A group of young artists hijacks Romania’s oldest music studio to stage a cultural revolution: masked and armed, they take the staff hostage to film a musical manifesto against Romania’s cultural decay. Leading them is Ana, a defiant 31-year-old, with a grudge against the system but also against her estranged father, a washed-up rock star, and her controlling mother, the current Minister of Culture. As police, journalists, and onlookers gather outside, the siege spirals into a televised circus. Ana’s forceful demonstration awakens “The Wave”, a mythical force that can bend reality through sound and memory, rooted in Cold War conspiracies and buried folklore. Under its influence, Ana rises as the ultimate anti-system icon, confronting her parents and the system that broke her, only to become what she set out to destroy.
Helmed by a collective of producers (Ada Solomon, Carla Fotea, Diana Caravia and Alexandru Solomon), microFILM is a Romanian production company created to develop and produce socially relevant films which constantly challenge the cinematic language. Its aim is to nurture fresh talents and help acclaimed directors break new boundaries. The company is united by the belief that films should ask questions which are not always comfortable and show perspectives which are not always visible. Recent titles include Horia (Tallinn 2023), Mammalia (Berlinale 2023), Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn (Golden Bear 2021), Ivana the Terrible (Locarno 2019), Arsenie. An Amazing Afterlife (KVIFF 2023), An Almost Perfect Family (Jihlava 2024), and Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World (Locarno 2023). In 2022, microFILM was named one of Europe’s top 75 independent production companies by Screen Daily.
I grew up with communist-era music buzzing from my grandparents’ radio – a false nostalgia for a time I never lived. This film began as a personal fantasy of revolt against a society in quiet collapse. Set in a Romania where retro-futurism collides with institutional decay, Ana tries to dismantle the system using the very tools that once upheld it. The Wave, a surreal propaganda force, reveals how memory and ideology are weaponized in uncertain times. Ana accidentally unleashes The Wave and she becomes shaped by it, until it’s no longer clear who’s in control. The Wave manifests through shifts in media formats and realities. I wanted to build a world where nothing feels solid – where sitcom tropes, slow-burn suspense, music video gloss and Brechtian distance mirror a psyche and a society losing its grip on what’s real.
This film is a vital confrontation with the fragility of belief systems in a polarized world. For this reason, its impact will be significant both locally, where social tensions run deep, and internationally, where ideological divides keep accelerating. Blending absurdist comedy, music, surreal elements, and family drama, it speaks to younger audiences raised in chaos and contradiction, but also to cinephiles interested in genre-bending, politically sharp cinema. Working with debut director Ștefan Bîtu-Tudoran, whose background in bold, almost avangarde commercials feeds the film’s striking visual identity, has been a chance to shape something unpredictable, entertaining, and inciting. As a film fund commission member put it: “It’s right on the edge between a future cult classic or a complete failure”. I am betting on the first one.
microFILM
23 Constantin Bosianu str., Bucharest, Romania
Email: [email protected]
Ștefan Bîtu-Tudoran | Director, Scriptwriter
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: +40 744 344 165
Diana Caravia | Producer
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: +40 722 542 383
Enzo (47) is a good-hearted yet lonely worker living in an ordinary city. Carla (15), similarly unhappy and self-aware, desperately craves for the love that her parents, humanoid robots, are not able to provide. One day, Carla’s parents are late picking her up from school. Not allowed to leave alone, Carla is stranded at the entrance. The same day, Enzo almost dies at work. Shattered and shocked, he absent-mindedly passes by the school and suddenly stops. His eyes meet Carla’s and an immediate connection is formed. Without hesitation, Carla leaves with Enzo. Days pass, no one seems to be missing Carla, not even her robot-parents. Living at Enzo’s apartment, they create a pure and platonic relationship in their own safe space, until a misunderstanding tears them apart: and Enzo realizes he needs to stand up for his new family – Carla.
COLOR OF MAY produces international documentaries and feature films, often in co-production, with a focus on unique, human stories. Founded in 2013 by Elmar Imanov and Eva Blondiau, the company’s first short, The Swing of the Coffin Maker, won a Student Oscar® and 40+ awards. Films like TORN (Cannes), End of Season (IFFR, FIPRESCI Award), Otar’s Death (KVIFF, FEDEORA Award), and Long Echo (Visions du Réel) followed. COLOR OF MAY co-produced Arrhythmia (KVIFF, TIFF) and Kabul, City in the Wind (IDFA, CPH:DOX). Recent works include A Room of My Own (KVIFF, HBO), Smiling Georgia, and The Kiss of the Grasshopper (Berlinale 2025). Eva Blondiau has been honored as a Screen International “Future Leader”, EFP “Producer on the Move”, and is part of the European Film Academy and EAVE network.
Carla’s Enzo is a film about choosing your family. In a world where loveless parents are literal robots, a fragile, kind-hearted man and a neglected teenage girl form an unexpected bond. Enzo, reminiscent of Marcello Fonte in Dogman, brings warmth and quiet strength to their shared life. The film is a brightly toned buddy story — accessible, tender, and never banal. It’s a tale of firsts: a first meal, a first swim, the first time being missed, the first apology. From time to time, society observes this unusual microcosm with suspicion or fascination, echoing the audience’s own questions. Carla’s Enzo explores what it means to be a family.
As the producer of Carla’s Enzo, I’m proud to support a creative collaboration between two exceptional directors: Elmar, whose award-winning films (End of Season, The Kiss of the Grasshopper) have screened at Berlinale, Cannes and Rotterdam, and Adel, a visionary Italian filmmaker with a strong background in art and film education at NFTS with internationally traveling short films. This German–Italian co-production, supported by Creative Europe MEDIA, explores with humor the theme of chosen family and the need for connection through a deeply human lens. These are universal themes that make the film very accessible across borders and can reach an audience among a wider age group. While the emotional core of the story speaks to a more mature audience, the younger audience might identify more with the teenage girl.
COLOR OF MAY
Neuenhöfer Allee 19a, 50937, Cologne, Germany
Email: [email protected]
Elmar Imanov | Director, Scriptwriter
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: +49 176 38 74 78 45
Adel Oberto | Director, Scriptwriter
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: +39 34 88 82 80 04
Eva Blondiau | Producer
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: +49 178 319 57 51
In the midst of hospital renovations, Jošt, a sensitive young man, is spending the day trying to find out more about the tic of his left eye. Frustratingly, the tic won't show itself in front of medical personnel. Meanwhile, a surgeon is struggling to explain an intuitive feeling caused by a dream which is holding him back from doing an operation, all while his hungry patient starves as the surgery keeps getting postponed. On the same day, the quality assurance nurse gets a birthday surprise, even though her birthday was two months ago, while a determined pigeon is trying to get inside the hospital, and a thirsty patient struggles to reach her glass of water. By the time Jošt leaves the next morning, strawberry cake leftovers will cause an allergic reaction, someone will wet their bed and two people will die.
Eclectica is a film & TV production company and post-production studio from Zagreb. It has produced over a dozen of short films that have been selected to festivals such as Toronto IFF, Tampere FF, Palm Springs ShortFest and many others.
Eclectica's first feature The Uncle by Andrija Mardešić and David Kapac, which had its world premiere in the Proxima competition at KVIFF in 2022, followed by Celebration by Bruno Anković which premiered also at KVIFF in the Crystal Globe competition in 2024, and Honey Bunny by Igor Jelinović that was awarded at Cinelink WIP at Sarajevo FF 2024 and is expected to premiere in 2025.
Eclectica is further developing feature films: Leave the Door Open by Judita Gamulin awarded with Eurimages award at CineMart 2021 and Pogana by David Kapac presented at Berlinale Talents 2024.
History of Illness is a visually stylized absurdist comedy built upon years of personal notes and experiences within the medical system, which has always personally entertained and intrigued me. The story is set around several main characters whose stories only loosely connect, but share a lot of similarities, anxieties and existential concerns. Alongside them, a large web of secondary characters wander in and out of the story during the same twenty-four hour period. The building itself is an important protagonist, comparable to a fragile living organism, pretending to be perfect but subject to fault just like the people inside. Machines break, the kitchen runs out of coffee and people die — it's just another day at a place where being human feels different.
Since we started working together at university, David has demonstrated a unique ability to address serious topics with a comedic touch. At a time when high-concept storytelling is thriving, we believe History of Illness stands out as an easy-to-pitch narrative from a rising talent who is unafraid to tackle the complexities of the human experience in unexpected ways.
David has successfully presented himself internationally with his short film Short Cut Grass (Oberhausen FF). We believe his debut feature continues to explore the absurdity of human existence, this time through the chaotic yet structured world of a hospital – a theme with clear international appeal, grounded in a familiar but emotionally provoking environment. The film has been supported by HAVC for script and project development and by CE MEDIA Mini-Slate Development.
Eclectica
Vingoradi 34a, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia
Email: [email protected]
David Gašo | Director, Scriptwriter
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: +385 91 9047 929
Marta Eva Mećava | Producer
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: +385 91 2005 202
Hanna (15), a devout and selfless Catholic, lives a simple life with her feisty sister Paula (17) and their single mother in a small Polish town. As Hanna prepares for confirmation, her world is shaken when Paula reveals she is unintended pregnant—and what’s more, she doesn’t want to become a parent; she wants freedom of choice. However, their mother insists on tradition: marriage and family, just as she did. Caught between her sister and her faith, Hanna decides to help Paula by turning to dodgy abortion tips found on TikTok. When complications arise, doctors—restricted by Polish law—refuse to help. After three days, Paula dies from delayed treatment. Guilt consumes Hanna, and her faith begins to crack. God no longer offers comfort—but, surprisingly, her mom does. With or without faith, they now must care for each other more than ever before.
Perfilm is an independent production company based in Prague, Czechia, founded in 2018 by producer Tomáš Pertold. Perfilm focuses on films with a strong creative value and international outreach, both fiction and documentary films.
Perfilm's feature debut, March to May, directed by Martin Repka, premiered at the 58th KVIFF and was honoured with a Special Jury Mention. The film also won the Czech Film Critics Award for Discovery of the Year and was nominated for the national Awards in the Best Film and Best Director categories. Perfilm has also produced several notable shorts, including Eighth Day by Petr Pylypčuk, which premiered at the Festival de Cannes–La Cinef. Currently, Perfilm is developing several fiction feature debuts, including God Break Down the Door by Vojtěch Novotný, (MIDPOINT FL, Thessaloniki IFF Agora); and Eli and Them by Petr Pylypčuk, (MIDPOINT FL and coco).
Growing up in a small Polish town as the child of a former priest, I was shaped by unquestionable Catholic values—until I moved to Czechia nine years ago. Stepping away from the world I had known, my perspective began to shift, and I started to see both my homeland and myself in a different light.
My debut feature is inspired by true stories of people who risked everything to end pregnancies under Poland’s restrictive abortion laws. Fictionalizing them let me confront my own inner conflict.
Hanna’s world blends church-rooted tradition with TikTok culture, highlighting her struggle between religious devotion and her love for her sister. We aim to create a vivid, emotionally resonant film that captures the volatility of youth and the pain of awakening, immersing the viewer in the inner chaos of adolescence—with sincerity, humour, and humanity.
In Good Faith is a powerful debut feature that explores sisterhood, faith, and reproductive freedom in today’s Poland. Particularly in light of the current global trend of restricting women's rights, this story feels more urgent than ever. However, it is not a political manifesto but a deeply human drama rooted in emotional truth. Told with intimacy and humor through female-led characters, the film speaks across generations and borders. Director Anna Wowra’s personal connection and vibrant, naturalistic style promise a film both resonant and accessible. Developed with support from the Czech Audiovisual Fund and winner of the Canal+ Award at New Horizons FF, the project was also selected by Les Arcs and Tallinn Black Nights. Structured as a three-way co-production, the film is planned for a majority-Polish shoot, aiming to film in 2026 and reach audiences in 2027.
Perfilm
Ostrovní 1448/24, 110 00, Prague, Czech Republic
Email: [email protected]
Anna Wowra | Director
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: +420 732 145 662
Alžbeta Gertli | Scriptwriter
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: +420 773 034 007
Julie Soffer | Producer
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: +420 774 686 823
Marius (14) fills the absence of his father by engaging in mischief with a group of older boys from his poor neighborhood. But when a reckless game of throwing rocks from a rooftop leaves a man in a coma, their carefree world collapses. Florin, one of the boys, betrays the group and cooperates with the police. Gabi, the oldest and Marius’s role model, takes control, urging the others to go on the run. Marius follows blindly, but soon Gabi’s behavior grows dangerously erratic. He lies, steals money, threatens an old woman, and keeps pushing the others’ moral limits. Slowly, Marius’s admiration turns into doubt. When the boys seek help from Sabin, the brother of one of them, a final blow lands: they learn the injured man has died. The group shatters, and Marius must decide: stay loyal to Gabi or break free before it’s too late.
Point Film aims at discovering new directors and supporting them through their first shorts and features. The company is led by director/producer Tudor Giurgiu and producer Oana Giurgiu – co-founders of Transilvania IFF, the distribution company Transilvania Film, Romanian streaming platform TIFF UNLIMITED, and the well-established production company Libra Films – and producer Adriana Răcășan, a film directing graduate who has worked on more than 30 films.
Point Film co-produced Servants by Slovak director Ivan Ostrochovský (Berlinale Encounters 2020 Competition) and Hesitation Wound by Turkish director Selman Nacar (Venice Orizzonti 2023). The 2025–2026 slate include three debut films: A Safe Place by Cecilia Stefanescu, A Flower is not a Flower by Cristian Pascariu (MIDPOINT Feature Launch 2022) and Edelweiss by Adriana Răcășan.
Marius is the symbol of innocence caught in a violent collapse. We follow him closely, in his silences, doubts, and fear, while the world around him falls apart. We leave his perspective only briefly for Gabi – a boy who already lost the battle, shaped and hardened by an uncaring world. I want the film to be a raw, visceral descent into the brutal reality of poor, neglected children, broken by the very place they were born into. We’ll shoot handheld, with natural light, real streets and a lot of real people, and we’ll move with the fast pace and rising tension of a Safdie brothers’ film. As the story darkens, so does the world: sunny skies give way to a cold, dark night and the soundscape grows louder and chaotic. In the end, when Marius cries in the back of a police car, everything else goes quiet. Maybe for him, not all is lost.
Having worked with Andrei before, including on his short film All That Remains (Best Live Action Short at Warsaw IFF 2024), I’ve come to know and deeply admire his filmmaking skills, sharp narrative instincts and keen sensitivity to human behaviour.
As a producer, I strive to foster a supportive creative process, secure an experienced team that can deliver his vision, while ensuring ample time for rehearsals and cast preparation within a workflow suited to night shoots and underage actors.
I fully believe in The Last Game and its emotionally charged story about loyalty, life choices and dramatic consequences. Delving into themes like social stratification, parental absence, and the struggles of youth in crime-ridden environments, I see it resonating beyond Romania, engaging international festival audiences and co-producers alike.
Point Film
52 Popa Soare St., Bucharest, Romania
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: +40 213 266 480
Andrei Redinciuc | Director, Scriptwriter
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: +40 771 160 309
Eliza Ceprăzaru | Producer
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: +40 751 282 790
Krzysztof, a lonely widower forced into retirement, faces an ordinary last day at work—until his beloved dog dies. The loss triggers a health crisis and a stay at a faded post-Soviet sanatorium, where he hides from his daughter, Dagmara, who wants to mend their relationship.
He isolates himself there with an old radio set, until Małgorzata—a vibrant, rule-breaking woman—draws him into her world of senior discos and defiant joy. As their bond deepens, Krzysztof prepares his flat for a shared life, unaware that Dagmara has her own plans.
When Małgorzata disappears, he discovers she is married and terminally ill. Shattered, he attempts suicide at his old factory—but the thought of Dagmara stops him.
Watchout Studio is one of the leading production companies in Poland, known for bold storytelling and cinematic success. Its hits Gods (2014) and The Art of Loving (2017) drew millions of viewers and won top awards at Gdynia FF, EnergaCAMERIMAGE FF, and the Polish Film Awards "Eagles". Prime Time (2021) had its world premiere at the Sundance IFF. Recent premieres include Xawery Żuławski’s Apokawixa (2022) and Kulej. Two Sides of the Medal (2024) at the Gdynia FF.
RadioAmateur is a meditative portrait of emotional reawakening in old age. Too often, we reduce older people to symbols of decline, denying them access to love, desire, or transformation.
But it is not just a story of late-life romance; it is also one of emotional courage across generations—a tender rebellion against invisibility, grief, and the outdated idea that it’s ever too late to change.
Through Krzysztof’s journey, the film explores outdated notions of masculinity and the quiet shame that often comes with emotional repression. It’s a story told in intimate fragments—blending memory, dream, and reality. Though rooted in post-Soviet nostalgia, RadioAmateur is rich with colour and warmth, inviting viewers to see aging not as an end, but as a quietly radical new beginning.
RadioAmateur is our second film together, following Songs About Love—an acclaimed, award-winning debut and Polish box office hit.
Building on that success, we again aim to reach wide audiences with a story about longing—for connection, understanding, and second chances. Our protagonist’s only safe form of connection is through his shortwave radio, using coded messages to reach strangers he will never meet. But those around him—his daughter and a lover from a sanatorium—demand what he fears most: emotional honesty and a chance to live fully again.
We believe the film resonates across borders and generations, especially with boomers and millennials who may recognize in the main character their own quiet battles with identity, purpose, and emotional openness.
Watchout Studio
Obserwatorów 7, 02-714, Warszawa, Poland
Email: [email protected]
Tomasz Habowski | Director, Scriptwriter
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: + 48 791 946 414
Marta Szarzyńska | Producer
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: + 48 501 563 624
Nothing seems to calm Lola’s (27) increasingly restless heart – neither the marriage to her down-to-earth husband Sláva (26), nor an ambitious fashion show she throws to make a countryside community feel like home. Lola yearns to share her spiritual hunger with the man she loves, but each time she tries, Sláva retreats, afraid to face the depth of her emotion. Fueled by her lonely feeling of despair, Lola kickstarts a journey of discovery, grabbing onto a sudden opportunity to escape to a deserted Mediterranean island – and forces Sláva to go with her. As her emotional compass starts spinning out of control, the vicious spiral culminates in a self-inflicted snakebite. And on the edge of life and death, Lola glimpses clarity – maybe stability doesn’t smother passion, and surrender doesn’t mean defeat.
Beginner’s Mind, founded in 2022, focuses mainly on feature films with a strong authorial vision and international potential. The company’s founder, Ondřej Lukeš, debuted in 2023 with Brutal Heat (dir. Albert Hospodářský, produced under nutprodukce), which received Jury’s Special Mention in the Proxima section at KVIFF. Beginner’s Mind’s first documentary, Urban Disobedience Toolkit (dir. Vladimír Turner) premiered at One World FF in 2025. Its first fiction feature, The Other Side of Summer (by Vojtěch Strakatý, whose debut After Party premiered at the Venice IFF in 2024) will premiere in the Proxima section at KVIFF in 2025. Nearly completed is The Champion (by Bohdan Karásek, whose Karel, Me and You premiered at KVIFF in 2019). Beginner’s Mind values human relationships and the efforts towards environmental and social responsibility.
Restlessness is the heartbeat of this film. It lives inside Lola – a force fueling her creativity, yet threatening to consume her. To me, Restless is the story of a woman whose inner chaos demands to be shared, but her husband meets it with resistance, trying to contain what he doesn’t understand. I’m very drawn to this clash, where love exists, yet fails to translate. I want to explore the limits of a relationship surviving the weight of unspoken desire.
I aim for elevated realism to shape a story both complex and wild, yet deeply relatable. The form will amplify the intensity, blending authenticity with poetic depth. Collaborating with Simona Lewandowska, a rising Czech star, we’ll harness her unique energy to infuse Lola with expressive ambiguity. Restless is a celebration of love’s contradictions – messy, profound and utterly human.
After our mutual debut Brutal Heat, Restless continues our journey with Albert. This film is a bold, emotionally charged exploration of the fault lines in love and communication, where unspoken tensions simmer beneath the surface of everyday life. While elements such as raw intimacy and poetic imagery are likely to resonate strongly on the festival circuit, they are also universal in their relevance – particularly for young people navigating relationships and identity around the world. And for me, Albert has already demonstrated in his previous work that he is one of the authentic voices of his generation. Setting the story between South Moravia and the Mediterranean not only enriches the narrative with a unique visual and cultural contrast, but also makes Restless a natural fit for international co-production.
Beginner's Mind
Klimentská 1172/48, 11000, Prague, Czech Republic
Email: [email protected]
Albert Hospodářský | Director, Scriptwriter
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: +420 731 753 629
Ondřej Lukeš | Producer
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: +420 733 285 088
Roko (24), a sailor from the Mediterranean town of Split, is imprisoned for killing three drug dealers with an automatic rifle in broad daylight on the town’s promenade. Yet the public hails him as a vigilante hero, glorifying an act of cold-blooded murder. His monotonous prison routine is disrupted by Nika (34), a filmmaker intrigued by his story. At first, she follows the media narrative, and Roko enjoys this spotlight. He presents himself as a victim of a violent childhood and a broken system. But layer by layer, his charm twists into control. The deeper Nika digs, the more Roko manipulates. What begins as a film about justice slowly turns into a psychological game, played by the mind of a narcissist who faked insanity — not just to fool the system, but to become a street legend.
Marinis Media is a Croatian independent production company founded in 2016, focusing on short films, features, and creative documentaries. We collaborate with writers and directors from Croatia and Southeast Europe, developing socially engaged and contemporary stories that foster connection and dialogue across cultures. Our films have been screened and awarded at festivals such as Black Nights Tallinn IFF, SEEfest, Sarajevo FF, FIDBA, One World FF and Jihlava IDFF. We are dedicated to strong project development of socially relevant and contemporary stories, and take part in international co-production markets and workshops. Highlights include Nun of Your Business (2020), an award-winning documentary honored at FIDBA (Argentina) and Underhill Fest (Montenegro), and Sweet Sorrow (2023) a feature film premiered at Black Nights Tallinn IFF.
Inspired by the true events of a triple murder that took place just a few streets from the house where I grew up, this film explores something even more disturbing than the crime itself — the public reaction, which turned the killer into a regional antihero. This film questions how society frames violence and opens space for dialogue about the responsibility between the individual and the community. The location plays a vital role in the story, the sharp seasonal contrasts reflect Roko’s shifting inner state, as he transforms from victim to manipulator. The handheld camera creates a dynamic and immersive visual style. The sea and sailing are central motifs, serving as metaphors, with sailing close to the wind symbolizing Roko’s struggle against a predetermined fate. This is not only a story of one man, but of a society that shapes him.
In a time marked by war, rising violence, and a collective sense of insecurity, the moralization of murder is increasingly becoming a societal reflex. This film addresses that exact issue: when violence becomes accepted, even celebrated, instead of condemned. We plan to launch an impact production campaign to spark dialogue on domestic abuse, institutional failure, and social responsibility. The goal is to foster empathy and inspire change in a society that often conceals, rather than confronts, its problems. This film is a wake-up call to reexamine our values. While based on an event that shook the region, the story resonates in a broader global context. As it is told through the lens of a genre film, the project acquires additional strength and reach.
Marinis Media
grada Vukovara 239a, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia
Email: [email protected]
Ivana Marinić Kragić | Producer, Director, Writer
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: +385 91 7925182
Milica Jokic | Producer
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: +1 917 805 4212
A London street at dusk. Masked perpetrators film progressive teacher Gabe licking a shoe in exchange for his phone. When the incident goes viral and he discovers the aggressors were his own students, Gabe senses an opportunity to practice his values, be the good guy, and so win back the respect of his humiliated teenage son Emile.
But reading his forgiveness as weakness, his students start running riot, their behaviour worsening to the point that Gabe is issued an ultimatum by the school – embrace their hard-line response, or face disciplinary action. With even loving partner Clem starting to read his vulnerability as a threat to their ever-distancing Emile, Gabe is forced to choose between becoming the father, the teacher – the man the world expects him to be, or face the consequences of accepting himself for the one he thought he was.
Jante Films is an independent production company based in London, dedicated to creating bold, genre-bending cinema across live-action, animation and documentary. Founded by Danish producer Michelle Brøndum, Jante Films takes its name from the Scandinavian concept of the Law of Jante, and is committed to radically egalitarian working practices, whilst refusing to shy away creatively.
Jante Film’s previous films include the theatrical feature documentary The Other Fellow, which premiered as the Opening Night Film at DocEdge 2023, before a successful run at festivals such as DOCVILLE and Austin Film Festival. More recently, the company produced the next stop-motion animation by BAFTA-nominated Ida Melum, Ovary-Acting, which was selected for Official Competition at Tribeca and Annecy 2025.
It’s over. The bad guys won. Shouting, denial, despotism are in. Peace, accountability, equity are out. We’ve tried calling out, presenting facts, shouting back. The repercussions only get worse. But could they ever be as bad as licking the enemy’s shoe?
Soyboy is a darkly comic character study as shot from the voyeuristic walls of a vibrant London school. Long lenses pick Gabe out from the non-professional student ensemble, tracking him across playgrounds, down corridors, scrutinising him as much in private spaces as threatening him in public ones
An examination of what happens when a “good man” is confronted with the violent forces of toxic masculinity, Soyboy is a challenge to deny that we all carry these forces in spite of ourselves. It is the story of a family trying to reconcile this the best they can. It’s personal. Not political.
With Soyboy, we are driven by the urgent need to explore how masculinity is shaped, challenged, and weaponised in today’s world. Written and directed by Raphael von Blumenthal, whose previous work has sought to challenge mainstream narratives around masculinity, Soyboy will be a raw, unsettling and darkly satirical drama. Confronting in its themes but never shouting in its politics, we believe the film has the potential to spark meaningful dialogue.
In 2024 the project was selected for Less is More’s Boosting Ideas Pre-Writing Workshop at FOCAL in Bern and is now currently at script stage. With a multilingual family at the centre of the story, and with a team with ties to Germany, Romania, Denmark, Switzerland and the UK, the film lends itself to European co-production.
Jante Films
International House, 64 Nile Street, N1 7SR, London, United Kingdom
Email: [email protected]
Raphael von Blumenthal | Director, Scriptwriter
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: +44 7443 420269
Michelle Brøndum Hauerbach | Producer
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: +44 7730 482765
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