Six films in various sections of the upcoming Cannes Film Festival were backed by the International Film Festival Rotterdam’s (IFFR’s) Hubert Bals Fund or were launched at Rotterdam’s CineMart. The Cannes line-up also includes works by many filmmakers that presented their first and subsequent works in Rotterdam like Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Hong Sang-Soo, Carlos Reygadas, Sergei Loznitsa, Pablo Trapero, Pablo Stoll and Lou Ye.
Carlos Reygadas’ new film and Palme d’Or contender Post Tenebras Lux was launched at CineMart 2011. Most of his earlier works screened in Rotterdam. Back in 2001, his first feature film Japon received post-production support from the Hubert Bals Fund. It premiered in IFFR 2002.
Sergei Loznitsa now competes in Cannes with his second fiction feature film In The Fog, also launched at CineMart 2011. His first fiction feature My Joy received script development support from the Hubert Bals Fund in 2006. It was selected for CineMart 2007 and premiered in Cannes 2010.
Hong Sang-Soo competes in Cannes with his new film In Another Country. His first feature film The Day A Pig Fell Into The Well won a Tiger Award in 1997.
Two talented newcomers present their Hubert Bals Fund-supported films in Cannes: Colombian filmmaker Juan Andres Arango (La Playa) in Un Certain Regard and his Argentinean colleague Gonzalo Tobal (Villegas) in the Special Screenings.
These sections further include new works by experienced filmmakers Lou Ye, Pablo Trapero, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, and Gustave Kervern & Benoit Delepine. All started their international careers by presenting their first films in Rotterdam. The IFFR showed many of their subsequent films.
Six out of the 15 film projects selected for L’Atelier 2012 of the Festival de Cannes, were either supported by Rotterdam’s Hubert Bals Fund or presented at IFFR’s CineMart.
In 2010 and 2011, the Hubert Bals Fund granted script & project development support to the projects by Robin Weng (China) and Pablo Lamar (Paraguay).
L’Atelier 2012 film projects by Song Pengfei (China), Adina Pintilie (Romania), Gabriel Abrantes & Daniel Schmidt (France/Portugal) and Manuel Martin Cuenca (Spain) were presented at CineMart 2011 or 2012.
The 42nd International Film Festival Rotterdam takes place from 23 January through to 3 February 2013; within the festival the 30th CineMart takes place from 27 to 30 January 2012.
For more information, film entry or application deadlines see www.filmfestivalrotterdam.com.
