I'm a sucker for solid political thrillers, and this one definitely has my attention, if only because it's set in an African country (Kenya), with a black African cast and crew, and is a 4th collaboration between German filmmaker Tom Tykwer's One Fine Day Films, and Nairobi (Kenya)-based Ginger Ink - a project we first alerted you to a year ago, when it was beginning principal photography. S&A has covered every film that's been developed under the One Fine Day Films/Ginger Ink collab: "Soul Boy," from director Hawa Essuman, "Nairobi Half Life," from director David Tosh Gitonga, and most recently, "Something Necessary,"...
- 8/18/2014
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
The Colours of the Nile International Film Festival (Coniff) ran this past month, from March 24-31, with 48 films from around the African continent. The festival screened several projects that S&A has covered, including Chika Anadu's B for Boy, Kenneth Gyang's Confusion Na Wa, Soussaba Cisse's Rumours of War, David Tosh Gitonga's Nairobi Half Life, and Judy Kibinge's Something Necessary. From Mali, Rumours of War (Ngunu Ngunu Kan), directed by Soussaba Cisse won the Best Feature Film Award, Best Cinematography and Original Soundtrack at the 2nd annual film festival. The jury praised Rumours for "capturing in a...
- 4/7/2014
- by Vanessa Martinez
- ShadowAndAct
The Colours of the Nile International Film Festival (Coniff) returns March 24-31 with 48 films from around the African continent. The festival will screen quite a few projects we've covered on this site, including Chika Anadu's B for Boy, Kenneth Gyang's Confusion Na Wa, Soussaba Cisse's Rumours of War, David Tosh Gitonga's Nairobi Half Life, and Judy Kibinge's Something Necessary. More from the press release below: "The festival provides an opportunity to showcase some of the latest films by African filmmakers in its competition sections and to introduce audiences also to older films that they may not have had the opportunity to see, out of competition, including...
- 3/24/2014
- by Jai Tiggett
- ShadowAndAct
In 2007, ethnic and political tensions in Kenya came to a head when public election votes believed to be rigged incited rioting and chaos that resulted in the deaths of over a thousand people and the displacement of even more. So often, when we hear about African stories either in cinema or on the news, the focus is on the hows and the whys of civil unrest, the horrors and atrocities so often thought of as basically synonymous with the continent. But it’s the aftermath of these kinds of realities, the unsettling quiet after the storm, that director Judy Kibinge keenly explores in her latest feature, Something Necessary. It begins with disturbing, real video footage of the carnage...
- 2/6/2014
- by Zeba Blay
- ShadowAndAct
Bristol’s Watershed is teaming up with Afrika Eye to present two new Kenyan films in UK cinemas through March 2014.
Watershed hosted the popular Afrika Eye Festival last weekend. Two of those titles, Tosh Gitonga’s Nairobi Half Life and Judy Kibinge’s Something Necessary, will now travel to other UK cinemas including the Showroom in Sheffield and Cornerhouse in Manchester, and festivals including Africa In Motion, the Cambridge African Film Festival and Film Africa.
Both projects came out of workshops run by Marie Steinmann & Tom Tykwer’s One Fine Day Films, in partnership with Nairobi based Ginger Ink.
“Currently only 0.01% of films shown in cinemas in the UK are from Africa. This touring initiative is about developing the availability and range of African films for increasingly diverse UK audiences. It builds on the excellent collaborative work of the UK African film festivals and the partnership with The Africa Channel,” said Mark Cosgrove...
Watershed hosted the popular Afrika Eye Festival last weekend. Two of those titles, Tosh Gitonga’s Nairobi Half Life and Judy Kibinge’s Something Necessary, will now travel to other UK cinemas including the Showroom in Sheffield and Cornerhouse in Manchester, and festivals including Africa In Motion, the Cambridge African Film Festival and Film Africa.
Both projects came out of workshops run by Marie Steinmann & Tom Tykwer’s One Fine Day Films, in partnership with Nairobi based Ginger Ink.
“Currently only 0.01% of films shown in cinemas in the UK are from Africa. This touring initiative is about developing the availability and range of African films for increasingly diverse UK audiences. It builds on the excellent collaborative work of the UK African film festivals and the partnership with The Africa Channel,” said Mark Cosgrove...
- 11/17/2013
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
Judy Kibinge's Something Necessary is screening as part of the Africa in Motion Film Festival (AiM), which kicked off last night. In 2007, ethnic and political tensions in Kenya came to a head when public election votes believed to be rigged incited rioting and chaos that resulted in the deaths of over a thousand people and the displacement of even more. So often, when we hear about African stories either in cinema or on the news, the focus is on the hows and the whys of civil unrest, the horrors and atrocities so often thought of as basically synonymous with the continent. But it’s the aftermath of these kinds of realities, the unsettling quiet after the storm, that...
- 10/25/2013
- by Zeba Blay
- ShadowAndAct
Presented University of British Columbia and The Cinematheque, a "New Wave in African Cinema" is an upcoming Vancouver film screening series that will take place from November 1-3 and 5-7. The lineup includes several titles you would've read about on S&A in the last 12 to 24 months, including Alain Gomis' Tey, Kivu Ruhorahoza's Grey Matter, Judy Kibinge's Something Necessary, Dyana Gaye's Under The Starry Sky, and more. You'll find the full lineup, including showtimes and ticket information Here. Courtesy of Program Director and Curator Dr. Julie MacArthur, details on the series follow below: The New Wave in African Cinema film series is a joint production of...
- 10/23/2013
- by Natasha Greeves
- ShadowAndAct
Something Necessary, which will be introduced by director Judy Kibinge The UK’s biggest four African film festivals - Africa in Motion (AiM) in Edinburgh/Glasgow, Afrika Eye in Bristol, the Cambridge African Film Festival and Film Africa, London – are uniting to share films and filmmakers in a drive to bring a greater variety of contemporary African cinema to a broader UK audience.
The festivals have joined forces to tour a quartet of highly-rated new feature films from Africa and to enable UK cinema-goers to talk to three of their makers about their work.
Speaking on behalf of the four festivals, AiM’s founder and curator Lizelle Bisschoff said: “The collaboration by these four African film festivals, taking place in October and November this year, maximises our ability to showcase the best of African cinema and excite audiences with what’s available.”
The shared programme includes: Kenyan rising star Judy Kibinge,...
The festivals have joined forces to tour a quartet of highly-rated new feature films from Africa and to enable UK cinema-goers to talk to three of their makers about their work.
Speaking on behalf of the four festivals, AiM’s founder and curator Lizelle Bisschoff said: “The collaboration by these four African film festivals, taking place in October and November this year, maximises our ability to showcase the best of African cinema and excite audiences with what’s available.”
The shared programme includes: Kenyan rising star Judy Kibinge,...
- 10/18/2013
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Four biggest African film festivals in the UK unite to share films and filmmakers.
The UK’s biggest four African film festivals are uniting to share features and filmmakers in a bid to bring a greater variety of contemporary African cinema to a broader UK audience.
The festivals include Africa in Motion (AiM) in Edinburgh/Glasgow, Afrika Eye in Bristol, the Cambridge African Film Festival and Film Africa, London.
The four have joined forces to tour a quartet of new features from Africa and to enable UK cinema-goers to talk to three directors about their work. The shared programme includes:
Judy Kibinge, a rising star on the Kenyan cinema scene, presenting Something Necessary, her drama about political violence in Kenya, followed by a Q&A at AiM, Afrika Eye and Film Africa (with a screening at the Cambridge African Film Festival).
South African Jahmil X.T. Qubeka presenting and discussing Of Good Report, his controversial...
The UK’s biggest four African film festivals are uniting to share features and filmmakers in a bid to bring a greater variety of contemporary African cinema to a broader UK audience.
The festivals include Africa in Motion (AiM) in Edinburgh/Glasgow, Afrika Eye in Bristol, the Cambridge African Film Festival and Film Africa, London.
The four have joined forces to tour a quartet of new features from Africa and to enable UK cinema-goers to talk to three directors about their work. The shared programme includes:
Judy Kibinge, a rising star on the Kenyan cinema scene, presenting Something Necessary, her drama about political violence in Kenya, followed by a Q&A at AiM, Afrika Eye and Film Africa (with a screening at the Cambridge African Film Festival).
South African Jahmil X.T. Qubeka presenting and discussing Of Good Report, his controversial...
- 10/18/2013
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
In 2007, ethnic and political tensions in Kenya came to a head when public election votes believed to be rigged incited rioting and chaos that resulted in the deaths of over a thousand people and the displacement of even more. So often, when we hear about African stories either in cinema or on the news, the focus is on the hows and the whys of civil unrest, the horrors and atrocities so often thought of as basically synonymous with the continent. But it’s the aftermath of these kinds of realities, the unsettling quiet after the storm, that director Judy Kibinge keenly explores in her latest feature, Something Necessary. It begins with disturbing, real video footage of the carnage...
- 9/6/2013
- by Zeba Blay
- ShadowAndAct
Final batch of Tiff titles were announced today and among the international hodgepodge of items trickling we find Berlin (Golden Bear winner Child’s Pose), Cannes (The Selfish Giant – Europa Cinemas Label winner and Stranger by the Lake by Alain Guiraudie), Karlovy Vary (Crystal Globe winner Le Grand Cahier ) and Locarno (Corneliu Porumboiu’s When Evening Falls on Bucharest or Metabolism) Film Fest items added to the Toronto Int. Film Festival’s Contemporary World Cinema lineup. Alongside those that have already premiered elsewhere, the titles that have got our attention are world premiere offerings from the likes of award-winning Icelandic helmer Ragnar Bragason (Metalhead), Revanche‘s Götz Spielmann (October November – see pic above) and Mexican filmmaker Fernando Eimbcke’s Club Sandwich. Here’s the added titles to the section which already includes: Catherine Martin’s A Journey (Une Jeune Fille), Ingrid Veninger’s The Animal Project, Terry Miles’ Cinemanovels, Bruce Sweeney...
- 8/13/2013
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
The titles just keep coming as we are now just over three weeks away from the start of the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival and they have gone and added 90 new feature length titles to the program and it's not as if they are titles you haven't heard of. New to the Galas selection is Guillaume Canet's Blood Ties which premiered at Cannes earlier this year (read my review here) and Words and Pictures starring Clive Owen and Juliette Binoche. In the Special Presentations selection you find the bulk of the more noted titles including Alex Gibney's new documentary The Armstrong Lie about cyclist Lance Armstrong, Johnnie To's Blind Detective which also premiered at Cannes, James Franco's Child of God based on the Cormac McCarthy novel, John Turturro's Fading Gigolo which features Woody Allen in one of the roles, Kevin Macdonald's How I Live Now...
- 8/13/2013
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
World premieres of Kevin Macdonald’s How I Live Now, Fred Schepisi’s Words And Pictures and John Turturro’s Fading Gigolo are among the Tiff line-up of galas and special presentations.
The Contemporary World Cinema strand includes first views of Jan Hrebejk’s Honeymoon, Donovan Marsh’s iNumber Number and Fernando Coimbra’s A Wolf At The Door.
The Toronto International Film Festival is scheduled to run from Sept 5-15.
Wp = World premiere
IP = International premiere
Np = North American premiere
Cp = Canadian premiere
Tp = Toronto premiere
GALASBlood Ties Guillaume Canet (France-us) NAPBright Days Ahead (Les Beaux Jours) Marion Vernoux (France) NAPWords & Pictures Fred Schepisi (Us) Wpspecial Presentationsa Promise (Une Promesse) Patrice Leconte (Belgium-France) NAPThe Armstrong Lie Alex Gibney (Us) NAPBlind Detective Johnnie To (Hong Kong) NAPChild Of God James Franco (Us) NAPThe Face Of Love Arie Posin (Us) WPFading Gigolo John Turturro (Us) WPThe Finishers Nils Tavernier (Belgium-France) WPHow I Live Now Kevin Macdonald (UK) WPThe...
The Contemporary World Cinema strand includes first views of Jan Hrebejk’s Honeymoon, Donovan Marsh’s iNumber Number and Fernando Coimbra’s A Wolf At The Door.
The Toronto International Film Festival is scheduled to run from Sept 5-15.
Wp = World premiere
IP = International premiere
Np = North American premiere
Cp = Canadian premiere
Tp = Toronto premiere
GALASBlood Ties Guillaume Canet (France-us) NAPBright Days Ahead (Les Beaux Jours) Marion Vernoux (France) NAPWords & Pictures Fred Schepisi (Us) Wpspecial Presentationsa Promise (Une Promesse) Patrice Leconte (Belgium-France) NAPThe Armstrong Lie Alex Gibney (Us) NAPBlind Detective Johnnie To (Hong Kong) NAPChild Of God James Franco (Us) NAPThe Face Of Love Arie Posin (Us) WPFading Gigolo John Turturro (Us) WPThe Finishers Nils Tavernier (Belgium-France) WPHow I Live Now Kevin Macdonald (UK) WPThe...
- 8/13/2013
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
World premieres of Kevin Macdonald’s How I Live Now, Fred Schepisi’s Words And Pictures and John Turturro’s Fading Gigolo are among the TIFF line-up of galas and special presentations announced on Tuesday [13].
The Contemporary World Cinema strand includes first views of Jan Hrebejk’s Honeymoon, Donovan Marsh’s iNumber Number and Fernando Coimbra’s A Wolf At The Door.
The Toronto International Film Festival is scheduled to run from Sept 5-15.
Wp = World premiere
IP = International premiere
Np = North American premiere
Cp = Canadian premiere
Tp = Toronto premiere
GALASBlood Ties Guillaume Canet (France-us) NAPBright Days Ahead (Les Beaux Jours) Marion Vernoux (France) NAPWords & Pictures Fred Schepisi (Us) Wpspecial Presentationsa Promise (Une Promesse) Patrice Leconte (Belgium-France) NAPThe Armstrong Lie Alex Gibney (Us) NAPBlind Detective Johnnie To (Hong Kong) NAPChild Of God James Franco (Us) NAPThe Face Of Love Arie Posin (Us) WPFading Gigolo John Turturro (Us) WPThe Finishers Nils Tavernier (Belgium-France) WPHow I Live Now [link...
The Contemporary World Cinema strand includes first views of Jan Hrebejk’s Honeymoon, Donovan Marsh’s iNumber Number and Fernando Coimbra’s A Wolf At The Door.
The Toronto International Film Festival is scheduled to run from Sept 5-15.
Wp = World premiere
IP = International premiere
Np = North American premiere
Cp = Canadian premiere
Tp = Toronto premiere
GALASBlood Ties Guillaume Canet (France-us) NAPBright Days Ahead (Les Beaux Jours) Marion Vernoux (France) NAPWords & Pictures Fred Schepisi (Us) Wpspecial Presentationsa Promise (Une Promesse) Patrice Leconte (Belgium-France) NAPThe Armstrong Lie Alex Gibney (Us) NAPBlind Detective Johnnie To (Hong Kong) NAPChild Of God James Franco (Us) NAPThe Face Of Love Arie Posin (Us) WPFading Gigolo John Turturro (Us) WPThe Finishers Nils Tavernier (Belgium-France) WPHow I Live Now [link...
- 8/13/2013
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
'Nairobi Half Life' Producers Begin Production On Next Project - Kenya-Set Political Thriller 'Veve'
A 4th collaboration between German filmmaker Tom Tykwer's One Fine Day Films, and Nairobi (Kenya)-based Ginger Ink, has begun production in Nairobi. S&A has covered every film that's been developed under the One Fine Day Films/Ginger Ink banners - Soul Boy, from director Hawa Essuman, Nairobi Half Life, from director David Tosh Gitonga, and most recently, Something Necessary, from another Kenyan filmmaker in Judy Kibinge. After launching a casting call for actors early last month, the production companies are currently shooting their next feature, which is titled Veve, and is written by Natasha Likimani, and is being...
- 5/20/2013
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
Titled Something Necessary, the film is directed by Kenyan filmmaker, Judy Kibinge, and produced by German filmmaker Tom Tykwer (Run Lola, Run, Perfume) via his film production company, One Fine Day Films, which he co-founded in 2008 with his girlfriend/partner, Marie Steinmann, with the goal being to promote and support filmmaking for aspiring filmmakers in Nairobi (Kenya), with Nairobi-based producing partners Ginger Ink. S&A has covered every film that's been developed under the One Fine Day Films banner - Soul Boy, from director Hawa Essuman; and, most recently, the crime drama titled Nairobi Half Life, from director David...
- 3/3/2013
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
News.
Just in time for Kenya's national election this weekend, Mubi will be specially showing a new film, Something Necessary (Judy Kibinge, 2013), produced by Tom Tykwer, about the country's last elections, in 2007. Something Necessary premiered in January at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, and will be free to watch globally on Mubi for 24 hours starting Sunday, March 3. Russian filmmaker Aleksei German has passed away at the age of 74. We've shared one of our favorite scenes of his and would like to point to a piece we published by Maxim Pozdorovkin last March, occasioned by the traveling retrospective of German's work.
We are terrifically happy for and proud of David Cairns—Notebook columnist of The Forgotten and author of the Shadowplay blog—who has just seen the premiere of his new film co-directed with Paul Duane, Natan, at the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival. The documentary is on Bernand Natan, a...
Just in time for Kenya's national election this weekend, Mubi will be specially showing a new film, Something Necessary (Judy Kibinge, 2013), produced by Tom Tykwer, about the country's last elections, in 2007. Something Necessary premiered in January at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, and will be free to watch globally on Mubi for 24 hours starting Sunday, March 3. Russian filmmaker Aleksei German has passed away at the age of 74. We've shared one of our favorite scenes of his and would like to point to a piece we published by Maxim Pozdorovkin last March, occasioned by the traveling retrospective of German's work.
We are terrifically happy for and proud of David Cairns—Notebook columnist of The Forgotten and author of the Shadowplay blog—who has just seen the premiere of his new film co-directed with Paul Duane, Natan, at the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival. The documentary is on Bernand Natan, a...
- 2/28/2013
- by Adam Cook
- MUBI
The Hubert Bals Fund of the International Film Festival Rotterdam (Iffr) has selected twenty-five film projects that receive grants for script development, digital production, postproduction, distribution or workshops. In its Fall 2012 selection round, the Fund gave 330,000 Euro to projects from seventeen Asian, Eastern European, Latin-American and African countries. (See full list below)
From many strong applications for workshop initiatives, the Hubert Bals Fund chose to support the Naas Training Workshop (Egypt), the Digital Cinema Workshops Series (Morocco) and Cinema Land (Vietnam). The Naas workshop offers a training and networking program for art house and cine club managers in the Mena region. In Morocco, the Workshop Series aims to increase digital filming skills among young film professionals. Cinema Land offers filmmaking talents expertise and training in the Central-Vietnamese cities of Danang and Hue, where there are no such facilities as yet.
In the distribution category, the Hubert Bals Fund supports the plan to screen acclaimed director Riri Riza’s Atambua 39° Celsius (pictured top) during open air screenings – the region has no cinemas - within the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara, where the film was shot.
Atambua 39° Celsius received Hubert Bals Fund support for digital production earlier this year, recently premiered in competition at the Tokyo Iff and will see its European premiere during Iffr 2013. The film offers a sensitive portrait of refugees from East Timor and of their scattered families.
One of the eleven projects selected in the script development category is Tarde para morir joven (Late To Die Young), second feature film project by Chilean filmmaker Dominga Sotomayor. Her very successful début feature film De jueves a domingo (Thursday Till Sunday), also supported in script stage by the Hubert Bals Fund, won a Hivos Tiger Award in Rotterdam and subsequently screened in many film festivals worldwide. Tarde para morir joven tells about members of an isolated community that see their existence threatened by a forest fire.
Also selected for script development support is Teboho Edkins, a promising new talent from South Africa, who prepares his first feature length film Days of Cannibalism. Edkins previously made The Gangster Project, a 55-minute documentary/fiction hybrid that was selected for Fid Marseille and Iffr 2012. In Days of Cannibalism, Edkins again uses a clever mix of documentary and fictional elements to focus on the expanding trade relations between China and the African continent.
Milagros Mumenthaler, Golden Leopard-winner for her Hubert Bals Fund-supported first feature film Abrir puertas y ventanas (Back to Stay), has been granted digital production support for Pozo de aire (Air Pocket). This second film, backed again by the ‘Abrir’-team in Argentina and Switzerland, is a more low budget and experimental take on female lead characters and the notion of absence.
When finished in time, the films receiving postproduction grants are expected to screen at the 2013 International Film Festival Rotterdam. One of these is Yang Tidak Dibicarakan Ketika Membicarakan Cinta (What They Don’t Talk About When They Talk About Love), second feature film project by Mouly Surya, one the most promising female directors in Indonesia. Her film is a both sensitive and sensual examination of the dynamics among a group of teenagers played by visually and aurally impaired actors.
The harvest of newly finished Hubert Bals Fund-supported films will be screened during the next International Film Festival Rotterdam (23 January – 3 February 2013). The next application deadline for Hubert Bals Fund support is 1 March 2013. All information about the Fund may be found here.
The line up of the Iffr’s Hubert Bals Fund Fall 2013 Selection Round in full:
Post-production & final-financing
Noche (Night) / Leonardo Brzezicki / Argentina
O Rio nos pretence (Rio Belongs to Us) / Ricardo Pretti / Brazil
O Uivo da Gaita (The Harmonica’s Howl) / Bruno Safadi / Brazil
On Mother’s Head / Kusuma Widjaja Putu / Indonesia
Yang Tidak Dibicarakan Ketika Membicarakan Cinta (What They Don’t Talk About When They Talk About Love) / Mouly Surya / Indonesia
Larzanandeye Charbi (Fat Shaker) / Mohammad Shirvani / Iran
Something Necessary / Judy Kibinge / Kenya
Penumbra / Eduardo Villanueva / Mexico
Digital Production
A Corner of Heaven / Zhang Miaoyan / China
Pozo de aire (Air Pocket) / Milagros Mumenthaler / Argentina
Script and project development
Otra madre (Another Mother) / Mariano Luque / Argentina
Tabija / Igor Drljaca / Bosnia and Herzegovina
Elon Rabin Não Acredita na Morte (Elon Rabin Doesn’t Believe in Death) / Ricardo Alves Jr. / Brazil
Tarde para morir joven (Late To Die Young) / Dominga Sotomayor / Chile
Oscuro animal (Obscure Animal) / Felipe Guerrero / Colombia
Court / Chaitanya Tamhane / India
The Room on a Tree / Amit Dutta / India
Extraño pero verdadero (Strange But True) / Michel Lipkes / Mexico
Tempestad (Tempestuous) / John Torres / Philippines
Days of Cannibalism / Teboho Edkins / South Africa
Rüzgarli Bir Güne Agit (Requiem for a Windy Day) / Özcan Alper / Turkey
Distribution
Atambua 39° Celsius / Riri Riza / Indonesia
Workshops
Naas Training Workshop / Egypt
Digital Cinema Workshop Series / Morocco
Cinema Land / Vietnam
Profile of the Hubert Bals Fund
The Hubert Bals Fund (Hbf), along with the CineMart, is part of the International Film Festival Rotterdam (Iffr). The 42nd Iffr will take place January 23 – February 3, 2013. Year-round news on Iffr, Hbf and CineMart can be found on www.filmfestivalrotterdam.com.
The Hubert Bals Fund is designed to bring remarkable or urgent feature films and feature-length creative documentaries by innovative and talented filmmakers from developing countries closer to completion. The Hubert Bals Fund provides grants that often turn out to play a crucial role in enabling these filmmakers to realize their projects. Although the Fund looks closely at the financial aspects of a project, the decisive factors remain its content and artistic value. Since the Fund started in 1989, hundreds of projects from independent filmmakers in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and parts of Eastern Europe have received support. Approximately 80% of these projects have been realized or are currently in production. Every year, the Iffr screens completed films supported by the Fund.
The Hubert Bals Fund is supported by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Media Mundus, Dutch non-governmental development organization Hivos Culture Foundation, the Doen Foundation and the Dioraphte Foundation and Lions Club Rotterdam: L’Esprit du Temps.
Grants and selection rounds
Annually, the Hubert Bals Fund is able to make individual grants of up to Euro 10,000 for script and project development, Euro 20,000 for digital production, Euro 30,000 for post-production, Euro 15,000 towards distribution costs in the country of origin or Euro 10,000 for special projects such as workshops. Selection rounds take place twice a year and have application deadlines on March 1 and August 1.
Hubert Bals Fund-supported films in Iffr and on DVD/VOD
Most of the films supported by the Hubert Bals Fund throughout the year are screened during the International Film Festival Rotterdam in attendance of the filmmaker. Subsequently, part of the Hbf-supported films is released by the Iffr on DVD or VOD, available on www.filmfestivalrotterdam.com (VOD for viewers in the Benelux only).
From many strong applications for workshop initiatives, the Hubert Bals Fund chose to support the Naas Training Workshop (Egypt), the Digital Cinema Workshops Series (Morocco) and Cinema Land (Vietnam). The Naas workshop offers a training and networking program for art house and cine club managers in the Mena region. In Morocco, the Workshop Series aims to increase digital filming skills among young film professionals. Cinema Land offers filmmaking talents expertise and training in the Central-Vietnamese cities of Danang and Hue, where there are no such facilities as yet.
In the distribution category, the Hubert Bals Fund supports the plan to screen acclaimed director Riri Riza’s Atambua 39° Celsius (pictured top) during open air screenings – the region has no cinemas - within the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara, where the film was shot.
Atambua 39° Celsius received Hubert Bals Fund support for digital production earlier this year, recently premiered in competition at the Tokyo Iff and will see its European premiere during Iffr 2013. The film offers a sensitive portrait of refugees from East Timor and of their scattered families.
One of the eleven projects selected in the script development category is Tarde para morir joven (Late To Die Young), second feature film project by Chilean filmmaker Dominga Sotomayor. Her very successful début feature film De jueves a domingo (Thursday Till Sunday), also supported in script stage by the Hubert Bals Fund, won a Hivos Tiger Award in Rotterdam and subsequently screened in many film festivals worldwide. Tarde para morir joven tells about members of an isolated community that see their existence threatened by a forest fire.
Also selected for script development support is Teboho Edkins, a promising new talent from South Africa, who prepares his first feature length film Days of Cannibalism. Edkins previously made The Gangster Project, a 55-minute documentary/fiction hybrid that was selected for Fid Marseille and Iffr 2012. In Days of Cannibalism, Edkins again uses a clever mix of documentary and fictional elements to focus on the expanding trade relations between China and the African continent.
Milagros Mumenthaler, Golden Leopard-winner for her Hubert Bals Fund-supported first feature film Abrir puertas y ventanas (Back to Stay), has been granted digital production support for Pozo de aire (Air Pocket). This second film, backed again by the ‘Abrir’-team in Argentina and Switzerland, is a more low budget and experimental take on female lead characters and the notion of absence.
When finished in time, the films receiving postproduction grants are expected to screen at the 2013 International Film Festival Rotterdam. One of these is Yang Tidak Dibicarakan Ketika Membicarakan Cinta (What They Don’t Talk About When They Talk About Love), second feature film project by Mouly Surya, one the most promising female directors in Indonesia. Her film is a both sensitive and sensual examination of the dynamics among a group of teenagers played by visually and aurally impaired actors.
The harvest of newly finished Hubert Bals Fund-supported films will be screened during the next International Film Festival Rotterdam (23 January – 3 February 2013). The next application deadline for Hubert Bals Fund support is 1 March 2013. All information about the Fund may be found here.
The line up of the Iffr’s Hubert Bals Fund Fall 2013 Selection Round in full:
Post-production & final-financing
Noche (Night) / Leonardo Brzezicki / Argentina
O Rio nos pretence (Rio Belongs to Us) / Ricardo Pretti / Brazil
O Uivo da Gaita (The Harmonica’s Howl) / Bruno Safadi / Brazil
On Mother’s Head / Kusuma Widjaja Putu / Indonesia
Yang Tidak Dibicarakan Ketika Membicarakan Cinta (What They Don’t Talk About When They Talk About Love) / Mouly Surya / Indonesia
Larzanandeye Charbi (Fat Shaker) / Mohammad Shirvani / Iran
Something Necessary / Judy Kibinge / Kenya
Penumbra / Eduardo Villanueva / Mexico
Digital Production
A Corner of Heaven / Zhang Miaoyan / China
Pozo de aire (Air Pocket) / Milagros Mumenthaler / Argentina
Script and project development
Otra madre (Another Mother) / Mariano Luque / Argentina
Tabija / Igor Drljaca / Bosnia and Herzegovina
Elon Rabin Não Acredita na Morte (Elon Rabin Doesn’t Believe in Death) / Ricardo Alves Jr. / Brazil
Tarde para morir joven (Late To Die Young) / Dominga Sotomayor / Chile
Oscuro animal (Obscure Animal) / Felipe Guerrero / Colombia
Court / Chaitanya Tamhane / India
The Room on a Tree / Amit Dutta / India
Extraño pero verdadero (Strange But True) / Michel Lipkes / Mexico
Tempestad (Tempestuous) / John Torres / Philippines
Days of Cannibalism / Teboho Edkins / South Africa
Rüzgarli Bir Güne Agit (Requiem for a Windy Day) / Özcan Alper / Turkey
Distribution
Atambua 39° Celsius / Riri Riza / Indonesia
Workshops
Naas Training Workshop / Egypt
Digital Cinema Workshop Series / Morocco
Cinema Land / Vietnam
Profile of the Hubert Bals Fund
The Hubert Bals Fund (Hbf), along with the CineMart, is part of the International Film Festival Rotterdam (Iffr). The 42nd Iffr will take place January 23 – February 3, 2013. Year-round news on Iffr, Hbf and CineMart can be found on www.filmfestivalrotterdam.com.
The Hubert Bals Fund is designed to bring remarkable or urgent feature films and feature-length creative documentaries by innovative and talented filmmakers from developing countries closer to completion. The Hubert Bals Fund provides grants that often turn out to play a crucial role in enabling these filmmakers to realize their projects. Although the Fund looks closely at the financial aspects of a project, the decisive factors remain its content and artistic value. Since the Fund started in 1989, hundreds of projects from independent filmmakers in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and parts of Eastern Europe have received support. Approximately 80% of these projects have been realized or are currently in production. Every year, the Iffr screens completed films supported by the Fund.
The Hubert Bals Fund is supported by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Media Mundus, Dutch non-governmental development organization Hivos Culture Foundation, the Doen Foundation and the Dioraphte Foundation and Lions Club Rotterdam: L’Esprit du Temps.
Grants and selection rounds
Annually, the Hubert Bals Fund is able to make individual grants of up to Euro 10,000 for script and project development, Euro 20,000 for digital production, Euro 30,000 for post-production, Euro 15,000 towards distribution costs in the country of origin or Euro 10,000 for special projects such as workshops. Selection rounds take place twice a year and have application deadlines on March 1 and August 1.
Hubert Bals Fund-supported films in Iffr and on DVD/VOD
Most of the films supported by the Hubert Bals Fund throughout the year are screened during the International Film Festival Rotterdam in attendance of the filmmaker. Subsequently, part of the Hbf-supported films is released by the Iffr on DVD or VOD, available on www.filmfestivalrotterdam.com (VOD for viewers in the Benelux only).
- 12/11/2012
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Court by Chaitanya Tamhane and The Room on a Tree by Amit Dutta have been selected for Script and Project Development of Hubert Bals Fund (Hbf) Fall 2012.
Post completion, the films will be made a part of the International Film Festival Rotterdam under the competition section or the main sections Bright Future, Spectrum or Signals.
Both these projects have also been selected for the National Film Development Corporation’s annual co-production market at Film Bazaar 2012.
Tamhane’s first short Six Strands was screened at International Film Festival Rotterdam in 2011. It has toured many festivals including Clermont-Ferrand International Film Festival 2011, Slamdance 2011and Edinburgh International Film Festival 2011.
Amit Dutta’s The Room on a Tree too has also been selected for New Cinema Network, the co-production market at Rome Film Festival.
Hubert Bal Fund was founded in 1988 to help independent film makers from developing countries complete their projects. So far the fund...
Post completion, the films will be made a part of the International Film Festival Rotterdam under the competition section or the main sections Bright Future, Spectrum or Signals.
Both these projects have also been selected for the National Film Development Corporation’s annual co-production market at Film Bazaar 2012.
Tamhane’s first short Six Strands was screened at International Film Festival Rotterdam in 2011. It has toured many festivals including Clermont-Ferrand International Film Festival 2011, Slamdance 2011and Edinburgh International Film Festival 2011.
Amit Dutta’s The Room on a Tree too has also been selected for New Cinema Network, the co-production market at Rome Film Festival.
Hubert Bal Fund was founded in 1988 to help independent film makers from developing countries complete their projects. So far the fund...
- 11/15/2012
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.