Cottbus, September 21, 2017 – connecting cottbus (coco) is one of the leading international gatherings for film professionals focussing on Eastern European cinema and fostering East-West feature film co-productions. Entering into its 19th edition in 2017, competition for one of the ten slots was tougher than ever – the selection was made from over 125 submissions from 32 countries.

coco underscores its position as a discoverer of new talents – BLOK62 (by Vanja Vascarac, Croatia), CAT IN THE WALL (by Mina Mileva and Vesela Kazakova, Bulgaria), IMAGES OF LOVE (by Tomasz Winski, Czech Republic), NIGHT TIDE (by Ismail Safarali, Azerbaijan) and THE FLOOR IS LAVA (by Katerina Gornostai, Ukraine) are directorial feature debuts.

The programme of pitches is completed by I HATE BERLIN (by Valentin Hotea, Romania), LEAVE NO TRACES (by Jan P. Matuszyński, Poland – winner of the Special Pitch Award at FilmFestival Cottbus), THE RUSSIAN DOCTOR (by Vano Burduli, Georgia/Russia), SORRY, POLAND (by Kuba Czekaj, Poland) and WHEN I’M DONE DYING (by Nisan Dag, Turkey).

THE ISLAND by the Moldovan director Dumitru Grosei will join the selection 'out of competition' as the winner of the coco award from the Transilvania Pitch Stop at the Transilvania International Film Festival.

For the first time, the international script development programme MIDPOINT will be presenting four projects as the MIDPOINT SELECTION in addition to the coco Pitch section.

Another novelty this year will be coco’s cooperation with SERIAL EYES. Serial Eyes is Europe’s premiere postgraduate training programme for television writers and producers at the Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie (DFFB). By creating a centre of excellence in serial storytelling, Serial Eyes brings together the top professionals working in the field today. The trans-European dimension of the programme makes it an ideal partner for connecting cottbus.

The pitch projects in the coco Pitch competition have a chance of winning the following coco awards: coco Best Pitch Award of €1,500, donated by the German Berliner Synchron & No Limits Media, and an accreditation to the 2018 Cannes Producers Network will go to the producer of the best pitch and is awarded by all of the industry participants. A jury of three industry representatives will award the coco Post Pitch Award of €25,000, an in-kind award donated by the German post-production house The Post Republic. The Midpoint Scholarship Award will enable one coco project to develop its script by participating in the Midpoint Feature Launch.

Last but not least, the 2017 edition of connecting cottbus will introduce the €35,000 coco WiP Award, an in-kind prize sponsored by the German post-production company D- FACTO MOTION, which will be presented to a work in progress project.
 
The full list of selected pitch projects

BLOK62
director: Vanja Vascarac | producer: Danijel Pek | production company: Antitalent | country: Croatia
 
CAT IN THE WALL
director: Mina Mileva, Vesela Kazakova | producer: Mina Mileva, Vesela Kazakova | production company:  Activists 38 | country: Bulgaria
 
I HATE BERLIN
director: Valentin Hotea | producer: Ada Solomon, Diana Paroiu | production company:  Hi Film Productions | country: Romania
 
IMAGES OF LOVE
director: Tomasz Winski | producer: Radovan Síbrt, Jakub Pinkava | production company:  Pink Productions | country: Czech Republic
 
SPECIAL PITCH AWARD
LEAVE NO TRACES
director: Jan P. Matuszyński | producer: Leszek Bodzak | production company:  Aurum Film Bodzak Hickinbotham | country: Poland
 
NIGHT TIDE
director: Ismail Safarali | producer: Maria Ibrahimova | production company:  Cinex | country: Azerbaijan
 
SORRY, POLAND
director: Kuba Czekaj | producer: Gosia Sandecka, Olga Szymanska | production company:  Magnet Man Film | country: Poland
 
THE FLOOR IS LAVA
director: Katerina Gornostai | producer: Gennady Kofman | production company:  MaGiKa-film | country: Ukraine
 
THE RUSSIAN DOCTOR
director: Vano Burduli | producer: Vano Burduli, Pavel Odynin | production company:  Paradox Films | country: Georgia / Russia
 
WHEN I’M DONE DYING
director: Nisan Dag | producer: Muge Ozen | production company: Solis Film | country: Turkey
 
out of competition – COCO AWARD AT TRANSILVANIA IFF
THE ISLAND
director: Dumitru Grosei | producer: Valentina Iusuphodjaev | production company:  Brio Film Production | country: Moldova
 
 
connecting cottbus is supported by Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, Creative Europe/MEDIA and MDM Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung.

More information about connecting cottbus can be found online at http://www.connecting-cottbus.de/ or on facebook https://www.facebook.com/connecting.cottbus.