Mike Downey, European Film Academy Chair, Unveils Slate of Projects Under Downey Ink Banner (EXCLUSIVE)

variety.com:

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor 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.’” Downey is developing two feature projects with Prague-based producer Sarka Cimbalova at Marlene Films: an adaptation of Kateřina Tučková’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 Koçi are adapting 1936 Albanian novel “If I Were a Boy” by Haki Stërmilli. 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 Koçi 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.