En route meeting
This year, the Work-in-progress program will be presented at the Spirit of Fire festival for the second time. This is a kind of pitching of debut projects that are in the filming process or the filming of which has already ended. The essence of the program is to provide an opportunity to show your work to industry professionals, get feedback from them and find a release platform or distributor. The first competition in 2023 helped several bright Russian films reach the big screens. We tell you the details.
“Test of the pen” in 2023
Work-in-progress screenings began to be held as separate programs at major world film festivals in the early 2000s. This is an opportunity for directors and producers to present their work-in-progress to industry experts for the first time and discuss it. This is also a chance to receive valuable feedback - to correct rough edges, to listen to suggestions, ideas and comments. And a way to find additional resources to complete the film: even if the program does not provide financial support for the winner, there will probably be producers among the audience who are ready to participate in the completion of the film that seems promising to them. And the opportunity to find the first prospects: film festival selectors who will wait for the completion of a film that interests them take part in screenings and discussions; You can also discuss the future fate of the film with distributors and platform representatives.
Today, Work-in-progress sections have become an integral part of the program of the largest film festivals - in Locarno, Rotterdam, Berlin... In Russia, the history of this format is more modest: from time to time, single competitions of this kind were held, but at large festivals they have not yet become a regular occurrence.
The first Work-in-progress at the “Spirit of Fire” - 2023 was addressed only to Russian directors and producers. Seven films passed the competitive selection. Almost all of them received a “start in life” at the competition, successfully appeared on screens and made a name for themselves at film festivals.
