"Sun Belt Express" and "Lake Los Angeles" win main prizes at the 3rd US in Progress Wrocław

US in Progress Wrocław is a works-in-progress event targeted at American independent filmmakers and European buyers. It presents independent US films in final production stages to European buyers, post-production houses and festivals in order to help them achieve completion and to foster the circulation and distribution of American indie films in Europe.

This year, 6 films, selected from around 40 submissions competed for prizes consisting of post-production and promotional services worth $60,000.

The main awards went to Sun Belt Express by Evan Wolf Buxbaum (producers: Noah Lang and Iyabo Boyd) and Lake Los Angeles byMike Ott (produced by Athina Rachel Tsangari). The former received DI image post-production from Platige Image studio (Warsaw), foley from Aeroplan Studio (Warsaw), final sound mix from Alvernia Studios (Kraków) and soundtrack from composer Maciej Zieliński of Soundflower Studio (Warsaw), while the latter was offered DI image post-production from DI Factory studio (Warsaw), foley from Aeroplan Studio (Warsaw), DCP creation from DCINEX, subtitling from VSI Paris/Chinkel and the promotional award from Europa Distribution International and CICAE.

Other awarded films were: Summer of Blood by director-producer Onur Tukel (producer: Clifford McCurdy, Melodie Sisk, Max Heller, Matt Grady), which was offered sound design from Soundflower Studio (Warsaw) and Wild Canaries byLawrence Michael Levine (produced by Sophia Takal, Kim Sherman and McCabe Walsh) – given an Acquisition Award by the Polish film channel Ale Kino+. Additionally, Aeroplan Studio (Warsaw) offered soundtrack composition to the film Happy Baby by Stephen Elliott (produced by Jessica Caldwell), while producer Ashley Maynor (Some Beasts by Cameron Nelson) received a free pass for the 2014 Producers’ Network in Cannes

US in Progress Wrocław took place in the scope of the 4th American Film Festival in Wrocław, Poland on 23-25 October 2013. Over 50 participants took part, including programmers from Rotterdam FF, Tribeca FF and Semaine de la Critique. Attending buyers included, among others Match Factory, K5, The Works, Urban Distribution, Wide Management, Reel Suspects, Film Republic, New Europe Film Sales and Sophie Dulac Distribution.

US in Progress Wrocław (formerly Gotham in Progress) was started in 2011 by the New Horizons Association and Black Rabbit Film. Previous films presented at US in Progress Wrocław included, among others: I Used To Be Darker by Matt Porterfield, (Sundance, Berlinale 2013), Hide Your Smiling Faces by Daniel Carbone (Berlinale Generation, Tribeca), Bluebird by Lance Edmands (Tribeca, Karlovy Vary), Jason Cortlund & Julia Halperin’s Now, Forager: a Film About Love and Fungi (Rotterdam, New Directors/New Films, Gotham Awards nominee) and Amy Seimetz’s Sun Don’t Shine (SXSW, Edinburgh IFF, Gotham Awards nominee).

US in Progress Wrocław is supported by the City of Wrocław, American Embassy in Warsaw and Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.