CineMart closes with Arte France Cinema Award

Arte France Cinema Awards and Prince Claus Fund Film Grant handed out at CineMart 2007 Closing Night Party

During the CineMart 2007 Closing Night Party, Wednesday January 31, 2007 in Club Rotterdam (Rotterdam, The Netherlands), the two Arte France Cinema Awards went to CineMart 2007 Projects A Rational Solution by Jörgen Bergmark (Hepp Film, Sweden) and Les pieds nus sur les limaces by Fabienne Berthaud (Agat Films & Cie, France). The Prince Claus Fund Film Grant was awarded to CineMart 2007 Project Independencia by Raya Martin (Cinematografica Independiente en Filipinas, Philippines).

Arte France Cinema Awards
The Arte France Cinema Awards (each 10,000 Euro) for the best CineMart 2007 Projects were given to A Rational Solution by Jörgen Bergmark (Hepp Film, Sweden) and Les pieds nus sur les limaces by Fabienne Berthaud (Agat Films & Cie, France). The Arte France Cinema Awards Jury consisted of Michel Reilhac (Arte France Cinema, France), Ilse Hughan (Fortuna Films, The Netherlands) en Isabelle Dubar (ID Distribution / ID Memento, France). The Arte France Cinéma Awards are in cash, given to the producers towards financing the development of the awarded projects. By introducing the Award, Arte France Cinéma and CineMart aim to further support and promote the development and production of independent filmmaking.

Prince Claus Fund Film Grant
The seventh Prince Claus Fund Film Grant of 15,000 Euro has been awarded to the CineMart 2007 Project Independencia by Raya Martin (Cinematografica Independiente en Filipinas, Philippines). The Prince Claus Fund Film Grant aims at supporting the first creative phase of the development of a film production. Raya Martin's feature film Autohystoria and his short films Life Projections, Long Live Philippine Cinema! and Rambling From the Sea were selected for the International Film Festival Rotterdam 2007.

The Jury has opted for what was clearly one of the most original ideas amongst the 2007 CineMart selection. Set against the backdrop of the American occupation of the Philippines in the early 20th century, the project concerns a small family that has taken refuge in the woods in search of a quiet life. The story depicts their daily struggle for survival while simultaneously engaging with the more universal struggles for identity, freedom and humanity. This powerful and original project embodies a daring cinematographic voice with clear political undertones, where the unfolding narrative seems to emerge from images and sound rather than the established conventions of story telling. To quote the director Raya Martin, ‘The film hopefully portrays an alternative resistance of the times, one that moves away from a history of armed struggle and delves deeper into the opposition of forces: a survival of human existence.’

The Prince Claus Fund Film Grant is annually awarded in cooperation with CineMart to support the very first creative phase of the development of a film production. Every year, the Film Grant is presented to a CineMart project by a filmmaker from Africa, Asia, Latin America or the Caribbean, and selected for its excellent concept and innovative quality by an international expert jury.

The Jury of the 2007 Prince Claus Fund Film Grant consisted of: Ido Abram (director Binger Instituut, The Netherlands), Ronald Ockhuysen (film critic of De Volkskrant and Cinema.nl, The Netherlands) Intishal Al-Timimi (director Arab Film Festival, The Netherlands), Anup Singh (film-maker, India) and Emile Fallaux (the Netherlands), Jury chairman for the 2007 Prince Claus Fund Film Grant, editor-in-chief of the Dutch weekly ‘Vrij Nederland’ and member of the Board of the Prince Claus Fund.