47st International Film Festival Rotterdam

24 January- 4 February 2018

Rotterdam, 13 December 2017

From nearly 400 submissions, International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) has selected 16 projects – with expected budgets ranging from €400,000 to €4 million – to present at the refocused 35th edition of CineMart, Rotterdam’s co-production market. CineMart offers filmmakers and producers the opportunity to present their new project to film professionals in order to take the next step in its creative development and financing. 

All of the selected filmmakers make their CineMart debut in 2018, with the exception of Matt Porterfield. His film Sollers Point was featured at the 2013 edition of CineMart and is now selected to screen at IFFR 2018’s Voices section.

Kaweh Modiri is no stranger to the festival either. His first feature Bodkin Ras was selected for the Bright Future Main Programme in 2016 and won the FIPRESCI Award. Both Gastón Solnicki and Jean-Gabriel Périot have presented several films at IFFR. Solnicki’s Kékszakállú was screened at IFFR 2017 and won the FIPRESCI award at Venice. In 2009, Périot was selected for IFFR’s Tiger Award for short films with 

Entre chiens et loups, and has since made a name for himself with filmssuch as 

A German Youth.

Some filmmakers have a track record in making short films. Rachel Lang and Lovisa Sirén have previously seen their short films selected for several festivals and Jesper Dalgaard, who has made short documentaries and a virtual reality performance, presents his first feature film at CineMart.

Four selected filmmakers come to CineMart with the aim to follow up on their recent success. Johnny Ma won the Best Canadian First Feature Film Award in Toronto for 

Old Stone; Gurvinder Singh was selected for the prestigious Un Certain Regard in Cannes; Ricardo Silva won at Locarno with Navajaro in 2014; Anita Rocha da Silveira’s Kill Me Please was nominated for Best Film at Venice Orizzonti; and

Hlynur Pálmason’s Winter Brothers collected awards at several festivals.

The emerging filmmakers Luck Razanajaona, Dean Loxton, Carolina Markowicz and

Ann-Julie Vervaeke enter CineMart with their first feature projects.

As of this year, CineMart has been streamlined to better serve film professionals to find the right connections. Head of IFFR PRO Marit van den Elshout: “We’ve downsized the selection to 16 projects in order to give each project more care and attention. The projects now start preparations a month in advance with a specially appointed mentor. We’ve also implemented a new structure for the one-to-one meetings, which will be tailored more to the needs of each project. Additionally, CineMart presents a new format called Spotlight, in which the project teams and their mentors discuss each project publicly for all CineMart guests.”

Selected CineMart titles qualify for four awards:

• the Eurimages Co-Production Development Award of €20,000 for a European co-production;
• the ARTE International Prize of €6,000 for an international co-production;
• the Wouter Barendrecht Award of €5,000 for a project by a director under 35 years of age;
• and the Filmmore Postproduction Award of €7,500 to be used for colour grading and visual effects.

Check Me in Another Place, Matt Porterfield, Le Bureau/The Hamilton Film Group (France/USA)

Disco Afrika, Luck Razanajaona, We Film (France/Madagascar)

Electrocute, Gastón Solnicki, Rei Cine SRL (Argentina)

Medusa, Anita Rocha da Silveira, Bananeira Filmes/Ciné-Sud Promotion (Brazil/France)

Mitra, Kaweh Modiri, BALDR Film (the Netherlands)

Mon légionnaire, Rachel Lang, Chevaldeuxtrois/Wrong Men (Belgium/France)

Moonblood, Jesper Dalgaard, Beofilm (Denmark)

Nathan Won’t Ride, Dean Loxton, Lions Den Films (United Kingdom)

Ô mon amour, Jean-Gabriel Périot, Local Films (France)

Qaim Deen, Gurvinder Singh, The Film Cafe (India)

Sagres, Lovisa Sirén, [sic] film (Sweden)

Sleepwalk, Ricardo Silva, Spécola/Ryan Zacarias (Mexico/USA)

To Live to Sing, Johnny Ma, Image X Productions (China)

Waterwolf, Ann-Julie Vervaeke, Earlybirds Films (Belgium)

When My Life Was My Life, Carolina Markowicz,Superfilmes/Yourmama/Ajimolido Films (Brazil/Argentina)

A White, White Day, Hlynur Pálmason, Join Motion Pictures/Snowglobe (Iceland/Denmark)

CineMart runs from 28 to 31 January 2018 as part of the IFFR PRO Days, which run from 26 January to 2 February. CineMart was the first platform of its kind to offer filmmakers the opportunity to launch their projects internationally and connect with industry executives to take the next step in creative development and financing. Every year, CineMart invites a select number of directors/producers to present their film projects to co-producers, bankers, funds, sales agents, distributors, TV stations and other potential partners. The projects’ expected budgets range from €250,000 to €5 million. Launching 16 new feature film projects in January, CineMart also heralds an important start to the film year.More information can be found at IFFR.com.