STE Pitching Forum 2024

The ninth annual Screen Talent Europe Pitching Forum will take place at The Norwegian Short Film Festival in Grimstad Thursday June 13th! Young emerging filmmakers will be presenting their projects in front of a jury and an audience. The winner will be awarded a production grant of €4.000, powered by Screen Talent Europe!

Where: Clarion Collection Hotel Grimstad
When: June 13th, 10:00 am – 12:00 pm.

Welcome!

Meet the participants

During the Forum the participants are offered training and networking opportunities at the Norwegian Short Film Festival. Below you can read some more about the selected participants and their project.

The Pitching Forum is organized by Mediefabrikken, the Screen Talent Europe Partners and The Norwegian Short Film Festival.

MOIN FILMFUND HAMBURG & SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN

Marlin van Soest, Germany

Marlin van Soest is an animator and illustrator from Germany. The focus of his work is reportage.

He made his debut in 2020 with “Panic or Reason,” an animated interview series about people during the pandemic. The series received a lot of attention and was nominated for the Next Generation Short Tiger and awarded as the best final design project of Hamburg.

Marlin is currently working on the short film “The German Flu”, which will be released in 2024.

Marlin lives with his family in Hamburg.

«The German flu» is an animated documentary shortfilm about the effects the Corona crisis had on society in Germany. Over a period of four years, Marlin van Soest asked a wide range of people about their opinions on the disease. 

Since the interviews took place over a long period, in addition to the diverse and honest perspectives, the film also captures the different phases of the pandemic and a change in mood in an increasingly divided society.»

 

FILM I SKÅNE

Yousra Said, Sweden

Yousra Said is a 28-year-old director from Malmö, Sweden. While studying directing at the Stockholm University of the Arts, she sought to develop her own cinematic language, combining documentary methods and fictional elements. She seeks, in her films, to reflect the interiority of the characters.

«Doki doki!» is about friendship, the heedy rush of teenage desire, and the consequences of trying to grow up too fast. It’s about pretense… the playful aspect of playing pretend as well as the dangerousness of it.

 

CINESUD

Yentl Vlachos, The Netherlands

Yentl Vlachos is a film director from the Netherlands with a background in theatre. 

She graduated in 2021 from the Academy of Theatre in Tilburg and holds a minor in film directing from the Academy of Arts. 

Due to her background in theatre and her obsession with character and improvisation, Yentl found her way into the Dutch film industry. She has directed and produced more than 90 music videos for famous Dutch artists. 

Last year, she directed a queer web series for OUTtv Europe. 

Her work is known for its distinctive, nostalgic style and deep character focus. 

She is now debuting her first short film, «Wet Boy.»

«Wet Boy» is a romantic coming-of-age short film set in Limburg, Netherlands, following 19-year-old Sef’s journey as he struggles with his sexuality and falls for his best friend, Lucas. «Wet Boy» explores the complexities of sexuality and identity, encouraging understanding and acceptance while highlighting the challenges faced by LGBTQ+ youth in The Netherlands, especially in the Province of Limburg.

 

MEDIEFABRIKKEN

Una Solvik Golmen, Norway

Una Solvik Golmen is a documentary film director from Asker, Norway. She has a bachelor’s degree in documentary directing from the TV School in Lillehammer, and has also studied documentary filmmaking in Copenhagen. Una has made a number of documentary films, which has been nominated at international film festivals. Her films have an emotional entry into major political issues, captured cinematically in rural Norway. 

«Goodbye Girls» is a short documentary about belonging and wanderlust. The film follows two fifteen-year-old girls and their longing and restlessness as they wait for life to begin, a life that does not exist in their remote fishing village of Berlevåg. 

«Goodbye Girls» explores the gap between youth and rural areas and shows the vulnerability of growing up.

MEDIEFABRIKKEN

Jørgen Egner Granerud, Norway

Jørgen Egner Granerud is a director from Asker, Norway. He has a degree in documentary direction from the TV School in Lillehammer, but he has a wide field of interest when it comes to film, and he enjoys making both fiction and documentary films. In his documentaries he seeks to put a spotlight on subjects that matter, but might be a little overlooked, while his fiction films tend to place characters in surprising situations, dealing with unexpected issues.

13 year old Isak has been taken along to a zoo and amusement park by his dad and little brother, and he is not enjoying himself. After a fight with his dad, he runs off to explore the park on his own, and experiences a tiny odyssey that sees him take his first steps out of his childhood and into his teens.

NATIONAL TALENT ACADEMY FILM & TV/ ARDÁN

Oisín Ó hEartáin, Éire

Oisín is a documentary series director and producer, from Baile an Fheirtéaraigh, Corca Dhuibhne, Éire. With a BA degree in Theatre & Performance studies from NUIG, and has since shot and directed 24 episodes over 11 productions for Ireland’s national Irish language broadcaster, TG4, creating solely with the Irish language, Gaeilge. Oisín has also produced over 6hrs of short-form online documentaries, with his main focus in Irish culture and traditions. He recently finished his first documentary series as Series Producer & Director, which he shot most of, ‘Meitheal Mara Chorca Dhuibhne’, where he spent a year with the fishing community of West Kerry. Oisín has directed episodes from three different series, each of which have won TV Series of the Year from 2021-2023.

Although dealing mainly with documentaries, Oisín has brought these real life experiences into his fictional writing, where the stories of rural people and their folklore are at the heart of his films, exploring absurd encounters with the Daoine Maithe (Irish fairy folk), rural hardship and the importance of community strength. 

«On a desolate island, a mother faces isolation, grief, and her own sanity’s unravelling.»

 

NATIONAL TALENT ACADEMY FILM & TV/ ARDÁN

Katie Murphy, Ireland

Katie Murphy is a screenwriter and Producer from Ireland. She has worked in TV and Film Production for years; most recently as a Script Coordinator for MGM, Netflix and Acorn TV series.

Her first feature screenplay reached the Top 50 scripts in The Academy Nicholls screenplay competition. She is the recipient of a Final Draft scholarship to attend the Rocaberti Writers Retreat in France, supported by a Screen Ireland Bursary award. 

Katie is the creator of TV Series ‘Surviving 22′ which is in active development with Screen Ireland, and is a comedy about grief. She is passionate about representing the unseen on screen,  exploring and shining a light on societal issues in a humorous or unconventional way, with most of her writing exploring these themes. 

When Ida, a young Nigerian girl living in direct provision in a rural village in Ireland refuses to speak,  local Gaelgoir and tutor, Eugene, 60’s, is tasked with helping her. 

But when she is crowned the Queen of an Ancient Irish Festival, Ida has to make a winning speech, not only challenging her, but Eugene also, who harbors a secret heartbreak of his own.

 

NEW NOARDIC WAVE

Manon Dessainte and Kai Phan, The Netherlands

Manon Dessainte is a Time Based Design student that works with different media. She likes to experiment with visuals, stretching it, crunching it and then see what comes out of it. 

In 2022, with a friend and classmate, Kai Phan, they created Inanimié. They have been creating worlds and stories and  translating them into visuals. With every new project, they gain experience and like water to plants, they grow and continue to do so.

«One horror film, six separate stories, altogether under 20 minutes. Narratively disjointed but visually and audibly connected. Each one with a distinctive style and different characters. All of which are united by one singular objective: to appeal to the senses and not the mind.»

 

FILMCLOUD

Tara Fouladi and Henrik Johansson, Sweden

Tara Fouladi is a writer/director from Gothenburg, Sweden, and is entering her final year at the Bachelor’s Programme in Film at HDK-Valand this fall. She is interested in the roleplay of everyday life and how it interacts with class, gender and group dynamics. Through her films, she aims to explore these themes and delve into the complexities of the status quo and the lengths we go to upkeep it. 

Henrik Johansson is a writer/director from Stockholm, Sweden and newly graduated from the Masters Programme in Film at HDK-Valand. 

In his work, he focuses on themes such as power, sexuality and group dynamics. He recently finished his exam film Retreat which explores the internal struggles faced by modern men, who, while distancing themselves from outdated forms of masculinity, are also uncertain about their evolving roles.

Henrik and Tara have worked alongside since 2018, making short films that explore themes of power, sexuality and group dynamics. Henrik graduates from the Master Programme in Film at HDK-Valand with his exam film Retreat and Tara begins working on her graduation film as she begins her last at the Bachelors Programme in Film at HDK-Valand.

Elliot decides to make a cast of his penis as a farewell gift for his girlfriend Malva before her trip to South America, but when Malva shows the present to her friends during a farewell dinner, a debate arises that makes her question the relationship.

 

FILM STOCKHOLM

Erik Westerström, Sweden

Erik is a Swedish/American director with a degree in Psychology from college in the U.S before attending film school at Kulturama. Erik is represented exclusively at FLX in Sweden and Cocoa in Finland in advertising. In 2022, Erik won the award ”Funniest commercial of the year” at Roygalan. Aside from directing many commercials in Scandinavia, Erik has directed two award-winning short films. He is a comedy and horror enthusiast that loves both a good laugh and a good scare.

Breathwork is a satirical horror comedy about Maya, a skeptical participant in a influencer breathwork retreat led by the charismatic breathing guru Johan. During an intense session, while in a trance, Maya becomes possessed by a demon and begins to reveal dark secrets about the other members. Chaos ensues as the demon forces everyone to confront their deepest fears and shames, culminating in a terrifying and unexpected climax.