The Heart of Europe Co-Production Forum is a brand new Polish Television event dedicated to creators, producers and broadcasters from the Central and Eastern European region. The first edition of the event will take place from November 14-17, 2022 in Warsaw, as part of the Heart of Europe International Television Festival. Until the end of September, projects in various stages of development can be submitted to take part in the Forum's pitching sessions.

The Heart of Europe Co-Production Forum is an event aimed at establishing co-production cooperation and initiating business exchanges between representatives of the audiovisual industry from Central and Eastern Europe. Filmmakers, producers and broadcasters from Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Ukraine, Georgia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Belarus, Moldova and Bulgaria are invited to participate in the Forum. They can submit their film, series and documentary projects in various stages of pre-production. Selected projects will be presented at pitching sessions within the Forum.

„The success of the first edition of Heart of Europe, which proved to be a long-awaited and much-needed initiative for public broadcasters from the CEE region, encouraged us to expand this year's second edition of the festival with a new expert event aimed at the audiovisual industry”, says Marek Solon-Lipinski, Heart of Europe International TV Festival, general manager and director of the international relations department at Polish Television. „There is a need to create a new platform for cooperation in our region. The forum will be an opportunity to establish many new contacts and co-production exchanges, but also to recognize the potential and needs of the industry in our region”, Marek Solon-Lipinski emphasizes.

Experienced filmmakers, screenwriters, directors and producers, as well as young film and television creators are invited to participate in the forum and submit their projects. As part of the first edition of the Co-Production Forum, the pitching will be accompanied by networking events for invited guests and panel discussions with film and TV industry experts, who will speak on the most pressing issues concerning the market, the current condition of production in the CEE region, as well as the directions of its development.

„We believe that the Co-Production Forum will become an important space in Central and Eastern Europe for the exchange and cooperation of filmmakers, producers, broadcasters and cultural institutions, becoming in time one of the creative hubs for film projects and the forging of a new quality of content that will be able to respond to the growing needs of the rapidly developing audiovisual market and enable dialogue with partners from outside our region. Thanks to this annual event, we will be able to explore the possibilities of the entire market and see how we can fit into the European and worldwide TV business by producing content not only appealing to the region's audiences but also make new contributions to the European and global television market”, adds Marek Solon-Lipinski.

Projects can be submitted to the Heart of Europe Co-Production Forum in three categories: Feature Film, Series and Documentary. From among them, a selection committee appointed by the organizers will choose the best projects to present at pitching sessions on November 14-17, 2022. Film projects at various stages of development can be submitted until September 30, 2022 via www.heartofeurope.tvp.pl.

The Heart of Europe International Television Festival, dedicated to the television works of Central and Eastern Europe, is a broad retrospective of the latest productions by public broadcasters from Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine and Georgia. The event showcases the best works of television filmmakers from these countries in 6 categories: "Feature Film," "Feature Series," "Documentary," "Entertainment," "Children and Youth," and "Digital." The best works in these categories are awarded by an international jury composed of representatives of participating broadcasters. The 2nd edition of the event will be held from November 14-17, 2022 in Warsaw.