connecting cottbus (coco) is an East West co-production market and a networking platform focusing on Eastern European cinema during the FilmFestival Cottbus.

We select 13 feature film projects in development and 6 works in progress / post-production. These are presented to a professional audience of experienced producers, buyers, commissioning editors, world sales and financiers. Projects must have a connection to Eastern Europe in subject or production context.

The 26th edition of coco will take place on 6-8 November 2024 in Cottbus, Germany.

programme info

Aside from offering industry participants the chance to discover new projects and discuss possible partnerships, coco’s framework programme gives insights into current trends and challenges in film financing, production and distribution. The industry topics are explored in the form of panels, round-table discussions, lectures and workshops. Various networking events bring together project representatives and industry participants and also give an opportunity to meet filmmakers from the parallel running FilmFestival Cottbus.

The cocoPITCH project presentations are public to all registered coco participants, while the screenings of cocoWIP (works in progress) are reserved for an audience of sales agents, distributors and other industry experts only. During the closed cocoLAB on the market‘s first prep day, project representatives receive feedback in tailor-made consultancy sessions. The last day of coco is all about the one2one meetings with projects.

press

Please find our current press releases below.
For general press enquiries contact us via
presse@connecting-cottbus.de

  • 18-09-2023

    Press release 3/2023: project selection

    Download
  • 21-06-2023

    Press release 2/2023: awards & open call

    Download
  • 15-05-2023

    Press release 1/2023: call for feature film projects

    Download

For previous coco press releases, have a look at our archive.

awards

cocoPITCH - projects in development

COCOPITCH AUDIENCE AWARD

The industry audience will vote for the best public presentation of a project during the pitch session. The cash prize of €1.500 goes to the producer of the awarded project.

PRODUCERS NETWORK AWARD

The producer of a cocoPITCH project will receive the “Producers Network Award”, free accreditation to the Producers Network at the Marché du Film in Cannes the following year.
www.marchedufilm.com

AVANPOST PITCH PACKAGING AWARD

The production arm of the renowned Romanian post-production facility Avanpost will offer the “Avanpost Pitch Packaging Award”, in-kind services up to €15.000 which may include financing strategy consulting, the project look-book as well as production/post- production for a proof of concept.
www.avanpost.co

HAVC PROJECT DEVELOPMENT AWARD

The Croatian Audiovisual Centre presents a €5.000 cash award towards the further development of one cocoPITCH project.
www.havc.hr

MIDPOINT CONSULTING AWARD

Three projects in development selected for cocoPITCH will receive an in-depth script consultancy online with a MIDPOINT expert. The winners will be determined by MIDPOINT.
www.midpoint-institute.eu

cocoWIP - works in progess

D-FACTO MOTION WIP AWARD

A jury of film industry professionals will present the “D-Facto Motion WiP Award” to a Work in Progress project after the cocoWIP session, consisting in €35.000 in-kind services plus €5.000 granted for additional expenses, sponsored by D-Facto Motion, the renowned post-production studio with branches in six major German cities and the latest high-end technology.
www.d-facto-motion.de

STUDIO BEEP SOUND POST-PRODUCTION AWARD

We are happy to announce a new award for our cocoWIP section, the Studio Beep Sound Post-Production Award, €6.000 in-kind services sponsored by the high-end studios based in the centre of Prague, covering the full spectrum of sound and music solutions.
www.studiobeep.cz

cocolab

The cocoLAB offers in-depth prep meetings to our selected projects, together with group sessions to explore relevant industry topics. The aim of the cocoLAB is to actively support and strengthen each project and the makers behind them.

As an added value to their participation, selected cocoPITCH and cocoWIP representatives receive advice and preparation to pitch their projects in front of our industry audience. In closed cocoLAB sessions, projects also receive individually tailored consultancy from experts in the fields of script development, financing strategies, sales, marketing, training opportunities and funding. Prior to the market, all promotional material will be edited with the project representatives for publication in our catalogue.

downloads

Download our logos, brands and credit screens below. Need any help or looking for something that isn‘t there? Contact us at info@connecting-cottbus.de.

alumni highlights

Founded in 1999, coco was the first co-production market facilitating co-production specifically for the Eastern European region and resulted in notable collaborations that are still thriving to the present day. We are proud that well over half of the projects pitched at coco have been realised as of now, and 68% of them have had an A-festival premiere.

With 24 premieres since 2021 and 13 further titles currently in post-production, recent coco alumni festival successes include BUTTERFLY VISION by Maksym Nakonechnyi (Ukraine/Croatia/Czechia; Un Certain Regard in Cannes 2022), KLONDIKE by Maryna Er Gorbach (Ukraine/Turkey/; Best Director at Sundance 2022), LEAVE NO TRACES by Jan Matuszinski (Poland/Czechia/France; Official Competition in Venice 2021), BRIGHTON 4TH by Levan Koguashvili (Georgia/Bulgaria/Monaco/Russia/USA; Best International Film and Best Screenplay at Tribeca 2021) and SISTERHOOD by Marija Dimitrova (North Macedonia/Kosovo/Montenegro; Special Jury Award, East of the West Competition at Karlovy Vary 2021) and RUNNER by Andrius Blazevicius (Lithuania/Czechia/Estonia; Best Baltic Feature at Tallinn Black Nights 2021).
Three alumni titles will premiere in Karlovy Vary Crystal Globe Competition 2022: THE WORD by Beata Parkanova (Czechia/Poland/Slovakia), BORDERS OF LOVE by Tomasz Winski (Czechia/Poland) and VESPER by Kristina Buozyte and Bruno Samper (Lithuania/France/Belgium).

For a list of all completed coco alumni projects click here.

partners

funding partners


award sponsors


sponsoring partners


supporting partners

archive

For press releases, lists of selected projects per year as well as an overview of completed alumni projects, have a look at our archive.