Anastasia Tykha’s Reminiscence and Jerry Carlsson’s Selamlik led the winners at Eastern Promises, the industry platform of Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF).
Ukrainian feature Reminiscence won two prizes: the Connecting Cottbus award, with the chance to pitch at the Cottbus co-production market in November, and the €20,000 ($22,805) Eurimages Special Co-Production Development award for further development, awarded to a promising Ukrainian project.
Scroll down for the full list of winners
Tykha’s fiction directorial debut sees a young woman return from Kyiv to her hometown three years after her brother vanished in the Ukraine-Russia war, where she reconnects with his childhood friend.
It is produced by Darya Bassel of Ukraine’s Moon Man; Bassel has previously made titles including Cannes 2022 selection Butterfly Vision, and Venice 2024 documentary Songs Of Slow Burning Earth.
Carlsson’s Selamlik won the main €20,000 Eurimages Co-Production Development award, having participated in the works in development – queer focus strand. The Sweden-Denmark co-production follows a writer who travels from Sweden to Spain to reunite with the love of his life whom he left when fleeing the war in Syria. Carlsson’s short films have played festivals including Venice, Locarno and Toronto. Frida Martensson leads production for her and Carlsson’s Verket Produktion.
The jury described “a project about a love story that the war made impossible – set between past and present, between countries lost and found. It’s a story that resonates strongly in today’s geopolitical context, with, unfortunately, too many displaced individuals.”
This year Eastern Promises hosted the inaugural Book-to-Screen, a showcase for eight books, looking to cultivate IP development and handling of literary rights in the region.
“With the festival’s industry activities, such as KVIFF Central Stage or Works in Development – Feature Launch, we hope to make the industry professionals more aware of the films being produced here, the talent behind them and the wide array of possible collaborations that can be started here,” said Hugo Rosak, head of the KVIFF Film Industry Office.
38 film, series and IP projects were showcased across the Eastern Promises this year. KVIFF runs until Saturday, July 11.
KVIFF 2026 Eastern Promises industry winners
Eurimages co-production development awards
Selamlik (Swe-Den) dir. Jerry Carlsson, wri. Khaled Alesmael, prod. Frida Martensson
Reminiscence (Ukr) wri-dir. Anastasia Tykha, prod. Darya Bassel
Midpoint & KVIFF development award
They Bloom At Dawn (N Mac) wri-dir. Angela Dimeska, prod. Ognen Antov
Connecting Cottbus award
Reminiscence (Ukr) wri-dir. Anastasia Tykha, prod. Darya Bassel
Rotterdam Lab award
Monika Matuszewska, producer of Confirmation (Pol)
Marche du Film Producers Network award
Tomas Hruby, producer of Cowgirl (Czech)
Eva Vachova, producer of A Few Branches Off (Czech)
KVIFF Talents
Feature Pool
Exposed (Czech) dir. Klara Tasovska, prod. Lukas Kokes
Until We Leave (Czech) wri. Lucia Cizinska, prod. Tereza Winski
Nera (Czech-Slovenia) wri-dir. Ivana Vogrinc Vidali, prod. Dagmar Sedlackova
Creative Pool
The Inhalatorium (Czech) wri-dir. Bara Anna Stejskalova, prod. Jakub Ralek
Burning Witches (Czech) wris. Martina Babisova, Vera Stareckova, prod. Dagmar Sedlackova - miniseries
K-Dream (Czech) wri-dirs. Adam Sedlak, Adam Misik, prods. Monika Soukup, Linda Krejci - miniseries
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