Ji.hlava’s Emerging Producers Reveal Pitches for Upcoming Projects (EXCLUSIVE)

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Ji.hlava Documentary Film Festival has revealed to Variety the projects that the participants of its 2024 Emerging Producers program are working on. The producers were asked to deliver an elevator pitch for their projects. Every year since 2010, the festival has selected 18 up-and-coming producers of documentary films (17 European and one representing a non-European guest country), who are then provided with educational, networking and promotional support.

The Emerging Producers portal features a map with more than 200 profiles of the program’s alumni. The next cohort of Emerging Producers will be revealed at the Sarajevo Film Festival on Sunday. Here are the pitches from the 2024 contingent: “Green Is the Fire’s Tint” (working title)
Producers: Cristina Haneș, Isabella Rinaldi, Arya Rothe for NoCut Film Collective (India, Romania, Italy)
Directors: Cristina Haneș, Isabella Rinaldi, Arya Rothe Genre: Creative documentary Synopsis: Somi (37), an indigenous woman, faces eviction from her land due to the opening of an iron mine.

A few years ago, Somi was an armed Naxalite rebel; now, she’s determined to lead her community in resisting the violation and fighting against displacement and deforestation—this time without her rifle. Pitch: In a marginalized and precarious place of resistance, Somi, an indigenous woman and former revolutionary, defends her ideals of equality and dignity while confronting disillusionment and social injustice. The film is a sequel to “A Rifle and a Bag” (IFFR 2020, Special Mention of the Jury).