US in Progress – 2018
Entry deadline : April 15th, 2018
>> Apply here <<
>>Terms and conditions<<
Editorial
The seventh edition of US in Progress Paris will take place in 13-15 June 2018. The program, based on a collaboration between the Champs-Élysées Film Festival and the Wroclaw American Film Festival, seeks to facilitate the circulation of American independent cinema in Europe by helping a professional audience coming from all over Europe to discover new filmmakers.
Studio productions often offer a conventional and limited vision of American talents. American independent cinema is in a difficult position, facing blockbusters, with no public funding for production in the US, no grant for European distribution and no official coproduction agreements between the US and the other countries.
US in Progress therefore allows with each edition to fill the void by showcasing 10 American feature-films (documentary and fiction) during their postproduction stage to an audience of buyers, festivals and European producers. Each year, our selection strives to represent the diversity and wealth of this American cinema, even its gray areas that continue to surprise us. Thanks to US in Progress, the European professionals, faithful to the program since its first edition, have been able to discover new filmmakers such as Joshua Weinstein, Nathan Silver, Mike Ott, Benjamin Dickinson, Matt Porterfield, Mike Tully, Daniel Carbone, Leah Meyerhoff, Onur Tukel and many more. US in Progress also enables to develop lasting relationships/collaborations we are pleased to see evolve over the years.
We thank all of the US in Progress partners for their loyalty and those joining us this year for their support and we wish all the participants of the program a truly beautiful edition.
Marie Zeniter & Chantal Lian
Presentation
US in Progress is a joint initiative between New Horizons Association (American Film Festival, Wroclaw, Poland) and Champs-Elysées Film Festival. It presents independent US films in final production stages to European buyers, post-production companies and festival programmers in order to help them achieve completion and to foster the circulation and distribution of American indie films in Europe.
US in Progress is a biannual event taking place on two different festivals (Paris in June and Wroclaw in October). The upcoming Paris event will involve one day of screenings and pitching of the 10 selected films (behind closed doors, for registered guests only) and one day of one-to-one meetings on June 13-15th 2018.
In addition to contracts resulting from the presentations and meetings, a jury made up of industry leaders (exhibitor, distributor, producer, and journalist) will award one of the selected work in progress.
The awarded project will get a cash prize of € 8,000.
The last Paris and Wroclaw editions attracted more than 40 buyers and producers. Alumni of the workshop were selected in Sundance 2013 (I USED TO BE DARKER, MILKSHAKE, A TEACHER), Berlinale 2013 (HIDE YOUR SMILING FACES, I USED TO BE DARKER), SXSW 2013 (A TEACHER), Tribeca 2013 (HIDE YOUR SMILING FACES, BLUEBIRD), Toronto International Film Festival 2013 (1982), Sundance 2014 (PING PONG SUMMER), SUNDANCE 2015 (TAKE ME TO THE RIVER), SXSW 2015 (CREATIVE CONTROL), Rotterdam 2016 (ACTOR MARTINEZ), Berlinale 2016 (NAKOM), Sundance 2017 (MENASHE), Berlinale 2017 (CALIFORNIA DREAMS), SXSW 2017 (EASY LIVING, INHERITANCE, LA BARRACUDA)
The 7th edition of Champs-Elysées Film Festival is to take place in Paris from June 12th to 19th 2018. (http://www.champselyseesfilmfestival.com/2017/en/)
Contact:
Marie Zeniter, Head of US in Progress Paris / Selection mzeniter@cefilmfestival.com
Chantal Lian, Coordinator / Selection clian@cefilmfestival.com
