HBF Plus links Dutch producers to projects from Vietnam and the Philippines

Dutch producers Volya Films and Waterland Film have been selected for Hubert Bals Fund Plus in fall 2013. Each receives a grant of €50,000 from the Netherlands Film Fund for co-producing a Hubert Bals Fund-supported film. Volya Films co-produces Big Father, Small Father (Vietnam), and Waterland Film co-produces Women of the Weeping River (the Philippines).

Big Father, Small Father is the second film by Phan Dang Di (1976, Vietnam), whose debut film Bi, Don’t Be Afraid premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. Big Father, Small Father is the story of a group of friends struggling to survive in the overpopulated city of Saigon during the Asian economic crisis of the 1990s. The film is produced by Vblock Media (Vietnam) and co-produced by Acrobat Films (France) and Dutch company Volya Films. Phan Dang Di received a script and project development grant for this film from the Hubert Bals Fund in 2011.

Women of the Weeping River is Sheron Dayoc’s (1981, the Philippines) second feature film, for which he received a HBF script and project development grant earlier this year. His first film Ways of the Sea premiered at the Berlin Film Festival. Women of the Weeping River recounts the tale of two women attempting to put an end to the blood vengeance cycle in which their families are trapped, as a result of a long-standing dispute about land ownership on the Philippine island of Mindanao. The film is produced by Southern Lantern Studios (the Philippines) and co-produced by Hautlesmains Production (France), Mogador Films (Germany), and Dutch company Waterland Film.

Now in its eighth year, the successful Hubert Bals Fund Plus programme of The Netherlands Film Fund and International Film Festival Rotterdam gets Dutch producers involved in HBF-supported, international co-productions.
Earlier this year, Dutch companies Circe Films and Fortuna Films were selected for Hubert Bals Fund Plus. Circe Film co-produces the film Rey by Niles Atallah (Chile), and Fortuna Films co-produces La última tierra, the debut film by Pablo Lamar (Paraguay).

More information:
www.filmfestivalrotterdam.com
www.filmfonds.nl

Press information:
IFFR Press Office, Nancy van Oorschot, [email protected], +31 10 8909090
The Nederlands Film Fund, Jonathan Mees, [email protected], +31 20 5707681