Hubert Bals Fund announces Spring 2015 and NFF+HBF selections

Rotterdam

Summary

The Hubert Bals Fund (HBF) of International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) has selected eight film projects from seven countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East to receive script and project development grants totaling €80,000. Two film projects from Turkey and Nepal, produced by Topkapi Films and Waterland Film have been selected for the first round of The Netherlands Film Fund + Hubert Bals Fund Coproduction Scheme 2015. HBF is an initiative of IFFR. The Fund is designed to offer financial support to extraordinary film talent from Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and parts of Eastern Europe in the realization of their feature films.

The Hubert Bals Fund (HBF) of International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) has selected eight film projects from seven countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East to receive script and project development grants totaling €80,000.

Two film projects from Turkey and Nepal, produced by Topkapi Films and Waterland Film have been selected for the first round of The Netherlands Film Fund + Hubert Bals Fund Coproduction Scheme 2015.

Hubert Bals Fund Spring 2015 selection

In its Spring 2015 selection round, the HBF supports eight outstanding film projects with a contribution towards their script and project development, among which four projects from first-time feature filmmakers (Alice Furtado, Maya Da-Rin, Hugo Gimenez and Kaouther Ben Hania) and four projects directed by women: SICK SICK SICK, THE FEVER, BEAUTY AND THE DOGS and BARZAGH.

Other highlights include a new project by Santiago Loza: BRIEF STORY FROM THE GREEN PLANET. Loza’s debut film EXTRAÑO (2003) was supported by HBF and won a Tiger Award at IFFR 2003. In 2006 he returned to IFFR with 4 MUJERES DESCALZAS, which was also supported by HBF and presented at CineMart in 2004.

THREE MISSING POLICEMEN is the new film by Chinese director Ju Anqi, whose film POET ON A BUSINESS TRIP had its world premiere at IFFR 2015, winning the NETPAC Award. Following the events in the lives of three policemen, the film shows the rapid changes in Chinese society within the last three decades.

Alice Furtado’s short DUEL BEFORE NIGHTFALL was shown at IFFR in 2012. Now the HBF supports her first feature SICK SICK SICK, a physical and heartbreaking genre defying love story between two teenagers.

Two international co-productions supported by HBF+NFF

Two film projects, coproduced by Topkapi Films and Waterland Film, have been selected for the first round of the NFF+HBF Coproduction Scheme 2015. The projects will receive production grants of € 50.000, provided by the Netherlands Film Fund. Topkapi Films coproduces SOMETHING USEFUL by Pelin Esmer (Turkey), Waterland Film coproduces WHITE SUN by Deepak Rauniyar (Nepal).

SOMETHING USEFUL is Pelin Esmer’s third feature film. The project received HBF Script & Project Development support in 2014. Her previous films 10 TO 11 and WATCHTOWER both screened at IFFR. Something Useful is produced by Mars Prodüksiyon (Turkey) and coproduced by SinefilM (Turkey), Les Films de L'Après-Midi (France) and Topkapi Films (The Netherlands).

WHITE SUN, Nepali director Deepak Rauniyar’s second feature film, was supported by HBF for Script & Project Development in 2013 and was subsequently selected for the Boost! coaching trajectory, a joint initiative of IFFR’s Hubert Bals Fund, CineMart, the Binger Filmlab and the National Film Development Corporation of India.

White Sun is produced by Aadi Production (Nepal), Louverture Films (USA) and is coproduced by Waterland Film (The Netherlands).

Hubert Bals Fund Spring 2015 selection

HBF Script & Project Development

Barzagh – Saodat Ismailova, Uzbekistan

Beauty and the Dogs – Kaouther Ben Hania, Tunisia

Brief Story from the Green Planet – Santiago Loza, Argentina

The Fever – Maya Da-Rin, Brazil

Killing the Dead – Hugo Gimenez, Paraguay

Sick Sick Sick – Alice Furtado, Brazil

Tehran: City of Love – Ali Jaberansari, Iran

The Three Missing Policemen - Ju Anqi, China

A script and project development grant can be used for the further development of the script or presentation of the project to financiers or other potential partners at (international) co-production meetings or film festivals.

Projects selected for The Netherlands Film Fund + Hubert Bals Fund Coproduction Scheme:

White Sun - Deepak Rauniyar, Nepal

Something Useful - Pelin Esmer, Turkey

NFF+HBF (previously known as HBF Plus) is a collaboration between the Netherlands Film Fund and the Hubert Bals Fund. In the past nine years, the scheme has successfully stimulated Dutch producers to get involved in international co-productions, and supported Hubert Bals Fund projects in the stage of actual production. Since 2006, the Netherlands Film Fund’s annual budget for NFF+HBF is € 200.000.

About the Hubert Bals Fund

HBF is an initiative of International Film Festival Rotterdam. The Fund is designed to offer financial support to extraordinary film talent from Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and parts of Eastern Europe in the realization of their feature films. Since its establishment 26 years ago, close to 1100 projects from over 100 countries have received support from the HBF. Information about the Fund and the application procedures can be found via www.IFFR.com/hbf

International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) offers a high quality line-up of carefully selected fiction and documentary feature films, short films and media art. The festival's Tiger Awards Competitions, Bright Future, Spectrum and Limelight sections contain new work by auteurs from all over the world including many World Premieres. In the Signals section, IFFR presents retrospectives and themed programmes. IFFR actively supports new and adventurous filmmaking talent through numerous industry initiatives including co-production market CineMart, its Hubert Bals Fund and Rotterdam Lab.

More information

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