The Hubert Bals Fund of the International Film Festival Rotterdam has selected fourteen film projects from countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East to receive grants in the categories Hbf Script & Project Development and Hbf Postproduction, totalling € 175,000. The selected films include the latest project by acclaimed Iranian auteur Mohammad Rasoulof
Two film projects from Argentina, produced by Viking Film and Topkapi Films, have been selected for the second round of the Netherlands Film Fund + Hubert Bals Fund (Nff+Hbf) Coproduction Scheme 2015.
Hbf Script & Project Development selection
In its Fall 2015 selection round, the Hbf supported eight projects with a Script and Project Development grant, selected from 259 applications. The selection includes four first or second projects by filmmakers Sorayos Prapapan, Gym Lumbera, Shahram Mokri and Liu Shu, and new projects by four award-winning filmmakers.
"Arnold Is a Model Student," Sorayos Prapapan, Thailand
"Kékszakállú," Gastón Solnicki, Argentina
"Lotus Position," Liu Shu, China
"The Mysteries of Taal: A Philippine Volcano and Lake, Her Sea Life and Lost Towns," Gym Lumbera, Philippines
"Over the City," Emir Baigazin, Kazakhstan
"Wine Sediment," Mohammad Rasoulof, Iran
"Yellow Apples," Shahram Mokri, Iran
"Antigone," Pedro González-Rubio, Mexico
Hbf Postproduction selection
The Hubert Bals Fund supported six films with a Postproduction grant, selected from 65 applications. Three filmmakers’ first fiction feature films were selected: "Hedi" by Mohamed Ben Attia, "Suspension" by Ala Eddine Slim and Alba by Ana Cristina Barragan. Also awarded with a Hbf Postproduction grant are: "La flor" by Mariano Llinás, "Era o Hotel Cambridge" by Eliane Caffé and "Burning Birds" by former Iffr Tiger Awards nominee Sanjeewa Pushkumara.
"Alba," Ana Cristina Barragan, Ecuador
"Burning Birds," Sanjeewa Pushpakumara, Sri Lanka
"Era o Hotel Cambridge," Eliane Caffé, Brazil
"Hedi," Mohamed Ben Attia, Tunisia
"La flor," Mariano Llinás, Argentina
"Suspension," Ala Eddine Slim, Tunisia
Nff+Hbf Coproduction Scheme 2015 selection
The Netherlands Film Fund and the Hubert Bals Fund have selected two Argentinian film projects in the Fall 2015 round of its joint Nff+Hbf Coproduction Scheme: "Rojo" by Benjamin Naishtat, coproduced by Dutch producer Viking Film and "La cama" by Mónica Lairana, coproduced by Dutch producer Topkapi Films. These two projects will receive a production contribution of €50,000 from the Netherlands Film Fund.
Viking Film will coproduce "Rojo," Benjamin Naishtat’s third feature film. Earlier films of this filmmaker include " Historia del miedo" (Competition Berlinale, 2014) and "El movimiento" (Competition Locarno, Filmmakers of the Present, 2015). "Rojo" is set in Argentina in the 1970s, a country suffering from an unprecedented wave of political violence. In these dark times, an ordinary man sees his chances to hide a very bad deed. The film will be produced by Pucará Cine (Argentina) and coproduced by Ecce Films (France), Sutor Kolonko Filmproduktion (Germany) , Desvia (Brazil) and Viking Film (The Netherlands).
Topkapi Films will coproduce Mónica Lairana’s first feature film "La cama." Laraina’s previous short films include "María" (2012), "Rosa" (2010), which both screened at Iffr. La cama tells the story of Jorge (58) and Mabel (56) in the final day of their relationship. We see them eat, make love, cry and laugh, while deconstructing their family home after 30 years of marriage. The film will be produced by Rio Abajo Producciones (Argentina) and coproduced by Gema Films (Argentina), Adriana Yurkovich (Argentina) , Mónica Lairana (Argentina) and Topkapi Films (The Netherlands).
Two film projects from Argentina, produced by Viking Film and Topkapi Films, have been selected for the second round of the Netherlands Film Fund + Hubert Bals Fund (Nff+Hbf) Coproduction Scheme 2015.
Hbf Script & Project Development selection
In its Fall 2015 selection round, the Hbf supported eight projects with a Script and Project Development grant, selected from 259 applications. The selection includes four first or second projects by filmmakers Sorayos Prapapan, Gym Lumbera, Shahram Mokri and Liu Shu, and new projects by four award-winning filmmakers.
"Arnold Is a Model Student," Sorayos Prapapan, Thailand
"Kékszakállú," Gastón Solnicki, Argentina
"Lotus Position," Liu Shu, China
"The Mysteries of Taal: A Philippine Volcano and Lake, Her Sea Life and Lost Towns," Gym Lumbera, Philippines
"Over the City," Emir Baigazin, Kazakhstan
"Wine Sediment," Mohammad Rasoulof, Iran
"Yellow Apples," Shahram Mokri, Iran
"Antigone," Pedro González-Rubio, Mexico
Hbf Postproduction selection
The Hubert Bals Fund supported six films with a Postproduction grant, selected from 65 applications. Three filmmakers’ first fiction feature films were selected: "Hedi" by Mohamed Ben Attia, "Suspension" by Ala Eddine Slim and Alba by Ana Cristina Barragan. Also awarded with a Hbf Postproduction grant are: "La flor" by Mariano Llinás, "Era o Hotel Cambridge" by Eliane Caffé and "Burning Birds" by former Iffr Tiger Awards nominee Sanjeewa Pushkumara.
"Alba," Ana Cristina Barragan, Ecuador
"Burning Birds," Sanjeewa Pushpakumara, Sri Lanka
"Era o Hotel Cambridge," Eliane Caffé, Brazil
"Hedi," Mohamed Ben Attia, Tunisia
"La flor," Mariano Llinás, Argentina
"Suspension," Ala Eddine Slim, Tunisia
Nff+Hbf Coproduction Scheme 2015 selection
The Netherlands Film Fund and the Hubert Bals Fund have selected two Argentinian film projects in the Fall 2015 round of its joint Nff+Hbf Coproduction Scheme: "Rojo" by Benjamin Naishtat, coproduced by Dutch producer Viking Film and "La cama" by Mónica Lairana, coproduced by Dutch producer Topkapi Films. These two projects will receive a production contribution of €50,000 from the Netherlands Film Fund.
Viking Film will coproduce "Rojo," Benjamin Naishtat’s third feature film. Earlier films of this filmmaker include " Historia del miedo" (Competition Berlinale, 2014) and "El movimiento" (Competition Locarno, Filmmakers of the Present, 2015). "Rojo" is set in Argentina in the 1970s, a country suffering from an unprecedented wave of political violence. In these dark times, an ordinary man sees his chances to hide a very bad deed. The film will be produced by Pucará Cine (Argentina) and coproduced by Ecce Films (France), Sutor Kolonko Filmproduktion (Germany) , Desvia (Brazil) and Viking Film (The Netherlands).
Topkapi Films will coproduce Mónica Lairana’s first feature film "La cama." Laraina’s previous short films include "María" (2012), "Rosa" (2010), which both screened at Iffr. La cama tells the story of Jorge (58) and Mabel (56) in the final day of their relationship. We see them eat, make love, cry and laugh, while deconstructing their family home after 30 years of marriage. The film will be produced by Rio Abajo Producciones (Argentina) and coproduced by Gema Films (Argentina), Adriana Yurkovich (Argentina) , Mónica Lairana (Argentina) and Topkapi Films (The Netherlands).
- 12/1/2015
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Claire Denis’ presentation was moderated The Hollywood Reporter’s Todd McCarthy. Since Claire was the head of La Fabrique du Cinema du Monde this year, she brought the Chinese director-producer team Liu Shu and Liang Ying as guests to discuss their take on gender politics in the cinema industry as they know it. Their film, “ Lotus Position” is one of 13 projects chosen by La Fabrique this year. With a budget of € 420,000 of which € 80,000 has been secured, they are searching for coproducers and cowriters and for post-production studios as project partners (Europe and Asia), distributors, international sales, international funds (Eurimages Support to World Cinema, World Cinema Fund, SorFond, Visions Sud Est, Doha Film Institute grant post production).
Watch the video of the interview here.
Clair was rather vague about her own success “as a woman”. She said she was not really conscious of any prejudices or mishandling when she got into the business. Maybe the men saw her as this little sassy little girl, but to her, she was just working to do what she loved and did not really notice. It was unusual when she started directing, and there were not many women, but that never stopped her. It was most important to make a film. Doubt was not about being a woman, but about whether she could make a good film. Maybe some people saw her as a “little girl who wanted to make movies”, but that never touched her at all. It was as if she was “walking in the rain without getting wet”. Her parents never stopped her either.
“Did you have female role modes?” Todd McCarthy asked her.
“I read mostly. Virginia Woolf was my favorite.” She didn’t want to even begin to think about Simone de Beauvoir (editor here: I am rereading Simone de Beauvoir now! The Mandarins) She read Francoise Sagan (“How I adored Bonjour Tristesse and A Certain Smile which I paired with the Johnny Matthes song in the days of my youth,” I thought – Sydney here). She had no fear. Juliette Greco (who starred in Otto Preminger’s 1958 Bonjour Tristesse) was so strong. She was on top. Thanks to 1946 French cinema, she was accepted in the small French film industry.
How do you see cinema today?
There are so many coproductions with France, like Jim Jarmusch’s new film [sic. If I heard this correctly, I have been unable to track what his new film is…sorry fans. But “Only Lovers Left Alive” did have French coproduction money. S.]
In Hollywood they say women have trouble with the crews. Did you?
As first Ad, maybe the crew was a bit annoyed; my voice was not loud enough. But we made a film. The power of concentrating and the power of belief is stronger than that.
[Todd asks this] as a film critic: Among other women critics, are there so many women critics in France?
Maybe less, there is some prejudice from Cahiers de Cinema. But there are female critics though it may be a more masculine world.
How has the French industry changed since you entered in the 70s?
Maurice Pialet said, “More and more women are working in cinema because it is no longer alive. Cinema is dead”. I see more girls in school, equal between boys and girls. There seem to be more women producers than men. There is no “pushing”, women are there. In some other countries, it is not so.
Each time Claire starts a new project, she starts from zero. Her self-doubt is not that she can’t do it, but that she might not be able to go ahead enough with shrewdness and determination without complaining about obstacles, to keep on convincing “them”. Women must come in on time and on budget.
As a note on Les Fabrique du Cinema du Monde, Claire described the “master classes” as having no master nor class. It is a collaboration of newer and more seasoned cineastes. A female Chinese journalist made her first film and is meeting now with industry people she said referring to one of her guests, Liu Shu.
How about women in the Chinese industry?
Claire’s two Chinese guests are at Cinema du Monde with “ Lotus Position”, about a young woman’s psychological and personal quest in China today which takes her from pain to fear, from confrontation to serenity and ends with the question remaining: Can she accept injustice?
Director Liu Shu is a graduate of the University of Shandong where she majored in art. She became a television journalist and then turned to the cinema. Employed in an Ngo, she presented independent and experimental films in a network of academic and artistic venues.” Lotus”, the first film she directed, wrote and produced on her own, premiered at the Critics' Week in Venice in 2012 .
Producer Liang Ying has worked with the production company, Chinese Shadows, for three years. Headquartered in Hong Kong, this sales and production company represents the new generation of Asian filmmakers in order to introduce them worldwide and to accompany in their meetings with their public. Chines Shadows' recent productions include “Red Amnesia” (Wang Xiaoshuai, Venice 2014 Competition) and “(Sex) Appeal” (Wang Wei Ming, Busan 2014 Competition).
The Chinese industry is progressing according to Liu Shu. But she likes Claire Denis’ description of doing “a good job” for its depiction of a male-female work.
She read the N.Y. Film Academy Study of 2007 and no such statistical study exists in China. They hear in China there were two commercial films by women. Women make independent films with no support; it is a fight to make a film. There are not many women directors in China.
Director Liu Shu never watches TV because it is always about men with a lot of women. The image they always see is about a woman searching for a husband.
Todd: Why are there so many films like that?
Because the Chinese leader is a man.
How do you fight against that?
Add more women?
It is a small industry with small companies. One company can make a big difference. At university there were many women.
The audience had some interesting questions:
“How to inspire investors to take a chance with women?”
“How to change the talk from revolution to revelation?
Producer, Joyce Pierpolone (a guest at the events) cited the Sundance-Women in Film-usc Study of Women in the Cinema (available on Sundance.org ) which says that the number of women writers, directors, DPs and producers stopped growing some 10 years ago and as budgets got larger, there were less women. Even though at film schools gender representation is 50-50.
The Kering Foundation combats violence against women. In line with the Group’s new identity and to enhance its impact internationally, the Foundation has refocused its actions on three geographic areas and prioritizes one cause in each:
Sexual violence in the Americas (United-States, Brazil and Argentina) Harmful traditional practices in Western Europe (France, Italy and United-Kingdom) Domestic violence in Asia (China) The Foundation structures its action around 3 key pillars:
Supporting local and international NGOs Awarding Social Entrepreneurs (Social Entrepreneurs Awards) Organizing awareness campaigns You can watch all the speakers live on The Kering Group videos here: https://vimeo.com/keringgroup/videos...
Watch the video of the interview here.
Clair was rather vague about her own success “as a woman”. She said she was not really conscious of any prejudices or mishandling when she got into the business. Maybe the men saw her as this little sassy little girl, but to her, she was just working to do what she loved and did not really notice. It was unusual when she started directing, and there were not many women, but that never stopped her. It was most important to make a film. Doubt was not about being a woman, but about whether she could make a good film. Maybe some people saw her as a “little girl who wanted to make movies”, but that never touched her at all. It was as if she was “walking in the rain without getting wet”. Her parents never stopped her either.
“Did you have female role modes?” Todd McCarthy asked her.
“I read mostly. Virginia Woolf was my favorite.” She didn’t want to even begin to think about Simone de Beauvoir (editor here: I am rereading Simone de Beauvoir now! The Mandarins) She read Francoise Sagan (“How I adored Bonjour Tristesse and A Certain Smile which I paired with the Johnny Matthes song in the days of my youth,” I thought – Sydney here). She had no fear. Juliette Greco (who starred in Otto Preminger’s 1958 Bonjour Tristesse) was so strong. She was on top. Thanks to 1946 French cinema, she was accepted in the small French film industry.
How do you see cinema today?
There are so many coproductions with France, like Jim Jarmusch’s new film [sic. If I heard this correctly, I have been unable to track what his new film is…sorry fans. But “Only Lovers Left Alive” did have French coproduction money. S.]
In Hollywood they say women have trouble with the crews. Did you?
As first Ad, maybe the crew was a bit annoyed; my voice was not loud enough. But we made a film. The power of concentrating and the power of belief is stronger than that.
[Todd asks this] as a film critic: Among other women critics, are there so many women critics in France?
Maybe less, there is some prejudice from Cahiers de Cinema. But there are female critics though it may be a more masculine world.
How has the French industry changed since you entered in the 70s?
Maurice Pialet said, “More and more women are working in cinema because it is no longer alive. Cinema is dead”. I see more girls in school, equal between boys and girls. There seem to be more women producers than men. There is no “pushing”, women are there. In some other countries, it is not so.
Each time Claire starts a new project, she starts from zero. Her self-doubt is not that she can’t do it, but that she might not be able to go ahead enough with shrewdness and determination without complaining about obstacles, to keep on convincing “them”. Women must come in on time and on budget.
As a note on Les Fabrique du Cinema du Monde, Claire described the “master classes” as having no master nor class. It is a collaboration of newer and more seasoned cineastes. A female Chinese journalist made her first film and is meeting now with industry people she said referring to one of her guests, Liu Shu.
How about women in the Chinese industry?
Claire’s two Chinese guests are at Cinema du Monde with “ Lotus Position”, about a young woman’s psychological and personal quest in China today which takes her from pain to fear, from confrontation to serenity and ends with the question remaining: Can she accept injustice?
Director Liu Shu is a graduate of the University of Shandong where she majored in art. She became a television journalist and then turned to the cinema. Employed in an Ngo, she presented independent and experimental films in a network of academic and artistic venues.” Lotus”, the first film she directed, wrote and produced on her own, premiered at the Critics' Week in Venice in 2012 .
Producer Liang Ying has worked with the production company, Chinese Shadows, for three years. Headquartered in Hong Kong, this sales and production company represents the new generation of Asian filmmakers in order to introduce them worldwide and to accompany in their meetings with their public. Chines Shadows' recent productions include “Red Amnesia” (Wang Xiaoshuai, Venice 2014 Competition) and “(Sex) Appeal” (Wang Wei Ming, Busan 2014 Competition).
The Chinese industry is progressing according to Liu Shu. But she likes Claire Denis’ description of doing “a good job” for its depiction of a male-female work.
She read the N.Y. Film Academy Study of 2007 and no such statistical study exists in China. They hear in China there were two commercial films by women. Women make independent films with no support; it is a fight to make a film. There are not many women directors in China.
Director Liu Shu never watches TV because it is always about men with a lot of women. The image they always see is about a woman searching for a husband.
Todd: Why are there so many films like that?
Because the Chinese leader is a man.
How do you fight against that?
Add more women?
It is a small industry with small companies. One company can make a big difference. At university there were many women.
The audience had some interesting questions:
“How to inspire investors to take a chance with women?”
“How to change the talk from revolution to revelation?
Producer, Joyce Pierpolone (a guest at the events) cited the Sundance-Women in Film-usc Study of Women in the Cinema (available on Sundance.org ) which says that the number of women writers, directors, DPs and producers stopped growing some 10 years ago and as budgets got larger, there were less women. Even though at film schools gender representation is 50-50.
The Kering Foundation combats violence against women. In line with the Group’s new identity and to enhance its impact internationally, the Foundation has refocused its actions on three geographic areas and prioritizes one cause in each:
Sexual violence in the Americas (United-States, Brazil and Argentina) Harmful traditional practices in Western Europe (France, Italy and United-Kingdom) Domestic violence in Asia (China) The Foundation structures its action around 3 key pillars:
Supporting local and international NGOs Awarding Social Entrepreneurs (Social Entrepreneurs Awards) Organizing awareness campaigns You can watch all the speakers live on The Kering Group videos here: https://vimeo.com/keringgroup/videos...
- 6/19/2015
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Exclusive: Hong Kong-based sales company Asian Shadows has picked up international rights to Zhang Yang’s Tibetan drama Paths Of The Soul.
Zhang, whose credits include critical and commercial hits such as Shower, Quitting and Getting Home, has spent the past year filming his new project in Tibet. Currently in post-production, the film follows a small group of Buddhist pilgrims who embark on a 2,000-kilometres bowing pilgrimage to Lhasa.
Based on true events and using non-professional actors, the film is set against some of the most stunning landscapes in China.
“The film reveals the realities of Tibetan life rather than imposing the filmmaker’s perspective,” said Asian Shadows’ founder Isabelle Glachant. “Its incredible to see how faith sustains these pilgrims on a physically gruelling journey that lasts for many months.”
Zhang shot the film in a documentary style, without a script and using non-professional actors. “We shot this film at 4,000 metres altitude and above. We were eating...
Zhang, whose credits include critical and commercial hits such as Shower, Quitting and Getting Home, has spent the past year filming his new project in Tibet. Currently in post-production, the film follows a small group of Buddhist pilgrims who embark on a 2,000-kilometres bowing pilgrimage to Lhasa.
Based on true events and using non-professional actors, the film is set against some of the most stunning landscapes in China.
“The film reveals the realities of Tibetan life rather than imposing the filmmaker’s perspective,” said Asian Shadows’ founder Isabelle Glachant. “Its incredible to see how faith sustains these pilgrims on a physically gruelling journey that lasts for many months.”
Zhang shot the film in a documentary style, without a script and using non-professional actors. “We shot this film at 4,000 metres altitude and above. We were eating...
- 5/17/2015
- by lizshackleton@gmail.com (Liz Shackleton)
- ScreenDaily
Directors include Brillante Mendoza, Vimukthi Jayasundara, Yeon Sang-ho.Scroll down for full list
Busan’s Asian Project Market (Apm) has announced this year’s line-up including films from directors Brillante Mendoza, Vimukthi Jayasundara, Yeon Sang-ho and July Jung.
Winner of the 2005 Cannes Film Festival Camera d’or, Vimukthi Jayasundara (The Forbidden Land) will present Sri Lankan project Hair Of The Dog That Bit You.
The drama is about a female tourist guide’s loss of memory and identity, and her struggle to come to terms with what is left of her life and an unknown future.
Cannes 2009 Best Director winner Brillante Mendoza (Kinatay) has Philippines-France-Germany co-production Fowl in the Apm line-up.
The story follows Ramon, a Filipino contract worker working at Singapore Post. When his wife Jenny suddenly dies, he has to travel back to the Philippines with her as if she were one of the many parcels he is so used to handling.
Korean directors...
Busan’s Asian Project Market (Apm) has announced this year’s line-up including films from directors Brillante Mendoza, Vimukthi Jayasundara, Yeon Sang-ho and July Jung.
Winner of the 2005 Cannes Film Festival Camera d’or, Vimukthi Jayasundara (The Forbidden Land) will present Sri Lankan project Hair Of The Dog That Bit You.
The drama is about a female tourist guide’s loss of memory and identity, and her struggle to come to terms with what is left of her life and an unknown future.
Cannes 2009 Best Director winner Brillante Mendoza (Kinatay) has Philippines-France-Germany co-production Fowl in the Apm line-up.
The story follows Ramon, a Filipino contract worker working at Singapore Post. When his wife Jenny suddenly dies, he has to travel back to the Philippines with her as if she were one of the many parcels he is so used to handling.
Korean directors...
- 8/19/2014
- by hjnoh2007@gmail.com (Jean Noh)
- ScreenDaily
Directors include Brillante Mendoza, Vimukthi Jayasundara, Yeon Sang-ho.
Busan’s Asian Project Market (Apm) has announced this year’s line-up including directors Brillante Mendoza, Vimukthi Jayasundara, Yeon Sang-ho and July Jung.
Winner of the 2005 Cannes Film Festival Camera d’or, Vimukthi Jayasundara (The Forbidden Land) will present Sri Lankan project Hair Of The Dog That Bit You.
The drama is about a female tourist guide’s loss of memory and identity, and her struggle to come to terms with what is left of her life and an unknown future.
Cannes 2009 Best Director winner Brillante Mendoza (Kinatay) has Philippines-France-Germany co-production Fowl in the Apm line-up.
The story follows Ramon, a Filipino contract worker working at Singapore Post. When his wife Jenny suddenly dies, he has to travel back to the Philippines with her as if she were one of the many parcels he is so used to handling.
Korean directors include July Jung, the [link=nm...
Busan’s Asian Project Market (Apm) has announced this year’s line-up including directors Brillante Mendoza, Vimukthi Jayasundara, Yeon Sang-ho and July Jung.
Winner of the 2005 Cannes Film Festival Camera d’or, Vimukthi Jayasundara (The Forbidden Land) will present Sri Lankan project Hair Of The Dog That Bit You.
The drama is about a female tourist guide’s loss of memory and identity, and her struggle to come to terms with what is left of her life and an unknown future.
Cannes 2009 Best Director winner Brillante Mendoza (Kinatay) has Philippines-France-Germany co-production Fowl in the Apm line-up.
The story follows Ramon, a Filipino contract worker working at Singapore Post. When his wife Jenny suddenly dies, he has to travel back to the Philippines with her as if she were one of the many parcels he is so used to handling.
Korean directors include July Jung, the [link=nm...
- 8/19/2014
- by hjnoh2007@gmail.com (Jean Noh)
- ScreenDaily
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