In a first for the Berlinale, a film from Iraq had its world premiere last evening in the Panorama section. SON OF BABYLON, co-written and directed by Mohamed Al-Daradji, is a stirring drama about coming to terms with tragedy and moving forward despite the burden of personal loss. Filmed in stark poetic set pieces, the film follows the journey of a Kurdish grandmother and her precocious grandson as they travel (mostly on foot) to discover the fate of the boy's father, who has been miss...

The Rutger Hauer Filmfactory in Rotterdam (18-28 June) announces the line-up of internationally acclaimed coaches and guest lecturers for its upcoming third edition. Top directors PAUL VERHOEVEN and ROBERT RODRIGUEZ will be teaching virtual master classes via Skype. The internationally acclaimed Polish writer/director/artist LECH MAJEWSKI (BASQUIAT, THE GARDEN OF EARTHLY DELIGHTS) and the Peruvian director CLAUDIA LLOSA (Golden Bear for LA TETA ASUSTADA) have signed on to coach aspiring director...

34th International Film Festival RotterdamJanuary 26 - February 6, 2005Forty-seven film projects have been selected for the 22nd CineMart, the first and largest co-production market worldwide, to be held January 30 - February 3, 2005 as part of the 34th edition of the International Film Festival Rotterdam.CineMart director Ido Abram: 'The record number of 539 entries provided us with a good overview of the current, very lively market situation for small and medium budget films. The overall high ...

CineMart and Hubert Bals Fund linked titles selected for Cannes 2004Eight films linked to either or both IFFR's Hubert Bals Fund and CineMart have made it into the various Cannes 2004 programmes. This Cannes edition seven CineMart Projects have been selected and four films supported by the Hubert Bals Fund. Rotterdam supported films in Official Competition are LA NINA SANTA by Lucrecia Martel, TROPICAL MALADY by Apichatpong Weerasethakul and NOBODY KNOWS by Kore-Eda Hirokazu. The International F...

Forty-seven film projects have been selected for the 21st CineMart, the first and largest co-production market worldwide, to be held January 25 - 29, 2004 as part of the 33rd edition of the International Film Festival Rotterdam.CineMart director Ido Abram: "With this promising line up of film projects by established film-makers as well as projects by new talents from all continents, we are looking forward to a very strong 21st CineMart. We feel that this selection connects extremely well with th...