This spring, International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR)'s Hubert Bals Fund (HBF) has selected 11 projects by both upcoming talents and established filmmakers to receive €10,000 each for Script and Project Development. Additionally, two co-productions have been selected for the NFF+HBF Co-Production Scheme and receive €50,000 each from the Netherlands Film Fund.

The HBF’s Script and Project Development scheme is divided into two sections: HBF Bright Future for feature films by debut and second-time filmmakers, and HBF Voices for feature films by filmmakers more advanced in their careers. The films selected for funding are:

Script and Project Development: Bright Future

Desire Lines - Dane Komljen (Serbia/Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Daughter of Rage [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Laura Baumeister
scheda film] - Laura Baumeister (Nicaragua/France)
The Landscapes That You Seek - Juanita Onzaga (Colombia/Belgium)
Nafi's Father - Mamadou Dia (Senegal)
The Neo-new Adventures - Qiu Jiongjiong (China/Hong Kong/France)
Tiger Stripes - Amanda Nell Eu (Malaysia)
Utopia - Juri Rechinsky (Ukraine/Austria)

Script and Project Development: Voices

Border Bride - Wang Bing (Hong Kong)
Come Here - Anocha Suwichakornpong (Thailand)
Gemelos celestiales - Niles Atallah (Chile)
The Sex Life of Dolls - Alexis Dos Santos (Argentina)

NFF+HBF Co-Production Scheme

Feathers [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
scheda film] - Omar Elzohairy (Egypt/France/Netherlands)
Nasir [+leggi anche:
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trailer
scheda film] - Arun Karthick (India/Netherlands)

Besides this, the fund continues to extend the ways in which it supports independent film. By entering a partnership with the newly founded Netherlands Post-production Alliance (NPA), the HBF is creating new pathways along which world cinema can find its way to the Netherlands. Marit van den Elshout, head of IFFR PRO, explained: “The role of the HBF will be to select, connect and present. Films selected and previously supported by the HBF are introduced to the members of the NPA, who will then support these projects and take on a role in the post-production process.” NPA focuses on the expansion of the Dutch post-production presence on the international playing field and raising awareness of the Netherlands Film Production Incentive, a scheme that offers up to 35% cash rebate to (co-)productions.