Mike Downey, European Film Academy Chair, Unveils Slate of Projects Under Downey Ink Banner (EXCLUSIVE)
Producer Mike Downey, who is chair of the European Film Academy and whose co-production “Girls on Wire” is in Berlin competition, has unveiled a diverse slate of films from his production company Downey Ink at the European Film Market.
“My taste for a diverse range of world cinema projects remains,” Downey said. “It is the company’s goal to connect with the best in writing from European masters, as well as engage with projects that demonstrate a social conscience and also have an engaged political agenda. I’m with Mayakovsky when he said, ‘Art is not a mirror to hold up to reality, it is a hammer to beat it into shape.’”
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Downey is developing two feature projects with Prague-based producer Sarka Cimbalova at Marlene Films: an adaptation of Kate?ina Tu?ková’s hit novel “The White Water,” and “Razor Man,” written by Marek Epstein, whose credits include Agnieszka Holland’s “Charlatan.” As previously announced, Downey is executive producer on Holland’s “Franz,” which is also produced by Marlene Films.
Downey and Albania’s Fatmir Ko?i are adapting 1936 Albanian novel “If I Were a Boy” by Haki St?rmilli. The film, which will shoot in the third quarter of 2025, explores the inner world of a girl living in Tirana, and her thoughts on women’s emancipation and empowerment in Albania’s patriarchal society.
Downey and Ko?i are in post-production on a film written by the two of them, “Lady Di.” Shot in Tirana, the film is a drama about three homeless teenagers who find refuge with a kindly prostitute.
Downey has two projects in Turkey: “The Sun, the Moon and the Stars,” to be directed by Emir Kuelal Haznevi, is in pre-production; and “LO-FI,” directed by Alican Durba? and produced by Vayka Film’s Ipek Erden, is in post-production.
Downey is working with Jamilla van der Hulst and Conrad Alleblas of the Netherland’s JaJa Film Prods. on documentary “Cricket Dreams,” which has just completed post-production. It is the story of nine former street-connected children from Delhi who compete in the Street Child Cricket World Cup in Chennai, India. The film will premiere this month at the New Delhi Film Festival.
“Girls on Wire,” written and directed by Vivian Qu, is set against the backdrop of today’s rapidly evolving China, with the film following the plight of two young women and their struggle for self-determination. The film is a genre mix of family drama, thriller and homage to martial arts movies.
It is produced by Sean Chen and co-produced by Downey via L’Avvantura Films and J.Q.Spring Pictures. Films Boutique is handling international sales.
Qu was the director of Venice 2017 competition entry “Angels Wear White” and producer of 2014 Golden and Silver Bear winner “Black Coal, Thin Ice.”
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