‘Honeyland’ Producer Atanas Georgiev Preps Two New Projects

By Christopher Vourlias

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Atanas Georgiev, producer of North Macedonia’s dual Academy Award nominee “Honeyland,” is prepping two new projects.

Riding the spectacular success of Ljubomir Stefanov and Tamara Kotevska’s acclaimed debut that was nominated in both the documentary and international feature film categories, Georgiev is developing a documentary about a disabled carpenter on a journey to become a cyborg, and a second film that he calls “a witty approach to telling the story of sheep’s involvement in human cultural evolution.”

Georgiev said interest in his slate has been sky-high following the unexpected award-season run of “,” a portrait of a lone rural beekeeper clinging to a traditional way of life which Variety described as a “ravishingly shot” and “visually poetic” feature. “The doors are really opened at the moment,” he said.

“Homo Ex Machina” is the story of an amputee in the process of being fitted with a revolutionary new prosthetic device that uses specially designed software which works directly between the artificial limb and the brain. “Neither scientists [nor] patients know exactly how this functions,” said Georgiev. “It’s very strange, and it’s beyond the future. Many moral questions are appearing.”

Pic is produced by DOMAR GmbH (Germany) and co-produced by Georgiev’s Trice Films. First-time helmer Stefan Palitov will direct, with cinematography by “Honeyland” DoP Samir Ljuma. Georgiev expects to close financing and development soon with an eye toward a 2021 release.

“Planet Sheep” is an offbeat educational film about the natural world, told through the eyes of sheep. Georgiev called it “a weird anthropological story” about the ways in which the animals have developed in parallel to the human population. “The opinion about being sheep and being stupid is very wrong,” he said. “They are very intelligent creatures.”

Production on the film has already begun. Directed by Marvin Entholt, pic is produced by Heidefilm (Germany) and co-produced by Trice Films.