Editor

A diverse harvest of new films supported by the Hubert Bals Fund or presented at CineMart, has been invited to the Venice, Toronto and San Sebastian film festivals. In Venice, BETWEEN TWO WORLDS by Vimukthi Jayasundara, LEBANON by Samuel Maoz and WOMEN WITHOUT MEN by Shirin Neshat compete for the Golden Lion. In San Sebastian, Pelin Esmer is in Official Competition and competes for the New Directors Award with her fiction film 10 TO 11. At the Toronto International Film Festival, a total of ten HBF and CineMart related films screen in various festival sections. (Complete list below)

Venezia 66 includes Jayasundara’s BETWEEN TWO WORLDS, a film that has been supported by the Rotterdam Festival over the past four years. In 2005, his project was granted HBF script development support. A year later, the project was presented at CineMart. In 2009, the Hubert Bals Fund could give support in the films post production stage. Previously, HBF and CineMart backed Jayasundara’s début feature THE FORSAKEN LAND which took the Camera d’Or in Cannes.
Also competing in Venezia 66 are two other former CineMart Projects: LEBANON, by Israeli filmmaker Samuel Maoz, portrays young soldiers on their mission in Lebanon, and WOMEN WITHOUT MEN, directorial début of acclaimed video artist Shirin Neshat. Against the backdrop of the 1953 CIA-backed coup d’état in Iran, four women find independence and solace in an orchard garden.

The Toronto International Film Festival screens ten Hubert Bals Fund and CineMart supported films. Among those, ADRIFT by Vietnamese filmmaker Bui Thac Chuyen, also selected for Venice’s Orizzonti competition. The film, about a newly-wed Vietnamese couple struggling with self-discovery and traditional Vietnamese values, received script development as well as post production support from the Hubert Bals Fund.

In San Sebastian, young Turkish filmmaker Pelin Esmer competes with her sophomore feature film 10 TO 11 in Official Selection. Written with Hubert Bals Fund support for script development, it tells the story of an old, passionate collector and his relation with the concierge of the soon to be demolished building where he lives.
Isaki Lacuesta’s THE DAMNED, one of the three Spanish films in the San Sebastian’s Official Competition, was presented at CineMart 2007. His film THE LEGEND OF TIME competed for Rotterdam’s Tiger Awards in 2006.

An international role model for other funding bodies, the Hubert Bals Fund of the International Film Festival Rotterdam continues to play a crucial role in supporting film-makers and film industries in developing or southern countries. The fund’s grants (for script development, digital production, post production or distribution in the country of origin) act as seal of approval, making it easier to attract additional co-producers and financiers.

Rotterdam’s CineMart remains the largest co-production market where a selection of independent film-makers and producers launch their ideas and projects to the international film industry. CineMart was the first of its kind and has since its inception served as example for other co-production markets worldwide, including Pusan, Mannheim, Berlin and more recently Rome. The entry deadline for CineMart 2010 is September 1, 2009.

The dates of the 39h International Film Festival Rotterdam are January 27 – February 7, 2010. The 27th CineMart takes place January 31-February 3, 2010.



Hubert Bals Fund supported films and/or former CineMart projects within the programme of 66th Venice Film Festival, September 2-12, 2009:

Venezia 66 - In Competition:

AHASIN WETEI (BETWEEN TWO WORLDS) by Vimukthi Jayasundara, Sri Lanka, 2009
Hubert Bals Fund support for script development 2005
CineMart Project 2006
Hubert Bals Fund support for post production 2009

LEVANON (LEBANON) by Samuel Maoz, Israel, 2009
Selected for CineMart 2007

ZANAN-E BEDUN-E MARDAN (WOMEN WITHOUT MEN) by Shirin Neshat, Germany, 2009
Selected for CineMart 2004

Orizzonti:

CHOI VOI (ADRIFT) by Thac Chuyen Bui, Vietnam, 2009
Hubert Bals Fund support for script development 2007
Hubert Bals Fund support for post production 2009

PEPPERMINTA by Pipilotti Rist, Switzerland, 2009
Selected for CineMart 2007

International Critics’ Week:

DET ENDA RATIONELLA (A RATIONAL SOLUTION) by Jörgen Bergmark, Sweden, 2009
Selected for CineMart 2007
Winner ARTE France Cinéma Award for Best CineMart Project 2007

Venice Days:

DE LAATSTE DAGEN VAN EMMA BLANK (THE LAST DAYS OF EMMA BLANK) by Alex van Warmerdam, The Netherlands, 2009
Selected for CineMart 2008


Hubert Bals Fund supported films and/or former CineMart Projects within the programme of the 34th Toronto International Film Festival, September 10-19, 2009:

Contemporary World Cinema:

CHOI VOI (ADRIFT) by Thac Chuyen Bui, Vietnam, 2009
Hubert Bals Fund support for script development 2007
Hubert Bals Fund support for post production 2009

AT THE END OF DAYBREAK by Ho Yuhang, Malaysia, 2009
Hubert Bals Fund support for digital production 2006

HUACHO by Alejandro Fernández Almendras
Selected for CineMart 2007

DE LAATSTE DAGEN VAN EMMA BLANK (THE LAST DAYS OF EMMA BLANK) by Alex van Warmerdam, The Netherlands, 2009
Selected for CineMart 2008

LE PERE DE MES ENFANTS (FATHER OF MY CHILDREN) by Mia Hansen-Løve, France, 2009
Selected for CineMart 2008

LOS VIAJES DEL VIENTO (THE WIND JOURNEYS) by Ciro Guerra, Columbia, 2009
Hubert Bals Fund support for script development 2006

Discovery:

GIGANTE (GIANT) by Adrián Biniez, Uruguay, 2009
Hubert Bals Fund support for script development 2006

CEA MAI FERICITA FATA DIN LUME (THE HAPPIEST GIRL IN THE WORLD) by Radu Jude (Romania, 2009)
Hubert Bals Fund support for script development 2006
Hubert Bals Fund Plus 2006 (co-producer: Circe Films, The Netherlands)

Special Presentations:

THE GOOD HEART by Dagur Kári, Iceland, 2009
Selected for CineMart 2004

ZANAN-E BEDUN-E MARDAN (WOMEN WITHOUT MEN) by Shirin Neshat, Germany, 2009
Selected for CineMart 2004




Hubert Bals Fund supported films and/or former CineMart Projects within the programme of the 57th San Sebastian International Film Festival, September 18-26, 2009:

Official Competition:

11’E 10 KALA (10 TO 11) by Pelin Esmer, Turkey, 2009
Hubert Bals Fund support for script development 2007
Hubert Bals Fund support for post production 2009

Horizontes Latinos:

GIGANTE (GIANT) by Adrián Biniez, Uruguay, 2009
Hubert Bals Fund support for script development 2006

HUACHO by Alejandro Fernández Almendras
Selected for CineMart 2007

LOS VIAJES DEL VIENTO (THE WIND JOURNEYS) by Ciro Guerra, Columbia, 2009
Hubert Bals Fund support for script development 2006
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Festival website: www.filmfestivalrotterdam.com