In the 35th jury session of the Berlinale World Cinema Fund (WCF), the juries made eleven funding recommendations for projects from Afghanistan, Argentina, Burkina Faso, Colombia, Georgia, Kenya, Lebanon, Mongolia, Paraguay, Peru and Vietnam. The current funding amounts to a total of 493,000 Euros. The WCF is pleased to be able to support independent cinema even more strongly in times of crisis and to promote the visibility of the cultural complexity of our world.

“It is amazing every time how fascinatingly different and rich the projects are. The stories of each country, the dramatic events that have left their mark on these countries and the lives of the protagonists, frequently dominate the subject matter. Both the narratives and the repeatedly poetic intensity that creates an almost intimate atmosphere are impressive, as well as the creative visual ideas developed. The more intimate, the more universal - it makes the protagonists’ lives and emotions especially easy to grasp,” comments Vincenzo Bugno, head of WCF, on this year’s funding selections.

The Funding Recommendations in the 35th Jury Session

The WCF jury made its selection from 141 submitted projects from a total of 50 countries. The funding recommendations encompass funding in the amount of 493,000 Euros.

Three directors have participated in Berlinale Talents in the past, two projects were presented at the Berlinale Co-Production Market in 2021.

The members of the jury are the documentary film producer and documentary creative advisor Marta Andreu (Spain), the producer Zsuzsanna Kiràly (Germany / Austria), film scholar and curator Viola Shafik (Germany / Egypt) and Vincenzo Bugno (Italy / Germany), the head of the WCF. Additionally, the jurors for WCF Africa are the producer, festival director of the pan-African film festival FESPACO and the Berlin festival Afrikamera, Alex Moussa Sawadogo (Burkina Faso) and the Berlinale delegate for Sub-Saharan Africa Dorothee Wenner (Germany).

Production Funding WCF

Viet and Nam, director: Truong Minh Quý (Vietnam). Production: Epicmedia Productions (Philippines), Bradley Liew. Feature film.
Funding: € 30,000
The director participated in Berlinale Talents in 2016.

Puán, directors: María Alche and Benjamín Naishtat (Argentina). Production: Pasto SRL and Pucará SRL (Argentina), Bárbara Francisco, Bárbara Sarasola-Day and Federico Eibuszyc; Pandora Film Produktion (Germany), Christoph Friedel. Feature film.
Funding: € 40,000
The project also participated in the Berlinale Co-Production Market in 2021. The director participated in Berlinale Talents in 2015.

Dry Leaf, director: Alexandre Koberidze (Georgia). Production: New Matter Films GmbH (Germany), Mariam Shatberashvili. Feature film.
Funding: € 30,000

Ze, director: Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir (Mongolia). Production: Guru Media (Mongolia), Ariunaa Tserenpil and 27 Films (Germany), Oliver Damian. Feature film.
Funding: € 40,000

The Dam, director: Ali Cherri (Lebanon). Production: DGL Travel (Sudan), Alsamoual Hussein and KinoElektron (France), Janja Kralj; Twenty Twenty Vision (Germany), Thanassis Karathanos. Feature film.
Funding: € 20,000

Anhell 69, director: Theo Montoya (Colombia). Production: Desvío Visual (Colombia), Theo Montoya. Documentary form.
Funding: € 20,000

WCF Europe

Quién mató a Narciso?, director: Marcelo Martinessi (Paraguay). Production: La Babosa Cine (Paraguay), Sebastián Peña Escobar; Pandora Film Produktion (Germany), Christoph Friedel; La Fábrica Nocturna (France), Marina Perales Marhuenda; Mutante Cine (Uruguay), Agustina Chiarino; Oublaum Film (Portugal), Federico Costa. Feature film.
Funding: € 60,000
The project also participated in the Berlinale Co-Production Market in 2021. The director participated in Berlinale Talents in 2013 and in 2014.

Diógenes, director: Leonardo Barbuy (Peru). Production: Mosaico Productora (Peru), Illari Orccottoma and Dublin Films (France), David Hurst. Feature film.
Funding: € 40,000

WCF Africa

Testament, directors: Zippy Kimundu and Meena Nanji (Kenya). Production: Afrofilms International (Kenya), Zippy Kimundu; Autentika Films (Germany), Paulo Roberto de Carvalho and Gudula Meinzolt; Talking Film Production (Uganda), Derrick Kibisi; Muiraquitã Filmes (Brazil / Portugal), Eliane Ferreira. Documentary form.
Funding: € 30,000
Intended additional funding by WCF ACP: € 60,000

La Grotte de Sira, director: Apolline Traoré (Burkina Faso). Production: Les Films Selmon (Burkina Faso), Apolline Traoré and Tarama Films (Mali), Salif Traoré. Feature film.
Funding: € 39,000
Intended additional funding by WCF ACP: € 78,000

Distribution Funding

The Orphanage, director: Shahrbanoo Sadat (Afghanistan). Distribution: Wolf Kino GmbH. Feature film.
Funding: € 6,000
German release date: November 4, 2021

Since 2004, the Berlinale World Cinema Fund has been successfully supporting film production in regions characterised by an insufficient film infrastructure by virtue of its increasingly differentiated funding programme (WCF, WCF Europe, WCF Africa, WCF ACP) and advocating cultural diversity in German cinemas. The cooperation between production companies from the production regions or countries and German / European production companies is supported as well: General information on the WCF funding.