The “Out of the Box” edition of the Italian co-production forum When East Meets West (WEMW, 25-29 January), which featured 21 projects, announced its winners during the awards ceremony, which was presented by Alessandro Gropplero, head of WEMW, and was streamed live from the Savoia Excelsior Palace in Trieste.
The main prize, the Film Center Serbia Development Award, valued at €5,000, was granted to the project A Winner Is Seen at the Start by first-time Kazakh writer-director Zhannat Alshanova, co-produced by the director and Yevgeniya Moreva for Almaty-based Accidental Films. The story follows 19-year-old Mila, who joins an experimental swimming school, but after the death of a teammate, a series of revelations come to light. The film also received the Pop Up Film Residency Award, and Alshanova was also crowned with the European Women’s Audiovisual Network Award for the Best Woman Director, which was given out for the fifth year in a row at WEMW.