46th International Film Festival Rotterdam

25 January - 5 February 2017

Rotterdam, 18 August 2016

Six international and five Dutch projects in development, as well as three works-in-progress, have been selected for the first BoostNL programme that kicks off at the Netherlands Film Festival’s Holland Film Meeting in Utrecht (22 - 25 September) and continues through to IFFR’s CineMart 2017 (29 January - 1 February).

The initiative is designed to strengthen market assistance for international projects that have already received support from the Hubert Bals Fund or have previously been presented at CineMart, as well as Dutch projects in development.Throughout BoostNL, project participants will benefit from ongoing guidance, whether in terms of business planning or creative decision-making, and participants will be encouraged to incorporate inspired feedback into their project. One-on-one sessions with key international mentors will deliver bespoke festival, sales and marketing strategies that will support the project through all stages of development, from advanced script to post-production stage to marketing and distribution.

BoostNL Selection 2016:

• Bootlegger (Canada) – Directed by: Caroline Monnet / Producer: Catherine Chagnon / Production company: Microclimat Films

• The Bridge (Egypt) – Directed by: Hala Lotfy / Producer: Mohamed Samir / Production company: DayDream Art Production

• Jessica (Sweden) – Directed by: Ninja Thyberg / Producer: Erik Hemmendorff / Production company: Plattform Produktion

• Loveling (Brazil) – Directed by: Gustavo Pizzi / Producer: Tatiana Leite / Production company: Bubbles Project

• The Reports on Sarah and Saleem (Palestina) – Directed by: Muayad Alayan & Rami Alayan / Production company: PalCine Productions

• Tehran, City of Love (UK) – Directed by: Ali Jaberansari / Producer: Babak Jalali / Production company: Here & There Productions

• Dreamscape – Directed by: Anna van der Heide / Scriptwriter: Tijs van Marle / Producer: Iris Otten / Production company: Pupkin Film

• In the Arms of Morpheus – Directed by: Marc Schmidt / Producers: Janneke Doolaard, Hanneke Niens & Hans de Wolf / Production company: KeyDocs

• Jade – Directed by: Sacha Polak / Producer: Marleen Slot / Production company: Viking Film
• Quicksand – Directed by: Margot Schaap / Producer: Ellen Havenith / Production company: PRPL
• Totem – Directed by: Sander Burger / Scriptwriter: Bastiaan Tichler / Producer: Denis Vaslin / Production company: Volya Films

• Charlie and Hannah's Grand Night Out (Belgium) – Directed by: Bert Scholiers / Producers: Tomas Leyers, Marc Goyens / Production company: Minds Meet

• Mormaço(Brazil) – Directed by: Marina Meliande / Producer: Leonardo Mecchi / Production company: Enquadramento Produçoes
• Quality Time (Netherlands) – Directed by: Daan Bakker / Producer: Iris Otten / Production company: Pupkin Film

Comments CineMart’s Marit van den Eshout: “There is a strong interest on our part to do more for projects throughout the year, especially for those that we have already invested in via the Hubert Bals Fund and CineMart. The BoostNL programme allows us to really follow through in terms of their development and it marks a first very concrete step which can offer real value to each project, and the producers can benefit greatly from the partnership support that we will offer.”

Adds HFM head Vanja Kaludjercic: “Tailor made consultancy has always been one of the trademarks of the Holland Film Meeting. What we are creating with BoostNL is a more thorough, more streamlined and longer-running expert programme providing producers and directors with continuous support for project’s further development and improvement.”

The international projects include Tehran, City of Love (UK), directed by Ali Jaberansari and produced for Here and There Productions by Babak Jalali – Tiger competition winner at IFFR with Radio Dreams earlier this year -. The project received HBF script and development support in Spring 2015. “We are very excited about participating in BoostNL as it would allow us to meet professionals and consultants with regards to further developing the script as well as getting assistance with various funds and meeting sales agents who can help us with marketing and distribution of the film,” comments Jaberansari.

Dutch project Jade is Dutch auteur Sacha Polak’s first English language film, and her third collaboration with producer Marleen Slot of Viking Film. “It’s a great initiative combining the Holland Film Meeting and CineMart, two platforms that are very dear to us,” comments Slot. “BoostNL will give Sacha and Viking Film the opportunity to work intensely on the film and will help us to push it forward and to bring it under attention of international financiers and distributors.”

(End of press release)

International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) offers a high quality line-up of carefully selected fiction and documentary feature films, short films and media art. IFFR actively supports new and adventurous filmmaking talent through numerous industry initiatives including co-production market CineMart, through the new BoostNL, its Hubert Bals Fund and Rotterdam Lab.