04/02/2010

The Netherlands Film Fund allocated monetary awards to ten Dutch films in the context of its “incentive awards” (Stimulansprijzen) programme. The big winner was Alex van Warmerdam’s The Last Days of Emma Blank [+see also:
interview: The Last Days of Emma Blank…
film profile], which was awarded €50,000.

The fund’s incentive awards go to artistic films that have been selected at major film festivals or were nominated for an Oscar between January 2009 and February 2010.

With its double selection at both Venice and Toronto, Van Warmerdam’s quirky family drama won the most money. Dutch Cannes Un Certain Regard selection The Silent Army [+see also:
film review
film profile] from director Jean van de Velde was awarded €25,000.

The same amount went to local titles Nothing Personal [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Urszula Antoniak
interview: Urszula Antoniak
film profile] (in Locarno); Joy [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and Eep! (both in Berlin’s Generation sidebar); C’est Déjà L'été (in Competition at Rotterdam, see news); documentary Episode III: Enjoy Poverty (IDFA, Hot Docs and Silverdocs); and short Variété, which was programmed in three festivals as well.

The documentaries, experimental and animated films, which participate in the programme for the first time this year, need to have been selected in several festivals to qualify, unlike their fictional counterparts.

Another two documentaries, Beyond the Game and Bloody Mondays & Strawberry Pies, were awarded €12,500 each for their respective selections.

The awards are intended to aid successful filmmakers in getting their next production off the ground in a shorter time span and were handed out during the International Film Festival Rotterdam, currently underway.