At the 21^st jury session of the World Cinema Fund (WCF), the jury recommended four new film projects for production funding and one work for distribution funding.

Since its establishment in October 2004, the WCF has awarded production and distribution funding to a total of 124 projects chosen from 2,364 submissions from Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, Central and Southeast Asia, the Caucasus, as well as from the countries Mongolia, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. All WCF-funded films produced to date have screened in cinemas and/or the programmes of renowned international film festivals, and are evidence of the initiative’s worldwide success.

Latest Funding Recommendations

The WCF jury made their selection based on 103 submissions from a total of 41 countries. They have awarded funding amounting to 157,000 euros. The jury members are film scholar and curator Viola Shafik (Germany/Egypt), documentary producer Marta Andreu (Spain), distributor and producer Jan De Clercq (Belgium) and WCF project managers Sonja Heinen and Vincenzo Bugno.

Production funding:

Samui Song, director: Pen-ek Ratanaruang (Thailand). Producer: Bluering Company Limited, Thailand. Feature film. Funding: 45,000 euros.

Flatland, director: Jenna Bass (South Africa). Producer: Proper Film, South Africa. Feature film. German partner: Flying Moon. Funding: 45,000 euros.

Siembra, director: Santiago Lozano and Ángela María Osorio (Colombia). Producer: Contravia Films, Colombia. Feature film. Funding: 30,000 euros.

Cocote, director: Nelson Carlos de los Santos (Dominican Republic). Producer: Guasabara Cine, Dominican Republic. Feature film. Funding: 30,000 euros.

Distribution funding:

Norte, director: Lav Díaz (The Philippines). German distributor: Grandfilm. Release in Germany: December 25, 2014. Funding: 7,000 euros.

Next Jury Session to Include WCF Europe

Thanks to the support of the European Commission’s Creative Europe sub-programme MEDIA, the World Cinema Fund launched the special funding project WCF Europe in October 2014. For the next two years, WCF Europe will supplement the existing programme of the World Cinema Fund and back further co-productions between European producers, and directors and producers from WCF regions and countries. The next deadline for submissions, which for the first time will include applications for WFC Europe, is February 26, 2015.

For further information, please go to:

http://www.berlinale.de/en/branche/world_cinema_fund/wcf_profil/index.html

The World Cinema Fund is an initiative of the German Federal Cultural Foundation and the Berlin International Film Festival in cooperation with the Federal Foreign Office and the Goethe-Institut.