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The Pop Up Film Residency Visegrad announces its selection

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- The second edition of the programme will take place in Budapest in June, welcoming four projects from the Visegrad countries

The Pop Up Film Residency Visegrad announces its selection
Thinking David by Šimon Holý, one of the projects taking part in the Pop Up Film Residency Visegrad

The Pop Up Film Residency Visegrad was launched last year, offering a slightly different concept to the other residencies under the same umbrella. Last year, the residency took place in Bratislava in May, and its founder and director, Matthieu Darras, gave us a special overview of it (see the interview). The second edition will take place in Budapest during June, and four resident filmmakers have been selected, one from each of the Visegrad countries.

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The Pop Up Film Residency Visegrad programme offers a three-week creative environment to the participants, who will work on their feature-film projects together with international mentors. The filmmakers have been selected through partnerships with leading film events in each country: the New Horizons Studio+ in Poland, the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival’s Eastern Promises industry platform in the Czech Republic, Febiofest Bratislava’s Industry Days in Slovakia, and Friss Hús’ Budapest Debut Film Forum in Hungary.

Each year, the schedule of the programme rotates, taking place in a different country, and for the 2022 edition, the residents will be able to take part in the tenth Friss Hús Film Festival, running from 2-8 June. Among the mentors are script consultant Éva Zabezsinszkij, who has notably worked with Hungarian filmmakers Balint Kenyeres and László Nemes, and Kornél Mundruczó.

The participants in the 2022 Pop Up Film Residency Visegrad are as follows:

Magda Chmielewska, with Mira’s Fire (Poland), produced by Lixi Frank. The story revolves around teenage firefighter Mira, who has just lost her mother, and she witnesses a terrible water shortage in her village owing to a series of decisions made by the municipal authorities. Determined to expose those responsible, Mira puts her family in danger, but also discovers her own power.

Anna Gyimesi, with Bearwoman (Hungary), produced by Ábel Kocsó. Co-penned by the director and Fruzsina Klára Danszki, the film focuses on Orsolya, a young woman from a village in Transylvania, who decides to go into the forest after she was raped. Miraculously, a bear keeps her warm, and she returns to the village wearing the bear’s fur. Years pass, and Orsolya becomes an activist against marital violence. A documentary team follows her fight and investigates her past.

Šimon Holý, with Thinking David (Czech Republic), produced by Pavla Klimešová and Jan Syruček. This is the portrait of David, a Jewish boy who has to conquer his biggest enemy: his own fear. The film takes us on an intense trip from the initial questioning of his sexuality to his uncertain coming out. Holý previously directed Mirrors in the Dark [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Šimon Holý
film profile
]
.

Gregor Valentovič, with Twentyseven (Slovakia), produced by Zora Jaurová, which is a film about the late-twenties “early-life crisis”. David is 27, is gay and is facing the finality of having to grow up. Along with that comes the realisation that happiness is not to be pursued, and that home is just a state of mind.

The Pop Up Film Residency Visegrad is made possible by the financial support of the International Visegrad Fund.

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