The WiP is part of the Fresh Meet Market, held for the second time – the only short film market in Central and Eastern Europe. This initiative is unique in the Central and Eastern European region: currently, there is no other hub that supports live-action short films at this stage.
Friss Hús is currently the only professional platform in the region that accompanies filmmakers from the birth of the film concept, through script development, all the way to post-production. At every stage, it creates opportunities for projects to gain professional support, international visibility, and valuable connections, as well as access to international industry forums.
This is perhaps the most sensitive stage of the creative process: the film already has footage, but post-production has not yet been completed. The aim of the Fresh Meet Market and the WiP is to give momentum to projects at this critical phase, providing connections, professional feedback, and concrete support. While script development opportunities are widely available, platforms focusing on completion are much rarer.
The professional platform of the festival, held for the 14th time and qualifying for the Oscars, offers six selected projects intensive, tailor-made support: editing consultations, distribution and festival strategy advice, professional mentoring, and pitch training. Teams present themselves in a public pitch session and can connect directly with international festival programmers, distributors, and decision-makers through one-on-one meetings and other informal networking events.
The festival’s industry platform offers a key entry point to the international festival circuit. For the six selected projects, the program provides global visibility and effectively supports the integration of Hungarian and regional works into the international professional landscape.
The program is accompanied by a significant award: Gaston Studio provides a €5,000 sound post-production package to the winner. Additionally, Focus Fox offered a paint job worth €3,000.
The effectiveness of the WiP is well demonstrated by last year’s winner, Something Wild (dir. Zsuzsanna Konrád), which won the main prize at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.
Applications are open to projects from any European country with a live-action or animated short film under 40 minutes. The application is free of charge. Further information is available on the WiP website.
Required application materials:
- a film excerpt of up to 3 minutes,
- synopsis, genre, planned duration, budget, and completion schedule,
- director’s concept (director’s statement) and short professional biographies,
- one high-resolution still image.
Application deadline: April 16, 2026 (12:00 CET)
Fresh Meet Market (Budapest): May 31 – June 2, 2026
Fresh Meet Work in Progress 2026 offers an exceptional opportunity for the next generation’s defining short films to gain international attention even before their completion
