The European Film Promotion, which brings together 37 European national film centres and promotion agencies, each year selects 20 promising producers to participate at the Producers on the Move platform, based on their previous recognised projects and international co-productions. The list of all participating producers is available here. 

According to the EFP, Tibor Keser has been selected to participate in the programme thanks to his accomplished production catalogue, as well as his work on the multi-award winning  feature documentary El Shatt – A Blueprint for Utopia directed by Ivan Ramljak, which was the most-viewed Croatian documentary in 2023.  

“I’m honoured and proud to be this year’s Croatian representative in the Producers on the Move programme in Cannes, thus continuing the lucky streak initiated by my predecessors – the other successful producers from Croatia. I’m thankful to the Croatian Audiovisual Centre for the nomination and its support.

I’ll use the time in Cannes to promote the fiction feature “Spacehead”, which I’m producing in collaboration with producer and director Marina Andree Škop, which we’ll start filming later this year. It is a live-action film interspersed with animation, intended primarily for a children’s audience, and it is a co-production between four countries, so it’s already garnered considerable interest from European distributors – I hope to get it into theatres in as many countries as possible. I will also be presenting the latest film of American-Croatian director Daniela Repas “Pour the Water as I Leave”, a feature-length hybrid animated documentary featuring the testimonies of people from the region who fled the war 25 years ago and how it relates to refugees in the present moment. I will also present photographer, cinematographer and film director Bojan Mrđenović’s debut feature-length documentary “Kolo”.

I believe that opportunities like these, in which you gain new experiences and meet industry contacts, are a lifelong process that allows us to grow as individuals, and also, I think it’s really important that Croatian filmmaking is getting the attention it deserves with as many diverse projects as possible in all phases, so actually, I'm really looking forward to this opportunity”, said Tibor Keser.

This year, the programme Producers on the Move is held in hybrid format, combining online sessions prior to the Cannes Film Festival, 30th April – 2nd May, with events taking place during the festival, from 16th to 20th May 2024. 

The Producers on the Move is a networking platform with the aim of fostering European film co-productions, intended for enterprising producers whose careers are on the rise. Each year, the participants take part in lectures, workshops, pitching sessions and one-on-one meetings with industry experts, which also opens up promotion opportunities in international industry publications. 

Since its launch, the programme has hosted almost 500 producers of which many have become internationally acclaimed filmmakers, some even going on to win Academy Awards. In 2023, Croatian producer Miljenka Čogelja also participated in the programme. Along with the EFP network, the Producers on the Move programme is made possible with the support of the MEDIA Sub-programme of Creative Europe.

The European Film Promotion is a film promotion network bringing together 37 European national film centres and agencies with the aim of fostering collaboration on joint projects and initiatives that help promote European film accomplishments and talents across the world. The Croatian Audiovisual Centre has been a full-fledged member since January 2009, while the complete list of all member countries can be found here. 

Tibor Keser launched Zagreb’s KOMPOT in 2019, as a creative centre for established talents from the region, focused on finding unique film stories, bringing together different art forms, and developing new audiences on the Croatian and international scene. So far, he has participated in the making of over fifty multi-award-winning films that have toured a large number of European and world festivals. Since 2014, he has been working with the production company Restart as producer, co-producer and executive producer, dealing mostly with documentary films, as well as with the production company PomPom Film since 2023.

Keser participated in several programmes for professional training of producers, such as: EAVE — European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs in 2019 with the project Fiume o morte!, Ji.hlava Emerging Producers in 2017, Berlinale Talents in 2016, EURODOC in 2015, and Sarajevo Talent Campus in 2013. He is a member of the Split Cinema Club, as well as the Croatian Producers Association.

Cover photograph: Tibor Keser; Producers on the Move 2024 participants visual