Ukrainian Filmmakers to Participate in European Development Program Less is More (EXCLUSIVE)
Less Is More (LIM), a European development scheme for limited-budget feature films has unveiled its selection of 16 projects, four of which are from Ukrainian writers and filmmakers.
The initiative is backed by the MEDIA Programme of the European Union. The French national board (CNC) has come on board to support this year’s special spotlight on Ukrainian projects, alongside the Terrarium, a platform for Ukrainian screenwriters.
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The programs, which develops first, second and third feature projects, is organized by the Groupe Ouest, a film org created in 2006 in Brittany, in Northwest France, and headed by Antoine Le Bos and Charlotte Le Vallégant.
Commenting on the lineup, Le Bos said the “darkness of the geopolitical context of 2023 pushes us to redefine what films are made for.” “Our selection team has been pushed to look at all the projects received this autumn with new lenses,” Le Bos continued. He said “the nature of the projects received has indeed substantially changed in nature as if the filmmakers where shaken by the context, like antennas of the world’s trouble,” he added.
Filmmakers will be mentored by four tutors, Meritxell Colell Aparicio from Spain, Tony Grisoni, who is based in the U.K. and Italy, Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk from Ukraine and Vinca Wiedemann from Denmark.
Less is More has also selected twelve “development angels,” who are creative producers, development executives and script doctors who will participate in the program. These include Rebecca Anastasi, Nina M. Barbosa Blad, Marek Čermák, Penny Davies, Paul FitzSimons, Clara Kiskanc, Elena Martin, Gaia Meucci-Astley, Nicola Ofoego, Joyce Palmers, Gemma Pascual and Anja Wedell.
The 16 feature films projects selected for LIM are:
“The Advent,” Gonçalo Almeida
“Tibiado,” Laura Baric
“High Risk,” Alfie Baker
“Hercules Falling,” Christian Bonke
“The Flightless Bird,” Gabrielle Brady
“Inheritance,” Stanislav Bytiutskys
“Hotel Diana,” Suad Gara
“Antonivka,” Kateryna Gornostai
“Abano,” Ainhoa Gutierrez Del Pozo
“Son of the Foam,” Theo Jourdain
“Eomma,” Hyun Lories
“Obedience,” Ciaran Lyons
“The Rhythms,” Magnus Lysbakken
“Mother,” Alina Matochkina
“F**cking Sensitivity,” Tetiana Symon
“Heads,” Luca Zuberbuhler
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