The second edition of Glocal in Progress, the industry activity for European productions in non-hegemonic languages, will screen the latest works by the Turkish director Pelin Esmer, the Lithuanian filmmaker Ignas Jonynas and the Greek moviemaker Tassos Gerakinis.

The three films are at the post-production stage and will be screened to an audience of producers, distributors, sales agents and programmers, among other professionals, in order that they may contribute to their conclusion and international distribution.

Pelin Esmer (Istanbul, 1972) presented in Zabaltegi-New Directors her second film, Oyun / The Play (2005), about women in a village who want to put on a play to reflect their life stories, which won an award at Tribeca. She also competed in the Official Selection with 11’e 10 Kala / 10 to 11 (2009), the story of a collector and the concierge of a building to be rebuilt, winner of the Special Jury Prize at the Istanbul Festival. In Kraliçe Lear / Queen Lear she continues the tale of the women who starred in Oyun and whose lives were changed by the play, as they perform their version of Shakespeare’s work in remote mountain villages.

Ignas Jonynas (Vilnius, 1971) also visited the New Directors section with his first work, Losejas / The Gambler (2013), recipient of the Best Director Award from the Lithuanian Film Academy. His second film, Nematoma / Invisible, a co-production between Lithuania, Latvia and Ukraine, focusses on a man in a TV dance contest who pretends to be blind.

The first work of Tassos Gerakinis, the Greek and French co-production A Simple Man, tells the story of a vineyard owner taken hostage by a fugitive.

A year after the start of this Industry activity, two films from the first edition of Glocal in Progress will join the programme of the Festival’s 66th edition. Telmo Esnal (Zarautz, Spain, 1966) will participate in the Official Selection in the special screenings section with Dantza, while Hadrian Marcu (Brăila, Romania, 1976) will compete in New Directors with Un om la locul lui / A Decent Man, starring Bodgan Dumitrache, winner of last year’s Silver Shell for Best Actor for his work in Pororoca.

This activity, to take place on September 24, 25 and 26, coinciding with Films in Progress 34 and the VII Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum, has the objective of lending greater visibility to European productions in non-hegemonic languages (those not filmed in English, French, German, Italian, Russian and Spanish). In 2017 a film shot in Basque won the Special Jury Prize (Handia) and a production in Romanian, the Silver Shell for Best Actor (Pororoca).

Glocal in Progress will complete the work started in 2014 by the Basque Government Department of Culture and Language Policy with the creation of Glocal Cinema, an initiative to promote networks between the film industries which produce films in non-hegemonic languages.