced by Bettina Brokemper (ACE DE)

Out of Competition

“Amur senza fin” by Christoph Schaub
Produced by Reto Schaerli (ACE CH)

“Sembra mio figlio” by Costanza Quatriglio
Produced by Andrea Paris (ACE IT)
Developed during the ACE 24 Workshops

Cineasti del Presente Competition

“Ceux qui travaillent” by Antoine Russbach
Produced by Elena Tatti (ACE CH)
Co-produced by Oliver Dubois (ACE BE)

“Sophia Antipolis” by Virgil Vernier
Produced by Jean-Christophe Reymond (ACE FR)

“Tegnap” by Bálint Kenyeres
Co-produced by Jamila Wenske (ACE DE)

Open Doors Screening

“Demons in Paradise” by Jude Ratnam
Produced by Julie Paratian (ACE FR)

Piazza Grande

“L’Ospite” by Duccio Chiarini
Produced by Tomasso Arrighi (ACE IT)
Co-produced by Fred Bellaïche (ACE FR)

“Párajos de Verano” by Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra
Produced by Cristina Gallego (ACE CO)
Co-produced by Eva Jakobson (ACE DK) and Nicolás Celis (ACE MX)

“Was uns nicht umbringt” by Sandra Nettelbeck
Produced by Fabian Maubach (ACE DE)

New President & Board Announcement

ACE Producers is delighted to announce the election of its new president, Antoine Simkine.

Having been elected by the ACE Executive Board, an election which was approved by the members of the ACE Network, Antoine Simkine will serve as president of ACE Producers for the next two years.

Lead producer and managing director of Paris based production company Les Films d’Antoine, Antoine Simkine became a member of ACE in 2008 and joined the ACE Board in 2016. He has over 30 years of experience in the industry, having worked as a first AD and line producer before co-founding the VFX Production company DUBOI. In 2004 he founded Les Films d’Antoine, where he has produced and co-produced feature films which have been presented in Berlin, Sundance, Karlovy Vary and Toronto.

Simkine takes over the role from ACE co-founder Simon Perry, who held the position for over 20 years. Perry will continue to work with ACE as a consultant.

Speaking of his election Antoine Simkine said: “It is not without some apprehension that I have accepted the responsibility and the honour to be president of the ACE Producers’ association for the next two years. I wish to thank my predecessor Simon Perry for the extraordinary work he did to bring ACE to the current level of excellency. I’m eager to start working with our director Jacobine van der Vloed, the ACE team, my fellow colleagues and board members to continue to improve our workshops and extend our network. I hope that together we will carry ACE forward into the new environment of EU film production that is coming towards us at such a fast pace.”

Members of the ACE Network also recently voted to elect the ACE Executive Board. A number of people were re-elected while four new members were welcomed onto the board : Ido Abram, deputy director of the EYE Film Institute, Amsterdam; Sébastien Beffa, partner at Playtime, the Paris-based international sales agency and long-time friend of ACE Producers; Signe Byrge Sørensen, the multi-Oscar nominated producer and owner of Danish production company Final Cut for Real; and winner of the Eurimages co-production award and 2013 Golden Bear Winner, Ada Solomon, of the Romanian production company Hi Film.

ACE PRODUCERS EXECUTIVE BOARD

Ido Abram – EYE Film Institute – The Netherlands
Aleksi Bardy – Helsinki Filmi – Finland
Sébastien Beffa – Playtime – France
Signe Byrge Sørensen – Final Cut for Real – Denmark
David Collins – Samson Films – Ireland
Tom Dercourt – Cinéma Defacto – France
Eve Gabereau – Modern Films – United Kingdom
Raimond Goebel – Pandora Film – Germany
Cedomir Kolar – A.S.A.P. Films – France
Jelena Mitrovic – Bas Celik – Serbia
Christof Neracher – Hugo Film – Switzerland
Roman Paul – Razor Film – Germany
Viktória Petrányi – Proton Cinema – Hungary
Dries Phlypo – A Private View – Belgium
Martin Pope – Magiclight Pictures – United Kingdom
Jean-Luc Ormières – Freelance – France
Antoine Simkine – Les Films d’Antoine – France
Ada Solomon – Hi Film – Romania
Karla Stojakova – Axman Productions – Czech Republic
Cecilia Valmarana – Rai Movie – Italy

ACE Producers’ Films at Galway 2018

“Black 47” by Lance Daly
Produced by Macdara Kelleher (ACE IE)

“Disobedience” by Sebastián Leilo
Produced by Ed Guiney (ACE IE)

“Good Favour” by Rebecca Daly
Produced by Conor Barry (ACE IE)
Co-produced Marleen Slot (ACE NL)

“Gutland” by Govinda Van Maele
Produced by Gilles Chanial (ACE LU)
Co-produced by Felix Blum (ACE DE) and Olivier Dubois (ACE BE)
Project developed during the ACE 23 workshops

“Holiday” by Isabella Eklöf
Co-produced by Trent (ACE NL)

“In the Aisles” by Thomas Stuber
Produced by Fabian Maubach (ACE DE)

“Killing Jesus” by Laura Mora
Produced by DIego Ramírez (ACE CO)

“Nico 1988” by Susanna Nicchiarelli
Produced by Valérie Bournonville (ACE BE)

“Old Boys” by Toby Macdonald
Co-produced by Erik Hemmendorff (ACE SE)

“Styx” by Wolfgang Fischer
Produced by Marcos Kantis (ACE DE)
Devleloped during the ACE 23 Workshops

“Under the Tree” by Hasteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson
Co-produced by Jamila Wenske (ACE DE)

ACE Producers’ Films at Karlovy Vary 2018

Official Selection – Competition

“I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians”
Produced by Ada Solomon (ACE RO)
Co-produced by Jonas Dornbach (ACE DE) and Janine Jackowski  (ACE DE)

“To the Night” by Peter Brunner
Produced by Oliver Neumann (ACE AT)

East of the West – Competition

“Moments” by Beata Parkanová
Produced by Viktor Tauš (ACE CZ)

Another View

“And Breathe Normally” by Ísold Uggadóttir
Produced by Skúli Malmquist (ACE IS)
Co-produced by Diana Elbaum (ACE BE)

“Chris the Swiss” by Anja Kofmel
Produced by Sinisa Juricic (ACE HR)

“Cobain” by Nanouk Leopold
Co-produced by Dries Phlypo (ACE BE) and Herbert Schwering (ACE DE)

“Fuga” by Agnieszka Smoczyńska
Produced by Karla Stojáková (ACE CZ)

“Oblivion Verses” by Alireza Khatami
Produced by Fred Bellaïche (ACE FR)
Co-produced by Leontine Petit (ACE NL), Joost de Vries (ACE NL)
and Fabian Massah (ACE DE)

“Our Struggles” by Guillaume Snez
Produced by David Thion (ACE FR)
Co-produced by Bart Van Langendonck (ACE BE)

“Rafiki” by Wanuri Kahiu
Co-produced by Claire Gadéa (ACE FR)
and Roman Paul (ACE DE)

“Styx” by Wolfgang Fischer
Produced by Marcos Kantis (ACE DE)
Developed during the ACE 23 Workshops

“Virgins” by Keren Ben Rafael
Produced by Caroline Bonmarchand (ACE FR)
Co-produced by Jean-Yves Roubin (ACE BE)

Horizons

“Birds of Passage” by Ciro Guerra and Cristina Gallego
Produced by Cristina Gallego (ACE CO)
Co-produced by Eva Jakobsen (ACE DK)

“Girl” by Lukas Dhont
Co-produced by Jean-Yves Roubin (ACE BE)
and Laurette Schillings (ACE NL)

“Happy as Lazzaro” by Alice Rohrwacher
Produced by Carlo Cresto-Dina (ACE IT)
and Tiziana Soudani (ACE CH)

“In My Room” by Ulrich Köhler
Produced by Claudia Steffen (ACE DE)
Co-produced by Jonas Dornbach (ACE DE)
and Janine Jackowski (ACE DE)

“U – July 22” by Erik Poppe
Produced by Finn Gjerdrum (ACE NO)

“Wajib” by Annemarie Jacir
Co-produced by Cristina Gallego (ACE CO), Eva Jakobsen (ACE DK)
and Titus Kreyenberg (ACE DE)

“The Wild Pear Tree” by Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Co-produced by Fabian Gasmia (ACE DE)

“Zama” by Lucrecia Martel
co-produced by Claire Gadea (ACE FR) and Leontine Petit (ACE NL)

CENTRAL EUROPE FOCUS TRAINING DAYS 2018

Taking place from the 29th of June to the 1st of July 2018 at FAMU – Film and TV School of Academy of Performing Arts in Prague – ACE Producers has selected 14 upcoming producers at relatively early stages in their careers from the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland to take part in the first ACE Training Days.

Scheduled over two-and-a-half days, the workshop is provided with the help of ACE producers and consultants who have notably strong track-records in international project financing and distribution, and who will share their knowledge and international expertise with the participants.

The Prague Training Days are supported by the Czech Film Fund and the Audiovisual Producers Association (APA).

 

Training Days in Prague 2018 Participants

 

Wanda Adamik – Wandal Production – Slovakia

Jan Bondar – Gnomon – Czech Republic

Vaclav Kadrnka – Sirius Films – Czech Republic

Bára Kamarytova – Heaven’s Gate – Czech Republic

Krystyna Kantor – Shipsboy – Poland

Pavla Klimešová – Telegram Lab Films – Czech Republic

Katarína Krnácová – Silver Art Film – Slovakia

Denis Kucera – love.FRAME – Czech Republic

Vera Lackova – Media Voice – Slovakia

Jordi Niubó – i/o post s.r.o. – Czech Republic

Martin Raiman – The Lab – Czech Republic

Marta Szarzyńska – Freelance – Poland

Tomas Vach – Slothmachine – Czech Republic

Julie Zackova – The Sofa – Czech Republic

Tereza Zemanová – Bionaut – Czech Republic