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Projects from creators in Europe, Taiwan, Japan, Israel and the UK are among those to have been shortlisted as part of Series Mania Forum’s Co-Pro Pitching Sessions, which takes place next month.

An international jury of industry professionals will determine the best project among the 15 shortlisted, with the winner taking home €50,000 to help develop the series.

The shows – full details of which can be found below - were selected from 406 applications from 72 countries, including new territories such as New Zealand, The Philippines, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Uganda and Eswatini.

A 16th project, Ruth’s Ghosts from the US/Germany (6 x 60 minutes), was...

Italy’s Minerva Pictures has unveiled a slew of sales on its EFM slate including for Taavi Vartia’s Finnish survival thriller Ice Skater and Stefano Sardo’s erotic thriller Close To Me.

Ice Skater was acquired by Spain’s Inopia, Cis’s Magic Films, Latin America’s Clube Filmes, and by Foxx Vision for the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Now in post, Ice Skater stars Norwegian actress Thea Sofie Loch Næss as a woman who finds herself stranded on an ice floe in the Arctic Sea.

Close To Me, which is co-distributed with Tvco, was acquired for German-speaking countries by Splendid,...

Last year, Durand Bernarr was hitting a new career peak — and a case of burnout. The Cleveland-born R&b artist had won a wide new audience in the spring with his En Route EP, which would go on to nab a 2025 Grammy nomination. But now he had just a month to crank out a new project. In need of new ideas and perspectives, he pivoted from his usual way of making music. “The difference between this project and the last one was there were way more hands and brains involved in the creative process,...

A short film set against the background of the ‘Croatian Six’ terror plot convictions has taken out the International Grand Prize at France's Clermont-Ferrand International Film Festival, just as an inquiry into the alleged conspiracy is about to resume.

The post Damian Walshe-Howling’s ‘Unspoken’ wins international prize at Clermont-Ferrand as series adaptation moves forward appeared first on If Magazine.

“Unspoken,” “Genealogy of Violence,” and “Aferrado” have won a trio of top honors at this year’s Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival, with each title winning a grand prize in the respective international, national and lab competitions.

Best known for his acting work on Australian film and television, “Unspoken” director Damian Walshe-Howling can now burnish his behind-the-camera bona fides with Clermont-Ferrand’s top international trophy. Set in late-70s Sydney, the film follows a young, Croatian born woman whose life spins out into chaos as Croatian independence protests overtake her adopted hometown.

Led by Quebecois star Marc-André Grondin (“C.R.A.Z.Y.”) and directed by Pier-Philippe Chevigny, the slaughterhouse-set slow-boil “Mercenary” won a special jury prize, while Maha Haj’s Locarno-winner “Upshot” can now add a Clermont-Ferrand audience prize to a long list of honors.

U.K.-based duo Zhang & Knight claimed two prizes for their film “A Bear Remembers,” taking home...

Paul Wesley has landed his next leading role!

The 42-year-old actor, best known for his roles in The Vampire Diaries and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, will be starring in the upcoming Ukrainian war thriller series Unspoken.

Keep reading to find out more…Here’s the synopsis from Deadline: “Set against the backdrop of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the series follows the journey of Paul (Wesley), an ex-soldier turned taxi driver in Poland. After receiving a desperate call from his wife in Kyiv on the day of the invasion, he races against time, crossing borders to guide his family to safety amid chaos and unimaginable terror. Over the phone, he leads them through a landscape of fear and violence, intensifying the sense of urgency as they grapple with survival in the face of insurmountable odds.”

“Inspired by true events occurring on the day of the Russian invasion, the series...

Paul Wesley, who starred as Max on Guiding Light, has been tapped to play the lead in a new six-part limited series, Unspoken, about the war in Ukraine.

Now and Then

Amid the chaos of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the series Unspoken tells the gripping story of Paul (Wesley), a former soldier now working as a taxi driver in Poland. When his wife in Kyiv calls him in desperation on the day the invasion begins, Paul embarks on a race against time to help his family escape to safety. Navigating across borders and through unimaginable danger, he provides critical guidance over the phone, directing them through a harrowing journey marked by fear and violence.

The series captures the urgency and raw emotions of survival against overwhelming adversity. Inspired by real events on the day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the series portrays Paul’s journey through a war-ravaged...

A star from Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has now been cast in a new war thriller series. One of the many television series in the Star Trek Universe, Strange New Worlds is a Paramount+ series that is a prequel to the original Star Trek series. It follows one story of the USS Enterprise, focusing on Captain Christopher Pike. The series has had two seasons thus far, and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 has since been announced. The series features a leading cast including Anson Mount, Ethan Peck, Christina Chong, Melissa Navia, Rebecca Romjin, and Jess Bush.

As per Deadline, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds star Paul Wesley has been tapped for the new series Unspoken. The series will be a six-part miniseries about the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Wesley will play the lead role in the series, stepping in as Paul, and ex-solider who is now a taxi driver in Ukraine.

Exclusive: Unspoken, the Ukrainian war thriller series that won the top prize at the Series Mania event in 2023, has found its lead.

Paul Wesley, who stars in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, which is heading into its third season, and is best known for starring in The Vampire Diaries, will star in the six-part limited series.

Created by Polish writer Filip Syczyński, who wrote with Ukraine’s Zhanna Ozirna, the series comes from Polish production company Match & Spark alongside LA-based 5X Media, which has just boarded the project as a co-producer and marks the latter’s first European-based scripted series.

Set against the backdrop of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the series follows the journey of Paul (Wesley), an ex-soldier turned taxi driver in Poland. After receiving a desperate call from his wife in Kyiv on the day of the invasion, he races against time, crossing borders to guide...

Poland’s Warsaw Film Festival is celebrating its 40th edition, placing its bets on emerging, often debuting Polish filmmakers.

“This event often acts like a springboard,” says programming director Gustaw Kolanowski. But making a feature debut in Poland is still challenging.

“For me, this road wasn’t easy. It was difficult to meet a producer who would believe in a film that’s quiet and intimate, but also impactful,” says Monika Majorek, behind “Where Do We Begin,” where three siblings and their mother rebuild their lives after the death of their father.

“I’ve made certain career choices to be able to tell this story and waited a long time for this opportunity. I was advised to look for some loud, controversial subject, but this film comes out of real emotions. Maybe there’s a lack of quiet voices [in Polish cinema]? Those that listen instead of speaking?”

Dominika Montean-Pańków, director of “The Crossroads,...

Warner Bros. Discovery Access, the company’s talent development division for underrepresented creatives, on Monday unveiled Donell Atkinson-Johnson, Lauren Gee and Joladé Olusanya as the three filmmakers who will tell their stories of what it means to be Black and British in shorts as part of the third annual Black Britain Unspoken program.

Launched in 2022, it aims to give opportunities and voices to Black British filmmakers breaking into the industry “as industry data shows Black people continue to be underrepresented across director, writer and producer roles in the U.K.,” the company said. “Black Britain Unspoken provides filmmakers a pitch-to-production experience and, via program partner Media Trust, professional development opportunities through tailored workshops that focus on media training and career progression.”

For the program’s third season, U.K. production company Wall to Wall, part of Warner Bros. International Television Production, has joined the initiative as a production partner alongside Bounce Cinema,...

Leading Korean actor Son Ye-jin received a huge roar of applause as she greeted fans and rounded off the Thursday red-carpet ceremony at the opening of Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BiFan). The star of “A Moment to Remember” and “April Snow,” Son is the subject of the festival’s retrospective section.

But even as the festival takes a well-deserved, if conventional, look back at Son’s 23-year career, the event’s larger focus this year is the direction that artificial intelligence (AI) is taking the film industry.

“The main issue of this year’s Bifan is Bifan+ AI. Generative AI can be used as an innovative and revolutionary tool to meet the world with one’s talent through minimal expenses. I believe that with the help of generative AI an era of equal competition will come, in which imagination, not the size of budget, is the most important factor,...

The Jeonju International Film Festival, South Korea’s second most important generalist film festival, on Tuesday announced “The Major Tones” and “Time to Be Strong” as the Grand Prix winners of its two competition sections. The festival continues until Friday.

Directed by Argentina’s Ingrid Pokropek, “The Major Tones” is a mystery film about a youngster with a metal plate in her arm which begins to receive peculiar messages in Morse Code. It premiered at the Mar del Plata festival and also played in Berlin’s Generation KPlus section. In Jeonju it won the international section.

The Korean section was dominated by “Time to Be Strong,” the sophomore effort of director Namkoong Sun. In addition to the Korean competition’s Grand Prix, it also shared the best actor award and picked up the Watch award from a local streamer.

The film follows three former K-pop idol singers whose careers have...

Holly, a 15-year-old girl, appears to develop clairvoyance and magical healing powers — or does she? — in Belgian director Fien Troch’s intriguing, ambiguous fifth feature, Holly. Anchored by a charismatic yet impressively subtle lead performance by Cathalina Geeraerts, the film flirts with different genres, and at various stages looks poised to emerge as a teen-themed horror show like Carrie or a didactic dramatization of the evils of bullying. Ultimately it ends up being neither of those things and evolves into a sly black comedy about the impossibility of truly unselfish altruism.

That tonal complexity may make it a little harder to love for audiences who crave easy answers, rootable-for characters and cut-and-dry moral dilemmas, but this should find its own niche on the festival circuit and beyond.

In a suburban Belgian town where Flemish is the more dominant language, Holly lives with her alcoholic mother (Els Deceukilier) and sister Dawn...

Fien Troch’s “Holly,” which world premieres in competition at the Venice Film Festival, has debuted its trailer. MK2 is handling world sales. Troch’s previous film, “Home,” won the Horizons best director award at Venice.

“Holly” follows 15-year-old Holly, who calls her school to say she is staying home for the day. Soon after, a fire breaks out at the school, killing several students. With everyone touched by the tragedy, the community comes together, trying to heal.

Anna, a teacher, intrigued by Holly and her strange premonition, invites her to join the volunteering group she runs. Holly’s presence seems to bring peace of mind, warmth and hope to those she encounters. But soon, people begin to seek out Holly and her cathartic energy, demanding more and more from the girl.

Troch admits that there is something of herself in Holly. “Yes, like her, I am very receptive to other people’s emotions,...

Jenna Ortega's minor role in Iron Man 3 kick-started her career and led to opportunities in renowned films and series like Insidious: Chapter 2 and Disney's Stuck in the Middle. Ortega's breakout role as Wednesday Addams in Tim Burton's Wednesday brought her worldwide fame and critical acclaim, earning her a Best Actress Golden Globe nomination. While there is no official confirmation, there are rumors of Ortega playing White Tiger in the upcoming Disney+ series Daredevil: Born Again, which would be a great opportunity for her to don a superhero costume and establish her place in the MCU.

Robert Downey Jr. received massive love for bringing the narcissistic and billionaire personality of Tony Stark on-screen in Iron Man (2008). Since then, the first MCU superhero has become a beloved one among fans worldwide, and his standalone films were major successes at the box office. In fact, at the height of the franchise's popularity,...

Principal photography has begun on “Unspoken,” toplining Chinese star Zhang Hanyu and written and directed by Chen Daming. Filming is taking place in China and Canada for a 2022 release.

“Unspoken” is being produced by Huanxi Media and Cmc Pictures of Cmc Inc., with an international production team led by Court Five’s Mark Ordesky and Jane Fleming, Chinese producer Han Sanping and Cmc’s Ming Beaver Kwei. Former Columbia/TriStar president of production Chris Lee is an executive producer.

Zhang is the first actor to win the “Grand Slam” of top acting honors in China, which is now the world’s largest film market.

“Unspoken” also stars Michael Cudlitz (“The Walking Dead”), Jake Abel and Vivienne Tien.

The film centers on Xu (Zhang), an ex-cop who’s estranged from his deaf daughter in the midst of her studies at an American university. Her sudden death raises grief and guilt in...

Michael Cudlitz and Jake Abel and have signed on to star alongside Zhang Hanyu and Vivienne Tien (Be Yourself) in Unspoken, a dramatic feature from writer-director Daming Chen that is now in production.

Unspoken tells the story of Xu (Zhang), an estranged father separated from his deaf daughter and her new life at an American university, whose murder reunites them in a way neither could have foreseen. The tragedy pierces Xu with grief and guilt that he couldn’t be present to protect his child. An ex-cop himself, he becomes convinced the local authorities are pursuing the wrong suspect – and that racism is compromising the investigation.

With a young Chinese translator in tow (Tien), who is navigating her own challenging path as a young immigrant, Xu sets out to learn what really happened to his daughter.