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

38th International Film Festival Rotterdam
21 January – 1 February 2009

PRESS RELEASE January 28, 2009

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

During the CineMart 2009 Closing Night Party, Wednesday January 28, 2009 in Parkzicht (Rotterdam, The Netherlands), the Arte France Cinema Award went to CineMart 2009 Project HIM by Lance Weiler (USA).
The Prince Claus Fund Film Grant was awarded to CineMart 2009 Project Birdie (Shuvuukhai) by Byamba Sakhya (Mongolia).

Arte France Cinema Award
The Arte France Cinema Award (10,000 Euro) for the Best CineMart 2009 Project is given to HIM by Lance Weiler, a production of Seize The Media (USA). HIM is Weiler's latest cross-media project – a collision of film, gaming, and interactive technology, placing the viewer literally in the shoes of the protagonist. This is a new type of social entertainment experience that fuses storytelling and gaming in a way that enables audience members to become collaborators within the story’s world.

The Arte France Cinema Awards Jury consisted of Michel Reilhac (France, General Manager Arte France Cinéma). The Arte France Cinéma Award is in cash, given to the producer(s) towards financing the development of the awarded project. With this 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 ninth Prince Claus Fund Film Grant of 15,000 Euro has been awarded to the CineMart 2009 Project Birdie (Shuvuukhai) by Byamba Sakhya (Mongolia). A boy from a poor Mongolian family struggles with the enduring harsh reality of a society in transition. Birdie is a poetic narration that moves between the boy’s reality and his vivid imagination.

The Prince Claus Fund Film Grant aims at supporting the first creative phase of the development of a film production.

The jury describes Byamba Sakhya’s concept as contemporary and subtle, where fantasy and reality are alternated in an original way. The jury’s members are impressed by the filmmaker’s approach, powers of observation and visual eye.

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 2009 Prince Claus Fund Film Grant consisted of: jury chair Karim Traïdia (Algeria / Netherlands), filmmaker and a member of the Prince Claus Fund Board and jury members Harutyun Khachatryan (Armenia), filmmaker and Prince Claus Laureate 2007; Alicia Scherson (Chile), filmmaker; Monique Hendrickx (Netherlands), actress; and René Mioch (Netherlands), film critic and producer.