On 30 January, seven awards were given out during the closing ceremony of the 41st edition of CineMart, IFFR’s co-production market, which ran from 28-31 January and was co-hosted by Catalan Films.

On this occasion, Barbara Rupik’s Cherub (Poland) scooped two prizes – the Eurimages New Lab Award for Innovation (worth €20,000 and intended for projects in development in order to promote experimentation) and the Wouter Barendrecht Award (worth €5,000).

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In detail, the Eurimages New Lab Award was bestowed upon the feature-length project “for its innovative approach in forging an original and inventive artistic practice to weave a narrative intertwining rural folklore with elements of genre, to illustrate a universal tale, created by an emerging visual artist whose handcrafted animation style has the intention and potential for international cooperation”.

The Eurimages jury, made up of Elena Kotová, Nathalie Mierop and Jamie Weiss, also rewarded Lilian Hess’s French-German project Duchampiana with the Eurimages New Lab Award for Outreach (worth €30,000), “for its use of body movement, combined with new immersive technologies in order to evoke a sense of freedom and rebirth, interrogating a classical piece of artwork through a feminist practice, as well as its original outreach strategy”.

Next, the Filmmore Post-Production Award (€7,500 worth of in-kind support) went to Andreas Fontana’s Les Diplomates (Switzerland/UK). Jury members Julie Savary, Marcel Wijninga and Meng Xie provided the following supporting statement: “What should the image of a new country be? The jury was taken by the setting of this story as a backdrop for the love-hate relationship between two men. Image building is everything, and the filming of the space, the environment, will reflect a battle between two men and their two countries in a European historical context.”

The last European victor is Alejandro Telémaco Tarraf’s Alumbre (Spain), in receipt of the brand-new VIPO Award (worth €3,000). The jury, made up of Mika Morishita, Kousuke Ono and Yoshi Yatabe, backed up their choice by saying: “Reality and spirituality are well matched in the deep forest setting. The theme of becoming a new being by accepting one's pain is unique. The film contains many abstract elements, but they were incorporated into a concrete presentation.”

Commenting on the results of this year’s edition, head of IFFR Pro Alessia Acone said: “The variety of projects on offer at our co-production market has never been richer, not only in terms of the diversity of stories and their countries of origin, but also in their mediums and production stages.

“Our immersive-media projects have become a vital part of the market, as has Darkroom, which returned this year to offer a crucial forum for works in progress as they near completion. In the ever-evolving landscape of film and media, IFFR Pro is a platform tuned into the needs of the industry, one that fosters the avant-garde, the visionary and the ground-breaking. We thank all of our partners for their support that allows this to happen.”

Meanwhile, the 2024 IFFR Pro Days officially wrap today, following a full programme that welcomed over 100 emerging professionals for four talent-development initiatives – Rotterdam Lab, Creative Producer Indaba, BoostNL and Launchpad. For the first time, five producers were selected for Rotterdam Lab following an open call, which sought to further expand the plurality of voices, backgrounds and experiences within the cohort, bringing the group to a total of 70 producers.

Here is the full list of winners at the 41st IFFR CineMart:

4DR Studios Award
The World Came Flooding In - Isobel Knowles, Van Sowerwine (Australia)
Producer: Film Camp

ArteKino International Award
A Distant House Smokes on the Horizon - Shengze Zhu (China/USA)
Producer: Burn the Film

Eurimages New Lab Award – Outreach
Duchampiana - Lilian Hess (France/Germany)
Producer: Tchikiboum

Eurimages New Lab Award – Innovation
Cherub - Barbara Rupik (Poland)
Producer: Madants

Filmmore Post-production Award
Les Diplomates - Andreas Fontana (Switzerland/UK)
Producer: Alina Film

Wouter Barendrecht Award
Cherub - Barbara Rupik

VIPO Award
Alumbre - Alejandro Telémaco Tarraf (Spain)
Producer: Zeitun Films