Film- und Medienstiftung NRW Funds Next Episodes – the Journey Continues!
1. Funding of New Episodes
Two years ago we had just arrived in Thessaloniki, Greece after cycling over 2000km. It was a bittersweet feeling to arrive in this next destination of ours, knowing that the trip from now on will look different as a long ferry ride was ahead of us. We also knew that our work however was far from over and that the situation we would encounter in Lesvos may probably be the toughest yet.
Last week we received the news that our yearlong search for further funding is finally bearing fruits. And we are beyond the moon to now be able to share this huge development with you! The Film- and Medienstiftung NRW has decided to support our post-production with €30.000 over the course of the next six months. This means that from now on our journey will once more take on a new form, which feels similar to Thessaloniki back then. We will spend the months ahead with formalizing all necessary paperwork. Such a big sum comes naturally with some bureaucracy and financial audits on how we are using the money. After the paperwork we will head back to the editing room to bring the next episodes to you!
We are confident that with these funds we will be able to bring the production of Refugee Roads to a close by summer 2019. Afterwards we will eventually transit to spreading the episodes as far as possible. We don’t know exactly how that will look like yet but we already discussed ideas like an updated and interactive website, a showing tour through parts of Europe, an extensive festival campaign, and much more. So please stay tuned and have just a little more patience!
2. Festival Selections
In addition to funding we are also glad to announce that the pilot episode has been selected by two film festivals. We are very grateful that through these selection we will reach a wider audience and hope that the message of Refugee Roads will be heard by a few more people. On August 9 the Respect Human Rights Filmfestival will screen the Pilot in Belfast, Ireland. And on August 18 it will be screened during the Web Series Festival in Utah, USA. Thank you for the recognition!
With best wishes,
Florian & Timo