European Work in Progress (EWIP), whose 8th edition will take place from 29 September to 1 October 2025, is an independent industry event for producers and distributors of European and German films with a high-quality appeal and crossover market potential.

For the first time EWIP will be held in Hamburg and will present outstanding European film projects, and will connect filmmakers with important industry representatives in cooperation with Filmfest Hamburg and the MOIN Film Fund Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein. Next to established programmes like the innovative Explorer Konferenz and the international and national young talent initiatives #ATELIER25 and ENCOURAGE Film Talents, the event will become part of the FILMFEST HAMBURG INDUSTRY DAYS.

A total of 27 film projects were chosen from a record number of more than 240 applications. All participating projects are in the final stages of production and are on track to play an important role in the international film industry of the near future. The best projects will be selected by a jury of international film industry experts: Rémi Bigot, Head of the film department for Semaine de la Critique of Cannes Film Festival; Maren Schmitt, producer of this year’s winner of the Jury Prize in Cannes, Sound of Falling; Simon Ofenloch, editor of ARTE responsible for the TV channel’s film production department; Beatrice Gulino, Head of sales and Acquisitions for the Italian distribution company Teodora; Yuan Sui, founder of Berlin based world sales and production company Picture Tree International; and Ethiopian film distributor Aaron Kassaye.

Thanks to an international network of high-calibre cooperation partners, this year’s EWIP hits a new award sum record of 140,000 EUR to be awarded to the winners. This translates to a raise by 75,000 EUR compared to 2024.

Directly afterwards, from 30 September to 2 October 2025, the international film industry conference International Film Distribution Summit (IFDS) will take place for the 4th time. It offers an international platform that deals with innovative distribution work in a changing public sphere.

In 2025, the highlight of the IFDS will once again be the presentation of the Best International Innovation Distribution Award, which recognises the pioneering innovative strength of successful distributors. The Best International Innovation Distribution Award is endowed with 10,000 EUR and is sponsored by Gruvi, Usheru and Comscore. The winners in recent years were Elissa Federoff from US distributor NEON in 2022 and Enrique Costa, founder and CEO of Spanish ELASTICA FILMS in 2023 and Andrea Occhipinti, CEO of Italian distributor LUCKY RED. This year the French distribution company CHARADES and its co-founder and chairman Yohann Comte will receive the Best International Innovation Distribution Award.

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