Script Pool

The Script Pool competition, established in 2017, is part of Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event film market activities and Discovery Campus educational program. Each year it highlights five international projects and the team behind them—director, scriptwriter, and producer. The aim is to gather film projects with international potential, high distribution value, a final draft in place, and some financing secured.

Focusing on the script and the overall project presentation, the projects and their teams will be presented to the international industry decision-makers (sales agents, financiers, and co-producers) whose contribution will increase their sales and distribution potential.

While taking part in the Script Pool program, the participants will work together with a well-known script editor and pitching mentor. Each project will be able to pitch its story to a top specialist in the field and get one-to-one feedback. As of 2022 Script Pool program has partnered up with International Screen Institute which delivers three tailor-made workshops where participants will get more knowledge about film sales, distribution and festival strategy.

The projects will be selected together with the online platform T-Port, where it is possible to check out the previous projects of the participants.

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The projects will be competing for the main award of a 5000 Euro prize

Previous highlights include:
The Sky is Pink - directed by Shonali Bose, premiered at the 44th Toronto International Film Festival Gala Screening and is now available on Netflix. The projectwas the 2017 Script Pool
Monica directed by Andrea Pollaoro, premiered as part of Venezia 79 Competition and won the Young Cinema Award(Best Italian Film). The project was part of the Script Pool in 2017.
20 000 Species of Bees directed by Estibaliz Urresola Sorragulen, premiered at the 73rd Berlinale Competition. The project was the 2020 Script Pool Winner.
In The Belly of A Tiger directed by Siddartha Jatla, premiered at the 74th Berlinale Competition. The project was the participant of Script Pool 2020.

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Previous years

2023 Script Pool winners

Script Pool Award is given to the most promising project, receiving a 5,000 euro monetary prize by PWC.

Winner: What remains
Director and writer: Leon Yersin
Producer: David Fonjallaz
Production company: Lomotion AG (Switzerland)

Jury comment: “For a script that explores in depth the tragedy of the loss of the father not by destiny but by choice, and the way it can dramatically affect the life of his son, a beautiful and sensitive story that we look forward to seeing in the cinema, the award goes to What Remains by Léon Yersin.

In addition, the jury decided to give out a special mention.

Special mention winner: Rise of the Water Fox
Writers: Elisabeth Kužovnik and Carlos E. Lesmes
Director: Carlos E. Lesmes
Producer: Johanna Maria Paulson
Production company: Stellar Film (Estonia)

Jury comment: Special mention to Rise of the Water Fox, an inventive, imaginative and excellent project – we wish there were two prizes!

Script Pool jury included Teresa Cavina (festival programmer and script analysti), Aleksandr Fomin (Producer at Hype Stuidos) and Sam Taylor (Co-Founder of Film and Music Entertainment (F&ME).

2023 Script Pool selected projects

Mirror of Nightingales - directed by Karla Lulić and produced by Jelena Mađarić and Karla Lulić. (Croatia, Romania, Serbia)
This Is It, the Apocalypse - directed by Balahan Gürel and produced by Aysun Karaman and Okan Üzey (Turkey)
Rise of the Water Fox - written by Elisabeth Kužovnik and Carlos E. Lesmes, directed by Carlos E. Lesmes and produced by Johanna Maria Paulson (Estonia)
Casa de Fieras - directed by Eva Saiz and produced by Raquel Pedreira (Spain)
What Remains- directed by Léon Yersin, co-written by Lois de Goumoens and produced by Léon Yersin (Switzerland).

Script Pool selected projects 2022

Venus.me – written by Heinrich Sepp and directed by Rene and Carmel Köster, produced by Andreas Kask (Estonia)
Talitha Kumi – writer-director Hadar Morag, produced by Shira Hochman (Israel)
Transparency of Evil – writers Márcio-André de Sousa-Haz and Doruntina Basha, directed by Márcio-André de Sousa-Haz and produced by Julie Arrue, Gabor Dettre, Alexandra Hoesdorff (France, Luxembourg, Belgium)
And Thus It Will Go On – writer-director Marina Palacio, produced by Lara Izagirre (Spain)
Home – writer-director Or Sinai, produced by Adi Bar Yossef, Vladimir Yastenko (Israel, Ukraine)