Two selected Canadian projects, along with an online delegation of approximately 35 Canadian producers, sales agents, and festivals, participated in When East Meets West’s 12th edition.
With 600 industry members from some 50 countries in attendance, WEWM took place online, as well as in Trieste, Italy, from January 24 through 28, 2022 (in connection with the 33rd Trieste Film Festival).
Here’s your WEWM recap!
Canada had a special spot as one of the countries in focus this year (along with Russia, the UK, Ireland, and the United States) and we made the most of our opportunity by showcasing Canadian producers, projects, and talent, and by facilitating their participation in this important international event!
As part of the program, Telefilm Canada also participated in a panel about Canadian film financing and coproduction: In the Spotlight: Canada Funding Landscape in collaboration with Ontario Creates and SODEC.
And with loads of inspiring workshops, panels, and labs on the agenda, an annual highlight is the WEMW Co-Production Forum. This year’s forum included 12 documentaries and 10 features in development coming from 18 countries — including a Canadian project! Read on to learn more about the homegrown film in development selected for this prestigious forum, and Canada’s participation in a series of WEWM Inspirational Labs.
WEMW Co-Production Forum
- Chloé Robichaud’s Two Golden Women
Produced by Martin Paul-Hus of Amérique Film, whose recent credits include Monia Chokri’s Babysitter and Jonathan Keijser’s Peace by Chocolate, this is the latest feature project of filmmaker Chloé Robichaud. Her 2014 feature, Boundaries (Pays) made waves on the festival circuit and was nominated for loads of prizes including Best Canadian Feature Film at the Toronto Film Festival. And in 2013, her first feature, Sarah Prefers to Run (Sarah préfère la course) debuted at the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard section!
First Cut Lab Trieste
- Sophie Jarvis’ Invasions
Produced by Sara Blake of Ceroma Films, and co-produced by Magali Gillon-Krizaj (Reign Films, Canada), Tyler Hagan (Experimental Forest Films, Canada), Michela Pini and Olga Lamontanara (Cinédokké, Switzerland this Canada-Switzerland co-production was one of just three feature films selected to take part in this editing workshop for films in post-production! Through custom feedback and expert consultations, the First Cut Lab focuses on both creative and business aspects of films. As for Invasions, as its synopsis explains, the psychological drama explores what happens when a pregnant worker finds an insect in a peach and tries to convince her community of imminent danger.
WEMW Inspirational Labs
Inspiration was the name of the game at these workshop lab sessions that featured our Canadian participants.
ANIMA SPIRIT Lab
Canadian producer Francine Zuckerman (Z films Canada) was our homegrown participant of this animation inspirational lab, which focused on group work, individual consultancies, and financial and creative lectures. The goal? To empower producers to take the leap from live action to animated film production. (P.S. One of this workshop’s leaders was Jelena Popović of the National Film Board of Canada!)
COLD OPEN Lab
Canadian producers Ziad Touma (Couzin Films) and Anaëlle Béglet (Art et Essai) were among those selected for this drama series lab for feature film producers wanting to expand their work into dramatic series! COLD OPEN aimed to foster hands-on skills producers can put into action in the development, production, and financing of serialized drama content projects.IMPACT PYRAMID Lab
Canada’s Caroline Bergoin (Terre Innue) and Hedyeh (Hedy) Bozorgzadeh (Remembrance Pictures) took part in this co-creation workshop. By developing impact loglines, goals, and action steps, this lab helped participants better understand the value of impact and learn how to effectively integrate policy impact into their documentary and fiction projects.
Our participating projects and professionals participated in exciting and inspiring activities, all encouraging the growth and networking of our homegrown producers and projects! Want to be part of next year’s cohort? Sign up for Telefilm Canada’s newsletter to get the most up to date call of entries for festivals and markets!
